Ch.1171Into the Dragon’s Mouth

The deep sea dragon. Leviathan could cause tsunamis, create lakes and seas, and manipulate surrounding water freely as if it were its own limbs.

What would it mean to fight such a creature underwater?

– CRACK!

What else could it mean? Literally getting beaten as easily as breathing.

Everything around me was the enemy’s weapon, and I was essentially already in full contact with those weapons.

All of the enemy’s attacks had transformed into unavoidable consecutive strikes that hit the moment they manifested.

Evasion was impossible.

Even if I predicted attacks and tried to dodge, the enemy’s attacks were already exploding wherever I moved, so no matter where I dodged, I’d end up getting hit by something.

I could choose directions that seemed less dangerous, but honestly, there wasn’t much meaningful difference.

To put it roughly, it was like being trapped in a washing machine filled with needles and nails, and choosing to be stabbed by needles instead of nails?

– SPLASH!

“Gack…!”

No, not needles—this was just nails and more nails.

An involuntary groan escaped me. An impact like a bomb exploding on my stomach penetrated through skin and flesh all the way to my internal organs.

If I hadn’t defended with holy power, my entire abdomen would have been blown away by that impact.

With such blows repeating relentlessly, this was truly a taste of death.

And that wasn’t all.

– CRUNCH!

A vortex twisted around my limbs like wringing out a rag.

I couldn’t shake it off or cut it, and its force was so fierce that if I relaxed even for a moment, my limbs would be torn off.

“Nnngh…!”

But those I could at least try to endure. The streams of water forcing their way into the openings in my face were truly spine-chilling.

It was obvious what would happen if I allowed this invasion. It intended to stir and burst my brain and internal organs into mush.

Even I would die instantly from that. That’s why it was so terrifying.

‘Get away!’

An instinctive response. Like a priest casting a miracle of protection, I expelled the holy power dwelling within me and layered it over my skin.

– WHOOSH!

The cross-shaped stigma in the center of my chest burned brightly, emitting an even stronger light, and the aurora that had been fluttering like a skirt spread and covered my entire body.

Just like Aishan-Gioro Hersella’s divine body, my entire skin, including my face, transformed to resemble a night sky filled with stars.

Full-body defense using holy power.

The holiness of stars and dawn, covering my entire body without the smallest gap, blocked and dispersed the flow of water trying to penetrate me.

– Crack, CRACK…!

Of course, the fact that I was submerged underwater hadn’t changed, so my limbs still felt like they were being twisted, and shock waves continued to pound my entire body, but…

‘…I’ve overcome the first hurdle at least.’

At least I prevented my insides from turning to mush, right? That’s enough for now.

【 You managed to respond? You adapt quickly. I’ll commend you for that much. 】

The time it took to get this far was less than 3 seconds.

【 But it’s meaningless. 】

The underwater battle had only just begun.

—-

【 Don’t you understand yet? No matter how much time you buy with futile struggles, nothing will change. 】

The telepathic waves echoed heavily like an echo from somewhere in the deep sea.

Leviathan’s mockery, hidden in the darkness of the seabed, kept ringing in my already dizzy head.

【 I’ve sealed your flames. Your sword can no longer reach me, and your powers of collapse and severance will be eroded by seawater and fade into meaninglessness. What do you have left now? 】

Leviathan boasted that it had perfectly blocked all my means of attack. Its tone was extremely arrogant and triumphant, as if it had already won.

【 What remains? What can you possibly do! Come, show me. Struggle all you want! In this deep sea darkness that will devour your light! 】

Hah, it really does ramble on. Is it because this ancient being is thousands of years old and has forgotten how to speak concisely?

Listening to this one-sided mockery was infuriating. The irritation was so intense it pushed even pain and crisis awareness to the back of my mind.

Damn water snake.

I wanted to retort and tell it to shut up with its nonsense, but… damn it. I couldn’t open my mouth to shout underwater.

Besides, what it said wasn’t entirely wrong…

As it said, there were clear limitations even to the severing slash that could cut through all substances in the world without resistance.

The driving force behind creating and maintaining the vacuum slash with spatial severance capabilities—the power I imbued into that slash—was not infinite.

The further the slash traveled and the more fierce the enemy’s resistance, the faster that power would be consumed until it eventually disappeared along with the slash itself.

In other words, even the severing slash that nothing but spatial manipulation could block could be depleted and eliminated before it reached its target.

Since it was the most inefficient method, hardly any opponents had countered me this way before.

But this deep sea was a magical realm permeated with the creature’s mana everywhere.

Without even needing to consider efficiency, this entire sea of water filled with mana was already a mana barrier blocking my sword.

If I fired a severing slash here… it would probably travel about thirty meters before dissipating. In short, it would be a meaningless waste of energy.

The runes of flame or collapse would also be difficult to activate verbally, and even if manifested, they would be neutralized by seawater and disappear immediately.

