Chapter 53
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Dawn (2)
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Just as the fierce battle was heating up, Ignatus suddenly stopped and tilted her head.
The massive dragon's head cocked to one side, her vivid crimson eyes blinking. Then came a somewhat dumbfounded voice.
-Huh...?
No matter how restrained she was, this was no way to act against someone like Mortheus...
-...?
Yet Mortheus himself was reacting with equal bewilderment.
No, everyone present couldn't help but wear a dazed expression. And for good reason.
"Ah, now I can breathe easy."
Enoch, who had been burning away everything just moments ago and teetering on the brink of death, was now munching on Ignatus's breath with a satisfied look, as if savoring a tasty snack.
Yes, he was chewing and eating the breath.
Not mere flames, but a pure mass of mana drawn straight from the dragon heart—the quintessential blaze forged solely for destruction.
Moreover, Ignatus, having grown stronger after catching up on her sleep deficit, had even condensed her breath this time.
Something closer to a laser than fire or exhalation.
A power so devastating that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it bordered on the realm of divine authority.
And Enoch was grabbing it and tearing into it like a hefty churro.
-...No, no, no.
Coming to his senses late, Ignatus still couldn't comprehend the reality before her.
-Wh-what in the world are you eating that for?! Recovering your strength by devouring my breath—what nonsense is this?! And how did you even grab it in the first place?!
Ignatus sputtered in horror, but Enoch simply continued devouring the remaining breath with voracious gusto, saying nothing.
In the bizarre silence, only the sounds of tearing and satisfied smacking echoed for a moment.
Finally, having swallowed most of Ignatus's breath, Enoch stretched his body languidly.
With all his latent mana depleted and his minor wounds no longer regenerating, white steam now billowed from them as they healed rapidly.
Only after clenching and unclenching his fists to check his condition did Enoch finally respond to Ignatus.
"I don't know either."
-What?
"I just felt like I could do it, so I did. And I survived. That's all."
-...
Enoch's words were the truth. He knew he possessed near-invincibility against flames.
But he hadn't expected to withstand a dragon's breath... no, not just withstand it, but absorb, chew, and swallow it.
Still, one thing was certain.
"Anyway, thanks to you, I'm alive. I really thought I was done for this time."
-I... see...
Enoch had survived.
If the worst thing to do at a funeral is resurrect, then in a solemnly tragic atmosphere like this, the absolute worst was to act like everything was suddenly fine now.
Ignatus remained stunned for a moment, but soon regained her composure and bellowed once more.
-Anyway, if you're back in one piece, get out of the way. It's time to finish this.
"Sure thing."
Enoch stepped back without protest, in a manner hard to believe from the man who had just rampaged wildly, shattering everything around him and setting it ablaze.
This was partly because the empowered Ignatus was more than capable of handling Mortheus.
"Cough!"
But mainly because Enoch's own condition wasn't great; he'd only barely survived the near-death ordeal.
He casually wiped away the bowlful of blood he spat with that single cough.
Concerned gazes poured in from around him, but Enoch himself wasn't too worried.
This feels similar to when my mana circuits got tangled.
A sensation he hadn't felt since learning Aura, not since the time he'd vomited blood and collapsed in front of Jevella.
It hurt like death now, and he might even pass out... but he'd wake up feeling refreshed, his body better than before.
Well, makes sense. I did take in mana that wasn't mine, after all.
His stomach churned with the same queasiness as when he'd eagerly gulped down multiple high-quality elixirs from Calypso Territory all at once.
Whether treating a dragon's breath as a mere elixir was debatable, but for Enoch, it was a familiar situation he'd endured multiple times.
Somehow holding out until dawn, Ignatus awoke from her slumber, while Mortheus remained bound, his strength exhausted.
This Wild Hunt was nearly over. No, perhaps the Wild Hunt itself would end completely today.
It was at that moment of slight relief, as Enoch put some distance between himself and the fray.
-...I never imagined there'd be a traitor among my kin.
Mortheus suddenly muttered in a low, gravelly voice.
-What did you say? More importantly, you're speaking now...?
As Ignatus flinched mid-charge for another breath, Mortheus's hollow ribcage began pulsing. The massive blue noble core within...
The dragon heart, corrupted to emit fraud instead of mana, began spewing intense cold and darkness.
Crack!
The ground around Mortheus froze solid.
The fraud, which had surely been burned away once before, reconverged around him.
Clang!
The burning chains binding his massive frame—the magical restraints left by Ignatus—shattered.
Looking urgently toward the command post, Enoch saw the elder mages who should have been holding firm, all collapsed, vomiting black blood.
They'd said the whole group could hold out until Ignatus awoke if they pushed themselves.
Now pushed to their absolute limit, Mortheus had wrung out his dragon heart in fierce resistance, and the backlash had finally felled even the last elder.
Of course. Unlike before when only instinct remained, now that he'd regained his intellect, he wouldn't go down quietly.
Ignatus's eyes wavered; she hadn't anticipated Mortheus recovering his wits.
Toward her, Enoch shouted desperately.
"Don't worry about it—blast him! He looks impressive, but he's out of his mind!"
