I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 562

A single arrow embedded in the massive heart.

Like a thorn stuck in a hand, its presence seemed pitiful, almost shabby.

Yet, in my eyes, it appeared to be the sole means to destroy that heart.

’Why on earth is that stuck in there...?’

Kugugung!

My lingering doubts were cut short as the inside of the ribcage violently shook.

It seemed the Bone Dragon had begun to go wild in earnest. But that wasn’t all.

Kung! Kung! Kung! Kung!

The heart also began beating far more frantically than before.

As its heart—its true main body—took damage, it instinctively reacted to the sense of crisis.

Realizing I couldn’t let things continue like this, I decided to retrieve the arrow stuck in the heart first.

Given that it had managed to pierce this stubbornly hard heart even a little, it was bound to be useful.

Before the ground shook even worse, I leaped high into the air and pulled the arrow out with my hand.

Normally, having been embedded for so long, it should have been worn and rusted, but the arrow was as pristine as if it had just been crafted.

Kwajik!

The moment I pulled out the arrow, a change occurred inside as well. The massive hand of the Bone Dragon pushed its way through the ribs.

It hadn’t merely shown itself; it had smashed its own ribs to thrust its hand inside, desperate to drag me out.

Kwak!

Having never expected it to pull such a move, I was caught completely off guard.

A crushing pressure threatened to flatten me, but fortunately, before long, it hurled me away.

It threw me with such force that I couldn’t even catch my balance properly. I thought I would end up rolling embarrassingly across the ground.

Hwirik!

However, Bbareumbo on my back quickly balanced me out. Thanks to him, I managed a relatively smooth landing.

The moment I landed, a wave of intense fire caught my eyes. It had unleashed its Breath.

As soon as I saw the Breath, without hesitation, I struck upward toward the sky using Mistilteinn.

My body shot high up into the air. There was only one reason I launched myself into the sky instead of blocking it:

’What happened to the others?’

The party had been continuously attacking its wrist. Yet out of nowhere, that same hand had burst out from the ribcage.

Seeing that, something must have gone wrong with them too.

’There they are. But Lackey...’

While Cain was diligently attacking the wrist with his coffin mace, Ludwig and Lackey were a different story.

They must have failed to block the Breath and taken a direct hit, as the fur all over Lackey’s body had turned jet-black.

Since he was an albino with white fur, turning that black meant he was in extreme danger.

"Cain-ssi!"

I threw some Holy Water toward Cain so he could draw its attention further.

If there was one thing undead were sensitive to, it was Holy Water, so that should be enough.

If I had known this would happen, I would have splashed some Holy Water on the heart too, but I was too distracted by the arrow.

Soon, Cain lightly caught the Holy Water I tossed. Meanwhile, I rushed over to Lackey and Ludwig.

"Ahjussi! What on earth happened?!"

Ludwig was pouring Elixir over Lackey’s body. Looking closely now, his condition appeared quite severe.

Normally, burns just leave marks on the body, but fluid was oozing out from Lackey’s skin.

It meant the burns had penetrated past the skin and into the muscles. Without the Elixir, his life might have been in danger.

"We were hit by the Breath. But... it was a bit strange."

Ludwig answered with a grim expression. As expected, they had been struck by the Breath.

However, seeing how he mentioned it was different from a normal Breath, it seemed to have used some sort of special ability.

"Strange? In what way?"

"Fire has no set shape. So it naturally spreads far and wide. But the Breath it just fired traveled in a straight line."

"...?"

As an instructor who had raised countless paladins, Ludwig was usually fantastic at explaining things.

Yet this explanation was incomprehensible. Just what kind of Breath had it fired?

"Could it be...?"

"Do you know something?"

Except for one: Heukgu. As if he understood Ludwig’s words, the pup showed a reaction bordering on horror.

Ignoring my question, he stared intently at the Bone Dragon.

Cain was relying on his own experience to struggle alone in combat.

Since the dragon lacked a lower body, Cain could barely hold out, but we couldn’t just sit back and watch.

"...Its intellect is gradually returning."

"..."New chapters come out on NovelPing first.

"We have to kill it fast! Otherwise, we don’t stand a chance!"

I know that, you brat. I instructed Ludwig to evacuate for now.

With Lackey incapacitated, Ludwig wasn’t safe either.

Above all, Lackey was on the verge of passing out, so someone needed to stay by his side to tend to him.

"Ugh... Master..."

Fortunately, Lackey regained consciousness soon after. Before even asking how he was doing, I gave him an order.

"Hurry up and escape using Teleport with Ludwig-ahjussi. I’m sorry to say this when you’re in pain."

"Too... strong... Breath..."

Regardless of regaining consciousness, he still seemed totally dazed.

Still, seeing him wave his hands, he was faithfully obeying my command.

Pat!

Before long, Lackey and Ludwig completely vanished, leaving only Cain’s horse behind.

Mounted on Cain’s horse, I glared at the Bone Dragon. It was gathering Breath in its maw.

Kwaaaa!!!

After propping its body up high with its forepaws, the beast spewed Breath directly onto the ground.

I thought it was doing so to keep Cain at bay, but an unexpected situation unfolded.

Kieeeeng!!!

"What the hell is that...?!"

At some point, it wasn’t spewing fire anymore, but firing a purple laser. It was unmistakably a straight laser without a single tremor.

As it jerked its head up while firing that laser, the beam grazed right past me. Describing it as a split second didn’t do it justice.

Unlike a normal Breath, as expected of a laser, its speed of discharge was beyond imagination.

Kukwakwakwang!!!

It wasn’t just fast. Its destructive power surpassed even the Breath.

It literally turned the entire ground upside down, while utterly obliterating distant terrain features.

The raw power of the laser itself was enough to make my knees knock, but the ensuing secondary explosions couldn’t be ignored either.

