Chapter 1172
With a faint chime of metal, Raon returned Heavenly Drive to its scabbard and let his eyelids fall shut.
'Precisely as I anticipated.'
He possessed the capability to slay Azgoros with a sudden strike, much like he had handled Igni Serpang of the Red clan, yet he chose to endure the full brunt of the dragon's sorcery and elemental breath before delivering the final blow. Ultimately, the outcome remained the same.
His current strength had reached a threshold where even the dragon chieftains—purportedly the apex predators of the world—could be felled in a single motion. Standing at the peak of his development, he could sense the terrifying scale of his martial evolution.
'Actually, I haven't even touched my ceiling yet.'
Though that strike had carried his full physical momentum, he had yet to deploy his Sword Domain. If he were to manifest the Divine-Demonic Harmony Sword Domain to amplify his essence, his martial artistry would reach an even more transcendent state.
-Hmph!
Wrath let out a derisive snort.
-Getting all sentimental over butchering a single lizard... this is why you're still a fledgling!
The demon king wagged his head, implying that Raon was still far from true greatness.
-When dealing with these overblown newts, the question isn't whether you can kill them, but the style in which you do it!
Wrath licked his lips, suggesting that the truly powerful operated on an entirely different mental plane.
'The style in which I kill them?'
Raon tilted his head, giving Wrath a questioning look.
-Precisely! Taking the head is functional, sure, but rupturing their organs or flash-freezing their vitals is far superior. Do you know why?
Wrath’s eyes thinned, as if he were about to impart the ultimate secret of dragon-slaying.
-Because the marbling stays intact and the meat is much more succulent for the feast!
'Good grief...'
Raon opened his eyes and let out a long, weary breath.
'I actually allowed myself a moment of hope, but I should have known.'
He had looked for a pearl of wisdom, but the conversation had inevitably spiraled back to gastronomy. He was growing weary of the glutton's constant bellyaching.
'Still, despite that...'
Raon watched with a small smile as Wrath continued to grumble about the culinary potential of Azgoros's remains.
'He only acts this way because he feels secure.'
Wrath wasn't always a clown. In moments of genuine peril, he was more focused than anyone, so Raon took this behavior as a sign that he had finally become strong enough to soothe Wrath’s chronic paranoia.
-Negative! This King is being entirely literal!
Wrath huffed, vehemently denying Raon's heartwarming interpretation.
'Sure, whatever you say.'
Raon closed his eyes once more, mentally refining the Azure Sky Sword form he had just executed.
"Ha! Watching that means we can't just sit on our hands!"
Martha flared her aura to its peak, her eyes burning with a sudden hunger for dragon blood.
"We’re moving out right now!"
She marched forward, her patience having completely evaporated.
"Three of us against a single target?"
Burren chewed his lip, clearly galvanized by the display of Raon’s prowess.
"If those are the terms, then victory is well within our grasp."
He gave a sharp nod, confident that the tactical advantage was on their side.
"I-I'm still incredibly terrified, for the record..."
Dorian was visibly shaking even though he’d just seen Raon dismantle Azgoros, the head of the Blue clan. However, despite his protests of cowardice, he stepped up beside Burren and Martha with his blade drawn.
"B-but who is going to handle the other two?"
Dorian’s eyes darted around, worried about the remaining dragons that hadn't been accounted for.
"It won't be me."
Bartius shook his head while reaching a hand toward the fallen Azgoros.
"I have to harvest the dimensional anchor to open the gateway and keep it from collapsing."
He closed his eyes, explaining that his focus was required to extract the key from the dragon's corpse.
"That one belongs to me."
Sirtiren gestured toward Saphiren, the Blue Dragon she had been bickering with prior to Azgoros’s arrival.
"We have some old accounts to settle."
She brushed her palms together, signaling her intent to resolve their long-standing feud.
"Hey, Saphiren. Come and play with me."
Sirtiren shifted back into her draconic form, radiating a brilliant azure glow. While she didn't match Azgoros in sheer mass, her scales were more polished and vibrant, and she exhaled a shimmering blue vapor.
"Curse you!"
Saphiren spat the words as she shed her human guise. Her draconic form mirrored Sirtiren’s, though her magical pressure was notably thinner. A heavy, vibrating thrum shook the air.
