My Dad is Too Strong-Chapter 79

“It’s the Spirit Queen… This is too dangerous. I don’t think we should go in,” Ye-Ji said.

The name of Laghaim, the Spirit Queen, stirred fear in her heart despite this being her first time hearing it. The title Queen usually indicated at least a named monster and the idea of a queen of spirits was beyond her comprehension of strength.

Even though she possessed skills comparable to an A-rank Hunter, throwing herself into what could be a death trap just based on that was not something she wanted to risk.

“That’s a rational decision. Please don’t ever forget that mindset,” Do-Jun said with a smile and walked toward Ye-Ji.

As he stood in front of her and gently closed her eyes with his hand, she fell asleep instantly as if she’d been administered a potent sedative. Do-Jun carefully leaned her against a wall and sighed.

“I’ll take a quick look. You two wait here.”

“As you wish, Master.” Karsiel bowed.

If this Fissure weren’t under Seoul’s management, Do-Jun would have simply left, as Ye-Ji suggested. However, this was an E-rank Fissure that he was responsible for, and he needed to record the sudden changes in the Fissure’s structure.

“Master, I want to come with you.” Yong-Yong wagged his tail enthusiastically, looking at Do-Jun with so much energy that he resembled an eel freshly caught from the water, wriggling intensely.

Watching Yong-Yong’s somewhat silly expression and bright smile, Do-Jun sometimes wondered if he really was the lord of all dragons.

“Be careful, Father,” Yoon-Hee said with worried eyes.

She knew Do-Jun was strong, but the thought of a boss monster called the Spirit Queen waiting beyond the entrance made her reluctant to let him go. Yet, she couldn’t argue with his decision.

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”

At least, probably not.

***

Once he walked through the entrance, he was left staring at a field of flowers—a field brimming with the fresh energy of spring.

It was a paradise, bathed in warm sunlight, with a gentle breeze blowing through—neither too hot nor too cold. Spirits of water, fire, wind, and earth ran around happily, carefree.

In the middle of the spirits stood a breathtakingly beautiful woman dressed in a pure white dress.

Using his qi senses, Do-Jun deduced that this woman was the Spirit Queen known as Laghaim.

Laghaim’s face twisted into a frown as she walked toward him with light steps. Then, the essence of nature gathered around her, and a beam of light shot toward Do-Jun.

Ruuuuumble!

“Master!” Yong-Yong leaped in front of Do-Jun, opening his mouth wide.

The air around them twisted intensely, filled with a suffocating pressure as magical power swirled, and then a blast of Dragon Breath shot from Yong-Yong’s mouth.

Boom!

The two energies collided in mid-air, crashing and intertwining against each other. The clash of powers continued, each pushing and being pushed back, locked in a contest of strength.

It was clear that if one side faltered even slightly, they would lose.

However, the two forces seemed evenly matched. Eventually, both powers exhausted their energy and disappeared into the air.

Spirit Queen Laghaim alternated her gaze between Yong-Yong and the relaxed-looking human. She couldn’t understand why the Dragon Lord, who should be in eternal slumber beyond the Deep Realm, was here. But what troubled her more was this human—or rather, this Transcendent.

To protect the lesser spirits, Laghaim had used the ancient artifact of the Deep Realm, the Book of Ascension, to flee from the Transcendents and Solomon’s demons. She had used the artifact to create a new domain up to the second layer of the Core, thinking no one would ever find her.

She had spilled so much blood to obtain the one and only artifact of the Deep Realm, finally believing she could live in peace.

“I trusted you, Izaas…” Laghaim said through gritted teeth.

The Core had been twisted by the Transcendents and Solomon’s seventy-two demons, and the inhabitants of the Core had fought the Great War to restore it.

Particularly, the spirits and dragons had even formed a covenant to reclaim the land. But now, Izaas, the Lord of Dragons, stood with a Transcendent and even used his Dragon Breath to protect one.

“You… You betrayed me! You betrayed the spirits!” Tears fell from her eyes onto her white dress while Yong-Yong stared at her, dumbfounded.

Wasn’t she the one who attacked first? What was she talking about?

And betrayal? None of this made sense.

“W-wait, hey! You attacked first! Isn’t that right, Master?”

Do-Jun nodded as he walked toward Laghaim.

Once again, the essence of nature gathered around her. With a terrifying murderous intent, another beam of light shot straight toward Do-Jun.

Boom!

Do-Jun sighed and wrapped his body in Barrier, and as the beam struck the layer of his internal energy, a cloud of smoke rose with a loud bang.

As the smoke cleared, Do-Jun emerged completely unscathed.

“What…?” Laghaim’s lips trembled in disbelief.

Even if this man was a Transcendent, he shouldn’t have been able to take a direct hit of the essence of nature and remain unharmed, but Do-Jun didn’t have so much as a scratch on him.

“Are you Laghaim, the Queen of Spirits?”

“Y-yes.”

Do-Jun smiled. “Down.”

***

“So, you’re saying you and I formed an alliance to fight against those Transcendents and demons, right?” Yong-Yong spoke nonchalantly, sitting on Laghaim’s back as she engaged in a plank position.

The immense weight on her back made Laghaim feel like she would lose her balance and fall at any moment, but she didn’t dare break her form. No, she couldn’t.

