<strong>This guy…</strong>


    Why did he look like he hated this situation as much as I did?


    <strong>—Such humiliation… If only I had taken over your body, this disgrace…</strong>


    Wait a minute. Did that mean he <em>didn’t</em> wear that outfit by choice?


    To be fair, what self-respecting <em>Spinosaurus</em> would willingly wear that kind of attire?


    For a moment, I felt I might have misunderstood the Nightmare Spirit.


    <strong>—If it were those flowing garments, it wouldn’t be so bad…</strong>


    …You’re okay with <em>maid outfits</em>, though?


    Maybe I <em>didn’t</em> misunderstand after all.


    <strong>—Your memories are too strange.</strong>


    Hold on. Are you peeking into <em>that</em> part of my mind again?


    The Nightmare Spirit might give birth to its own Nightmare Spirit if it kept digging through <em>those</em> folders.


    <strong>—Hmph… Whatever. I suppose I’ll get used to this eventually.</strong>


    You <em>shouldn’t</em> get used to it, you bastard.


    What <em>is</em> this guy’s true identity?


    There were still many things I didn’t understand about this world, but three mysteries stood above all others:


    <ol>


    <li>The <strong>status window</strong>.</li>


    <li>The strange phenomenon of <strong>Tail Severing</strong> (which I now knew was <em>Fate Severing</em>).</li>


    <li>And finally, this <strong>Nightmare Spirit</strong> standing before me.</li>


    </ol>


    At least the status window was something I’d gotten used to seeing. The true nature of Tail Severing had been revealed in my recent fight.


    Which left the Nightmare Spirit as the most baffling mystery of all.


    A red dinosaur wearing bizarre outfits? Even with my limited knowledge of martial arts novels, I was pretty sure Nightmare Spirits weren’t supposed to look like this.


    <strong>—I’ll get straight to the point.</strong>


    The Nightmare Spirit adopted a serious tone.


    <strong>—The future you changed was supposed to be immutable. You’ve twisted fate itself, and I admit, I’m somewhat surprised.</strong>


    No matter how serious it tried to be, it wasn’t working.


    That outfit—so tight and clinging—


    Gah!


    Just when I’d started to adjust to the maid outfit, he had to show up in <em>this</em> monstrosity.


    <strong>—You don’t actually believe this is over, do you?</strong>


    Wait.


    Are you telling me… this isn’t its final form?


    There’s something <em>worse</em>ing?


    <strong>—I’m talking about your fate.</strong>


    Oh.


    I almost let my imagination get the better of me.


    <strong>—You may have severed fate, but in the process, you’ve essentially annihted one of the Nine Great Sects. The bnce of power has been broken. A new future will arise—one even your priestess cannot foresee.</strong>


    That was true.


    Red Dragon may have faced him inbat, but it was me who ultimately killed the Sect Leader of the Mount Hua Sect.


    Someone of such importance dying would inevitably lead to changes.


    But I didn’t regret it.


    If I hadn’t killed him, my precious followers would have died instead.


    <strong>—I can already see it. The Martial Alliance will rally under the banner of an evil dragon appearing in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. The orthodox and unorthodox factions will unite to hunt you down.</strong>


    That scenario had crossed my mind.


    Regardless of the reasons, the oue of the battle painted the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain as the aggressors who wiped out Mount Hua.


    <strong>—They’ll hesitate because of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s territory. But there are warriors on par with your master. If they join forces, even she won’t be able to protect you.</strong>


    I couldn’t rely on my master forever.


    She adored me, yes, but I wasn’t her whole world.


    If she had to choose between me and the Heavenly Demon Cult, she would sacrifice me.


    And I wouldn’t me her for it.


    It was the obvious choice.


    <strong>—Of course, that’s assuming the Martial Alliance formally deres you a target.</strong>


    <strong>—You’re fortunate to have connections with Shaolin. That will buy you some time.</strong>


    True.


    I did have ties with Shaolin, thanks to Iron-d Dragon.


    Given the rtionship between the Shaolin Abbot and Iron-d Dragon, it was likely that Master Hyemyung would intervene on my behalf.


    Even Akbulhwi had mentioned Master Hyemyung when he saw Iron-d Dragon.


    <strong>—But it won’tst long.</strong>


    <strong>—Because of Namgoong Yeon.</strong>


    Namgoong Yeon.


    No… I should call him <strong>Al-Yu</strong> now.


