Chapter 38: Chapter 38

Chapter 38: Dragon and Demon Beast (1)

I felt my body beginning to collapse the moment I had encountered the Demon Beast. That made sense. Reinhardt had given me an ultimatum. My blessing had reached a state where not even holy water could restore it.

Now that I had touched a Demon Beast, I was, for all intents and purposes, already as good as dead.

I bit down hard against the pain that spread through my whole body. My head felt as if it had gone white. Muscle and bone tore and shattered over and over.

Growth and collapse repeated themselves. Mad, relentless pain kept striking my mind.

A faint laugh came from far off. Where a dust cloud billowed up. Exactly the place Ira had flown to.

At that moment a strong gust blew the dust away. At the center stood Ira. He wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth with his sleeve, grinned ferociously, and said,

“How did a human manage to touch me? Was there sacred power in that fist of yours?”

“Even without sacred power, there were countless ways to hit you.”

That was bluster. I hadn’t understood the conditions that allowed me to touch Ira’s body.

I didn’t even know why that single strike had worked.

Still, it would be stupid to tell an opponent information outright.

‘So I needed to learn, starting now. The condition that lets me reach him.’

Until I knew it, I couldn’t move rashly. The other wouldn’t be an idiot either. I might reveal my bluff.

The standoff continued. Luseus had no chance to intervene. He was in a position where he had to protect the egg. If he jumped in recklessly, he wouldn’t be able to defend it.

We waited. We read even each other’s breaths.

Then Ira’s form vanished for an instant. When he appeared again, he was right at my side.

My gaze flashed. I swung my sword at the same time. A glinting blade surged forward like a curling wave.

It was a terrifying sword speed — not the kind of swordsmanship a mere fifteen-year-old should be able to display.

Ira’s eyes widened as he realized the essence contained in that sword. Then he grinned and shouted,

“This is fun! Who would’ve thought a young human would be so strong!”

Magic and steel collided in midair.

A roar, like eardrums about to burst, echoed in all directions.

Ira was strong. Even though he was a mage, he was adept in close combat. Technically, I was slightly pushed back.

He wielded magic like a sword, thrust it like a spear, and brought it down like an axe.

At the weighty magic, my face tightened.

Ira muttered, almost to himself.

“Why are you only defending? With a body of that caliber and that level of technique, you could have counterattacked at any time.”

The turbulent force around Ira began to quiet. In an instant he stilled his momentum and said,

“Could it be… that the strike earlier was a coincidence?”

My eyes trembled faintly.

Normally that would have gone unnoticed. But Ira was not the kind of Demon Beast to miss such a trivial reaction.

A furious energy burst from Ira’s whole body. It was on a different trajectory than before, as if he had been hiding his strength.

“I’m disappointed. I was going to accept you as an enemy and use a petty trick. My fun’s gone.” He said it with a sincere expression. The excitement that had filled his eyes cooled into something cold.

An ominous energy rippled around Ira’s hand. The flashy display from before was gone.

I bit my lip quietly. Zeke was still fighting. I had to hold him down a bit longer.

‘If I collapsed, above all, Luseus would die.’

I could not give up. I gripped the sword’s hilt hard. From my straining hand came a chilling creak of bone.

As if to declare my resolve, the sword’s voice began to emit a sound like a lament.

I took one slow step forward.

A terrifying presence flared from my whole body.

Compared to the Demon Beast’s, it seemed petty — but Ira must have felt otherwise.

Hatred filled Ira’s eyes. Hadn’t he almost been killed by Zeke? He seemed to sense something in me akin to Zeke.

“That face… now that I look closely, I get it. You were Zeke’s child. The brat of that loathsome one…”

A murderous gleam appeared on Ira’s face in an instant.

“I’ve decided. I’ll tear your limbs apart and show them to Zeke. Even a Conqueror would waver at seeing his child’s corpse.”

I did not answer. I only watched Ira with a calm gaze. My reserves had long since been exposed to him. I might indeed be horribly killed, my limbs ripped apart, as he said.

Perhaps because of that, my resolve only grew.

“If a child dies before their parent, that’s unconscionable. What an unfilial thing.”

I wrapped a bright, resolute momentum around my whole body and said,

“At the very least, I will not be killed by you.” Latest content publıshed on novel(ꜰ)ire.net

Boom—! Bang—! Crack—!

A terrifying series of strikes followed, not allowing even a moment’s carelessness.

Blocking all of those blows, I thought to myself:

‘At this rate, I’ll die before my body even finishes collapsing.’

That was how threatening Ira’s power was.

But it wasn’t as though I had any way to change it. I couldn’t even touch him. Even if I could, I couldn’t deliver an effective blow.

‘There’s no helping it.’

