Chapter 178

Evasion in midair isn't easy.

That's why he planned to erase me with a breath attack in an instant.

But that was underestimating me by a mile.

I took a short breath and gripped my sword tighter.

A bit more aura output than usual.

The faster I went, the greater the strain on my body, but for some reason, I had a gut feeling it would be fine.

Then, like igniting an afterburner, I accelerated my instantaneous speed dozens of times over, creating a massive sonic boom.

The shockwave was so powerful it rippled across the vast barrier.

BOOOOM!!!

The breath bursting from his maw tore apart and scattered in all directions, and I bulldozed straight through, slashing deeply across his body.

I knew a near-immortal bastard like him wouldn't die easily, but shrugging off an attack like that stung my pride a little.

The moment I broke through, the barrier enveloping the Holy Kingdom's capital, Raphael, reverted to its original form, firmly sealing off entry and exit from the outside.

Luna didn't follow up with an attack.

Her job wasn't to strike the beast but to prepare something else.

And mine was simply to hold his attention, keeping him from noticing her.

Reeling from more damage than expected, he soared back into the air, his aura crushing the surroundings.

The Demon Dragon's power was beyond imagination, but I wasn't fighting blind.

Intent on wiping me out completely, he unleashed another barrage of black misty breath.

The black breath chased me like a laser beam at incredible speed.

From my memories of the Dream Labyrinth, the Demon Dragon's breath had some nasty properties.

It was like poison.

Unlike other dragons' breaths, a Demon Dragon's was meaningful simply upon contact.

Yet I faced it head-on.

Normally, my body should have already undergone some change.

But nothing happened. I'd experienced its effects to the point of boredom anyway.

After endless battles with the Demon Dragon in the Dream Labyrinth, I'd researched countermeasures until I was sick of it.

Compared to that one, Baril's breath seemed weak.

“How many times do you think I've clashed with scum like you?”

Twisting my path repeatedly to sap his momentum, the moment I took the breath full-on, my sword plunged in, severing one of his wings as it grazed past.

He's near-immortal, but that doesn't mean he feels no pain.

Plus, his regeneration was slower than the one I'd fought in the Dream Labyrinth.

I'm not the same as back then, so the gap isn't huge, but it gives me some advantages now.

With one wing severed, he began to plummet and hastily tried to cast a levitation spell.

“Can't let you do that.”

Why else would I have cut off your wing?

KABOOM!!

I stomped him back down as he tried to rise again, finally dragging the bastard to the ground.

Contrary to expectations, I'd pulled it off unscathed, and bewilderment and doubt flickered in his eyes.

“You... how are you completely fine after taking my breath?”

It's poison-like, sure, but it still packs physical energy.

A dragon's breath is a massive energy blast in itself.

Yet I seemed unaffected by its high-density energy or properties, so he couldn't comprehend it.

No intention of spelling it out for him, though.

His eyes gleamed as he crashed to the ground.

Black mist spread around him, forming dozens of spears that flew at me like living fog.

I charged straight in without flinching, activating elemental mana to counter and disrupt his magic.

Same old tricks.

Sullivan in the deep layers before, the kraken at the fishing village—always the same.

Experience from the Dream Labyrinth taught me exactly how to handle foes like this.

Not the exact same individual as the one there, but Demon Dragons share unique traits.

Having mastered the attacks from the stronger Labyrinth Demon Dragon, Baril felt like an easy mode with patterns stripped away.

In other words...

He's a pain to kill, but not truly threatening.

Fortunately, his rage was fully focused on me.

Partly delusion that I was the only real threat.

As I effortlessly countered or dodged his petty traps, doubt crept into his eyes.

Black stone pillars rose around him, resonating.

Precursors to a massive corruption spell.

Faint decay was already visible around the pillars.

They'd bulldoze through most defenses.

Blocking that would strain my Aura Heart heavily.

Any normal opponent wouldn't know what it was or how to counter.

But I reacted instantly, deploying Quadruple Casting.

Fiery gas flames instantly enveloped the pillars, incinerating them all, and shock spread across his face.

Burns, doesn't it?

The pillars vanished in flames, his apparent weakness to fire magic, and he ground his teeth.

Even an idiot would catch on by now.

I readied my sword, Electra, without answering, and he flinched, conjuring an avalanche of black mist.

This time, Wraith Mist. Getting caught in it ejects the soul from the body.

It devours those souls to rapidly heal the flesh.

Each Hall has counters, but I cherry-picked the most efficient from my memories.

Drawing from the Hall of Spirits' memory for this one.

Hummm...

It treats my body as undead and forcibly binds my soul.

Won't protect nearby plants, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that's enough.

I planned to gift him a similar recovery disruptor anyway.

I dodged his sweeping arm acrobatically and closed in.

It was clearly in an unavoidable attack path.

He knew it too, swinging a massive foreleg of mingled black mist and flame.

But I didn't charge in without a plan.

Especially seeing his wing already half-regenerated.

His regen deserved the hype.

So, time to hinder that first.

A colossal, icy power dormant within me stirred.

Electra's death authority, Thanatos, bestowed a horrific curse on his amorphous flesh where the sword bit.

Caught off-guard by the lethal blow, he screamed and froze mid-swing.

Thanatos couldn't kill him easily.

Not fully mastered yet, and against immortality, it's tough.

Writhing in unimaginable agony on the ground, fury blazed in his eyes.

Staggering from the unexpected critical hit, he flailed wildly with his forelegs before retreating from me.

Even with Thanatos, recovery hadn't fully halted.

Killing him here wouldn't stick; he'd resurrect and flee somehow.

No easy means to finish him now.

But I'd achieved my original goal.

“Strutting around calling me vermin, and look at you now—pathetic, huh?”

“You've been pulling strings from the shadows for ages. When things went south, you should've bolted like the coward you are.”

His downfall was losing his temper at the end.

As he said, even slowed to a crawl by Thanatos, faint recovery was underway.

But at that rate, I'd hit my target.

“I know. Never thought it'd kill you. And I don't plan to let you die that easily either.”

If he died now, he'd revive and escape me again.

So my job is to pin him here.

Demon Dragons like Baril are primarily dark-attribute beings.

And the most lethal force against them is divinity.

But in a situation where drawing that out is hard, I'd shredded one in the Dream Labyrinth differently.

While learning magic in the Hall of Truth, the attribute that smashed him instead of divinity was lightning.

Conveniently, my best-handled element among those I'd mastered.

“Demon Dragons hate lightning, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠right?”

I gathered elemental mana in my left hand, the one not holding my sword.

Vast lightning from 7th Circle and beyond converged, forming a bluish thunder spear.

Strands of electricity rippled like hair drawn to static, and he eyed the spear warily.