A Hard-Fought Battle

A Great Demon.

The ranks of demons are divided simply: Low-tier, Mid-tier, High-tier, and Highest-tier.

And then, the Great Demons.

Beyond the Great Demons come the Ranked Demons, each wielding an authority born of their own twisted individuality, bending that power freely to their will.

And the one standing before me now was Dreamer — among Great Demons, perhaps the most infuriating and bizarre of them all.

A shiver crawled down my spine at that voice, the sound of claws dragging across a throat.

Dreamer began ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠snickering, a sound that made my skin crawl.

Then, without warning, the demon flung his enormous mouth wide and vomited up a cloud of black smoke.

Phantom clones...!

The black smoke slowly swelled and ballooned into bodies shaped just like the original, and each of them, parasol in hand, drifted down to land on the ground.

Hearing their master's command, the clones twisted their grinning clown faces into vile, skin-crawling smiles and came at me fast.

— THWANG!

I read the impact point of the parasol charging head-on, blocked it, and shoved it away with brute force.

Unlike the main body, the clones could actually be killed — and physical attacks worked on them.

If these things had been immune to physical damage too... I'd really have been in trouble.

The spirits began lending their support, one of them slicing clean through a clone that had circled behind my back with a blade of wind.

— WHOOSH!

Another parasol snapped open, blotting out my view, and in that blind moment a second clone leapt high and came smashing down toward me.

"Ugh!"

Their attacks were erratic, full of variables — charge in carelessly and I'd be the one getting torn apart.

— Blaze!

Blaze answered my call.

— You called, my liege?

— Burn everything around me. All of it.

— As you command.

Just like in my duel with Florence, the dragon ignited his small body — and in the blink of an eye, the little flame swelled and swept the area clean.

Caught off guard by the counterattack, the clones had been snickering moments before; now they could offer no resistance to the fire, and two of them burned to ash and crumbled into powder.

Five remained.

Perhaps furious at having been counterattacked while they'd dismissed me, they simply came barreling at me headlong.

I twisted my body aside to evade the strike raining down from above and drove my sword into the clone's flank — that's one.

— WHOOSH!

The same vision-blocking trick as before. Without hesitating, I swung my current-laced sword forward and cleaved the parasol clean in two.

The parasol split apart, unable to resist at all.

I dove straight into the clone's chest and took its head — that's two.

Next, the lowest one.

That clone hooked its parasol handle around my ankle, trying to sweep my legs out from under me, but—

— CRUNCH!

I slammed the Sword of the Azure Sky into the ground where my ankle would have been, sealing the strike shut.

Then I burst forward, recalled the sword I'd planted in the earth, and carved it through in an X — that's three.

The last one stabbed at me, parasol still raised, and I timed my riposte perfectly, flicking it upward and away.

To match clones and main body alike, I needed agility and raw attack power working in tandem.

The wind spirits who had been shielding me and suppressing the clones' attacks had somehow already arrived at my side.

In an instant, the wind wolves vanished from my sight, slipping out of view entirely.

The hidden spirits became the wind itself, swirling around me and lending my speed yet another burst.

Realizing this, I hurled my body forward.

A speed beyond anything Fiery Dragon Sortie or Fang of Lightning could hope to compare with surged through my limbs.

— SWISH!

— SWISH!

Cutting down the two clones who couldn't even find me — that's five.

With every clone destroyed, I closed in on the main body.

"Die!"

The sword I swung at his throat sheared clean through Dreamer's neck, and yet—

"No... that's not the main body."

I could feel it. An enemy this dangerous wouldn't die that easily.

No way... behind me?

— CRUNCH!

"Ugh!"

— CRUNCH!

— WHAM! WHAM! CRACK!

"AAAAGH!!"

Overwhelming pain crushed down on my whole body. I'd rolled across the ground several times — I suppose that was only natural.

I'd barely managed to block with my sword, but *barely* was the operative word, and I'd been forced to eat the follow-up attacks in full.

"Khh!"

— Drip...

I coughed, and blood came up with it.

"What was the point of blocking, then... I'm injured all the way to my organs... from a single attack?"

My strike had landed cleanly — so cleanly the clones themselves hadn't managed to react in time.

But the main body had dismissed my attack as a joke, parried it, and landed a clean hit on me in the same motion. Which meant...

"Damn it... you read my speed, didn't you?"

He'd clearly charged at me at a blistering pace — but he'd recognized my timing, put a clone up front as a shield, and bided his moment.

"Hah... hah...!"

I had to get up. Now.

If I wanted to live.

Dreamer folded the parasol he'd swung at me and then—

"?!"

— he closed the distance to me in an instant, a blur of impossible speed.

Here it comes!

— CRUNCH!

"Nnnngh...!"

Dreamer was aiming for my jaw, trying to knock me out cold — I barely shielded myself with sword and arm, and somehow stayed conscious.

Of course, there was no stopping the blow from hurling me backward, and I went skidding away across the ground.

Hah... my body's in the worst shape.

That earlier exchange had been far too devastating — and I'd only allowed him a single hit.

