Fshwaaaaah!

A torrent of toxic gas came spewing out from the Black Bone Dragon’s maw. However, Siegfried bravely faced it head-on and advanced steadily while being protected by the Annihilation’s Grasp in its umbrella form.

Unbelievably, he was walking through the powerful Breath.

The Black Bone Dragon was utterly stunned that a mere human had charged straight into its Breath and was steadily advancing.

But by the time it realized, it was already too late.

Siegfried had already reached all the way in front of it before it could react, and he thrust the Annihilation’s Grasp straight at the Black Bone Dragon.

Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!

He struck the Black Bone Dragon on its long neck four consecutive times.

Instant death!

“Kyaaaah!”

The Black Bone Dragon couldn’t escape the instant-death effect of the Four Steps to Invincibility.

[Alert: You have gained 0 experience points!]

A notification window appeared in front of Siegfried’s eyes, informing him that he had gained zero experience points.

Having reached Level 650, he could no longer level up or even gain experience points. After all, he had hit a wall.

For most Adventurers and NPCs, their growth would halt upon reaching the wall at Level 229 or Level 449. This was the universal rule that was absolute for both Adventurers and NPCs.

However, advancing beyond Grandmaster was a completely different matter.

From the third wall onward, the level at which the wall appeared varied greatly. Some would face it at Level 700 or others at Level 800 or even Level 750, which meant that there was no fixed rule.

Ascending beyond the realm of Grandmasters meant stepping into the realm of the divine, causing one to transcend the limits of superhuman, which meant such trivial rules no longer applied to them.

Originally, only a handful of beings who had become half-gods or demigods during the dawn of creation, and Siegfried’s master, the Level 999 Hidden NPC, Deus, had surpassed the realm of Grandmasters.

Regardless, Siegfried had now reached the third wall, which meant he was standing at the gates of the realm of the divine.

[Path to Invincibility]

[An elusive path visible only to those pursuing enlightenment in achieving the ultimate martial prowess.]

[This is a trial to achieve true invincibility.]

[Passing this trial might allow the user to claim the power of invincibility.]

[Type: Special Quest]

[Level Requirement: 650+]

[Progress: 0% (0/3)]

[Rewards: Level +200]

[Objectives]

- Complete the Master’s Regret Quest

- Seek Deus

- Attain Enlightenment

[Note: Completing this quest will be difficult and may take a lifetime.]

The notification popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes, but he swiped it aside with a flick of his hand.

This was not the time to worry about quests.

Fwoooooosh!

The last remaining Red Bone Dragon unleashed a flaming breath attack.

‘I have to stay sharp,’ Siegfried thought.

He no longer had the option to easily eliminate the remaining Bone Dragon, as he had already used Four Steps to Invincibility just a while ago.

However, Siegfried did not fret, as he believed in his raw combat ability.

The Red Bone Dragon roared, “Do you defy the law of causality?!”

Whoosh!

A large bony tail came swinging.

‘D-Damn it! That’s crazy!’ Siegfried shrieked inwardly, shocked at the speed of the tail.

The Red Bone Dragon lived for more than eight thousand five hundred years, making it an Ancient Red Dragon. Even among the mighty dragons, an ancient dragon was the most powerful one among them.

Thus, it was not an exaggeration to say that the Ancient Red Dragon was the second most powerful dragon among all Red Dragons.

However, the mighty ancient dragon had been turned into an undead, boosting its combat power far beyond imagination. Unfortunately, none of the powerful magic spells it commanded could work against Siegfried.

Woooong!

Siegfried continuously used Wave of Oppression to thoroughly suppress any attempts made by the Red Bone Dragon to cast its spells.

The Wave of Oppression unleashed by him had now grown so powerful that even a dragon, the progenitor of magic, couldn’t overcome the debuff.

With both sides unable to use their skills, it was time to engage in a melee.

Whiiiiirr!

Siegfried spun the Annihilation’s Grasp like a drill and charged at the Red Bone Dragon.

A fierce aerial battle ensued.

The Red Bone Dragon and Siegfried zipped through the air and hunted each other down, as if they were fighter jets having a dogfight.

“Whoa... Han Tae-Sung has really gone insane.”

“As if whatever he’s done until now wasn’t enough... he’s now actually fighting one-on-one against a dragon?”

“He’s incredible. It’s like he has no limits.”

His comrades gawked as he had instantly slain not one but two Bone Dragons and was now fighting against the Red Bone Dragon.

Facing three dragons consecutively without rest was impossible for anyone, yet the fact that he was doing so without borrowing the power of the Demon King showed just how powerful he had grown.

Gosran drew her bow and glanced at Cheon Woo-Jin.

