Ch.310Chapter 310: The Great Confrontation (1)

Woooong-!!

The clear, elegant sound of a properly wielded combat sword resonated through the air.

A pure white flash of light still dwelled within the dragon sword, matching the sword’s resonance.

These sensations remained intact within me even after successfully completing my surprise attack.

My momentum was abundant, and my will even more so.

After slashing Desire’s chest once, I could have delivered another strike, but…

The overwhelming aura emanating from Desire, who transformed the moment the blade entered her body…

I quickly pulled back, judging there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

As I widened the distance between us, all sorts of thoughts bloomed in my mind.

Though I say “all sorts,” most were simply reflections on how well my surprise attack had landed.

Even as I called upon Fafnir’s name for the final battle and donned the Red Dragon Armor…

Desire had been distracted, her expression revealing her wandering thoughts, and I had successfully exploited that opening.

After closing the distance with Desire using movements so swift that even I was surprised by my enhanced physical abilities from the Red Dragon Armor…

I had swung my dragon sword, infused with fighting spirit, with all my might at Desire’s chest—who still hadn’t noticed my approach—leaving a long gash. It was clearly a better outcome than expected.

My approach was swift and precise.

The attack I delivered in that fleeting moment was so perfect it needed no further explanation.

And I managed to widen the gap between Desire and myself without suffering any counterattack.

By anyone’s standards, it was a flawless surprise attack with no shortcomings, and yet…

As time passed and I continued to distance myself from Desire, a strange sense of disappointment rose within me.

‘I swung with the intention of cutting her in two.’

It was a strike delivered by exploiting an opening created by the opponent’s carelessness.

Despite facing the unreasonable situation of having to deliver a limited strike in an extremely limited timeframe…

I prided myself on having struck Desire with all the power I could currently muster in that instant.

While I hadn’t expected her to die from it…

I had hoped to inflict at least a serious injury.

“Hmm…? I’ve been cut.”

What disappointed me was that my desperate strike had amounted to nothing more than a shallow cut that only elicited surprise from its recipient.

However, separate from being discouraged by Desire’s nonchalance…

Thud-

As my final step touched the cold obsidian floor while rapidly widening the distance from Desire…

Fwoosh-!!

I heard the sound of blood spurting from Desire’s body where my sword had cut below her chest.

Though I used the expression “spurting,” it wasn’t gushing like a fountain or anything of that volume.

Drip- Drip-

It merely lightly stained her clothing and dropped a few drops on the obsidian floor, but…

It at least gave me some small comfort in confirming that I had indeed landed a blow that Desire couldn’t completely dismiss with her current bravado.

Of course, this comfort wouldn’t last long.

Because I saw the wound disappear without a trace the moment Desire placed her hand on her bleeding chest that was staining the obsidian floor.

It was incomparable to my own super-regenerative abilities.

Desire’s extreme physique—her divine body—was so robust that she could erase wounds from her body without a trace with a mere gesture.

And this surprise attack showed me that even if I temporarily broke through that robustness, without enough power to maintain that breakthrough, it wouldn’t last long.

Would I need to put in incomparably more power and fervor than I just did to leave a proper sword wound on her?

“Did you… just cut me?”

My contemplation was interrupted by Desire’s voice as she oddly shrugged her shoulders while looking at me.

Judging by her reaction—asking if I had just cut her with my sword—I wondered if I had even managed to cause her any real pain, let alone a fatal wound.

…How deflating.

The recipient of my strike wasn’t even crying out in pain.

Seeing her express only surprise at being hit by such an attack, as if she hadn’t expected it at all, truly made me feel drained.

Should I be angry that my full-power strike only managed to surprise the demon god?

Or should I face the reality that I had no more cards to play in this situation and despair? As I wavered at this crossroads…

[No, it definitely connected properly, so don’t be too disheartened.]

Fafnir, who had been silently observing the situation, calmly informed me that my strike had indeed properly affected Desire, though I didn’t understand what he meant.

“Haha… hahaha.”

Desire, who had been letting out somewhat bewildered laughter, suddenly…

Boom-!!

Her knees hit the obsidian floor with a loud noise, and…

“Kuhak!!”

A violent cough filled with immense pain, mixed with blood, confirmed that Fafnir’s words were correct.

And this wasn’t just any blood.

When her chest was cut by the dragon sword, the blood that flowed was so minimal it barely deserved to be called droplets.

But the blood she was now spitting from her mouth was dark red, and so copious that five or six wine glasses wouldn’t be enough to contain it.

…What’s going on? My strike was barely worth calling a cut, yet why is she suddenly spitting up a pint of blood?

I was dumbfounded by this incomprehensible sight.

“…Ah, damn, I was mistaken. The light wrapped around it was so brilliant I thought it was a holy sword.”

Desire’s statement after spitting up blood and regaining her composure only increased my confusion rather than alleviating it.

