[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]
Chapter 92
'What is that?'
Zeke also looked at the creature appearing from beyond the forest, standing on a tree.
Goooooooooooo!
A giant monster, as if molded from filthy mud and sewage, revealed itself.
Sizzle!
The trees that came into contact with the bodily fluids flowing from the monster melted, emitting smoke.
The area around the monster turned into a bubbling swamp.
The swamp sucked in all moving creatures.
Zeke observed the monster with his Dragon Eye.
[A corrupted ancient dragonkin completely eroded by magic.]
'A corrupted ancient dragonkin?'
Like the Hydra he encountered in Kaisir's resting place, the Master of the Swamp also seemed to be one of the dragonkin corrupted by magic.
The Master of the Swamp raised its head and opened its mouth wide towards those on the trees.
Kaaaaaaaaaa!
Suddenly, a sticky liquid splashed out from the beast's mouth.
Splash!
The Special Forces agents, who were on high alert, jumped to other trees to avoid the liquid that splashed from the beast's mouth.
However, the knights, who had been relieved to climb the trees and failed to avoid the liquid in time, were drenched in it.
Sizzle!
"Kyaaaaaak!"
The knights who were covered in the acidic liquid screamed as their bodies melted away.
Even the Draker knights' uniforms, which effectively blocked physical and magical attacks, were useless against the beast's acidic liquid.
Low, who luckily avoided the acidic liquid, broke out in a cold sweat and moved to another tree.
"Huff... Huff..."
But the beast was relentless.
Suddenly, the beast's back wriggled, and tentacles covered in sticky bodily fluids emerged.
Splash!
Dozens of tentacles sprang out and wrapped around the Special Forces agents and knights on the trees.
"Kyaaaak!"
The bodily fluids on the tentacles were also acidic, as the entangled bodies began to melt.
And the beast's back split open, swallowing the knights and agents wrapped in its tentacles.
Low, on the tree, wielded his sword and cut down the tentacles that sprang out from the beast.
"Haa!"
The tentacles were cut down by Low's Aura Blade, as he was a Blue Knight.
However, he couldn't maintain the Aura Blade indefinitely.
A tentacle, sneaking in from his blind spot, swiftly snatched Low's arm.
"Ugh!"
Low managed to swing his sword and cut off the tentacle once again.
However, the acidic solution on the tentacle melted half of his arm.
He cut off his increasingly melting arm with his sword.
"Huff... Huff..."
Low's face turned pale as he severed his own left arm.
'I need to escape from here somehow.'
There was no time to think about knightly honor or anything like that.
Facing the Master of the Swamp, Low felt a tremendous sense of despair, as if he were facing an irresistible force of nature.
"Haaaa!"
Low concentrated Aura in his legs and leaped from tree to tree.
The tentacles chased after the quickly escaping Low.
Just as he was about to completely escape the beast's territory, deflecting the tentacles with his sword...
Splash!
Acidic solution sprayed like black rain from the sky.
"No! No!"
Low, hit by the solution, couldn't dodge and his whole body melted.
The tentacles grabbed the half-melted Low and dragged him away.
Low disappeared into the beast's body.
Goooooooooooo!
The beast roared even louder, shaking the entire forest.
Zeke, using his Concealment skill, observed the movements of the beast's tentacles and analyzed its attack range.
'This is incredible.'
Dozens of tentacles stretched out in all directions. They moved freely and sprayed acidic solution, making even a graze fatal.
Seeing the acidic solution penetrate his Dragon Scale Armor and slowly recover even with his Healing Factor, Zeke made a serious expression.
'Now I understand why it's called the Master of the Swamp.'
It was unbelievable that in Terakan Draker's era, they fought dragons with power even greater than this dragonkin.
However, if he ran away now and the monster chasing him caught Karus, all his efforts would be in vain.
He discarded the sword corroded by the beast's acidic liquid and took out Bahamut from his inventory.
Then, he activated Hercyon.
Clank!
Hercyon covered his entire body.
Since the Special Forces and the Red Lion Knights were already annihilated, there was no reason to hide it anymore.
