I Have Contracted Too Many Constellations

Chapter 21: The Abandoned Dragon’s Nest (4)

Had I already become this strong?

No way.

The possibility was nearly zero.

There were no plausible scenarios.

The reason it died was probably because the holy fire had spread that far.

However, my holy fire wasn’t yet powerful enough to kill the Blue Lizard through sheer force.

So, there was only one possibility.

‘…Do these guys have demonic energy?’

I wasn’t sure if it was demonic energy.

But it certainly seemed to have some malevolent force that the holy fire could purify.

If not, there was no reason for it to die from the holy fire.

[The Constellation, ‘The One Who Faces Demons,’ is watching the situation with interest.]

“Hey! What happened there?”

“How did you kill it in one shot?”

Voices came from behind.

The lizards that had fallen back had already been dealt with, and the two called out to me.

They looked extremely bewildered.

Although they didn’t say it, Lee Se-ah and Jacheongbi were no different.

“What was that just now? I know it was holy fire, but why did they die in one hit?”

I had already informed them that I possessed the holy fire skill.

And that it was a skill of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl.

Since I was going to use it frequently, I had to tell them in advance.

Their point of surprise was why the lizards died in one hit.

Which was also my point of confusion.

‘First, I need to check.’

As I looked at the lizard’s corpse, which had turned to ashes, I spoke while moving to the rear.

The first thing to check was whether these creatures had a malevolent aura.

“Is there any lizard corpse left?”

I requested a lizard corpse.

If they had a malevolent aura, it would have affected their corpses as well.

I needed a corpse to properly verify that.

“Here, we have one in good condition.”

One of the lizards that had gone to the back had been scorched by Jin Juha’s electricity to the point that not even its shape remained.

Only the lizard killed by Lee Se-ah was left with its shape intact.

The lizard’s corpse lay there, its neck slashed deeply.

At first glance, it looked like an ordinary lizard.

Its size, its scales’ color.

There was nothing different from what I had seen in books or videos.

Except for the strange aura flowing around it.

‘Demonic energy… doesn’t seem like it, is it an evil aura?’

It was closer to an evil aura than the demonic energy of demons.

At least, I had definitely experienced demonic energy, so I was sure about this one thing.

“It seems like the lizards are tainted with an evil aura.”

“Evil aura? What are you suddenly talking about?”

There must be a reason why they became infused with the evil aura.

They were Blue Lizards. They weren’t monsters born with an evil aura from birth.

Then what was the reason?

“The boss, right?”

At that moment, Lee Se-ah, who had been silent, spoke up.

The reason she mentioned was none other than the boss monster of this dungeon.

It was also the cause I had roughly guessed.

Dungeons possess their own unique magic.

And the owner of that unique magic holds the most significant share.

So, monsters of the same species might have different attributes depending on the dungeon.

‘In the case of this dungeon, it’s an evil aura.’

The boss monster of this dungeon, presumed to be a dragon, seemed to have a close relationship with the evil aura.

Wait a minute.

Wouldn’t this be much easier than I thought?

‘Holy fire is a cheat.’

I had to confirm it directly, but if the boss indeed possessed an evil aura, conquering this dungeon might be easier than expected.

Seeing how the lizard died just now….

The performance of this holy fire seemed to be better than I thought.

There was also Sung Harim.

“A dragon species with an evil aura… Nothing comes to mind.”

“But if it’s an evil aura, it shouldn’t be too strong as long as it’s of an epic level.”

We didn’t know much about the dungeon boss.

Once you enter the boss room, you can’t leave until you clear it.

Since we had to hunt it, the academy probably didn’t conduct a detailed investigation.

So we only knew it was a dragon species, but now it had an evil aura.

Which was actually good.

[The Constellation, ‘The One Who Faces Demons,’ expects you to eradicate the malevolent beings.]

Leaving behind the message from the Constellation.

I handed the lizard’s corpse I had been examining to Lee Se-ah.

“Since you caught it, the ownership is yours.”

Contractors had two main ways to earn money.

Either by selling monster corpses.

Or by completing commissions.

The ownership of a monster’s corpse transfers according to contribution.

In that sense, this corpse belonged to Lee Se-ah.

Since it was a monster with a rank, that one corpse alone would be worth hundreds of thousands.

In the Jujube Forest dungeon, the dungeon was academy-owned, so we couldn’t take the corpses.

But this dungeon was my property.

It was only natural that the ownership came to us.

‘The ones I killed… can’t be used.’

Of course, the ones I killed had no resale value.

The holy fire’s sacred flames had turned them to ashes along with their resale value.

There was no way anything valuable could be left when it was burned to ashes.

The same went for Jin Juha, but her circumstances were different.

I hadn’t intended it, and she didn’t care anyway.

She was wealthy enough to consider the income from such low-grade monster byproducts trivial.

