Ch.317Chapter 317: The Great Confrontation (6)

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The divinity that had once elevated her to greatness disappeared without a trace due to an unexpected backflow.

Even when her divine body, repeatedly crumbling from its inability to contain divinity, faced a desperate situation so damaged it could no longer be called divine.

What filled Desire’s heart—who had renamed herself with an ancient word meaning unfulfilled longing and desire upon stepping into transcendence—was rage.

It was bottomless rage toward the being who had, in an instant, destroyed her chance to be reborn—a chance that had been just one small step away, not even a large stride but a tiny shuffle.

That rage contained a danger that could lead to her own destruction beyond its target.

Despite having options to escape this situation even without maintaining her divine body, if only she had thought a little more carefully.

The realization that it would take an enormous amount of time to gather her scattered divinity drove her to make the quickest and simplest choice to alleviate her rage.

That choice was a kind of regression.

Though it was a choice that would return her power and abilities to a state no less than what she had just before losing her divinity.

It was a choice that would distance her, perhaps forever, from the path of greatness she had started walking with a moment’s enlightenment and ambition.

Regression—in some ways, it might have been better to abandon everything and depart through death.

‘I don’t care!!’

Desire, trapped in a physical form she despised but which allowed her to continue living after making this choice, rationalized her decision with such an inner cry.

In truth, pointing out the irrationality of her choice was meaningless.

When forced to the crossroads between life and death, and learning that sacrificing the most important thing she possessed would allow her to live.

How many beings would calmly accept their death instead of making the same choice as Desire?

There seemed to be no reason to criticize her choice as irrational.

Well, what does that matter now?

Desire, who had spectacularly slipped at the threshold of true transcendence with just one step remaining, causing all her built foundations to completely vanish.

【Die!!!】

What matters is that she expresses her rage, projecting her will to erase from this world the one who caused it all.

The protagonist of this rage chose the greatest strike her current physical form could muster against the one who had made her so furious.

A sharpness no blade could compare to.

A mystical swiftness faster than any whip and impossible to follow.

A heaviness no blunt weapon could match.

The strike containing these three qualities was none other than…

Swoosh-!!

Her tail, rushing forward like a red flash of light, sharply cutting through the air.

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…It’s coming!!

A red flash flies toward me with a trajectory impossible to believe originated from such a massive body.

In truth, what was flying toward me was the part of her draconic body that should be called a tail.

But its power, which would make even weapons forged with all human wisdom and knowledge seem pathetic, made it appear to me as a red flash.

My accelerated consciousness, forgetting even pain, allowed me to track Desire’s tail as it flew like a whip, making it not impossible to avoid the immediate strike.

But even in this slow-flowing time, there was no way I could continuously evade her tail’s insane movements that defied the flow of time.

Rather than accumulating fatigue by forcing my uncomfortable body to keep moving to avoid it…

[Trust your armor and endure!!]

Already knowing its power well enough, I thought it better to heed Paphnir’s advice to focus on blocking rather than dodging.

I concentrated most of my battle energy on strengthening the protective power of my Red Dragon Armor.

Whoosh-!!

I borrowed even Paphnir’s flames while gathering defensive power to the extreme, waiting for Desire’s approaching tail.

The wait wasn’t long.

Boom-!!

The deafening sound struck my ears as Desire’s tail, unstoppable even in the slow flow of time, finally crashed into my torso.

Judging by the impact in that sound alone, the power should have been enough to completely shatter my body upon direct hit.

Yet my knees, which should have buckled and touched the ground from the impact, remained steadfast.

“…”

Not even a fragment of a scream escaped my lips, though it should have erupted.

The amusing thing was that while my body did receive some impact…

It wasn’t enough to make me scream or groan, and yet…

【Kraaaaa!!】

Desire, now expressing herself with roars rather than words, seemed to be in more pain than I was, which was somehow funny.

Of course, she was merely letting out roars close to screams rather than writhing in pain.

The chilling energy emanating from her roar carried an intimidating pressure that would make ordinary people’s knees buckle, preventing them from approaching carelessly.

But what mattered was that she was in no condition to do anything other than roar.

And I wasn’t careless enough to miss the opening that had appeared in Desire.

In fights and duels, both past and present, there was one rule that applied regardless of weight class differences:

If an opponent who makes a large movement like this fails to bring you down with it…

They will face a counterattack with even more ferocity than what they just delivered.

[Counterattack.]

