Chapter 26
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Demon Hunt (6)
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When I opened my eyes again, I found myself in the middle of that now-familiar forest.
"Kuh…."
A throbbing headache, heavy eyelids. A body that kept trying to sink to the ground, pulled by gravity.
The situation was exactly the same.
The spot where I had seen her with the black hair.
No bird calls echoed through the dense forest.
I didn't even look around. I just pressed forward.
The same place, the same situation—my task was the same too.
Climb the rocky mountain.
As I emerged from the forest, a towering crag loomed into view. I took a deep breath and began the ascent.
It didn't take much effort this time. A vast improvement over before.
My physical condition hadn't changed at all, but I couldn't figure out why.
Kaboom!
The purple lightning tore through the sky, even more ferocious than on my first visit.
This time, I reached the summit without so much as panting. And there, as if she'd been waiting, the woman stood.
The only difference was the massive horn sprouting from her head.
One that should have been a pair had been severed, leaving just the single horn.
I stared at her in a daze, and she awkwardly broke the silence.
"What the hell is this place?"
"You idiot."
An answer that had nothing to do with my question. Even laced with an insult. It pissed me off, but I let it slide.
"You're on the brink of death. You took a demonic bombardment head-on—it's a miracle you're still breathing."
"What are you talking about? I'm on the brink?"
"Seeing is believing. Check it out yourself."
The black-haired woman opened her mouth. Her triangular teeth gleamed, drawing the eye, but something else caught my attention more.
The unidentified words spilling from her lips.
"────────"
She was clearly speaking, but I couldn't comprehend it. An alien tongue.
Even trying to mimic it felt like my mouth was sealed shut.
Using that language, she summoned a circular portal in the air.
Beyond it lay the training ground.
"Deron? Deron!"
Adel desperately pouring heals into me.
"How much longer can you hold out?"
"...Two minutes is the limit."
Agnes and Professor Ardin somehow holding back Morax, who had absorbed the blood jade.
"Cough. Hack! Han...."
"Don't talk! Your wounds keep reopening."
"Blood's coming from my body. It's... red."
Erina vomiting blood with a blank expression, and Lee Han desperately stemming her wounds.
The training ground had become a hellscape.
"…."
"See that?"
I hung my head, and she dismissed the circle before addressing me.
"The situation's hopeless. To be blunt, you're all goners. Not just hanging on—you're done."
I knew that without her saying it. I was at death's door, and stopping Morax after he'd consumed the blood jade would take at least two more professors.
She rattled off the details of the situation and the others' conditions. Complete with curses hurled my way.
Irritation boiled over, and I glared at her.
"Why are you telling me all this?"
"...What the hell's with those eyes?"
My pupils shattered their shells once more. Magma swirled within, and draconic irises turned on me.
"You lowly human scum, staring at me like that?"
"Grk…."
"Want me to kill you right here? Looks like that's what you're begging for."
An intangible aura poured from her body.
The legendary pressure exuded by dragons, straight out of ancient tomes.
Dragon Fear
Facing it head-on, my body trembled violently. My head forgot the pain and drowned in terror. Chaos reigned in my mind.
Why the hell was a dragon here?
"...Be careful."
"Gah! Ack, hack!"
The moment she withdrew her Dragon Fear, I gasped for air. Oxygen felt utterly scarce.
Ignoring my state, she continued on her own terms.
"Damn brat eats my inner core fragment and can't even handle it properly? Look at you."
"Your... inner core?"
"Yeah, my inner core fragment, you little shit. You ate it, didn't you?"
I racked my brain desperately. Obsidian-black hair. Fiery temper, dark aura. And the inner core fragment I'd consumed….
"Arxius?!"
"Took you long enough. Yeah, I'm Arxius."
"You're a woman?"
"What? Got a problem with that? Can't I be a woman?"
"No, that's not it."
Why hadn't I realized sooner?
A dragon with eyes like that and a personality like hers could only be the black dragon.
As I berated myself, Arxius looked up at the sky.
