CHAPTER 157

“Ullr… the god…”

“Ullr?”

Ullr—the god of the Ur Guild, where Joshua Lehmann is guildmaster—actually made direct contact? And he’s one of the gods who wish for the world’s destruction?

“Hmm…”

Ullr wasn’t particularly well-known in Norse mythology. All anyone really knew about him was that he was the god of winter and skiing, the second husband of the goddess Skadi, and Thor’s stepson. Which meant Skadi and Thor were technically family.

…Wait. Did that mean they were also part of the faction that wanted to destroy the world? No—it was too soon to jump to conclusions. Even gods related by blood rarely trusted each other. If anything, they were more likely to keep one another in check.

Besides, Norse mythology had already been twisted beyond recognition and wasn’t widely known in the first place. There was no way of knowing how the author had chosen to reinterpret it in this novel.

That’s what happened when there was no copyright. People mashed myths together however they liked. Honestly, if they’d just used the Marvel universe, things would’ve been way simpler.

Grumbling to myself, I looked back at Joshua Lehmann. His eyes were unfocused, blinking slowly. It was time to move on to the next question. I bit my lip and spoke again.

“Is there no one else behind this? What’s your connection to Raisu… and the Laufey Guild?”

“I… don’t really know him.”

“Damn it.”

So they weren’t working with Raisu after all? Well, that made sense—Ur was a major foreign guild. Even the Laufey Guild wouldn’t have been able to reach that far.

So the reason the characters in the novel failed to clear the final dungeon in the previous timeline—and the world ended—was because of interference from Joshua Lehmann, the guildmaster of Ur, and their god, Ullr?

Still, things were finally starting to make sense. If I could keep Joshua Lehmann from getting in the way, and the exploration team retrieved the legendary weapons, clearing the final dungeon should be possible.

“Is it over now?”

“…”

But there was still one problem left. The dragon was staring at me right beside me. The evil dragon, Fafnir. That’s what the system window called him.

An evil dragon… and honestly, it wasn’t wrong. In Norse mythology, Fafnir was a villain who, blinded by greed for gold, killed his own father and fought his brothers. He was originally a dwarf, but it's said he turned into a dragon to guard his treasure.

But the Fafnir standing in front of me now didn’t look anything like the dwarves I’d seen. He wasn’t short, his ears weren’t long, and his skin wasn’t dark… I figured that maybe the Fafnir in this world was a different being from the one in the mythology I knew.

Either way, what mattered was that there was no way I could handle this dragon on my own. First, I needed to contact Liam White through the communicator…

“Hyung?”

“…?”

I turned my head, puzzled.

There stood Do-gyul, staring at me in surprise. Eden and Andrew Bailey were standing right next to him.

“Yi Jin-ah!”

“…!”

What were Do-gyul and Eden doing here?

Of all times, they had to show up before I could contact Liam White.

I frowned at the two of them, then shouted.

“Don’t come any closer!”

“…?”

Do-gyul, who had been about to approach me, stopped in his tracks.

It seemed he had just realized I wasn’t alone. His eyes locked onto the dragon.

“You…”

“Are these guys his allies?”

“…”

“Hm?”

The dragon tilted his head slightly, glancing back and forth between me and Do-gyul.

“You seem pretty close to that guy. He calls you ‘Hyung’?”

“…”

“You two actually related?”

Even I could tell he wasn’t asking out of genuine curiosity. But I had no idea how to respond. I nervously shifted my gaze from Do-gyul to the dragon.

“They are—”

It was the moment I began to speak, hesitantly.

“Yi Jin-ah, duck!”

“…!”

A sudden gust of wind blew in from behind. I instinctively knew it was Eden’s. I ducked just in time as the fierce wind slammed into the dragon. At the same moment, the blast sent me flying backward.

“Ugh…!”

“Yi Jin-ah, are you okay?”

“Eden…!”

Eden was shouting at me, as if he could finally speak freely. Seeing that, I snapped out of it and shouted back.

“Get out of here! Now!”

“What?”

“Just get out of here, fast!”

“Okay, okay.”

Eden responded with a puzzled look and activated his ability. Suddenly, my body felt much lighter than before. We just ran, with no idea where we were headed.

“Is it okay to just leave him behind?”

“Yeah.”

“…”

Eden glanced back at Joshua Lehmann, who was lying on the ground, and asked. I answered coldly. It was a bit of a shame that we couldn’t hand him over to Kang Yoo-hyun, but now wasn’t the time to worry about that. A dragon at S-rank or higher could start chasing us down at any moment.