The declaration that most of my attack methods were sealed was close to the truth.

The only means left to me were to approach within thirty meters and swing my sword, or use Skywalk, which was in a completely different class in terms of range.

For that, I first needed to accurately locate the creature in this dark, cold deep sea.

‘…Where is it hiding? Front? Back? No, below?’

Gritting my teeth and enduring the shock waves that endlessly struck my entire body, I quickly turned my head to scan in all directions.

I could no longer sense the creature’s presence as before. Even with my senses sharpened to their limit, I couldn’t feel its presence.

Was it because the surrounding mana was interfering with detection, or was the creature cowardly concealing its presence and hiding?

Either way, the only method to find Leviathan was to locate it directly with my eyes in this darkness.

So, where could it be?

‘This space probably isn’t as vast as a real ocean. It’s deep, but the width itself must be limited.’

For convenience I called it the deep sea, but this body of water couldn’t be as vast as an actual ocean on the surface.

It probably used its water-controlling authority to trap an enormous amount of seawater in a narrow area, creating an environment similar to the deep sea.

From the outside, it might look like a towering column of water reaching the cavern ceiling?

There was no concrete evidence, but that seemed likely.

Think about it.

Filling the entire underground grand cavern with water of this depth in an instant? That doesn’t make sense.

With such ability, wouldn’t this creature be the strongest in the underground, war of demigods or not?

The aura I felt earlier was certainly powerful, but not at the level of the strongest underground being.

So this space must be more vertical than horizontal, with a pillar-like structure. If so, the creature’s position would probably be…

‘Above.’

Above, or below. I was certain it was above.

Why?

Just look at how that water snake talks—its personality clearly shows it enjoys looking down on others with contempt.

Even now, it’s probably looking down at me from above, laughing at me as I bounce around like a ball getting hit by shock waves.

‘…Well, let’s see how long you can keep that up.’

It thinks it has sealed my attack methods, concealed its presence, and is wearing me down with relentless attacks, so victory is assured if this continues…

But that’s a big misunderstanding.

– CRUNCH…!

Fighting against the pressure of the vortex twisting my limbs, I pulled my clenched left arm in front of my eyes.

‘What’s left, you ask? What can I do, you wonder?’

If you’re so curious, I’ll show you.

Watch carefully and remember for the rest of your life. What I can do.

The means I have left.

‘Kudsedra.’

The next moment, a brilliant radiance burst from inside Frosting.

The holy light emitted by the Ring of Returning Seal—which I had given to Lena but temporarily took back before the battle just in case—shone brightly.

As that dazzling beam of light flickered and formed the shape of a massive fire dragon.

“KRAAAAAa―arrgh…!? gorororooh…?!”

With a wild roar, Kudsedra emerged into reality, thrashing about and spewing fierce bubbles in dismay at the rushing water.

…Can’t this one breathe underwater?

Well, not my problem anyway.

‘Hey, close your mouth.’

I threw myself into Kudsedra’s thrashing maw, grabbing its upper teeth and forcibly pulling down.

Seeming to finally understand what I wanted, Kudsedra stopped its convulsions and firmly closed its mouth.

– THUD!

Complete darkness arrived with a heavy collision sound.

The seawater that remained in the dragon’s mouth flowed out between its teeth mixed with exhaled breath, and the empty space filled with hot air.

It was unpleasant air—damp, smelly, and lukewarm—but at least now I could speak again.

【 Ha, Lord Haschal…? What is this suddenly…? 】

A voice filled with bewilderment. Kudsedra’s telepathic waves, not Leviathan’s, resonated in my mind.

As expected.

Though not a great dragon, it was still a dragon. Of course it could use telepathy. It used to use it frequently in the past.

Good, communication won’t be a problem then.

So.

“Can you hear me? I’m fighting a sea dragon in something like an ocean right now. I need to beat it to death, so go up. Right now.”

【 Sea dragon…? Guh, kaak…! This pressure, what is this?! Guk, kraaguk…! This is, dragon-level…! 】

Kudsedra, now taking the seawater impacts in my place, groaned in pain while asking for more details about the situation.

“No time to explain. Go up!”

I ignored it. There was no time to explain, and explanations would be meaningless anyway.

【 Kuuuugh…! 】

Though groaning, Kudsedra flapped its wings vigorously and shot upward.

As expected of a dragon.

Befitting a fire dragon whose pure strength and toughness surpassed mine, Kudsedra steadfastly endured Leviathan’s fierce attacks while swimming.

– CRAAACK!

From the continuous drum-like sounds of tearing and breaking, it seemed like it wasn’t just enduring but was being actively shattered in real-time.

But well, it’s not like it would die anyway, right?

So endure as much as you can. Until I complete all my preparations inside here.

Until my sword reaches the neck of that damn water snake, Leviathan.