The thickening purple lightning was fading.
Blood streaked through the dark clouds.
She watched the heavens shift in silence, then gripped my shoulder hard.
"I'll say it once, so listen up."
"…?"
"No idea if it's the gods' blessing or what, but you're not fated to die yet. Your body's a mess, but there's no deathly pallor."
"Doesn't matter—I'll be dead soon anyway."
"There's a way to save everyone else."
Her words made my eyes widen. A way out of this despair?
"Temporary, but you can borrow my power. In exchange for your entire lifespan."
"My entire lifespan?"
"Yeah. Your weird body's what makes it possible."
"Would that power definitely kill the demon?"
Arxius nodded firmly, brimming with conviction. Fair enough—even an upper demon couldn't match a dragon.
"But you'll die. It'll take all your lifespan."
"...What exactly does losing your lifespan mean?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. It'll drain every bit of life from your body."
"What if I could refill that life force?"
"You'd live. But that's impossible. Even divine power can't restore your vitality."
She called it impossible, but I knew a way.
Kill Morax.
I accepted her offer.
"Do it."
"It'll hurt. Like your soul's being sucked out."
"You got time to explain every detail? Looks like you're giving me this choice."
"...Respect. Deron. I'll remember your sacrifice."
With that, Arxius seized my chin.
"Pardon the intrusion."
Before I could react, her lips crashed onto mine. Her tongue invaded, saliva mingling.
At the same instant, a savage energy flooded my body.
I instinctively understood: the Black Dragon's Mana.
Not an imperfect trade of lifespan, but a complete one.
Inherited draconic presence.
"Don't dawdle—finish it quick. Your short lifespan means it won't last long."
She pulled away, wiping her mouth as she muttered.
That was the last scene I saw.
**
────────!
Morax's roar filled the training ground. The demonic energy swirling in the air plummeted like spears.
Adel blocked one spear with a shield from one hand. Her other hand struggled to staunch Deron's wounds.
Had it been any normal wound, divine power would have sufficed—but Deron's injuries resisted healing entirely.
No choice but to tear her clothes and bind them shut.
She gritted her teeth.
Deron had told everyone to fall back, but not all had.
Erina was wounded in the abdomen, Lee Han in the arm.
Adel had applied divine power as first aid, but in this demonic haze, full recovery was a pipe dream.
Just enough to numb the pain and keep the wounds from splitting further.
Adel glanced ahead.
Ever since swallowing the red orb, Morax's aura had flipped completely.
As if everything before had been play, it unleashed energy wildly now—each strand a weapon raining down.
They were too busy defending to counter.
No openings for attack whatsoever.
Professor Ardin and Agnes held on somehow, but even they had limits.
Blood dripped from the professor's arm—he must not have dodged the explosion fully.
A hopeless situation.
With not even a sliver of hope, Adel cried out to the gods.
Please, save us.
But the gods were merciless. No answer to the saintess's plea. Tears streamed down her face.
As those tears fell onto Deron's skin, his eyes snapped open.
Between his black pupils surged an aura unlike any before.
Not human—like something a dragon might unleash.
That presence drew the demon's gaze. Morax bellowed and charged at him and Adel.
Adel tried to block it, knowing she couldn't.
Still, she squeezed out divine power for a shield.
"You can stop now."
Deron stopped her.
He gently took her hand aside and rose to his feet.
His wounds had vanished at some point.
Deron eyed the oncoming Morax, then gripped his sword tight.
Shing.
The blade cleared its sheath. Ink-black mana bloomed from him, staining the surroundings.
Similar to demonic energy, yet distinctly different.
Morax hesitated at the aura.
And Deron seized that moment perfectly.
Slash.
Something was rent. His sword moved fluidly.
Thud.
Simultaneously, Morax's head hit the ground. A pristine strike. Pure enough to chill every onlooker.
"How in the…."
Adel started to speak, witnessing the head fall—but her words faltered.
As the demon's head tumbled, Deron's body collapsed to the earth.