Chapter 1773
It wasn’t a mistake. He wasn’t even driven by instinct. The old dragon had lived for eternity and rationally and soberly a.n.a.lyzed and judged the situation.
A non-standard existence who split in half the Breath he shot with all his might.
He was wary of Hayate, the Dragon Slayer who killed his kin with a human body and rose to an Absolute. Thus, he put Hayate as his top priority. It was to the extent that he turned away from Grid and Marie Rose, who were approaching quickly.
Trauka used the remnant flames of the Breaths that the tower members had left behind and focused on wiping out Hayate. The low-grade dragons aimed for Hayate’s status and were obsessed with him.
The reason why the higher ranking dragons were obsessed with Hayate was because they knew his potential was threatening to them. Just as Hayate had proved by slas.h.i.+ng the Breath a moment ago, the aura of a Dragon Slayer was also deadly to an old dragon. He dared to invade and neutralize the power and rights that a dragon took for granted.
“......!”
The sight of Hayate screaming silently rea.s.sured Trauka. He believed that Hayate would die soon the moment the energy of a Dragon Slayer melted down. Thanks to this, Trauka could fully focus on Grid and Marie Rose, who were right in front of him.
The dragon weapon that the two of them held together—he kept an eye on the direction of the sword made from Bunhelier’s fang. Then a variable occurred that couldn’t be predicted even with the wisdom of an old dragon.
Sword Saint Biban completely blew away the flames of willpower burning Hayate. Trauka’s willpower was always solid. Yet this meant that the willpower of an old dragon, which should’ve been eternal, was broken. It was the first time in his life.
Trauka came to a complete standstill. He was overwhelmed by an incredible sense of disbelief. Of course, it was only for a moment. Trauka’s broken will was restored almost immediately. At the same time, he shook off his sense of collapse.
The problem was that there were three Absolutes in this spot, excluding Trauka, who extended this fleeting moment like it was an eternity.
Flas.h.!.+
‘Moon night iron?’
Trauka realized something as he captured the brilliant sword light s.h.i.+ning from Grid’s waist that was on the edge of his field of view. He had been wrong from the beginning. He shouldn’t have been distracted by Hayate. The most important one to watch out for here wasn’t Marie Rose or Hayate...
One of the reasons why the giants suffered from destruction—it was due to the possibilities of the moon night iron. If only there was a being who could handle it by turning it into ‘battle gear’ rather than the outer skin of an insignificant toy–the power of absolute defense and the hardness of the scales, which allowed the dragons to reign, would be reduced to being worthless.
This was why the dragons stood on the side when the G.o.ds of Asgard punished the giants and buried their land in the sea. Trauka had also acquiesced to the G.o.ds’ vile actions on the surface. Now the history of the giants’ disappearance became meaningless.
Trauka’s absolute defense and scales were brutally slashed by the Falling Moon Sword. It was while his back was to the huge lair in the form of a sphere. For Trauka, who had spent his Dragon Words on trying to make himself ‘whole,’ there was no way he could resist the Falling Moon Sword. It wielded miraculous power on top of the Dragon Words that said he ‘can’t be cut.’ It was impossible for the ‘current Trauka’ to add new Dragon Words.
‘Ifrit.’
You, who never helped me in my life, am holding me back even after your death.
Trauka lamented. He felt deep regret that he wasn’t complete when facing three Absolutes. He had a hunch. He might not be defeated today, but he wouldn’t win either. He would take a ma.s.sive loss. This was the future seen through the sunset-colored sword piercing his chest.
Twilight, stabbed together by Marie Rose and Grid, pierced Trauka’s chest from bottom to top. It dug in and gradually destroyed the especially thick scales that protected the heart. The power of the Absolutes in Bunhelier’s fang, reborn as one of the most powerful swords in the world, was powerful even without the energy of a Dragon Slayer.
Finally, Twilight pierced through the scales and started to mangle Trauka’s skin and flesh. Each drop of Trauka’s flowing blood possessed an energy incomprehensible to a human’s common sense and contained a magical destructive power. But unfortunately—
“Don’t stop.” Marie Rose was unquestionably the best at controlling blood. She led Grid, who was shrinking back, through the torrential rain of blood that exploded in succession. She split the remnants of blood that was evaporating after exploding to prevent it from being absorbed by her.
Inside the cracks of the red barrier that rose from side to side.
“Trauka!”
Grid gritted his teeth and advanced. In cooperation with Marie Rose, every sword strike of Transcended Linked Dragon Pinnacle Kill Wave hit Trauka’s heart.
The body of the great old dragon staggered like he was going to fall. Those who happened to witness the scene from afar mistakenly thought the mountain range that suddenly appeared was shaking randomly. The red wall, which couldn’t be crossed by the heavenly G.o.ds, started to collapse.
[Critical!]
[Fire Dragon Trauka, who has never fallen since his birth, is unable to handle the power of the cooperative sword dance and has fallen to his knees!]
[The G.o.ds of Asgard are shocked by the potential of you and Marie Rose and are gazing at the surface with bated breath.]
[You have made an achievement that will be pa.s.sed on orally through ‘the mouth of the G.o.ds.’]
[This is an achievement that won’t be forgotten even if the world is destroyed many times.]
[There is room for someone in the future to interpret it as part of the creation myth.]
[The t.i.tle ‘Faint Qualifications of the Beginning of the World’ has been acquired.]
[Faint Qualifications of the Beginning of the World]
[Rating: ???
