Ranker’s Return

“What is this?” Edchan wondered with a serious expression. It was his first time seeing such a thing.

The dragon head, which looked like it was about to open its eyes, wasn’t something that could be seen just anywhere.

“It is as you can see. It is a dragon’s head,” Hyeonu replied calmly. There was no reason for him to be surprised. It wasn’t his first time seeing this head after all.

“How did you get this? I don’t think you have the strength to defeat a dragon. In addition... the energy of the corpse is much different from the dragons I know.” Edchan’s expression became more confused. The energy he felt from the dragon corpse was unlike that of the dragons he knew. It was the first time in his life that he felt energy like this.

Moreover, the appearance looked different too. With light purple skin and two huge horns that rose from the forehead, this dragon was different from any other dragon. There was a clear difference.

“It is from the demon world. I didn’t kill it, unfortunately. I received it as a gift.”

“The demon world?” Edchan’s expression became strange again. He had never heard of dragons existing in the demon world.

“Are there dragons in the demon world?”

“There is only one now, but... they definitely exist.”

“So why are you showing me this?”

“Why? Edchan, where can I find a better blacksmith than you?”

Hyeonu’s purpose was simple. As always, he entrusted Edchan with making equipment. Hyeonu made an unconventional offer: “I want the same as last time. A leather armor set. Apart from that, you can use the rest.”

After making the armor set, he would give the remaining materials to Edchan. However, Edchan refused.

“I might be a Golden Hammer, but I’m not that expensive. Just a small amount of the materials is enough.” Edchan felt burdened by Hyeonu’s proposal. In fact, Edchan only needed enough to make the armor. When else would he get to touch dragon leather? After all, this was a dragon of the demon world where there was now only one left.

“By the way... do you want to use all of the dragon’s head?” Edchan suddenly had a good idea. It was a pity to waste the giant dragon head all on equipment. That in itself was a lot of work.

“No? Edchan, if you don’t need it, there is no need to use all of it as material.” Hyeonu naturally had no intention of dismantling the dragon’s head and turning it into items.

‘Who wouldn’t like it?’

To be honest, it was a crazy idea. Of course, it would be great if Edchan made items using Fuca’s head. It was just that Hyeonu didn’t want those items going to other players. They had to be used by Hyeonu alone. Otherwise… it should only be given to Hyeonu’s acquaintances. That was his limit.

“Why don’t you give some materials to that human called Suped and me? Then I’ll be able to make something amazing. I will make something that even the emperor of the empire doesn’t have,” Edchan bragged after hearing Hyeonu’s answer.

Edchan was really going to make a masterpiece. His strength would be lacking if he did it on his own, but he would be able to complete it with the help of the brilliant magician, Suped.

“I would appreciate it...” Hyeonu accepted Edchan’s offer because there was no reason to refuse.

“Then let’s start with some light butchery. I need to make the armor you said...” Edchan smiled happily as he pulled out a dagger, seemingly with Hyeonu’s approval. Then he started to climb Fuca’s head. He added, “This time, I’ll make special earrings as well by using the secrets of my Red Envil tribe.” 

Edchan started digging at Fuca’s eyes, which were as large as his head. Fuca’s eyes were like jewels—gray jewels that were roughly many meters in diameter.

‘Make earrings from that?’

Hyeonu was startled when he saw Fuca’s eyes. They were of such a huge size. It was a pity to make earrings from them. Earrings were only around 1–2 centimeters long. Even if the earrings were large and colorful, approximately hundreds of them could be made from the eyes.

“Is there a reason why you need both of the eyes? One seems to be enough to make earrings...?” Hyeonu asked.

Edchan ignored Hyeonu’s questioning gaze as he grabbed Fuca’s huge eyes with both hands and climbed down from Fuca’s head. He carefully placed the eyes on the ground before saying, “There are two earrings, so there should naturally be two materials. Why? Do you want to wear only one?”

“It’s not like that... Isn’t the material too large compared to the result?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. What do you think the Red Anvil tribe is? I can use our secret method. Now, take a look.” Edchan threw the dagger onto the ground and stood in front of the huge beads that were even larger than himself.

Then he gently placed his hands on one of the beads.

“Eh?” Hyeonu’s mouth dropped open and he blinked his eyes continuously at the sight that unfolded before him. The huge bead started to become smaller; the eye was being compressed. In less than 10 seconds, Fuca’s eye was the size of a fist.

“Right, you do need two.” Hyeonu nodded.

Edchan quickly compressed the other eye as well and tucked it into a bag that was tied to his waist.

“Now, let’s start the butchery to make the leather armor.” Edchan picked up the dagger that had fallen to the ground and approached Fuca’s head again, stripping off the skin on the neck section. His work soon came to an end as the amount of skin that had to be peeled off was very small. The section of skin Edchan removed was insignificant compared to the size of Fuca’s head.

