I’m a Young God, Won’t You Raise Me?

Infernum tried to dodge the hook, but it was useless.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno had already anticipated the very movement he would make to avoid it.

“Graaagh!”

Pierced by the hook, Infernum let out a roar of pain as he staggered to his feet.

Blood streamed down his body as red scales began to emerge across his skin.

Whenever Infernum transferred damage to his chosen target, he temporarily entered an invulnerable state.

And the only object capable of harming him during that time was the hook itself.

During the meeting, I had specifically asked Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno that, since I was certain to be chosen, he should use the hook against Infernum.

And everything unfolded exactly as I had expected.

The moment the captains confirmed that the hook had pierced Infernum, they immediately retreated.

After losing a massive amount of health in a single blow, Infernum let out a savage roar.

He had completely lost his human voice.

He began transforming into a Fire Dragon.

The second phase had begun.

I checked the remaining duration of our buffs.

‘15 minutes and 34 seconds.’

Since we hadn’t been able to start fighting immediately after entering, the first phase had consumed a little more time than expected.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno quickly put on the Raven Gloves, lifted me with one arm, and flew as far away from the Fire Dragon as possible.

If you stayed nearby while Infernum transformed into a dragon, you were guaranteed to lose over ninety percent of your health.

An enormous pillar of flames rose and completely engulfed Infernum.

The flames were so intense that they reached the ceiling itself, driving away the faint darkness that had previously filled the area.

When that sea of fire finally began to die down, the Fire Dragon’s true form appeared.

He was a massive dragon composed of black volcanic rock and crimson lava.

That colossal existence, as enormous as a mountain, looked down upon us from above.

“You insignificant creatures dare defile a sacred banquet.”

The dragon’s furious voice shook the entire chamber.

The chandeliers hanging from the ceiling began crashing down.

Getting hit by even one of them meant instant death, so I immediately dodged.

The background music, already shrill enough, became even more ferocious.

The melody collapsed, replaced by explosions of metallic drums and distorted noise that made the music itself seem completely out of control.

The Fire Dragon opened his mouth.

All the air in the chamber began to be violently sucked toward his throat.

A reddish light started gathering inside his jaws.

Red.

Then blue.

And finally a dazzling white, so intense it seemed to embody the absolute temperature of fire.

The air around his mouth rippled violently from the heat.

The very space itself seemed to be consumed beneath the temperature of the ever-accumulating mana.

It was the Dragon Breath.

“Mr. Gunbam. Is it considered good manners to wait for him to fire that?”

Ignoring Dominic’s question while still tucked under Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno’s arm, I shouted,

“Captains!!”

The moment they heard my voice, Kwak Hanmuk and Mo Haein sprinted straight toward Infernum.

The Dragon Breath erupted from the Fire Dragon’s jaws.

The torrent of incandescent white fire shot forward in a straight line before sweeping outward like a fan, following the movement of the dragon’s head until it covered the entire chamber.

Simply touching it meant instant death.

However.

There was one tiny blind spot where it could be avoided.

Right beside one of the Fire Dragon’s legs.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno and I positioned ourselves beside the left leg.

The captains took the right.

That blind spot barely had enough room for a single person to stand.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno was still holding me under one arm.

Kwak Hanmuk lifted Mo Haein into the air.

The white flames passed dangerously close to the tips of our feet.

And the instant the Dragon Breath ended.

We took off again.

Because the next attack was Stamp.

Booom!

Enraged that his Dragon Breath had failed to kill anyone, the Fire Dragon violently slammed one of his feet into the ground.

A deafening explosion shook the entire chamber.

The floor cracked apart.

Molten lava glowed beneath the fissures.

Had we remained near the Fire Dragon, we would have fallen straight into it.

The lava burst upward in torrents, covering nearly the entire floor.

The only way to stay safe was to stand on the fragments of stone still floating above it.

Touching the lava caused your health to drop rapidly.

It was a mechanic that drastically reduced the available space for movement.

From the cracks where the lava surged forth, Hellfire Lizards and Hellfire Hounds began to emerge.

They were the Fire Dragon’s direct subordinates.

Unlike ordinary monsters, their entire bodies were black as coal, while molten lava continuously dripped from their eyes and mouths.

The Hellfire Lizards attacked from a distance by launching fireballs.

The Hellfire Hounds charged in at incredible speed.

Each one possessed the strength of a dungeon boss.

Mo Haein swung the Black Moon Blade at the pack of black hounds.

The enormous sword traced a wide arc.