Effect: ???]
[Venice, the G.o.d of Money, is showing off her friends.h.i.+p with you to the G.o.ds of Asgard.]
[Some of the G.o.ds of Asgard, fascinated by your performance and Venice’s explanation, started to feel liking toward you.]
Once the Transcended Linked Dragon Pinnacle Kill Wave sword dance ended, the moon that finally fell on the ground shattered. Then Trauka’s huge body crashed on top of it. His figure as he collapsed and flinched felt like they were watching undulating mountains and walls.
An old dragon was a being that created a transcendent scene even when it was wounded.
“Did we... win?”
“An old dragon was knocked down?”
The tower members who were taking care of Hayate and Biban were in an uproar.
The frightened Grid’s eyes widened as he noticed, but it was already too late. The flag was raised.
Trauka immediately rose up. He acted as if it wasn’t a fatal wound even though his heart, one of a dragon’s few weaknesses, was hacked to pieces.
“Because it is fake,” Marie Rose explained while observing Trauka’s cracked chest. Currently, Trauka’s heart was a fake made from Dragon Words. Even if it was broken, the actual damage would’ve been surprisingly small. However, a dragon heart couldn’t be that easily broken. Trauka’s heart might be fake, but it was still intact.
‘Old dragons...’
They were indeed unreasonable existences.
Grid gulped and slowly raised his head to the end. He faced the eyes of the giant dragon, who remained aloof even when hit in his weak spot by the six fusion sword dance that was many times more powerful than when Grid used it alone. Fortunately, Grid was the Blood King. Marie Rose overcame the Curse of Sloth as long as she was with Grid. Grid had no way of knowing whether it was completely overcoming the curse and regaining all stats, or simply defeating the sleepiness. At the very least, her eyelids weren’t heavy. She seemed to be able to fight more.
The power of the tower members was also intact. Apart from the seriously injured Hayate, and Biban, who somehow lost his mind, the tower members were strong.
Grid summoned Noe, Randy, and all the direct descendants before taking a slow, deep breath. ‘I can’t call Nefelina. I have to finish it with the gathered strength after calling the Overgeared Guild members.’
The reason why he didn’t call the apostles was because he was worried about their lives. In particular, he feared that Nefelina would be eaten by Trauka. A scene where a precious being was eating right in front of his eyes? Grid never wanted to see it. Nefelina had a special t.i.tle of ‘Transcendent Dragon’ and was likely to be a source of great nourishment for Trauka.
‘...I can’t even call Braham.’
Braham could overcome death. There was no one more suitable to summon to a battlefield where death followed. It was special. The problem was that it was too special. Braham was the only one among the apostles who was beyond Grid’s control. There was no way to stop Braham when he became emotional and once he was emotional, he was mostly trolling.
The being Braham hated most in the world—summoning him to the battlefield where Marie Rose was present was like carrying a time bomb.
“Summon Knights.” Grid summoned the Overgeared Guild members.
Just then, onlookers started gathering.
The appearance of an old dragon—Trauka had a strikingly huge body and made his appearance known by changing night to day and drying up the rivers. In other words, it was natural for spectators to flock. They were naturally players who didn’t care about risking their lives. Very few of them were rankers whose faces Grid could remember.
Nevertheless, Grid immediately planned a ma.s.sive raid. Fire Dragon Trauka raid—he was going to urge all players present to fight so that the world wasn’t destroyed.
In fact, everyone was aware of the seriousness of the situation even if Grid didn’t say it. The battle gear that the bystanders pulled out proved it. Some were beginners who hadn’t pa.s.sed level 100, others were intermediate players who barely pa.s.sed level 200, and a few pa.s.sed level 300. The majority of those couldn’t even be a source of power, but...
Grid decided to rely on them.
“The moment you die, resurrect and rush back here,” Vantner said while raising a large s.h.i.+eld in front of his colleagues. All the Overgeared members nodded and made a prediction. It was going to be an unexpectedly short fight.
Most of the players, except for Grid, would probably die without even being able to handle Trauka’s Breath. It was a situation where a significant number of people were dying just from the flames of willpower burning the battlefield right now. But it had to be fought.
It happened as everyone became determined...
[Only One G.o.d Grid.]
The giant dragon opened his mouth. The pressure in his voice was truly heavy. Trauka simply ‘talked,’ but all the players below a legendary status felt deaf and suffered from all sorts of abnormal statuses.
Trauka’s face gradually grew bigger. It was because he was stretching his head toward the humans. Even the members of Overgeared became contemplative. They naturally envisioned the scene where players were annihilated by the Breath that poured out the moment Trauka opened his mouth again.
It was a time when the tense Grid and tower members prepared for Trauka’s attack.
Flas.h.!.+
A warp gate opened in the air. Then a beautiful man with silver hair appeared—Braham, the G.o.d of Wisdom and Magic. It was immediately after seeing the arrival of daytime out of nowhere and sensing Trauka’s appearance. He cast chasing and detection magic through the continent and identified Trauka’s location. Then he realized that Grid was by Trauka’s side and rushed over immediately.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Braham trembled as he glared at Grid.
“Hiik!” Then screams burst out. It was the aftermath of Trauka’s huge face coming closer to the ground.
In front of everyone’s eyes...
The old dragon aligned his eye level with humans, including Grid, and slowly opened his mouth.
The precursor to a Breath...
[...I apologize.]
“......”
“......”
Silence came like a lie over the scene where screams and moans had been pouring out.