After a rapid ascent, the traveling party and watchers faced the imposing figure known as the Poison-Spitting Dragon, some sort of evil deity.
Its form was massive, though not to the point of being incomprehensible.
Just by spreading its wings and casting shadows, it could bring nightfall over the colossal city below.
Of course, the city itself was large, but this was only due to the dragon’s immense wingspan.
This did not mean that the body of the Poison-Spitting Dragon was small or manageable in size, but fortunately, it did not possess an unimaginable scale.
It was merely as tall as if towers had been stacked one atop another.
Thus, high above, four eyes floated like moons.
The eyes of the Poison-Spitting Dragon—golden and burning with ambition and depravity.
These eyes were clustered on one side of what could be called its face.
The other side of the face lacked eyes, showing only barren green scales.
It was peculiar to the point of being grotesque.
Grotesque and singular.
Its towering size, gem-like emerald scales, the four eyes concentrated on one side of its face, and even the venom that seemed to erase existence—all were unique to the Poison-Spitting Dragon.
They symbolized its uniqueness and proved its overwhelming power.
This uniqueness spoke without invitation, whispering to the insignificant creatures gazing up at it.
In the gazes of the watchers and the traveling party, understanding drifted—an understanding they hadn’t sought, nor could fully grasp.
A god is an entity that changes the world through its will.
And such a will is strong enough to change the world.
Those who witnessed it could tangibly feel the intensity of that will.
The dragon’s desire was simple.
Through its powerful will and authority, it sought Ereta.
To devour Ereta, assimilate her divinity, and obtain greater power just as it had done before reaching the brink of judgment.
Thus, intent and authority translated into action.
The foreclaw rose, casting deeper shadows.
Like a cloud passing before the moon on a dark night.
“Disperse!”
Aslan shouted—a sudden, impulsive cry. Yet no one present was foolish enough to ignore it.
Kwaooowww!
The roar of breaking air. The speed of the descending claw was fast, its weight immeasurable.
Ordinarily, there would be no way to withstand it.
Only something of equal weight could counteract the weight of the world.
Aslan’s hand grasped the hilt behind his back.
“Purity.”
With those words, what arose was the indomitable spirit of humanity and the very essence of the world itself.
A world forged solely from the pure spirit of humanity, robust enough to block out malevolent intent.
Simultaneously raising the banner of purity, Aslan blocked the descending claw.
Creeeeek!
The sound was quieter than the rushing air.
Zzang!
From the cross-shaped barrier resembling a scale, a resonant vibration emerged, and with a metallic clang, the claw halted.
Unaware whether its claw had been blocked or anchored, the Poison-Spitting Dragon exerted force—and—
Kaardddeck!
That force dissipated against the blade glowing with pure white light.
It didn’t give way. Sensing this, the dragon bent its frame. A gap too fleeting to exist. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning crackled.
Golden and blue lightning erupted.
Lightning summoning.
At someone’s utterance, thunder roared.
Streams of lightning surged forth, and two spears flew alongside their wielders.
Wherever they passed, green and golden lightning flickered.
Encased in that lightning, a woman charged toward the dragon’s foreclaw.
Tung, tung, kaang!
The woman wasn’t alone in her charge.
In a different manner, though slower in acceleration yet faster ultimately, a girl with crimson hair rushed forward.
Kicking the air as if there were walls, she flipped mid-air, maintaining her momentum and channeling all her strength into her legs, propelling herself forward once more.
At last, both the woman’s and the girl’s trajectories collided with the dragon’s foreleg nearly simultaneously.
Pajijijijijik!
Kaang!
Soaring lightning adorned their paths as they struck, and the girl’s crimson streak embraced flames while striking the scales.
Upon striking, both the woman and the girl frowned.
It was solid.
It wouldn’t pierce.
Neither Lumel’s lightning-fast spear thrust nor Phey’s velocity-laden sword strike had any effect.
Since they weren’t effective, retaliation came swiftly. Anticipating it almost prophetically, the girl stepped back as the woman leaped.
Kwauuuuuuuuung!
With a speed matching theirs, the tail slashed through the air, tearing it apart.
The tail tore through the air, crushed the remnants of the city, and left behind trails of emerald afterglow.
It was as if death itself blossomed in that spot. Flying debris shattered the city.
