7.

Dallas, Texas…

The number of security guards and Hunters stationed in City Hall was over a thousand. But the important thing was that they were elites, not lacking in quality. The quantity and quality were not just in the Hunters. There was nothing lacking in the relics and items they owned.

Their weapons were among the best. Armed with weapons from America, not the rest of the world, the beginning and source of the power of the United States, the forces of Dallas had the power to fight against any country.

On every road into the City Hall M1 Abrams tanks were stationed, now eerily quiet, and inside the City Hall, a week's worth of ammunition was stored. It was a fortress that could not be conquered by any force.

"Uh…" But now all that power was fallen and groaning on the floor. The impregnable castle had turned into an ownerless one.

"Go in!"

"Move fast!"

The Resistance quickly entered the ownerless castle. There was no battle, nor did the rebels kill the fallen soldiers of the Pentagon.

"Avoid battle as much as possible! Find Bean Cohen!"

The Resistance did not have much time, and what the Resistance wanted in the first place was not blood vengeance, but the realization of legitimate value. The slaughter of the defenseless did not fit the values they followed.

"Don't be in a hurry to fight if you find Mayor Bean Cohen!"

Above all, Mayor Bean Cohen, who they wanted to catch, was not a Hunter who could be helplessly hurt by the Dragon fear. As a Hunter of the Pentagon, he was one of the most experienced Hunters who had ever participated in powerful monster hunting. The mere act of dealing with him had already run out of time.

'As soon as possible.' Crucially, Jennifer Mitchell, who led this operation, was still not sure. 'He may not kill the Dragon.'

Kim Tae-hoon, who had suddenly appeared and called out the Black Dragon, had been silent for a long time. It was a great thing in itself. Anyone could wake up the Black Dragon, but it was impossible for anyone to attract the awakened Black Dragon to Dallas. The problem was what came next. If Kim Tae-hoon could not kill the Black Dragon, the problem would become so big that nobody could control it.

'No, it makes no sense to deal with the Black Dragon alone.' And it was true that the possibility that Kim Tae-hoon would kill the Black Dragon alone was not good enough to imagine itself. 'Where on Earth did he come from?'

For Jennifer Mitchell, in case of the worst, they needed to get at least something. Securing Mayor Bean Cohen was the minimum profit she could get at this moment.

'Quickly, anyway.'

So when she moved to the City Hall, leading her subordinates to find Mayor Bean Cohen, a huge roar shook the City Hall.

The subsequent cry of the Black Dragon shook everyone's Energy once again.

"U-eup!" The Resistance was also affected. Jennifer Mitchell's face stiffened for a moment.

One of her men came to her and reported the situation. "He started fighting the Black Dragon."

"What's the situation?"

"Well…"

Jennifer Mitchell guessed that the situation was going badly at the appearance of a blurred subordinate. And her guess was not totally wrong… as the situation was not so good for the Black Dragon.

"The Black Dragon is being overwhelmed."

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8.

Kim Tae-hoon came to the United States and did not bring a single legendary relic with him. Bringing a legendary relic with him in a situation where Mao had a tool to locate legendary relics was in fact no different then revealing his whereabouts to him. It was obviously a matter of power, because Kim Tae-hoon's legendary relics were overwhelming and powerful enough to make them incomparable to other relics.

However, Kim did not care much. He was confident even if he was weakened in power. He had the confidence to kill a monster of the blue grade with his own ability, without the help of legendary relics. He was showing the reason for his confidence against the Black Dragon now.

The start was the flames of Furry Crocodile and Telekinetic Bead of Freezer's ice thorns. Two fire and ice beads, now large enough to encapsulate a human body, roamed over the Black Dragon and began to melt or freeze its scales. On top of such melted or frozen scales, the Telekinetic Bead of blue thunder vomited the power of lightning.

The blue lightning the Telekinetic Bead constantly threw out was a terrible attack. The Black Dragon lost its armor as its scales burst.

A scream burst from the Black Dragon's jaws. Even its amazing resilience couldn't deal with the pain.

