Chapter 117
Chapter 117
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 117
Chapter Title: Mystery of Dragon Slayer (2)
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-Aaaah!
-Sa, save…!
-Why is the mystery killing us! Why us!
Pew pew pew—
Boom boom boom!
An asura field. A vision of hell.
That was all it looked like in Drow's eyes.
The Gang Brothers' crew were dying like flies.
Pierced through by countless bone spears, or turned into arrow pincushions.
The ground was a muddy mess from all the blood they'd spilled.
Where exactly had things gone wrong?
They had only come to avenge their dead brother.
And as residents of the Floating Archipelago, they believed Creamhilt's power rightfully belonged to them, those with legitimate claim.
"Creamhilt…! Great ancestor, why do you visit such trials upon us…?"
Drow's dazed mutter was thick with doubt.
Puk!
* * *
Sweeek, sweeeeeek—
"Tch."
Theo wrapped gusts of wind tightly around his body as he eyed the bone spears and arrows hurtling straight for him.
It seemed his presence had been detected too.
Keeek! Kek!
Kikik! Kikikik!
What were they saying?
Was it something like, "Intruder over there—capture them at once"?
[Wind Thunder God – Gale Step]
Pop—pop—pop—
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Every branch Theo stepped on had bone spears embedding themselves just barely off-mark.
The dragonbone soldiers that missed him seemed irritated, stamping the ground and snorting before charging off in pursuit of his direction.
'They look like they're charging recklessly, but their formation doesn't break in the slightest.'
The ranks—spearmen, shieldbearers, archers, swordsmen, knights—meshed together like gears in perfect harmony, a sight beautiful enough to call art.
Kwarung! Kwarung!
On top of that, the attacks launched by the mages lurking throughout the formation were frighteningly sharp.
Theo deflected each one with Drake's Edge while swiftly pinpointing their positions.
[Thunder Calling]
Rumble! Rumbllle!
The lightning bolts picked off the mages one by one.
Some among them hadn't anticipated Theo using magic and shattered outright,
But as time passed, three or four shieldbearers would cluster around to form a barrier with their shields, rendering even that futile.
'As expected, not easy. There are just too many of them. Which means the only option is to collapse their formation.'
No matter how many dragonbone soldiers he cut down, their vastly superior numbers meant it barely made a dent.
In that case, he had to target the head first and disrupt their chain of command.
Theo's gaze naturally turned in one direction.
Far off in the distance.
There was a dragonbone soldier mounted on a horse, clad in gleaming plate armor.
Its bulk was three times that of the others.
The blue flames flickering in the eye sockets peeking from beneath its helmet seemed to stare straight at Theo.
-Take that one down first.
Fwaaah—
Theo poured strength into his legs and shot toward it like an arrow.
At that exact moment, the four knight dragonbone soldiers guarding the commander leaped into the air with swords drawn.
Chaaaang!
Theo twisted his body sharply midair, erecting the flat of Drake's Edge to deflect two of them.
In that instant, the other two aimed for his blind spot.
One he repelled by telekinetically yanking all four Deathbits free and shoving them back,
The remaining one he sliced clean through in a single stroke with Moonblade's drawn example qi.
Kwarung—
"One down."
Theo didn't stop running.
Deathbit spun counterclockwise, unleashing thunder. And then the rising thunder dragon.
A breath laden with scorching heat erupted, exploding the heads of the two knights.
And then,
He closed the gap tight on the last one, who had been deflected but barely regained balance.
"Last one."
Flash!
Dragon's claw struck.
Kurur—
The knight's sword and helmet split apart together, crumbling to dust.
A barrage of bone spears and arrows rained down in the meantime, but blocking them with the thunder dragon posed no issue.
Now nothing stood in Theo's way.
In that moment, Theo felt like the commander dragonbone soldier's mouth was smirking beneath its helmet.
Even though it was a skull that struggled to show emotion.
Kaaaaang!