With Bahamut, which had the Indestructible attribute, and Hercyon, made from the divine metal Orichalcum, he could withstand the acidic liquid.
Woooong!
Holding Bahamut and equipped with Hercyon, Zeke summoned Bucephalus.
"Bucephalus! Let's go!"
As he climbed on its back, Bucephalus leaped into the air.
Splash!
The beast's tentacles persistently chased after Zeke and Bucephalus, who were moving freely in the air.
'It's difficult to find an opportunity to attack because of those damn tentacles.'
That was when it happened.
Neigh!
As if reading Zeke's mind, Bucephalus suddenly changed direction and charged towards the tentacles.
Then, it started generating lightning from the horn on its head.
Crackle!
Suddenly, powerful lightning poured out from Bucephalus's horn.
Zap!
White streaks of lightning struck the tentacles.
Tsssss!
The tentacles hit by the lightning burned black and turned to ash.
Kaaaaaaaaaa!
The beast writhed in pain.
Zeke was surprised by the powerful lightning that Bucephalus generated.
"Wow, Bucephalus, you're the Dragon King, you're amazing!"
Bucephalus freely leaped through the air, showering the approaching tentacles with lightning.
Zap!
The tentacles burned by the lightning fell to the ground with a thud.
Zeke grinned.
"Good! Bucephalus, keep blocking the tentacles! I'll launch a big one!"
Zeke stood on Bucephalus's back and raised his sword.
"Haaaaaaaaap!"
As Zeke gathered energy into his sword, an Aura Blade over 3 meters long appeared.
He jumped off Bucephalus's back and swung his sword towards the beast.
True Dragon Sword Art Secret Technique
Dual Junction Form
Giant Dragon Slash
One of the secret techniques of the True Dragon Sword Art, which could cut through the body of a giant dragon.
Zeke's Aura Blade slashed the beast's back.
Slash!
The beast, struck by Zeke's attack, twisted its body and opened its mouth wide.
Kaaaaaaaaaa!
At the same time, black acidic liquid was shot towards Zeke, who was in mid-air.
Zeke used the Wind Chapter to change direction in mid-air.
"Here comes another big one!"
Then, he gathered the power of fire into his sword.
Woooong!
The power of fire gathered in Zeke's sword.
The gathered flames turned blue.
Zeke swung the burning flame sword towards the beast.
Elemental Sword
Fire Chapter
Blue Flame Dance
Dozens of blue flame swords poured out from Zeke's sword and pierced the beast's body.
Kaaaaaaaaaa!
Black smoke rose as the flame swords burned its body, and the beast screamed in pain.
Then, tentacles poured out from its entire body.
Splash!
Hundreds of tentacles covered in strong acidic solution flew towards Zeke.
Splash!
The tentacles wrapped around Zeke's body, which was equipped with Hercyon.
Then, several messages popped up.
[External erosion and attack attempt detected.]
[Automatically activating available defense magic among activable magic circles.]
[Supplying mana through Dragon Heart connected to the system.]
[Activating 6th Circle magic 'Plasma Field'.]
Woooong!
Purple and blue plasma emanated from Hercyon.
Tsssss
All the tentacles that came into contact with the plasma lost their form and disappeared, turning to ash.
Hundreds of tentacles were scattered in an instant.
Zeke was surprised to see the plasma emanating from Hercyon.
'They said it has an Archmagic Circle engraved on it, and it automatically activates 6th Circle magic?'
A battle mage who could activate 6th Circle magic without chanting during battle had to be at least 7th Circle.
Considering that the current master of the Magic Tower was 8th Circle, the power of this Hercyon was truly tremendous.
The beast, hit by the Plasma Field, roared in pain.
Soon, the effect of the magic ended, and Zeke, who was floating in the air, began to fall.
"Bucephalus!"
Bucephalus circled in the air and caught Zeke as if scooping him up.
Gooooo!
The Master of the Swamp stretched its neck out and roared even louder.
The entire forest shook.
The forest shook quietly as if the hidden monsters were terrified and hiding deeper.
That was when it happened.
A strange sound came from the beast.
『...Cursed... Dragon Slayer... Hate...』
It seemed to be speaking through vibrations.
