Chapter 248
Chapter 248
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 248
Chapter Title: Clash (1)
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"What? You're still alive?"
【...You!】
Naransonia's eyes widened. It was unmistakably the human she had fought. She alternated her gaze between Ronan and Orse's necks, then spat out in bewilderment.
【Why are you bastards here?!】
"Ah... That's a long story."
Ronan scratched the back of his head. Of course, he had no reason or time to explain, and even if he did, she probably wouldn't believe him. Naransonia clutched the wound on her chest.
【Kuh...!】
The wound ached. Just thinking about the fight made her teeth chatter. Deep in her skin lingered the pain from when the sword had sliced her. Ronan frowned as he saw steel thorns growing along her arm.
"What, wanna fight? I don't really feel like it."
【Shut up! Draw your sword right n—】
The moment Naransonia tried to say something, boom! An explosion suddenly erupted in one corner of the ceiling. A white-haired boy leaped out from the hole and landed leisurely.
"Whoa... that startled me. What the hell's going on here?"
Even after colliding head-on with Orse, his body bore not a single scratch. Ronan turned his head and raised an eyebrow. He had a pretty good idea what Orse had crashed into.
"Huh?"
It was unmistakably Lycophos. Why wasn't that guy at the top and here instead? From the looks of it, he seemed to have been fighting Naransonia.
What the hell were those two doing?
As Ronan pondered, the boy's wandering eyes met his. Both their irises gleamed with a similar crimson hue. After a brief silence, the boy spoke.
"...You."
His relaxed expression twisted. His voice, stripped of playfulness, was chilling. When Ronan didn't respond, the boy continued.
"You're lucky. Who would've thought I'd run into my sister's killer here."
"Sister?"
"Yeah. You wouldn't pretend not to remember, would you?"
The boy solemnly raised his greatsword and pointed it at Ronan. Puzzled by the cryptic words, Ronan furrowed his brow. Come to think of it, he vaguely recalled the boy saying something like that when they met a few hours ago.
After racking his brain for a while, Ronan finally dredged up the memory about the boy's sister. It was that idiot girl he killed on the way down the tower.
"Ah. That retard."
"Die!"
In an instant, veins bulged on the boy's forehead. His form vanished from sight. He charged in a flash, reaching Ronan in the blink of an eye. The bizarre protective barrier still enveloped his body.
【Danger! That barrier...!】
Naransonia shouted. It was unclear why she was warning him. Maybe she hated the boy who slaughtered innocent maids more than Ronan, who had bested her in skill.
Too late.
But the warning came a bit late. Naransonia grimaced. Instead of dodging, Ronan drew his sword from his position and countered.
The elegant blade was dyed in hues reminiscent of a sunset. His slash was faster, but against that barrier, speed meant little.
The moment the boy smirked, certain of victory—
La Mancha pierced through the Star's Blessing without stopping. The blade slipped smoothly past the barrier, arcing gracefully. Ronan said,
"If you rely only on that, you won't last long."
"What?"
The boy's eyes widened. The Star's Blessing shattered. The crimson blade was already closing in on his face. He tried to dodge in haste, but his body wouldn't move.
"Kuh, my body...!"
It felt like the sword was pulling him in. As the boy, having failed to defend or evade, tried to shout something—
Slash! The blade plunged into his collarbone, tore through the back of his neck, and emerged.
No last words. The boy's head soared into the air. The sunset glow faded from the sword, revealing the bloodstained blade. Naransonia's jaw dropped.
【...How?】
"Beats me."
Thud. The boy's tilting body crumpled to its knees. Almost simultaneously, the severed head splattered blood across the bed. Sheathing his sword, Ronan turned to her and said,
"More importantly, I just saved your life, so let me ask one thing."
【What?】
"What the fuck is going on up there?"
Ronan asked. He could feel the mana flow growing turbulent the higher they went. The ominous prickling all over his body wasn't something to dismiss as mere paranoia.
