Chapter 293: A Spear and a Shield, into the Eye of the Hurricane (4)
5th Iteration.
He had to be a part of an Anti-a.s.sociation group to kill Chaliovan; he struggled against the Seat of Deepest Desire, Noah, and could not save the red hatchling who had been swept away by the currents of war.
The reason for the 5th iteration’s failure could be summarised into one word.
It was because he was weak.
Yu Jitae was weak.
Because of that, he tried every method to make himself stronger after the end of the 5th iteration. He was killed by those holding killing intent against him to develop his Shapeless Sword, trained how to use a sword and learned how to manage mana traces from the grave of Wings of Snow Light.
And lastly, he went on a [Sovereign Hunt].
One of the sovereigns he killed during that was the head of the black dragon race, [Lugiathan].
To prepare for the fight against Lugiathan, Yu Jitae had previously seeked out other black dragons. He visited every single nearby dimension and found exactly 27 black dragons and there, he saw clearly what happened to a world inhabited by a black dragon.
“I can’t leave you here. You must follow me.”
[Are you still going to act like a police? Let me hear your reason at least.]
“I have seen numerous black dragons. From 27 dimensions, I saw 27 black dragons, both young and old.”
And the worlds he found black dragons in were…
“All those dimensions were long ruined.”
Barren wastelands with not a single hint of life. A world devoid of anything worth calling mother nature.
Water had completely dried up and the humid wind carried sand everywhere.
Every dimension was the same.
“If you have yet to reach 1,000, you must be quite young for an adult dragon. It might be your first time hearing it but it’s true.”
[And what about it? How would that relate to me?]
“Of course it would. Back then, I became curious about the reason. Why would a black dragon do such a thing? I was curious and looked into it.”
Polluting the water; raising the temperature; attacking everything nearby in a sudden frenzy and suppressing the weak to death.
“…Because I thought there would obviously be a ‘reason’ for doing such things.”
There in fact was no reason.
That was simply what a black dragon was – they were the destroyer of nature that ruined dimensions.
[Like I said, how does that have anything to do with me?]
“And yet they do not bother sparing a glance at a world that has an existing sovereign. In that sense, it must be true that you have accidentally come to this place.”
Only choosing the weak and easy dimensions and leading those worlds into pollution and apocalypse was the characteristic of black dragons.
The mere existence of a black dragon was poison and Myu’s existence right now was no different from a bag of poison being dropped onto Earth. The pouch would open whenever and wherever Myu desired.
“While going through the nearby dimensions, I came across a village of some dwarfs that had devout religious beliefs. They referred to you guys like this.”
Large garbage.
Flying chaos.
Poor vagrants of dimensions.
Destroyer of order.
Or,
“The trash of Askalifa.”
It seemed that the whole race of black dragons had been chased out of Askalifa in the distant past. He didn’t exactly know why but could guess the reason after meeting various black dragons from all around.
There was a reason why they were chased out.
[Then, are you treating me the same way as them just because I’m a black dragon?]
“Yes.”
[What a harsh speculation.]
Yu Jitae didn’t feel the need to share a long conversation anymore. The being in front of him would definitely cause harm to humanity.
“I will give you one last chance.”
If this was in the past, or even near the start of the 7th iteration, he would have immediately smashed the black dragon to death.
“Obediently change yourself to human form and follow me.”
[How absurd. And what will you do then?]
“I will lock you. You will be separated and managed by me so that you can’t do anything wrong.”
[We are the wandering race. I would rather leave Earth than be locked away from freedom.]
“Even if you leave to another dimension, you might come back one day, thus you must go through the necessary procedures.”
In that instant, the black dragon’s aura surged forth.
[I wanted to see how far you were going to take it, but truly…]
The obedient att.i.tude was no longer there and the voice being transmitted to his mind was full of irritation. It seemed that the black dragon was sincerely enraged.
[You are overstepping your boundaries, my Nemesis.]
Good. This was it.
In fact, the purple-eyed dragon in front of him was a lot more poised than the other black dragons he had seen. If it had stable emotions, it was fine to let it live. If Myu was able to either swallow her anger or maintain himself as the only target of her rage due to being a mutant, Yu Jitae would chase her outside without killing it since that meant that she could control the mouth of the pouch herself.
