Surviving Restructuring

Swear-Master muttered under his breath, “Fuck...”

A shard of concrete had pierced his lower abdomen, sticky blood seeping out as dizziness made the world spin.

“S-Swear-Master! Are you okay?! You’re bleeding!” someone shouted.

“That thing...” Swear-Master murmured.

The chairman twisted grotesquely, his back bending like an old man leaning on a cane. Then, his hunched back split open, from which massive wings burst out.

“What the hell is that?” the Swear-Master whispered in disbelief.

It wasn’t the first time he had seen something like this. The Exquisite Flame Dragon had a massive frame that filled an entire arena, along with two enormous wings that could barely be spread even in such a vast space. It even had a gaping maw that spewed fire.

“A Dragon?” Swear-Master muttered.

What the hell?

After the wings came into view, a pair of blood-red, reptilian eyes snapped open. It was neither fully human, nor fully Dragon—a monster.

The red Dragon, as if breaking free from its shell, opened its jaws wide.

“This world is mine!” it roared, deep and beast-like. It was a declaration that seemed to command the very earth itself. “Do you think I’ll let it be taken from me?!”

Fwooosh—!

The chairman’s roar became a breath attack. Boiling magma surged forth, a spiraling torrent of extreme heat rushing toward Eun-Ho.

“I said it’s not yours,” Eun-Ho said calmly.

He stepped forward and met it head-on, his sword blazing with blue flames.

Craaaack—! Bababam—!

Their energies collided directly.

Unable to withstand each other, the clashing forces rebounded outward, spreading like a seismic shockwave. The world was swallowed in molten destruction.

“Get back!” someone shouted.

“I’ll block it—keugh!” the security guard cried.

“Mister!”

The Guard Post the security guard had raised melted in an instant, unable to endure the overwhelming heat.

“G-get up! We need to move him! Quickly!”

That single breath, exhaled by a Dragon not yet fully awakened, was enough to obliterate everything around them.

What would happen if it fully breaks free?

With a single beat of its wings, it could bring down buildings. With one stomp, it could shatter the earth. Unlike the Dragon in the arena, bound in chains and crippled by illusions, this was a force that could shake the world.

“T-the one in the golden armor is Mr. Eun-Ho, right?” someone asked nervously.

Swear-Master nodded stiffly, trembling with tension. “Y-yeah.”

Fwoosh—!

Just then, there was a burst of light and a gust of wind. Swear-Master had likely closed his eyes briefly. He couldn’t remember doing so. It hadn’t even lasted long enough to leave an impression.

Yet, in that instant, everything had changed. The Dragon, Eun-H, and even the doppelganger, all of them had vanished from the ground.

“W-where did they go?” Swear-Master muttered.

“Look! Up there!” another shouted.

High above, a massive Ancient Dragon blotted out the sun. It spread its wings, red as blood, as if forged from gathered corpses. Its long neck stretched forward, revealing its scaled frame, with a heavy tail swaying behind it.

The chairman’s discarded human shell, split along the spine, collapsed limply to the ground.

Thud.

Shoot! The transformation is complete! Swear-Master thought.

To make matters worse, Eun-Ho was not unscathed. One of his black wings was broken, scorched by flames. His arm clutched the doppelganger, whose abdomen had been pierced clean through by a spear. Eun-Ho sagged forward, his head hung low.

“L-Lee Eun-Ho?! What the hell’s wrong with him?!” the Swear-Master shouted.

It was as if time had stopped and then resumed. Even while breaking out of its shell, that monster had unleashed a breath powerful enough to create magma. Having fought such a monster head-on, it’d be a miracle if Eun-Ho hadn’t suffered massive internal injuries.

Swear-Master’s heart pounded wildly, and cold sweat streamed down his back. He tried to force his twisted leg to move because he had to do something!

Just then, from Eun-Ho’s lowered head, a faint wisp of pale smoke began to rise. The phenomenon struck the Swear-Master as odd.