    It wasn’t an exaggeration to say he was the root of all these problems.


    <strong>—He’s influential enough to have swayed the Sect Leader of Mount Hua and worked alongside the Dragonborn, Gongbok. He’ll ensure the Martial Alliance is formed, one way or another.</strong>


    <strong>—Shaolin might slow things down, but it won’t stop him.</strong>


    If Al-Yu set his mind to it, a second invasion was inevitable.


    Now that they knew Mount Hua had been annihted, the next attack would be on a scale I couldn’t even imagine.


    <strong>—If you’d given me control of your body, I could’ve killed Namgoong Yeon before he even had a chance to act.</strong>


    The Nightmare Spirit smacked its lips.


    It sounded like it was giving me advice, but I knew better. Its true goal was to possess my body.


    It didn’t want me to die—it wanted me to surrender control in a moment of desperation.


    In short, a full-scale attack from the Martial Alliance wouldn’t benefit it, either.


    If the attack was overwhelming enough to destroy mepletely, there’d be no body left for it to possess.


    <strong>—You know what you need to do.</strong>


    <strong>—The best option is to eliminate Namgoong Yeon first. But that opportunity has already passed.</strong>


    …You could’ve killed him if you’d possessed my body? How?


    The bastard wasn’t even present during the battle.


    <strong>—So you must take the next best course of action.</strong>


    <strong>—Dy the formation of the Martial Alliance for as long as possible. Strengthen your forces.</strong>


    Easy to say.


    Even if the Nightmare Spirit hadn’t mentioned it, I’d alreadye to that conclusion.


    <strong>—The key lies in that creature trapped within the Fox Orb.</strong>


    I knew immediately who it meant.


    The Dragonborn, <strong>Gongbok</strong>, sealed inside the Fox Orb.


    If I could harness the knowledge and power Gongbok possessed, I could grow even stronger.


    <strong>—It pains me to watch. Such immense power, and yet you squander it.</strong>


    Here we go again.


    <strong>—You possess the power of <em>Wood</em> and yet settle for manipting nts?</strong>


    What else am I supposed to do with <em>Wood</em> power, you idiot?


    It’s literally <em>tree-rted</em>.


    <strong>—Your cultivation isughable for the internal energy you possess. But I suppose it’s expected of someone who remembers such indecent outfits.</strong>


    Why bring that up now?!


    <strong>—You defeated Gongbok through sheer luck. That luck won’tst forever. If you fought him again, you’d lose nine times out of ten.</strong>


    I had to admit, he wasn’t wrong.


    If Red Dragon hadn’t burned through Gongbok’s defenses in the final moment, I would’ve been the one to fall.


    <strong>—Go find Chodo, as Gongbok suggested. It also wields the power of <em>Wood</em>. It will be of great help to you.</strong>


    Chodo.


    Another lord of a volcanic mountain.


    Didn’t Gongbok say it looked like a turtle with nts growing on its back?


    …Wait, wouldn’t that mean it uses <em>nts</em>, too?


    <strong>—Learn from the two Dragonborn. If you do, you might finally transcend your current level. You do realize you’re still stuck in the <em>Transcendent</em> realm, don’t you?</strong>


    Transcendent? What about Baekwoon, then?


    <strong>—You possess power on par with the <strong>Supreme</strong> realm, or even the <strong>me Realm</strong>, but your understanding remains stuck at Transcendent.</strong>


    <strong>—You’re imbnced. The more you use your power, the greater that imbnce will grow.</strong>


    The Nightmare Spirit red at me.


    <strong>—If you keep using sword energy with a Transcendent body, you’ll tear yourself apart. Were it not for your blessed physique and all the spiritual medicines you’ve consumed, you would’ve exploded already.</strong>


    That… was true.


    Every time I used sword energy, my heart felt like it was about to burst.


    If I hadn’t reached the Intermediate Dragon Stage, I would’ve copsed before swinging my sword.


    The Nightmare Spirit’s words—though delivered harshly—highlighted my problems clearly.


    Why was it so annoyingly helpful?


    <strong>—Hmph. I’m merely taking care of the body I will one day possess.</strong>


    What a line.


    It didn’t suit him, though. The gap between his appearance and his words was more jarring than the gap between my cultivation and power.


    Still, he’d helped me. I might as well acknowledge it.


    <strong>—Grrk…</strong>


    Suddenly, the Nightmare Spirit groaned in pain.


    That was new.


