The Red Dragon Falls

Dulibard's index finger pointed straight at me.

"(Laser.)"

A crimson beam lanced out. I threw myself sideways and charged him head-on.

I went for Dulibard's eyes again. This time was different. Protective aura sheathed my entire body.

"(Begone.)"

Dragon-speech flared once more. Pressure slammed into me from the front. I drove power into my lower body, braced against the force, and swung. I missed the eye I'd been aiming for — but I carved open his shoulder. His blood painted the throne.

The easy confidence cracked on Dulibard's face. He gritted through the pain and roared.

"Gaaaah! (Tornado!)"

A whirling gale erupted at his feet, vicious enough to shred me to pieces — but the protective aura wrapped around my body held the wind at bay.

"(Wind!) (Fire!) (Steel!) (Frost!) (Kill him!)"

Phenomena answered his dragon-speech one after another. Wind howled, flames surged, steel blades rained from the sky, and freezing cold seized my legs. Murderous intent saturated every one of them.

I accelerated through a single instant of Charna and slipped every attack. Dulibard's face twisted.

Confirmed. He can track my movements even when I accelerate with Charna. Must be those Dragon Eyes of his.

Mana began to shift, centering on Dulibard.

"(Crush.)"

Gravity thickened and drove my body toward the floor.

I held on and wrenched my focus higher.

…I can't just sit here and take it.

I forced Noecheonryu into motion. Surging lightning qi tore through my meridians. Pain lanced through me as if needles were stabbing every inch of my insides. I clenched my teeth and swung.

Not a scrap of mana remained in the surrounding area.

A dragon's precious dragon-speech was, when you stripped it down, nothing more than a reaction of mana. With the ambient mana temporarily sealed, the bastard couldn't use it.

"Transfer!"

Dulibard shouted in desperation. Nothing answered him.

"…Damn it!"

"Die, Dulibard!"

Certain of victory, I swung for his neck — and in that instant his body began to change. Crimson scales erupted across his skin. His snout elongated. He had become a Dragonian.

Too late. My Aura Blade-clad edge reached his throat. But the blade sank less than halfway through.

"Aura Blade… doesn't work?!"

A red tail smashed into my gut. I flew backward, flipped through the air, and landed hard.

"No — your attack landed. My neck hurts. Even dragon scales can't fully stop an Aura Blade, it seems."

Dulibard — now a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠hybrid of man and dragon — clamped his left hand over his bleeding throat.

"(Heal.)"

Dragon-speech activated and the bleeding vanished. The effect of Scattered Thunder had worn off.

Dulibard gripped the throne and hauled himself upright. With every passing second his body swelled larger. Not a Dragonian form — a complete dragon form.

A Red Dragon, clad in crimson scales.

—Excellent. Incomparably more comfortable than a human body.

His voice rolled through the space itself. He wasn't speaking with vocal cords — he was speaking through mana.

—(Crush.)

A colossal pressure slammed down over me.

"Ghk—!"

My knees hit the floor before I could stop them. The power of his dragon-speech had grown far stronger.

—Ha, hahaha! Nothing like when I was stuck in a human body!

I forced myself up. My muscles screamed. My ruined meridians were already starting to wreck my organs.

Before I use Full Recovery… I land one hit.

I raised my head and looked straight ahead — and froze in shock. A dragon nearly thirty meters long filled my vision.

"An adult dragon…?!"

—Why start as a hatchling when I've already become a dragon? I had to sacrifice my entire bloodline to skip the hatchling stage… but it was worth it. Haha. Feels good. Eugene Frucus. Did you know? I have two hearts. That's how I evolved.

"…So that's why you were spamming dragon-speech."

Dragon-speech was a dragon's exclusive privilege, but actual dragons rarely used it. Efficiency. Everything dragon-speech could do, ordinary magic could do for less mana.

—I take back what I said earlier.

"What?"

—I claimed I would take everything from you, Melissa included… but I've lost interest. A dragon obsessing over a mere human feels pathetic. That doesn't mean my grudge is gone. I will erase everything connected to you from this world. And then, as a dragon, I will rule it.

