Chapter 105: The Elder dragon and the Goddess

Wings of the Goddess.
The power that the main heroine, Luna Isabel, awakens.
An ability as crucial as the flame of determination to progress through the Blazing Butterfly arc.
And it was also the reason why I absolutely had to save Isabel.

‘Wings of the Goddess have two characteristics.’
One: It greatly enhances the user’s abilities while granting the power of flight.
Two: If in the same party, it significantly boosts the abilities of all party members.
A self-buff as well as a party buff.
That was the Wings of the Goddess.

From the moment the Wings of the Goddess are activated, the party’s overall power surges.
Of course, in response, the Demonic Palace undergoes a transformation, and the difficulty skyrockets.
But with the Wings of the Goddess, even that level of difficulty can be overcome.

I had waited and waited for this moment.
However, the problem now was that I had to face Isabel, who had awakened the Wings of the Goddess.

Swish—
Isabel’s feet slowly lifted off the ground.
At the same time, her wings folded in slightly.

‘If I lose track of her, it’s over.’
The moment I thought that, Isabel’s figure vanished.

Kaaaang!
A sharp metallic sound rang out as the frost from my knife-hand scattered.
Isabel stood there, in a stance from having just swung her sword.
The moment our eyes met, she disappeared again.

Absurdly fast.
Super-speed movement using the Wings of the Goddess.
From the moment she gained her wings, she was no longer bound by gravity.
If she wished, she could move at high speed to any location.
That was the flight ability of the Wings of the Goddess.

But it’s still manageable for now.

Crack—
My sharpened senses picked up the sound of ice shattering in the air.
My right eye, infused with the remnants of an elder dragon, instantly turned toward the source of the sound.
At the same time, I swung my knife-hand in that direction.

Kaaaang!
Once again, Isabel’s sword clashed with my knife-hand.
No matter how fast she moves, Isabel herself does not disappear.
Right now, the moisture in the air around me is frozen due to the magic of the Ice Dragon.
If Isabel moves, her presence inevitably becomes detectable.

This space is within the Ice Dragon’s domain.
No matter how fast Isabel is, I won’t lose track of her.

She must have realized this after the earlier exchange.
A surprise attack is impossible.

Grrr!
At that moment, my right eye began to move on its own.
The cold energy surged violently.

‘You damn thing.’
I channeled heat into my skin.
After extensive research with Sharin, I finally engraved the magic of the Fire Dragon onto my skin.
As its power manifested, the remnants of the elder dragon grumbled but complied.

After the boycott incident, to deal with the elder dragon’s remnants, Sharin and I sought out the Fire Dragon’s magic.
Through many trials, we uncovered the Fire Dragon’s magic, studied it, and successfully engraved it as a magic seal.
The Fire Dragon’s magic seal is weaker than the original Fire Dragon’s magic but does not trigger the dragonification process.

As soon as I succeeded, I locked myself in my private training room.
And by mastering the Fire Dragon’s magic seal, I struck a deal with the remnants of the elder dragon.

Will it remain inside me and help me in the future, or will it be burned away by simultaneously wielding the Fire Dragon’s magic seal and the remnants of the Flame of Fire?
I kept dragging it to the negotiation table.
Unable to withstand my threats, the remnants of the Elder dragon eventually accepted the deal.
It would stay in my right eye and assist me from now on.
It was the only way for it to survive.

‘Behave yourself. I’ll even give you a reward once this is over.’
I took a deep breath, calming the remnants of the Elder dragon that were getting excited after exerting power for the first time in a while.

“That thing of yours, it’s not complete yet, is it?”
At that moment, Isabel slowly descended from the sky and spoke.
As expected, she’s perceptive.

“So what? It’s performing well enough against you.”
“Yeah, it seems that way.”

Isabel stopped her high-speed movements.
Instead, she stretched her wings back and gripped her sword tightly.
That was the worst possible move for me.

