Second Life of a Dragon Raising Hunter

---

Chapter 378

At some point, Yeon-woo found himself standing under a dazzling starry sky. The dark sky and sea before him were filled with countless stars that sparkled like grains of sugar.

It was a familiar sight. The back of the child standing in front of him and Sister Claire, and the scene mirrored nothing less than the dreams he had as a child.

Soon, a whale would leap from the sea into the starry sky. The gigantic whale would soar through the sky, splashing water as it dared to challenge dreams beyond the limits of living beings.

He had dreamed this several times. How could he possibly forget such details? Thinking that, Yeon-woo turned his gaze towards the sea. The whale would appear any moment now with a spray of water.

Just as Yeon-woo thought, a splash erupted from the water. And something enormous leaped into the starry sky before landing back in the sea.

Yeon-woo frowned at the sight. It seemed he just saw something wrong.

No, he couldn’t have seen it wrong. That creature had clearly not been a whale.

…It was a tree. A tree as massive as the whale. The tree leaped over the sea before sinking back in. After witnessing this, Yeon-woo concluded in his mind.

‘This is a ridiculous dream.’

What else could it be but a ridiculous dream? To see a tree jumping over the sea was too surreal for any words to describe.

“Wow, a ridiculous dream indeed. That’s just too much.”

“Could you kindly stop borrowing Sister Claire’s body, World Tree?”

“Oh-ho, did you figure it out?”

“No, I just took a wild guess.”

As Yeon-woo said this, he sat next to the World Tree that had borrowed Claire… or rather, the past self of Claire. Look at this, how luxurious to have two arms of Choi Yeon-woo.

“Right, that’s correct. I am the World Tree Yggdrasil. It’s only natural to borrow Clare’s form as she is the closest being to me here.”

“How did this contact happen? Is it because of the prosthetic limbs…?”

“It’s sort of like a GPS tracker. Since the one who crafted it is an Elf, it was made while maintaining the magic of nature, allowing for contact no matter how far apart we are.”

“So, you’ve been stalking me?”

When Yeon-woo crossed his arms as if to shield himself, the World Tree scratched its cheek. It seemed it couldn’t argue since the statement wasn’t exactly wrong.

“So why have you come? Did something happen in the Elf Nation?”

“Nothing serious. As you know, the Demon King’s army has been active, and most of the forces have left the forest, but that’s why we’ve reinforced the barriers. This time, even the Demon King’s minions shouldn’t be able to get through.”

“That’s a relief… But why?”

“I came to deliver a warning. Not to anyone else, but to you.”

The word warning had an ominous ring to it. Yeon-woo gulped. A warning from the World Tree meant it was something he needed to pay attention to.

“Are you ready to listen?”

“…I’m ready.”

Even asking that meant he didn’t really have anything else to say, so Yeon-woo nodded lightly. The World Tree solemnly nodded back and opened its mouth.

“There must be one on your side, a being similar to me.”

“There isn’t a World Tree… but I do have a friend known as the Tree of Life.”

“I’m not talking about trees. I mean lives that travel on a different path like mine.”

In that sense, there was one that immediately came to mind.

Earth Serpent. Unlike the World Tree, which had always been a being of life, it was a case where life was gained from faith over a natural environment that initially held no life.

In terms of being a type of nature deity, it could indeed be classified similarly to the World Tree.

“I don’t know exactly who it is, but the Demon King is targeting that being. You know what would happen if such a creature fell into the Demon King’s hands, right?”

“…Y-Yes.”

There was no way he could forget. The Earth Serpent could alter the entire natural environment just by moving a fraction of its body. It was a monster among monsters, capable of affecting hundreds of kilometers beyond the Gorge.

Though the advice he received from the Earth Serpent had primarily yielded little, other than pointers regarding Yonghwa.

Gormeira’s shell was perhaps too demanding of its opponents for practical use…

Well, regardless of how clever it was, not every piece of advice could be effective. Yeon-woo decided to approach the Earth Serpent with an open heart.

“Good. Knowing is enough. It might be wise to be cautious. No matter what, I can’t bear to see a child sad.”

As the World Tree said this, it pointed a finger at itself. The meaning was obvious.

The World Tree is recognized as the god at the center of the Elves, and at the same time, is regarded as the mother of all Elves.

“I also don’t wish to see Sister Claire sad.”

“You articulate well, don’t you?”

At Yeon-woo’s words, the World Tree chuckled. Then it gently patted Yeon-woo’s head with a warm smile.

“Stay strong. Everyone is rooting for you.”

Those were words filled with a deeply warm feeling. It felt like the reason why the World Tree could be regarded as the mother and god of the Elves was streaming through.

Yeon-woo slowly closed his eyes. For some reason, he began to feel extremely sleepy…

*

A deafening explosion echoed in all directions. Dang Sa-ryeon was acutely aware that they were once again on the battlefield.

The chaos and screams, roars and madness… everything that constituted the battlefield was present there.