The only thing left was to throw myself in, prepared to die.

Whether my body collapsed or I was killed by him—either way, death awaited. If I had to die, it would be better to struggle a little, rather than die in vain.

I stepped into Dawn-Drifting Falcon Step and vanished. Ever since my enlightenment, my mastery of the Body Movement Technique had improved dramatically. For a brief instant, I could deceive even his eyes.

Indeed, Ira couldn’t find me. The Body Movement Technique was an unfamiliar concept in this world, even to those who had fought countless battles.

Even those who had trained martial arts to their utmost limits knew nothing of it. There was no way a mage could follow such movement.

Ira’s eyes flashed with a dangerous gleam. Ominous power flared in his gaze—he was trying to locate me by force of will.

I didn’t miss the chance. Appearing behind him, I immediately unleashed the Twelve Celestial Sword Styles.

In an instant, my sword traced countless paths through the air. Anyone who saw it would have thought it magnificent. But my attack did not reach Ira. My sword simply passed through his body.

As expected. I felt no disappointment.

Calmly, I prepared my next move.

I kicked off the ground and leapt high into the air. Ira looked up and shouted furiously,

He swung his arm, and with it, searing heat and black flames surged up to engulf me—flames terrifying enough to burn the world itself.

Even so, I did not panic. I stretched my hand toward the flames instead.

Seeing that, Ira said,

“Ha! Foolish human. To reach into my fire…”

He stopped mid-sentence. What he saw before him was simply unbelievable.

The flames that touched my hand didn’t consume me. They merely stayed there—resting on my palm.

Those flames were ultimately composed of mana—the same as inner energy. If so, then it was possible to reverse its flow and use that energy against itself.

I landed, spun my body, and slowly began to tame the flame’s power. As expected of a Demon Beast’s magic—it was hard to control. But soon enough, the flames began to yield to my hand.

“…What have you done?”

Ira spoke, his voice laced with caution—and a hint of alarm.

“That’s my magic. There’s no way a mere human could wield it!”

His voice became a roar. Bloodshot eyes glared at me with bestial fury.

“I didn’t control your magic,” I said, thrusting forward the hand wrapped in flame.

“I only used its energy. It’s still your magic. So I’ll return it.”

At that instant, the flames gathered in my hand shot violently toward Ira.

With an explosion, the flames collided with him. His magic was powerful—within that seemingly small blaze lay a tremendous concentration of mana. If I had taken it head-on, even I would’ve been gravely injured.

A haze of flame and dust obscured his figure. I focused my sight. He was a Demon Beast—I couldn’t afford to let my guard down, not even for a heartbeat.

A violent gust blew the flames aside, revealing Ira again. At the same time, an overwhelming pressure crashed down on me.

“You insignificant human…!!”

His furious voice made me tremble. Instinct told me—the real fight was only beginning now.

Energy began gathering in both of Ira’s hands. This was a completely different level of power. Even a glancing touch would be fatal.

Finally, immense mana formed in his palms—larger than a human body, dense beyond comprehension.

It was a force that could not be deflected by any means.

‘So this is the end.’

I gave a faint smile at the thought.

‘For someone like me, lasting this long wasn’t so bad.’

I had already accepted death. My body was disintegrating anyway. For a dying man’s final struggle, this wasn’t a poor showing.

As I quietly faced the massive sphere of mana—

“Ira! Kill Luseus now! Zeke’s strength is beyond what we expected!”

Superbia’s voice cried out from afar.

“…I’d forgotten my purpose.”

Ira murmured. The madness faded from his eyes, replaced by clarity once more.

He slowly turned his body—toward where Luseus was.

I clicked my tongue. When had he gone from being a raging beast to regaining his senses?

‘Troublesome. I wanted to hold his attention till the end.’

Luseus was defenseless—his life was nearly at its limit. There was no way he could withstand Ira’s magic.

Just as I was about to move to distract Ira again—

[You’ve done well, Leon.]

An overwhelming power erupted from Luseus’s body. The sheer pressure sent chills down my spine. Could a living being truly possess such power?

[I am a Dragon. A race far beyond mere humans or Demon Beasts.]

Luseus’s voice carried a dignity I had never heard before.

[To dare break the Demon King’s seal—and even threaten my child. How do you intend to bear that sin?]

The aura Luseus exuded was on a whole different plane—beyond even Zeke’s. It felt like the pinnacle of life itself, as though all beings below him could only bow.

[Disappear before me.]

In an instant, Ira vanished. The enormous mana he had gathered was gone too. Even the distant roar that had echoed before was silenced. The dreadful presences of the Seven Demon Beasts had vanished entirely.

With a deep sense of relief, I collapsed to the ground.