But this one blow had opened even a slight distance between the two, and that saved Katroi
from danger. Seizing the opportunity, Katroi rearranged his mana with all his might.
The ground was already close at hand.
“Levitate.”
His falling speed began to decrease markedly. Perhaps because the distance between them had widened, his opponent’s Dispel did not
take effect. Encouraged, Katroi even cast gravity-reversal magic, and because of that, he was just barely able to land on the ground with a thud.
Of course, since it was no different from crashing into it, he could not avoid the impact.
“Ugh.”
Katroi bent over, groaning in agony. His mind swam in and out of focus, and excruciating pain surged through his entire body.
But he could not remain still, so Katroi quickly straightened himself and assumed a defensive stance. Yet the Blue
Dragon was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did he go?”
As he looked around in bewilderment, that familiar voice suddenly came from above his head.
“Looking for me?”
Startled, he tried to throw himself aside, but a sudden, blunt impact struck him squarely on the head.
Bang.
The force was enough to make Katroi’s massive body jolt. With that blow, Katroi had no choice but to collapse on the spot.
His limp body twitched intermittently from the pain.
Musius, who had pursued Katroi, had displayed ample combat experience by putting the acceleration of his fall into his tail
and striking without mercy. The tail attack, weighted with his full body, was more than enough to knock Katroi down.
Having delivered a decisive blow, Musius alighted lightly beside the unsightly, sprawled-out White Dragon.
A sneer flickered around his eyes.
“What’s this? You’re only about the same size as me. Inside, you’re nothing but a complete pushover.”
At those words, Katroi barely opened his eyes. Once he regained his senses, fear of his opponent suddenly surged up within him.
The Blue Dragon before him was, in a word, someone who knew exactly how to fight. It was said that those who had fought often
were good at fighting, and to Katroi, who had never experienced even a proper battle, he was a formidable opponent
against whom he did not even dare resist.
“Astonishing. You seem to have only just entered the wyrm class as well, and yet you are this strong……”
Musius approached with a sneer.
“Heh heh heh. I wonder if an idiot like you can truly be called the same class as me.
If it’s dragons like you, I think I’d be confident fighting two or more at once.”
Katroi calmly settled his heart. He had decided to persuade his opponent with words.
“Dragons are beings born to mediate between the various races. Therefore, fighting among dragons is not something God
permits. So why are you trying to defy such divine providence?”
“Really? How sorry I am. Unfortunately, I don’t tolerate gods.”
At his opponent’s calm reply, Katroi’s eyes widened.
“Then do you mean to deny Lord Berhazel?”
“Berhazel or whatever, I don’t care. God has already abandoned the world…… The only thing to believe in is
power. Power that can thoroughly subdue one’s opponent.”
Musius raised a fist and clenched it tightly. At the sight, Katroi felt his strength drain away. No matter how
long they had lived apart, how could there be such a great difference in the thoughts of dragons……
Steeped in despair, Katroi shouted.
“Do all the dragons of Truvenia think as you do?”
“Of course not. Some old dragons, unfortunately, remain bound by the shackles of tradition and have no thought
of breaking free…… But it doesn’t matter. The logic of power that Lord Berkis advocates will soon become the standard
all dragons must uphold……”
“Astonishing.”
Katroi shuddered. Then concern for the dragons of Arcadia surged within him. They were likely spending their days in peace,
knowing nothing of the situation unfolding in Truvenia.
Watching Katroi grow restless, Musius slowly began to approach.
“I intend to kill you for certain. If you don’t want to die, I hope you’ll at least put up a proper resistance.
Of course, even if you struggle, you won’t be able to change your predetermined fate……”
A shadow of despair slowly began to fall over Katroi’s eyes. Because his wing had been torn, escape was
impossible, and even if he fought, this was not an opponent he could defeat. Between the two of them, there existed a difference in combat strength
like that between an adult and a child. But he could not simply submit, so Katroi gritted his teeth and
prepared to fight.
‘I must survive. I must survive and inform the dragons of Arcadia about what is happening here.’
But as he watched the Blue Dragon approach step by step, Katroi found himself shrinking back despite himself.
The situation around the portal was nearly over. First, most of the defensive lines deployed around the portal had collapsed.
They had suffered enormous damage from the dragons’ aerial attacks, and with the assault of the golem
legion led by the Iron Golems, most of the defensive troops had been annihilated.