Zeke realized that this sound was the language of the Chronos era that Kaisir had mentioned before.
The system automatically translated the beast's language.
'It knows about Dragon Slayers? Could it be a dragonkin that survived from the Dragonslayer era?'
Seeing that it could speak, it seemed to be no ordinary dragonkin.
Perhaps it was a real dragon corrupted by magic.
'I didn't expect there to be a dragon still alive... It would be nice if we could communicate, but it doesn't seem like the situation allows for that.'
That was when it happened.
Kaaaaaaaaaa!
The beast roared and raised its upper body.
Then, something suddenly sprouted from its back.
Splash!
A pair of wings emerged from its back.
The sticky, mud-like organism also wriggled on the wings.
The beast flapped its wings.
Whoosh!
The sticky organic matter started splattering everywhere.
Sizzle!
The corrupted organic matter contaminated not only the trees and grass but also the ground.
Bucephalus dashed through the air, dodging all the decaying matter that the beast sprayed.
At the same time, it shot lightning towards the beast.
Zap!
White streaks of lightning struck the beast's body directly.
The beast opened its mouth wide and spewed black poison smoke towards Bucephalus.
Crash!
Poison smoke, far more threatening than the acidic liquid, filled the air.
Bucephalus flew higher to avoid the poison smoke.
[Detected deadly poison emitted by the ancient dragonkin.]
[The ???'s Armor automatically purifies the deadly poison.]
Surprisingly, Hercyon also had the function of automatically purifying poison.
'The more I see it, the more amazing it is.'
He thought that if he didn't have this Hercyon, it would have been much more difficult to deal with the Master of the Swamp.
Zeke stroked Bucephalus's mane and said,
"Bucephalus! Burn that guy with lightning!"
Neigh!
As if responding to Zeke's words, lightning surged from Bucephalus's horn again.
Zap!
Dozens of streaks of lightning pierced the rampaging beast's body.
At the same time, Zeke took the stance of the Dragon Slayer Art with his sword drawn.
A giant Aura Blade soared with majestic power.
"Haaaaaaaaaa!"
Zeke jumped off Bucephalus's back and charged straight towards the beast, whose movements were halted by the lightning.
Then, he swung Bahamut, imbued with the Aura Blade.
Dragon Slayer Art, True Dragon Sword Art
Chapter 7, Verse 1
Dragon Head Beheading
Crash!
Zeke's sword cleanly beheaded the beast.
Splash!
The beast's head fell onto the swampy ground.
The head slowly sank into the swamp.
At the same time, the severed area wriggled, and like the Hydra, a new head started to regenerate.
It seemed that the swamp on the ground was connected to the beast.
Zeke realized that beheading it was useless.
'Since it's a dragonkin, I have to destroy its core, the Dragon Heart.'
Zeke activated the Wind Chapter, leaped into the air, climbed onto Bucephalus's back, and circled in the air again.
This was his chance, while the beast hadn't fully regenerated its head and regained its senses.
'I'll aim accurately and finish it in one blow.'
Zeke aimed his sword at the beast's heart.
Woooong!
Bahamut roared fiercely as power concentrated within it.
As the heart of Bahamut, located in Zeke's ether hall, moved, light emanated from the pattern engraved on his chest.
Zeke gripped his sword and assumed the starting stance of the Dragon Slayer Art.
Aura swirled and gathered in Bahamut.
Crash!
The Dragon Slayer Art that Zeke unleashed contained the secrets of the True Dragon Sword Art passed down by the Sword Saint Saturn Draker.
As the inheritor of the Sword Saint, Zeke revived the true form of the Dragon Slayer Art in this era.
Rumble!
A storm of Aura erupted around Zeke's sword.
"Haaaaaaaa!"
Zeke powerfully thrust his sword from Bucephalus's back.
Dragon Slayer Art, True Dragon Sword Art
Chapter 6, Verse 2
Dragon Heart Thrust
Piiiiing!
Like a giant lance piercing the heart of a dragon, Zeke's sword strike accurately pierced the beast's heart.
[Translator - Peptobismal]
[Proofreader - Max]