Ordinarily, hearing the quartet's remarks, Rainier would have shot them a stern, rebuking glare to shut them up. But at this moment, he felt a spark of irritation himself. Nevertheless, he still offered a warning:
"Wayne, he is an Archmage. Regardless of his actual combat prowess, his mastery over magic far exceeds that of an average mage. If he truly lashes out, the room is so small that all your equipment might be completely destroyed."
Wayne gave a cold laugh. "Don't worry, brother. If he dares to 'try it,' he'll 'die it.'"
The people around them had never heard the "trial and error" pun before. They thought Wayne was backing down, implying that if Marlin wanted to try the shop out, he should let him.
Rainier gave his four subordinates a look. They understood immediately and walked into the room first, returning to their original positions. If Marlin truly did anything out of line, they would swarm him and pin him down.
Dughan followed after having his guards disperse the crowd of onlookers.
To everyone's surprise, the moment Marlin stepped into the net cafe, he stumbled back a step in fear. He gripped his staff tightly with his left hand and pointed at the screen with his right, shouting in hurried terror: "A... dragon... a Black Dragon?!"
Not only was he startled, but even Amy and Little Tess jumped in surprise.
It turned out that while Wayne was outside, Rainier had already accepted the next quest after the Lao-Shan Lung. The quest was titled "The Legendary Black Dragon." In the hub, the Guild Master was beginning to narrate the legends surrounding the Black Dragon and the recent findings of the Hunter's Guild investigation.
Like many games, the NPC's dialogue would stay on the screen for a certain duration. Players who didn't want to read the text could skip it with a button press, while those who wanted to understand the lore could read it word-for-word and listen to the NPC's voice acting.
However, once a line was finished, even if the player did nothing, the NPC would automatically move on to the next segment after a short pause.
Thus, when the group re-entered the room, the Guild Master had just finished his speech, and a cinematic cutscene began to play on Rainier's screen.
In the animation, a massive black dragon with wings outstretched and four claws in the air soared over a volcano, breathing a pillar of intense flame. The Lao-Shan Lung that originally inhabited the area was seen fleeing in terror. This explained the behavior in the quest "Approaching! Lao-Shan Lung," where the giant beast had attacked the human fortress in a frenzied, panicked attempt to escape.
The source of everything was the legendary Black Dragon. On the Elder Dragon Observation Bureau's list, it was classified as a "Special Class Danger," the highest threat level among all known monsters.
After showing the Black Dragon soaring through the sky and turning the ground below into a sea of fire, the camera shifted to a ruined ancient city named "Castle Schrade."
It was once the capital of the glorious ancient Schrade Kingdom, but it had met a mysterious and sudden end. To uncover the truth behind the kingdom's fall and the increasingly erratic behavior of large dragons in recent years, the Guild had sent many hunting parties to investigate Castle Schrade. Not one of them had returned.
Finally, only a single, heavily wounded hunter managed to escape. In his final moments, he told the Guild that the creature occupying Castle Schrade was indeed the Black Dragon.
Its scales were impervious to blades and spears, and its breath could melt armor and weapons. The molten metal would then fuse with its scales, making the Black Dragon even more powerful through this continuous cycle.
To prevent further tragedy, the Guild declared Castle Schrade a restricted zone, forbidding anyone from approaching. Through hunting quests, they continuously sought to train top-tier hunters capable of facing this terrifying monster.
And now, that hunter was the player who had successfully repelled the Lao-Shan Lung.
The cinematic ended. As long as Rainier put on his goggles, returned to the game, and confirmed the quest, he could immediately depart to challenge the Black Dragon.
Rainier, the quartet, and Dughan were already used to such sights, but Marlin, Amy, and Little Tess were shocked. Marlin, in particular, hadn't even seen the battle against the Lao-Shan Lung.
"This... isn't this Blackrock Mountain... and the Black Dragon hidden within?!"
"How can it appear here?!"
Wayne smiled faintly. "Uncle, have you seen a Black Dragon?"
Marlin: "I... I've seen its portrait in books! Four claws, two wings, giant horns on its head, dragon fins on its back, a tail like a whip, black scales all over, and breathing fire! What is this if not a Black Dragon?!"
He asked with disbelief and terror, only to encounter something even more unbelievable—the thing he found terrifying was commonplace to Wayne and Rainier. They even let out mocking snickers at his display of fright.
Marlin hated nothing more than being looked down upon. "What are you laughing at?! You bunch of ignorant grunts, this is a Black Dragon! Its power is enough to destroy a nation, yet you can still laugh!"
"Sigh..."
Wayne sighed, exchanged a look with Rainier, and then tilted his head toward the screen. Rainier smirked and sat down with Wayne.
Wayne: "Uncle, look closely and see who exactly is the one who hasn't seen the world."
With that, both of them put on their goggles and accepted the quest "The Legendary Black Dragon" simultaneously. The scene shifted, and they appeared together in the dark, lava-surrounded Castle Schrade.
Not far ahead of them lay the sleeping Black Dragon.
Marlin saw Wayne and Rainier, who had been right in front of him, suddenly appear on the screen and run toward the dragon. He wanted to close his gaping mouth, but the following images would only magnify his shock.
Since Castle Schrade had been turned into a city of fire by the dragon's breath, Wayne and Rainier each drank a "Cool Drink" to prevent their health from draining due to the intense ambient heat.
Next came the Might Seeds and Demondrugs to increase attack power, Dash Juice to prevent stamina depletion, and Ancient Potions to boost their health and stamina limits to the maximum. After the series of consumptions, the two flanked the monster from both sides.
Marlin pointed at the screen, looking at everyone around him in shock. "They... they're just going in?! Only two of them? Isn't this suicide?!"
Rainier hadn't played as much, and Wayne had helped him gather half of his materials, so he hadn't changed his weapons or armor for this battle.
Wayne, however, had switched back to the "Maelstrom" light bowgun, crafted from Gold and Silver Rathalos materials. This light bowgun had a "Rapid Fire" effect when using Level 2 Pierce S and Level 1 Pellet S. This meant he didn't have to stop after every shot, and the reload speed was faster. The only drawback was that after each rapid-fire burst, the recoil pushed his body back quite a distance.
His gear had also been swapped from the melee-oriented Kirin set to the Silver Sol set, specifically crafted from Silver Rathalos materials. This set focused on strengthening Pierce S damage and ranged attack power while greatly increasing fire resistance—though at the cost of slightly lower physical defense.
The quartet finally understood why they had seen Wayne grinding Gold and Silver Rathalos so relentlessly; it was all preparation for this final boss.
The time limit for this battle was 50 minutes. Although the Black Dragon had a massive amount of health, this was plenty of time for the two of them. The most critical factor was staying alive.