Naransonia stared blankly, saying nothing. Normally, she would have fought to the death without revealing a word. After all, she was Azidahaka's sworn vassal.
But the white-haired boy's words gnawed at her. He had said everything would be meaningless in a few hours. That the world would end soon.
It didn't align with her lord's will. Azidahaka's goal was to gain power and strike Navardoje with his subordinates.
That's why she hadn't yielded her neck easily to the boy. No matter how she thought about it, it didn't seem like an order from the Dragon King.
【He said... in a few hours, everything would end.】
After a short silence, she spoke. Naransonia recounted her conversation with the boy and the sudden ambush.
【...That's what happened. Any idea?】
"Ah. Fuck."
Ronan, who had been listening intently, cursed. It wasn't hard to piece it together.
The Dragon King planned to complete the ritual today. The prickling unease, the excessive guards swarming the tower, and the Dragon King's absence all made sense.
We're screwed.
There wasn't much time—way too little. Ronan spun around and climbed back onto Orse's neck. Tapping the scales, he said,
"We gotta hurry. Let's go."
【Wait, hold on! What's going on?!】
"No time. If you wanna protect your king, kill all the white-haired bastards."
【What? What do you m—】
Ronan replied without looking back. As she tried to speak—
Boom! Orse's massive body, thrashing wildly, burst through the ceiling.
【Kuh!】
Tremendous wind pressure hurled Naransonia backward. It felt like a black wall was rising before her eyes. Orse's body and wings, hidden below, were far larger and more robust than when she had last met him long ago.
Soon, Orse fully emerged. Bang! Bang! Bang! Sounds of destruction echoed from beyond the hole in the ceiling.
【What the...】
Naransonia staggered to her feet and clenched her fists. The hole in the middle of the lair was at least 200 meters in diameter. Debris, fragments, corpses, and screaming people plummeted through it.
【Kraaaaargh—!!】
"Good, don't stop!"
The reckless breakthrough resumed. Ronan's plan was to ride Orse and charge upward from inside. Asel's ice armor and Schlieffen's winds aided him.
Ronan had conceived the plan from Naransonia's headbutt that shattered the tower's outer wall. She, clad in steel armor, had smashed through the impenetrable sky tower's exterior effortlessly.
If she could do it, surely their Orse could too. Fortunately, the plan worked beautifully. From atop the soaring dragon's back, Asel's wail echoed pitifully.
"Hiya aaaah! Eeeek! Kyaa aak!"
He clung to the spikes protruding from Orse's back like a lifeline. Beside the howling Asel, Ronan and Schlieffen crouched low. The recessed area where Orse's neck met his body was the only safe spot in this insane flight.
-Bang!
-Boom!
-Kaboom!!
Rhythmic explosions shook the tower. Each time Orse breached a floor, agonized screams rang out. None of the creatures colliding with his body emerged unscathed—except the Lycophos boy they met earlier.
"S-save me!"
"What is th—this... grraaah!"
The ice grown into armor form destroyed everything it touched. Schlieffen's winds created updrafts around his body, boosting speed.
"Th-the bastards are charging up! Stop them!"
"H-how?! Krahak!"
Ronan had originally planned to use slashes or telekinesis to weaken the ceilings, but it proved unnecessary. In under a minute, Orse pierced five floors and bellowed thunderously.
【Get out of my way, vermin!】
Nothing could stop Orse. In his true form, he was the legendary demon dragon incarnate.
Each flap of his four wings collapsed ceilings and changed the scenery. The black dragon rising from within, shattering the tower, embodied the term "defying heaven."
Suddenly, a vast space unfolded before their unimpeded ascent. Metallic clinking scattered noisily. The party's eyes widened.
"This is...!"
It was familiar. A golden desert stretched out. The immense space, boundless in all directions, was originally for laying the Dragon King's colossal body.
But the Dragon King was absent. Only his vast treasures swirled in a vortex below the hole Orse had made, vanishing.