“Kuhak!!”

As I watched Desire, who still occasionally groaned in pain and spat blood even after standing up…

[Young one. Listen carefully.]

Fafnir’s voice, so matter-of-fact that I wondered if he had ever been this serious since our first meeting, awakened my confused mind.

And that straightforward voice of Fafnir resonating in my now-alert mind was demanding just one thing from me.

[Before she schemes anything more here, you must strike her down with that sword in your hand.]

This was something I wanted to do with my own hands even without Fafnir’s demand, so I didn’t think much of it, but…

‘Can I actually strike Desire with this sword?’

Something felt off about his confident demand, so I asked for confirmation.

[Of course you can. Didn’t you hear what she just said? That she was a red dragon like me.]

I received only Fafnir’s rebuke, with a tone suggesting I was asking something needlessly obvious again.

Ah, so that’s how it works?

As the fog in my mind cleared instantly at Fafnir’s confirmation that I could strike Desire with the dragon sword, my mood brightened accordingly, but…

“…!!”

I twisted my body to avoid the pitch-black malice rushing toward me before I could enjoy that refreshed feeling for long.

Woooong-!!

Despite clearly avoiding it by a hair’s breadth, I felt a fierce vibration directly resonating through my skin, penetrating the Red Dragon Armor.

“Sigh… Not only did you land a hit on me, but now you’re even dodging my attacks…”

Desire’s lament, coming from not far from my ear, was pushing me into the midst of a fierce battle.

There was no reason to leave Desire floundering as she tried to recover from the opening created by her failed large-movement attack, so…

“Haaah!!”

With a short battle cry, I swung the dragon sword with enough force to vertically bisect Desire’s body.

Even with my overwhelmingly sharpened senses, I couldn’t properly determine whether this sword strike would succeed or fail, but…

Woong-!!

The cold sweat running down Desire’s face as she barely blocked my sword strike with her arms, reinforced with tremendous fighting spirit, gave me a strange confidence.

This was the moment when the final battle to accomplish the great task I had been waiting for so long began in earnest.

The battle to defeat the demon god who was trying to implant her twisted values in this land.

Crackcrackcrackcrack-!!

A vague cracking sound was stimulating me—whether it was audible to my ears or flowing through my mind, or even caused by someone other than myself, I couldn’t tell.

But being swept up in the heat of battle took precedence over identifying its nature.

#

Swaaack-!!

The trajectory of the dragon sword, filled with a ferocity that belied the simple downward swing, and…

Boooong-!!

The collision of Desire’s flesh-and-blood body, which felt more like swinging a blunt weapon than a body despite being made of blood and flesh, created sound.

Kwaaaang-!!!

A terrifying roar so intense one might question whether it could truly exist in this world.

A man who had transcended one boundary but still remained within the confines of humanity, and…

A truly transcendent, great being who was violent, bellicose, and cruel, but whose transcendence overturned all these flaws.

The difference in their levels was considerable for them to be competing against each other, but…

The demeanors of Kal and Desire, who quickly moved their bodies to avoid entering each other’s range after their sword and arms collided, were quite contrasting despite their respective levels.

Kal, whose emotions were difficult to read due to wearing the Red Dragon Armor, showed no signs of fatigue.

Despite repeatedly executing incredibly intense and sharp movements with his sword without rest…

He moved with disciplined motions as if each action gave him vitality, whereas…

“Huff… huff…”

White breath formed by rough breathing emerged from Desire’s mouth, still seemingly affected by Kal’s surprise attack, filling this pitch-black space.

Tired… me?

This was the thought that arose in Desire’s mind the moment she noticed the white breath emanating from her mouth.

She wanted to vehemently deny the thought that had just surfaced with a rough groan, but…

‘Perhaps that’s true…’

Desire, who had excellently tempered the momentary passion that had arisen, naturally accepted the thought that had just occurred to her.

Having awakened not long ago from a long sleep taken to preserve her body for her great task…

She needed to use her strength to obtain the key that would be the most significant factor in realizing her great task, but…

Her body couldn’t keep up with her martial prowess, which could only be described as transcendent in its maturity, showing this unseemly appearance unbecoming of her level.

While Desire was indeed tired in all aspects, encompassing both body and mind…

Crackcrackcrack-!!

Despite acknowledging her fatigue, Desire’s mouth involuntarily twisted with ecstasy at the bizarre noise that embodied the longing and aspiration filling her heart as she exhaled rough breaths.

Even though she hadn’t taken Kal’s divinity, which she could take at any time if she wanted, despite not being fully awakened yet…

The roar that would normally be heard only when the divinity residing in her body naturally increased in size and power was strongly stimulating her senses, causing her to show such a reaction.

I need to end this quickly.

The only thought that arose in Desire’s mind after blocking Kal’s slash was the great desire to make the key before her truly serve as a key to realize her great task.

It was truly a desire worthy of her name.