GRAAAAAH—
The moment the water dragon saw Eruhaben, the enormous dragon, it reared up the massive body it had dragged here while swallowing an entire mountain.
*****
“......!”
And the third Emperor, Dragon King, the instant he saw the gold dragon inside his mind, stopped moving without realizing it.
The water dragon sent in full.
It was on an entirely different level from the one-tenth avatar.
That water dragon was a being containing the third Emperor. That was why the powerful emotion the water dragon sent through its fury reached the third Emperor as well.
His gaze turned toward the Demon King.
“Urgh!”
“Guh, cough—!”
His subordinates were being helplessly pushed back by the Demon King’s attacks.
But they aren’t dead.
Yes.
The Demon King was keeping the third Emperor’s subordinates alive.
And he was not using his full strength against the third Emperor either.
He had even given the water dragon time to pass.
Yes, he had let it go.
The third Emperor had thought he had shaken off the Demon King, but he had not.
“Ha!”
The third Emperor burst into laughter. But unlike that laugh, his long beard trembled.
His face was filled with rage.
His eyes looked as though flames might surge from them at any moment.
Grin.
The Demon King’s smiling face was reflected in those eyes.
“Do you understand now?”
The moment the Demon King spoke indifferently.
The third Emperor realized what his failure had been.
“You treacherous bastard!”
SPLAAAAASH—
Currents of water surged up from the third Emperor’s body.
The Demon King spoke to him in an indifferent tone.
“If you are late, your dragon will vanish.”
“......!”
Impatience had been hidden beneath rage.
The Demon King already knew that.
“Now then, this is a battle of time.”
The Demon King spread both arms.
The third Emperor had to cross the place where he stood to reach Mika.
“Third Emperor. One given the epithet Dragon King—”
Let us see if you can.
“Escape from me.”
Could you?
“Only then will you be able to save your dragon.”
If you lose that dragon—
“Are you not no Dragon King without a dragon?”
Would the name, the title you take such pride in, not lose its meaning?
The Demon King said to the third Emperor, Dragon King,
“Third Emperor. Hurry.”
Immediately after receiving the message through ring magic that Cale Henituse could absorb the third Emperor’s water dragon, his sea power—
The Demon King changed his plan.
No, to be precise, the single sentence of Cale’s message, delivered through Strategist Ed, changed his mind.
Want to hunt?
Ah.
The Demon King raised his head.
Rainwater wet his face.
The rain felt cool.
That must mean his body, his mind, was that heated.
It has been a long time.
How interesting.
This was the first interest he had felt in ages, ever since the time he fought the previous Demon King one-on-one.
Perhaps he truly had to live in war.
Perhaps only then did his existence have meaning.
Perhaps peace and tranquility could never have existed for him from birth.
The Demon King pushed those thoughts aside.
SHAAAAA—
Instead, feeling heat that would not sink even beneath the rain, he slowly lowered his head.
Woooooo—woooo—
A strange aura wrapped around the Demon King.
The reason the third Emperor had not dared attack the Demon King, even though the Demon King seemed so relaxed.
Unlike his behavior, his body and his aura were already like that of someone standing at the center of war.
The Demon King spoke to his prey.
“Now, erase me.”
The third Emperor’s face hardened.
For the first time, he faced the Demon King’s true power.
No, perhaps even that was not the whole of it.
The first Emperor.
Only now did the third Emperor understand why the first Wanderer had told him to be wary of the Demon King.
The Demon King smiled and said,
Erase me.
“Only then will you be able to go save your dragon, will you not?”
And the Demon King, too, could properly see the third Emperor’s true power.
Or at least part of it.
SPLAAAAASH—
Water surged upward from the surface of the earth, moving against the rain.
The sea wrapped around the third Emperor.
The third Emperor opened his mouth.
“Demon King, you are strong.”
He acknowledged what had to be acknowledged.
“But I must kill you, and I must kill those bastards who have joined hands with you as well.”
The third Emperor did not retreat. Instead, he looked as though he were feeding his rage into a roaring blaze.
The Demon King’s smile deepened.
As expected.
But the Demon King’s eyes were not smiling.
He intends to run.
The furious third Emperor seemed to be raising his momentum as if to kill the Demon King.
But within that, the Demon King noticed it.
This bastard would flee.
Then he would go to find the water dragon.
Because it was a precious power containing part of himself.
Yes. Third Emperor.
No.
Prey. Try running.
There would be a trap waiting for him there.
A small trace of laughter gathered at the corners of the Demon King’s eyes as well.
