Paladin of the Dead God
chapter-221

“An angel─dragon chimera?! Is that even possible?”

Hesabel asked in shock.

From the mortal’s perspective, both dragons and angels were terrifying beings. While all dragons were either killed, driven to the outskirts, or became so rare they were only mentioned in legends, angels still roamed the earth, symbolizing the power of the gods.

Unlike other orders, Elil did not view dragons as symbols of evil but rather as beings representing bravery and wisdom. However, attempting to merge an angel with a dragon was something even Elil could not forgive.

“He was able to research in secret because he shared his body and divinity.”

Just like the Sword of May, gods had to consume resources like the ‘Flame of Glory’ to create angels. Elil was no exception. Calurien had stolen these resources, mixed them with his own genes, and created this hybrid.

[…….]

Calurien said nothing, aware that Isaac already knew everything. He seemed to think this was also part of Isaac’s ‘mission.’

In reality, Isaac did not care much.

Whether Calurien merged angels with dragons or Zerg with Protoss, it did not matter to Isaac. He was only curious about the effects of devouring it and had a minor question to solve.

Isaac spoke as he descended the stairs.

“All attempts to create a dragon must have failed. You can tell since there’s no finished product. The poorly made ones wouldn’t be recognized as dragons.”

[……Yes. All the bodies crumbled, intelligence hit rock bottom, and reproduction was impossible. After much research, it was discovered that a dragon heart was essential to create a dragon. But artificially creating a dragon heart was impossible…….]

“So he tried to substitute it with divine power?”

In this world, there was a power that granted desires to those who wished. Sword aura, miracles, angels, and gods all proved this. Calurien tried to artificially inject that mysterious power into the body in place of a dragon heart. The result was this hybrid.

Perhaps Calurien became an angel of Elil just to create this. Obtaining an angel’s divinity was not easy.

But as seen from this hybrid’s appearance, his attempt failed.

[Yes. As a result, a being that half existed in Urbansus and half in the earthly realm appeared. However, its intelligence was severely lacking, it could not use magic, and it could barely speak. Most importantly, it had no reproductive capabilities.]

Calurien had experimented in an attempt to prevent the extinction of the species.

He was not trying to create a global-grade mule.

Ultimately, his experiment was a failure. But he couldn’t discard the valuable experiment results nor expose his sins by releasing it to the world.

He ended up hiding it in the deepest part of his laboratory.

Isaac’s party finally reached the underground floor. The angel─dragon chimera was still asleep. When Isaac cautiously reached out, it showed no sign of waking up or reacting.

Upon inspecting the sealing chains made by Calurien, he saw that the Luadin Key could easily break them.

“Is it fierce?”

[……Don’t talk like it’s a dog. It’s not calm.]

There was no need to ask. The angel─dragon named Nacaruriel, like all chimeras, had a ferocious nature. But the risk of braving this secret dungeon was worth it.

“Then it’s time to deal with your leftover experiment, Calurien.”

Before Calurien could say anything, Isaac struck the chains with the Luadin Key. As soon as one chain broke, Nacaruriel’s massive body twitched. Isaac didn’t need to touch the remaining chains.

As Nacaruriel awoke and shook its body, the chains shattered with a fierce glow.

The hybrid born between divinity and savagery let out a savage roar.

***

Isaac had wanted to devour it while it was still chained, but the seal protected it from external threats as well. In any case, to devour Nacaruriel, he had to break the chains.

When the chains shattered forcibly instead of gradually, the curses implanted by Calurien were immediately triggered.

Boom, boom, boom! Black mists enveloped Nacaruriel and began to crush it. Nacaruriel struggled, its neck pressed to the ground as if under tremendous weight.

Isaac felt relieved watching this.

‘At least this part is the same as the dungeon mechanics.’

Even as a failed experiment, the angel─dragon hybrid was an absurd outcome. Given that in the game, defeating an angel was a rare event, fighting Nacaruriel alone should have been nearly impossible.

Calurien’s seal mechanics made it balanced.

But having mechanics didn’t mean it was easy; a hidden boss wouldn’t be so simple.

‘Hesabel, get ready.’

Isaac leaped in to slaughter the creature reduced to a wild beast.

Nacaruriel roared fiercely and spread its wings. Its body disappeared and reappeared in mid-air.

‘It does have phase shift abilities.’

Nacaruriel, half dragon, half angel, existed partly in Urbansus and partly on earth. Though neither fully, it could momentarily exist in whichever dimension it wanted.

Rather than truly disappearing, it submerged its whole body in Urbansus and then resurfaced.

To understand how, one would need to ask the Immortal Emperor who pulled the afterlife to the earthly realm.

Nacaruriel unleashed a fierce breath attack. As a product of Calurien’s genes, it was a lightning breath.

Boom! Fortunately, Isaac had prepared for this. He quickly condensed the color beyond to block the breath.

‘I’ll snipe it!’

Hesabel, sensing the awakening of Nacaruriel, had already retreated to a strategic vantage point. She aimed her crossbow, enhanced with red feathers, and fired at Nacaruriel.

The bolt struck, peeling away the scales around Nacaruriel’s neck and embedding itself.

