Chapter 253
Chapter 253
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 253
Chapter Title: Descent (1)
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The dawn air hung heavy. An unnatural energy seeped into the shattered walls. Even the star clusters embroidered across the sky took on a bizarre hue unlike any before.
Ronan twisted his lips. His joints throbbed sharply, and the sensation was far from good. It felt like something horrific could happen at any moment.
But he had no time to dwell on vague foreboding. The Dragon King flapping its wings right before his eyes, along with its minions, demanded his full attention.
'Why aren't they moving?'
The odd part was that the Dragon King and its subordinates weren't doing a thing. Just moments ago, they had acted like they would devour everyone alive, so he couldn't fathom why they were holding back now.
The Dragon King merely beat its wings in the middle of the sky, while its minions circled it like hungry crows. Instinct told him they would attack instantly if he tried anything foolish.
Orse lay with his wounded body sprawled out, eyes closed as if trying to recover his strength. Ronan had no idea what to do in a situation like this—it was a first.
He needed to figure out how things had come to this. Ronan turned to Asel and asked,
"Hey, why's that woman with you guys? And what happened to her wounds?"
"Sh-she suddenly joined us midway. Got hit by a beam and lost one of her wings."
"Beam? You mean that three-headed freak's breath?"
"Y-yeah."
Asel nodded quickly. He gave a brief rundown of what happened after Ronan and Schlieffen had leaped down. Ronan's brow furrowed at the news of Naransonia's rebellion.
"She attacked the Dragon King? Wasn't she that three-head's right-hand woman?"
"I-I don't know the details. But yeah, the Dragon King has gone weird."
Asel explained that Naransonia had come to stop her lord, who was turning into someone else. About twenty dragons who shared her sentiment had tried to restrain the Dragon King alongside her, only to be slaughtered by his beams.
"He's completely lost it."
Ronan clicked his tongue. He'd suspected as much, but not to this extent.
There was no need to ask if Naransonia's attempt had succeeded. The Dragon King's fading color, like dead coral, told the tale of utter despair.
Even Dragon Orse hadn't been able to take him down. Recalling his fight with the Dragon King, Asel said in a trembling voice,
"A-and the Dragon King is too strong... He's getting stronger by the second. W-we're all gonna die..."
"Eek...!"
Asel shrank back at Orse's threat. It seemed they'd grown a bit close during the fight. Suddenly, the silent Dragon King spoke up.
"Pondering?"
The third head spoke in a dry tone. Ronan didn't like being treated like fish on a cutting board. Gripping his sword hilt, he lifted his chin and asked,
"So, reached a conclusion?"
The third head nodded. The past tense suggested what came next. Ronan, Asel, and Schlieffen exchanged quick glances and readied for battle.
"Knew it, fucking hell."
Ronan spat a curse. At the same moment, all three of the Dragon King's mouths opened wide. Goooo...! Glowing orbs began condensing inside their crimson throats.
"I'll slash through with sword aura, so stick close and follow."
Ronan said. He was just about to charge forward when—
Boom! Orse, who had been crouched like a madman, rocketed toward the Dragon King.
"Orse?!"
The party's eyes widened. With all four wings folded, Orse hurtling forward resembled a black harpoon. Unlike Naransonia, Asel was still clinging to his back and screamed.
"Hiyaaak!"
It was a terrifying speed. But the enemy seemed to have anticipated this. Dragons circling the Dragon King blocked his path and unleashed their breaths.
Flames and lightning, blizzards, poison, and crushed rock breaths poured toward Orse. The range was too wide for blink to evade.
"Bl-blizzard armor!"
Asel squeezed his eyes shut and chanted. Whoosh! Thick ice armor grew over Orse's body. The armor, covering him from head to tail, sprouted sharp spines like a cactus.
"S-save meee!!"
Orse laughed. He didn't slow down at all, charging straight at the dragons. Sensing an ominous threat, they tried to retreat, but Orse was already upon them.
The moment the Dragon crashed into the wall of dragons—splat! A radical bursting sound echoed as red flowers bloomed in the air. Torn wings, legs, entrails, and body parts rained down like a downpour.
Agonized screams rang out. Crippled dragons fell like autumn leaves wherever Orse passed. But there were too many to reach the Dragon King.
"That muscle-headed idiot...!"
Ronan bit his lower lip. Even Orse couldn't handle that many at once. Someone needed to draw their attention.
After some thought, Ronan signaled Schlieffen. There was no real plan since failing to stop the ritual. He'd make it work somehow.
Schlieffen accepted Ronan's lunatic proposal without objection. They exchanged glances and leaped out of the Sky Tower.
Whoosh! As the two plummeted helplessly, Ronan flipped his body upward, cupped his hand to his mouth, and shouted,
"Over here, you senile lizards!"
A few dragons looked down. Ronan drew his sword and activated his aura. Paaa...! Sunset light wove through the air, yanking a green dragon hovering in place right to him.
The green dragon's eyes widened. Ronan and Schlieffen swung their swords mid-fall. Single strokes crossed the dragon's neck.
