Piercing the Reverse Scale
As if to prove the devastating burst damage we'd crammed into him during his transformation, Fafnir's body was covered in wounds.
"You goddamn winged pests...!"
Black scales began creeping over Fafnir's skin as he glared at us with loathing. Jet-black hair, sharp purple eyes with vertically slit reptilian pupils.
We'd chosen Polymorph knowing his overwhelming size and mass made him hard to hit effectively and would only widen his attack radius, but it was truly the worst possible decision.
"See, techniques work better when you're smaller, right?"
I stepped in with an instep, closing the distance, and smashed my fist into his face. But he raised both arms to block. My fist clashed with his scales, sending crimson sparks flying everywhere.
"Lightweight!"
He smirked through the gap in his arms like it was nothing.
"What about this?!"
But as Yoon Kwang-su approached from behind and drove a fist into his side, Fafnir's body clearly shook.
"You mere mortals dare?!"
"Looks like you can afford to turn around, huh?"
I pulled out my shotgun again, aimed at his gut, and pulled the trigger. The condensed aura shot spread wide, slamming straight into him—a blow like a cannon shell. His body buckled hard, hurled backward.
"Graaaaaah!!"
Was he thrashing to stay upright? He spread his folded wings wide to regain balance, arms outstretched, roaring at us.
"Fine, I'll grant your wish and kill you all!"
Hundreds of magic circles filled the space around him at once. True to his reputation as the progenitor of magic, he planned to end us with spells in one fell swoop.
But we weren't about to just watch.
"Poena Dei!"
A cross began forming above his head once more. The difference this time: a spike-sharp bottom and a size beyond imagination.
Did the immense pressure make Fafnir sense it too? He raised his outstretched hands overhead, merging the unfinished magic circles into one.
A shield formed from hundreds of layered circles. The cross plummeted from the heavens, crashing into it with a deafening roar.
"Ascalon! Who the hell are you, wielding Ascalon?!"
His face twisted in strain as he scanned around, shouting. As expected, attacks with Ascalon were the way to deal real damage.
But the Ascalon he knew had long vanished from this world. In this sanctuary saturated with holy power everywhere, spotting the reborn one instantly was near impossible.
"Maybe this is Ascalon?"
I aimed my gun at him, hand extended skyward, and prepared to fire again. But perhaps from enduring several shotgun blasts already, the magic circle that had fully blocked the cross now turned toward me.
"As if that puny thing could be Ascalon!"
As unease surged from the magic circle belching foul smoke, I felt tremendous mana infuse him.
"Vanish as you are, mortal."
My ingrained instincts screamed a warning. Reading his motion and attack range made defense impossible—and just then, one solution flashed in my mind.
"Sasuk!"
Yoon Kwang-su's voice pierced my thoughts. Purple flames erupted from the magic circle.
He chanted the dragon tongue, and massive flames surged toward me. I instantly pulled "that" from my cube, thrust it into the air, and twisted my wrist.
Item [Interdimensional Storage]. Tough enough to withstand Ji Suhyun's onslaught.
A golden door appeared between me and Fafnir. I pressed my body flat against it.
──────!!
Scorching heat enveloped me. Even without a direct hit, my whole body felt ablaze. Despite Dis Pater's temperature control and top-tier defense, the agony was this intense— a direct hit would've meant certain death in torment.
His breath gradually subsided. If phase 3's human-form breath was this bad, what horrors awaited in his final phase 5?
I had to end him before then.
"You! You okay?!"
As the flames fully died, the bishop rushed over, the air still radiating heat.
"...Tougher than I thought?"
"Feels medium-rare under the suit. Could use a heal."
"Oh, sorry."
Her hand on my shoulder sent a refreshing energy spreading through me, easing the pain somewhat. As expected of a bishop-level cleric. This was enough to push to the next stage.
"He's wary of Ascalon now. If he realizes you're wielding it, he'll target you hard—switch to rear support as much as possible."
"Got it. How's it now?"
"No issues moving."
I clenched and unclenched my fist, testing. The intense pain had dulled my senses a bit—maybe a good thing, considering what was ahead.
"Alright, time to help out. Even the forge master'll die if we leave him like that."
I unsummoned the slightly melted Interdimensional Storage door. Far off, Yoon Kwang-su was trading blows with Fafnir.
"You dare fight me equally with mere aura-infused punches, mortal?!"
"Graaaah! Aura Style is humanity's strongest martial art! Avenge Sasuk!"
Fafnir no longer took hits, only countering, while Yoon Kwang-su, battered relentlessly, bolstered his trained body to barely buy time.
"Forge master!"
"Sasu-u-uk! You're alive?!"
"You survived?!"
They must've assumed I was dead, engulfed in flames.
"Should've checked properly."