    <strong>—The time… is already…</strong>


    Theke beneath us began to churn violently.


    <strong>—Begone, now!</strong>


    What was happening?


    I had no idea, but I needed to figure it out.


    Thiske was my inner world. If something was wrong here, it might affect my body.


    Even as my vision blurred, I clung to consciousness. I had to see what was happening.


    And then—


    Atop the Nightmare Spirit’s head, something sprouted.


    Fluffy ears.


    Like a rabbit’s.


    <strong>—Kraaaaaah!</strong>


    <strong>*</strong>


    I finally escaped from that damned <strong>Nightmare Spirit</strong>.


    What an absolutely horrifying sight.


    Why did it have to show itself in such a grotesque form?


    At the very least, it should’ve given me time to adapt to the horror.


    <em>Sigh…</em>


    Still, the nightmare had its perks. It left me with some valuable insight into what I needed to do next.


    When I opened my eyes, I saw a familiar ceiling above me.


    This was the <strong>Love Pce</strong>, as the Two-Horned Ones had called it—a ce that served as the nest of <strong>Gaegakgyo</strong>.


    It seemed they had moved me here to restfortably.


    Judging by how stiff my body felt, more time had passed than I expected.


    I yawned and stretched out.


    <strong>Crack.</strong>


    …Ouch. My back felt sore.


    Well, considering the kind of battles I’d been through, a sore back was the least of my worries.


    “Awake now?”


    What I thought was a nket turned out to be <strong>Baekrang</strong>, and what I thought was my pillow turned out to be <strong>Queen Fasir</strong>.


    I couldn’t even bring myself to question how or why this happened.


    “…Gek?”


    Why the hell were they <em>all</em> here?


    …Well, they were probably here to protect me, right?


    The ce was covered in fur, spiderwebs, and shed scales. I decided to ignore it for my sanity.


    <strong>“Ufufu… The reward was well received.”</strong>


    Reward?


    What did she mean by that?


    Queen Fasir’s scales shimmered unnaturally, polished to perfection.


    <strong>“I wonder what the princess will say when I return….”</strong>


    Her ominous words made me clutch the pendant at my neck instinctively.


    …It was still working fine, right?


    <strong>“Hehehe… One wife, ten wives, a hundred wives… even a thousand wives….”</strong>


    The <strong>Two-Horned Ones</strong>, wrapped tightly in bandages, continued their usual mutterings.


    This nest was sacred ground for the followers of Gaegakgyo—a ce where any faithful coulde to rest.


    But…


    Why were there only females here?


    <strong>“Hehehe….”</strong>


    The absence of <strong>Iron-d Dragon</strong>, <strong>Argentavis</strong>, and <strong>the One-Horned One</strong> finally struck me.


    <strong>“One wife… hehehe…”</strong>@@novelbin@@


    I looked over to see the entrance to the nest.


    The <strong>Two-Horned Ones</strong>, with their massive bodies, were blocking the doorway.


    …They had chased out all the males.


    <strong>“One… wiiiiiife…”</strong>


    I could faintly hear the sorrowful cry of the <strong>One-Horned One</strong> outside.


    He was stronger than the Two-Horned Ones, but for some reason, he didn’t seem able to fight back.


    He was sobbing pitifully.


    <strong>“…It’s nothing to worry about.”</strong>


    Queen Fasir’s words were far from reassuring.


    I trusted her, of course. I owed her far too much not to.


    But her calm words felt hollow in a situation like this.


    Last time, she promised to <em>only hold my tail while sleeping,</em> but I had caught her trying to sneak out an extra tail.


    The magical artifact on my neck had prevented her from seeding, but the memory still sent shivers down my spine.


    <strong>“Kioooong…”</strong>


    The spiders—<strong>Toos</strong> and <strong>Poos</strong>—were clinging to my tail with shy expressions.


    Red Dragon was fast asleep, her teethtched firmly onto my neck.


    And there was <strong>Tang Soyeong</strong>, quietly gathering fallen scales and fur while pretending not to notice me waking up.


    <strong>“Geeeeek….”</strong>


    [Achievement unlocked: “A Spinosaurus Blushes”!]


    …This was getting concerning.


    There was an <em>achievement</em> for this situation?


    And what the hell was with that name?


    [Title Acquired: “The Legend of 14-to-1”!]


    …Excuse me?


    <strong>14-to-1?</strong>


    What the hell did that mean?!