Slash! Its long, thin head separated from the body in one go. Blood sprayed, drenching their faces. One of the dragons shouted urgently,
Some dragons heading for Orse dove toward Ronan and Schlieffen. Finally breaking through the encirclement, Orse clashed with the Dragon King. The two behemoths' roars shook Adren.
The chaos didn't last long.
The battle with Orse ended in under an hour. The sky racing toward morning held a dim glow.
The Dragon King stood atop the ruined city. Screams and wails rose from beneath the burned and crushed buildings. Suddenly, a human servant staggered toward him.
"Y-Your Majesty...! Please help us. Suddenly, beams fell from the sky, and the city..."
He clutched the Dragon King's hind leg, pouring out his tragedy. A roar had echoed in the dead of night, then everything vanished. Blood dripped from his severed leg.
"The city... aaah..."
Thud. The man collapsed amid the debris. His body twitched a few times before going limp. Sizzle... Blood flowing down the slope extinguished embers.
The two heads groaned upon confirming the man's death. This made three digits of subjects who had begged for his aid only to die before him.
The third head asked—not mocking, but genuinely curious.
After gnashing their teeth for a while, the two heads bellowed. Attachment, greed, and a crowned ruler's pride fueled their rage.
Indiscriminate breaths and wide-area spells had turned Adren into hell. It was the third head's doing, having seized control of the body at some point.
The third head had spared no means to subdue Orse. He clicked his tongue in annoyance.
Ronan and Schlieffen hadn't been caught yet. But with minions in hot pursuit, it was only a matter of time.
The third head looked up and sneered.
Orse growled weakly. He was restrained in a massive sphere, with only his head and part of his torso exposed. Vines, metal, and rock formed the sphere.
Orse had fought fiercely. Over a hundred dragons slain in an hour spoke volumes. Tearing into kin while roaring, he truly embodied a Dragon.
But reversing the tide was too much. The Dragon King used brainwashing magic on minions, and Adren housed far more dragons than Orse expected.
Moreover, post-Nebula Klazie ritual, the Dragon King was several times stronger. Exhausted and crashed, Orse ended up sealed alive in Adren's heart. Rolling his eyes back, he told Asel,
"H-how can I...! Get up!"
Asel sat where Orse's neck met his torso. Luckily, there was space structurally—he could escape if he willed it. Orse shook his head.
Suddenly, the third head's maw gaped wide. Ambient mana converged, birthing a small sun in its throat. The all-too-familiar beam that reduced all to ash.
The third head sneered. Orse chuckled faintly. He couldn't move no matter how hard he tried.
Like watching an arrow fly toward one's heart. As the throat's sun compressed into a beam—Asel's teary eyes widened.
"Wha...?"
Suddenly, the sky blazed bright.
All three heads snapped up. A massive magic circle engulfed Adren and more, writhing with bizarre runes unseen anywhere, layered in dozens of concentric rings.
"Wh-what's that?"
"Is that magic His Majesty cast?"
Survivors groaning in pain looked up. Beyond the circle, the sky growled like it would unleash thunder any second. The third head raised its neck. The circle's center parted slowly, something white descending.
Clouds parted to reveal unmistakably human legs—though several times larger.
What the hell? As the third head's eyes narrowed—clouds streaming across the night sky scattered, forming a massive hole. Whoosh! A gale from the circle swept the area.
Confused cries erupted. Flying dragons lost balance and wobbled. The wind was so fierce some were flung into the Sky Tower.
Each swing of the roaring gale snapped spires dotting the city. Pedestrians outside clung to trees or mailboxes.
Even the mountain-like Dragon King found the gusts irritating. Barely weathering it, he looked up. The legs' owner had fully revealed itself.
The third head's face hardened. A massive white human with two pairs of wings descended beneath the circle.
'Bad feeling about this.'
He didn't know what it was, but one thing was clear: leaving it alone would spell big trouble. Deciding instantly, the third head fired its held breath at the giant.
Boom! The beam torrent sliced through the wind and struck. A roar like mountains uprooted thundered.
The explosion blanketed the eastern sky in light. Seconds later, as smoke cleared—
The Dragon King's face stiffened. The mystery giant stood unscathed. A spherical barrier around him rippled with eerie colors.
The beam had likely been stopped there. Baffled by the impossible, the Dragon King prepped a second breath.
The giant slowly surveyed the surroundings and extended an arm. Light particles gathered in his open palm.
Orse furrowed his brow. Forgetting his capture, he stared at the enigma. Soon, a spear five times his own height formed in the giant's grasp.
"W-wait, what is that thing..."
As Asel sensed doom and tried to speak—swish! The giant's right arm vanished for an instant. A straight bolt of lightning streaked across Adren.
Thud! The light spear impaled the Sky Tower's center—not the Dragon King or Orse. Despite the flash, nothing happened.
As everyone, including the Dragon King and Orse, puzzled over it—
Boom!! The deeply embedded spear detonated massively. A thunderous roar like a thousand bolts striking at once resounded.
The Dragon King's eyes bulged. The unreal energy expansion didn't just obliterate the outer walls—it ravaged the skeleton. Rumble... The tower, which seemed it could withstand doomsday, began to tilt.
"Th-the Sky Tower's collapsing!"
Horrified cries burst everywhere. Thick smoke swallowed moon and stars.