Chapter 523

[Your eyes are similar to that blue demon king’s.]

Kaibar bared its fangs, which were even bigger than an adult man, and growled.

[I don’t want to see your eyes anymore.]

As soon as it finished speaking, the mana of nature rampaged around and countless spells appeared like spring flowers.

The flow of mana could even be called beautiful, but an extreme murderous intent was dwelling inside. Every single one of them could lead to instant death. Raon estimated that not even a piece of flesh would be left of him if he let his guard down.

[Get trampled like the worms you are!]

Kaibar sneered while gesturing with its chin, and the spell completed as it rained down on him. It was truly a meteor shower of spells. The entire sky was filled with its’ magic.

“That’s right. Why would you run your mouth when you are just a mad dragon? Let’s just fight!”

Aries bared her teeth and thrust her sword towards the magic rushing towards her. A strange twist formed on her red blade and severed the flow of magic endlessly raining down upon them.

Wham! Wham!

Countless explosions occurred from the clashes between sword and magic. A dark storm of mana surged into the sky, and the turbulent water made it look like the entire ocean was about to turn upside down.

Ah!

Wrath exclaimed as Raon swallowed nervously while he watched the frontal clash between Aries and Kaibar.

It’s that dragon from back then! He knew that face looked familiar for some reason!

He cheerfully clapped his hands, saying that he’d just remembered.

‘So it was you. What have you done?!’

Raon furrowed his brow while looking at Wrath.

‘You useless glutton!’

Raon was well aware that Wrath was a troublemaker, but he’d never imagined that he would be the cause of the mad dragon.

He couldn’t even begin to guess how the butterfly effect even started.

The King of Essence didn’t do anything special!

Wrath shook his head, saying that he wasn’t the one who offended the other party first.

‘But that mad dragon said you did it!’

The lizards were the ones to offend the King of Essence first! You saw it too—that sparkling lizard attacked him as soon as he appeared!

‘Hmm, that’s true…’

While Wrath was fighting against the Holy Sword Alliance master and the White Blood Religion’s leader, the gold dragon suddenly appeared and fired his breath without saying a word.

Judging from that fact, the dragons had most likely done something similar in the past.

‘What happened?’

The King of Essence manifested into the human realm a long time ago because he felt an interesting wrath from someone. It was a long time before he helped Four Eyes.

Lohengreen was the ‘Four Eyes’ in question. Since the war between Lohengreen and Merlin had happened five hundred years before, it implied that it had happened much further in the past.

He helped a wrathful human and went sightseeing in the human realm for a bit. Just as he was about to return to Devildom, a sooty lizard appeared. 

‘It was a black dragon.’

It started to shoot its breath at him with no question asked, so the King of Essence beat it up a little and granted it mercy by telling it to scram. However, it started going even crazier and attacked him. That’s why he couldn’t be bothered to deal with it anymore and just killed it.

‘You just killed it…’

Raon gasped while looking at Wrath.

‘Does he really think that a dragon is just a lizard?’

Wrath sounded like he was killing a fly despite it being a dragon.

The King of Essence was going to leave because he was irritated, but the hellfire that the dragon had fired was cooking its own body. He tasted it because it had a delicious smell, and it had a nice and interesting chewy texture. The King of Essence prepared a proper barbecue after that, and that dragon appeared.

Wrath raised his hand and pointed at Kaibar, who was continuously firing its spells.

It was much smaller back then. It fired a breath attack, so the King of Essence blocked it with the Silver-White Aurora and just slapped its cheek once after that, but it was enough to break its horn.

‘The horn broke when you slapped its cheek…?’

It sounded like bullshit, but Raon had to believe it because he’d witnessed the true power of Wrath recently.

It was so weak that the King of Essence just let it go, like the fishermen releasing small fish. That way, it can come back when it becomes more plump.

‘Ah…’

And it grew up nicely! Very nice! It was worth it to let it go!

He licked his lip with his tongue, saying that it looked tasty.

‘Hmm.’

Raon tilted his head.

‘But now that I’ve heard the story, it doesn’t look like it was your fault.’

That’s right!

Rather than killing it immediately, Wrath had given the black dragon an opportunity despite it immediately firing a breath attack.

Kaibar, who had arrived afterward, was also trying to kill Wrath, but he only broke the horn before letting it go instead of killing it in a single strike.

