It felt as if his bones had cracks all over, but fortunately, nothing was broken. In addition, his organs were slightly damaged from the tail strike. The violent encounter had induced the expulsion of blood through his mouth, but that was the extent of his afflictions. These injuries paled in comparison to the grievous wounds he had endured in his previous life.
But he could not allow any more attacks. Eugene was certain after suffering the single blow from Raizakia’s tail.
Propelled by a forceful strike from the tail, he was sent hurtling backward, a significant distance away. Were it not for the safeguarding influence of mana and divine power enveloping him, his very being would have been torn asunder the instant he collided with the tail.
Eugene stopped himself from flying further and corrected his stance. Naturally, Raizakia had no plans of giving Eugene time to rest.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A resounding explosion echoed through the air, accompanied by the sight of numerous orbs of Dark Power hurtling toward Eugene. Rather than unleashing it as a beam, Raizakia had concentrated his Breath into condensed spheres.
Eugene's rigid arms swung into motion, swiftly intercepting the hurtling spheres by crossing the Holy Sword with the Moonlight Sword. Without hesitation, he propelled himself forward, venturing beneath the explosive aftermath as stray feathers coalesced around him. Meanwhile, the remaining plumes surged toward Raizakia, converging into multiple Eclipse. Eugene harnessed his mana in tandem, focusing it intensely to shape Eclipse in front of him.
Raizakia observed the unfolding events with a measured gaze. Initially, he beheld a multitude of sunspots hurtling in his direction. Though possessing a formidable strength, they amounted to nothing more than a mere human's assault. The necessity of employing defensive magic was rendered unnecessary, as the protective prowess of his scales, fortified by the enveloping shroud of Dark Power, would prove more than sufficient.
However, the sunspot forming in front of Eugene was different. Even Raizakia had to be wary of the attack.
Numerous obstructing weapons sought to impede Eugene's advance, their purpose being to merely buy a fleeting moment. However, as the flames enveloping Eugene intensified, growing fiercer, a surge of lightning surged forth in a sprawling arc, obliterating the barriers in its path. Reacting swiftly, Eugene raised Gedon's Shield, using it as a defense against the ensuing explosion of flames and magic that erupted before him.
Fwaaaaah!
The inky torrent promptly divided upon making contact with Gedon’s Shield, creating a clear pathway for Eugene to advance. Pressing forward with determination, he maneuvered his way within striking distance, stopping just below Raizakia. The Black Dragon skillfully brushed the black spots aside, leaving a temporary respite. Then, Razakia parted his maw towards Eugene.
Rumbleeee!
A black torrent of power poured out of Raizakia’s mouth. It was Poison Breath, the same as before, but it was mixed with not only venom but formidable Dark Power as well. Although the attack left the surroundings unaffected, Eugene knew it would have completely devastated the entirety of the Samar Rainforest if it were unleashed in the outside world.
But he didn’t have to worry about such things in this space. All Eugene had to do was protect himself.
The Holy Sword and the rosary began to glow, and Akasha began to exude mana along with the Wing of Prominence in accordance with Eugene’s will.
Eugene had already summoned Eclipse before him, a formidable skill merging the Ring Flame Formula, an offshoot of the White Flame Formula, with the prowess of the Draconic Family's secret technique, the Empty Sword. This technique harnessed the profound power of mana, compressing and channeling it to its utmost limits to conjure a miniature sun. Much like the Ring Flame Formula, at the core of Eclipse resided a swirling, explosive vortex of mana, spawning an intricate network of countless additional cores as it spun and surged.
With a final stroke, Eugene enveloped the sun's surface in the ethereal essence of the Empty Sword, bringing forth the creation known as Eclipse. Layer upon layer of the Empty Sword was imposed upon the miniature sun, each addition infusing the ultra-dense mana that comprised it. The resulting fusion and subsequent explosions echoed in a cascading cycle as the layers multiplied, imbuing Eclipse with an ever-increasing intensity.
One, two, then three.
Initially, three layers had been the limit of Eclipse. But just as Eugene had broken through to superimposing four layers of the Empty Sword, Eclipse evolved further as well.
Fwoosh.
After meticulous effort, Eugene managed to manifest four distinct layers within Eclipse. The potency of this celestial creation surpassed even that of the Empty Sword, a power Eugene was accustomed to wielding firsthand. However, the process of forming Eclipse proved to be more time-consuming compared to the deployment of the Empty Sword. The completion of Eclipse hung precariously in the balance, unfolding just as Raizakia's Poison Breath breached the shield of divine light shielding Eugene.
Eugene hurled Eclipse forward, and it came into contact with Raizakia’s Poison Breath. Mana and Dark Power mixed in front of his eyes, and at first, it formed into a small whirlwind, but after a moment, the collision transformed into a tornado that threatened to devour everything around it.