Did his face catch fire or something?Maybe the magma spread to him? Damn it, his Stamina must be completely drained! Swear-Master thought.

As if he sensed the growing panic, Eun-Ho slowly lifted his head. However, the first thing that came into view was a pale, hand-rolled cigarette hanging loosely between Eun-Ho’s lips.

“What the hell?! A cigarette?!” Swear-Master blurted out.

It looked crudely made—paper rolled tight and packed with powder resembling ground medicinal herbs.

When Eun-Ho parted his lips, a thin stream of gray smoke drifted upward

Swear-Master let out a hollow laugh. “What are you doing right now?! This isn’t the time to be smoking!”

“It is,” Eun-Ho replied calmly.

The man who had a penchant for spewing profanities was stunned. “What?”

That wasn’t just any cigarette.

“It’s handmade. Don’t waste it.”

“I don’t smoke.”

It was the Vitality Tobacco gifted by that chain-smoking woman Ayasa.

[Vitality Tobacco]

- A cigarette made by rolling dried Vitality Herb and Vigor Herb together. Provides analgesic, sedative, and antipyretic effects.

- If used when your Stamina is below 50%, Stamina is restored up to 80%. If used above 50%, Stamina increases up to 150%.

- Duration is 3 hours. Afterward, your Stamina returns to the level it was at before use.

- However, excessive use may result in addiction.

It was a ridiculous recovery item, one that could even cause addiction if overused.

“You said you don’t smoke,” Swear-Master muttered under his breath.

He had known from the start that Eun-Ho was someone who would make things happen. Even back when Eun-Ho had picked out those tiny worm-like creatures from the swarm of zombies, he had stood out.

“Whoa! Eun-Ho, are you actually going to beat the Administrator at this rate?!”

“Hell yeah, he might! If he teleports in and stabs him, wouldn’t that do it?”

“Right! He’s a Dragon Slayer, after all!”

“D-Dragon?”

Who would’ve thought that offhand joke would become reality?

“I was just talking nonsense back then...” Swear-Master muttered.

Lee Ye-Ji snapped at him. “What are you even mumbling about?!”

Back then, Eun-Ho had only appeared embarrassed, telling them to cut it out with the Dragon Slayer nonsense.

They say a half-baked prophet gets people killed...

Swear-Master shuddered at his own careless words.

Lee Ye-Ji stepped in to support Swear-Master. “Get up already! Here. Lean on me!”

“Dragon Slayer...” Swear-Master muttered.

“Huh?”

Just then, something clicked in his mind.

“Dragon! He killed one before!” he shouted.

“He did! But what does that have to do with anything right now?!” she shot back.

[Congratulations!]

[You are the first in Sector 13 to defeat the Exquisite Flame Dragon.]

It has everything to do with it! Swear-Master thought.

“The system said that he was the first to slay a Dragon!”

“So what?” she started.

“The title, Dragon Slayer!”

It was supposed to grant overwhelming attack power and speed against Dragons.

“Then why is he still struggling even with that?” she asked, confused.

“That’s not it!” he snapped.

“What do you mean?”

“It wasn’t a Dragon before!”

Until now, the chairman hadn’t been a true Dragon. He was just some monstrous hybrid.

What if Eun-Ho had been waiting for it to fully awaken? What if he had been blocking, enduring, defending and holding back, just to unleash the full effect of the Dragon Slayer title?

Swoosh—!

Eun-Ho kicked off the ground with inhumane speed that rivaled light itself.

Damn...

A silver path shimmered beneath him, like moonlight laid across the world. He moved along it in every direction, his motions far beyond human limits.

Everywhere Swear-Master looked—the path, the sky, the ground, and even the reflective surface of water—he saw only afterimages of Eun-Ho.

Thud—!

Eun-Ho launched himself forward again, scattering particles of light. He closed the distance with only a single sword in hand.

A towering blue aura erupted from his blade, pressing the Ancient Dragon back as it rose. Each clash exploded with golden flashes like newborn stars.