He took one step forward.
The third Emperor also took one step forward.
ROOOOOOOOAR—!
In the middle of the road.
Within the forest surrounding it.
A tremendous roar began to resound, swallowing even the sound of the storm.
*****
And before Mika, dragon collided with dragon.
BOOOOOOOOM—!
A thunderous impact rang out.
It was a roar massive enough to swallow the fierce rain and even the darkness.
“Hah—”
“The, the dragon!”
The residents inside the walls of Mika and Midi could only hear the tremendous noise. They had no way of knowing what was happening.
But those in the lord’s castle could see the scene beyond the city wall clearly.
“Tell them to stay calm. Tell them there is no need to act rashly. Use guidance magic!”
“Yes, Strategist!”
“Strengthen Midi’s wall defenses, and put every force except the minimum personnel needed to track infected people on wartime standby!”
“Yes!”
“And tell Mika that the forces inside are to stand by only. They must absolutely not go outside the wall without orders!”
“Yes!”
Strategist Ed issued several orders while keeping his eyes fixed outside Mika’s wall, on the collision of the two enormous dragons.
“Hah. A dragon is still a dragon.”
The third Emperor, Dragon King’s water dragon.
Strategist Ed had some understanding of its strength.
If he had not known Cale had absorbed its avatar, he would never have suggested fighting the water dragon.
“...Remarkable.”
And yet, right now, that water dragon—
GRAAAAAH—!
CRUNCH.
“That ancient dragon is more than I expected.”
The ancient dragon was facing it.
Compared to the water dragon, which was massive enough to sweep over a mountain, the ancient dragon was somewhat smaller.
And yet when their bodies slammed together, the ancient dragon—
“He’s winning—”
The ancient dragon was winning against the water dragon.
“He should not even be able to use magic.”
Strategist Ed was amazed.
“.......”
Cale, still with his arms crossed, watched Eruhaben.
Flutter.
Eruhaben spread his wings and shot upward.
Then plunged straight down.
BOOOOOOM!
With a roar, Eruhaben pressed down on the water dragon’s long body and seized it.
“Incredible.”
Eruhaben was fighting the water dragon without caring about his real body.
He was simply slamming straight into it.
“Human, gold dragon grandpa is amazing!”
Raon cried in admiration.
GRAAAAAH—!
The water dragon bared its teeth in fury at Eruhaben, who was pressing down on it.
The water dragon had the form of an Eastern dragon. Its tail moved and whipped toward Eruhaben, who was pinning it down.
Flutter.
At that moment, Eruhaben quickly soared into the sky.
“Gold dragon grandpa dodges well! And he is very strong! His body slam is powerful!”
Cale pretended, for a moment, not to hear Raon’s choice of words.
Instead, he said to Raon,
“He is being clever.”
“Huh?”
“Lord Eruhaben really is smart.”
“Huh?”
Raon tilted his head, but—
“Fake dragon. Is that all you can do, despite calling yourself a dragon?”
Hearing Eruhaben’s voice, Cale was impressed.
Wow.
As expected, age could not be ignored.
Rather than clever, should he call it cunning?
Their Lord Eruhaben had already set the board from the very beginning.
“You may have imitated a dragon well on the outside, but perhaps because what is inside is not real, you cannot bring out any strength! Hahahaha!”
As Eruhaben said that, he charged straight into the water dragon again.
BOOOOOM!
With a roar, this time the water dragon used its long, enormous body as though it had been waiting and tried to coil around Eruhaben.
Flutter.
But Eruhaben avoided it.
And said as he dodged,
“Hmph. You are too slow to be called a dragon.”
GRAAAAAH—
The water dragon could not suppress its rage.
Who was it?
The Dragon King.
The only dragon kept beside the Dragon King who ruled the sea.
A being created by its master, who was also the king of dragons.
And yet this old dragon dared call it fake.
The water dragon could not endure it.
“Then again, since you were born from a fool spouting absurd nonsense about being the Dragon King, perhaps it is only natural that you do not know what you are. Tsk, tsk.”
Eruhaben clicked his tongue.
GRAAAAAH—
The water dragon’s rage burst completely.
How dare he!
Not only insult me.
But insult my master as well!
The water dragon could not endure it.
That old dragon.
It would kill that dragon no matter what!
And it would reveal that it was the true dragon!
Flutter.
Eruhaben rose upward again, then began to charge toward the water dragon.
The water dragon waited for the moment.
Then, at last, moved its body.
