Chapter 203
Chapter 203
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 203
Chapter Title: Thunder and Lightning (3)
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Ami shot up into the sky at tremendous speed.
If I hadn’t ridden a sky bird on a trip before, I definitely would have suffered from oxygen deprivation. Even the sky bird hadn’t been this fast.
While ascending into the heavens, Ami killed the Butterfly as well.
Holding me tightly with both hands, she pierced through the Butterfly’s torso,
its yellow wings tearing and fluttering.
“Breathing okay?”
Her voice came through the gale.
“We’ll be descending soon.”
I had no breath to spare for a reply.
Ami was barefaced just like me, yet she spoke so calmly.
Even while dangling me like this. I felt the body of the one gripping me tightly begin to slow.
We had climbed high enough.
Time to descend.
“Going down.”
Ami twisted her body like she was swimming through the sky.
“Get ready.”
I looked down.
Twisting my body, I took in the sight unfolding below my feet. The clouds that had enveloped the dragon and us were scattering. With the Butterfly fallen, they had lost their focal point and were drifting apart with the wind.
But the sky still bore traces of the wind’s center.
Ami dove like a falcon along that clear path through the sky.
A ferocious wind incomparable to the earlier gusts battered my eyes and skin.
The black wings rapidly drew near.
Scales came into sharp focus in my vision.
My field of view narrowed.
Ami released me.
“Bind it!”
The wires fanned out.
“Get ready to cut!”
There was no time to respond.
Everything happened in an instant. Ami’s wire wrapping around one of the dragon’s wings, her plummeting toward the ground like she’d crash and yanking the wire taut, thus stretching the wing tight for cutting, and me kicking off into the air—all of it.
A dragon’s hide was hard to slice without amplifying strength through absorption.
But my sword now had acceleration behind it.
At this speed, it was possible.
Just before impact.
I steadied my stance and swung my sword.
Sching.
Blood sprayed.
Kraaaaaaargh!
The dragon’s roar hammered my ears.
My body grew slick with blood. I hadn’t severed the wing completely, but half the joint had torn free from the torso. An enormous volume of blood gushed out.
The dizzyingly intense metallic stench stabbed at my nose.
Amid the rain of blood, I braced my body for collision with the ground.
At that moment, Ami snatched me out of the air.
Gripping me tight, she flew low over the ground before landing.
“Done!”
Ami cried out brightly.
“It can’t fly properly now!”
Tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The sound of gunfire from Ricardo and Yoon.
The seniors’ bullets were striking the reverse scale. It had now fallen away. Blood continued to spurt from the red wound.
I planted my feet on the ground and took in the exhilarating scene.
With this level of skill, we might capture it in record time.
Of course, we couldn’t let our guard down.
As I regained my stance, the dragon sprayed blood and took flight.
“Argh!”
Ami screamed.
“How is that thing still flying?!”
“Unless we rip off that one wing entirely, it’ll keep flying.”
That’s what dragons were like.
The silver lining was that the Butterfly was dead now. Rain was still falling, but it wouldn’t last much longer.
I tapped the radio while watching the dragon cast a massive shadow over the ground.
Back on solid earth, the radio came alive.
“Two lightning blasts left.”
I spoke into the radio.
“The second lightning blast kills anything it hits instantly. Even I can’t block it.”
[Yeah, looks that way~.]
[Doesn’t the third one need grounding too?]
As the dragon climbed to an altitude beyond bullet range, the gunfire cut off.
Watching it prepare the second lightning blast, I replied.
“Yes. We have to pin it to the ground.”
“Should we wrap a wire around the wound and yank?”
Ami asked, tilting her head back.
The air began to sting again. The lightning rod had been swept away without a trace by the blast. There was the option of shifting the battlefield to an intact building behind us, but we’d likely get caught in a blast during the move.
I fixed my eyes on the blue orb forming in the dragon’s maw.
“Dodging the second one is top priority for now.”
It wouldn’t be two full minutes before the attack came.
“No one with mobility issues?”
Short affirmatives came back from everyone.
Sophia’s voice was among them. I’d been worried since I couldn’t confirm her visually earlier. Relieved that the entire squad was safe, I kept my eyes locked on the dragon.
Relieved too that everyone had the skill to evade.
But we couldn’t keep taking these risks.
We had to end it as fast as possible.
“It’s coming.”
My hair stood on end.
Thunder unleashed the lightning blast.
Kwarrr rumble boooom!
The attack, blue turning to white, scoured the ground.
Boom! Bang! Bang!
Every traffic light exploded.
Asphalt tore up. Not just asphalt—the soil and gravel beneath, even the buried cables. The path it swept left devastation in its wake.
Some of the electricity seemed to have arced through the water to other areas.
During the onslaught, I’d focused solely on evasion and hadn’t seen the others.