"The audience chamber. We've made it this far already."
"Seems the top is just above."
Schlieffen said. Indeed, the worsening discomfort signaled proximity to the top. Clatter... Gold coins that had risen with Orse rained down like a storm.
The Dragon King was above. Whatever was happening was unknown, but one thing was certain: a desperate fight against the dragon second only to Navardoje. Taking a deep breath, Ronan spoke.
"Let's go."
Orse accelerated wordlessly. Even the seemingly endless space came to an end. Kaboom! Beyond the shattered ceiling, the night sky unfolded.
"Ah...!"
Cool air swept through their lungs. They hovered far above the tower's summit—too fast an ascent.
The sky racing toward dawn's end leaned more blue than black. Fading stars scattered their final glows like last words. Then, a familiar voice echoed from below.
【Welcome, ungrateful ones—】
【Know your place.】
Ronan looked down. Atop the tower loomed a colossal gold dragon with wings spread, too vast for the eye to take in. Dragon King Azidahaka. Nebula Klazje's white-robed cultists surrounded him.
"Hold up."
Ronan's eyes suddenly widened. At the Dragon King's feet lay a completed magic circle, its light extinguished.
The head, half-formed just hours ago, was now whole. The third head, grown on the left from the center, unlike its companions, was covered in white scales evoking the moon's surface.
【So that's the demon dragon Orse. More ordinary than expected.】
The third head remarked indifferently. The implication was clear. Asel's face paled.
"N-no way, the ritual's already...!"
"Fuck. One step too late."
Ronan grimaced. Despite rushing, they were late. But that wasn't the priority now. Inside the gaping maws of the three heads, a pure white sun roiled in each.
【Repent your betrayal of my grace—】
【And vanish in starlight.】
This was bad—really bad. The orbs, pulsing with immeasurable mana, seemed prepared long before their arrival. The third head concluded,
【Farewell, trash.】
"Damn it, dodge!"
Ronan yelled. Kwaaaaa! Simultaneously, the suns collapsed, spewing three beams of light. Converging mid-air toward the same target, they fused explosively, growing immense. Like a thunderbolt, blinding white engulfed their vision.
We're dead.
In that instant, all sensed death. The eerie white radiance seemed an eraser to obliterate them utterly. As the light sought to consume them—
Not yet.
For a split second, Ronan's time stretched. His senses sharpened in crisis. The raging winds fell silent. In the slowed world, only Ronan moved normally.
He couldn't end here. Instinctively drawing his sword, he gripped the hilt with both hands. Vivid crimson, fresh as spilled blood, surged along the blade.
One cut. Bracing his waist, Ronan swung. The horizontal slash expanded dozens of times, tracing a massive crescent.
Shiiiing...! A black line sliced across the whitened world. Beyond that line, the shrouded night sky—that narrow gap—was their sole path to survival.
Stalled sounds resumed. As time normalized, Ronan shouted,
"Orse!"
【Don't order me!】
Regaining his senses, Orse spread his wings level and attempted breakthrough. The widening gap swallowed them. Asel's belated scream erupted.
"Hiyaaaaah!!"
"Kuh...!"
Schlieffen gritted his teeth. It felt like riding a comet through the sun. The churning white light of destruction barely grazed their crowns and Orse's hind legs. The ice armor touching it disintegrated into particles.
After eternal seconds, the night sky unfolded before them. The intense glow turned Adren daytime-bright. Ronan growled,
"We lived, you fuckers."
【Such—】
【Impossible!】
Two heads blurted in shock. White afterglow smoked from their maws like embers. Exhausted from the exertion, perhaps. The new head spoke.
【Don't panic. One more shot, now.】
Unlike the others, its tone was cool. But their ride was no pushover. Orse's four wings exploded outward.
【You think I'll let you?!】
The demon dragon's roar shook Adren. Saved by a human—it fueled unbearable rage. Folding his four wings, Orse began a vertical dive.