Honestly, it would be believable if he were called a saint rather than a demon king.

‘So that dragon was the problem, not Wrath.’

Raon twisted his lips while glaring at Kaibar.

‘It’s not even a mad dragon. It’s just a narrow-minded shithead.’

It should’ve stayed hidden for the rest of its life or prepared for vengeance if he was beaten up by Wrath and survived. Instead, it was venting its anger on innocent humans.

Even the thugs in the backstreet wouldn’t behave that way. That was why Raon didn’t even feel any pity towards it. It was just a loser lizard, rather than a mad dragon.

‘However… I can take advantage of this.’

Judging from Wrath’s story, that incident must’ve been extremely humiliating to Kaibar. It was the perfect chance to shake his mental fortitude.

Whir!

Raon raised Heavenly Drive and made the Ring of Fire resonate. He unleashed the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation and Glacier at the same time and stopped hiding behind Aries.

“Raon!”

“I’m also going to help!”

She tried to stop him, but he responded with a confident smile and used the Supreme Harmony Steps. He dashed towards Kaibar while stepping on the turbulent ocean.

Whir!

Raon twisted his ankle and unleashed the explosive power of the heat circulating all around his body. He swung Heavenly Drive while connecting the strength from his ankle to the muscles in his thigh, all the way up to the muscles in his waist.

[A pointless struggle.]

Kaibar surrounded its blue scales with a mana shield, showing that it had predicted Raon’s attack.

‘This structure of mana… It’s underestimating me.’

Raon clenched his teeth and thrust Heavenly Drive. He added a large amount of heat to the blade instead of using astral energy.

Claang!

It couldn’t break through Kaibar’s mana shield. However, he smacked Kaibar’s body and mana shield with his strength numbering over 500.

Smaack!

Kaibar’s neck bent like a sickle with a thunderous noise similar to hundreds of drums splitting at once.

[Kuaaah!]

Kaibar screamed, its neck trembling in pain. The endless barrage of his magic suddenly came to a halt.

Raon nodded firmly.

‘I knew it.’

The shield Kaibar had used was the Webber Shield, which consisted of nullifying the impact by shattering upon contact with astral energy.

It was natural to ignore a Master since it was fighting against Aries, who was a transcender.

That was why Raon had taken advantage of that mindset. The Webber Shield didn’t shatter against any power inferior to an aura blade, and Raon took advantage of that characteristic by shoving the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation’s heat inside Heavenly Drive and smacked him with sheer physical power by mustering all of his muscle strength.

That was why Kaibar’s shield didn’t shatter, and Raon had managed to smash its body with Heavenly Drive. The result was even more drastic thanks to his ‘King of Destruction’ title.

‘I have to drive him into a corner now.’

Kaibar couldn’t pull itself together, and Raon didn’t miss that opportunity. He dashed onto its neck and swung Heavenly Drive once again.

Whir!

Kaibar created the Webber Shield once again despite the dizzying state it was in.

However, all he did was to make the shield a bit thicker. It seemed to believe what had happened a moment ago was sheer coincidence.

‘That should be the natural decision. After all, no one would think that there’s a human who can tear apart an ogre with their bare hands.’

Cring!

Raon unleashed the Spiral Power on Heavenly Drive’s blade and unleashed the Thirty-Six Crimson Slash.

Once again, the Webber Shield failed to shatter, and the impact was perfectly transferred to Kaibar.

Whack! Whack!

The Thirty-Six Crimson Slash was an extremely fast technique that consisted of stabbing from thirty-six directions in a single move, but Raon had slightly decreased the speed to increase the power instead with Spiral Power.

Kaibar’s neck twisted to the point of breaking upon receiving the tremendous impact.

[Gaaaah!]

Kaibar screamed and gained distance.

Cring!

At that moment, Aries managed to remove all of the spells and made her move. She executed a spatial slash to sever Kaibar’s neck without moving away from her spot.

Crack!

However, Kaibar was pretty much an ancient dragon. Even though it was writhing in pain, it realized that Aries’s attack was dangerous and activated the dragon words.

[Disappear!]

Kaibar shouted, and Aries’s sword strike, which was about to tear apart its neck, melted down like paper inside water.

“You opened up over here.”

Raon stepped on Kaibar’s neck and executed the Frost Pond. The silver blade dashed Kaibar’s neck and an awl of coldness followed right after.