“Which way do we get out of here?”

“I’m not completely sure, but I think it’s this way.”

“Hmm…”

Andrew Bailey didn’t rely on instinct to find the path—he depended on what he could see. Which made him a little harder to trust in urgent situations like this. After all, those who relied on instinct could usually find a way out much faster. Still, now wasn’t the time to be picky. As long as we could find a way out and regroup with the exploration team…

"Huh?"

Rumble.

The ground shook. It felt just like the tremor I’d felt right before I fell here.

I looked around in surprise.

“What was that?”

“Yi Jin-ah, hold on tight!”

“Ugh…!”

In the end, Eden grabbed me and flew up into the air, with Do-gyul and Andrew Bailey following along. I reached out and took Do-gyul’s hand.

“Do-gyul-ah, are you okay?”

“Yes.”

I told Do-gyul to hold Andrew Bailey’s hand. He looked reluctant for some reason, but since we were already in the air, he eventually reached out and grabbed it.

“The ground… it’s collapsing.”

“…!”

When I heard Eden mutter and looked down, I realized he was right.

The ground where we’d just been was crumbling with a loud rumble.

We were speechless for a moment as we watched the unfolding disaster. It felt like someone had grabbed the back of my neck—my hair stood on end. There was only one being here who could cause an earthquake like this.

Rrrrmmble—

“…!”

A massive head suddenly rose from the cracked ground. Even in the darkness, its black scales were clearly visible, and a small system window appeared beneath it.

「Evil Dragon Fafnir

Rank: ??

Level: ??

? ?? ?? ??, ?? ?? ??

…」

“Shit…!”

Fafnir had returned to his true form. It was clear he intended to kill us all.

Even if I contacted Liam White now, there was no guarantee he’d make it in time. We’d probably be dead before he even got here. Hopeless thoughts flooded my mind.

【Leaving so soon? That’s a little cold of you. We haven’t even said a proper goodbye.】

“…!”

A voice that wasn’t human echoed loudly inside my head. Just hearing it made my heart pound heavily. It felt like I could lose my mind at any moment, but I clenched my teeth and endured it. Honestly, it was kind of strange that I, a B-rank, was still holding it together with a boss monster right in front of me.

“Ugh…”

Someone caught me as I staggered. Was it Eden? I turned my blurry eyes—and unexpectedly locked eyes with someone else.

"It's okay, hyung.”

“…!”

It was Do-gyul. He was the only S-rank among us, and even with Fafnir’s enormous form towering over him, he didn’t flinch.

“Do-gyul-ah, what are you—”

“I’ll handle this.”

“You…!”

I couldn’t stop Do-gyul as he stepped forward. I reached out in a panic, but my hand didn’t reach him. At that moment, I heard his calm voice in my ear.

“We didn’t steal your treasure, and we’re not going to.”

【Hmmm?】

“So please, just let us go.”

【…】

It sounded like something Do-gyul would say to a friend his own age.

Even Fafnir, in his full dragon form, was briefly stunned—like he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. I was proud that Do-gyul had grown into someone so sincere and kind.

But now wasn’t the time for that. He was practically asking to be killed, and I couldn’t just watch it happen. I stepped past Eden and hurried forward to pull Do-gyul back.

【Hahahaha…!】

“…!”

A powerful laugh echoed around us, and my eyes flew open at its sheer force.

【You think I’m some lunatic obsessed with treasure?】

“…?”

Wasn’t he? I thought back to the tales of Norse mythology. No matter the version, the core of the story was always the same: Fafnir, the evil dragon, was consumed by greed for treasure and didn’t hesitate to kill even those closest to him.

And the countless stories that spun off from that myth all followed the same pattern. Even here in this dungeon, Fafnir had used a dwarf as bait to lure people in—just to protect his treasure. He’d admitted it himself. And now he was saying something like that?

I narrowed my eyes in disbelief—and then Fafnir’s massive body began to move. Before I knew it, his huge, intimidating head was right in front of me, his glowing eyes locked onto mine.

【That’s interesting. I don’t know where you heard stories about me, but…】

Just then, a new system window appeared beside Fafnir, and the system’s voice rang in my ears.

[Channel connection is becoming unstable due to a scenario conflict in Svartalfheim-S666.]

[Warning! You may be penalized if the connection is lost.]

[Please leave the area immediately.]