Hesabel’s eye twitched. She had aimed for the eye, but it seemed Nacaruriel had dodged, sensing the attack. As she prepared to shoot again, the same thing happened.

Nacaruriel vanished suddenly and reappeared right in front of Hesabel.

Just as it lunged to bite her with sharp teeth, Hesabel managed to evade by transforming into a red mist using her crimson entreaty.

Nacaruriel roared in fury at the escaping prey.

It was a monstrous combination of the functional violence of an angel and the instinctive violence of a dragon.

“Fortunately, it doesn’t seem like it can escape the tower right away.”

Fighting a winged beast in a confined space was vastly different from fighting it in the open. As long as it didn’t escape the tower, the prepared methods should suffice to hunt it down.

The curses left by Calurien’s seal continued to persistently target Nacaruriel. However, Nacaruriel inhaled deeply, as if intending to incinerate the black mist, and unleashed a breath of lightning.

Whoosh, KRRRRRRR!

The single breath, unleashed in the narrow cavern, created a storm of lightning as if hundreds of tornadoes had erupted. The lightning bounced off the walls, causing it to scatter wildly.

Isaac protected himself with armor imbued with the color beyond, but he couldn’t completely avoid being scorched in the unshielded areas.

As a result, he had to consume the precious fullness he had just barely managed to achieve.

During this time, Hesabel shot several more arrows. She aimed for the relatively difficult-to-dodge, large wing areas. However, another remarkable feature of Nacaruriel was revealed.

Hesabel’s arrows passed through its semi-transparent wings.

‘The arrows just went through!’

‘The semi-transparent parts belong to Urbansus… it seems.’

If so, this attack should work.

Shhh, whoosh! Nacaruriel sneered at Isaac’s attack and twisted its body. Isaac’s sword aimed at the parts Nacaruriel made semi-transparent.

But the fierce sword aura from Kaldwin bit into Nacaruriel’s wing joint, tearing it savagely.

“Kyaaa!”

Nacaruriel reappeared, roaring furiously, and plummeted. It slid down, leaving long claw marks on the wall.

Isaac judged that his hypothesis was correct from this sight.

‘Indeed, the Soul Devourer perk can injure it.’

Nacaruriel didn’t fully transition to Urbansus; it only matched its body’s nature to that realm. This confirmed that the Soul Devourer perk was effective.

This was quite encouraging.

Sword aura was useful for destroying undead, but there was nothing to be done if the soul escaped. Undead could find a way to stitch themselves into patchwork bodies again if they retained their souls. However, if their souls could be injured, this process would slow significantly.

However, the fragments of souls on the sword were barely noticeable, not even triggering an alert. He intended to devour it all. He had no intention of being satisfied with just a part of the soul.

In its rage from the wound, Nacaruriel unleashed another breath at Isaac. This time, instead of following the same pattern, it cunningly spewed lightning in all directions. The entire space was flooded with unpredictable lightning, making it certain that Isaac would be electrocuted.

But Nacaruriel’s lightning was slower than Isaac.

The runes inscribed on Kaldwin glowed.

The thrice-permitted acceleration ability instantly ignited Isaac’s body.

Before Nacaruriel could even finish its breath, Isaac landed behind it. The acceleration was so intense that his knees nearly buckled.

Isaac was dizzy from the speed.

‘I didn’t even think of running especially fast…!’

Kaldwin’s acceleration ability didn’t just enhance agility; it sped up Isaac’s time itself. This allowed him to run at several times the normal speed even with regular movements. However, the momentum exerted on his body was also multiplied.

‘Using this recklessly could turn it into a self-destruct device.’

But if mastered, its potential was limitless. With this speed, he could leap much higher than usual. Utilizing this speed, Isaac rotated swiftly and slashed Nacaruriel’s hind thigh.

Another cry of agony erupted. Isaac quickly thrust his left hand into the wound before Nacaruriel could phase shift. Parasites from beyond swarmed into the wound.

It was an experimental attempt, but when Nacaruriel shifted through phase, the parasites fell to the ground.

‘As expected, it doesn’t work.’

He had considered taming or turning Nacaruriel to his side. But the phase shift ability rendered the parasites ineffective.

In that case, he would devour it entirely.

Calurien, watching Isaac’s fight, muttered.

[You seem completely unfazed.]

“Not at all.”

Isaac replied, drawing out tentacles from his left hand.

“As I said, I’m not here to fight. I’m here to eat.”

Isaac was merely testing his new abilities against Nacaruriel.

Realizing Isaac was a dangerous foe, Nacaruriel searched for an escape. But there was no way out of the seal. Calurien said it had the intelligence of a human, but in fact, even animal-level intelligence was considerable.

Meanwhile, the black mist once again tried to ensnare it.

Nacaruriel attempted to phase shift again. But this time, Isaac, having predicted its move through the eye of chaos, was waiting. He grabbed Nacaruriel’s wing joint with the hand of the dead. Nacaruriel panicked and tried to phase shift again, but the hand of the dead, capable of grasping even the soul, hindered its ability.

Unable to shift properly, Nacaruriel flapped its wings in distress.

Isaac’s left hand plunged deep into its neck.