“Now, I need you to do something for me. Do you see that place over there where the skin came off? There is a marked part over there. Just cut the flesh and bones for me. I want it cut so as little blood as possible flows out,” Edchan said. He asked Hyeonu for a small favor because it was hard for him to do this himself. Edchan had barely managed to remove the skin, so it was impossible for him to cut the bones.

“I understand, Edchan,” Hyeonu answered while pulling out the Mysterious Sky Sword from the sheath at his waist. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to have the items made.

‘It’s here.’ Hyeonu found a place with deep knife marks. The markings were narrower than he’d expected. The length of one side was approximately 10 centimeters.

‘Is this real?’

It was very small compared to the piece of peeled-off skin. Hyeonu didn’t think about it too much. He believed in Edchan’s decision.

A faint purple pure energy appeared around the Mysterious Sky Sword.

‘I’m not used to it yet.’

Hyeonu looked at the purple pure energy and clicked his tongue. He had used his magic power a few times after he obtained the chaos attribute, but it felt awkward to use purple pure energy instead of the usual black-red pure energy. It didn’t feel like it was his own.

‘Still, the power is enormous...’

He didn’t know if it was due to the rise of the magic power stat or the increase in proficiency of the Mysterious Sky Demonic Art, but his pure energy was overwhelmingly strong. It was originally very powerful, but it was on a different level now. The purple pure energy sliced through Fuca’s skin and even the bones. There was a bumpy feeling, but it still cut smoothly.

‘Okay, it’s over.’

“Why is it so much?” Hyeonu complained as he pulled out the cut flesh. The cut section was larger than he expected. It was like looking at the tip of the iceberg. After removing the bones from the flesh, he was left with a rectangular piece that was a few meters long.

“Here you are, Edchan. What about the rest?” Hyeonu asked Edchan as he held out the flesh and bones of Fuca that he had cut out. Edchan said he would make something special with Fuca’s head, so Hyeonu had to hand it over.

“This can be placed deep inside the lord’s castle. Of course, you have to hide it so that others are unaware of it,” Edchan said. He knew human greed better than anyone. There weren’t many people brave enough to steal goods from Hyeonu—who was favored by the emperor and a disciple of Duke Lebron, the best knight of the empire. However, there were still some human beings who might do so. It was because they were blinded by greed.

“I will naturally do so. I will place it near the lord’s castle. No, go with me to Suped. I think it is safest to hide it in a magic circle,” Hyeonu replied. Rather than just hiding it physically, Hyeonu was going to use Suped’s magic. If he was going to hide it, he had to do it properly.

***

Hyeonu and Edchan retrieved Fuca’s head and went to meet Suped together.

“What's going on?” Suped looked at Edchan and Hyeonu and frowned. He didn’t really welcome the combination of these two people. To be exact, Suped wasn’t happy to see Hyeonu. Hyeonu hid behind Edchan since it was Edchan who had to speak to Suped because he needed Suped’s help.

‘It definitely isn’t because I’m too lazy to talk...’ Hyeonu thought.

Edchan silently put his hand into the bag at his waist. His hand was stained with blood when he withdrew a piece of red flesh from the bag.

“What’s going on here?” Suped frowned. His frown was now deeper than when the two people first appeared.

“Take a closer look. What is this?” Edchan answered briefly.

‘What the hell is that blood?’ Suped focused on Edchan’s words as the latter spoke.

Then Suped’s eyes widened. At the same time, he pointed to the red flesh without connecting his words properly. “Why... What is that? Where did you...”

He felt an immense wave of energy from the flesh and blood.

“It is the flesh and blood of a dragon. Marquis Gang Hyeonu brought it.”

“Dragon blood…!” Suped exclaimed. This was the blood of a dragon—the guardian of balance and the master of magic. In that case, the enormous magic power Suped felt made sense.

“By the way, how did you get this? You can’t kill a dragon...”

“I obtained it from the demon world. It has nothing to do with the dragons in the middle world,” Hyeonu answered Suped’s words.

“I’ll give this to you. No, I can give you more, but there is a condition. Help me for a week,” Edchan added briefly. 

“Of course, I will help.” Suped nodded. It wasn’t worth worrying about. Where else could he get the blood and flesh of a dragon? He was willing to help for a year, not just a week.

“Then come with me right now. I must go to the lord’s castle.”

“The lord’s castle? Why there?”

“You will know when we go there,” Edchan said. Then he turned around and smiled at Hyeonu, winking with one eye. Edchan’s eyes were full of mischief.

‘He is still immature even though he is so old.’ Hyeonu smiled at Edchan. He could understand why Edchan was looking at him like this.

“Let’s go, Suped.” Hyeonu smiled at Suped like he knew nothing.