Chapter 234
The unshakable western defense line prevented the dragon army from marching east. Although all the Rankers suddenly disappeared, the balance was maintained because the superior dragons had disappeared as well. On top of that, human reinforcements were arriving one after another. Among the western cities, the orc cavalry had arrived in Coimbra and hunted dragons with no fear of death.
“Chwik! Blood for blood! Shed as much blood as you want, warriors of the plains!” shouted Tasha, the Sahahun of the Hawk tribe and an orc High Ranker.
He unleashed the purple slash, Hawk’s Flight, toward the sky using Tu’s Heroic Soul, severing the wings and necks of amphipteres who were barraging skills from above.
“Chwik! It’s time for battle!”
“This is our chance to fight against dragons!”
“Chwik! Let us spread the might of orcs in Lord Taidzu’s place!”
Humans were momentarily confused by the orcs’ sudden reinforcement, but soon fought alongside them.
“Huff! Huff! Who are those orcs?”
“Huuu! I think they’re on our side!”
“What are you doing?! Fight! This is our city!”
***
Reinforcements arrived in Sheffield, the district where Gao Weiguang had originally been designated to protect. They were clans that had settled in cities around the Capital.
“Protect the Capital!”
“If we retreat from here, we’re done for!”
“Show them the power of One Tree!”
“I, Law Ka-Leung of Clan Dongming, have come to polish my swordsmanship!”
“Clan Bullseye! Climb the buildings to widen your field of vision and provide cover fire!”
Among them, Shin Jun of Clan One Tree pointed at a lindwurm destroying Sheffield’s city hall and shouted, “We will kill that one! I will be the stopper! Attackers, assume a wedge formation behind me!”
He lifted his D Weapon, Hero’s Manhole Cover, and activated a skill.
[Activating Unique Skill: Open Mahole Cover.]
The sound of a manhole cover opening echoed, and the word sewage on the manhole cover turned into open. A black gravitational force pulled skills flying elsewhere and devoured them, allowing ranged attackers to approach the lindwurm and barrage them with skills safely. The nukers tore apart the lindwurm’s scales, and the raumdeuters aimed for their exposed flesh.
“Greeeeeh!” the lindwurm screeched as hundreds of humans charged at them like fire ants and collapsed.
“Next, we’ll kill that one!” Jun shouted.
***
“Where is the captain?!”
“He went to reinforce where he was needed!”
“Shit! We need him here the most!”
“That... fucking... monster...”
“Urgh... Stop that bastard!”
Jericho, where Douglas Montgomery and the spec force members had been stopping the dragons’ advance, was the only district being overwhelmed despite the reinforcements because of one dragon that had invaded Jericho.
“Die for the glory of Lord Regnator,” said an earthborn over five meters tall, wearing golden armor made of dragon bones.
His red hair grew beyond his helmet, and his golden eyes flashed from inside the visor. He was Spartoi, the west commander of Clan Dragon’s Teeth, destroying everything around him with free control of his fifteen-meter-long spear. A single swing of his spear generated powerful gusts that caused buildings to fall like dominoes.
“You damn humans dared to kill Kirasosa and steal the Dragon Heart bestowed upon me!” Spartoi screamed in rage as he razed Jericho.
He was born from the tooth of Rahab, the Storm Dragon, a World Ranker who was the son of Dragon King Regnator. He was acknowledged for oppressing and hunting down the Vindicta Resistance, an organization made by the impertinent fairies, and was bestowed the heart of Selfinus Canhel by Regnator himself.
It was a shocking reward, and the fact that he was the earthborn of Regnator’s son, Rahab, likely played a major part in it. Selfinus Canhel was formerly ninety-second in the dragon ranking. Spartoi believed that he could easily become a Ranker if he absorbed the heart using Mana Drain.
However, while the heart was being transported, Kirasosa, the carrier, was caught up in the war in Ferrum, and a bald human ended up stealing the heart from him. Spartoi had joined the attack despite being the west commander and the Capital being located in the east, partly because of the death of Agave, the east commander, but mostly to vent his fury at having the Dragon Heart taken from him.
