Chapter 124
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Shattering the Dragon Heart
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Jin came to his senses.
And reflexively jerked his upper body back sharply.
He saw Apophis's fist whistling past right in front of his eyes.
His bangs fluttered wildly in the wind pressure.
He channeled strength into his legs and stomped down on the ground.
Boom! His front foot carved a deep print into the earth.
Using that as a pivot, Jin spun clockwise, then whipped his raised rear foot into the side of Apophis's head.
Apophis went flying far away and tumbled across the ground.
No time to catch his breath.
Jin had landed a picture-perfect counter high kick the instant he opened his eyes, but there was no room for relief.
The thing would get back up anyway.
As long as its power source wasn't destroyed, it would keep regenerating endlessly.
That was when it happened.
"The souls of the dwarves, tempered on the anvil, dwell within the dragon's heart..."
Jin spotted Bagmar muttering away at his side.
This guy was still in the middle of that story?
Why hadn't it progressed any further?
There was no helping it.
Jin had only just returned after losing himself to a completely different flow of time, all alone until moments ago.
In reality, it had probably only been as long as a blink, so Bagmar's ancient legend was still stuck in the first half.
And so Jin hurriedly finished the line for him.
"You were trying to periodically maintain the power source, but over time, the souls got all mixed up inside the dragon's heart and developed their own ego, right?"
"...?
H-how do you know that?"
"I happened to find out. And that you're a fragment that broke off from one of those souls."
"..."
Bagmar fell silent. With his face turned downward, Jin couldn't read his expression, but he had to be pretty rattled.
It was only natural—someone else had grasped a truth that even he had only realized belatedly.
Of course, Jin had no spare time to indulge that stunned silence.
"So, what do you want to do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Do you want to merge back with Apophis?"
As the question landed, Apophis began to rise from the distance.
Accompanied by a chilling friction sound.
Grrrrrind—!
Its flesh began to mutate.
Bat-like membranous wings sprouted from its back. Its massively swollen arms braced against the ground with fists clenched like a gorilla's, while its elongated neck molded a reptilian head at the end instead of a human face.
Crunch!
A massive horn pierced through its scaled brow.
It wasn't just any horn.
Its tip extended horizontally at eye level, the black muzzle aimed straight at him.
A horn that's also a cannon?
Cannon horn?
Hold on.
As a kid, I'd seen something with a design like that.
Digimon, probably?
Whoa, Digimon. Brings back memories.
Wonder if it's still a thing these days.
Jin chuckled softly and spoke up.
"So, what're you gonna do?"
Bagmar dangled limply as he replied.
"You're seriously asking me to choose right now? Whether to fuse with Apophis and feel that omnipotence, or just keep living like this?!"
God (self-proclaimed) VS Machine Dwarf No. 1.
A lopsided choice if there ever was one.
But Bagmar didn't hesitate.
Just like Jin hadn't.
"Obviously the latter! Even if I drop dead tomorrow, I'll live as myself!"
"That's the spirit."
As Jin's lips curled into a smirk, the fully mutated Apophis let out a roar.
Rooooaaar!
The next instant, a colossal boom shook the earth as it charged.
Insane speed that belied its massive bulk.
It leaped with tremendous power and swung down its interlocked fists.
Jin threw himself backward with everything he had from the strike so fierce the wind pressure hit his face first.
At the same time, the ground before him erupted in a deafening roar.
Like a bomb buried deep underground had detonated.
What a mess.
Shaking at the sheer force, Jin shouted.
"Isn't there any other way to stop that bastard?!"
Bagmar yelled back.
"No! All those mechanisms are decoys! The castle is Apophis itself! Smash the heart!"
"What about the barrier?!"
"I'll dispel it! Worst case, I'll weaken it!"
After the frantic shout, Apophis's face rushed in close.
Its grotesquely swollen fist hammered Jin with raw physical devastation.
Destructive power that called to mind Killgit's sonic boom punch back then.
Even as he blocked with his elbow, Jin's body launched away like a soccer ball struck dead-center on the instep.
Apophis caught up in a flash.
Another massive fist incoming.
This time, it swept upward from the floor.
Jin, flung into the air, watched Apophis rear its head back. A red glow pulsed at the tip of its elongated barrel.
Even amid the retreat, Jin clocked it.
Converting the incoming visual data into coordinates in his brain took only an instant.
Boom!
As Apophis unleashed the condensed energy, Jin blinked behind its back.
In the process, he hurled Bagmar to the ground and locked his arm around the thick neck looming ahead.
The recoil was immense, but when it came to raw strength, he wouldn't yield.
"Hup!"
Jin yanked the bucking neck with monstrous power. His feet clamped down on Apophis's shoulder blades, pinning the membranous wings. As his waist arched back, ripping sounds echoed from beneath the straining throat—crack crack.
Didn't see the live neck-ripping coming, huh?
Apophis lashed an arm wildly over its shoulder.
Grab.
The giant hand clutched at empty air.
Jin had already let go and landed.
A bit more force and he might've torn the head clean off, but he abandoned that for a wide swing at the now-exposed back.
Lightning crackled from his fingertips, shredding the membranous wing.
Flashing thunder.
A deeper hue than before.
Jin didn't hesitate, whipping the other hand around.
The brutal arc finished shredding the ragged wing.
Rooooaaar—!!
