The Flame Demon Dragon was certain it had seen through Germain's movements.
The swinging of his arms, the cold gleam of the scythe under the moonlight, the fluctuations in his aura...
Everything was under control.
Or at least, it should have been.
It swung its massive, flame-wreathed claw toward Germain.
By all expectations, that claw should've caught the tiny human with ease.
But fate tends to slip in where control falters.
Germain's movements, though previously predictable, suddenly accelerated in that instant—
—like someone had hit the fast-forward button.
Shhhk—
The Flame Demon Dragon was caught off guard.
Before it could react, the claw it had just swung was cleanly severed—
—by the Burial Blade.
Germain stepped onto the dismembered claw, kicked off it, and shot forward like a silver arrow toward the Flame Demon Dragon.
Gripping the Burial Blade with both hands, he slashed down at an angle.
The weapon, like a scythe of death, reached the dragon's throat in the blink of an eye.
The Flame Demon Dragon reacted with the fastest reflex it had ever mustered.
It threw itself backward just in time to avoid being decapitated.
But the blade's sharp momentum still tore open the flesh at its neck.
Sparks flew.
Boiling blood sprayed into the air.
All the fury the Flame Demon Dragon had been harboring—
—was replaced, in that moment, with utter shock.
It realized the man it faced now was not even on the same level as Beyond and the others.
And its victory over Beyond had deceived it.
It had wrongly assumed this man before it wouldn't be that strong.
Such a mistake in judgment was fatal.
When the Flame Demon Dragon saw Germain catching up once again, it realized it had been pushed into a corner—completely and utterly.
Just half a minute ago, it was still in full control.
How could it have anticipated that in less than thirty seconds, a human would suddenly appear—displaying overwhelming power that defied all logic and suppressed even it?
In shock and fear, its entire body began to swell.
The dull red light that once flickered beneath its cracked skin now turned into a blinding crimson blaze.
As it fell through the air, the Flame Demon Dragon suddenly paused—just for a heartbeat.
That brief moment was a warning.
A warning that it was ready to pay any price.
The very next instant—
Boom—
A blinding eruption of flame burst from within its body, like solar flares licking outward from the sun.
The inferno instantly devoured everything in midair—Germain included.
The curtain of rain evaporated in an instant, replaced by thick clouds of steam billowing outward!
The scorching wind howled as it surged across the ground, setting the very air ablaze.
"This really is..."
Pariston tilted his head back, gazing at the artificial sun blooming in the night sky.
"...absolutely beautiful."
He didn't forget to glance at the figure lying on the ground beside him.
"Germain and the Flame Demon Dragon's battle looks far more spectacular than yours," he said to Beyond.
"Beyond, you and Isaac... you're both old now. No longer as fierce as you once were."
Pariston's words were as sharp as blades, designed to pierce right through the heart.
And he said them all with a gentle smile—making them land even harder.
Beyond's skin and muscles were visibly aging and shrinking before the eye.
Age spots appeared, and the few strands of remaining hair turned ashen white and drooped lifelessly.
At this point, he looked even older than Isaac Netero.
His breathing was shallow and labored.
He could no longer speak.
The vitality in him had completely faded.
"Almost forgot—you're already a dying ember, barely holding on," Pariston said casually.
"Well, at least there's one silver lining—Germain is going to die, and we'll follow right after..."
Before he could finish the sentence, something unusual caught his eye.
Amid the blazing sun-like explosion in the sky, a dark figure appeared—like a sunspot burning against the inferno.
With a sharp whoosh, the massive dragon's head burst out from the blinding explosion like a flaming meteor, crashing down through the curtain of rain.
Moments later, the enormous body of the Flame Demon Dragon followed, slamming into the ground with a thunderous quake and explosion.
The sea of fire quickly spread outward, engulfing everything in its path.
Above the chaos, a figure hovered midair, cloak billowing, undisturbed by the explosion's fury.
It was Germain — calm, unscathed, and deadly.
The battle had lasted only moments, but its outcome was already clear.
Germain had claimed absolute victory.
The same Flame Demon Dragon that had pushed Beyond, Pariston, and Saiyu to the brink of death...hadn't even stirred a ripple before the Dragon Slayer.
Pariston's usual smile finally faded.
He tapped his fingers lightly on his knee, unsure of what to say.
What was there to say, really?
What had just happened far surpassed anything he had imagined.
He turned to look at Beyond.
The man's eyes were half-open, staring dazedly at the sky.
Pariston reached over and pressed two fingers to Beyond's neck, holding them there for a long moment before pulling away.
"Unless you're hiding some kind of 'fake death' or 'resurrection' Nen ability…"
Even Pariston couldn't muster one of his usual witty remarks.
He simply fell silent.
"Incredible," he muttered.
While he'd been standing around doing nothing…
Bisky, Morel, Shizuku, and Saiyu had already taken down the last two dragons together.
Saiyu, who had barely survived, collapsed to his knees, panting heavily.
Sweat and rain mingled as droplets hit the ground with a steady drip drip drip.
Only then did he find the time to look around.
First, he glanced up at the sky and saw Germain slowly descending.
Then his gaze shifted toward the burning heap of flesh — the remains of the Flame Demon Dragon.
Right after, he looked toward Beyond and Pariston.
He saw that Beyond hadn't moved an inch, while Pariston had already stood up, calmly wiping his fingers with a handkerchief.
Too much information poured into Saiyu's mind all at once.
It left him dazed, confused, like his brain was about to explode.
But there was one thing he was sure of.
He was still alive.
On the other side.
Germain sheathed his Burial Blade, and returned to his usual appearance.
He looked down at the "Curse of Resentment Badge" in his hand.
Inside it, he could see the hateful soul of the Flame Demon Dragon burning fiercely in confinement.
"Remnant of the Flame Demon Dragon: Locks onto a target and manifests the Flame Demon Dragon. The assault continues relentlessly until either the target or the dragon perishes."
Before this, Germain was only able to kill monsters and conjure fragments of their grudge-filled memories to fight for him.
But those conjurations only had a portion of the creature's true power.
The "Remnant of the Flame Demon Dragon" was different.
It had just been unsealed and released from the "Curse of Resentment Badge."
This was the actual Flame Demon Dragon, at full strength.
It would now follow Germain's command—until one side was completely destroyed.
Besides the dragon, Germain had also acquired a new Teleport Lantern.
That brought the total number of lanterns in his possession to eight.
The source of the flames had been extinguished.
The wildfire was finally being suppressed by the heavy downpour.
But the credit for truly putting out the fire belonged to Shizuku's "Blinky."
The "Blinky" sucked up all visible flames in one go, gulping them down into its belly.
Even with such an efficient method, it still took nearly an hour to finish the job.
Saiyu carried over the corpses of Beyond and the other exploration team members.
Almost none of the bodies were intact—burnt beyond recognition.
Germain didn't plan on taking those bodies back,
Not even the one that belonged to Chairman Netero's son.
Chairman Netero had likely already accepted that his son might die on this journey.
And perhaps, Beyond himself would have preferred to be buried here—on the land of the Dark Continent, the place he had pursued his entire life.
Morel helped Saiyu dig a large grave.
They buried Beyond and the others in one shared resting place, then left a mark.
Just in case someone wanted to come back in the future and deal with it properly.
Maybe Chairman Netero would one day come here,
Place a gravestone for his son,
And offer a prayer.
No one knew what the chairman's attitude would be from now on.
So for now, they simply left it at that.
Once everything was settled,
The group—whose temporary alliance had now ended—
Had to deal with a new, awkward situation.
*******
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