Without needing to heed Paphnir’s instruction…

Grip-!!

The moment I gripped my dragon sword with both hands instead of one, my counterattack began.

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This should be easy.

Woong-!!

After properly grasping my dragon sword, which emitted a clearer sword cry than ever in response to my will and battle energy…

Taaat-!!

I leaped high from my position, flying toward where Desire’s draconic head was located.

It was an opportunity to leave a permanent scar on the face of the dragon-transformed Desire.

It was also a perfect chance to see what emotions would cross Desire’s draconic face when our eyes met as I flew up to her head while she was roaring in pain and anger.

But just as my leaping body reached Desire’s face area, she seemed to notice my presence despite only roaring until then.

【Hmph!!】

With a light snort, Desire instantly widened the gap between us.

Unfortunately, both actions I had intended to take ended in failure.

It was surprising enough that she regained her senses so quickly after just roaring and declaring she would rampage without reason, but to move like that immediately after regaining her senses?

How could something of that size move like that?

However, it took only a moment to realize that this amazing sight before me was amazing only to me.

[Compared to how I moved in my prime, that’s quite slow. You shouldn’t be surprised by that.]

Paphnir’s assessment of Desire’s movement came in a voice devoid of any emotion.

Naturally, the simple truth that the luxury of spending time on trivial thoughts is not allowed during fierce battle…

Whoosh- Whoosh-

The sound of wingbeats emanating from Desire’s massive body, which had widened the gap between us appropriately, mercilessly trampled my thoughts.

Despite her blood-red eyes that seemed to contain not a fragment of reason…

【Even with this uncomfortable body, you can’t cut me with that sharp sword of yours.】

Desire’s voice, which had become more prominent with her transformation into a dragon, was intensifying with her characteristic mockery.

Unlike when she was a demon god who had stepped into transcendence and forced herself to maintain decorum due to an obsession with having dignity befitting her appearance…

Now that she had returned to her primal form, there was no reason to show such formality toward me, whom she deemed worthy of death.

【This time, you won’t get lucky like before!!】

Yet her voice when declaring she would bring me down was filled with confidence rather than mockery, which I found curious.

Could it be that the fighting spirit unique to the red dragon clan, who were said to casually view washing blood with blood, was enough to subdue even her nature?

All sorts of thoughts bloomed and withered in my mind as I faced the massive body of a living dragon for the first time in my life.

Unfortunately, it seemed there would be no more time for my brief contemplation.

【Try receiving this as well!!】

Because from Desire’s body, as she declared she would inflict a fatal wound on me from that position…

Shik-!! Shik-!!

Came the sound of air being torn apart.

The only movement was the flapping of the pair of wings on her back, which seemed quite fast even in the slow flow of time.

But the result of that wingbeat was larger and more distinct than the shockwave created when she had swung her tail.

Red wind. A terrifying blade of wind with enough power to halve anything in its path.

Having seen me successfully endure her tail’s whip-like strike by reinforcing my Red Dragon Armor’s protection with battle energy, she now launched an attack emphasizing cutting power.

I was quite dumbfounded by her quickness in switching to an appropriate attack based on my response.

But now, figuring out how to handle the pair of vacuum blades flying toward me was the urgent matter.

Dodge? No, too fast. Even the whip-like movement of her tail seemed almost stationary compared to the sharp vacuum blades formed by her wingbeats, making dodging extremely difficult.

Then block with my body? That was even more out of the question. Unlike before, the moment they touched me, my upper and lower body would be split apart like estranged brothers.

Then…

Woong-!!

Projecting maximum power into my weapon with the greatest sharpness I possessed, capable of matching that keen edge…

[Deflect it. Then penetrate and inflict a fatal wound.]

As Paphnir said, I had to exquisitely deflect those shock waves rushing toward me with their air-ripping sound, preventing impact from building up in my body.

And gradually penetrate toward Desire, who had widened the distance between us.

If I could just withstand Desire’s pressure as she used her superior body to overwhelm me, my companions with the power to hunt dragons would arrive.

Shouldn’t I at least wear Desire down in this fight to make it easier for them to face her?

Bwoong-!!

With that thought in mind, I swung my dragon sword to prevent the red vacuum blades that had already reached me from overwhelming me one by one.

Each time the sword met a vacuum blade, my knuckles tingled and made me flinch.

But even as the pain accumulated, the sight of Desire showing considerable strain with each movement gave me vitality instead.