The situation demanded that I render Dreamer combat-incapable in one blow, with an attack too fast for him to even perceive. That was the only way to win.

Just then—

— My lord.

Blaze's voice rang through my mind.

— Yeah?

— I sense traces of Brionic nearby.

— What?

Brionic? The Ice Dragon?

Why would *she* be here?

— Where do you sense her?

— Toward the cliff face.

My body was wrecked, and now I had to move fast ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on top of it.

But I didn't want to die, so I supposed I had no choice but to go.

Whether Brionic accepted me or not, I had to try.

"Baram. Jeongryeong. Can you two... carry me over to that cliff?"

The two wolves gazed at me with worried eyes, and without so much as a whimper of protest, lifted me onto their backs.

Dreamer simply stood there, staring blankly and making no move to attack, as if he considered himself the seeker.

"Run!"

At my word, the wind wolves shot forward faster than they ever had before.

Of course, Dreamer wasn't about to let me go unimpeded.

— WHOOSH!

Apparently his parasol doubled as a sword-and-staff substitute.

The game had never depicted that, so I hadn't known...

He fired pink beams in every direction, choking off my path.

It was only thanks to the wolves guarding my flanks that we survived — they intercepted the beams that threatened me with walls of wind. Otherwise I'd have taken a spell to the back, tumbled off their backs, and been rolling across the dirt.

— Are we there yet?

— Almost, my lord. Please hold on just a little longer, Successor!

My voice must have sounded drained, because Blaze called out to me with desperate urgency.

Don't worry. I'm not dying. I'm going to survive this.

Whether things would actually go my way, though, I couldn't say.

— We have arrived!

"Stop here."

At my word, the spirits halted.

Dreamer had vanished from sight at some point.

He hadn't gone off to resume his assault on the front lines — he was surely lurking nearby, watching for an opening, savoring my last desperate gambit.

Typical. Not a single demon out there with a shred of sanity.

— There is an aura of the Ice Dragon within this wall.

I reached out and pressed my palm against the cliff, and an intense chill unlike anything the other rocks had given off flooded into my hand.

When I invoked Azure Dragon Ascension through my sword and cut the wall open, I felt a brilliant white frost wrap itself around my body.

And then, filling my mind, came not Blaze's voice but a crisp, cool woman's voice.

— So... it was you who woke me.

— That's right.

— The aura of the Red Dragon...? Why do you... carry such a thing...?

So that I could be recognized by the Ice Dragon, Blaze had been resummoned at my side as a small tongue of flame.

— Brionic.

— Blaze? Is that you?

— It is.

— Why do you take that form?

— I cannot explain the circumstances in detail. The Successor has taken grave wounds.

— This man is the Successor of this age?

— He is.

— I see. Then tell me — why have you come seeking me?

Despite Brionic's icy tone, Blaze explained our situation for my sake.

— I need your help, Brionic.

— ...So you need my help. I'm sure you understand what that means, Blaze. If the Successor wishes to command us Guardian Dragons, he must first pass our trials.

— I know. But we have no time. Even now, as we speak, his wounds are growing more critical.

— I see... then I have considered the matter, and this is what I propose: what if the trial and the aid were granted as one?

At those words, I lifted my head — and there before me, asleep in a vast white void, lay a pure-white dragon.

Unlike Blaze, Brionic spoke to me with formal courtesy.

No doubt because I was the Successor, and she was showing me due respect.

— Successor. I shall grant you my authority, temporarily.

"You'll grant it to me?"

— From what Blaze tells me, the situation is dire, and you came seeking my aid — which means you have no leisure to endure a trial properly.

"...That's right."

— Then with the authority I lend you, strike down the enemy you cannot overcome alone.

— That is the task I set before you, and it shall serve as your trial. Pass it, and the trial will be deemed fulfilled — and I will become your Guardian Dragon.

"What?"

— Exactly as I said. The authority I grant you is but a portion of my own power. It has a time limit, but it will hold for at least three hours.

Trickle.

Blood welled up from somewhere deep in my gut.

I truly didn't have much time left.

"Understood. I accept your trial."

With that, the Ice Dragon vanished, leaving nothing in my hand but a small blue orb.

Well, this is great... Dreamer's already ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a headache, and now a trial on top of it...

An enemy I couldn't handle alone — I already had one of those.

Dreamer.

Still circling me, still snickering, surely waiting right outside the cave I'd ducked into.

To bring down Dreamer, I needed overwhelming power and blistering speed at the same time...

But ice wasn't good at slowing things down.

Granted, if I landed a hit I could freeze him solid — but if I missed the first strike, it was all useless.

Wait.

Could it work?

If fast attacks were impossible, why not simply make the attack so wide that there was nowhere to dodge?

Let's try it. There was no other play left anyway.

"Brionic. Your authority can't harm me, right?"

When I asked, Brionic gave an affirmation.

— That is correct, Successor. For these three hours, my power will be recognized as a Guardian Dragon's attack — just as Blaze's is.

Guardian Dragons' attacks couldn't affect me, so... that was all I needed.

Since I wasn't coming out of the cave, Dreamer deigned to process into it himself.