Its heavy blade crushed the head of one of the Hellfire Hounds.

With the brutal sound of bones shattering, the monster exploded into flames.

Without stopping, Mo Haein spun around.

Driven by centrifugal force, the Black Moon Blade sliced sideways through the waists of two more Hellfire Hounds lunging at her.

Craaack!

Their incredibly tough hides, resembling volcanic rock, were sliced cleanly apart.

Both monsters exploded into flames just like the first.

Mo Haein caught her breath for a moment as a faint smile appeared on her face.

She didn’t say it aloud.

But it was obvious she had been frustrated by having to fight with an ordinary sword all this time.

“Hup! Saving Captain Mo!”

Kwak Hanmuk swung his massive greatsword, knocking away a Hellfire Hound that had been charging at Mo Haein from behind.

The moment the enormous blade, wrapped in holy light, struck the monster, it exploded instantly.

Mo Haein dodged the flames from the explosion and shot Kwak Hanmuk a brief reproachful glance.

It was obvious she thought he was making far more noise than necessary.

Kwak Hanmuk burst into laughter.

Then he used the flat side of his greatsword like a baseball bat and struck the fireballs launched by the Hellfire Lizards.

He batted them right back.

The projectiles flew through the air and crashed into the Hellfire Hounds.

“Auuugh!”

The hounds staggered after being struck.

At that very moment, Kwak Hanmuk brought his sword straight down.

The Hellfire Hound exploded in a shower of flames.

“Aaah!! Holy Judgment!”

Kwak Hanmuk activated the Holy Knight’s Judgment Skill.

Empowered by his increased level and all of his buffs, a single sword of light multiplied into ten, spreading across the sky before raining down.

The Hellfire Hounds were impaled one after another like skewers.

While continuing to swing the Black Moon Blade, Mo Haein couldn’t help asking,

“Why do you shout the names of your Skills?”

“Because it feels so much better that way! You should try it too, Captain Mo.”

“……”

Mo Haein wore the expression of someone who regretted asking and immediately refocused on the battle.

Without a doubt, thanks to eating the Flame Course Meal, both of their stats had increased dramatically, making the fight much easier.

As for Kwak Hanmuk, he was wielding the Holy Knight’s greatsword instead of his rosary thanks to its holy attribute bonus.

And he handled the sword with remarkable skill.

Relieved, I turned my attention back to the front.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno flew with his wings spread while still holding me under one arm.

He deliberately slowed down so the Hellfire Lizards would target him.

The lizards raised their heads in unison toward the target moving slowly through the air.

In an instant, a barrage of scarlet fireballs shot straight at Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno.

Amid the bombardment, he folded his wings and began maneuvering like an acrobat.

I curled myself up as much as I could.

One fireball passed dangerously close to my right cheek.

The tip of my hair was even singed.

Next, Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno spun through the air, dodging the projectiles coming simultaneously from the left and below.

The blazing masses exploded just a paper’s width behind our backs, scattering volcanic ash.

A moment later, another fireball flew straight toward him.

Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno simply tilted his head slightly and let it pass beside his ear.

After dodging every projectile, he threw me downward before the Hellfire Lizards could fire another volley.

As my body was sent flying, I never took my eyes off Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno.

The moment he released me, he folded his wings and dove straight down.

BOOM!

His metal hand slammed down violently, splitting the Hellfire Lizard’s tough scales and tearing deep into its flesh.

Instead of hot blood, a torrent of red lava gushed from the wound.

Before the monster could even finish screaming as it fell, Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno was already swinging his lava-covered metal hand at the next target.

I looked away from him and prepared to land.

The place I had asked him to throw me was Infernum’s ingredient storage.

There, I could obtain the item I needed to face him.

And besides.

I wanted to check whether a small Fire Dragon horn was there as well.

My body drew closer and closer to the ground.

Bang!

I rolled clumsily across the floor.

I would have liked to land gracefully with a proper breakfall.

But I had never learned how to do that.

‘I did it plenty of times in the game.’

Maybe if I had been a class other than Chef, I would have had some passive skill or basic technique that allowed me to land properly.

With a hint of resignation, I took out a recovery food item.

Chefs had very poor physical endurance, so even a simple fall had cost me a considerable amount of health.

Flame Phoenix Meringue Cookie : A dessert made exclusively from Flame Phoenix egg whites. It retains its crispy texture forever, even at room temperature.

The moment I bit into it, it crumbled with a light crunch, melting like cotton candy.

An intense sweetness filled my mouth as a pleasant warmth spread through my body.