If she did, Do-Jun would flick her forehead without hesitation, which hurt more than she could bear despite him not using much force at all.

According to Izaas, Do-Jun was neither a Transcendent nor a demon, just one of the countless humans on Earth. Nothing more, nothing less.

But what is this power?

The source of this c𝓸ntent is freewebnøvel.coɱ.

Not even Imfelheim, the strongest of the Transcendents, nor Baal, the highest-ranking demon among Solomon’s seventy-two, possessed this level of power.

It was unprecedented.

“Yong-Yong, you can get off now,” Do-Jun said.

“Yes, Master.”

“And you can get up.”

“T-thank you.”

Do-Jun organized the information he had gathered from Laghaim in his head.

Why was she, who should be in the Core, inside a Fissure on Earth?

It likely had something to do with the Encroachment that Tusitala had mentioned.

According to Laghaim, this place was supposed to be part of the second layer of the Core, but for some unknown reason, his normal status window wasn’t sealed, and he could still use his abilities.

Do-Jun observed the many spirits frolicking in the flower field. Bringing Laghaim back with him would certainly be helpful in various ways, but doing so would mean these spirits would lose their protector.

Moreover, the decisive reason was that the house was too small to accommodate any more members.

“Should we head back?” Do-Jun said.

“Yes!” Yong-Yong replied.

As Do-Jun and Yong-Yong were about to turn back, Laghaim carefully spoke up. “S-sorry, but…”

She extended her hand as if trying to stop them.

Do-Jun turned around.

“Are you planning to deal with the Transcendents and the demons?” she asked.

At her question, Do-Jun shrugged his shoulders.

When she didn’t receive the answer she had hoped for, Laghaim bit her lip. She had seen many strong individuals in her time, but Do-Jun was on an entirely different level. She had hoped she could rely on his help.

“Maybe someday,” Do-Jun finally said.

Laghaim’s face brightened upon hearing his response.

***

As Do-Jun exited the Fissure, he noticed that the entrance to the Tomb of the Spirits, which was merged into a single door when he entered, had split back into four.

Each represented one of the four elements—water, fire, wind, and earth—returning to their original E-rank Fissure forms.

“Welcome back, Master,” Karsiel whispered softly as Yoon-Hee and Ye-Ji were asleep, resting against each other.

“Come to think of it, she didn’t get much sleep last night,” Do-Jun said and smiled as he looked at them.

He had noticed that Yoon-Hee had barely slept, only managing to doze off near 5 AM, so he decided to let her rest a little longer.

***

“Behemoth Guild clears the first stage of the tutorial in the Core!”

“20 Hours in the Core: KBA Broadcast Exclusive Interview.”

“When is the next Dive?”

After dinner, Do-Jun browsed through news articles on his smartphone regarding Behemoth Guild’s Core raid.

It was reported that they had narrowly avoided death during the boss fight, but fortunately, they completed it without any major injuries.

Looks like they made the right choice and got the Challenger’s Memory.

Each time a tutorial was cleared, one could choose between a random artifact or the Challenger’s Memory, which allowed instantaneous teleportation out of the Core. Do-Jun had repeatedly advised Behemoth Guild to choose the latter, and it seemed they had wisely set aside their greed and made the right choice.

Hearing a gulping sound, Do-Jun glanced at Yong-Yong and Karsiel, who were fiddling with the SpacePad beside him. It displayed information about monsters on the screen. He wondered if they were studying strategies, but that wasn’t quite what they were doing.

[Top 10 Edible Monsters]

Yoon-Hee placed a plate of sliced apples in front of Do-Jun and asked, “What are you two looking at?”

In response to her question, Yong-Yong showed her the SpacePad screen. “Apparently, all of these monsters are edible.”

“They say fried Cockatrice is a real delicacy.”

“You just had dinner… How are you already hungry enough to be looking up food?” Yoon-Hee gave Yong-Yong a look of exasperation, but to be honest, she wasn’t completely uninterested herself.

After all, as Karsiel mentioned, the D-rank monster Cockatrice—known for its chicken-lizard appearance—was said to be even tastier than regular fried chicken.

Yong-Yong turned to Do-Jun, gauging his reaction.

Ultimately, whether they could hunt a Cockatrice was up to their master, Do-Jun.

“Hmm. Where can we find this Cockatrice?” Do-Jun asked, noticing Yong-Yong’s intention.

“Oh, I know that. Um… It’s on Bukhansan Mountain in Eunpyeong-gu. It’s quite famous, so not only Hunters but regular people also go there. There are even food stalls selling grilled and fried Cockatrice near the entrance,” Yong-Yong said immediately.

“Then why don’t we just buy some from there?”

“Well, we could, but the price…”

It was expensive.

Do-Jun checked its price online and confirmed that it wasn’t something they couldn’t afford, but it was still quite pricey.

At that moment, Yoon-Hee mumbled, “And besides…”

“Yeah?”

“Cooking is a homemaker’s pride! I’ll make it myself,” Yoon-Hee declared with determination.

“Is that so… eh?” Do-Jun casually agreed to Yoon-Hee’s resolve but soon tilted his head.

Strictly speaking, she was more of a daughter helping out with house chores, not a homemaker.