At some point, the cavern had shed its nature as the Ice Dragon's sealing ground and become nothing more than an ordinary cave.

He flashed me a rotten smile, as if to say he'd given me more than enough time to prepare.

"Long or short, you only find out by crossing blades!"

I had to show him I still had fight left in me.

Because as far as Dreamer was concerned, I still needed to be an interesting toy.

Just as I'd expected, Dreamer only smiled and glared at me.

It starts now... please, let this go the way I planned!

First — the wind.

To use the plan I'd conceived, I needed the wind.

He was looking down on me right now, which meant this moment was my one and only opening.

Here I come!

Wreathing the two wind spirits around me, I charged at full tilt.

And of course, Dreamer evaded every single attack with contemptuous ease.

For the record — it wasn't that I was deliberately missing. I genuinely couldn't hit him.

He is so damn fast.

The ground I'd streaked past was already churning with a colossal windstorm, the roar of the gale howling loud enough to tear at my ears.

"Blaze!"

At my call, the Red Dragon revealed himself.

— Are you well, my lord?

"I'll manage. Don't worry. And... sorry, but I need to borrow your authority."

— Do not apologize, Successor. It is only natural that a Guardian Dragon's power serve you. And above all — you must win.

"Yeah."

Smiling — letting him know with that smile to stop worrying — I took the Red Dragon's orb into my hand.

As hot as it can possibly burn.

Scorching heat built and built around me.

"Spirits! Winds! Run!"

Dividing that searing heat between the two wolf spirits, I sent them tearing around the cavern at breakneck speed.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Even then, Dreamer only watched with an expression that said, So this mongrel has finally lost his mind.

That's it... ignore me. Keep ignoring me. Because that carelessness will be the last you ever take.

Before long, I scattered flame all around me, raising the wind and the air itself into a furnace.

— FWOOOOOOOSH!!!

Fierce flames wrapped themselves around me.

Now — the last step.

My strength was nearly gone.

The flames vanished, and in their place came the biting cold of ice.

The ice, sealed inside that sweltering furnace, began... slowly... to melt.

To him, I was making my final, desperate swing.

I swung my sword — and Dreamer caught it on his parasol.

"That's right... if it were you, I knew you'd be able to block that."

Come on. Come on!

Using the Red Dragon's orb and the wind wolves together, I had driven the temperature around us past the point where anyone could ignore it.

Dreamer himself had called it a "steamer pot" — which meant even ordinary High-tier Demons would be taking serious damage in this heat.

Everyone learns this in elementary school science.

Hot air expands, and rises.

But what happens when that vast superheated air, trapped in a sealed space with nowhere to escape, meets ice or water?

The water cannot withstand the heat — and bursts apart.

And when there's enough of it?

A massive detonation — an explosion powerful enough to kill a person.

That is what we call a steam explosion.

To trigger one artificially, several conditions must be met.

First: intense heat and high temperature.

Second: the location must be a sealed space.

And finally: since water must not be allowed to bleed the heat away, the quantity of water must be small enough that it barely shifts the temperature.

The water, I would replace with ice.

The heat and temperature I could supply with the scorching winds stirred up by the wind spirits, and with Blaze's authority.

The sealed space, I could supply with the cave itself. Every condition was in place.

And at this very moment — every single requirement for a steam explosion had been satisfied.

I put my whole weight into my stance and hurled Frost-Harmony Slash toward the mouth of the cave.

The icy blade-qi split into three strikes — and one of them slammed shut the cave entrance.

The remaining two were my improvised bombs.

"BLOW!!!"

Unable to withstand the blazing heat, the icy blade-qi gave way — and triggered a titanic explosion.

Only now did he grasp my plan — but it was already far too late.

The only entrance was sealed with ice, and there was no way out.

To leave, he would have to smash through the ice wall first.

And the explosion would come far faster than he could break it.

At last—

The icy blade-qi, slicing through the air, decelerated rapidly — and erupted.

— BOOOOOM!!!

The first explosion and the second went off together, shattering the ice wall I'd raised at the entrance and unleashing a truly monstrous force.

I shut my eyes and waited for the blast to run its course.

The explosion brought the whole cavern collapsing down.

Dreamer could not endure that insane detonation either; his body crumbled to powder and faded away.

"Down goes one demon — now I've got to get out. Baram. Jeongryeong. Carry me, please. Let's get out of here."

At my word, the spirits hoisted me onto their backs and swiftly carried me out of the long cavern.

"Hah... hah..."

Combining every ability I had, I had poured out the very last of my strength to bring down a Great Demon.

It was pure luck that this cave had been small. If it had been even a little bigger, a steam explosion would have been nothing but a pipe dream.

"Hah... I still have to... get back...!"

The problem was that I'd spent everything — I had no strength left for the return trip.

Brionic... why on earth were you sealed in a place like this...

The way back was so far...

My eyes were closing...

"Wolves. If I black out, hold onto me as best you can... and run toward the front lines... If you understand, bark once for me?"

— Arf!

— Arf!

Both of them — sharp as tacks.

And so, leaving my final orders with the wind spirits, I slipped under once more.