“Let’s move.”

“Already? Wasn’t that a bit much just now?”

“It’s fine. It wasn’t too much.”

My body was brimming with vitality.

In the first place, I hadn’t moved my body that much.

With the current amount of mana, there was no way I’d struggle just because I used a skill earlier.

With my current stats.

I could keep fighting indefinitely.

#

We progressed through the dungeon without difficulty.

Most of the monsters were of a fairy-tale level.

That level couldn’t break through my or Lee Se-ah’s defenses, nor withstand Jin Juha’s attacks.

Plus, if we got slightly hurt or exhausted, Sung Harim’s care came in.

It would be strange to encounter dangerous situations here.

We continued skirmishing with the lizards in the dungeon.

During these continuous battles, my skill proficiency constantly increased.

Now, I could inflict critical injuries almost solely with the Green Shade Divine Art.

[The skill, ‘Green Shade Divine Art,’ proficiency has increased.]

[The energy of the forest and shade blesses you.]

[The skill, ‘Burning Holy Fire,’ proficiency has increased.]

[Your sword is imbued with heavenly and demon-vanquishing energy.]

Real combat was the best way to increase skill proficiency.

Continuing to fight, my proficiency rose much faster than when I trained alone.

The most outstanding growth was, of course, the holy fire.

While there were variations between individuals, most of the lizards had an evil aura.

The holy fire was undoubtedly the best way to deal with them.

Constantly using and maintaining the holy fire naturally raised its proficiency.

When the proficiency of the holy fire surpassed 15%, a notification like this appeared.

[The skill, ‘Burning Holy Fire (Epic),’ proficiency has reached the threshold, unlocking a new derivative skill.]

[You have acquired the skill, ‘Armor of Holy Fire.’]

A notification for a derivative skill.

It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

Derivative skills.

When the proficiency of a skill bestowed by a Constellation reaches a certain level, a new application of that skill is unlocked.

Derivative skills don’t have their own rank and are subordinate to the main skill.

As the name suggests, derivative skills are techniques that can also be used with the original skill.

The good thing about acquiring a derivative skill is.

Mana efficiency improvement.

Just having it registered as a skill significantly improves mana efficiency.

Kiieeek-!!

The effect of [Armor of Holy Fire] was very simple.

It enveloped the body in holy fire for protection.

It offered decent physical defense, and being fundamentally an offensive skill, it also reflected attacks.

A simple but powerful effect.

And its effectiveness was certain even against epic-level monsters.

“This is really good.”

A lizardman, dying before me.

A creature with a human body and a lizard face, it was an epic-level monster called the ‘Blue Lizardman.’

At first, I was tense fighting an epic-level monster.

But did it also have an evil aura?

When it clashed with the Armor of Holy Fire, it burned up alone and died.

‘Even though the mana consumption is high, it’s usable.’

It was a skill worth the mana it consumed.

I liked it. Especially the fact that it was a defensive skill.

Being physically weak was my weakness.

“Yoo Jinwoo, shouldn’t you switch to being a mage? Your sword is just standing still more and more.”

“Quiet, the Constellation would be sad.”

[The Constellation, ‘Nine Heavens Mysterious Girl,’ says she doesn’t mind.]

Honestly, I thought about it too.

Both the Green Shade Divine Art and the holy fire were mage-type skills.

Now that their proficiencies were high and I used them often.

But I couldn’t betray the Mysterious Girl.

My foundation was as a swordsman.

“We’ve cleared this area.”

After distributing the corpses.

Jin Juha spread her mana to scan the surroundings.

She spread her mana, detecting the surrounding structure and magic.

The feedback was clear.

There were no more monsters in this area.

“Really? All those lizards are gone?”

“Not a single one left.”

At first, it seemed endless with the monsters pouring out

, wondering when we would finish them all.

But it seemed we had indeed caught them all by diligently moving.

Besides, since Jin Juha said so, it must be true.

Who else would I trust if not her?

“So, only the boss is left?”

Sung Harim, who had just healed a slightly injured Lee Se-ah, said that.

Only the boss remained.

The reason we came to this dungeon.

And we had already discovered the location of the boss.

“It’s huge…”

At Jin Juha’s muttering, we all turned our eyes forward.

A massive stone gate, large enough for two elephants.

Engraved with dragon patterns.

The immense magic emanating from it made it clear that this was the boss room.

“Then, let’s…”

Just as someone was about to say we should go in immediately.

“Wait.”

Jacheongbi, who had been silently following us, spoke up.

With a very annoyed and slightly stiff expression.

Jacheongbi, brushing her hair irritably, stretched a bit and then moved towards the dungeon entrance.

“You guys! Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

With that, Jacheongbi disappeared.

It seemed an uninvited guest had arrived outside the dungeon.