Chapter 113
Chapter 113
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 113
Chapter Title: Old Dragon Jerome Makira
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Old Dragon, Jerome Makira.
Evil Dragon, Jeramakia.
Above the Sunset Desert region, the two dragons clashed, reducing the surroundings to ruin.
The Evil Dragon, consumed by madness and stripped of his reason.
He didn't even recognize his own father, rampaging wildly.
Black flames bloomed around the Evil Dragon, scorching the earth.
Jerome Makira confronted him, summoning a storm.
The two dragons were veritable calamities.
But even dragons have a lifespan.
In the past, he could have suppressed the Evil Dragon with the dignity befitting a lord.
However, Jerome Makira was also an aged dragon.
In contrast, Jeramakia grew stronger with every passing moment.
'The bud is blooming.'
This was undoubtedly cause for joy, for the sake of the dragon race's distant future.
But the one who had to face it now was Jerome Makira.
His old, sickly body was no longer what it used to be.
He lacked the stamina now to hold Jeramakia down.
"Grgh."
He was starting to falter.
Who would have thought he'd come to realize the weight of years while blocking his own son.
What a wretched life.
What would happen if he were killed here by his son?
Jeramakia couldn't control his madness.
Having emerged from the city walls.
He would continue his destruction until his sanity returned.
Until now, he had always been the one to stop his occasional rampages.
But the moment he died, the Empire wouldn't let it slide.
They would surely hunt down the Evil Dragon.
The reason he stayed with the imperial family was to handle Jeramakia's rampages himself, without the Empire intervening.
'I can't let that happen.'
The future of the dragon race depended on Jeramakia.
Even if he was rampaging like that now, Jeramakia was necessary to protect the dwindling dragon race.
'Otherwise, this old one has no face to meet the dead.'
Strength surged back into his trembling, exhausted body.
His mana began to surge violently in response.
The pouring rain intensified even further.
Blue sparks spread around Jerome Makira.
Jeramakia appeared right before his eyes.
His son, who had shed his humanoid form for that of a true dragon.
He opened his maw toward him, spewing black flames.
Jerome Makira wrapped lightning around both hands and plummeted from the sky.
He narrowly grazed past the shot flames.
At the same time, the draconic aura blooming from his body boosted his speed even more.
Before he knew it, his body had arrived beneath Jeramakia's jaw.
Jeramakia, in his full draconic form, was the size of a mountain.
Thus, pursuing the smaller Jerome Makira had its limits.
Seizing that opening, Jerome Makira's fist slammed into Jeramakia's jaw.
Kwaaaaaang!
His fist, veins bulging, twisted Jeramakia's jaw.
Amid the blue sparks, Jerome Makira didn't stop and unleashed a barrage.
Jeramakia tried to right himself.
But he couldn't block the storm-like flurry that had surpassed its limits.
Unable to withstand the force, Jeramakia crashed to the ground.
Kuung!
In the rising dust, Jerome Makira clenched both fists like hammers.
Then he brought them down straight toward Jeramakia's head.
Kwaaaaaaaaang!
Another burst of blue sparks shattered the area.
Jerome Makira didn't stop there.
His son's madness wouldn't fade until he completely lost consciousness.
He would swing his fangs to the end, even if it meant death.
And sure enough, black flames poured from his son's entire body.
But the same went for Jerome Makira.
He raised one hand above his head, gathering maximum-output lightning.
"My son."
Jerome Makira, breathing at his limit, clenched his fist tight.
Blue flashes spread around him, illuminating the sand grains.
In that instant, the Sunset Desert lost its name.
As everything was enveloped in brilliant blue light.
"Dream a little sweeter. Someday, I'll wake you from that dream myself."
Jerome Makira's fist came crashing down.
Kwagagagagagagagagak!
The descending fist shoved Jeramakia's head deep into the ground.
Unable to endure the immense force, Jeramakia shuddered once.
Then he stopped moving altogether, fully losing consciousness.
"Hoo, haa."
Jerome Makira barely caught his breath atop him.
The blue sparks rising from his body slowly faded.
His body was flushed red-hot.
Moreover, the wounds left by Jeramakia throbbed with pain.
Drip, drip—
Especially his side—it was a fatal injury.
Blood flowed from the torn flank, soaking the ground.
Recovery was sluggish.
It was undoubtedly the effect of the curse from that ant bite earlier.
No more strength remained in his body.
But his eyes still gazed only at his son.
He had to retrieve him before he woke and return to the city walls.
As he thought that and moved to take a step.
"Beating your son like that—isn't that unbecoming of a parent?"
A voice reached his ears.
It was definitely a voice he'd never heard before.
But he knew who it belonged to.
Crack!
Jerome Makira ground his teeth and turned his head.
Atop the crater gouged by his blow.
A man stood there, his form shrouded entirely in black.
A man wearing the gear [Black Mask].
The moment he saw him, Jerome Makira guessed his identity.
"...Abyss!"
