Ch.277Next Step (3)

The battle began with the Maggot Dragon emitting green and purple flashes from the tattoos on its neck and chest, which resembled the segments of a caterpillar.

With combat experience spanning more than a month or two, I immediately recognized this gesture as a sign that it was about to spew something. I hastily swung my sword through the air—

[—■■■■■■■■■!!!]

Right after, the Maggot Dragon’s mouth split wide open on both sides, and with a horrific screech, a torrent of toxic substance poured directly toward me.

The “Dragon Breath,” a signature and primary attack method of dragons, is on a completely different level compared to what other magical beasts or draconic subspecies use.

Though it varies by species, dragons typically supply magical energy to a specific energy storage pouch located in their chest. When they pull the trigger, this energy is completely converted and expelled through their mouth.

Since they’re simply converting and expelling overflowing magical energy, the efficiency is abysmal—worse than the worst imaginable—but the power output matches this overwhelming consumption.

What particularly distinguishes dragon breath from other breaths is the combination of overwhelming firepower supported by the Dragon Heart and the ability to fire it stably and repeatedly—factors that contribute to dragons’ elevated threat level.

Although I couldn’t rely solely on this due to its overlap with “dragon language,” which holds the highest position in utility…

What mattered was that this powerful breath attack was being directed at none other than me.

And because of that, I focused all my effort on defense.

【—Slash!】

What my swung sword cut was space itself. By physically severing the continuity of space and isolating that section, the breath couldn’t pour into a space that was no longer physically connected.

[■■ ■ ■■■!!!]

Thanks to this, I was able to protect myself from that breath. Immediately after retrieving my sword, the massive Maggot Dragon that was Delil began chanting something like incantations repeatedly, unleashing the powers of “demons” into the physical world one after another.

Lesser demons of “Gluttony,” inferior to the Maggot Dragon, began to appear one after another. As souls were additionally crushed and disappeared, the number of demons increased rapidly.

At first, it seemed to stop at double digits, then exceeded a hundred, then broke into the thousands, and finally easily surpassed an unimaginable tens of thousands.

There were at least hundreds of mid-level demons. The low-level ones were already increasing wildly, on pace to exceed 100,000, and among them, I could easily spot individuals emanating the same presence as demons I had personally sliced before.

Thus, merely with the passage of time, the enemy’s demonic forces began to increase madly, but in this situation, it needed to know one thing:

From the beginning, combat above the high-rank level had already transcended the realm of mortality.

I raised a mace from my bosom—a blunt weapon with an egg-sized metal attachment—filling it to the brim with an endless flow of aura.

As I poured in energy, it was absorbed completely, gradually causing sparks to crackle around the mace. The changes that began to appear on the blunt weapon directly affected by this power were truly spectacular.

One was, naturally, weight enhancement—a special means of increasing the mace’s weight to dozens of tons, precisely proportional to the amount of aura applied.

The other was the purple aura lightning, physically manifested as one of the mace’s functions.

‘—Release!!’

—KWAAAAAAANG!!!!

—CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE!!!

The current that burst forth the moment I released its power just before impact seemed to voraciously destroy everything, instantly turning thousands of demons to dust as I swung the mace, leading to devastation with each strike.

This purple lightning, where aura is released to possess physical destructive power, became a horrific nightmare in their minds.

And as I swept away these demons literally, dozens of black spheres appeared in the air somewhere, accompanied by the voice of someone casting a spell.

The products of ruin and destruction. The power constituting the highest-level black magic “Terminus of Destruction” condensed, forming what appeared outwardly as black spheres.

In this situation where the ultimate black magic that paints the target’s fate with destruction upon direct hit was being cast, I very calmly drew my sword instead of the mace…

【—Slash!】

With the transparent trajectory of the Unicorn Longsword cutting through the air, my vision instantly changed, transporting me right in front of those destructive forces.

A slash that cuts “distance” and “space.” Moving with the mysterious power that allows me to cut what should not be cuttable at will, I immediately cut through the magical structure constituting the black magic, releasing the magical energy—

[—■■■■■■■!!!]

As I soared into the air to eliminate the black magic attack, the Maggot Dragon, which had been concealing itself in the void until now, suddenly revealed itself, forcing an aerial battle.

At the core of every strategy it employed as it flew toward me spewing toxic breath was the overwhelming ability stemming from its superior specs—the pure-blooded dragon lineage enhanced by demonic power.

Perhaps it chose such tactics, charging with beast-like flesh and abilities instead of weapons, because it knew full well that it was significantly lacking in physical prowess…

‘…Stand down.’

—Slash!

From my perspective, having already reached a stable level of specs based on “Titan’s Might” and possessing techniques to supplement this, such a Maggot Dragon charging with these meager thoughts was not particularly challenging.

Simple labor of cutting, slicing, and endlessly carving through rising flesh while responding only to occasional variables.

Except for the annoyance of constantly being drenched in disgusting, sticky greenish-yellow bodily fluids, I had successfully gained the mount at some point and was one-sidedly butchering the Maggot Dragon.

If it tried to create distance, I cut “distance” itself and clung to it through warping. I aimed directly for its belly skin, taking advantage of its short limbs due to its plump body structure.

I experienced stabbing something like a skewer into its belly skin several times based on brute strength, and occasionally learned to prevent its black magic casting by cutting the structure itself before it could be cast.

Of course, its bizarrely powerful regenerative ability and surprise attacks using consumed souls were extremely lethal, but even such attacks have their limits.

—Crack! Crack! Cra—

—CLANG!

Breaking the “invisible jaws” that were biting through the air and flying wildly toward me, and instantly warping to destroy any black magic being cast—this combination of abilities was truly game-breaking.

And how long had I been engaged in this one-sided battle?

‘…Found it.’

Because I hadn’t taken my eyes off it even once from the beginning until now, I was able to find the “main body” of Delil Pantrien inside that mass of flesh.

He, who seemed to have been hiding his identity using dozens of methods, began to move convulsively the moment he noticed my gaze, consuming dozens more souls to try something, but…

For all his attempts to try something new, Delil Pantrien had already exposed most of the means at his disposal to me.

In other words, there was no reason I couldn’t devise countermeasures against an opponent of this level.

Once again cutting “distance” to instantly move onto the shell of his Maggot Dragon form, I sliced through the flesh, and this time, to leave no room for escape, my hand extended into the space fixed by my overworked eyes.

—KWAAAANG!!!

The flesh was completely crushed, and dangling out from inside was the ugly body of Delil Pantrien, wrapped in something resembling a high-rank level entity.

Perhaps having sensed his future, he was looking at me with somewhat empty eyes, but…

—Slash!

My sword, disregarding those eyes, simply cut through his shriveled soul-like entity, which had already contracted hideously from the backlash of soul consumption.

And… as I looked down at the corpse sprawled on the ground with its neck pierced, I suddenly noticed something strange.

Come to think of it, “that thing” at the center of the absorbed souls seemed somewhat different from ordinary souls from the beginning.

The mastermind who formed and developed this otherworld had undoubtedly been destroyed and permanently annihilated when that soul-like entity was destroyed, so why was this wasteland still maintaining its form?

‘Huh…?’

Therefore, genuinely feeling something off, I sensed my intuition suddenly going blank and tried to do something urgently, but…

【Finally, at last, I have reached here】

‘…Huh?’

By then, I was already a step too late.