Chapter 392
Chapter 392
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 392
Chapter Title: Dragon Slayer Asterio
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Belnoa, along with the three knights who had been dangling from the cliff, finally touched down on solid ground, bringing the battle to a decisive end. The Demon King's forces that had swarmed into the gorge were utterly annihilated, and our side suffered zero casualties.
It was a perfect victory.
They had crushed those tricky necromancers without taking so much as a scratch—plenty of reason to celebrate. Just as a few exhilarated knights let out cheers and rushed toward Belnoa...
"Incredible! As expected..."
Before the knight could finish, Belnoa's eyes flew wide open. She grabbed the knight standing beside her by the scruff of the neck and yanked him back. She kicked off the ground and leaped away.
Right then, something plummeted from the sky above.
A human-shaped figure cast a shadow as it fell. The moment it hit the ground, a heavy thud echoed, kicking up a cloud of dust. Someone slowly raised their head from within the haze. It was hard to make out through the dust...
But that didn't matter.
Whoever it was, it was clearly the enemy.
The knights reacted swiftly—and correctly.
The clustered knights thrust their spears and swords at the dust cloud in unison. Their weapons sliced through the haze in a flash, but Belnoa alone held back.
A sense of wrongness. Ominous dread. And pure instinct.
Through her wide eyes, Belnoa caught a glimpse of movement shrouded in the dust. She saw something swing through the cloud. The instant she spotted it, Belnoa shouted and charged straight in.
"Duck!"
Immediately after, a deafening clang! rang out as the knights' spears and swords shattered. In a split-second too fast for ordinary eyes to follow, Belnoa's gaze tracked the motion.
Amid the rising dust.
A flash of steel-blue eyes gleamed, and a massive greatsword burst through the haze. Every spear and blade it touched exploded into fragments.
Whoosh!
Before the horizontally swung greatsword could sever the knights' necks, Belnoa barreled forward and shoved the knight aside. Facing the oncoming blade, she thrust out her hand, cloaked in shadow armor.
Crunch. She gripped the blade for a fleeting moment.
Then Belnoa's body was hurled along the sword's arc.
Her boots screeched across the dirt. The greatsword swung in a wide circle, dragging Belnoa along with her vise-like hold on the blade. The rushing wind pressure sent the knights tumbling back.
Scraaaape!
Grinding her teeth and digging her heels into the earth, Belnoa endured the blast of wind erupting from the sword's tip. Most of the shadow armor around her hand had peeled away. Blood spurted out with a hiss as she glared at the man wielding the greatsword.
"Grabbed the sword, huh?"
The dust finally settled.
There stood a man clad in pitch-black armor. It differed from the armor worn by the so-called black knights—engraved with a dragon emblem.
Belnoa glanced at the greatsword blade clutched in her hand.
A crude weapon, devoid of any ornamentation. Possessing a blade as thick as twice that of a normal greatsword, stained crimson-black. It wasn't made for slicing—it was for smashing with sheer weight.
Not a sword for fighting humans, but for beasts. Its owner chuckled.
"So you're that infamous Shadow Knight."
The man spoke.
"I am the Dragon Slayer."
His voice overlapped with the roar of a dragon echoing from the skies. Looking up, one could see a single dragon commanding dozens of wyverns.
A dragon with broken horns.
As the humbled beast bellowed, the wyvern squadron began its descent. Flames erupted from all directions amid the surging heat, and the man revealed his name.
"Dragon Slayer, Asterio."
⚙ BALANCE – MANA TRADING SYSTEM ⚙ Executive of the Demon King's Army. Though overshadowed by the Four Calamities, they too have ascended to the realm of superhumans. The true powerhouses who command the battlefield. If the Four Calamities wield strength unbound by providence, beyond common sense... then the executives represent the pinnacle of human potential. The domain of superhumans. Those who have shattered their limits through relentless training. Just as humanity has warred against the demonic realms for centuries, so too have the denizens of those realms clashed with us. Superhumans have emerged among them as well, only to be felled by heroes or humanity's own superhumans.
From the previous generation's hero, Kyle Toven, only two superhumans remain in the demonic realms today.
One is the immortal knight commanding the elite black knight squad as chief commander. The other is the nightmare of dragons—the Dragon Slayer.