"That is one of their main weapons. Proof that its intellect is returning."

"..."

"Destroy its heart. Otherwise..."

"I know, so shut up."

I could block a Breath. But blocking that laser was impossible.

Maybe I could hold out for a fraction of a second. But I could guarantee it wouldn’t even last a single second.

’Just one shot. I have to blow up the heart with a single chance.’

I glanced at the arrow I had pulled from the heart. I had no choice but to stake everything on this single arrow.

If I fail... I’ll have to infiltrate the ribs and destroy it like before.

"Cain-ssi! Can you hold out?!"

[It has grown far more ferocious than before! I cannot hold out for long!]

Indeed, the Bone Dragon’s attack patterns had grown far more diverse.

Until then, all it did was swipe its forepaws or spew Breath.

Now, including the laser, its movements themselves felt fluid.

Showing such mobility despite having no lower body was proof of how dangerous it was.

"Ahhhh! Ahhh! Ahhh!"

Reflecting this urgency, Maengkkongi’s chorus grew significantly more frantic than before.

It was a warning that if we didn’t kill it right now, we would be seriously fucked.

’Still, I can’t just shoot blindly. It has to be a direct hit to the heart.’

Earlier, despite attacking with all my strength using Mistilteinn, the heart remained intact.

As long as the ribs were blocking it, killing it with this arrow alone would be impossible.

Therefore, my only choice was to bide my time alongside Cain. I racked my brains.

’What should I do? How can I bind its movements?’

Now that Lackey and Ludwig were gone, targeting the wrist was no longer viable.

Even if we managed to target the wrist, hitting the heart directly would be impossible.

Cain had to use his experience to draw its attention as much as possible. Mounted on the horse, I circled around the dragon.

’First, draw its attention.’

Instead of the arrow pulled from the heart, I pressured the Bone Dragon with a normal arrow. Then, an astonishing thing happened.

Whether because its intellect was gradually returning or due to a fear ingrained in its instincts...

Every time I shot an arrow, the Bone Dragon flinched visibly.

Since it was an arrow that had been stuck in its heart, maybe such a reaction was natural. Was that why?

"----!!!!"This chapter was copied from novelping . com without permission.

Ignoring Cain entirely, it charged straight at me.

Not crawling along the ground, but with the momentum of a colossal zombie forcing its way forward.

I quickly fled aboard Cain’s horse, but due to its immense size, it caught up in no time.

"Ah, shit!"

In the end, I had no choice but to dismount. Facing it up close was actually better.

I put my bow away again and gripped Mistilteinn in my hand.

In the meantime, the Bone Dragon raised one arm high, attempting to crush me beneath it.

The moment I saw it, without hesitation, I slashed upward with Mistilteinn.

Kwaddeuddeuk!!!

Under the powerful blow, the Bone Dragon’s hand shattered to pieces.

It was a bit of a gamble, but luckily it worked. Mistilteinn was harder than the Bone Dragon’s bones.

However, as I had repeatedly mentioned, the creature was undead. It wouldn’t give a damn about a shattered hand.

Jeeeeng!

A vivid purple glow shone from its mouth. It was the signal that it was about to fire its laser.

Being in close proximity as I was, taking a direct hit from that would be extremely lethal. I could never endure it.

Having no choice, I timed the exact moment it fired the laser and leaped high into the air.

Since I used Mistilteinn to launch myself, I soared even higher than expected. The problem was...

Kieeeeng!!!

Instead of firing the laser all the way through, it shoved its face right up toward me. A complete disaster.

I jumped into the air expecting it to shoot, but I was outmaneuvered. This was critical.

’Should I push myself down with Mistilteinn? No, then it will just turn its head again.’

Unlike its Breath, the laser moved with terrifying speed.

The moment it turned its head, it would hit me squarely.

Having learned neither Void Flight nor Void Stepping, freely floating in midair was impossible.

’In that case...’

I had no choice but to treat this as an opportunity. I let go of Mistilteinn and drew my bow and arrow.

Trust the power of the arrow that pierced that bastard’s heart. Sticking to that thought, just as I nocked the arrow to the string...

Shaaaa!

"?!"

An entirely unexpected phenomenon occurred. Channeling mana into the arrow was normal.

However, the moment I activated Unity of Self and Object, an astronomical amount of Aura began forcing its way into the arrow.

Like a demonic sword greedily devouring its wielder’s internal energy, the arrow ravenously devoured my Aura.

’I intended to put everything into it, but...!’

This was beyond expectations. It surpassed simply using full power.

As if squeezing out every last drop of water from a dry rag, all the mana inside me condensed into the arrow.

Because of that, a raw force beyond even my wildest imagination was loaded into the arrow.

Kieeeeng!!!

The laser shot out from the Bone Dragon’s mouth. Then, a strange anomaly occurred within me.

As if time had slowed down, the speed at which the laser approached became remarkably sluggish. I could see the laser reaching out in real time.

At the same time, every bit of mana in my body clustered into the arrow. Now, all I had to do was release the string.

Drained even of the strength to release the string, my aim wobbled, but I squeezed out every last drop of mental willpower.

The result:

Ting!

With a crisp, clear sound, the arrow left the bowstring.

On the surface, it appeared to carry no Aura or energy whatsoever, but...

Kwaaaaa!!!

Completely pulverizing the powerful laser, it plunged straight into the Bone Dragon’s maw. Directly toward a single target.

And right before passing through its maw to hit the heart...

Pat!

The dim light in the Bone Dragon’s eyes flared brilliantly.

Vibrancy rushed into its empty eye sockets. This signified only one thing.

[You are...!]

A voice screamed inside my head, but—

Kwakwakwakwa!!!

The arrow had already pierced past the heart and shattered the dragon’s entire body into dust.