Ch.121A Mere Illusion. (2)

BOOM!

With a thunderous sound, Eryas kicked off the ground and lunged at Olivia.

The aura emitted by the dragon once called the Mad Dragon was on a completely different level from before. Even Kiel would feel that facing such power head-on would mean death.

But Olivia didn’t back down.

Tssssst!

No explosion followed the thunderous sound. The barrier Olivia deployed completely absorbed Eryas’s attack. Not even a crack appeared.

Eryas groaned and quickly retreated. His fist was numb. As Olivia had said, it was a type of magic he had never seen before.

One corner of Olivia’s mouth curled upward.

“And you call yourself the master of magic.”

The ground split into thousands of massive fragments and shot up into the sky. Enormous rocks began to swirl like a massive storm.

At the center was Olivia. Exhaling breath charged with lightning energy, she appeared to transcend humanity.

“To my eyes, you look equally pathetic.”

Olivia’s figure was nowhere to be seen. Only her voice could be heard.

Eryas tried to spread his magical power to gauge Olivia’s position. But it was impossible. This entire area had already become Olivia’s domain.

“Ugh! My control is…!”

“Carthian, you take care of Duke Kiel. You and Olivia don’t match well.”

Carthian was the White Dragon who controlled cold. Originally, just revealing his true form would have enough power to freeze an entire city, but…

The cold was already under Olivia’s command.

The only thing Carthian could control was his own body.

With a cracking sound, Eryas’s appearance began to change.

Manifestation.

The magic dragons use when releasing their polymorphed form to reveal their true appearance.

The world was being covered by someone’s shadow. Then in the next moment, the air split and flames erupted as if about to burst. Through the falling ashes, something was revealing itself.

Noble scales shining like ruby. Fierce eyes reminiscent of a demon.

[Huff… much better.]

It felt like an active volcano boiling over. An intense heat wave emanated from Eryas, instantly melting the surrounding ice into water.

The fierce flames were growing larger, using the Great Forest as kindling.

A druid who was evacuating the elves spoke urgently.

“Lord of the Red Dragon! What are you doing! Stop the flames immediately…!”

[Shut up. You elf bitch who doesn’t know your place. If you glare at me like that one more time, I’ll pluck out your eyes.]

At the dragon’s fierce words, the druid’s body momentarily froze.

Eryas’s narrowed pupils glared at the druid and said.

[If we don’t stop Olivia now, not just this forest but the entire world will perish. But if we stop her here, we can get away with losing just the Great Forest.]

“…”

[Don’t just look at the trees; think about the forest.]

The druid bit her lip until it nearly bled.

“…Promise me you won’t touch the World Tree.”

[Don’t worry. As mad as I may be, I’m not that insane.]

“Then… I will join you.”

Wooooong!

The druid’s eyes gleamed with brilliant green light. Simultaneously, the entire trunk of the World Tree began to convulse like an aspen.

[…Oh ho.]

Eryas couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration.

Being closely connected to nature himself, he could feel it.

He had wondered what gave her the confidence to speak down to a Dragon Lord like himself, but indeed, she possessed power worthy of it.

[You’re no ordinary druid.]

Rustle…

Pure natural energy spread from the World Tree.

Trees that were burning and freezing, about to end their lives, raised their drooping branches and began to regenerate. Plants used the flames and cold as nutrients to grow larger.

Roooaar!

The World Tree also began to extend its branches infinitely toward the sky.

The druid spoke in a low voice.

“Now most wounds will heal immediately.”

[What’s the limit?]

“As long as the head isn’t severed or the heart doesn’t burst, it can regenerate.”

[That better be true.]

Eryas’s body soared into the sky. Wings recorded as calamities in numerous history books advanced, breaking through the storm of rocks.

Olivia, who had been quietly observing, adjusted her grip on her primordial staff. Her wide sleeves fluttered greatly. As the staff was wielded like a whip, the world was dyed in the fiercest winter.

Crackle!

Eryas wasn’t just standing by watching either. He inhaled to his limit, then unleashed his breath with all his might.

Kwaaaaa!

For a brief moment, the cold faltered.

Instead of approaching Olivia further, Eryas circled around her. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust the power of his breath, but according to his past life experience, surely…

Crack!

Electricity surged. The breath that came into contact with the current swelled up and burst. The tremendous magical power that formed the breath was torn to shreds, showing just how immense the power of a single stream of electricity was.

In his past life, how shocked he had been at that sight.

‘As expected, it was a trap.’

If he hadn’t urgently stopped supplying magical power, his body would have been torn apart.