But if she couldn’t do so and followed her instincts to wreak havoc, Yu Jitae would have no choice but to kill Myu.
Therefore, he provoked her even more.
“Overstepping my boundaries?”
[I have told you already. To not run your mouth against my n.o.ble race as a lowly human.]
“Are you discontent with me expressing the truth? It is for you to endure. That filth is what your race has done across every dimension. Or are you embarra.s.sed by the adults of your race?”
[How dare you call our race by such a name with ignorance? Cut your fingers off immediately and apologise to me. Otherwise you will greatly regret it.]
Tension rose in the air, threatening to rip any time but Yu Jitae did not stop his provocation. If he had to open the pouch of poison, he had to do it now while his powers were released.
“Live quietly in a corner with your nest? Such nonsense. You are different from the other dragon races. Aren’t you just a cl.u.s.ter of pollution that uses your ability to ‘convey’ memories and emotions to pollute others with your disgusting and unpleasant emotions? You are no different from bats and rats that transmit plagues.”
[Enough–!]
Her wings spread far and wide as she lowered her body. With eyes overflowing with killing intent, she looked at him with a different light in her eyes.
[You are forcing me to forget the kindness of your flower.]
It was a familiar gaze. It had a different colour but had the same look as the eyes of the 27 black dragons that he had seen.
“Do not remember any grat.i.tude. You trashes of Askalifa who corrupted the elves that helped you settle to lead them to destruction; who polluted the oceans and made the Nagas that kindly shared it with you die.”
The purple eyes shivered from its surging fury. Yu Jitae felt Myu’s killing intent rising. It was a considerable amount of willpower even for an adult dragon, possibly because it was a mutant.
[…]
However, a black dragon was still a black dragon. The trash of Askalifa was still trash despite being a mutant.
[You are begging for your own disaster…]
The evil of every dimension; a disaster and a contaminant. As if to prove that, the black dragon’s eyes flipped and it’s killing intent fluctuated the surrounding dimensions.
In an instant, the dragon reached its wings far and wide.
[Killing you is nothing difficult but yes, after hearing your words, I’m thinking there is no reason to not follow my instincts. So everything that happens from now is what you have brought upon yourself.]
Its voice was still tranquil but its mental state was not.
Myu had just lost her rationality. The endless and unjustified grudge that was located in the minds of every black dragon also existed in her mind.
“I knew it.”
Yu Jitae flew towards Myu, carrying in his hand a killing intent that could even tear through the tough flesh of dragons.
All the purple aura that had been absorbed from the nest was hanging on the wings of the dragon as a black aura began to create a layer over the black dragon’s body.
His provocation being the reason for its fury was nothing but an excuse. Yu Jitae knew that Myu was unable to fight against her own instincts and was trying to destroy the world.
In the end, as long as it stayed on Earth, this was bound to happen one day.
[Ma.s.s Teleport (SS)]
It was then. Something that he hadn’t antic.i.p.ated occurred.
An interdimensional movement spell that had been pre-organised by Myu unfolded.
“Stop right there—!”
Yu Jitae bellowed. The beast-like roar shook the entirety of the 72nd floor like thunder,
But the dragon had vanished already.
This was different from other dragons. Even though it might have been a spell prepared beforehand through [Memorise (S)], the casting time of the spell was still absurd and ridiculously fast.
It must be its ability as a mutant.
The dragon was let loose on Earth. The situation at hand became more pressing and urgent than any before.
The remaining aura of the black dragon’s nest was trying to restrict him. Adding more killing intent, Yu Jitae pushed Shapeless Sword to its limit. He then carried the killing intent with both hands, and raised it towards the heavens.
He had no time to bother descending the tower.
*
The a.s.sociation’s Strategy Council.
“Huuk!”
“What is that! Oi! How big is that thing!”
“It, it’s a 40-metre-tall large monster!!”
People shouted back and forth.
A signalman was staring at the screen displaying the sky of the South Pacific Ocean. A 40-metre tall flying monster – a jet-black beast resembling a wyvern in appearance. The soldiers were shocked after seeing the mana output that was being felt from the beast – an SSS rank; a monster with the same rank as the ‘boss’ that appeared in the East-Asian Great War was on the screen.
