Chapter 144: Dragon
Chapter 144: Dragon
After the sounds came, both Aria and White Fox stopped in their tracks. The members of Lichte also stilled, and Yoona, who was holding the tablet containing Aria's evaluation looked upwards towards the speaker that was spreading this warning all around the place with a high volume.
Yoona was the first one to react and move calmly, despite having a rather frantic expression displayed on her face. After reading a couple of warnings from her tablet, she quickly realized the severity of the matter and began to rack up her brains on calculating how much manpower she would need as one of the Association's direct workers.
Yoona clicked her tongue and her face grew sour as she laid down the tablet by the side. She nodded towards the members of Lichte. There was immediately an instant thought relayed between all of them.
That danger was approaching.
"As you may have heard, danger is currently upon us. It's perfect that you guys came here to visit. You are able to be briefed right away. Members of Lichte, you are all spectacular figures that we would like to entrust with this task, which might bring you troubles or even casualties. As Hunters and protectors of the society's balance, will you lend us your help?" Yoona bowed, not minding about a speck of shame or hesitation. She made a full 90 degree bow.
Even so, the members of Lichte weren't completely satisfied with the offer.
"If Miss Yoona is willing to stoop down this low, then is it alright if we assume that this work will have a much higher risk than what he have taken on all this time?" Elgin narrowed his eyes as he said.
"That is indeed the case. The dungeon... It is feared that inside the gate resides a dragon. Although it hasn't reached adulthood yet, it is feared that the dragon might grow up and cause much more disastrous outcomes in the future. This thing.. is still being held as a secret, but since Lichte is one of our pioneers, I let the information go out."
"Dragon?! No, before that, how did you know that a dragon is going to be inside the dungeon? Is that possible?"
"Yes.. There is a Hunter from overseas that has awakened powers that can foretell the insides of a dungeon. This same Hunter, backed by an unknown figure, has sent the headquarters a message that dictates this dungeon's arrival."
"A prophecy... from an overseas Hunter?" Aria's ears perked as she heard Yoona's words.
"Yes. That is what the headquarters had relayed to me. The Association had previously received a message foretelling this dungeon's appearance, giving it the exact spot and location, along with the time it will spawn. All the criteria of this newly emerged dungeon matched with said person's words, and the Association's team has also confirmed that this dungeon is easily and A-rank. This is.. very troubling. If you all might recall, there is already another dormant A-ranked dungeon in Seoul that we haven't resolved yet. You lots are also included in the drafts, correct? But this time.. Unlike that dungeon, we can't afford to make great preparations. The person who made the prophecy had said that.. We only have a time limit of 3 days before this dungeon breaks into the outside barrier and trespasses into the real world. We can't let that happen," Yoona gritted her teeth as she spoke, bowing one more time despite protests from Lichte saying that it wasn't her fault nor did she need to do that.
"This is Seoul. A densely populated city with bustling conditions. If it was located in another more secluded place, then we might be able to buy more time since the damage could be controlled. But if the gate breaks in Seoul.. The damage dealt will be much more severe. The prophecy warned us that if this isn't able to be controlled in three days, then it will escalate into something more worrying."
"This kind of havoc, I trust you that it's not revealed to the public yet, correct?"
"Yes. The public has picked up on the dungeon's spawning since it began in a crowded place, but they still haven't realized the terror of it yet so we can quell the public's fear." Yoona answered. As a trained professional, she was awfully calm in her actions, not stuttering even once as she began to tweak things inside her tablet. In a few seconds, more information were relayed onto the members of LIchte. Excluding Aria, who had to see the information through White Fox's device, the others were given a manual on what the prophecy had stated and predictions on how this battle would turn out to be.
Sure enough, the manual straight up said that this will be a possible material for a genocide if left untouched and unresolved. A child dragon which was due to break out in three days and had the potential to evolve into a Great Dragon in unpredictable timings.
There was an emergency happening extremely near the current base they were in. Every time a new dungeon sprouted, this alarm would be sounded in the Association. These were facts that Aria had learned from Alena when she was briefed about the Hunter's knowledge.
There were stages of these warnings, ranging from the weakest to the strongest signs.
'Attention to all the advanced workers.'
This sentence alone already conveyed everything Aria needed to know. According to Alena, for weaker dungeons, alarms wouldn't be sounded for the entire building, but just for specific divisions that they had tasked to handle minor things.
The fact that the warning specified advanced workers right off the bat.
The Association wouldn't just carelessly sound this type of alarm out unless they were highly sure that the concerning dilemma was there.
One that required special attention. That was this trouble. Yoona mumbled as she began calling up several contacts and conversing with them in great speed.
Aria pursed her lips as she thought that it was such a bad timing. She had just fought with Elgin and Reina, and it could be said that she exhausted the two of them in their playful affairs. They wanted to show the extent of their power to Aria, so they had been quite serious in the battle and wasn't at the perfect condition ever.
Reina wasted a lot of her mana, whilst Elgin had received some of her heavy blows and also wasted his energy.
White Fox and Yan were left untouched, but the problem was the opponent.
A dragon. Even though it was a child, one still couldn't ignore its identity of being a dragon.
What was a dragon? A vicious, relentless creature who were programmed to destroy things in the world. Except for Higher Dragons, which were classified as intelligent beings who had the freedom of speech and thought, dragons lower than that class all had the natural instinct to destroy, destroy, destroy, and cause havoc in the entire realm.
Bearing a strong firepower and resistance, dragons were beings that would always be put on the highest stage in a priority list of dangers even back in Aria's time.
The appearance of a dragon meant the destruction of one or two villages at best, until the subjugators were able to catch up and stop the creature from making larger steps.
Three days. If the people of her time heard that the subjugation of a dragon had to be within the time span of three days, they would laugh and say that it was a joke.
To subjugate a dragon, one needed to tire it out. A dragon's vitality is very high, and this was why a dragon subjugation squad typically had around a hundred members. The creature can wreak havoc easily and smash everything around it into smithereens. The firepower largely depended on its type and element, but everyone of the draconic race were very strong.
As Aria was considering the chances of them winning, and reading off of White Fox's information, the members of Lichte conversed with each other as to what they were going to do.
They were experts, but they weren't brainless fools.
They loved life even though they risked it with every battle they entered. For a tragedy of this caliber, the casualty level would be high no matter how many high ranking personnel they sent out.
They rounded up to discuss the matter. Five minutes later, one person came to break the silence.
"I would like to participate. Please draft me in." White Fox was unexpectedly, the first one to speak up and voice out her willingness to jump into the hellhole.
The other members instantly had a twisted expression as they didn't expect that the girl would suddenly agree despite having listened to their friendly banters.
"There isn't much time, right? I will go there right now. The data said that there is no participation or time limit. Meaning.. people could enter anytime they want. I will be the first one to enter, draft me into the list." White Fox further solidified her words as she got off the stage and changed into her battle set of clothing, gearing herself up with equipment.