Instead of panicking, Eryas continued his attacks. Olivia still wasn’t attacking directly. She only blocked or counterattacked when attacked.

That came as tremendous mental pressure to Eryas.

It was as if she was saying that whatever he did made no difference to her.

That touched the dragon’s arrogant pride. Naturally, anger rose and his vision narrowed.

But Eryas endured.

He couldn’t waste his second life.

Seeing Eryas circling around her, Olivia spoke.

“Red Dragon.”

Eryas didn’t answer. His lungs swelled greatly once more.

“How long do you plan to stall?”

As Olivia spoke, she thought about how to make the Red Dragon lose his reason.

Ordinary provocation wouldn’t be enough. Then?

Olivia slightly raised one corner of her mouth. And with a hint of mockery, she whispered.

“Are you scared?”

That was enough.

Seeing Eryas charging with a roar, Olivia smiled faintly.

“So foolish.”

Olivia muttered as she created a massive sphere of light. It was the primordial lightning she had used against the Rebel.

Light burst forth. Lightning split into hundreds of millions of branches, all aimed at a single point.

Eryas sensed it. That attack was dangerous.

Before his body could regenerate with the World Tree’s blessing, it would explode.

Tssssst!

Even before the current touched him, he could feel the tingling on his skin.

[Carthian! Lightning!]

Carthian, who had been facing off against Kiel, manifested without hesitation and slowly opened his mouth. Eryas immediately gathered his breath.

A battle between two dragons and one human.

[Kraaaaa!]

Eryas somehow managed to block the incoming lightning.

Not far away, he sensed the Master of Dark’s presence. His arrival meant reinforcements had also arrived.

If he could just endure this. If he could just hold on…

An immense pain surged from his dragon heart.

His seemingly endless magical power was also showing its limits. But despite that, the lightning was advancing faster.

Crackle!

Electricity sprayed in all directions. Even though it was just a byproduct of the magic, not the magic itself, the dragons’ scales were being crushed.

Eryas and Carthian, their bodies completely blackened, let out terrible screams.

And so, a moment that felt like eternity passed.

Two massive bodies fell beneath the dark clouds.

Kuuuuung!

“…A monster.”

The druid swallowed dryly. Without the World Tree’s blessing, the two Dragon Lords would have lost their lives long ago.

She had vowed to prevent such a thing from happening again, but she couldn’t stop her body from trembling.

In the past, someone had muttered something upon seeing that form.

“Witch of the Final Hour…”

Looking at Eryas struggling to raise his massive body, Olivia smiled.

As expected. He didn’t die.

That attack was clearly Olivia’s full power.

Yet, the returnees endured.

With just three people.

“Do you want to continue?”

[…Laugh while you still can.]

“Words befitting a loser…”

Sensing a sudden killing intent, Olivia urgently twisted her upper body.

Tssst!

Olivia’s shadow lunged to kill its owner.

Swoosh!

The shadow traced a brilliant trajectory as it stabbed at Olivia’s vital points. But Olivia didn’t panic and spread a powerful light to erase the shadow itself.

“The Master of Dark, I see.”

With a slithering sound, the Master of Dark rose from the ground. He glared at Olivia with eyes full of murderous intent.

Olivia glanced at Eryas and Carthian, who had already regained their posture.

“Last time it was three. This time it’s four.”

Olivia opened her mouth.

“Do you think four will be enough?”

“No.”

Olivia didn’t mention what had happened in the south.

Because the determination to stop Olivia even at the cost of dishonor was evident in the Master of Dark’s eyes.

Swoosh!

Dozens of arrows were shot at Olivia from the edge of her vision. Familiar arrows imbued with anti-magic energy.

Olivia frowned.

“…Five?”

She easily deflected the arrows with a swing of her staff. Activating a tracking spell, she shot a lightning spear toward the direction where the Devilhunter was.

First, she needed to block the ranged attacks…

Kwaaang!

The lightning spear exploded midway.

“No, it’s six,” said the Rebel who had appeared suddenly, blocking Olivia’s magic.

“…Six?”

Carthian and Eryas flew in from both directions.

The Master of Dark and the Devilhunter lunged at Olivia’s blind spots.

The Rebel blocked Olivia’s attacks, and the druid provided support so the battle could continue.

At this rate, it really seemed like she was the villain.

“Ahaha. Ha, ahahahaha…!”

Olivia burst into laughter.

To catch just one person, six of the continent’s apex gathered.

Her brilliant blue eyes filled with mockery.

“You’ve already lost.”