"Dragon Slayer, Asterio."
One of them stood here now.
Asterio, the Dragon Slayer, nightmare of dragons.
Armor forged from dragon scales. A massive greatsword crafted from a dragon's spine. Crude to a fault, yet infused with the mana-flowing power of dragons.
Clang, scraaaape!
With both feet planted firmly, Asterio yanked the greatsword. Belnoa's nails scraped along the blade as her grip slipped. Once he fully wrenched it free with a final clink, Asterio shifted his stance.
Transferring his weight from back foot to front. Like a bowstring drawn taut, he accelerated in an instant and swung the greatsword.
A straightforward overhead chop, brutally simple. But its power was anything but.
"...!"
Belnoa leaped sideways just as the blade slammed into where she'd stood. Residual shadows scattered as it embedded in the earth with a boom, shaking the ground.
The tremor threw Belnoa off balance. Asterio's steel-blue eyes flashed.
Pivoting on his planted foot. The greatsword, laden with rotational force, gouged the ground viciously before launching upward. It arced diagonally toward the staggering Belnoa.
Shadow Stake.
Belnoa hastily conjured a stake and thrust out her hand. The clash of greatsword and shadow armor unleashed a sonic boom, lifting her feet off the ground.
"...Ngh!"
She blocked the slash but couldn't withstand the weight. Launched into the air, she skidded to a stop a few paces away, boots scraping. She snapped her head up, but Asterio didn't pursue immediately.
Instead, he twisted his waist, drawing the greatsword back behind him.
As if gathering power.
A grating creeeak filled the air. The space around Asterio's gripped sword warped and distorted. Belnoa clenched her teeth and shook out her hand lightly.
Splatter.
Fresh shadows enveloped her body anew. In that moment, Belnoa made her decision.
'The wyvern squadron is descending.'
The infamous wyvern unit.
Intercepting a descending wyvern force required dozens of magic knights—a role Chloe could fill. But even she couldn't handle interception and support at once.
Keeein!
Mana waves pulsed from behind, all aimed skyward. Dozens of light beams crisscrossed the heavens. Chloe was fully focused on the wyverns, leaving this executive to Belnoa alone.
...Can I do this?
Her foe was a superhuman of centuries past.
Belnoa hadn't yet reached that realm—merely deemed "superhuman-caliber."
'But.'
Belnoa knew.
Something superhumans lacked.
Something she possessed.
"Lord of Dragons, I beseech thee."
Groooan, cruuuunch.
Asterio, power amassed to its limit, slammed his front foot down. The ground quaked with a boom as he swung the greatsword. It cleaved the air before completing its arc.
"A trade."
Belnoa sealed the deal.
In time that had slowed to a crawl—nearly halted—the Lord of the Shadow Dragon answered her plea.
🛡️ SHADOW DRAGON LORD 🛡️ [The deal is established, child.] [Dragon Slayer—what hubris. Tens of thousands of years ago, he couldn't have dreamed of such a title. Show that arrogant fool.] What a dragon truly is. Tap. The goddess's finger brushed Belnoa's hand. In that instant, the form of her armor shifted—sharper, more draconic.
Time resumed its flow.
Sword aura erupted from Asterio's swing—not sharp, but a shockwave. Boulders caught in it scattered wildly as Belnoa's silhouette flickered.
BOOM!
A thunderous explosion.
The ground beneath Belnoa's feet erupted. Asterio's eyes widened as he swung. Through the opaque aura, a hazy figure tore through the landscape, charging.
Riiiip!
Belnoa's claws shredded the sword aura.
Each swing whipped gales along the rents in the air. Once wasn't enough? Twice. Thrice, four, five. With every lash of her arms, the aura thinned.
Until it tore completely.
Belnoa shook out her arms. Surging shadows filled the gaps in her armor as she kicked off and lunged at Asterio.
"Hah, well now..."
Asterio chuckled incredulously and brought his overhead greatsword crashing down. Matching the boom that shook the earth, Belnoa kicked off again. She raced up the cliff face.
Fast—barely trackable with the eyes.
Asterio's widened eyes captured Belnoa charging, leaving afterimages. His senses expanded in a flash, hyperperception foreseeing the future.