[Did you really believe it would work a third time?!]

Kaibar erected a new mana shield while fending off Aries. The spell’s structure was completely different from the Webber Shield. Raon could guess that it had condensed the mana into a thick layer so that he wouldn’t be able to approach.

‘It changed the spell despite the situation. That’s pretty amazing. However… I already anticipated that.’

Raon rolled his lips into a smile and unleashed the maximized astral energy with Glacier.

Claaang!

The blade of coldness incorporating his will wasn’t any less powerful than an astral sphere. It broke through Kaibar’s shield and pierced into its neck.

Psssh!

The red blood gushing out from Kaibar’s neck contrasted with its blue scales.

Kaibar shrieked and backed off.

[Kuaaah!]

Kaibar lowered its head and screamed. It seemed to be unable to pull itself together because it’s been such a long time since the last time it felt any pain.

“Lady Aries! We need to attack it again—right now!’

“I know.”

Aries jumped into the air as if she were telling him that it went without saying and slashed at the dragon. The blade of space transcending human limits descended upon the world like lightning.

[Be crushed!]

Kaibar was fully aware that Aries was the more dangerous opponent despite the situation. It deflected all of Aries’s space sword techniques by using a concentration of dragon words.

“You are so dumb for a dragon.”

Raon kicked Kaibar’s scales and climbed even higher. He unleashed the Crimson Slash, which was powerful enough to cut its head off.

A crimson line of heat emerging from Heavenly Drive’s blade rushed toward Kaibar’s neck.

It couldn’t use the dragon words against Raon because it had to keep Aries in check. All it could do was use some defensive spell—like a shield or barrier—or an offensive one.

Whir!

Just as Raon expected, a translucent barrier was formed where the Crimson Slash was about to land. It was rather thin, but the density of the mana was on a whole different level from before. It seemed to be trying to reduce the damage at the cost of more mana and focus.

Claaang!

Crimson Slash was the sharpest technique Raon could use at the moment, but it faded away without destroying Kaibar’s shield. Its ability to control the mana was befitting a dragon.

‘However… You aren’t the only one who prepared for this fight.’

Raon wrapped his left hand with a blue gale and unsheathed the Blade of Requiem. He unleashed the principle of Blue Rain and slammed down on the mana shield.

Crack!

Blue Rain’s resonance twisted the flow of mana making up the shield, and a small opening was revealed.

Raon wrapped the Blade of Requiem in heat and stabbed into it, then followed with a downward slash.

Psssh!

A diagonal laceration was created on Kaibar’s neck, and a dangerous amount of blood scattered from it.

[Kuaaah!]

The mad dragon lowered its gaze. It was about to unleash an attack spell at him when Aries’s space sword broke through its dragon words and stabbed its face.

Crack!

Kaibar’s scales were torn off, and a long scar appeared on its nose.

[Kuh!]

Kaibar groaned in pain and its body was pushed back.

“……”

Raon and Aries met each other’s eyes. There was no need to talk. They started to unleash their full power, planning on finishing the fight, but Kaibar opened its jaw.

[Get lost!]

The will dwelling inside the dragon words was the strongest so far. Raon was bounced back as if he were being dragged by a hook, and Aries was pushed back by more than ten steps.

Whir!

Kaibar didn’t miss the opportunity and activated a movement spell to move far back.

[Argh!]

It raised its upper body that was submerged under the ocean. With a strange phenomenon that looked like the ocean was being split in half, blue wings that seemed large enough to cover the entire continent were spread along the horizon.

Whaaam!

With the frightening sound of exploding air, Kaibar flew into the sky.

* * *

The neck that was protruding from the ocean was just the tip of an iceberg. With the body revealed, the mad dragon’s imposing features were huge enough to reverse the situation.

[I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all!]

Kaibar opened its mouth while spouting dragon words with an intense bloodlust.

Blue coldness started to fill its throat, which looked like a bottomless abyss. It was just preparing for it, but the atmosphere started to vibrate as the space was distorting.

‘Is that…’

Raon furrowed his brow while looking at the sparkling light inside Kaibar’s mouth.

‘A breath?’

It seemed to be a breath, but it was on a whole different scale from when it had used it under the ocean.

The devastating wave he was feeling made him feel like the entire ocean was going to freeze from its breath.

Cring!