Compared to that old body, that dragon’s body, its own was a great body that would never age.
“Urgh!”
Its enormous body swiftly wrapped around Eruhaben. The speed was on an entirely different level from before.
In an instant, beginning at the tail, it coiled around Eruhaben’s body again and again. Then it began to squeeze with tremendous force.
“Grrrgh—!”
The water dragon felt joy at the sound the old dragon let out.
Yes.
Look.
The one defeating this old dragon was the true dragon made by the Dragon King.
Just as the water dragon felt pride and tried to savor the joy of victory—
“Foolish.”
Eruhaben’s calm voice reached the water dragon.
His face was contorted in pain, and yet the ancient dragon’s eyes remained still.
The years contained within them were deep.
“You are not a dragon.”
Rage rose again in the water dragon’s eyes, and just as it tried to crush Eruhaben’s body even harder—
Shing.
The water dragon heard an alien sound very close by.
Wooo—wooo—
A very faint sound.
“Hee.”
Then came a bright laugh.
Above.
The sound came from above.
The water dragon raised its head.
SHAAAAA—
Rain was falling from the sky.
But instead of that rain, something else came into view.
A huge net made of black mana.
“Caught you!”
Raon’s magic, the black net, fell over both the water dragon and Eruhaben at once.
The water dragon tried to dodge, but—
Clamp.
Eruhaben’s forelegs and hind legs seized its body.
GRAAAAAH—
The water dragon struggled, but Eruhaben held onto the body larger than his own as much as he could and refused to let go.
An instant.
Only that brief time was needed for the black net to cover both enormous dragons.
He could endure that much with his rejuvenated body as long as necessary.
SHWAAAK!
The net descended.
It covered the water dragon and Eruhaben.
The more the water dragon struggled, the more tenaciously the black net clung to it.
Of course it did.
Raon was looking down at the two from the air, controlling every piece of the net one by one.
When it came to executing his magic, there were few who could match Raon.
“I’m done!”
And Raon had a fixed role.
A short time.
Raon only had to create a short window during which the water dragon would be tied tight.
That was why he spread his magic freely, as much as he wanted.
“.......”
Because Choi Han was currently standing firm beside Cale.
Choi Han would protect Cale, so Raon could use his mana without worry to create the giant net.
And the moment Choi Han and Raon’s gazes turned toward Cale—
“Begin.”
Cale uncrossed his arms and raised his hand, giving the signal.
Rustle—rustle—
As the water dragon thrashed, it heard a strange sound.
A woman approaching the net.
The water dragon knew that being.
One who handled ice.
The water dragon’s eyes widened.
The Dragon King’s subordinate reached her hand toward it.
The enormous net.
Through a gap in that net, she slipped her hand in and placed it on the water dragon’s body.
—!
And over her shoulder, the water dragon could see Cale approaching.
A human walking closer while licking his lips, a huge shield hanging beside him.
The moment the water dragon felt an unknown sense of ill omen—
“Seawater freezes too.”
The Wanderer Ryeon spoke calmly.
“It is a bit difficult, though.”
It was only an instant anyway.
She did not need to freeze all of it.
Only a part of the water dragon.
Only enough to stop it from escaping.
Slice—
The water dragon saw the part of its body touched by Ryeon’s hand begin to freeze.
In that instant, it even forgot to struggle.
The ancient dragon spoke calmly.
“You are not a dragon.”
After facing the water dragon before, Eruhaben had thought about it and realized something.
The reason that water dragon was strong was because it was not a dragon.
“How foolish. To forget your essence.”
That water dragon’s essence was the sea.
A vast and enormous force of nature.
And yet it had trapped itself within the frame of a dragon.
Of course, dragons were great and complete beings.
But toward this water dragon, which did not understand the greatness of its own essence and wished to be another being—
Eruhaben had deliberately mentioned fake dragons and dragons, making the water dragon forget its essence.
Water could flow anywhere.
In other words, the water dragon could flee anywhere.
It was also water strong enough to sweep over a mountain.
In other words, the water dragon could become a vast sea at any moment.
They had to stop that.
The ancient dragon, having understood that, said he would step forward and created this board.
The ancient dragon, the black net, and ice.
The short time produced by those three binding the water dragon—
Wooooong—woooo—wooo—
Was more than enough for the shield, covered in gray but giving off a faint silver light, to aim for the water dragon’s body.
ROOOOOOAR—!
Cale’s shield plunged into the water dragon’s body.
For the first time in a long while, the Unbreakable Shield was being used not for defense, but for the opening strike.
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