The mages who had been maintaining the shields around the portal also could not avoid misfortune. Part of it was because the liches on the attack
were relatively high-level, but most of the mages had been focused on supplying mana to the shields deployed over the portal
and met futile deaths. The liches’ attacks were directed mainly at the mages.
Although Gedenhide was absent, every one of the liches was a master of the 6th Circle, while the mages assigned to guard the portal
were of a lower level than that. Thus, the mages had no way to withstand them.
As the mages continued to die, the shields enveloping the portal gradually grew thin in succession.
If things continued like this, there was no need to say that the shields would be completely destroyed. Yet the soldiers did not
take a single step back and fought bravely. They could not possibly withdraw from the portal, the expeditionary army’s only lifeline.
But there was still no hope. While the soldiers fought a difficult battle, in a place not far
from there, another end was being brought forth.
Kwaaaaah.
The Bone Dragon, its body completely shattered, was falling while letting out its death throes. Its wings
had been torn to shreds, and its tail had been ripped off entirely. Its body, of which barely half remained,
showed just how brutal the battle had been.
It had fought desperately again and again, but this was the limit for the Bone Dragon. In truth, the fact that it had endured this long
against three dragons could be called a miracle for the Bone Dragon. Zikreight, the unfortunate dragon who had become
a Bone Dragon against his will, would now exhaust all his strength and return to his original corpse.
As if it was bitter to fall like this, a faint light flickered in Zikreight’s unfocused pupils.
But the light soon faded. A moment later, the completely destroyed body of the Bone Dragon
was driven mercilessly into the ground.
Thud.
The wretchedly sprawled Bone Dragon Zikreight never moved again after that. The riders, however,
were an exception. A Death Knight, battered from head to toe, leapt from the Bone Dragon’s
back just before it collided with the ground. The mage who had been riding it had already vanished through Blink.
Landing lightly on the ground, the Death Knight fiercely surged with his Death Blade as if to show he would not
be taken down helplessly. But the moment he jumped down, he had already been caught in Berkis’s magic.
“Bind.”
As the incantation followed, the Death Knight’s body was bound to the ground as it was. Even the hand holding his sword
was fixed in place, so there was no way for the Death Knight to escape. Immediately after, the energy bolt fired by the Red Dragon
pierced straight through the Death Knight’s torso.
Crunch.
It was armor that appeared quite sturdy, but it could not stop the penetrating force of the energy bolt. Although holes
had been bored here and there through his body, the Death Knight writhed without dying, as if showing off the tenacious vitality of the undead.
But that was the limit of the Death Knight.
Crack.
The tail of the Red Dragon Ryusike crushed the Death Knight while he was still standing. In the place where the tail had passed,
only shattered fragments of armor lay scattered in disorder. Having finished off the Death Knight, Ryusike poured down Fire Strike mercilessly,
as though he would not leave even the remains behind.
Fwoosh.
The remnants left by the Death Knight burned away in vain. He had completed even the so-called confirmation kill thoroughly.
Seeing that, only then did Ryusike let out a sigh of relief.
“It’s over now. They were persistent bastards. The mage remains, but since Lord Berkis is pursuing him……”
The last remaining mage was fleeing with all his might. Because spatial movement was blocked by the distortion field,
he escaped danger by a hair’s breadth by casting Blink in succession. But there was a limit
to that. The one chasing him was none other than Berkis.
Having already suffered severely once from Damon’s magical interference, he was determined not to repeat
that mistake, and so he was pouring out low-level attack magic in succession, driving his opponent into a corner from which he could not escape.
As Berkis tightened the noose around his opponent step by step, a decisive chance to attack appeared. The fellow had finally been caught
in the magic traps he had laid here and there.
Though he had fallen into a trap, the mage did not panic in the slightest and tried to cast Dispel to remove it.
But Berkis was not one to simply watch that happen.
“Time Slip.”
A magic that had many openings to be interrupted but whose power alone was terrifying was executed. He deployed it so swiftly
that he gave his opponent no time to defend. Toward the mage frozen by Time Slip,
Berkis launched his decisive strike. His trademark Fireball shot toward the mage.
“You bastard! I’ll burn you without leaving a trace.”
The instant he was struck by the Fireball, the mage’s body vanished without a trace.
Puhak.
Since Time Slip had been cast, Berkis believed his opponent would not even have been able to use Blink.
Though the mage’s body had been vaporized in an instant, the place where the Fireball had struck
blazed and burned for a long while. Confirming the death of his tenacious enemy, Berkis let out a victorious roar.