As the second blast ended, I saw the seniors staggering to their feet. Yoon and Ricardo were rubbing their bodies with furrowed brows, signs of electrocution.
Karl was roughly yanking building debris from his arm.
We had to finish this fast.
I turned to Ami, hovering nearby.
“Bind it, please.”
“Yes.”
Ami gave a curt reply and shot into the sky.
The moment she took off, I issued orders into the radio.
“Rick, Yoon! Grab the wire when Ami comes down and hold it!”
[Yes.]
[Yessir.]
“Karl. When there’s an opening, fire a shell into its mouth, please.”
[Okay.]
A low, raspy voice responded.
I watched the wires spread ominously like a noose and gave the final order.
“Kallak. The instant I block the third lightning blast, slip underneath and unload your submachine gun on the reverse scale.”
If everything went smoothly, that would end it.
Rain mixed with dragon blood continued to fall.
Amid the patter, Sophia’s cool voice cut in.
[Got it.]
Ami’s wire twisted around the dragon’s wound.
An agonized scream shook the air. Thick droplets of blood splattered, staining the ground.
But Ami ignored it and descended rapidly—too fast to track with the eye.
Yoon and Ricardo were already rushing to her landing spot.
They seized the wire together and pulled with Ami.
Thud!
Good.
Thunder was dragged down.
It didn’t come without resistance. Caught by one wing, it lashed out at the three seniors with its good wing and claws. But the trio wisely chose not to block the claws.
Dodging the slashing talons, they yanked the wire again.
To draw its attention from the seniors, I unleashed a sword strike.
Thud!
“Look at me.”
The slash cleaved air and struck the dragon’s eye dead-on.
Grrr, an enraged growl leaked from its maw. Even with part of the cornea torn away, it didn’t so much as blink.
I met its glaring gaze and curled my lip.
“Don’t look away. Look at me.”
And fire the third blast.
Another gust rose. From its intact wing.
I braced my lower body, ready to deflect the attack.
This would be its last lightning blast.
I had to make it so. Miss this chance, and we’d face two more blasts with barely any buildings left nearby. Dodging would be harder, and even if we did, we’d risk the scattering small lightning strikes.
So fire.
I watched the blue sphere gather in its mouth again.
Fire straight at me.
The air began to wail.
Crackle, snap.
Snap,
Snap….
It’s coming.
“Drop the wire!”
Kwaaaang!
The blast fired.
I kicked off too. Met the lightning blast with my swung sword. The instant it connected, I slammed the blade into the ground, channeling the energy out with the slash. A technique honed through hundreds of practices.
One I’d learned solely to face thunder dragons.
The electrified slash gouged the earth.
Kurrr rumble booom!
Bang!
As the dragon reeled from the slash and gaped its maw, a cannon shot rang out.
Karl’s shell. Unshaken by the wind from the dragon’s wing or the unrelenting rain from the lingering thunderhead.
The shell traced a perfect arc into the dragon’s mouth.
It slipped in so neatly it was almost pleasurable to watch, vanishing inside.
Kraaaaaaargh!
The dragon vomited blood.
A colossal torrent. Blood cascaded like a waterfall from its lowered head.
Crimson-black blood soaked the ground. The sound of fresh blood pattering onto the pooling gore drowned out the rain.
It was almost over.
I yanked my sword from the earth and charged the dragon.
At the same time, I saw Sophia slide under the cascade of blood.
Beneath its body, she set up her submachine gun.
Tat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat-tat!
Gunfire echoed.
The deafening barrage overwhelmed all other sounds. As it continued, the magical beast’s presence began to fade.
Life was ebbing away. The thunder dragon, coughing blood, made no attempt to evade Sophia’s hail of bullets. Even unbound by the wire.
Its nearly severed wing and blood-soaked maw. Blood spurting from the torn cornea and reverse scale wound.
When the submachine gun’s ammo ran dry, I’d deliver the finishing blow.
Thinking that, I ran toward it.
Then I witnessed a horrifying sight.
The moment I saw it, the hairs on my nape stood on end.
The dragon’s heart area was swelling with pale blue-white light.
No.
“Kallak!”
I screamed as I sprinted madly.
“Kallak! Get out of there!”
The dragon’s death throes.
Thunder’s final defiance, its last attack infused with every ounce of strength.
It rivaled a lightning blast in power. Enough to obliterate a mountaintop.
Though its vitality hadn’t fully drained, the thunder dragon—foreseeing death—unleashed this parting gift.
Revenge from a proud life form against the one who felled it.
Hit by that, and it’s instant death.
I dropped low and slid right under its jaw.
Snatching Sophia, who was losing balance in the blood puddle, I twisted my body aside.
Watching as her heart became a beautiful white-and-blue orb, pushing aside the scales.
A little too late.
Kwaaaang!
The shockwave sent me tumbling.
A brief stab of pain.
After that, no sensation of hurt. Just a vague emptiness on one side. A feeling like my clothes were soaking through unnaturally fast.