The two Blue Dragons plunged into the ocean, their native element, and ignited a brutal conflict. Even as they traded spells and physical blows in the lightless depths, the shockwaves traveled all the way to the surface.
"S-so, will the Palace Master be assisting us with the last one?"
Dorian looked back with a desperate, pleading expression.
"No."
Raon took a firm step back and crossed his arms, making his refusal to intervene perfectly clear.
"T-then maybe the other dragons holding the perimeter could lend a hand..."
Dorian turned his watery eyes toward Bartius.
"Apologies, but the others are occupied,"
Bartius replied, his eyes only halfway open.
"If the barrier is dropped, the remaining targets might bolt."
He shut his eyes again, stating that the perimeter had to hold until all three dragons were neutralized and the area was secured.
"Uuuugh..."
Dorian stood there, his jaw wobbling.
"Should I step in?"
It was Evelyn. She wore a beaming smile as she walked up to stand next to Dorian.
"Huh? Yes! Please, by all means!"
Dorian nearly bounced with relief at Evelyn’s offer. He pressed his hands together as if it were a divine intervention that Evelyn—who was usually more chaotic than Raon—had decided to help.
"Oh, wait, no."
Evelyn wagged a finger near her lips, shaking her head.
"You and I will handle one, and those two over there can take the other."
She gave a mischievous curve of her crimson lips, proposing that Martha and Burren pair up while she and Dorian formed the second duo.
"I can't stand her, but the plan is sound,"
Martha noted with a stoic nod.
"It’s more efficient. With three of us clustered together, we’d likely trip over each other while dodging spells,"
Burren added, shifting his grip on his sword in agreement with Evelyn’s logic.
"Wait, what...?"
Dorian’s face fell, his jaw trembling again as he realized what Evelyn’s "help" actually entailed.
"You miserable insects!"
"Do you think we are mere prey?"
The Blue Dragons, reeling from the shock of Azgoros’s demise, roared in fury at being discussed like common livestock by mere humans. Their true forms erupted into view with a deafening blast.
Though they lacked the sheer presence of Bartius or Sirtiren, these two were clearly mature dragons with absolute mastery over the waters, and their auras were suffocatingly dense.
"Let's get to work!"
Martha let out a ferocious battle cry as she sprinted toward the dragon with the chipped horn.
"Sigh, you could at least wait for the count of three."
Burren exhaled wearily but followed suit with elegant footwork, moving to cover Martha’s flank.
[Perish!]
The chipped-horn dragon conjured dozens of jagged ice spikes. The frigid mana woven into the frost was so concentrated that even a Grandmaster would be hard-pressed to block it—this was peak-tier sorcery.
"I've got the lead."
Burren surged ahead of Martha and thrust his sword forward. In the past, he would have meticulously parried only the spikes in his direct path, but now he exhaled a torrent of heated energy and simply pulverized every ice projectile in his way.
"Nice work!"
Martha exploited the opening Burren created, leaping through the shattered ice to deliver a crushing downward swing. Her form was the same as it had been before the Training Ground, but her bronze-tinted blade now carried a staggering gravitational weight that felt entirely new. The air shrieked under the pressure.
Martha’s heavy edge sliced through the dragon's reinforced scales and completely demolished its leg.
[GRAAAAA!]
The dragon shrieked in agony, retaliating with a barrage of high-level elemental magic aimed at the pair. The earth beneath them buckled. However, Burren’s defensive wall was ironclad. He cleaved through every incoming enchantment, ensuring nothing touched Martha as she prepped her next strike. Static electricity crackled in the atmosphere.
With Burren acting as her shield, Martha focused entirely on the kill. Her savage blade work bypassed the dragon’s remaining magical wards, carving deep, lethal gashes into its hide.
[E-enough! Stop!]
The dragon tried to dive back into the safety of the waves to recover, but the duo was relentless. They pinned it down, targeting the throat and the chest, cutting off any path to the sea.
-Not bad, not bad.
Wrath gave a satisfied nod at the coordination between Burren and Martha.
-That lizard isn't exactly a toddler, but they’ve paralyzed it by perfectly splitting their roles between sword and shield.
'It was smart to keep it out of the water and stifle its breath weapon.'
Raon narrowed his eyes, mirroring Wrath’s approval.