Gale winds blew in the aftermath—strong enough to lift a person. Naturally, the intermixed fragments were dangerously lethal.
The flying shards were akin to a meteor shower capable of killing hundreds instantly.
Keeeiiiiing!
Everything was unexpected.
The watchers hadn’t anticipated encountering the Poison-Spitting Dragon so soon.
But their response was swift.
An archer and martial artist well-versed in manifestation magic erected protective shields to block the incoming projectiles.
Tududududududud!
Even hundreds of arrows couldn’t penetrate the shield, which eroded under the barrage of meteors.
As the blue shield diminished, a green elder with white hair tied in a single braid stepped forward.
He swung his hammer.
Already surpassing human limits, the hammer expanded upon being swung.
Kwagagagagagagaga!
His muscles bulged massively to absorb the recoil, and with the vigor of old age, he swung the hammer back while shouting,
“Resham!”
“The veteran supports! For the empire!”
With the shout, Resham drew their sword, and the watchers followed suit, raising their weapons.
The deeply trained martial artist launched condensed flames, while the archer notched a magic-forged arrow to the bowstring and fired.
Illusionists skilled in illusion magic projected illusions onto the dragon with desperate precision.
As the remaining watchers looked for opportunities, gripping their weapons and looking upward, Tiamat released the string.
The technique fired was Tiamat’s decisive blow.
Using it with an arrow forged from white steel.
The white steel used to craft the arrow came from the scales of a tyrant slain in the past.
‘Mountain Crusher.’
Kwarrrrrrr!
The thunder that echoed possessed the might to shatter mountains as it was fired. Swollen muscles absorbed the recoil, and Tiamat let out a great roar.
“Grwwwaaaaaah!”
The rage embedded in that roar.
Rage directed towards a target propelled the arrow forward.
The arrow imbued with rage and divinity traveled faster than the magical arrow fired by the manifestation mage, so fast that the dragon couldn’t perceive it.
The thunder and roar were unmistakable. Aslan, having parried the dragon’s foreclaw, tilted his head upon hearing the roar and channeled purity.
‘Thunder Summoning.’
Eyes wide open, he expended superhuman concentration to activate it.
A skill potent enough to repel even giants.
A technique born from war and knowledge.
However.
Kwarrrrr!
“Wha…?!”
It was Aslan who was pushed back. Upon using Thunder Summoning, Aslan realized the moment the foreclaw slipped away, feeling himself being driven backward.
The weight of the Poison-Spitting Dragon was mountainous.
No matter how mighty the thunder, it couldn’t push a mountain. Even Tiamat’s Thunder Summoning could only expend its energy breaking the mountain.
Seeing the ant beneath its foreclaw escape, the dragon quickly moved its claw.
The rising dust cloud turned murky green. The deafening roar numbed the ears.
Then the deity roared.
O O O O O O O O O!
The intense roar overwhelmed the brain, incapable of processing it.
The echoing roar shook the city violently, and the emitted poison intercepted the arrows.
The arrows melted. Despite being imbued with rage and divinity, the melting arrows could only graze the scales and bounce off.
Perhaps even the deity found this surprising, as its four pupils twisted in irritation.
When a faint glimmer of light crossed the distorted pupils, the body began to spin.
A rotation unmatched by its size. Roaring, the swinging tail.
Invisible to the naked eye. None present could see it.
However, the intended target was obvious. Angie burst forward, seizing victory.
“Yeeeeaaaaaaah!”
Drawing power from her core, she shouted and swung.
A simple strike. But a strike imbued with Angie’s full power.
—Creeeeeeeeeng!
At the moment of collision, the tail slowed down visibly, and scales were torn off.
Yet blood also spurted from both of Angie’s arms.
Clicking his tongue, Aslan retreated, and Richard blocked the accelerating tail.
Instead of shouting like his elder sister, Richard exhaled sharply and extended his arm.
His tattoos glowed red, and he poured everything into his strength as he unleashed his technique.
Compliance. A martial art surpassing gods, accumulated by humans.
Martial prowess beyond human limits and skills honed to perfection.
Richard absorbed the reduced force and redirected it upward.
He deflected it upward.
The tail, capable of toppling cities, soared upwards, and in its place, the watchers advanced.
“Die!”