However, the most grating sound wasn’t the insane laughter of the Demon Cultists nor the painful moans of the dying martial artists.

It was a mixture of cries and screams. Desperate pleas for survival. The source of these cries came from the people who bounced out of the martial arts dimension’s Gate in panic.

They were not Demons. They were civilians who had been captured by the Demon Cult. Each of them had prominent bellies, and despite their emaciated forms, they overflowed with extraordinary strength.

Of course, the martial artists tried to protect them. Protecting civilians was a matter of duty and solidarity.

Wasn’t that the reason they had built the firmament? But following such a commonsensical action was death.

Boom! The area erupted in an explosion, leaving no trace behind. Not a single sign of life remained with the hostages and martial artists, both gone.

At first, it was unclear what had transpired. But gradually, the situation began to clarify.

It was a side effect of an elixir. The effect emerged from administering the elixir to civilians whose meridians and danjeons were not wide enough to accept it.

The artificial elixir, designed solely to maximize energy, was administered to commoners. Unable to withstand the immense energy, the ordinary folk would inevitably collapse like human bombs.

The battlefield was engulfed in a tremendous dilemma. They needed to save the civilians. But saving them would lead to death. Then what was to be done with the firmament built for solidarity thus far?

Of course, there were ways to prevent the explosions. What Dang Sa-ryeon was currently doing was exactly that.

By obstructing the flow of energy through blood sticking, they could either disperse the energy before it exploded or release it externally, or melt it away with poison.

The first method depended on the civilians’ abilities. If the civilians lacked talent, the method would be impossible.

While it was a rare case, it was still the safest option by far.

The second required a master of martial arts. In other words, a martial artist of a certain realm needed to expend nearly all their energy to save the civilians.

But losing one member immediately impacted hostages, so the loss was tremendous.

The third method emitted minimal energy and was fast, leaving no side effects.

The problem was that only the Poison King and Dang Sa-ryeon could attempt this method in this battlefield.

Because the Poison King could skillfully manage the poison of the Dang Family without killing humans, they were the only ones capable of combining a toxicity that wouldn’t kill civilians.

And due to the Chaos Flow Technique, it was Dang Sa-ryeon that could produce a poison that only burned energy without side effects.

For two individuals to dash across the battlefield, saving civilians and taking action was a mere fantasy.

Yet, they were still scouring and hustling, but even Dang Sa-ryeon was feeling fatigue rise.

“Ugh! I’m dying, oh my goodness!”

“Shut up and work!?”

Hearing the playful scream of the family head, Dang Sa-ryeon caught a glimpse of the voice of Namgung Taesang. It sounded like they were fighting, but it seemed like they were somewhat close. Maybe.

‘Damn it, if only I had found him a little faster…!!’

Regardless of the family head and his own fatigue, the most annoyed part concerned the way the elixirs were made.

A little bit of lingering poison was overly familiar to her.

The Dang Family’s elixirs were poisons. By lightly infusing energy to maximize toxicity, they bring it to its peak.

The Dang Family could absorb all energy and poison as nutrients, making their secret exceptionally unique.

In other words, the way of injecting a little toxicity to boost energy was merely the opposite of the Dang Family’s method.

It wouldn’t matter if the toxicity stirred up some danger. After all, they had no intention of leaving anyone alive.

Though the existence of the Chaos Flow Technique had given them near control over the Dang Family, they failed in detecting and purging their small number of traitors, leading to this situation.

‘I will definitely, definitely kill them with my own hands.’

The honor of the Dang Family? Such trivial matters were of no concern now. If she had the ability, she could restore it anytime. That confidence surged within her.

What ignited rage most was merely the fact they had shamed her. Grudges ought to be doubled, and the debts should be repaid tenfold. Only the Dang Family’s codes filled her mind.

*

“Wow, what’s that?”

Yeon-woo, who dozed off while repairing his weapon, wiped his drool and raised his head. What? Was it really a ridiculous dream after all? He thought as he looked at the prosthetic limb placed before him.

The prosthetic limb showed no changes. It looked a little shinier, but that was just due to Yeon-woo’s pride in his excellent maintenance skills.

“…Hmm.”

No, how could it be a ridiculous dream? The World Tree’s advice sounded too plausible to dismiss as nonsense.

The Earth Serpent was indeed a menacing entity. Was it even a being that the Demon King could obtain? Such doubts arose.

The Earth Serpent and the Demon King would likely clash. The aftermath of that battle would reach Harmony City.

“…I need to be prepared.”

Water would overflow, and the ground would shake. The ensuing floods would strike the walls of Harmony City, and earthquakes would threaten to collapse them.

And as always, it would be the civilians who would meet their deaths. Knowing that, Yeon-woo had to spring into action.

“…Starting tomorrow.”

He mumbled like someone who typically couldn’t keep plans, alighting on an excuse to rest for today.

(Continued in the next episode)