...In most battles, superhumans hold overwhelming advantage over the ordinary. The gap between one who sees the present and chooses, and one who glimpses the future and chooses, is inevitable.
Asterio moved, peering seconds ahead. The greatsword traced an eerie path. It seemed to slice empty air, yet its tip carved toward future-Belnoa. From afar, it even looked like she was throwing herself onto the blade's trajectory.
The instant it would pulverize her.
In a blink, the future Asterio saw shattered. A new one overlaid it.
Thud.
Just before the sword cleaved her, Belnoa stomped down. Her body locked in place—not fluid motion, but like spliced frames, unnaturally. Impossible for normal humans. Free of recoil.
Shamanism enabled it.
Shadow daggers from her boot soles rooted her like tree trunks. Shadows stretched taut between armor plates, storing recoil. Releasing it all, Belnoa whipped back her cocked arm.
The greatsword cleaved empty air, creating an opening.
Belnoa exploited it, unleashing spells.
Shock.
Shadow-Thorn.
Shadows hammered Asterio's armor in succession. Through the barrage, Belnoa's fist slammed into his breastplate.
Crack, crunch!
The plate crumpled, Asterio's body convulsing violently. As the ensuing storm sought to engulf him...
Grip.
Asterio seized Belnoa's arm.
Even as the tempest shredded his body, he reached out and clamped down. Only then did Belnoa realize—he hadn't retreated a single step. Clutching her arm, Asterio spoke.
"Countering a superhuman's foresight with reflexes—a textbook method, but no easy feat."
Asterio rated his foe highly.
Shadow Knight. When he'd first heard rumors, he'd dismissed Belnoa as merely talented.
But no.
The more they exchanged blows, the clearer it became: her strength was battle-honed perfection. Asterio felt exhilaration in the fight... but it couldn't continue.
"I'd love to keep going if the chance arises."
Belnoa struggled to wrench her arm free.
Her armor heaved, snapping and piercing his fingers, but Asterio never let go.
"The mission comes first."
Asterio stomped.
A hidden circuit in the ground reacted to the impact. It needed ample blood and corpses—the deaths here provided plenty. All conditions met.
"Come forth."
O Prophet.
As Asterio murmured, a blood-glowing circuit activated. Shadows heaved—not like Belnoa's. Eerily different shades lashed out from all sides.
Belnoa had seen these shadows before.
Four years ago, in the heart of the capital.
Sewer-sludge shadows surged, taking human form. Corpses of freshly slain necromancers creaked upright, shadows stitching lost legs and melted flesh.
In the bizarre scene.
The shadows cackled madly.
The First Mad One manifested in the battlefield's midst.
3.
"...What?"
Lania shot to her feet.
Tefran, briefing her, repeated himself.
"Artia—the site Lord Kelrhalim visited—has been sealed by a massive barrier."
"Massive barrier? That skullhead's handiwork?"
"No... Nearby magic knights analyzed it urgently. It's different from an ancient lich's barrier. This is..."
Tefran relayed the emergency comms intel.
"The same as the one that appeared in the capital's heart four years ago. The barrier that swallowed the Ashen Mage Tower."
Lania's face hardened.
The barrier from four years ago in the capital's center. The First Mad One's handiwork. A sludge-choked domain. Hearing that, Raniel moved toward the robe hanging in the tent's corner.
"Tefran."
"Yes, Hero."
"If the enemy overruns us while I'm gone, have the magic knights trigger every circuit I've inscribed. It'll obliterate the terrain—buy us days."
"...Understood."
"And."
Draping the robe over her shoulders, Lania continued.
"I'm heading to Artia. Tell all nearby magic knights to evacuate. Anyone staying gets caught in it."
"I'll relay it."
As Lania turned to leave the tent...
"This is Tefran. Reason for the emergency comm..."
A voice came from behind.
Lania turned. Tefran pressed a hand to his ear, receiving new intel. Emergency line.
"...Yes, yes. Got it."
Tefran's face stiffened as he slowly faced Lania.
"Hero."
"...Speak."
"During the special forces' support for the 6th Legion, combat broke out. Most of the special forces were wiped out..."
Special forces.
Belnoa and Chloe's unit.
"Hero, Chloe returned with critical injuries. Belnoa... was lost to the spells, reported missing."
Lania's face twisted in anguish.