Rumbleeee!
The breath started being pushed back.
‘It’s getting caught up?’
Raizakia could not believe it. He, the Demon Dragon, had unleashed a torrent of poisonous breath infused with Dark Power. Any ordinary being, demon or human, unfortunate enough to be touched by such an assault would swiftly dissolve into nothing more than shapeless puddles. Nay, even before the opportunity for dissolution arose, they would be instantaneously vaporized, utterly eradicated from existence.
But to his dismay, the breath was caught up in the… sun of mana, which seemed to form an eclipse. No, it wasn’t simply caught up. The breath was being devoured, and its power was being wound around the sun.
Unwilling to surrender, Raizakia intensified the potency of his Breath, hoping to overpower the growing sun. Yet, to his dismay, the outcome remained unaltered. With each surge in the breath's intensity, Eclipse, with its ability to reverse and absorb the breath's power, responded in kind, expanding its dimensions.
‘Is that so?’
Eugene witnessed the phenomenon as well. Eclipse was cutting through Raizakia’s Breath, then using some of the dissipating Dark Power to fuel itself. It wasn’t something Eugene had been expecting.
But he could understand the reason behind the unexpected outcome. The four overlapping layers of the Empty Sword extended their dominion, exerting an amplified influence over the surrounding power. While the Empty Sword had previously been employed on the Holy Sword and other conventional weapons, Eclipse, being composed solely of mana, possessed a distinct advantage. The combined might of four layered Empty Sword-powered Eclipse exhibited the extraordinary ability to breach the very essence of Raizakia's Dark Power, absorbing and assimilating it as its own source of strength.
In the end, the Breath was completely torn into two. Raizakia stepped back with shock and formed a strong barrier using his Dark Power and Draconic Magic.
Craaack!
Eclipse came into contact with the barrier. In the end, his Breath was nothing more than him literally breathing out Dark Power and poison. Yet, the conjuration in Draconic bestowed upon him the ability to weave spells of absolute magic. The spell woven with such prowess proved to be an impenetrable challenge even for the might of Eclipse.
"You dare!" bellowed Raizakia, his fury resounding through the air. The fact that he was compelled to employ the formidable defenses of Draconic against an attack from a mere human, and not even with the Sword of Destruction in hand, intensified his indignation. Adding to his frustration was the realization that he faced only a single adversary.
"You dare, you dare, you dare!" Raizakia's furious roars echoed once more. In a relentless advance, Eclipse gradually began to breach his supposedly impenetrable barrier. Though Eclipse no longer expanded in size and strength by assimilating his Breath, the formidable barrier forged by the Draconic spell was succumbing to its unyielding assault.
Raizakia once again invoked the power of Draconic to counter the relentless onslaught, or at least attempted to. Just before he could invoke a spell, Eugene began to move and immediately jumped to Eclipse, which had almost broken through Raizakia’s barrier.
‘What is he trying to do?’
Raizakia was momentarily confused. Eugene had let go of his sword. He had released the Holy Sword, which was sheathed with black flames and Light, as well as the Moonlight Sword, which was emitting ominous light. He let go of everything.
Eugene’s cloak fluttered, and a handle protruded from the crevice of the cloak along with Eugene’s long veiny arm. It was a handle that Raizakia was familiar with.
‘The Annihilation Hammer?’
The Annihilation Hammer Jigolath was the weapon of the Demon King of Carnage.
Boooooooom!
Eugene struck Eclipse with the Annihilation Hammer.
The power of the Annihilation Hammer was simple. Anything the hammer hit would break, and anything the hammer hit would explode. But in this case, it felt like the Annihilation Hammer would explode instead. An incredible surge of power threatened to rip Eugene’s hands apart.
Nevertheless, Eugene maintained an unwavering grip on the hammer, refusing to relinquish it. Despite the slippery, scalding blood that saturated the handle, he clung to it with desperate determination. The sinewy vessels adorning the hammer's grip writhed and pulsated, greedily consuming Eugene's blood. And so, fueled by this macabre exchange, the Annihilation Hammer inched forward.
Craaaack!
In its relentless advance, the Annihilation Hammer shattered the densely concentrated sphere of mana that stood in its way. The consequence was an explosive eruption, borne of the hammer's power, which washed over Raizakia's protective barrier.
‘It broke.’ Raizakia watched his barrier being destroyed with glaring eyes.
“Ahhhhhh!” Eugene roared as he jumped at Raizakia. The Holy Sword and the Moonlight Sword were in his hands again. Raizakia’s eyes were filled with shock as he watched Eugene.
What had happened?