“So you’re planning to break through head-on.”

Isabel’s wings began to glow with bright white radiance.
It was proof that she had focused all her high-speed movement power into sheer penetrating force.
I quickly summoned a surge of cold energy.

In that instant, walls of ice sprang up one after another in front of me.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The ice walls shattered one by one.
Isabel had launched herself forward, activating her high-speed charge.

Amid the shattering fragments of the ice walls, I saw Isabel thrusting her sword forward.
The swirling cold air clung to her body.

Flap!
But the Wings of the Goddess repelled even the freezing energy of the Ice Dragon.
That’s just unfair.

Isabel’s sword was right in front of me.
However, since I had summoned several ice walls in quick succession, her speed was slightly reduced, allowing me to narrowly dodge the attack.

Flap!
The moment I lowered my stance, Isabel’s wings spread open once more.
She generated an air current in the opposite direction, halting abruptly in mid-air.
Then, from that position, she swung her sword down at me.

With the freedom of aerial movement, she could adjust her trajectory at will.

My knife-hand shot upward.

Clang!
The moment Isabel’s sword collided with my knife-hand, she stretched her wings upward.
With a gust of wind from behind her, the force in her sword doubled.
My arm was pushed back by the sheer power.

Stumbling, I thrust my other hand towards Isabel.

Clang!
This time, Isabel’s wings blocked my knife-hand.
Her wings then expanded and struck me.

The impact from her wings sent me flying, rolling across the ground.
But knowing the next attack would follow, I erected an ice wall at an angle as I rolled.

Thud!
I used the impact from colliding with the ice wall to regain my stance and blocked Isabel’s sword once again.

Isabel’s sword strikes came relentlessly.
My knife-hand desperately followed her sword’s movements, reaching out to intercept each blow.

Clang! Clang! Clang Clang!
Isabel wasn’t slowing down; in fact, she was getting even faster.

Even amidst this battle, Isabel was growing.
Growth through trials and adversity.
As expected of the main heroine.

Unfortunately, I’m not the protagonist-type character.
I don’t get that fantasy-like development of growing through battle.
All I can do is use every move I’ve prepared to the fullest.

Through her wings, I could see Isabel’s eyes.
She was catching her breath.

Of course.
The Wings of the Goddess aren’t omnipotent.
While they have incredible power and limitless applications, they also rapidly drain stamina.

Moreover, Isabel hasn’t fully mastered the Wings of the Goddess.
She’s managing to use them with her natural instincts.
But her fighting style isn’t fully developed.

On the other hand, I’m the complete opposite.
Stamina is my strength.
In terms of stamina, I have the upper hand over Isabel.
The endurance I’ve relentlessly built up is an impenetrable fortress.
All my abilities are rooted in my stamina.

Isabel is well aware of this, too.
Which means she’ll definitely make her move before her stamina runs out.

Crunch—
Sure enough, Isabel’s wings compressed and shrank.
At the same time, a blazing white light spread across her body.
The light began to radiate with intense energy.

I sighed as I watched.
‘She’s reached that level, huh.’
I realized just how seriously Isabel had been training all this time.

The incandescent light was concentrated entirely into her sword.
Her sword transformed into a completely different form than before.
The Goddess’s mark was engraved along the blade.

A radiant halo appeared behind Isabel as the surrounding light was drawn to her.
The air flowed backward around her, as if swirling in reverse.
A massive concentration of energy surged, revealing its terrifying power to the world.

The spectators watching the battle were all left breathless or stunned.
The overwhelming power granted by the Wings of the Goddess sent chills down their spines.

Naturally.
The Wings of the Goddess.
And who was the goddess who granted them?
The one regarded as possessing the most powerful strength in the world.

The Goddess of War
The developer of ‘Blazing Butterfly Arc’ designed her to resemble ‘Athena’ herself.

And now that the game has become reality,
the Goddess of War has undeniably become the most powerful goddess.

