You want to end this with a suicidal attack, a mutual destruction—betting on who will survive?
That madness and resolve filled Night with endless joy.
But,
There can only be one ruler of the battlefield, one master of the sky and earth!
No matter what kind of resolve, willpower, or determination you have,
I'll crush it all!
Helena wanted to decide the outcome of the battle that way, but Night refused to allow it.
Even with Battle Continuation EX, he could feel himself teetering on the edge of his limits.
Without a dragon's body, he turned his flesh into a dragon's heart, drawing mana directly from the atmosphere to strengthen himself.
The sky became his veins, the light of the sun his guide to victory!
Devour my flesh, become the heart of a human, and stake everything on these thirteen seconds.
After thirteen seconds, he would surely die—just before hitting the ground.
But if he could defeat Helena within those thirteen seconds, he would win!
*Boom!*
His fist, crackling with crimson lightning, struck the dragon's face, causing it to veer off course.
But it continued its descent toward the earth.
The red dragon roared, not responding to Night, her eyes filled with madness as she accelerated toward the ground below.
She would prove with her actions who was stronger!
Even in a battle of wills, after centuries of loneliness and suffering, she was confident her will was second to none.
*Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!!*
Fists rained down like a storm!
In the sky, the meteor formed by the two of them grew larger and larger!
Their bodies began to burn, but neither cared about the searing pain.
Fight, fight, fight!
This was a battle of strength and will.
Neither was willing to admit they were the weaker one.
In the end,
Boom!!!
The two figures, transformed into massive meteors, crashed together into the earth several kilometers outside Carthage.
Yet, the terrifying heatwave still instantly swept toward the city, scorching all the grasslands along the way before finally dissipating just before reaching New Carthage.
Countless Roman citizens were left in lingering fear.
Gulp—!
"What was that just now?!"
People hurriedly opened their doors and windows, staring in horror at the black smoke rising in the distant sky.
Once the earthquake completely subsided, Scipio immediately ordered his troops to investigate.
At that moment—
Inside an enormous crater, the red dragon girl had already reverted to her human form.
Her clothes were completely torn apart, exposing her fair, delicate skin to the air.
However, inch by inch, her flesh began to crack like burning embers.
By the end, her entire body was covered in scorched, charred flesh.
Helena slowly opened her eyes.
At this moment, her pupils, now turned into a deep, brilliant blue, glanced at the scorched remains beside her, now nothing more than an unrecognizable pile of non-combustible waste, barely retaining a humanoid shape.
Her entire body trembled, causing the burnt fragments on her skin to fall away.
In the next moment, flawless, smooth, and tender new skin, as delicate as an eggshell, was revealed beneath.
Ignoring her current state, Helena suddenly hugged her legs and curled up into a squatting position, shutting herself off from the world.
She recalled the final moments of their battle.
It was as if Night had instantly sensed her resolve, to transform into a meteor and bet everything on a final, earth-shattering strike.
And at the moment he ignited himself, she also felt his heart.
That blazing, battle-hardened soul, the frenzied attacks, the overwhelming will—so overpowering that for a moment, Helena truly believed she would be beaten to death within thirteen seconds.
Yet in fact,
Unlike the other party, she had been nurtured by the land of Carthage from the very beginning.
Even though no one taught her how to fight when she was young, even though, for a dragon, a few hundred years still meant she was just a hatchling,
Her draconic body had already grown to an unfathomable level of strength.
In other words, simply a blood tank—!
No matter how desperately Night pushed his limits, no matter how his strength skyrocketed every second under the blessings of Roman soil, when it came to endurance, he had already lost.
Helena knew it, the one who would have the last laugh would be her!
Yet, in the final moments, fear overtook her.
She was afraid of losing.
Just the mere thought of that possibility was enough to freeze the fiery, joyous soul that burned within her.
She didn't want to lose—!
And so, at the very last moment, she unleashed a technique she had grasped through her battle with Night, something her body had comprehended through sheer instinct.
She used a skill—!
Before the thirteen seconds of burning could fully run out, before her body was completely consumed, she made her move at the eleventh second, transforming into a meteor and striking down upon the earth.
She was obviously the stronger warrior, yet out of fear of failure, she had resorted to a technique against a weaker opponent.
In that moment, she felt something inside her shatter.
Even so, even so, she still didn't want to lose to this man.
Tears suddenly welled up in Helena's eyes—tears of frustration.
She bit down hard on her silver teeth, unable to comprehend this strange, overwhelming emotion.
She had won.
She should have won.
And yet, why did she feel so empty, so lost, like a pathetic fool, a loser mourning her own defeat, licking her wounds in solitude?
Suddenly, Helena stood up and walked toward the charred humanoid figure.
"Live! You hear me? Live!!"
"Fight me again—this time, I'll defeat you fair and square!"
She grabbed his shoulders and shook him violently, but...
Night's shoulder suddenly crumbled away, disintegrating into black dust.
Seeing this, Helena let out a heart-wrenching wail, the kind of anguished cry one makes when losing someone they love.
She clutched her face in her hands and sobbed—!
"How could you just die on your own like this, leaving me behind to survive alone in this world?"
She had lost the chance to ever defeat this man—
Her beloved Aeneas!
Even if she defeated countless powerful enemies in the future, even if one day she became the dragon of Ragnarök, exacting vengeance upon the gods, she would never again feel the thrill of victory.
"Get up! Get up, damn it!"
"Aren't you Rome's guardian hero?!
The hero chosen by the will of the Roman land!"
"I'm going to take my dragon form and annihilate Rome's city-states right now—if you don't wake up and stop me, I'll burn your beloved Rome to the ground!"
"Even then, will you still not return from the underworld?!"
At that moment, the faint will of the Roman land stirred.
As Night's body finally fell into the embrace of the earth, the protective blessing that allowed him to endlessly recover as long as he stood upon Roman soil, began to activate.
However—
It was already too late.
Though Night's soul and consciousness still lingered, his physical body had been utterly destroyed.
The destructive power of the red dragon continued to erode his very cells, leaving no room for regeneration.
Battle Continuation EX had long since been depleted.
Finally—
Helena thought of something as a sudden decision flashed through her mind.
She leaned down and pressed her lips against what was roughly the humanoid remains of his mouth—offering her first, youthful, and inexperienced kiss.
Since Night no longer had the ability to resist, he could do nothing but accept her actions.
After Helena's face turned an unnatural shade of red, the soul-binding contract was established.
Buzz~!
A crimson magic circle shone beneath them.
As the faint soul connection solidified, a wild, unrestrained yet adorable smile bloomed on Helena's face.
"Now, even if you escape to the underworld, one day I'll track you down through this bond—drag your soul back from the abyss and continue our battle. Don't think you can get rid of me that easily, Big~ Brother!"
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