Aries stabbed the space sword toward it, but the blade was bounced back by the sheer pressure of the mana emanating from Kaibar.

“This will be difficult.”

Aries returned the red blade to her scabbard.

“What?”

“Dragons can only use their breath three times a day. But that concentration of mana means that it’s using both the two remaining uses—no, it’s going far enough that it won’t even be able to use any breath for a while.”

She briefly clicked her tongue, saying that it couldn’t be cut down with any ordinary space sword.

“If we can’t stop that, we are both going to die, and so will the people behind us.”

“Then…”

“I’ll activate my Sword Field.”

Aries extended her left foot and placed her shoulder at the center of her body before putting her hand on the hilt. It was the posture of a sword draw. It was a preparation for the Sword Field Creation that she’d previously demonstrated.

“I’ll make sure to erase Kaibar’s breath, but I’m going to leave the rest to you.”

Her Sword Field Creation was just a single strike. Since she was going to unleash all of her power in a single strike, she was bound to become incapacitated temporarily afterward.

“I believe in you, Raon Zieghart.”

“Understood.”

Raon swallowed nervously and fell behind Aries. He didn’t have a choice or the time to waste. Aries’s method was the only path to victory.

Rumble!

The ice flickering from Kaibar’s mouth emerged along with a frightening blue radiance.

The turbulent ocean was frozen entirely, and the sky was distorted in white. It felt like the huge wave of mana was about to burst his heart. The ice breath was even capable of freezing the soul.

[Die, vermin!]

The mad dragon even added the dragon words to amplify the power. The ice that froze up the ocean was already right in front of him before he even had the time to exhale once.

It was a grip from hell that any living creature couldn’t dare to stop.

“Raon. Call me auntie in the future, if we manage to survive this fight.”

Aries smiled cheerfully and unsheathed her sword.

“Sword Field Creation.”

The elegant trajectory of her sword made it look like the beautiful sword reflecting the moonlight had become a goddess.

“Obliteration.”

Despite the elegant appearance, a frightening amount of murderous intent was emerging from her sword.

The haughty will to cut down everything in sight was bursting towards the sky.

Crack!

The breath that seemed capable of erasing the entire world was split apart as if it were being pulled apart with someone’s bare hands.

The frozen sky and ocean were torn apart just like the twisted horizon, and red blood gushed from Kaibar’s chest like river water flowing through a broken dam.

The majestic sight looked like divine punishment by a warrior god from heaven.

Rumble!

Kaibar’s breath was removed even though dragon words were added on top, and its defenseless body was revealed.

It was difficult to believe even though he was watching it. The power of a transcender who was risking their life was beyond imagination.

“Raon…”

Aries fell on her knees along with her sword. She must’ve unleashed every last bit of her power.

“I leave it to you.”

Raon crushed the fissured space and leaped like lightning.

He felt like he was too slow even though he was using the Supreme Harmony’s Second Step to the best of his ability.

He was impatient because he had to get close before Kaibar regained its senses.

‘Faster, I need to be even faster!’

He moved his body and aura with his will—or, rather, with his desperation. He could’ve been mistaken, but he felt like he was moving a bit faster.

Thud!

He finally managed to reach Kaibar, but the light had returned to its eyes in that short time. Its powerful willpower showed that it wasn’t pretty much an ancient dragon for no reason.

[Get lo…]

He unleashed the dragon words with his exhausted throat and activated a ninth-circle spell.

‘I’m done for if it hits me.’

He could somehow cut down the spell, but there was nothing he could do against the dragon words. It was necessary to take out the weapon that he’d been keeping for the last moment.

Whir!

Raon unleashed the Silver-White Aurora from Heavenly Drive. Wrath’s coldness, capable of even freezing the space, froze the magic that was falling towards his head.

[Th-that ability!]

“I’m the blue demon king!”

Raon declared while stabbing Heavenly Drive and the Blade of Requiem into Kaibar’s neck as it showed its confusion.

[Kuh! N-nonsense!]

“You are right. I was just kidding.”

Raon sneered at Kaibar because it started to fumble from the fear and made the heat and coldness explode at once from the two blades.

Whaaam!

***

If you find any errors or have suggestions, please feel free to provide feedback.

Thank you for reading!

[Author – Writing Ant, 글개미]

[Translator – Kyangi]

[Proofreader – Harley]