Kuoaaaaaah!
The mage’s death dealt an enormous shock to the soldiers defending the area. At the fact that the Dragon
Slayer, their last bastion, had fallen, the soldiers’ morale plummeted beyond control.
“We—we can’t stop them.”
The shields covering the portal had already mostly been dispelled. In other words, it meant that the mages who had been pouring mana
into the shields had been almost completely wiped out. But the dragons’ attack did not stop there.
Once they confirmed that the shields had weakened, the Gold Dragon Renius and the Red Dragon Ryusike plunged toward the portal
at terrifying speed. Their enormous mouths opened, and through them, the dragons’ authority—their Breath—
was violently unleashed.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!
The Red Dragon’s flame Breath was swept up in the powerful gale spewing from the Gold Dragon’s mouth
and spread in every direction. The dreadful flames of destruction engulfed the surroundings of the portal with terrifying force.
The earth boiled and seethed from the intense heat, and the living beings standing upon it, their entire bodies wrapped in flames,
collapsed helplessly. Not even proper screams escaped them.
With this one blow, the guards around the portal were exterminated all at once along with the few remaining mages,
and the shield protecting the portal likewise vanished without a trace. But the dragons’ attacks continued.
Fwoosh.
When the two dragons finished rearranging their mana, blue balls of flame formed in midair. It was Hellfire,
the magic of destruction said to be unable to fail in destroying anything among the materials of the world. The two shots of Hellfire
were fired toward the Dark Portal at terrifying speed.
“St-stop them!”
The shocked knights rushed in, but unfortunately, with bare bodies, they could not stop Hellfire. Since
the shield protecting the portal had already vanished without a trace, the knights could only stare blankly with despairing eyes
at the Hellfire closing in on them.
The Hellfire struck the portal without deviating by even an inch.
Vaporizing the bodies of the knights who blocked its path.
Kwa-kwa-kwa-boom!
Despite the soldiers’ desperate wishes, the portal collapsed in vain. Along with it, the supply line and retreat route
of the five hundred thousand-strong expeditionary army that had been deployed also vanished. Realizing that the portal had been destroyed,
The soldiers finally lost their will to fight.
“The portal has been destroyed. Everyone, retreat.”
At the squad leader’s command, the soldiers who had been locked in battle with the golem legion all turned as one. The mighty golem legion, which had numbered nearly two hundred, had been destroyed by the soldiers’ desperate struggle until only a little over ten remained. It was an astonishing feat, but with the portal destroyed, there was no longer any need to keep fighting.
If the three dragons, still perfectly capable of battle, joined in, no matter how many troops they had, they could not avoid being slaughtered. And so the soldiers scattered in all directions, racing toward the distant forest. If they could just enter the elves’ forest, they would be able to receive the Sentinels’ protection, so for them, that was the best choice.
But the dragons had no intention of allowing even that.
Fwoosh.
Attack magic continued to explode over the heads of the soldiers retreating with all their might. Each time, dozens of lives vanished. But because there were simply too many troops, they could not kill them all.
The two dragons continued pouring down attacks, as if determined not to leave a single fleeing soldier alive.
Grrrrr.
Katroi, drenched in blood, struggled desperately to rise. But because his wounds were so severe, he could not move his body properly. His once beautiful, pure-white body was covered entirely in blood, and hideous wounds gaped open all over him. The battle between the dragons, fought far from the portal, had ended in Myusius’s overwhelming victory.
As befitted a place where dragons, the strongest race on the continent, had fought, the surroundings had been reduced to utter chaos. The earth was gouged out in ugly scars, not a single one of the scattered boulders remained intact, and flames still flickered where attack magic had detonated.
A short distance away stood the blue dragon Myusius, wearing a cold smile. Unlike Katroi, who had been reduced to a bloody wreck, Myusius looked perfectly fine, without so much as a single wound. It was enough to show the difference in combat strength between the two dragons. Myusius, who had been staring at Katroi with icy eyes, curled his lips into a cruel smile.
“This is as far as your limits go, then. Fool.”
Katroi, still struggling, barely managed to force out a single sentence.
“You… truly are strong.”
Myusius shook his head, as if that was not the case.
“You’re wrong. Lord Berkis is far stronger than I am.
I guarantee you, even if ten dragons of my level attacked him, we would not dare defeat him.”
A strange light flashed across Katroi’s face, twisted with pain.
“How astonishing. To think you not only respect another dragon, but have reached the point of worshiping him…
You may look like a dragon, but your words and actions are no different from a human’s.
