Chapter 403
Chapter 403
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 403
Chapter Title: Dragon Slayer Asterio
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A wind blew in.
Raniel's hair swayed in the breeze.
On her way back to base, she suddenly turned around. A wind from far away. Pondering the breeze that brushed past her hair, Raniel tilted her head.
It felt familiar somehow.
Dry and arid...
> A harsh wind.
There was someone who always brought a wind just like this. Recalling that presence, Raniel murmured without thinking.
"...Belial?"
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The Dragon Slayer gazed at the dragons and wyvern squad charging toward him. They were an army he had personally tamed over long years, breaking their horns one by one. A loyal force that would lay down their lives at his slightest gesture.
Among them, the dragon with the largest frame.
That dragon had been his companion since the days when the Dragon Slayer was no superhuman, merely Asterio of Asterion. A comrade with whom he had shared countless battlefields and built a deep bond. Yet even that comrade now bared its fangs at Asterio.
The dragons charging with flames spewing from their maws, claws extended, and jaws gaping wide were trembling in fear. Not of rebelling against their master, but of the single human standing behind them.
Watching the scene, the Dragon Slayer let out a hollow chuckle.
"...Ha."
He readjusted his greatsword and clicked his tongue briefly.
'No use taming them for centuries.'
He felt no particular sense of betrayal toward dragons that couldn't even recognize their own master. Dragons followed the strong by nature. If they saw that human as stronger, more fearsome than him...
"I am Asterio."
He would simply show them.
"The nightmare of dragons, Dragon Slayer Asterio."
The nightmare they had forgotten.
The fear eroded by the passage of ages.
"Looks like their horns need breaking once more to jog their memories."
He would etch it anew into the minds of those beasts.
2.
His vision was sharp.
His once hazy mind was now perfectly clear.
With the red dragon eye in his possession, Belnoa could now see things invisible before. Flows, essences, and faint afterimages filled his sight.
"It's because your soul has stepped onto the next stage." The goddess whispered into Belnoa's ear.
"Only now that you've surpassed your limits can I lend you my power fully." With his connection to the goddess strengthened, Belnoa slowly raised his arm. The flesh torn away by teeth had been replaced by shadow. The rippling shadow was a symbol of life, a blessing from the divine.
"But think carefully." The goddess warned.
"From now on, you'll bear even greater costs, and there may be no turning back." Belnoa gave a curt reply to the warning.
"I know."
Belnoa had chosen his path of his own will.
He had made his decision and steeled his resolve.
Not under anyone's coercion, but by his own choice.
"No regrets."
As his body mended, Belnoa narrowed his eyes and stared ahead. Dozens of wyverns and dragons obscured the view beyond, but that wouldn't last.
Kraaang!
The greatsword burst forth, shredding wyvern flesh.
Blood and chunks rained down like a storm, yet the blade never stopped. It tore wings from charging wyverns, shattered spines. A blood-soaked man ripped them apart like beasts.
Dragon Slayer Asterio.
Asterio chewed on a hunk of wyvern flesh he'd bitten off, grinning like a demon. He spat out an eyeball—thud—and it rolled across the ground as he kicked off and leaped skyward.
He seized the horn of a flying, fire-breathing wyvern with bare hands, wrenching it to crash into others. He snapped the neck of a resisting one, leaped from the falling beast to mount another.
His greatsword splintered bones, rent thick hides. More beast than the beasts themselves.
Why was he called the Dragon Slayer?
Why the nightmare of dragons?
As if to demonstrate the origin of his title, the Dragon Slayer rampaged madly amid the dragons. He even felled the massive soaring dragon, plunging it to earth, then drove his greatsword deep into its chest.
"Hoo."
Exhaling deeply, he yanked the blade free, the dragon's heart dangling from its tip. Munching the pulsing heart, the Dragon Slayer laughed.
"Now the balance feels right."
His body bore countless wounds from the brutal fight—claw marks, burns. Blood streamed, yet he showed no pain as he devoured the heart.
Drip, drip, splatter.
Dragon blood poured like rain.
Standing atop the crimson-soaked wasteland from the dragons' and wyverns' blood, Asterio slowly raised his sword.
"Now we can have a proper warrior's duel."
His eyes burned with battle lust.
Having slaughtered his entire unit, now alone, the Dragon Slayer thrust his sword toward Belnoa.
"I've shown you everything I have."
He asked.
"What do you have?"
Instead of answering, Belnoa raised his arm. Half-dragonized, covered in scales more akin to armor. Razor-sharp.
"Impressive."
The Dragon Slayer chuckled.
"You look just like a dragon."
Red eyes, sprouting dragon scales.
A chilling aura that sent shivers down the spine.
No wonder the dragons feared this human. But trembling before a dragon was no way for the Dragon Slayer to live—his title would be a joke.