“COME OUT, BALDIE!” Spartoi shouted as he thrust his spear, piercing the streets of Jericho in a straight line, slicing concrete and destroying buildings.
Just then, blue flames rained down like a sun shower, blocking Spartoi’s gust storm. An Asian woman with a cold expression and black hair that had grown beyond her shoulders had blocked Spartoi’s attack. It was Kim Seo-Yeon, who had headed to Fox Village with Charles Dullin.
“Is everyone okay?” Seo-Yeon asked.
“Urgh... who...”
“The Pursuit... Team 5 Leader!”
“What in the...” she mumbled as she looked around the razed Jericho.
A mystical blue flame was dancing on her right shoulder like a will-o’-the-wisp. It was Foxfire, Fox Village’s S-rank item. Seo-Yeon managed to obtain the item after challenging it and had been training to control its powers with the help of the fox beastfolk. However, she had rushed back to the Capital with Charles after hearing about the attack.
“Y-you... MIHO!” Seo-Yeon shouted ragefully after seeing the corpses strewn about on the streets.
Yip!
A small, white fox jumped on her left shoulder. However, unlike before, Miho had nine tails.
“I’LL KILL YOU!”
[Activating Item Skill: Sky Fox’s Marble.]
The Foxfire on her right shoulder was compressed and became a small marble.
Yip! Yip!
Miho jumped and swallowed the blue marble.
[The Nine-Tailed Fox ingests the Sky Fox’s Marble.]
[Re-enacting the Legend of the Sky Fox.]
[The Nine-Tailed Fox bypasses the Wild Fox and Immortal Fox stages, reaching the Sky Fox stage.]
...
[Activating Unique Skill: Mythical Beastification.]
[Sky Fox.]
Miho’s tails wrapped Seo-Yeon like a ball of fur. Unlike her past life, she was not transforming into the Millennium Nine-Tailed Fox, the demonic fox that had been born from eating a thousand fox beastfolk livers. She was the Sky Fox, a divine beast that had ascended into heaven, and its legend was several times more renowned than that of the Millennium Nine-Tailed Fox.
The nine tails spread out as if a flower was blooming, revealing Seo-Yeon with blue-white hair that reached her waist, and pointy fox ears had grown on her head. Her skin was pale, her lips were red, her golden eyes with vertical pupils were filled with bloodlust, and her nails were as long and sharp as blades. On top of that, blue will-o’-the-wisps were blazing from each end of her nine tails.
“AHHHHH! DIE, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!” she screamed, charging at Spartoi.
“Damn creature!” Spartoi shouted back, thrusting his spear at Seo-Yeon.
She smacked the spear’s shaft with her hand, which carried a mystical blue tinge. A thunderous boom echoed throughout the surroundings. After transforming into the Sky Fox, Seo-Yeon had grown powerful enough to be on par with Spartoi.
“It is futile!” Spartoi shouted.
“Shut the fuck up, you bag of bones!”
Spartoi’s spear struck the air as it bent like a snake, and Seo-Yeon fired the blue flames gathered at the ends of her tails.
“Urgh... Fox noona... No!” shouted a boy with silver hair and blue eyes, staring at the battling Seo-Yeon.
He was swept by his trauma as he stared at the corpses strewn about the streets like garbage and their bloody organs. Loving words and the sound of a kiss echoed inside his head.
“Ti amo, mio figlio (I love you, my son).”
“Mama... Mama!” Charles mumbled as he tightly grabbed his right hand, wrapped in white bandages. He could vividly feel the warm kiss on the back of his hand. “This is... a game... It’s not real... Haha... Yeah, of course! There’s no way this is real!”
The severely shaking Charles suddenly smiled widely and raised his head. His shaking suddenly stopped, and he raised his right hand.
“Yeah! I am the Dark Flame Dragon Knight! People call me La Notte del Drago del Gioco Oscuro! I am a great hero with Il Drago Nero del Caldo sealed inside my right hand! Come at me, villains!”
Clouds of black aura rose from his right hand.
***
A ten-meter-long red slash tore apart blue scales, being dyed red from the blood.