"Bullshit. I rule this world! Dragons, Demon Kings… anything that gets in my way dies!"

I leveled my blade at the Red Dragon. Crimson lightning crawled through the air and struck him.

Scales scattered in every direction. Black smoke swallowed the Red Dragon's form.

It was a strike that wrung everything I had. Even so, I didn't believe it would kill Dulibard.

What matters is how much damage it did…

—(Transfer.)

Dragon-speech — and a crushing presence bloomed behind me. My reaction was too slow. Dulibard's foreleg clamped around my body and launched upward. He smashed through the ceiling, beat his massive wings, and soared into the sky.

I checked his condition. A few scales broken — otherwise largely intact. Every ounce of power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd squeezed out had meant nothing.

—Humans look like insects from up here. Consider dying in the sky an honor. Once I've killed you… I think I'll test just how powerful a breath attack really is. Hahaha!

Crunch.

His grip crushed my body.

I revived mid-fall toward the ground.

The Red Dragon, mid-inhale for a breath attack, went round-eyed and stared at me.

—How did you survive?! An artifact?! This time I'll kill you for certain!

Dulibard opened his jaws wide and dove at me — fully intent on swallowing me whole.

Letting myself get eaten on purpose is… too dangerous. I already used Full Recovery. I can't gamble like that.

I summoned Hwaryeonbido into my hand.

I stepped on them and climbed.

With Charna, I slipped past the Red Dragon's jaws by a hair and latched onto his back.

—(Fall!)

Dulibard used dragon-speech. Mana tried to seize me and tear me off. But under the effect of Heavenly Mind, it couldn't get a grip. Dulibard wheeled through the sky again and again. I clung to his back the entire time, driving my Aura Blade into his body. The scales made it hard to penetrate.

Even an Ancient Dragon doesn't resist Aura Blade this hard. Just like the two hearts — his hide evolved too.

I needed a stronger Aura Blade.

I squeezed out mana at random and compressed the Aura Blade further. But this wasn't the way. Far from growing stronger, it was barely holding together.

……Time of the Genius.

Inspiration struck like lightning. Noecheonryu's Manryeo — Ten Thousand Thunders. The rotation and compression of thunderbolts. If I applied that method to an Aura Blade… I might forge something far stronger.

Hesitation was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a luxury. I tried it immediately.

A blue Aura Blade and crimson lightning spun together, interwove, and fused into a single edge. A blade of pure thunder.

I drove Hwaryeonbido into his back. Unlike before, the blade sank deep into his flesh.

Still not enough.

His body was simply too massive. Even buried to the hilt, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the blade couldn't reach a heart.

The idea worked perfectly. A catastrophic explosion erupted inside him and blew the enormous Red Dragon's body to pieces.

—You bastard! You bastard! Eugene Frucus!!! I curse you…! I curse you!!!

I snorted and turned my gaze toward the ground. The dying curses of a corpse didn't scare me in the slightest.

Thunder Blade. An even bigger haul than I expected.

I managed to land somehow. Enemy, ally, rebel — every gaze turned toward me, thick with awe. A new legend had been written on this ground today.

But I had no attention to spare for them. I was too busy inspecting Hwaryeonbido.

Because I had found a fine crack running through its beautiful crimson blade.

Damn it. Did it take the full brunt of Explosive Shock Thunder? It doesn't look ready to snap… but a weapon whose durability was second to none, cracking like this…

Was it the aftermath of this fight? Or had cumulative damage finally started to show?

Because the opponent was a Red Dragon?

Hwaryeonbido's blade had been forged from black iron and Red Dragon scales. Different world, so calling them the same species was a stretch — but Dulibard was a Red Dragon all the same.

No. That's not it. Something wrong with a treasured weapon just rattled me.

I drew a deep breath and steadied my shaken nerves.

Dwarven craftsmanship can fix this. Of course it can.

I forced down the rising unease and carefully reverse-summoned Hwaryeonbido.

Then I turned to the people staring at me and shouted with absolute confidence.

"Dulibard is dead! I have slain the wicked dragon possessed by a demon! We are victorious!"

A colossal roar shook the royal castle to its foundations.