"Overwhelming..."
Red Dragon Valasiur gaped in shock.
"Overwhelming the Lord? Does that even make sense?"
His lips trembled as he watched Raon pierce through the Dragon Lord's abdomen.
"I can't believe it either."
Blue Dragon Sirtiren let out a hollow laugh.
"I knew Raon Zieghart was strong, but I never expected him to thrash the Lord like that."
She shook her head in disbelief as she examined the Dragon Lord's back, frozen white with frost.
"That guy is insane..."
Black Dragon Dariauran clenched his fist so tight that veins bulged.
"He's crushing the Lord with pure strength! Not just a clan head, but the Lord himself!"
He cried out almost hysterically, excited by Raon's overwhelming martial prowess.
"What astonishing power."
White Dragon Bursiarabi swallowed hard.
"I didn't think he was this strong. Has he been hiding his true strength?"
He narrowed his eyes, suspecting that Raon had concealed more power than anyone had anticipated.
"Haaa..."
Bartius wiped the sweat from his forehead and exhaled deeply.
"Our choice was correct after all."
In truth, they had initially planned to seek out Glenn Zieghart, the continent's strongest, rather than Raon Zieghart. That would have been the best choice for capturing the Lord.
'But after learning about the life Raon Zieghart had lived, we changed our minds.'
Raon Zieghart was a human who broke through the system built by existing powers and forged his own unique path. In a way, he was just like them—trying to break down the walls erected by Ancient Dragons and restore the original duties of the mediator. That similarity influenced their decision to choose Raon Zieghart.
Though they had directly witnessed Raon's strength, they still had many concerns.
They could somehow defeat clan leaders by combining their strength, but the Lord was an entity of an entirely different dimension.
'I thought it was dangerous.'
When Raon said he would face the Lord alone, they hadn't fully trusted him. They had planned to jump in and fight alongside the other dragons at the first sign of Raon faltering.
'I never expected a situation like this...'
At first, Raon seemed to be slightly overwhelmed, but at some point, he began dominating the Dragon Lord. The sight of a tiny human crushing the massive Dragon Lord with his personal strength sent chills down their spines, despite being of the same species as the Lord.
"See it through to the end, Raon Zieghart."
Bartius lowered his hands that had been gathering mana, now fully trusting in Raon.
"I knew this would happen!"
Martha dusted off her palms and folded her arms.
"I told you worrying about him would only make us look foolish!"
She nodded as if she had known all along that Raon would overwhelm the Dragon Lord.
"I did have faith in him, but..."
Burren let out a dry laugh, his hand resting on his sword.
"I never expected him to push the Lord back like that."
He tapped his own cheek while watching Raon cut through all of the Lord's magic.
"Urrrgh..."
Dorian groaned, clutching his head each time Raon's sword clashed with the Dragon Lord's magic.
"Um, the Palace Master will win, right?"
He whispered, barely able to lift his gaze.
"Of course!"
Evelyn nodded calmly, as if there was nothing to worry about.
"Raon never betrays our trust."
She smiled gently, as if she knew this truth better than anyone.
"Though there is something that concerns me."
Evelyn bit her lip slightly, as if something was bothering her.
"But that Dragon Language…"
Martha frowned as she watched the Dragon Lord using dragon language to push Raon back.
"Isn't it a bit strange?"
She scratched her cheek, finding it puzzling no matter how she thought about it.
"What's strange about it?"
Burren turned to look at Martha.
"He keeps using weak commands like 'begone,' 'be pushed back,' and 'fly away.'"
Martha repeated the dragon language commands the Dragon Lord had used.
"Couldn't he just say 'die!' from the beginning and be done with it?"
She tilted her head, both worried and confused.
"That's difficult. No, nearly impossible."
Bartius clicked his tongue briefly.
"Impossible?"
Martha's eyes widened, surprised that Bartius had answered her.
"Dragon language isn't omnipotent. It merely allows dragons to quickly activate and enhance magic within the limits of their own power."
Bartius shook his head, explaining that dragon language wasn't as convenient a power as it appeared.
"It twists the flow of the mortal world, so it can't be used continuously, and if it fails, there's a backlash. Only because he's the Dragon Lord can he use even that level of dragon language."
He shook his head, saying that other Ancient Dragons wouldn't even be able to use that level of dragon language against Raon.
"The current Raon Zieghart is strong enough to threaten the Lord's life. If the Lord were to use the command 'die' and fail, the backlash would return directly to him."
Bartius wrinkled the bridge of his nose, explaining that if the Dragon Lord used the command "die" on Raon and failed, he could easily die himself as a result.
"Ah, I see."
Martha nodded, now understanding.
"Phew! Then there's really nothing to worry about!"
Dorian exhaled deeply, as if finally able to relax.
"And now it seems we should worry about ourselves."
Bartius sighed briefly and looked back. With a thunderous rumble, dozens of lights were rapidly approaching from the previously quiet sky.
"Those are..."
Burren squinted slightly as he observed the clusters of light.
"Dragons. Seems the Lord sent out a distress call as soon as he regained consciousness."
Bartius nodded, confirming that all those dragons were flying to rescue the Lord.
"Since we blocked teleportation magic, they've come flying directly."
He curled his lips upward, noting that they had at least bought some time.
"I hope this is the last time we have to fight our own kind."
Blue Dragon Sirtiren sighed deeply as she returned to her true form.
"I actually want to fight our kin too."
Red Dragon Valasiur banged his fists together with a bloodthirsty smile.
"Such a barbaric clan, as always."
Black Dragon Dariauran manifested in his true form, emanating intense hostility despite his words.
"Those who want to fight will fight, those who don't, won't. Right now, we need to think about the future of dragons."
White Dragon Bursiarabi spread his massive wings, his breath forming white mist.
