Chapter 166
The Dragon’s Nest.
That was the most fitting description.
At the center of the Draconic Soldiers’ defensive line lay a cluster of eggs, each the size of a human.
There were hundreds, perhaps more, though counting them amid the relentless onslaught of Draconic Soldiers proved impossible.
“Did the Draconic Soldiers move them here?”
“Seems like it. There’s no way the dragons gathered here during the war to lay eggs.”
That made sense.
From the looks of it, the Draconic Soldiers had gathered these eggs from somewhere else and placed them in one central location.
Perhaps they had been hidden away before, and now, for ease of protection, they had been relocated.
Or perhaps—
‘It’s simply their instinct.’
Then, Sirka suddenly had an odd realization.
“But… why did your husband leave these behind?”
“Leave them behind?”
“Think about it. The Shadow Monarch is infamous for turning all of his fallen enemies into his Shadow Army.
“Ah!”
Cha Hae-In finally grasped what Sirka was implying.
The souls of the countless fallen Radiant Dragons in this graveyard had already been turned into Shadow Soldiers, sworn to serve Sung Jinwoo.
If so, why would these eggs have been kept a secret from him?
Even if the dragons had hidden them before pledging loyalty, their location would have eventually reached Jinwoo.
Which meant—
Sirka was right.
Sung Jinwoo had known these eggs were here and had deliberately left them untouched.
‘But why?’
Then—
“……Ah.”
The moment Cha Hae-In placed her hand on one of the nearby eggs—
Crack. Crumble—
“……!”
Both Cha Hae-In and Sirka gasped in shock.
The egg, which had seemed as solid as stone, suddenly disintegrated into dust.
“W-What the…?”
Inside—
It was completely empty.
“The inside… is hollow?”
Dumbfounded, Sirka hastily reached for another egg and placed her hand on it.
Crumble.
Crumble, crumble—
The moment they made contact, each egg collapsed into gray dust, scattering like the ashen blizzards that filled the Grave of the Radiant Dragons.
“They’re all empty!”
“What… is going on?”
“Maybe your husband left them because he already knew they were dead?”
Sirka’s theory sounded plausible.
But Cha Hae-In’s expression remained serious.
“Sirka… is it normal for dragon eggs to become completely hollow when they fail to hatch?”
“Uhh… I wouldn’t know? I don’t have much knowledge of dragon biology…”
As an Ice Elf, Sirka lacked expertise on the reproduction of dragons.
Still, a possible explanation came to mind.
“Maybe they were at the final stage of hatching? And your husband… took their souls into his Shadow Army before they were born?”
“Even if that were the case… wouldn’t there still be remains inside the eggs?”
“…You’re right.”
Sirka let out a sigh.
Even without considering whether they were fertilized or not, the fact that all these intact-looking eggs were completely hollow was deeply unnerving.
Moreover—
Why were the Draconic Soldiers guarding them?
“……Let’s check all of them.”
Cha Hae-In and Sirka systematically touched each egg, confirming their state.
One by one, the eggs turned to dust, vanishing into the air.
Even as they did this, Cha Hae-In kept a watchful eye on the Draconic Soldiers.
‘Their numbers haven’t decreased at all… so the eggs aren’t their masters?’
But as the number of eggs dwindled, the Draconic Soldiers’ hostility grew more intense.
‘Then… do they have another master? Or is there still a living egg among them?’
With caution, Cha Hae-In continued eliminating the eggs.
Until—
“This one…”
She found it.
A single egg, hidden among the larger, human-sized ones.
Smaller—about the size of an ostrich egg.
Cha Hae-In’s eyes gleamed.
This egg was different.
Unlike the others, it radiated a distinct mana signature.
She reached out and lifted it—
It was heavier than expected.
Most importantly—
It didn’t crumble into dust.
And the moment Cha Hae-In picked it up—
KRAAAAAAH!
The Draconic Soldiers exploded with killing intent.
“Cha-Cha! They’re going berserk! We need to get to a safer place—huh?”
[Grrrr.]
Then—
A deep rumbling growl echoed.
For the first time in a while—
The Shadow Wyvern, Kaisel, opened his eyes.
[Kyaaaaaaaah—]
Spreading his wings wide, Kaisel let out a mighty yawn.
Then—
He wrapped himself around the egg in Cha Hae-In’s hands.
As if—
It were his own.
And suddenly—
“Huh?”
The Draconic Soldiers’ killing intent disappeared.
Cha Hae-In and Sirka glanced around, bewildered.
Step. Step. Step.
The once-hostile Draconic Soldiers—
Instead of attacking—
One by one, they knelt down, lowering their heads.
Not towards Cha Hae-In.
Not towards Sirka.
[Grrrr.]
But towards Kaisel.
The Shadow Wyvern, who was protecting the egg.
Cha Hae-In and Sirka stared at each other.
And then—
“I think… we hit the jackpot.”
“Cha-Cha, should I pray for this one too?”
“Yeah. Tell Suho.”
They had found it.
Perhaps the only living dragon egg in existence.
—
Meanwhile—
RUMBLE—!
[Young Lord! The sand vortex is now engulfing the entire coastline!]