Unclear if scream or roar, Apophis whirled and swatted at Jin.
Boom!!
Yet Jin skidded back but stayed on his feet.
He gritted his teeth. Then unleashed a massive punch from standstill.
Followed by a blink.
Jin materialized right in Apophis's face and smashed its chest plate.
True to its metallic frame, a resounding clang erupted.
Jin pressed the reeling Apophis, closing distance once more.
The next moment, a meteor shower of combos battered its frame.
Apophis fired off its head cannon mid-assault, but Jin had already blinked from the blast zone.
He didn't stray far. Just precise shifts to evade, then another punch hurled forth. Boom! Cracks spiderwebbed across the unbreakable hide.
Jin didn't let up.
Momentum like a predator scenting blood.
As if to sever the throat, fangs sunk into the nape.
His storming limbs were those very canines.
Of course, Apophis didn't submit quietly.
Realizing its barrages missed, it gave up on intercepts and flailed its colossal arms wildly.
Crude as it was, those blows broke the sound barrier.
No matter Jin's prodigious instincts, he couldn't weave through every space-filling haymaker.
Especially not while accelerating his own onslaught.
Sure enough, he ate a few.
His jaw rocked. His already mangled left cheek split open. And his left eye—the lone warrior—suddenly drowned in red.
Still, Jin pressed on.
Instinct screamed this was the decisive moment.
J was right.
You could alter everything else, but never hide the power source.
Maybe because of that uniqueness—this heart chamber remained utterly unchanged amid the chaos.
Meaning this avatar was the only obstacle guarding it.
Jin thrust out his hand.
Zahard's imagery seamlessly infused the arc.
His trailing legs and feet followed suit.
Instinct lancing the instant.
Deepened imagery spun the self-rotation into a frenzy.
And that was just the start.
At some point, hellfire and divinity quietly lent their might.
Forces too proudly independent to coexist—now, within this reality-defying flesh, clasped hands in mutual recognition, unmarred by partiality.
Thus.
The body naturally trailed the mind's path.
The mind naturally synced with the body's deeds.
Perfect fusion of mind and flesh.
And so—the forms danced.
Winged epiphany soared the firmament.
Freely. And high.
...High. Higher!
Until hands met the wall he'd thought was sky.
KABOOOOOM───!!!!
Apophis's avatar exploded into shards.
Fragments thick as ramparts swept into the power vortex, crumbling to sand.
Beyond the scattering crystals, Bagmar came into view.
The dwarf had etched intricate patterns into the floor. He'd flung his shattered right arm—likely used as a quill—over his shoulder, then plunged his intact left hand deep into his own chest.
Face twisted in agony, he withdrew his arm. A tiny light clung to his fingertips.
He chucked it straight at the pattern.
The glow spread softly, perfectly filling every groove in the geometric design—
A deep hum quaking the floor.
Then light slowly rose from the channels.
Like soul-metal poured into a magic circle mold and set—the pattern-shaped radiance slammed the barrier ahead. It began dismantling the shield from its surface.
Jin kicked off the ground.
Full-tilt into the barrier.
Right where the pattern overlapped.
Whoooosh—
Rebound jarred to his marrow, but he clamped his jaw till his teeth threatened to crack and swung.
Once. Twice. Thrice... Crack!
Ignoring his body's screaming limits, the barrage carved ever-larger fissures into the barrier.
Suddenly, behind him—the avatar stirred back to hideous life. As beastly infrasound rumbled from its reborn maw...
─────!!
At last, the dragon heart's barrier shattered like overstressed glass.
Simultaneously, Jin saw them.
Gyozo and the Colonel bursting through the distant wall.
And the Law Enforcers.
Their metallic voices silenced, their eyes conveyed the command.
Destroy it!
As if hearing the wordless order, everyone surged as one.
The Colonel kicked it off with compressed air blasts. Gyozo vomited massive flames from its maw. Law Enforcers under Q piled on their powers.
The onslaught collided with the fully exposed heart.
[·········!!]
Apophis's avatar—lunging for Jin—collapsed like a lie.
Its dulled eyes captured Jin tumbling amid the blast as its final sight.
Laced with fury and horror.
[Legacy... true...]
Its frame crumbled like a sandcastle with the unfinished phrase.
Cough!
Jin hacked up a dry cough.
Drenched head to toe in blood.
Right next to the obliterated heart—he'd been splattered unmistakably.
Red from crown to toe. The kind where you'd flop on the floor for a good while.
Groping the ground to regain his wits, Jin's first act was crawling to Bagmar, sprawled like a corpse.
"Hey! Hey!"
"...J-Jin?"
"You good?"
"...Dunno. You?"
To the dwarf's labored question, Jin rasped back with effort.
"...I'm sturdy. I'll live."
"Jin."
"Yeah."
"...What's the surface... like?"
"No clue. Me neither."
Jin replied, pressing a hand to the slick floor.
"So go see for yourself. I'll get you there."
"...Get me there? From here?"
Bagmar barked a hollow laugh.
Ruuuumble...
Gazing at the world crumbling as if it had all been illusion.
"...How?"
"Somehow."
The next instant, Jin extended a hand toward Bagmar.
"Let's go together."
The man's gaze held not a flicker of doubt.
As the coreless Apophis disintegrated before their eyes.
Thus.
The one true dwarf of the world clasped hands with a lone outsider.