"Great! I was hoping for more fighting!"
Martha drew her sword, saying she hadn't expected the opportunity to fight dragons again would come so quickly.
"Stay calm. Raon can't help us right now."
Burren lowered his hand, telling her to control her excitement.
"Even if I get carried away, you'll back me up, right?"
Martha curled her lips upward, showing her confidence in him.
"That's true."
Burren nodded with confidence.
"W-why is my life like this..."
Dorian raised his sword despite looking miserable as he watched the approaching dragons.
"Then if the Dragon Lord uses the command 'die' on Raon..."
Evelyn slightly narrowed her eyes as she looked at Raon rather than the approaching dragons.
"It would mean he's confident he can kill him."
***
With a tremendous slash, Raon cut through the Dragon Lord's magic using the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's Revolving Sky technique before striking his abdomen. With a reverberating boom, the Dragon Lord managed to prevent his flesh from being cut by using a mana barrier, but the powerful impact sent him crashing to the floor of the black dimension.
Blood burst from wounds all over the massive body, as if it had suffered another severe impact.
"You're holding up well."
Raon circled behind the Dragon Lord who was trying to spread his wings, a cold smile on his face.
[You wretch!]
The Dragon Lord summoned dozens of walls of light. He seemed to be trying to trap Raon by layering the walls and then crush him. With a piercing sound, Raon unleashed the Thirty-Six Crimson Flash Techniques with his Divine Sword, shattering the approaching light barriers before thrusting his Demonic Sword in a Single Crimson Point strike.
The blue blade, condensed to a single crimson point, pierced straight through the Dragon Lord's chest.
With a sickening sound, the Dragon Lord's chest split open, spurting bright red blood. The wound froze over with white frost, preventing any chance of recovery.
[Graaaah!]
Maddened by this new wound, the Dragon Lord swung his mana-infused tail down toward Raon's head.
"Now you're starting to fight like a beast."
Raon twisted his lips into a smile and swung both his Divine Sword and Demonic Sword upward simultaneously. The Fangs of Insanity and Blizzard Sword Art techniques rose violently, almost competing with each other as they collided with the Dragon Lord's tail. With a thunderous crash, the Divine Sword blazing with fire and the Demonic Sword emanating frost pushed back the much larger Dragon Lord's tail by sheer force, sending him crashing against the wall.
-Excellent!
Wrath exclaimed in admiration as he watched the Dragon Lord slammed against the ground.
-It's like watching someone break a building's pillar with two toothpicks!
He nodded vigorously, saying that Raon was performing far better than expected.
"Is that so..."
Raon exhaled a white breath, his hands holding the Divine and Demonic Swords trembling slightly.
-Hmm...
Wrath stroked his chin.
-You've certainly grown stronger than before, but your endurance is still lacking.
He clicked his tongue, seeming to have instantly assessed Raon's condition.
'As expected of the Demon King of Wrath. So accurate.'
Raon smiled wryly as he looked at his trembling hands.
'I'm almost at my limit.'
The Wrath Release technique allowed him to use tremendous martial prowess by wrapping his entire body in wrath, but it rapidly drained his physical and mental energy. Though he had grown to possess more stamina and mental strength than before, he had also brought forth even more wrath, leaving his endurance just as insufficient as before.
-You need to grow stronger.
Wrath snorted as if to say Raon still had a long way to go.
'True. I'm still far from enough. However...'
Raon gripped his Divine Sword and Demonic Sword tightly once more.
'I have to finish that lizard with my own hands.'
Though he had nearly exhausted his power by opening both the Sword Domain and Wrath Release, he could still move. The Dragon Lord had been pushed to the brink of death, so now was the time to finish him off for good.
'I need to kill him quickly and clean up the aftermath.'
All the dragons were rushing here to save the Dragon Lord. He needed to deal with the Dragon Lord as quickly as possible and then help the others.
"Haaaa..."
Raon opened the realm of the soul again to replenish his waning wrath. With a roaring surge, he called upon the authority of other demon kings that lay even deeper than wrath, enveloping his entire body. A powerful resonance filled the air.
Time slowed once more. No, it seemed to stop entirely. A sense of omnipotence, as if he could manipulate the world itself, filled his mind.
'I can't maintain this for long.'
He had pushed additional strain onto his body and mind that were already at their limits. He had to kill the Dragon Lord here and now.
"With this..."
Raon kicked off the air and charged at the Dragon Lord. Moving at a speed that even light and sound couldn't follow, he swung down both his Divine and Demonic Swords.
"It's over."
***
With a sharp intake of breath, the Dragon Lord sensed Raon's presence approaching without sound or aura and swallowed hard. He could feel the two razor-sharp blades digging into his neck.
'This is dangerous!'
His instincts, honed over nearly ten thousand years, told him that the moment those blades connected, his body would be completely destroyed.
'I can't even block it.'
He needed at least one breath to prepare magic that could block those swords, but Raon Zieghart was too fast to allow him that chance. All he could envision now was the inevitable—those blades piercing through his flesh.
'The only way is...'
Just one. There was only one method for him to survive. But even that wasn't perfect. If he made a mistake, it could amount to suicide.
'What should I do...'
[...]
'Ah!'
As the Dragon Lord felt the cold blade beginning to tear into his flesh, he remembered something he had forgotten. No, a "warm voice" reminded him of something he had completely overlooked.
'The absolute magic...!'
The absolute magic he had been preparing to kill all humans still remained in this dimension.
'It's hard to control, but I have no choice!'
The Dragon Lord glared into Raon's red eyes as he unleashed the seal on the absolute magic he had prepared over many long years.
[Raon Zieghart!]
Infusing the absolute magic into his dragon language, he shouted the most dangerous words in this world.
[Die!]