The strike aimed to cleave the commander's skull was blocked for the first time.
The thing was no slouch in personal skill beyond commanding the legion—it effortlessly overcame the crisis while still mounted in the saddle,
Tadak!
And as Theo performed a swallow flip to land on the ground, it spurred its horse into a lance charge.
A technique that amplified power by accelerating the horse's momentum onto the pointed lance!
Thud thud thud—
"Hup!"
Kwaaaaang!
Theo thrust the flat of Drake's Edge forward like a shield. And then the colliding blow.
His skull rattled like he'd been hammered hard.
And his body flung far back.
It was the first time he'd lost a contest of strength since acquiring [Superhuman Strength] and [Spirituality].
'No. That's not it. It's something else—something forcibly suppressing the flow of my mana…!'
Thump thump thump!
He squeezed Dragon's Heart with all his might. His dantian responded in kind, triggering mana resonance.
Gritting his teeth, Theo deflected the lance upward and drew Moonblade with his left hand to sweep the horse's underbelly.
Oh ho.
Amused by Theo's display, the commander dropped the lance from his grip and instead drew the broadsword hanging from the saddle, swinging it down.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The broadsword didn't budge an inch despite multiple clashes with Moonblade.
Dissatisfied, Griffin let out a savage roar and wildly drew out Moonblade's yin qi, but
The broadsword countered with its own formidable murderous intent and aura, repelling Moonblade.
No, it even pushed back.
'Mana suppression confirmed!'
Theo could feel the commander's unique mana suppressing not just his own mana, but Moonblade's yin qi as well.
A stinging pain echoed through his body with every clash of blades.
In that moment, the horse began advancing again.
Hiiihiihing!
Woooong, woo wooong—
Every time Moonblade wailed, the broadsword roared even more ferociously.
Ziiiiiiing!
['Skill: Lesser Drake Fear' is being destroyed by the opponent's Dragon Slayer trait.]
['Moonblade' cannot manifest its proper functions.]
'Dragon Slayer!'
Thud thud thud thud thud!
This place was Creamhilt and the mystery of the Dragon Slayer sword.
Which meant it was no surprise for the mystery's composition—the natural surroundings and even the dragonbone soldiers—to all exhibit Dragon Slayer traits.
In contrast, Theo was a dragon's companion, armed with relics of the ancient dragon.
It was as good as walking straight into the jaws of his natural predator.
But even so, Theo squeezed his mana with all his power.
Tens of thousands of dragonbone soldiers still remained here.
If he couldn't even handle a mere undead born from a stray aura—let alone a true Dragon Slayer—
'It wouldn't befit a guardian dragon's companion.'
Drake's Edge in his right hand. Moonblade in his left.
He swiftly crossed the two blades.
['Skill: Fairy Buff' activated—increasing Superhuman Strength buff to maximum.]
['Skill: Worm Eater' activated—increasing attack power.]
['Fairy' and 'Worm Eater' seek to devour the opponent's Dragon Slayer trait.]
As the earring and ring sparkled especially brilliantly,
Flash!
A blast of heat wind and lightning erupted from the crossing rays of light, shoving everything around clear.
Kwaaaa—
Whiiir whiiir whiiir…!
The broadsword shattered, and the skeleton horse's skull exploded.
['Dragon Slayer' trait ignored.]
The commander jolted in alarm, kicking off the saddle to leap high and escape the heat storm, but
"Where to."
Theo smirked coldly as he scattered the heat storm in all directions.
[Dragon's Seven Claws – Chain Strike]
Swi swi swish swish—
Drake's Edge moved as Drake's Edge did, Moonblade as Moonblade did, each in different trajectories.
A total of fourteen rays of light crossed and intertwined repeatedly before instantly becoming a whirlwind.
It was a sword technique form Theo had never fully unleashed before.
The pearl of the sword.
The obsession of an unnamed old rival that Kyle had passed on was driving Theo into a trance.
