Blade Queen vs. Isera
This is absurd.
Drakestar frowned deeply.
Union had appeared with such swagger, only to be driven onto the defensive the moment he faced Isera.
That’s supposed to be the real God of the Black Egg?
The figure before them looked nothing like the “God of the Black Egg” Drakestar had heard about. He was not the only one left puzzled.
“Didn’t they say the God of the Black Egg killed Calamity Baal?”
“Then why…?”
“Maybe Isera is just stronger than Calamity Baal?”
“No, even so—this is ridiculous!”
Everyone watching the battle could only tilt their heads in confusion. Even if the stories had been exaggerated, the power the Guardian of the Black Egg had displayed was overwhelming. Naturally, they had placed enormous expectations on its master, the God of the Black Egg. And yet…
An impostor?
Union was being pushed back so pathetically that he might as well have been a fake. No one could believe this was the being who had slain Calamity Baal. The Four Calamities were monsters created by Ruin itself. No matter how strong Isera was, he should not have been able to overwhelm one of them so completely.
Then the next scene tore gasps of pure shock from every throat.
“Th-the Spirit King!”
“Isera can summon a Spirit King?!”
“It’s over… we’re finished!”
Isera, who had been pressing Union hard, summoned a Spirit King. The morale that had soared to the heavens plummeted straight back into the dirt.
…Insane. A Spirit King?!
I’ve only ever heard the stories. No one has ever contracted with a Spirit King.
The moment Drakestar laid eyes on Agnes, the Spirit King of Fire, a shudder ran through him. The Constellations of the Hall of One Hundred Constellations, the Dominators who ruled the cracks of the Abyss, the Earth Dragon Giants who protected the goddesses, the Black King and White King said to dwell at the northern and southern ends of the world… a Spirit King was a being that could stand among them without shame.
They resided at the very end of the Spirit Realm—more precisely, at the summit of the Spirit Tower. Yet no one had ever formed a contract with a Spirit King. Hardly anyone even knew where the Spirit Tower was. The spirits of the tower, however, were said to retain their primordial forms and to be far more powerful than ordinary spirits, blessed and protected by the Spirit Kings themselves.
Even during the Great Expedition, Isera couldn’t command a Spirit King. Has he grown even stronger since then?
The thought was enough to make one’s blood run cold. A monster that had already been nearly impossible to kill during the Great Expedition had become even more powerful. And Wilhelm, who might have bought them time to find Isera’s weakness, was nowhere to be found. Their sole remaining hope, Union, was in this pitiful state—his entire body ablaze as he desperately summoned equipment after equipment.
It was disappointing beyond words, yet there was no time left to feel disappointment. Agnes, the Spirit King of Fire, summoned a spear of flame and punched straight through Union’s shield in a single instant.
Th-that shield… even Gracia couldn’t pierce it…
And he broke it in one hit?
How are we supposed to beat something like that?
It was overwhelming. Humanity simply did not possess the strength to face a monster of that caliber.
Just as the spear of flame was about to skewer Union—
“Fire, vanish.”
A colossal dragon appeared amid a roar of thunder. It evaporated the spear of flame and revealed itself in all its overwhelming majesty—a pure white dragon that once again stole every gaze on the battlefield. As if Isera and the Spirit King were not already more than enough, yet another monster had arrived.
Just as despair began to darken every face—
“Do not be afraid! Dragon God Lucaria stands with humanity—with Earth!”
Someone shouted in that fleeting moment. Drakestar turned toward the voice and blinked hard.
…Park Taewoo?
There was no mistaking him. The representative of Korea, the man Drakestar had assumed had fled with his aides, was standing right there. He had written the man off as a coward without a shred of patriotism—so what was this?
Boom! Rumble—!
At the same time, countless bolts of lightning crashed down from the sky.
“Wh-what?”
“The lightning is burning the demons!”
The lightning evaporated only the demons. It was no ordinary lightning—it was something closer to a Transcendence skill packed with enormous mana. That gigantic dragon was truly annihilating the demonic forces.