Of course, those attacks were not the end of it.

The two swords brought by Kim Tae-hoon, the Sword of the Imperator and Onimaru Kunitsuna, flew into the air toward the Black Dragon.

Their flight stopped in the eyes of the Black Dragon.

The Black Dragon closed its eyes tightly. It was a gesture of pain, and at the same time, a sign that the Black Dragon was exhausted.

The angry Dragon closed its huge mouth tightly after looking at Kim. The thick darkness began to wriggle in its throat.

When the Black Dragon opened its mouth, a black liquid was spewed out of its mouth like a laser beam. The liquid swallowed Kim Tae-hoon's body instantly. It was poison and acid.

The poison was so powerful that it could melt a lump of concrete or an asphalt road. Just smelling it would kill someone. The poison naturally affected Kim Tae-hoon's body… but that was all. Kim Tae-hoon was still alive in front of the poison.

"Ugh!" Although he frowned at the pain and moaned for a second, Kim Tae-hoon did not die.

His flesh, which had been poisoned to death, quickly began to regain its original color, and his eroded body quickly gained new flesh.

Kim Tae-hoon could not die, because he had the immortal ability. His ridiculous recovery ability refreshed his body. Of course, there was no Energy or Health consumed in the process, since the Inexhaustible Infinity of Orc Khan was now Kim Tae-hoon's.

Even Kim Tae-hoon's clothes did not melt in front of the Black Dragon's acid breath. Only the dye melted away and the original color of his leather clothes, made from the Orc Khan's skin, was revealed.

The most powerful attack which the Black Dragon could use did not work on Kim Tae-hoon at all.

It was a worse situation then the Black Dragon could believe. But, as always, the worst it could expect was not the worst.

Kim Tae-hoon was ready to show the Black Dragon the worst. He took the Gilt-bronze Incense Burner of Baekje from his bag. In the distant lands of America, a golden phoenix appeared.

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9.

The great phoenix, made of golden smoke, screamed a clear tone toward the sky. At the foot of the Phoenix was a huge Dragon's carcass, which had been torn to pieces in a mess.

The Black Dragon who had horrified the whole country, including Texas, was bleeding, the most miserable thing in the world. A man appeared between the biggest wounds on the Black Dragon's body.

Dripping! The appearance of the man, who had the black blood and poison of the Black Dragon all over his body, was terrible. His whole body seemed to be melting. But every time he stepped out of the body of the Black Dragon, his body gradually regained its original color and form.

Soon after, Kim Tae-hoon, who had regained his original appearance, looked at the dark blue crystal in his hands with his black Eyes.

==============

[Black Dragon's Crystal]

- The level of Strength and Health increases when ingested.

- The skill proficiency of Energy rank increases when ingested.

- The skill proficiency of Mana rank increases when ingested.

- The skill proficiency of Telekinesis rank increases when ingested.

- The skill proficiency of Defense rank increases when ingested.

- The skill proficiency of Mana Resistance rank increases when ingested.

- You can acquire the power of the Black Dragon [Black Poison] when ingested.

==============

After checking, Kim Tae-hoon put the Black Dragon's crystal into his mouth.

The skin in his mouth burned from the poison. It was a poison of terrible power. But Kim Tae-hoon didn't mind the fact and swallowed the crystal.

The burning sensation in his throat made him feel sick to his stomach. He smiled bitterly and checked the back of his right hand.

========

[Acquired Ability]

- Black Poison (Grade 2): Black Dragon's power can consume Mana to create a powerful Black Poison. The higher the power of Black Poison, the stronger the acidic ability.

========

'Not bad.' To be honest, it wasn't exactly the kind of ability he needed. He already had so much power that it was nearly nothing. However, he had no intention of reusing it. When a snake had legs, it would become a monster. He was willing to be a monster.

He could hear footsteps approaching him. It was not difficult to gauge their identity. The only group that could move in the city of Dallas were those who had listened to his warning and prepared for it.