The first to reach was the swordsman adept in transformation magic. He transformed his sword into an enormous five-meter-long blade and swung it from the waist.
Kagagak!
Precisely where Angie’s attack had landed. As flesh splattered, the martial artist and the archer followed up and then retreated.
“Fireball!”
“—Thunder Strike.”
The martial artist clenched his fists as he shouted, while the archer completed his incantation and aimed.
Kwaaaaaaang!
The fireball-infused fist struck the tail, and the most powerful manifestation magic-enhanced arrow flew.
Kwarrrrrrrrr!
Scales scattered wildly as the arrow pierced deep into the tail. Amidst the relentless onslaught of magic and attacks, the dragon spread its wings.
Their sheer size made them a weapon.
Tuohaaaack!
Just by spreading them, darkness enveloped the world, and with every flap, gales of wind swept through.
Magic was effortlessly swept aside by these winds.
Caught off guard by the sudden gales, two manifestation magic watchers paused, allowing several others to step forward.
Resham and a few green elders.
Resham, stepping forward, sliced a thin layer of scales with his sword, followed closely by the elder wielding the massive hammer.
“Kruuuuuuaaah!”
Exerting every ounce of strength, including that of infancy, the elder swung the greatly enlarged hammer. The massive hammer hammered the tail, tearing chunks of flesh and scattering scales.
Amidst this chaos, Richard, bleeding from his hands, deflected all the flying scale fragments.
Knees, wrists, shoulders, elbows, palms, fists, fingertips, and toes.
Beyond the deflection, the massive hammer swung repeatedly.
Harnessing the pulsations of his entire body and a faint centrifugal force, combined with a solid stance and activated mana tattoos.
Though seemingly wild, it was an impeccably precise series of continuous attacks.
Kwakwakwakwakgang!
Amplifying the hammer drastically during strikes and shrinking it while withdrawing.
Pouring mana recklessly into each swing, the dragon convulsively twitched its tail.
Kwaang!
“Hmm…!”
Even this was enough to break the hammer. In the moment of its breakage, the tail lunged like a tentacle, aiming for the elderly green elder.
It was blocked by a scarred mute green elder.
Tuuuuung!
By firing a massive dragon-slaying cannon, something no human should be able to wield.
Kwaddddekk!
The elder’s muscles swelled significantly through mutation magic, and the giant dragon-slaying cannon attached to him continuously fired arrows.
Kaang, Kaang, Kaang, Kaang, Kaang!
Each impact scattered scales and sprayed blood. The blood that splashed seemed to burn as it soaked the ground.
Clearly acidic.
The elder with the broken hammer promptly overlapped the broken pieces and repaired it with a spell.
Though slightly shorter, the repaired hammer struck even faster.
The retreating tail and splashing acidic blood.
Above those hammering the tail with all their might, Phey spun and charged.
Spinning, stepping on the air, and swinging the sword.
Compensating for insufficient power with rotation. Perfectly complementing gaps with superhuman senses, pushing the sword path to its limit and infusing it with rotational force.
Kagagagagagang!
Flying sparks and blood. The sword slash weaving between scales escaped one set of scales only to sever another as it grazed the tail, and beneath it, Lumel ran forward.
Kwarrrrrrrrr!
Surrounded by thunder and lightning, he easily navigated through the cascading acidic blood.
Reaching the end, he pulled his twin spears back to his sides and thrust them forward.
The lightning coursed along the spears.
Kazijijijijijijizik!
Dodging the acidic blood, running along the tail, and delivering a strike.
The twin spears slammed into the grounded feet, sending currents surging and shattering the claws as they scattered.
O O O O O O O O O!
The dragon roared, a sound of either pain or fury. Aslan, hearing the ferocious cry, murmured.
“Acceleration.”
Then the winds of the underworld and accelerating mana swirled around Aslan, propelling him forward.
Keaaaaaaaaaak!
A trail of pure white sword light remained in his wake. At the end of this light, Aslan channeled all his core strength into a slash.
Juk!
Though running across the ground, he moved as if flying, swinging with all his might.
Following the stopping trajectory, a long trench of dirt and dust trailed behind.
Through the haze of uncertainty, accompanied by the dragon’s scream, the dragon’s ankle, half-severed, wobbled and spilled blood.