Dragon God Lucaria…!
Insane. He had thought nothing left could surprise him, yet here he was, stunned again. After the Guardian of the Black Egg, Union, Isera, and the Spirit King… now a Dragon God?
What even was a Dragon God? All Drakestar knew was that they were called the “Guardians of Balance.” He had never seen one in the flesh. Dragon Gods slept within Dragon Veins; there had never been an opportunity to encounter one.
“Soul of the Dragon, descend upon me!”
Dragon armor and a helmet immediately clad Park Taewoo’s entire body. He was a Dragon Spirit Master, capable of calling upon a dragon’s soul. Fully armed, he leapt into the battlefield and began cutting down demons.
Park Taewoo… just what have you done?
Had the Dragon Spirit Master class somehow helped awaken the Dragon God? One thing was certain: the moment Dragon God Lucaria and Park Taewoo appeared, morale surged once more. If the Dragon God defeated Isera and humanity won the war… the heroes of the story would not be the Hero Council or Drakestar himself, but Korea and Park Taewoo.
Grind.
Drakestar ground his teeth, eyes complicated. Rage boiled up inside him. Everything had gone wrong from the very first step. Not a single thing was unfolding the way he had planned.
Every word Hudson said was true…!
Even after awakening Dragon God Lucaria, Park Taewoo still could not quite believe the reality before him.
—Go to these coordinates and use the Wish Bead. As a Dragon Spirit Master, you should be able to awaken the sleeping Lucaria.
Korea had been on the brink of attack. Park Taewoo had not been able to avoid hesitation. Hudson was human, but the Fifth Lord who moved him was a monster under the White King’s command. And that monster had sought him out specifically to awaken a Dragon God. Who could simply believe such a claim?
I had no choice but to believe.
Hudson had been the first to bring word that the Fifth Lord had killed Master and become the ruler of Ruins City Rundela. He had even proposed a deal. If it had all been a lie, would he really have gone to the trouble of coming all the way to Korea just to extract one man? Why offer a deal to someone with no real influence? Whether Park Taewoo was present or not would not have changed the outcome of the war. Coldly speaking, he was not the kind of person a giant like Hudson would spend time on. Approaching Drakestar would have made far more sense.
He came to me because I was the only one who could do it.
So Park Taewoo had gambled. And the gamble had paid off spectacularly. When he reached the coordinates Hudson had given and used the Wish Bead, he felt Lucaria’s soul. The moment he spoke the Dragon God’s name, Lucaria awoke from her long slumber.
My main Dragon Spirit Master skills leveled up because of it, too.
Awakening Lucaria had not only saved them—it had made Park Taewoo himself stronger. He had also heard that Union and the Guardian of the Black Egg were holding the demons at bay. Hudson’s claim that things would not go the way the demons wanted had been entirely true.
Then the part about the Fifth Lord being at the newly appeared Dragon Vein…
That had to be true as well. Curiosity was driving him mad. The Fifth Lord—just who was he? Park Taewoo had assumed he was merely a monster under the White King, but perhaps that was not the whole story. A monster under the White King should not have been able to create a Dragon Vein on Earth, nor should he have known the coordinates of Dragon God Lucaria or even of Park Taewoo’s existence.
Yes. The title “Fifth Lord” is nothing more than a mask to hide his true identity.
Park Taewoo was certain. He was no mere Fifth Lord. He was something far greater.
Could it be…
Gulp.
The name that rose in Park Taewoo’s mind made him swallow hard. But the thought could not continue for long.
Boom! Rumble—!
Thunderbolts crashed down without pause. Lucaria was relentlessly driving Isera back.
“Die, Isera.”
Dragon God Lucaria offered her own two eyes as sacrifice, pouring out fierce lightning without end. It was not complete annihilation—her eyes regenerated and vanished again and again with insane regenerative power. Countless bolts of lightning fell from the sky, incinerating demons, while Spirit King Agnes found his entire body bound by rings of electricity.