"You…" Jennifer Mitchell, who saw the Black Dragon's dead body in the distance, was unable to even make a face. In front of this ridiculous scene, she was simply unable to decide what expression she should have. The situation at the moment was that weird. Even though she was wearing tights that clung to her body, she just looked dull at this moment.

"What about the Mayor?" Kim Tae-hoon asked her a question.

Only then did Jennifer Mitchell come to her senses, and opened her mouth. "We got him!"

When he heard the answer, he did not bother to ask a new question. Now there was only one thing he had to do.

'Preparation is over.' Cracks were made in the West, and cracks were growing in the middle. Now, the place Kim Tae-hoon should go to next was one place.

'Now, I will catch Mao.'

Washington DC, to the east, was Kim's next destination.

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10.

"Urgh…" When Mayor Bean Cohen woke up with a moan, it was a gray world that faced him.

'Damn it.' But Mayor Bean Cohen was not very embarrassed in front of the world he faced.

'I was caught.' He understood the situation easily. It wasn't hard to figure out that he was tied up now, that he had a sack on his face, and that the sack that covering his face had carried coffee beans.

'Resistance bastards!' Finally, Mayor Bean Cohen could even recall the fact that Jennifer Mitchell was among those who had attacked him. Naturally, all these facts were saying that he had been taken hostage by the Resistance.

'Crazy people.' The only thing that complicated his mind was the Black Dragon's fear.

'I had never thought that they would wake the Black Dragon to catch me.' Anyone could use the Black Dragon to mess up Dallas City. The problem was that no one would try it.

'They finally made the attempt.' In addition, this attempt was irreversible.

'They are done.' No matter how good the rebels pretended to be, no one in Texas would follow the Resistance after they woke the Black Dragon. The Resistance had now become a public enemy in Texas. So Mayor Bean Cohen thought that this moment was a crisis of desperation, and at the same time the best opportunity.

'If I escape… I'll go to the Pentagon and bring the troops back to Texas. Texas will not help the rebels anymore.' If he could reclaim Texas with the help of the Pentagon after his escape, he could completely root out the Resistance that was his biggest headache.

Furthermore, once the Black Dragon woke up, the Pentagon would eventually go Black Dragon hunting with all its might. The oil fields in Texas were something the United States could not give up, and that, of course, meant the Pentagon.

Then, Mayor Bean Cohen would no longer have to tolerate the gruesome Black Dragon next to him. The crisis had become an opportunity!

'How should I escape?' Of course, overcoming the crisis was more important than anything else. If he did not escape like this, he would be used as a hostage, and he would certainly face the worst.

"Hoo, hoo, hoo!" Mayor Cohen took a breath and listened to the sounds around him. Then he heard the voices of the Resistance.

"Why aren't we killing Mayor Cohen?"

"They say he will be used as a hostage."

"Damn it, why don't we just take a hostage after we kill him? He is Bean Cohen, a Hunter of the Pentagon! He is a superhuman who could escape by himself at any moment!"

"What can we do? Now we are in trouble because our boss woke up the Black Dragon. We should have a hostage."

From their voices, Mayor Cohen relaxed more. 'As I thought.'

It was then he that heard their voices exclaim in surprise.

"Huh?"

"Hmm?"

"Who is it?"

There was a cry, but that was it. Nothing else was heard… Instead, the sound of two bodies hitting the floor tickled the waiting ears of Cohen.

At that moment, Bean Cohen felt intuitive that some unwelcome visitor to the Resistance had come here to find him. 'Someone's here!'

Cohen's prediction was right. The sound of a person came close to him, and the person peeled off the sack covering his face.

"Are you Mayor Bean Cohen?"

Mayor Cohen looked at the man who had saved his life, an Asian man with dark hair and a sharp expression.

"Who are you?"

"Mr. Mao sent me."

"Mr. Mao?"

"Yes, as you know, Texas is…"

"I know, Mr. Mao is interested in the NASA Institute in Houston. Anyway, that's a relief. Through his good intentions…"

"I'll help you escape to Washington DC."

"Thank you. What's your name?"

"You can call me Kim."