-...That was my plan from the start!
Shaking off her hesitation, Ignatus gathered her breath once more.
Firing consecutively must have slowed the mana condensation slightly.
But it didn't matter. Mortheus, as an undead, couldn't use magic anyway.
Even when trying to kill him earlier, he could wield fraud and command undead through it, but that was the extent of it.
So there was no way for him to deal with Ignatus high in the sky...
"Damn it."
There was.
As the scene from the first Wild Hunt flashed in his mind, prompting a curse, changes rippled through Mortheus's bones.
The condensed fraud clumped like black ice crystals, concentrating on his hind legs and wings.
As if black scales and membranes were sprouting.
It looked for all the world like his legs and wings had reverted to their living state.
Enoch had forgotten: Mortheus might be unable to use magic, but in exchange, his skeletal body could be reinforced to absurd toughness.
And now, though insane, he had his intellect back and was wielding fraud efficiently.
Ignatus spread her wings wide and deployed spells in the air, but their number was oddly few.
Probably because she hadn't fully adapted to her new body yet, or needed to focus on her breath.
In any case, it was clear: Ignatus alone couldn't suppress Mortheus now.
"This is getting ridiculous."
With a deep sigh, Enoch extended his hand toward Karen, who was drenched in sweat from countless trips between the mage tower and battlefield.
"Karen, Karen. Got any painkillers?"
"...Patriarch? What crazy thing are you planning this time?"
"If not, prep some potions."
Grinding his teeth, he planted his feet and kicked off the ground. Back to the battlefield he'd briefly retreated from.
Thud.
He dashed across the ground like it was ice, but was he too late? Mortheus's bones—now structures mimicking fraud-forged scales—writhed and began to leap.
-Dealing with traitors is also the Lord's duty! I'll crush you and press on, coward!
-What are you—? The traitor is Father... you!
Mortheus seemed to understand yet not, leaving Ignatus momentarily flustered. But she quickly hardened her expression and stretched her neck straight.
A posture to brace against the breath's recoil. Even though it wasn't fully condensed, she was about to unleash it hastily.
"Ignore him and keep charging! We'll handle it from here!"
-...Understood!
Perhaps because she now knew Enoch could touch the breath unharmed, Ignatus squeezed her mana without hesitation.
In that interval, Mortheus's wings unfurled wide, his hind legs straightening.
Boom!
A shockwave shaking the earth, followed by a raging gale.
Mortheus's colossal body launched toward Ignatus.
But due to a dragon's anatomy, though his legs left the ground, his long tail dragged behind.
Enoch seized the bony tail tip with both forearms.
...And though he'd barely absorbed it earlier, since it wasn't truly his, Ignatus's mana rebelled wildly within him.
That was enough.
Roooar!
A pillar of fire erupted skyward from his body.
As a ridiculous thought crossed his mind—that he looked like he was blasting breath toward the heavens—agony struck.
"Ngh!"
Flames starting from his organs engulfed his body, scorching even his soul.
But this pain would soon become power.
Hummm—
Circuit-like patterns glowed on his skin, invigorating his weary limbs.
And with it came that omnipotent sensation from moments ago.
Trusting in it, he yanked Mortheus's tail with all his might.
"Aaaaaaaaah!!!"
Crunch!
His legs dug deep into the earth with a roar, and simultaneously, Mortheus—clearly airborne toward Ignatus—halted midair with a jolt.
-Warrior...! Of all times...!
Ignoring Mortheus's shock, Enoch focused on a single goal.
"Die!"
Using his deeply embedded legs as anchors and crushing the tail with his arms, he twisted his waist with every ounce of strength.
"...already!!"
The flames that had burned his body now leaped to Mortheus.
Climbing the tail, they melted the black scales on his legs and incinerated his wing membranes.
The moment they reverted to bare bone...
Mortheus's massive frame toppled backward.
Thud!
Slammed into the ground behind Enoch, the huge bones carved out a crater. And then...
-This is...
As Mortheus's troubled voice trailed off, Ignatus's breath rained down.
Krrrng!
A thick beam melting and pulverizing his sturdy bones.
Though fallen Mortheus resisted by expelling fraud anew through his dragon heart, it meant nothing.
Ignatus's breath overwhelmed all resistance, thoroughly dismantling the ancient dragon's body.
In the end, Mortheus seemed to resign, ceasing his struggle.
-I'm sorry, Ignatus. I wanted to give you a better world...
Half-melted hand reaching into his ribcage, he extracted his own dragon heart.
"Ah."
Realizing his intent, Enoch lunged toward Mortheus's hand.
"Gahk!"
But backlash hit already; he vomited blood and tumbled. Apparently, rampaging mana consecutively was too risky.
By the time he forced his head up, squeezing out his remaining strength, it was too late.
Whoosh.
Mortheus had hurled his dragon heart straight down into the valley below.
The intellect emanating from him faded rapidly, and soon even the noble core went dark.
Ignatus's breath then utterly demolished what remained: an empty husk.
Crraaack!
"And I missed it."
With those final words, darkness swallowed his vision.