An unconscious sword path forged from endless fixation on the blade.
Kwaduduk!
In the end, the commander couldn't withstand the whirlwind and was torn to shreds,
And when the wind died down, only what looked like a femur bone remained, lying alone on the ground.
Plop!
"Haa… haa…!"
Theo panted raggedly as he picked up the bone.
['Creamhilt's remains' partially collected successfully. (1/206)]
"Haa… damn… haa… it's a treasure hunt…."
It seemed the commander had been exceptionally strong because it possessed one of Creamhilt's bones.
It was right then.
['Skill: Hatchling Synchro' forcibly activates, reading a fragment of the lingering thought.]
Fwaaaah!
Suddenly, Theo's vision flipped.
* * *
A sandy beach where waves churned.
A girl was examining a bizarre creature swept in by the tide.
The thing that resembled a dragon was dying, wracked by an unknown curse and virulent poison.
"Don't stay by my side… This is from the old era… a curse of a false god forgotten by all… Nothing a mere ordinary human like you can handle… Withdraw before it becomes dangerous… Hurry…!"
Not a dead god, but a false god.
Though the dragon's anguished cry came with incomprehensible words, the girl didn't leave its side.
Because for a girl who had lived a life of nothing but discrimination and persecution, the dragon was her one and only friend.
So she strove somehow to cure the curse.
And in truth, the dragon overcame it to some degree and began regaining its strength.
But,
"A dragon's hiding here? For real?"
"Yeah. For sure. That slave girl doing butcher work at the shop, right?"
"Oh, the gloomy-looking one?"
"Yeah. She comes this way every night lugging a bunch of stuff. Kant happened to spot her."
"Ooh, if there's really a dragon here…!"
"We hit the jackpot. Heh heh heh."
As always, misfortune arrived without warning.
In that instant, Theo's consciousness swiftly returned to reality.
"The dragon's the Sea King… and the slave girl is Creamhilt?"
Theo murmured as he gazed quietly at Creamhilt's femur.
It seemed the relationship between Creamhilt and the Sea King was far from simple, more than he'd anticipated.
['Lingering thought' read successfully.]
['Creamhilt's conviction' partially imprinted.]
At the same time, light settled on the back of his right hand, engraving a small pattern.
['Resistance to Dragon Slayer' acquired.]
It was just a round curve—he couldn't tell what it signified—but it seemed to hold Creamhilt's power.
Likely, it would grow larger the more remains he collected.
"Then I need to keep hunting commander-grade dragonbone soldiers. But how the hell do I hunt those things?"
Theo stroked it with his hand before sweeping his gaze across the forest edge.
With the commander gone, the dragonbone soldiers' formation was in disarray, and a huge number were heading this way.
Even with Dragon Slayer resistance, handling them all alone was impossible.
'Use Garuda's Heart right now?'
For a moment, he recalled the dragon predator's heart Hilda had given him, but
'No. Garuda's Heart is the last resort.'
He shook his head, changing his mind.
That left one option.
He had to reshape the terrain to make hunting easier—turn it to his advantage.
This was a forest.
Which meant there was one way to flip it.
Fire attack.
['Skill: Hatchling Synchro' domain expanded—searching for artifact left by flame sorcerer.]
Gray Gang.
If he read the memories of the one guy in the Gang Brothers who handled flames, maybe he'd get a clue on fire magic.
Fortunately, he found the site of the Gang Brothers' annihilation not far off.
The problem was that it sat right in the middle of a spot swarming with dragonbone soldiers.
"Still, gotta give it a shot."
Theo gripped Drake's Edge and Moonblade one in each hand before kicking off the ground.
Fwaaah—
Deathbit flew ahead first, becoming a thunder dragon and spewing hot breath.
Kwarurung!
Ruuuumble—
.
.
And several hours later.
Crackle!
A small spark ignited somewhere in the jungle grew uncontrollably, turning into a fire demon that spread in all directions.