'The only real wildcard left for those two is the dragon's breath.'
In their current state, Burren and Martha could neutralize a mature dragon’s spells with ease. As long as they controlled the environment and the dragon's mouth, the fight was essentially over.
'And beyond that...'
A slight smile touched Raon’s lips as he noted the shimmering quality of Burren’s aura.
'Things are about to get very interesting.'
The nascent traces of a Sword Domain within Burren’s energy were becoming undeniable. It wouldn't be long before they saw his true domain manifest.
'Now, as for the other side...'
Pushing those thoughts aside, Raon turned his attention to Evelyn and Dorian.
"What in the...?"
His jaw went slack at the bizarre scene. The other Blue Dragon was standing perfectly still in its true form, as if paralyzed by an invisible tether, while Evelyn stood before it with an open palm extended.
"Impressive, isn't it? My latest mana-manipulation spell. If an opponent is weaker than me, I can seize their internal energy and freeze them in place—even a Transcendent wouldn't be immune. I could just as easily make them explode from the inside."
Evelyn smiled brightly, explaining that she had a literal magical grip on the dragon's Heart.
[Grrrk!]
The dragon could do nothing but gasp, looking for all the world like a helpless kitten being held by the neck.
"Alright, do the honors."
Evelyn gestured to Dorian, prompting him to finish the job.
"Just aim a bit above where the Heart is pulsing."
"Ah..."
Dorian’s sword arm was shaking so hard it was a wonder he held the blade at all. He looked more terrified of Evelyn’s casual cruelty than he had been of the dragon itself.
"Wow..."
-Hmph...
Raon and Wrath both let out a breath, feeling a strange sort of pity for the dragon. This wasn't exactly the epic struggle they had envisioned.
With a series of wet thuds, the remaining Blue Dragons were dispatched and their Hearts harvested. Sirtiren eventually climbed back onto the island, dragging the lifeless body of Saphiren in her jaws.
"Urrrgh..."
Dorian was still visibly rattled, his lips trembling, yet he dutifully began packing the corpses of Azgoros and the others into his extradimensional pouch.
"What kind of sorcery is in that bag?"
Sirtiren let out a surprised whistle as she watched Dorian fit five dragons—including two ancient ones the size of fortresses—into the small sack with room to spare.
"The second key has been stabilized."
Bartius announced, resting a hand against his chest.
"Are you truly intent on wrapping this up before nightfall?"
He asked, glancing at the sun which was still high in the sky.
"Naturally."
Raon looked at Bartius, his hand resting once more on the hilt of Heavenly Drive.
"The Dragon Lord is a slippery snake. We need to strike before he catches wind of our movements."
He rubbed his chin, noting that his stamina was still nearly full.
"I’m glad we allied with you. Or perhaps, that you chose us."
Bartius gave a thin smile and pressed his palms together.
"The next destination is the great forest, the domain of the Black clan’s leader."
As his hands parted, a shimmering golden rift tore open. Without a second thought, Raon stepped into the portal Bartius had created. The sound of rushing air filled his ears.
True to the description, the Black clan’s territory was an immense, ancient woodland. The canopy was so thick that it strangled the sunlight, leaving the forest floor in a state of perpetual twilight.
"Wait."
Raon tilted his head, his brow furrowing.
'Where is the leader of the Black clan?'
Unlike their previous stops, he couldn't find a draconic signature in the immediate area. He could sense the lingering scent of a dragon’s presence, but the source was missing.
"This is unexpected..."
Bartius’s expression mirrored Raon’s confusion.
"It appears the Black clan leader has vanished."
His fingers twitched as he realized the target, who should have been guarding this forest, was gone.
"Dariauran!"
Valasiur of the Red clan turned to Dariauran with a sharp shout.
"I-I'm as lost as you are! I have no idea where that coward went..."
Dariauran of the Black clan looked equally frustrated and bewildered.
"We're finished. The plan is ruined,"
Bursiarabi of the White clan sighed, sounding like someone who had been waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Stay calm."
Raon shook his head, his voice steady.
"He ran, but he hasn't gone far."
He narrowed his eyes, staring deep into the shadows of the woods, seemingly tracking a trail that even the dragons had missed.
"Not far enough for us to lose him."