“GAAAAAH! BASTARD!” Vharagar screamed, unable to understand the current situation.
His enemy’s sword was penetrating his scales all too easily, and the enemy’s red armor grew harder over time. Dragon Fear, Dragon Tongue, Dragon Breath, and the battle of physical strength he loved so much were useless against the human before him. On top of that, a strange curse had entered his body.
[The Holy Blood of Degradation lowers your caliber.]
“What... have you done... to me?!” the bloody Vharagar shouted.
Seong-Hwi appeared from behind Vharagar using the high-speed movement of the Wings of Evolution. He smiled and replied, “Something very nice.”
“Shit!” Vharagar shouted as he quickly tried to undo his dragon transformation.
Neither my scales’ defenses nor my physical strength are effective against him! At this rate, I’m just an easy target!
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Seong-Hwi shouted, noticing Vharagar’s intent, as he converted Destiny Force to Draconic Mana.
The Wings of Evolution turned gold, and the hexagonal pattern turned into an inverted ginkgo leaf pattern. The Dragon Scale Slash grew twice as long after absorbing the abundant and ferocious Draconic Mana. The twenty-meter red crescent slash severed Vharagar’s neck, and a fountain of blood exploded from the sky. Vharagar’s headless body smashed into the ground.
“I only want to kill dragons. It would be no fun if you got smaller,” Seong-Hwi said as he landed on Vharagar, cut a cross on his chest, and pried his flesh open to reveal a red heart that was still beating strongly.
“Devour the dragon’s heart! That is the privilege of a victorious dragon slayer!”
Seong-Hwi reached for the heart as Siegfried’s voice echoed inside his head, but froze in place.
“Hm? What’s wrong? It is not a foul act. Rather, it is a noble act to absorb the power of a dragon—”
“Who’s there?!” Seong-Hwi shouted, quickly turning around.
He saw a white entity that had not been there before. An angel with nine pairs of wings, a golden halo, and a book in his right hand was smiling with his eyes closed.
“You have no idea how much I have wanted to see you again, blasphemous heretic,” the angel said.
“Raziel!” Seong-Hwi said.
He had met the angel in Ferrum before. Raziel was a first-grade angel and the commander of Orbis’s fifth legion—a Spare Ranker.
“I couldn’t capture you back in Ferrum because of the high elf, and in Forestis because of Keter!” Raziel shouted as the pages of Raziel’s Book in his hand rapidly flipped. “This time, I will capture you for sure and have my irreverent act of being unable to protect the God of Heaven’s statue forgiven!”
Wasn’t Orbis supposed to just be keeping Ferrum and Viridis in check? If they join the battle as well... It would be the worst-case scenario! Seong-Hwi thought as his expression hardened.
***
“Archangel Gabriel...” Kang-San mumbled.
“That is correct, dull one. I am Gabriel, the messenger of the God of Heaven. The Almighty One has announced your death.”
Kang-San had been defending against Biphatogenes, who had returned to his true form, to keep the damage to the city to a minimum. He was confident in his defense; even if he couldn’t kill Biphatogenes, he judged he could at least endure his attacks until reinforcements arrived.
However, a white star suddenly shone in the sky, and a man of epicene beauty and nine pairs of wings appeared.
“Fall back, Gabriel! This is my battle! My history to write!” Biphatogenes shouted.
“You were too slow, Biphatogenes. Four consuls of the Sēmen are headed this way. We cannot waste any more time,” Gabriel replied as he outstretched his hand. His Lily Holy Force gathered to create a sword. “We must defeat the Tortoise Emperor together and destroy the Capital before they arrive.”
“How has the Sēmen already found out?!”
“The mistake is not on our end. Considering Consul Quetzalcoatl was the first to move, it appears the information had come from Redeo. They have likely planted spies in Echion.”
Kang-San stared with a stiffened expression at the conversing Gabriel and Biphatogenes, both unique caliber holders. He then looked down. Many people had evacuated, but just as many were still stuck in Ismailia. He then realized what future to write in the Akashic Records.
Kang-San sheathed the Dual Dragon Swords and smiled brightly.