I have already seen countless fellows like you.”
For some reason, the sight of Myusius being so enthralled by Berkis was not particularly unfamiliar to Katroi.
After all, the members of the Kasim Mercenary Corps behaved the same way toward Damon… But Myusius did not seem especially moved by Katroi’s words.
“It is time to end this. By now, the portal should have been destroyed as well.
Considering that we are of the same race, I will grant you a painless death…”
Having finished speaking, Myusius slowly began to move. It was time to finish off the foolish white dragon.
Katroi looked over Myusius as he approached with an expressionless face.
Suddenly, a complicated thought passed through his mind.
‘I have no attachment to life. I only regret that I cannot inform the dragons of Arcadia of this truth.’
Having composed himself, Katroi closed his eyes and decided to await the death that was approaching.
“Then farewell.”
Before the white dragon, who had given up resisting, Myusius lifted one foreleg. His sharp claws gleamed, wet with blood. The place Myusius was aiming for was the point where Katroi’s neck and torso met. Within it lay the dragon heart, the source of life, and if he pulled it out, the white dragon would leave this world cleanly behind. Without hesitation, Myusius drove his claws in.
Puk.
The blue dragon’s claws pierced Katroi’s scales with ease and dug into his flesh. Katroi flinched for a moment, but perhaps because he had already resigned himself, he did not move any further. Feeling the touch of the dragon heart at the tips of his claws, Myusius’s body trembled. He could not help being excited by the fact that he was killing one of his own kind. Now, if he pulled out the dragon heart, the white dragon would depart to a place from which he could never awaken. Myusius sneered as he grasped Katroi’s dragon heart.
“I shall keep your dragon heart in my hoard as a special trophy. As a commemoration of killing one of my own.”
Katroi said nothing. He merely squeezed his eyes shut and drew in rough breaths.
Watching him, Myusius put strength into his claws to finish his opponent off. Katroi’s dragon heart was slowly leaving its rightful place. At that moment, a strange sound came from behind him.
It was a sound like metal striking metal.
Clank.
Startled, Myusius stopped what he was doing and turned his head. In that instant, his eyes flew wide as if they would tear open.
“Gasp.”
An utterly unbelievable scene was unfolding before Myusius.
‘He was a fake.’
Berkis looked up at the sky with blazing eyes. At the thought that he had been deceived, he simply could not control his anger. Having achieved their objective, the dragons had landed on the battlefield where human corpses lay piled in layers and were resting. Tens of thousands of corpses were strewn in chaos around the destroyed portal. Broken swords and shields, along with scattered fragments of armor, covered the battlefield so densely that there was hardly any room to set foot.
Lenius and Ryusike cautiously watched Berkis’s expression. But as if unable to suppress his rage, Berkis continued to breathe heavily. Only after quite some time did he finally speak.
“We killed the mage, but Incresia did not return.
To put it simply, that means the one who died was not Damon.”
“……”
“The problem was that I rushed because I was distracted by his magic interference. If not for that, I would have realized much earlier that he was a fake. Now that I think about it, the mage’s level was only around the 7th Circle at best.”
Lenius, who had been listening, cautiously opened his mouth.
“But in the end, did we not destroy the portal? Now the humans will no longer be able to send troops and supplies to Truvenia. I also believe eliminating four death knights and one bone dragon was a great achievement.”
Berkis nodded as if he agreed.
“That is true. At most, he should have only one bone dragon left… Now that all the death knights have been eliminated, he will not be much of a threat. But the fact that we failed to kill him for certain troubles me.”
“Where could he have gone?”
Berkis, who had been silently nodding, suddenly widened his eyes.
“Myusius.”
The matter he had forgotten because of his anger abruptly came back to him. He hurriedly turned his head. Lenius and Ryusike, too, wore grave expressions, as if they had realized something.
“If, by any chance, he targeted Myusius instead of us…”
As soon as his thoughts reached that point, Berkis grew anxious. If the man had used bait to lure them away and had targeted Myusius instead… If that was true, then it was a serious problem indeed.
Urgent now, Berkis sprang to his feet.
“Myusius is no match for him. And on top of that, there is the white dragon…
Hurry. Myusius is in danger.”
As if there was no need to think further, he spread his wings wide and took flight. Lenius and Ryusike followed behind him with flustered expressions. Soon, the three dragons began hurtling at terrifying speed in the direction Myusius had flown.