“Dispatch the Vanguard Frontier Royal legions 2, 3, 6 right now! It is a continuation of R5! And…”
It was when Zhuge Haiyan was giving out various commands in astonishment with her eyes fixed on the screen.
“D, d, director!”
“Say it later. Later! Do you not see the priorities?”
“T, T—–”
A different signalman stuttered from the side. Zhuge Haiyan ignored it and focused on the pressing matters but the following shout of the soldier stopped her body.
“The Tower of Magesssss—–!!!”
“What is it! What about the Tower…”
Tower of Mages? The place where Prophet Season went to?
When she turned towards the screen, she froze on the spot. Something large was falling from within the clouds.
It didn’t feel realistic and she felt as if someone had smacked her head as hard as they could.
Zhuge Haiyan absent-mindedly murmured.
“What…”
Inside the display screen.
A large section of the Tower of Mages was crumbling towards the ground.
*
The black dragon after teleporting out was gradually moving further off into the distance. It was about 10 kilometres away already and its large body appeared as small as a fingernail.
Kwanng–!
Yu Jitae kicked off the air.
The current enemy was an extremely dangerous one.
The situation was different from the phenomenon that occurred with the death of the baby dragons. The adult dragons there had their minds coerced by the [Origin Fragment] into instinctive slaughter.
However, this dragon had a clear mind and ego, and was intelligent. It would now lead to a horrendous situation.
A single dragon losing its mind and being controlled by its desire to slaughter would fight against humans. It would lead to a fight and the dragon would eventually die after being outnumbered.
Several dragons losing their mind being controlled by their desire to kill would multiply the scale. Humans might be annihilated but that would still be the result of a war.
However, what if one single dragon, that had a very clear understanding of Earth, were to move in order to kill the most number of humans on its own volition?
That would no longer result in either a fight or a war.
It would be a ma.s.sacre.
As if to prove that, the mouth of the dragon in the far off distance cracked open. Myu’s heart roared as the skies pulsed in response.
He pressed on, as fast as he could.
Shortening the distance of 10 kilometres seemed unfathomically difficult, due to the purple wings of that dragon that were doped with the mana of humanity’s strongest mages.
Soon, an explosive burst of mana gathered at its mouth and the friction caused the surrounding mana to scatter into all sides. Buzz! Buzzz! Sparks flashed from it as several purple spheres of mana appeared around the dragon.
In the shape of a fan, they expanded – all aiming at one place.
Yu Jitae frowned and,
[Dragon Breath]
Tuuung—-
A purple ray of light was shot from its mouth,
Kugugugung—
Spheres of mana followed suit.
That ray of light carrying an immeasurable output of mana even forced Myu’s large body back from the pressure and drew a clear cylindrical line dividing the sky.
The concentrated breath of an adult dragon immediately fell upon various islands all around Oceania.
*
Melbourne, Australia. Central Oceania Commercial Tower.
The workers that were having an early dinner at the 105th floor heaved out sighs. Looking down over the windows, they could see a beach underneath with people having a relaxed afternoon. It was when the workers were shoving food into their mouth, thinking of coming for a surf or two over the weekends.
“Hnn? Something’s flashing over there.”
“Huh? You’re right…”
Something purple flashed in the sky. The sun had yet to set so it was strange for the sky to flicker in a time like this.
“Is it a comet?”
“Is it? But why is it getting bigger…”
The purple light rapidly increased in size during the worker’s question. As the workers all paused their hands and turned towards the window, they saw the large purple light sweeping past the beach.
The ray of light shook the earth. It reached even the central regions of Bendigo all the way from Melbourne, which was at least 140 kilometres away.
It caused a white explosion after touching the ground. The condensed sparks and steam of the explosion expanded in the shape of a dome surrounding Bendigo City.
It was followed by a thunderous roar echoing the world. Every window and gla.s.s shattered and the workers either bounced off or rolled the ground due to the aftershock.
One of the workers crawled on all fours and looked down at the beach.
“Kyaaaaak! Ahh, ahhh! Ahh…!”
The beach that had been enveloped by the ray of light had evaporated. Not a single trace of a living person remained.
Following that, all the lights of the tower turned off due to the power supply being caught up in the explosion.
“Ahh, ahhhh…”
The worker didn’t even notice the gla.s.s fragment digging into her fingers. Her scream noisily echoed through the darkness.