Despite having lived such a long life, Raizakia could not comprehend the current situation. In his perception, humans were inconsequential, minuscule creatures, feeble in their existence. It mattered little whether they amassed in the hundreds or thousands; a single exhalation from him would be more than enough to eradicate them all. However, a peculiar exception existed…. Three centuries prior, there had been four exceptional humans.
They had gathered around an even more execptional man, a man who couldn’t have been human. Without Vermouth Lionheart, it would have been impossible for the remaining four to kill a dragon, even if they were the strongest humans.
Sienna Merdein — that human girl, had inflicted a profound humiliation upon him. It had been an utterly aberrant and preposterous turn of events. How could a dragon, a being of his magnitude, be vanquished by a mere human wizard? It defied all logic and reason. Had it not been for the miraculous intervention of the World Tree, such a calamitous outcome would never have transpired.
Hamel Dynas?
He was the only one who died three centuries ago.
He was incapable of using magic like Sienna, he wasn’t strong like Vermouth, he couldn’t use divine power like Anise, and he was smaller than Molon.
But this human had repelled his Breath, then broken through a barrier formed with Draconic with the Holy Sword and the Sword of Destruction in his hands.
‘And he’s going to cut my throat?’
It felt unreal. It wasn’t as if Raizakia had lost his sense of reason during the centuries of banishment. Rather, it was that the arrogant Black Dragon abhorred and despised humans to that degree.
The Holy Sword and the Moonlight Sword bit deeply into the very roots of Raizakia's neck. Having reached the dragon's formidable neck with his strike, Eugene could ill afford a superficial blow. While he had never personally slain a dragon, he had once chanced upon a dying dragon within the depths of the Devildom.
He knew from then where the Dragon Heart was located. It was precisely in the joint between the chest and the neck. If he wanted to kill Raizakia, Eugene needed to aim for his Dragon Heart.
“Ahhhh!”
With resolute force, the swords pierced through the formidable scales, cleaving into the very flesh of the dragon. Although the powers wielded by the Moonlight Sword and the Holy Sword remained distinct, they harmoniously synchronized to enact Eugene's unwavering intent — to "cut." In a swift and decisive motion, the colossal head of Raizakia was sundered from his body.
[Sir Eugene!]
Raizakia’s head fell, and black blood started gushing from the stump.
Eugene stared at the dragon’s head, trembling. He saw the head fall into the darkness and the blood that spewed from the stump in the dragon’s neck. Similar to the breath of the dragon, Raizakia’s black blood was also a poison that melted everything it came into contact with.
[You did it! Y-you killed Raizakia! You killed the Demon Dragon!] Mer’s cheers resounded distantly.
Eugene… looked down at the two swords he held. It was the first time he had decapitated a dragon, but he had made a clean cut with precise aim. The attack, which had been aimed at the center of the Dragon’s Heart, had not missed its mark.
[Sir… Eugene?]
The flowing blood suddenly stopped in space before falling on Eugene’s head. Then, the blood began to flow in reverse as if someone were reversing time. Eugene immediately swung the Holy Sword and the Moonlight Sword to completely destroy what remained of Raizakia’s body.
Stab.
Eugene froze, his body as rigid as a sculpted statue. From the depths of Raizakia's stomach, a slender beam of light surged forth, piercing Eugene's abdomen with unyielding precision. And yet, the assault did not cease there, for another beam of light found its mark, piercing through Eugene's shoulder.
“Ugh.” Blood gushed from Eugene’s mouth, and the fierce flame of mana surrounding him smoldered. The beam of light had been strong, but also uncharacteristically stealthy for a dragon.
“I!”
Riiiip!
Something pierced through Raizakia’s stomach. It was a pair of hands
, but they belonged to a human rather than a dragon.“I thought of this appearance as a game…!”
The black scales covering Raizakia’s body started to peel off, and the hands that protruded from the dragon’s stomach became covered with the same scales.
“Dragons! Must look like dragons…! Though the body of weak insects is small and convenient…! I don’t hate it, since it’s just a costume, just a game! Just because I look like an insect doesn’t mean I am one!”
Craaack!
The scale-covered hands completely tore open the dragon’s stomach.
“But! When I’m not playing, I can’t be morphed. After all, I’m a dragon! I’m not an insect! How could I morph into a human in a battle of dragons…!? How humiliating would that be!?”
Emerging from the torn depths of Raizakia's stomach was a figure, a man with a cascade of dark, flowing hair. His locks, silky and black, contrasted starkly against his crimson eyes. Eugene recognized this visage all too well. It was the very form that Raizakia assumed when polymorphed into a human.
“You! You dared to humiliate me like this.”
Raizakia stumbled to his feet, then walked out of the dragon’s corpse. With each step he took, more of the scales covering the dragon’s body transferred to Raizakia. The black blood also flowed back into his human form. Eventually, the dragon’s body shrank smaller and smaller until it disappeared completely.