I slammed an aura-packed fist into Fafnir's torso, his back turned to Yoon Kwang-su, with all my strength.
"How—?! Gahk!"
His face twisted in shock at the vastly different power. Our prolonged fight and the spectators' rising respect had amplified my Bloodline ability, surging more aura through me than before.
"Forge master, fall back once. Get healed by the bishop and rejoin!"
──Kwang!
──Kwang!
──Kwang!
I unleashed a barrage to keep him from pursuing the retreating Yoon Kwang-su.
"Good, you're better than that last guy. A natural brawler, eh?"
Thud. His hand blocked my fist.
"Then you must have some durability too."
His wings spread wide as he leaped, kicking at my face with his right foot. I barely raised my left arm to block, but the shock pierced through, shaking my brain. The ground seemed to flip, but falling meant more attacks.
"Only you?!"
I grabbed his leg with my raised left arm and headbutted his face.
"Graaak!"
Blood sprayed from his nose, head snapping back.
"Not done yet!"
Blood from my forehead soaked my eyes, reddening my vision, but I gripped his collar fine.
"Fool! My blood is deadly poison!"
"Doesn't work on me, so whatever!"
Another headbutt. Fafnir raised scales on his forehead to absorb, but the brain-rattling shock was unavoidable.
"Damn mortal!!"
Enraged by the one-sided beating, he glared and smashed his right arm into my chest. My left arm lost strength on his leg, but I kept balance and punched back.
"You're dying soon too—what's with the mortal crap?!"
I uppercut his jaw with my right. Crunch. His face twisted, but he swung his left fist into my right cheek.
Kwang!
My mouth tore, filling with blood instantly. Salty sting mixed with saliva, but I spat the gathered blood and spit at his face, turned my head, and thrust my now-free left arm.
His face snapped right. Humiliated, his head trembled as he pulled back his right arm. Magic circles formed on it.
"You worm dare treat me like this...!"
Despite countless blows, his face bore no major wounds—they were even healing. A perfect example of a different "species."
But.
"Worm? I'm no ordinary human...!"
I was Calione.
Heir to Don Vito Calione's temper.
Traits.
Abilities.
And talents.
A special specimen.
"Not someone a lizard like you looks down on!"
The sole heir to the Calione Famiglia.
A brutal slugfest began. Muddy water at my feet mixed with blood from our wounds, taking on eerie hues as it intensified.
But my body wouldn't stop.
'Protect this child...'
'We seek only peace and moderation...'
'Value his blood...'
Countless supports poured from behind me.
My body felt light.
My mind cleared.
Aura rampaged.
Blood boiled.
[Ring of the Ancient Berserker reacts to blood.]
[Ring of the Ancient Berserker at maximum power.]
[User's stats surge explosively.]
The Ring of the Ancient Berserker, dormant until now, awakened by drinking its master's blood.
Yes—that was why I'd dragged him into close combat.
The berserker buff, plus my Bloodline growing stronger the longer the fight.
"This one's gonna hurt."
I pulled my fist back like drawing a bowstring, channeling the boiling energy into my right hand.
[Bloodline Ability: Calione dominates Midas's Gloves.]
"Think that puny attack can take me? Laughable!"
He stomped the ground with one foot, shaking the earth.
Crunch—!
Squelch—!
Grrrind!
Like a chrysalis emerging, he shed his human form, swelling enormously. Compared to his initial appearance, several times larger—a true ancient dragon.
Behold my true form, and I promise you an honorable death, mortals.
And that was.
"Yeah. I was sure you'd go true form once victory was certain."
"Ascalon!"
Crosses rained around the ancient dragon, forming a massive cage.
Finally realizing the bishop wielded it, he roared.
I declare: your Ascalon cannot kill me!
"I'm not the one killing you."
[Bloodline Ability: Calione dominates Black Fog.]
"Me."
Red mist rose from my feet, spreading and consuming the area, gradually overtaking it.
Mastering the new Black Fog use was easy. Like an animal with instincts etched in, my body moved on its own.
I glided over the red mist toward the trapped dragon between the crosses.
"Can't hold it much longer!"
The bishop's desperate voice from behind. No plea to endure more—this would end it all.
As I charged recklessly, he raised a forepaw solemnly.
His massive forepaw descended on my head. I parried it once with a full-power knuckle, then leaped toward his heart.
"No need. You're dying here today."
With that, I reached into my cube with my left arm, drawing the ace I'd saved.
A slender iron rod, slightly longer than a human palm, sharpened to a deadly point at the end. Gripping it in my left hand, I eyed his heart area.
Unlike surrounding scales pointing down, one jutted upward—a freakish anomaly.
The reverse scale.
I thrust the rod into that tiny gap, telling him:
"Rather, I will remember you, Fafnir."