Just as Beru had reported—
Haeundae Beach was being swallowed by an unnatural calamity.
The sand vortex that had formed on the beach wasn’t just pulling people downward—it was also generating a raging sandstorm, trapping everyone inside like a barrier.
Almost like a prison.
‘It’s similar to Harmakan’s method… but far more blatant.’
Harmakan, a Maeryung Clan illusionist, had once used an “Instance Dungeon” to encase an entire town in a subtle, nearly imperceptible barrier.
Unlike that, however—
Whoever this new Maeryung Clan member was, they had chosen a cruder method.
Rather than tricking people into their illusion—
They simply sealed them inside with an overwhelming sandstorm prison.
“Sung Suho!”
A voice called out behind him—
The Reaper Guild’s master, S-rank Hunter Im Taegyu, was charging forward, slicing through the sandstorm with sheer force.
“Move aside!”
He quickly notched a mana-infused arrow onto his Reaper’s Bow, taking aim at the center of the sand vortex.
FWOOOOM!
A barrage of powerful mana arrows whizzed past Suho, shooting toward the vortex’s core.
BOOOOOM!
And then—
“KRAAAAGH! A mere human dares—?!”
A piercing shriek erupted from the depths of the sandstorm.
A voice filled with rage and agony.
“That’s it! That’s the target!”
Like an eagle locking onto its prey, Im Taegyu’s eyes gleamed—
He launched another flurry of mana arrows.
FWIP! FWIP!
“KEKEKEKEKEKE!”
But before they could hit—
A horde of skeletons erupted from the sandstorm, lunging at Im Taegyu from all sides.
But—
“Tch. Pathetic.”
CRACK!
Im Taegyu smirked and swung his bow like a blunt weapon, shattering the skeletons with ease.
The Reaper’s Bow—an S-rank weapon—was stronger than any club.
The skeletons shattered like brittle glass, their remains scattering across the sand.
“Is that all?”
[Not quite.]
“……!”
A chilling whisper crept into his ears—
Right behind him.
A cold sweat ran down his back.
[You’re quite strong for a human.]
The voice echoed only in Im Taegyu’s mind—
A whispering presence that none of the other Hunters could hear.
[But… no matter how much mana you possess, humans are ultimately frail creatures.]
A sinister chuckle.
[Your souls are of such… low quality.]
FWOOSH!
“……!”
Before he could react—
The entire world shifted.
[The Maeryung Clan illusionist, Zarvier, has activated Skill: Mirage.]
“Mirage?”
From afar, Suho had caught sight of the system message.
And from that, he learned two things—
1. The culprit behind this was a Maeryung Clan illusionist named Zarvier.
2. “Mirage” was the name of their illusion skill.
[Young Lord! Be careful of their illusions—!]
Even as Beru shouted in warning, his voice faded into the distance—
Because at that very moment—
Suho’s surroundings… changed.
—
Zarvier had no doubts about his victory.
How could he?
He had experimented on countless human souls collected from this very beach.
And from those experiments, he had reached one conclusion—
“Humans are weak.”
The Maeryung Clan had always found souls to be the ultimate material for research.
A resource brimming with untapped potential—one that could be twisted into powerful curses and dark sorcery.
A concept that might seem horrifying to others—
But to them?
It was entertainment.
“Mirage.”
A high-tier illusion spell—
It extracted the most horrifying, traumatic, or impactful memories from the victim’s soul and forced them to relive it.
Through this, Zarvier had watched and studied the many-colored fears lurking within human nature.
“Truly fascinating creatures.”
Most beings only feared death.
But humans?
Their fears were far more diverse.
“For example… him.”
—”……Honey.”
“N-No way….”
Among the many trapped Hunters, the one with the strongest mana was now suffering the greatest despair.
Im Taegyu.
His worst nightmare had come to life—
The illusion of his deceased wife.
No, the wife he had personally killed.
Her body, engulfed in ghostly blue flames, slowly approached him.
— “Why do you look so sad? You were the one who killed me.”
“I… I’m sorry. I’m so sorry….”
Zarvier grinned as he watched.
“What a beautiful sight.”
The soul of a powerful being writhing in torment—
There was no greater pleasure.
[HAHAHA! The inescapable grip of absolute terror! How marvelous! How beautiful!]
It didn’t matter if they were S-rank.
In the end, a human soul was still just a human soul—
Weak.
Fragile.
His illusion magic didn’t just show nightmares.
It manifested them into reality, pulling them from the depths of the victim’s soul and giving them form.
[S-rank Hunter. Do not resist. Just accept your death. You’ve always known this was how it should en—]
Zarvier stopped mid-sentence.
Something felt off.
“What…?”
His eyes darted toward Suho—
The young Hunter who had summoned a blizzard earlier.
He was watching something in the illusion.
But—
Something was wrong.
“What… is that?”
FWOOOOOOOSH!
From within Suho’s illusion—
A dark presence began to take form.
A figure shrouded in abyssal black energy.
“This… This is—?!”
Even Zarvier, a master of illusions, could not believe what he was seeing.
Because from within Suho’s memories—
A being of unimaginable dread was slowly emerging.