“You. Caused me, Raizakia…! To abandon my dignity and pride to live! You turned me into an insect… so that I could live!”
Death had been at hand. If Raizakia had insisted on maintaining the appearance of a dragon, Eugene’s blades would have sliced his Dragon Heart in two. But at the last minute, Raizakia gave up the dragon’s body. He narrowly conjured Polymorph and formed a human body inside him, then transferred the Dragon Heart into the human body.
It had been an instant of brilliance, but for Raizakia, it was more humiliating than death. A great and dignified dragon had to survive by transforming into an insect because he did not want to die.
"Do not dare entertain the notion of an easy death...!" Raizakia snarled, his voice laced with venom. With a swift motion, he raised his arm, displaying a form that, despite polymorphing, did not fully resemble that of a human. His bare physique remained adorned with the ominous sheen of black scales, while the pulsating might of the Dragon Heart's Dark Power coursed through his being. However, the fury and malevolence that marred Raizakia's eyes eclipsed his immense power, radiating with an intensity hundreds of times greater.
“I will give you pain and despair worse than a hundred deaths.”
Whiiip!
His arm changed in an instant as he swung. He had transformed it into a dragon’s tail by partially polymorphing himself. The tail cracked like a whip as it approached Eugene.
“…Fuck.”
‘It had seemed too easy.’
Eugene raised his arm with hollow laughter. There was a clean hole in his stomach, and both his shoulders had been pierced as well. The dragon had said that Eugene would not be granted an easy death and would be forced to suffer despair and pain greater than a hundred deaths.
Perhaps for that reason, the hole in his stomach wasn’t fatal, and neither of his arms was completely broken. Then he could fight. Eugene blocked the tail just in time by moving his swords.
Booom!
Eugene was hurled into the darkness. He couldn’t even scream as pain washed over him. It felt as if his very existence had been smashed.
"Sir Eugene, Sir Eugene...!" Mer stammered, her voice choked with tears as she peered out from beneath her cloak. The sight of Eugene's blood-streaked countenance nearly drove her to screams, but she managed to restrain herself. Instead, she swiftly retrieved the assortment of potions concealed within the cloak and began pouring them into Eugene's wounds. She spared no expense, ensuring that every precious drop of holy water — a creation of Anise and Kristina — and the potent elixir from the esteemed Lionheart clan was used to mend his injuries.
“Good work,” whispered Eugene when he saw his injuries closing. Moving his arm became a little easier, and he stroked Mer’s head. He could see Raizakia striding towards him from a distance.
Eugene glared at the Black Dragon while pressing down on Mer’s head. “…Go back in.”
“But… Sir Eugene…!”
“You will die,” whispered Eugene after lowering his head. “You will die before I die. I can’t… let that happen. Get back inside.”
“I’d rather die. You are…!” stammered Mer.
“If you die, I die,” responded Eugene, causing Mer’s shoulders to tremble. “…And I’m not going to die. As long as you don’t die.”
“What… what are you talking about? T-this is a mess. Nothing you’re talking about is making sense…,” cried Mer.
“I said I would save Sienna.” Eugene stroked Mer’s head with a little more force. “So stay inside. Sienna will want to see you too.”
Mer could not say anything as she burst into tears. Raimira seized Mer’s hand, then pulled her inside the cloak while breathing heavily. Simultaneously, she attempted to exit the safety of the cloak.
“T-this Lady will… try to talk to him. This Lady will beg the Black Dragon—” she stuttered.
“Go in.” Eugene forced a smile as she pushed Raimira’s forehead. “You’ll only get in the way.”
His wounds were healing rather slowly.
Eugene turned his gaze to the ring on his left ring finger. Agaroth’s Ring forcibly activated and amplified the body’s regenerative powers, allowing the user to fight at the cost of their lifespan.
It was dangerous to use Agaroth’s Ring while also using Ignition. In fact, it was akin to suicide. Causing the heart to combust with mana placed a huge burden on the body, but if he were to forcibly amplify his regenerative abilities with Agaroth’s Ring, then….
‘But it’ll still be better than dying after doing nothing.’
Eugene focused on Agaroth’s Ring without hesitation.
Craaack!
His left hand crumpled into place, and veins popped out.
Crack, crack, craaack!
Blood began to flow in greater volumes, and it spread throughout his body, starting with his left hand. His heart’s combustion, which threatened his heart to burst at any moment, intensified. He felt a strong taste of blood and death in his mouth.
But he was familiar with it. At this moment, he felt rather grateful to have experienced death. He knew that he had not yet pushed himself into the realm of death.
Eugene placed his trembling hand on the left of his chest.