The Dragon Slayer charged, dragging his greatsword.
Belnoa assumed his stance.
With the rushing wind, they clashed.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The greatsword cleaved air, sword aura sweeping the area, but Belnoa's response was different now. No clumsy defense or retreat—instead, he closed the distance, diving into the Dragon Slayer.
'This guy...'
The Dragon Slayer realized.
His foresight no longer worked on the human before him. This meant two things. First, his superhuman edge was gone. Second...
The youth before him had ascended to superhuman.
Superhumans recognized each other.
Not just good instincts, but anomalies in vision. When a superhuman's foresight—seeing seconds ahead—caught another superhuman, the future twisted, shattered. The opponent foresaw too.
And now was no different.
Unable to rely on foresight, the Dragon Slayer swung on pure instinct and reflexes. Not just the sword—a greatsword had many openings by nature.
Thud, whoosh!
To cover gaps, he moved hands and feet relentlessly. Even dropping the sword at times. Thus, Belnoa and the Dragon Slayer brawled at close quarters.
But the Dragon Slayer took the damage.
Each brush against Belnoa's dragon scales tore his flesh. Sword strikes glanced off with a clang.
'Feels like fighting a real dragon.'
A dragon compressed to human size. Terrifying, naturally. Dragons' massive size offered openings, but shrunk to human proportions?
Range per strike shrank, making close combat a nightmare.
Especially...
Thrust. Shadow erupted from his feet, piercing the Dragon Slayer's thigh. Sharper than before. He stomped to disrupt it, but the shadow reformed and struck.
If the dragon used tricks too?
A truly vexing foe.
Yet the Dragon Slayer was a superhuman of centuries, master of unfavorable fights. He endured wounds, steadily, persistently pushing Belnoa back.
Thump. Belnoa's back hit the cliff.
The moment he cornered his foe, the Dragon Slayer's momentum shifted. His speed surged; he used the wall as footing, moving with near-acrobatic grace.
Clang, clatter!
Wall chipped, dust flying, Belnoa's eyes darted rapidly. He was adapting to his new body.
Changed flesh, unfamiliar motions and senses.
Fresh to superhuman realm, yet adapting with eerie speed. In his mind now... techniques prepared by his predecessor.
Dragon shaman, Belial.
The hero from centuries past left much behind. For his successor, including knowledge on handling dragonized bodies.
But tailored to Belial's body.
Rather than mimic poorly, Belnoa adapted in his own way. Pinned to the wall, his arm moved slowly.
Whiiiine.
A low hum. With superhuman reflexes, the Dragon Slayer leaned back as wind pillars shot from ground to sky. Pierced dust crumbled to powder.
'...Wind?'
The Dragon Slayer's pupils widened.
Where wind passed, pulverized stone whirled. As he faltered, Belnoa's hand moved again. Faster.
Fingers clad in dragon scales drew wind.
Five strands formed.
Whirling winds like slender lines. He twisted away, but one grazed his side.
"...Kuhk!"
He'd likened the lines to sword strikes, but they were deadlier. Skin caught in the vortex tore free.
He staggered back a step.
Belnoa lunged boldly. The Dragon Slayer swung desperately, but as Belnoa's claws met the blade...
Scraaaaaape!
Rough grind—the greatsword's edge chipped.
Rare metal, indestructible blade—now cracked. Whirling winds made it shudder, spin wildly. His wrist couldn't resist the torque; he decided.
Drop.
He released the greatsword.
Blade spun in storm with rising dust. Vision obscured, but his sharp eyes caught a blurry shape.
A charging human silhouette.
Boldly closing on a weaponless him. But the Dragon Slayer was seasoned. He drew his hidden card—a dagger of dragon tooth from his waist.
Greatsword specialist, yet a true sword superhuman. Any blade in hand meant top-tier technique.
Ziiiiing!
Sword aura gathered at the dagger's tip.
He thrust, aura surging. Unexpected strike. Sensing victory, but one miscalculation.
The foe wasn't a swordsman.
Nor a warrior.
Far from honest combat—master of sorcery and dirty tricks. As dust cleared, revealing the truth, the Dragon Slayer chuckled hollowly.
Whoosh—his dagger sliced shadow.
The figure in the dust was a mere shadow decoy.
Belnoa, low and close, burrowed into the thrusting Dragon Slayer's guard. Fingers dragging along ground swirled with storm winds.
He'd lost the close-quarters brawl.
So yield some flesh, escape, then...
Grip.
Something seized his ankle.
Shadow from the ground. The disrupted shadow puppet flowed down, binding his foot.
"Heh."
In the final moment, the Dragon Slayer laughed.
Storm-clad claws plunged deep into his abdomen. Body tempered by dragon blood and flesh, but now that toughness meant nothing.
Thoom.
Wind raged inside his body.