That’s the Dragon Slayer!

The blue sword aura tore through the Dragon’s blood-red wings. Its vast, sunset-colored span twisted and broke.

At the same time, a roar that shook heaven and earth erupted.

“Kraaaaah—!”

[Caution!]

[You’ve developed the status effect Fear.]

[Your heart rate is unstable.]

It was due to the innate terror of Dragonkind. The moment Swear-Master and the others heard it, they froze against their will. No matter what they did, they couldn’t even twitch a finger, but those monsters in the sky were different.

“Acceleration,” Eun-Ho said.

He vanished and then reappeared. No one could follow his movements with their eyes. They could only guess by the increasing scars on the Dragon’s scales, and the debris filling the sky with every flash of light.

When flames ignited around Eun-Ho, the Dragon’s scales shattered and fell. When Eun-Ho coughed up blood, the Dragon’s cold blood poured down like a storm.

It was a battle at the level of gods, and yet they were evenly matched. The clash was so overwhelming that it was suffocating just to witness.

“E-Eun-Ho is fighting insanely well! Is he actually going to win?!” Lee Ye-Ji exclaimed.

Her legs had long since given out, leaving her seated on the ground.

Swear-Master, too, could only cover his mouth as he watched in awe. “Damn right he’s going to win! Who do you think our team leader is?!”

However, their hope could not be granted so easily.

“Huh?”

Eun-Ho’s blade finally pierced through the Dragon’s scales. He tore open the flesh hidden beneath, carving a clear slash across its pale pink hide.

Lee Ye-Ji’s voice faltered. “E-Eun-Ho’s wing is...”

Crack—

With a faint, brittle sound, Eun-Ho’s wing began to crumble. Smoke rose as it disintegrated. Under the relentless heat, the wing that barely held together by that strange black substance melted, burned, and fell apart piece by piece.

“Lee Eun-Ho!” the Swear-Master shouted.

Feathers scattered as Eun-Ho began to fall.

He’s falling!

They were thousands of meters in the air.

Below them lay a ruined landscape, reduced to rubble by the earlier explosions. There was nothing to break his fall!

“Sum... mon,” Eun-Ho muttered weakly.

Covered in blood, he barely attempted to call forth a Door. His arm, which could barely hold onto his sword, finally gave out. Eun-Ho lost his grip.

“Mister! Get it together and raise the barrier!” Ye-Ji shouted.

A Dragon would probably survive such a fall, but Eun-Ho wouldn’t. A mortal body would smash into the ground and burst apart.

“Damn it! Put the barrier up!!” Swear-Master screamed, his voice cracking.

Fweeeet—!

Just then, a sharp whistle cut through the chaos.

“Which idiot has time to whistle right now—huh?” the Swear-Master snapped, before stopping short.

“Skeletons?” Ye-Ji muttered.

At the edge of his tear-blurred vision, something black flickered into view.

“A bird?” he muttered.

Wide, jet-black wings stretched out. Its massive frame made its small head seem comical in comparison. A long, razor-like beak that gleamed with deadly sharpness.

It’s the Razor-Beaked Birds!

They appeared in flocks, heads held high, each with a saddle strapped to its back.

Fwoosh—!

One of them swooped down and caught Eun-Ho mid-fall.

“Flight!”

Then, the birds ascended at once, carrying him back into the sky.

“Kieeek!”

“Kaaaaah!”

Why would that lunatic prepare dozens, no, hundreds, of these birds with saddles? And who were the ones calling them with whistles?

Swear-Master didn’t know for sure, but one thing felt certain: the resolve of the Skeletons who had gathered their scattered bones and pieced themselves back together was no different from his own.

“Skeleton Knights! Take off!” a knight shouted, his spiked bone helmet jutting upward.

Clank!

Wounded Skeleton Knights lined up in formation, each gripping a greatsword.

“Kaaaak!”

One by one, the Razor-Beaked Birds descended before them.