Isabel raised her sword above her head.
Her honey-blonde hair, radiant like the sun, fluttered in the wind.
Her amber eyes turned to gold.

She looked so majestic that one might truly believe the Goddess of War had descended.

A fierce gust of wind surged.
All I could do was stand before her.

If Isabel strikes down with her sword here, it’s over.
Which means I must use my own trump card.

A biting cold wind swept through.

The gazes that had been fixated on Isabel gradually began to turn toward me, one by one.
Above my tilted head, the horns of the Ice Dragon sprouted.
Behind my waist, an icy tail had risen before I realized it.
Ice scales covering my arms formed living armor.
Even my face grew more distant from human appearance.

“A d-dragonkin!”
One of the mages shouted in shock.

The unique trait of the Elder dragon’s magic.
Dragonification.
They realized that I had transformed into a dragonkin.

However, none of the mages dared to approach me.
My eyes briefly met the area where the mages were gathered.
There stood a man with blue hair flowing in the wind.

The Blue Tower Master.
Emperadion Sazaris.
Sharin’s father, who was preventing the mages from intervening.

Beside him, the White Wood Lord stood, eyes gleaming with a sinister smile.
Both of them knew I was controlling the remnants of the Elder dragon.

A frosty breath escaped from my parted lips.
An Elder dragon’s magic truly reveals its power when used by a dragonkin.

Crack! Crack! Crack!
From my hands to my elbows,
massive gauntlets of ice were formed.

Gauntlets of the Ice Dragon

My eyes, each glowing in a different color, stared straight at Isabel.
She too was staring directly at me from within the light of the goddess.

Since Isabel had gone all out, I revealed my full power as well.

Boom—
But I’m sorry.
I have no intention of ending it here.

‘Come.’

Summon Thunderclap.
——– ——– ——– —–!

From the pitch-black storm clouds that had gathered in the sky, a bolt of blue lightning struck down.

At the sudden lightning strike, the audience was thrown into panic.
Within the dazzling blue light, Isabel and I moved simultaneously.

Inside the icy gauntlets, the magic engravings on my body began to glow.

Magic Engraving • Lightning Catcher

The raging lightning surged through my steel body and was absorbed.
Electric currents surged through the Ice Dragon’s Gauntlets.
A storm of overwhelming power erupted from my fists.

The remnants of the Elder dragon devoured the lightning and began to transform.
The remnants of the Elder dragon are a curse.
Even if the Ice Dragon cast the curse, it’s not fixed in form as an Ice Dragon.
Thus, it can change form according to the power it’s granted.

There are four known Elder dragons in total.
The Fire Dragon, the Ice Dragon, the Earth Dragon,
and lastly, the ruler of the skies who commands lightning.

The Sky Dragon.

The most feared among the Elder dragons was the Sky Dragon.
But the Sky Dragon was merely a figure recorded in ancient history.
Its existence was uncertain.

I know the truth.
The Sky Dragon is not an Elder dragon.
It is the mad transcendent sage who engraved the remnants of the Elder dragon upon himself.

Zeryon.
He is the one etched into history as the Sky Dragon.

The cold aura surrounding me transformed into lightning.
The Ice Dragon’s Gauntlets morphed into Thunder Gauntlets.

At this very moment, the Sky Dragon, which had long vanished from the world, revealed itself.

Sky Dragonification

The pinnacle of power I have achieved.

Isabel looked at me and let out a hollow laugh.
To challenge the Goddess, the Sky Dragon spread its wings.

“You truly are…”
With that laugh, Isabel gripped her sword tightly.

As I leapt forward, Isabel swung her sword down.

Victory

The Goddess’s declaration of victory collided with the Sky Dragon’s fist, and a blinding light engulfed the entire area.

Round of 64 in the International Individual Tournament.
It was the end of an extraordinary battle, one that wouldn’t be seen even in the finals.