But no pain.
As I tried to push off the ground with my arm to rise, I realized the anomaly.
One side’s gone.
“Hilde!”
Ami’s voice was laced with horror and shock.
The emotions were so vivid, they made my legs tremble just hearing them.
“Hilde! Hilde!! Hilde!!”
“You….”
Ricardo had gone pale.
Rushing over, he slowed to a stunned halt upon seeing my state.
“You…. What the….”
I lifted my head to reply.
In that instant, someone grabbed the back of my neck.
“Urk.”
A firm grip shoved me toward the dragon’s corpse.
I couldn’t tell who it was. They just pressed me firmly against the sprawled dragon’s body, then seized my remaining wrist with their other hand.
They pried open my palm and pressed it to the corpse.
As if commanding absorption.
Ah, right. In this situation, I need to absorb.
Losing blood from half my body, no choice.
Yeah, I do absorption in cases like this.
But hold on.
After suppressing the surging revulsion….
Something cold pressed against my nape.
Zzzzzzzzt!
“Gahk!”
A choked scream escaped me.
Agonizing pain as my nerves fired. A familiar sensation. Vision sharpened, sparks flashing before my eyes.
The same as at the villain’s mansion.
Unintended, my body began absorbing.
“Say when it’s done.”
A cold, emotionless voice fell over me.
“I’ll stop then.”
Damn, when did that bastard figure this out?
I thrashed in agony. Meanwhile, the dead magical beast became nutrients regenerating my body. An immense flood of nutrition poured in. It sealed wounds, grew flesh, produced blood—in seconds.
All good, but the absorption speed was uncontrollable, torturous.
Finally twisting my head amid the flailing.
“Stop…!”
“Your hand isn’t grown back yet.”
My master replied icily.
“Live without a hand?”
Not that—I want to absorb now.
At my own pace!
Of course, no mindset for such words.
I floundered amid the rampaging nerves. This was why I hated absorption. The alien sensation. The past memories surfacing during it. The body overloaded like a fried circuit.
Useful when needed, sure.
When Yoon finally released me, my body was flawless.
I collapsed gasping to the ground.
The space had gone dead silent.
Taking in the still scene, I snapped my head back to glare at my master.
“Where’d you get that?”
“Falcon.”
Yoon answered, holding what looked like a sleek silver pen.
His face was like cold plaster.
“He sent it himself. ‘Keep him alive no matter what,’ he said.”
“That fucking prick….”
I spat a raw curse, slicking back wet hair.
Dry-washed my face a few times, shook my head twice to clear it.
Blinked to shake water droplets from my lashes.
Get it together.
“Anyway, thanks. I’ve recovered thanks to you.”
“Your arm grew back.”
Ami murmured, standing dazed nearby.
“I thought Hilde was dead when his right arm vanished without a trace, but it grew back like a lizard’s tail….”
“Grotesque, was it?”
I looked up at Ami with a wry smile.
“Sorry. Not a pretty sight.”
Even my kin often recoiled.
Something only World Tree offspring could do. Sorry for showing most of them this unfamiliar regeneration. Many bore trauma from witnessing it.
Ami, staring blankly at my right arm, raised her head to meet my eyes.
She gazed at me in bewilderment, shook her head as if denying it, then dropped her gaze back to my arm.
Falling silence, fading rain.
Ricardo stood stock-still beside Ami.
Then suddenly, he bent down.
“…It’s fine.”
Grabbing my right arm, I looked up into Ricardo’s green eyes.
“No injuries left now. Dragon corpses make excellent nutrients.”
Ricardo held my right arm for a long time.
His face showed no particular expression. But it remained ashen-pale. His grip on my arm seemed to tremble faintly.
I’d scared the squad too much.
My mistake.
The squad had performed flawlessly.
Reflecting dourly on the seniors, I belatedly recalled something crucial.
Ah.
I whipped my head around.
And saw Sophia Kallak standing stunned.
“Senior.”
Fortunately, she was unharmed.
“Sorry. My error.”
Sophia, staring at my arm in shock, slowly raised her head.
Very slowly. Her face etched with horror, she met my eyes.
I looked straight at my senior.
For the first time, eyes holding not hatred but emotion gazing back at me.
She’d followed my orders to the letter throughout the mission.
“I thought it wouldn’t have energy left for self-destruction. So I ordered you under to shoot the reverse scale. A fatal misjudgment. No excuses. Truly sorry.”
For a moment, I thought I’d lost her.
So glad I hadn’t. Truly….
No reply came. No change in expression. But as I watched the speechless black-haired senior, I couldn’t hold back a laugh.
“Glad you’re safe.”
From the heart.
“Thanks for following orders so well.”
The rain tapered off.
Feeling warm sunlight pierce the clouds, I laughed long and hard.
Until Ami burst into sobs and threw herself at me.