“Take off!”

A Skeleton Knight mounted.

“Take off!”

Another climbed on and took off, followed by another one.

“Take off!”

With each command, wings beat powerfully as the birds lifted into the air. Ten birds took flight, carrying Skeleton Knights on their backs. As if calling the rest to follow, they stretched their necks forward and cried out.

Soon, the sky was swallowed by a black swarm of Razor-Beaked Birds.

“Damn,” Swear-Master muttered.

He was overwhelmed by the blackened sky, the Skeleton Knights, and those ridiculous birds. Despite being the weakest, most insignificant ones, their pressure churned in his chest.

A thought flashed through Swear-Master’s mind, and he muttered, almost unconsciously, “Summon.”

Then, a clean, tightly rolled tobacco appeared between his fingers.

“The old man would nag me to death if he saw this,” Swear-Master muttered.

He lit it, took a drag, and exhaled slowly. As the smoke circulated through him, his mind cleared, like the sky after rain.

[You have absorbed the Vitality Tobacco.]

...

[Your Stamina has been restored.]

[12.5% → 80%]

[Remaining duration: 3 hours]

Then, he pulled the chunk of concrete from his abdomen. The bleeding stopped almost immediately. Even the dizziness, like someone had been violently shaking his head side to side, faded.

“H-hey!” Ye-Ji called out.

He was feeling fine, so he pushed himself to his feet.

“You can’t just stand up like that in your condition!” she protested.

She was yelling as usual, but this wasn’t the time to hang back and complain.

“I’m going too,” he said.

“What?!” she asked, stunned.

He then pointed upward at the birds.

“T-the birds? You’re going to ride one?!” she asked incredulously.

“Yeah.”

“Do you even know how?!” she demanded.

“No.”

She stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “What?!”

“Well... whatever,” he muttered, brushing it off.

“You want to die from a fall before even fighting the Dragon? Just wait until Ji-Eun recovers and ask her for help!” she insisted.

“Do you think she’d be able to shoot while controlling us?” he shot back.

“Still!”

Swear-Master forced himself upright, trembling from injuries. He limped, but he stood. “Even if I can’t deal damage, I can at least draw its attention for a moment.”

He couldn’t let that flicker of hope go out. He had to act.

“A moment won’t be enough! What are you even planning to do?!” she cried.

“A moment is enough. At least for him.”

Eun-Ho had already surpassed human limits. He would seize any opening, no matter how small. Even if Swear-Master couldn’t fight on the front lines, he had to do what they could.

“Mr. Swear-Mas...” Ye-Ji began, her voice trembling.

He took another drag and exhaled. Thick smoke poured from his lips, as heavy as his resolve.

A whistle, he thought.

Then, he pursed his dry lips. It was time to call a bird and soar into the sky. If the Skeleton Knights could do it, so could he.

He steeled himself and blew out. “Phee—”

Only a weak hiss of air escaped.

“Phee—”

Again, it was nothing but air.

“Phee—”

Huh? This isn’t right...

“Wait, don’t tell me you can’t whistle,” Ye-Ji muttered.

Her expression shifted from disbelief to resignation but that didn’t matter.

After a brief moment of embarrassment, Swear-Master tried a different approach. “Hey!”

Is that really going to work? Ye-Ji thought, barely holding back her words.

“You there! You dumb bird-brained bastards!”

“Kii?”

Huh? You can understand?

“You feathered idiots with nothing but crap in your heads!”

“Kiiii?!”

“With those fat bodies, can you even fly properly?!”

“Kaaak?!”

[The Razor-Beaked Birds are enraged by the mad human’s insults!]

They were getting angry.

“Come on then. Give me a ride too!” he shouted.

“Kii! Khaaak!”

[The Razor-Beaked Birds are charging at the mad human!]

“That’s right, you idiots! Come at me—aaaaah!”

“Y-you got on?!” Ye-Ji shouted in disbelief.

Man. I can’t believe that actually worked.