“What should we do? Should we help him?” she asked.

Cheon Woo-Jin shook his head and replied, “Nah, he will probably get upset if we do. Leave him be. He can handle it alone.”

“But—!”

Gosran protested, but Cheon Woo-Jin cut her off immediately with a shrug. “It’s fine. It won’t take him that long anyway."

Then, he walked over to a spot that gave the best view of the battle and sat down.

Cheon Woo-Jin and the others knew that they would not be of much help anyway, so they followed his lead and settled down, too. In fact, the battle between Siegfried and the Red Bone Dragon was too spectacular to pass up, and they would rather spectate than join the fray.

***

The aerial battle between Siegfried and the Red Bone Dragon was truly a spectacular sight.

The Red Bone Dragon flew at speeds rivaling a fighter jet yet maneuvered in ways that completely ignored the laws of physics. It was as if the law of inertia or air resistance simply did not exist to it.

Fwooooooosh!

Booooom!

The sonic booms it created whenever it zipped past were enough to tear apart the eardrums of any nearby living creature, and the winds stirred uprooted even towering vegetation below.

This was a testament to why the dragons were hailed as the strongest creatures in the world.

And then there was Siegfried...

In addition to keeping up with the Red Bone Dragon’s insane speed and physics-defying maneuverability, he was even fighting back using his debuffs.

Ssseuuu!

He activated Discharge and unleashed the Embrace of Despair.

“Krrrghhh!”

Shockingly, the Red Bone Dragon’s flight speed visibly slowed.

The slowing debuff of the Embrace of Despair was so overwhelmingly powerful that it could even slow down an Ancient Red Dragon that had turned undead.

Woooong!

Right then, a blinding array of light unleashed from Siegfried.

Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain!

Summoning tens of thousands of aura blades imbued with freezing energy, he casually pointed at the Red Bone Dragon as if gunning it down.

Shwiiiiik!

The aura blades shot toward the Red Bone Dragon like homing missiles trying to intercept a fighter jet.

Fwoooosh!

The Red Bone Dragon flew with all of its might, but it was to no avail.

Boom!

“Kraaagh!”

Slowed by the Embrace of Despair, the aura blades caught up to the Red Bone Dragon, triggering massive explosions.

But Siegfried was not done yet...

Flash!

A blinding white light burst forth as extreme chill completely gripped the dragon whole.

It was the debilitating freezing debuff—Absolute Zero.

‘Not enough. More!’

Yet Siegfried did not stop there.

He cast Frozen Hell, adding an even stronger slow debuff on the already half-frozen Red Bone Dragon.

Whooooosh!

The perfectly calm sky suddenly roared as a terrifying blizzard swept across.

“...What the hell? Is he capable of using magic now?” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered, dumbfounded.

Amplified by the special effects of the Annihilation’s Grasp, the Frozen Hell unleashed by Siegfried had turned into a full-blown blizzard. It wasn't just Cheon Woo-Jin; the rest of Siegfried’s comrades were shocked by the spectacle before them.

Watching Siegfried, someone who specialized in dealing physical damage, unleash spells that would put to shame even the most powerful of magicians, was simply too absurd for them to comprehend.

They could no longer tell whether Siegfried was a physical DPS or a magician at this point, as the power and impact of the skills he was unleashing could easily rival the spells unleashed by an Archmage.

“Krrrrrgh—!”

The Red Bone Dragon flailed desperately, trying to free itself from the freezing hell Siegfried had encased it in.

However, it lasted for only a moment.

“...”

The Red Bone Dragon’s mighty wings suddenly came to a complete stop, and even its agonized groans had gone silent.

Shwoooong...!

The gigantic dragon began to fall vertically.

It had lost its ability to fly after being surrounded by ice and frozen still.

KABOOOOOM!

The Red Bone Dragon crashed into the ground, shattering the ice encasing it.

Even though it was now free from the ice, it couldn’t move even a muscle. The freezing debuffs cast by Siegfried were simply too powerful. It actually penetrated the dragon’s body and froze it stiff from the inside.

“Phew!” Siegfried wiped a sweat off his brow and casually approached the dragon.

He had no plans to put on a grand attack to commemorate his victory over the dragons.

Woooong!

Dense energy swirled around the Annihilation’s Grasp, charging up Touch of Death.

Shwik!

Swinging the lance, Siegfried unleashed the secret technique of the Sword Emperor, Heaven and Earth Cleaving Blade, and sliced clean through the Red Bone Dragon’s neck.

[Alert: You have gained 0 experience points!]

With that, Siegfried achieved the impossible feat of taking down three Bone Dragons.

Even though he did not gain any experience points from it, obtaining three Bone Dragon corpses made it an extremely profitable fight.