"Old Dragon, seems you like the gift I prepared. Good thing."
"You heartless bastard!"
Hearing the old dragon's shout, Abyss chuckled briefly.
"Where's honor against an enemy?"
Only a fool holds back in a fight.
Jerome Makira ground his teeth.
That vile bastard—he had to kill him no matter what.
But separate from that rage, his mind cooled coldly.
Abyss.
The master of the strongest undead scattered across the Empire's lands in history.
More dangerous than any lord.
The man known as the strongest necromancer.
A black veil even the old dragon couldn't fathom.
He was a necromancer.
Which meant undead lurked around him.
'I've heard the rumors of the Vampire Queen.'
That undead was said to have 19 ascensions.
Equal to Jerome Makira, lord of the dragons.
And the undead weren't just the Vampire Queen.
'That ant from earlier and the curse.'
There was at least one more undead.
Even if equal to or slightly below the Vampire Queen, it was too much for Jerome Makira alone.
'If this old one were in perfect condition, maybe.'
He had already poured out every ounce of strength stopping his son.
Even one Vampire Queen would be tough.
Jerome Makira swallowed a groan inwardly.
Too much for him to handle alone.
"Take your time thinking."
But that meant.
"As expected of a veteran. So full of leisure."
It was the perfect opportunity for Abyss.
Whoosh!
In that instant, red shadows blanketed the crater en masse.
Shadows.
Undoubtedly the power of the Vampire Queen.
And not just that.
The shadows were laden with droplets of blood.
Chill!
The moment Jerome Makira sensed the threat, he moved.
At that instant, the blood droplets shot out like a monsoon.
Pabababak!
The compressed, high-speed blood droplets pierced the air in pursuit.
Jerome Makira squeezed out strength to somehow evade.
He could dodge.
But Jeramakia, already unconscious, could not.
Pew! Spit!
The blood droplets pierced Jeramakia's scales, leaving wounds.
Under the defenseless assault, the dragon's back became a bloody mess.
Seeing this, Jerome Makira's eyes widened in fury.
The blood droplets hadn't targeted him from the start.
Abyss intended to kill his son first.
"You scum deserving dismemberment!"
Jerome Makira flipped his eyes in rage and kicked off the ground.
He drew a deep breath, chest swelling massively, then exhaled.
Hwarrrrrruk!
Blue flames erupted from Jerome Makira's maw, devouring the blood.
The blue flames burned even the red shadows, shooting toward the sky.
Jerome Makira didn't stop there.
'If I pull back, that bastard will go straight for Jeramakia.'
He wouldn't allow that.
Wings made of lightning tore from his back.
Abyss was a necromancer.
Which meant, once the master died, his undead were mere rabble.
Destroy the head issuing commands, and anyone loses power.
Jerome Makira's entire body turned pitch black.
Natural Disaster [SSS] had two uses.
One was summoning a natural disaster from the heavens to obliterate the area—a wide-range attack.
The second was.
Becoming the natural disaster himself—a single-target strike.
Using it came with massive repercussions.
For Jerome Makira, who'd already expended most of his strength, there was no choice.
He would kill Abyss here.
Crackle—
Blue lightning surged from Jerome Makira's body, now a thundercloud.
In that one instant.
The world paused, if only briefly.
In the frozen world.
Jerome Makira leaped forward at a speed none could match.
He tore through the red shadows and soared into the air.
He saw Abyss looking down below.
'To think a mere necromancer dares.'
He'd make him regret revealing himself.
Jerome Makira's body exploded forward.
His two fists shot toward Abyss's head in an instant.
The blow, too fast for sound to catch up, reached Abyss's head.
Thung!
For some reason, Jerome Makira felt like he'd struck a massive boulder.
The form of Abyss in the Black Mask cracked.
There stood a Sword-Tooth Clan child clad in strange armor.
"Eek!"
The aura from him wasn't that of a necromancer.
His name was Hanok Wilbria.
The one wrapped in living armor Haron.
One-time invincibility.
Stiffness [Special].
Hanok endured Jerome Makira's attack once through this.
As Jerome Makira's eyes faintly widened.
Crack—
The ground split beneath Abyss's feet.
At the same time, Jerome Makira spotted the ant positioned below.
An ant with a crown on its head and antennae, yet in human form.
The half dark elf in ant form curled her lips chillingly.
Jerome Makira's eyes slowly widened at the sight.
In that moment, an absurdly condensed power emanated from her.
Leyzon, the Abyss, hadn't revealed himself from the start.
He'd used his comrade as bait, hiding his fangs while waiting.
Necromancers were vicious classes that used every means to win.
Thus, necromancers never revealed themselves.
Except for one moment.
When victory was certain.
Leyzon's staff glowed.
Beneath his feet lay a cannon formed from Pauli's fortress.
A sure-kill spell condensed from the beginning until now.
"Fierce Poison Cataclysm."
Leyzon's original fusion magic, Abyss.
The day he gifted it to the old dragon.