“Incredible…”
“That’s a Dragon God?”
“A real god…”
Her majesty left nothing to be desired of a true god—a presence on an entirely different level from Union. Isera and the other demons were dying without even managing a proper counterattack.
Clench.
Park Taewoo tightened his fist. Listening to Hudson had been the right choice. With this, they had completely stopped the Second Invasion.
We can win—!
“Is that all you’ve got, Lucaria?”
Whoosh—!
A spherical barrier of flame bloomed around the hard-pressed Isera. The flame barrier casually blocked every one of Lucaria’s attacks. At the same time, Isera’s destroyed body began regenerating at high speed.
“Still as foolish as ever. Did you really think I would set out to hunt a Dragon God without any preparations?”
“Isera… have you broken the Taboo?”
Lucaria murmured, voice heavy. The Taboo of the Dragon Gods. As if to prove it, Isera smiled.
“I offered the heart to the Demon King. Everything else, I ate myself.”
“You bastard…!”
“Miron was one of the Seven Dragon Gods, just like you. By devouring him I became more complete. What do you suppose will happen when I eat you?”
Dragon Gods must never kill one another, nor devour one another. That was the law. Isera had broken that law—the Taboo.
Snap.
Isera flicked his index and middle fingers together.
Hummm.
The world fell silent. Every bolt of lightning raging across the sky vanished. Even the rings binding the Spirit King disappeared. Lucaria’s eyes trembled.
“That is Miron’s…!”
Miron’s absolute authority—Silence. The power to silence all things. Along with the power of regeneration, Isera had taken it for himself. Absolute shield and absolute spear, both in his hands. True invincibility.
Isera’s smile deepened.
“Go on, thrash about for me, Lucaria.”
“Ahh…!”
The battle dragged on. Yet its outcome was crystal clear. Just as the players grew exhausted, Lucaria was unmistakably dying. She continued to take fatal wounds that regeneration could not heal. Spirit King Agnes hurled spears of flame without rest, while Isera nullified every one of Lucaria’s attacks and left her completely immobilized.
…All that remained was despair.
“Hold the line! You have to hold!”
“Maintain the front! If we fall back any farther, our families—our friends—will die!”
But they could not retreat. There was truly nowhere left to go. Even if every player gathered here was wiped out, they had to stop the enemy.
One day passed, then two… then four.
Kyaaaaaaah!
At last Lucaria screamed. With a heavy crash she collapsed to the ground, her body a ruin.
“I… I can’t…”
“We can’t hold any longer…”
Even their final pillar, Lucaria, had fallen. This was the limit. Four days of war without a single wink of sleep. Most players had already exhausted every Fragment of the Golden Rule. Those whose transformations wore off before they could check the remaining time met their deaths; even those who managed to pull back were far from whole. If the Guardian of the Black Egg had not forcibly warped the near-dead to safety, a true catastrophe would have unfolded.
“Oh God…”
Everyone despaired. How could they not? Fewer than a thousand players remained on the battlefield. Meanwhile, roughly fifty thousand demons still stood. Above all, Isera radiated absolute confidence. He was strong—far too strong. The difference in dimension was absolute. Victory no longer seemed possible.
“I’ll give you credit for toughness. Lasting four whole days against Agnes’s attacks…”
Isera sneered as he approached the fallen Lucaria. He had expected to finish this quickly, yet her durability had been remarkable. But even that was over now.
“Rest easy and die, Lucaria.”
Isera reached for Lucaria’s heart.
In that instant—
Shunk!
“……?”
Isera tilted his head. A long spike had punched straight through his abdomen from behind. Someone had attacked him from the rear—and with tremendous force.
Slowly, Isera turned.
“You are…”
A woman of strange presence revealed herself high in the sky, blade wings beating. The moment Isera confirmed her identity, a smile returned to his lips. He knew at a glance.
“Ahh. So you’re the new ‘Dragon God,’ are you?”
…That woman was the newly born mutant Dragon God.