Dragon bones were incredibly expensive, and the value of a Dragon Heart was practically immeasurable with mere gold.

“Phew! Never thought I’d see the day dragons would show up in packs,” Siegfried wiped his forehead and grumbled.

“Kyuuuu! That was awesome, owner punk! Amazing job!” Hamchi cheered.

“Something fishy is definitely going on here. Dead dragons are coming back as the undead and babbling about the Creator and all that? No doubt there’s something here.”

“Kyuuuu! Hamchi agrees with owner punk!”

“Anyway, let’s go rest for a bit.”

“Got it! Kyuuu!”

Siegfried leaned against the ribcage of the Red Bone Dragon and took a short break.

About an hour later.

Siegfried got up, stored the corpses of the Bone Dragons in his inventory, and set off once again.

Searching for traces of Oscar’s squad in this vast mountain range was no easy task. Not to mention, Inzaghi’s Clairvoyance did not work here, making it no different from searching for a needle dropped somewhere in Seoul.

“Damn it... I just should just bring in a fleet and sweep the whole mountain range...” Siegfried grumbled under his breath.

Hamchi stepped forward and said confidently, “Kyuuuu! Leave this to Hamchi!”

“Hm? Leave it to you? What can you do, punk?”

“Kyaaaaak! Did you forget, owner punk?! Hamchi is the Great Spirit of the Forest!”

“Huh?”

“Just watch! Kyaaaak!” Hamchi shrieked. Then, he shouted into the dense vegetation, “Kyuuuu! Heed my call! Gather up!”

“Hey, who are you calling?”

“Kyaaaak! Just shut up and watch!”

After a brief moment of silence, the bushes rustled, and all sorts of animals emerged.

Despite being different animals, they moved in orderly fashion and lined up before Hamchi, making them look like soldiers with strict discipline drilled into them.

“I, the Great Spirit of the Forest, command you! Search this entire mountain range thoroughly and report back to me! Got it?! Kyuuu!”

The animals nodded in unison.

It turned out that they were not actual animals, but spirits living in the forest.

“Oh... so that’s what he meant,” Siegfried muttered.

He finally understood why Hamchi was so confident he could handle it.

Hamchi was the Great Spirit of the Forest, so commanding the spirits to search this vast forest was not impossible.

“Kyuuuu! I’ve already asked the spirits, so we will find them soon! See! I told you Hamchi will take care of it!” Hamchi said haughtily with head held high.

“Whew! That was quite impressive, punk,” Siegfried replied, patting him on the head.

“Something like this is nothing for the Great Spirit of the Forest! Kyuuu!”

“Huff... Huff...”

Just then, someone burst through the bushes and ran toward the duo.

This person was none other than—

“Carell!” Siegfried shouted, rushing over.

He hurriedly caught Carell just as he was about to collapse to the ground.

Carell groaned, “Y-Your Majesty...”

“What happened?!” Siegfried shouted, completely in shock.

Carell was in an absolutely terrible state. His whole body was completely covered in blood, and the large wound across his back was quite deep.

Siegfried could tell in a single glance that he had been injured in battle and barely managed to escape alive.

“Y-Your Majesty... While searching the mountain range... we were ambushed by a powerful enemy—argh!”

“A powerful enemy? Who?”

“The enemy claimed to serve... the Creator—ghhhk!”

“...?”

“Dame Oscar... She is in danger, sire...”

“Oscar?”

“Both Master Shakiro and General Draculis... they are badly wounded, too.”

“Did you split up from them?”

“Yes, sire...”

“Where are they?”

“Near some very old ancient ruins... We were exploring an unidentified ruin when—argh!”

‘It must be the ancient ruins of the Illuminati,’ Siegfried thought, remembering what happened in the Jukai Jungle. Then, a thought struck him, ‘Someone must be in the ruins, which means a pillar of light could shoot up at any moment.’

“Where is the ruin? Can you guide me there?” Siegfried asked, urgency evident in his voice.

“Forgive me, sire... Compasses do not work in this region, and the paths seem to be enchanted...” Carell replied.

“Got it. Don’t worry about it,” Siegfried said, handing him the Infinite Flask. Then, he turned to Hamchi and said, “Hey, Hamchi. Tell the spirits to guide us to the ruins. And instruct them to bring anyone injured to us.”

“Kyuuu! Roger that!” Hamchi replied with a salute. Then, he turned to the spirits and gave his commands.

After a few minutes.

“Owner punk! This one knows where the ruins are! Kyuuu!”

“Nice! Tell it to lead the way right now!”

“Kyuuuu! Let’s go!”

And so, Siegfried’s part followed the fox spirit toward the ancient ruins of the Illuminati.