It was an exceptionally effective healing food.

Even faster than a Recovery Potion.

I swallowed the sticky remnants of the meringue and ran toward the ingredient storage.

This time, there actually was something I could reasonably ask Dominic to help me with.

“Mr. Dominic! Could you use magic to locate a Fire Dragon horn?”

However, instead of immediately agreeing as I had expected, Dominic replied with something completely unexpected.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to prepare it entirely through your own efforts, Mr. Gunbam?”

His words left me speechless.

I remembered exactly what I had told him.

— It will be the first meal I prepare for you, Mr. Dominic, my most trusted companion and the one I rely on the most. I want to prepare it entirely through my own efforts. Please wait just a little longer.

I opened my mouth.

Then closed it again.

After that, I smiled.

“…You’re right. I was only saying it casually. It won’t be much longer, so please wait just a little longer.”

I knew where the item I was looking for was.

The ninth compartment from the left.

I ran over to it.

As I approached, a blast of icy air escaped from that compartment with far greater intensity than from any of the others.

Inside the enormous cabinet, there was only a single item.

An Ice Dragon horn.

That horn, transparent like ice, gleamed with a sapphire hue reminiscent of the depths of the ocean.

I put on one of the Raven Gloves Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno had lent me.

At that moment, the dragon’s roar echoed throughout the chamber.

ROOOAAAR!!

The roar shook the entire space.

At the same time, an unbearable pressure crashed down upon my entire body.

The air itself seemed to grow thinner.

Gravity became overwhelmingly heavy.

It was the paralysis effect caused by the dragon’s roar.

Under that debuff, I was completely unable to move.

And for a Chef, whose physical abilities were so poor, it was even more deadly.

I remained pressed against the glass of the ingredient storage, struggling to breathe.

A moment later, I heard Kwak Hanmuk’s voice in the distance.

“Holy Purification!!”

A white light enveloped my body.

Thanks to the Holy Knight’s Purification Skill, the debuff disappeared.

The paralysis vanished instantly, and I nearly lost my balance.

I barely managed to stay on my feet.

Fortunately, the storage’s glass could be broken even with a Chef’s strength.

I took a Meat Tenderizer out of my inventory and smashed the glass.

Then I picked up the item I had been searching for.

Large Blue Horn of the Ice Dragon: The horn of an ancient Ice Dragon. If ground into powder and sprinkled over a dish, it grants it a supreme flavor. Its large size makes it especially valuable.

It was an indispensable item for defeating the Fire Dragon.

I hugged the enormous horn with one arm, nearly as large as my own body.

The instant it touched my skin, such intense cold coursed through me that even my hair stood on end.

But the scorching heat filling the entire chamber made it bearable.

Holding the massive frozen horn tightly against my chest to calm my racing heartbeat, I started running again.

I quickly scanned the endless ingredient cabinets.

But I couldn’t find a single Fire Dragon horn.

That meant the twins were still alive.

Then I checked on the battle.

The captains were skillfully leaping from one small platform to another above the lava as they eliminated the Hellfire Lizards and Hellfire Hounds.

And Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno.

He was tearing the Fire Dragon apart like a completely deranged crow.

He moved his six metallic wings freely, attacking and retreating with incredible speed.

The gigantic Fire Dragon was unable to retaliate.

Its health continued to drop.

The constant metallic clang never ceased.

It was the sound of his metal hand striking the dragon’s scales.

The Fire Dragon bled from countless wounds.

Since even the metal hand had difficulty piercing those durable scales, Lieutenant Colonel Je Hyuno had simply chosen to rip them off.

Afterward, he relentlessly attacked the exposed areas beneath them.

The Fire Dragon let out agonized roars.

The number of Hellfire Hounds and Hellfire Lizards continuing to emerge from the lava began to decrease.

It looked like we would soon enter the third phase.

‘6 minutes and 12 seconds.’

The remaining duration of our buffs was becoming a concern.

At most, we could endure only a few more minutes before we would literally be roasted alive by the heat of the Fire Dragon’s nest.

We had to defeat it as quickly as possible.

As I ran toward the position we had agreed on beforehand.

I heard the sound of chains sliding.

‘Chains? There aren’t any hook mechanics in the second phase…’

At that instant, I looked up.

Two hooks were descending from the ceiling.

Strands of pale pink hair swayed beneath the light.

Hanging from those hooks.

Were the twins.

I took a step toward them to rush to their rescue.

But their two small bodies immediately fell.

Straight.

Into the Fire Dragon’s enormous open jaws.