Ch.318Chapter 318: The Great Confrontation (7)

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How long had we been fighting? It was difficult to gauge the passage of time.

Well, the discrepancy between my perception and the actual flow of time was considerable due to my endlessly accelerated consciousness.

But considering how the obsidian palace—already barely recognizable in its original form—was collapsing at an increasing rate with each exchange of blows, I suppose it would be fair to say that quite some time had passed.

In any case, the decisive battle against that creature was a desperate struggle to maintain proper distance.

When I stepped forward, Desire would move its massive body backward.

When it stepped toward me, I would counter-intuitively move even closer to it.

Fighting this way, the wide gap that had existed between us when we first began had narrowed to the point where I could almost reach the creature with just a few more steps forward.

Yes, just a little further. Even if I can’t win, shouldn’t I at least feed my blade to that massive body a few times to save face?

CLANG-!!

With that goal firmly in mind, I endured the pain and smoothly deflected the vacuum wave shot from Desire’s wings by swinging my dragon sword.

I walked toward Desire one step at a time.

Its body had grown so enormous that moving just a few steps brought me close enough to feel overwhelmed by the intense presence emanating from its massive form.

Yet with each step I took, Desire’s strangely compulsive and flustered attempts to prevent me from breaching its comfort zone offset the intimidation factor of its imposing appearance.

…What’s suddenly gotten into it? This creature that was growling with murderous intent just moments ago is now trying to distance itself from me?

This doesn’t seem to be without reason; there must definitely be something behind it.

“Are you afraid? With that massive body of yours, you’re backing away just because I’m getting closer.”

Since I couldn’t discern the inner workings through deduction alone, I deliberately provoked it to elicit a reaction.

WHOOSH-!!

Something that combined the heaviness of a blunt weapon with the sharpness of a blade grazed my side.

I had maintained my vigilance even while moving forward, so I managed to avoid it with minimal damage.

Though Desire’s enormous body had clearly moved to exert physical force on me, I hadn’t seen anything.

Of course, even if my eyes couldn’t track it, I could tell what had applied that physical force to my side.

【Feel free to delude yourself.】

Desire coldly retorted to my cheap provocation.

【I merely adjusted to this exact distance because it’s optimal for wielding the weapon that works best for wounding your body.】

I could see it bringing the instrument that had struck my side to its mouth as it spoke these words.

It was the index finger of its right foreleg.

Despite being one of the smallest parts of Desire’s massive draconic body, the finger it proudly displayed near its mouth was comparable in size to my entire body.

Seeing its size, I could naturally understand how it had delivered such an impact to me.

But even after identifying what had struck me, one question remained unanswered:

How had its finger penetrated my Red Dragon Armor to impact only my body?

【Judging by your expression, you seem curious about how I inflicted such precise damage to your body.】

Desire’s cold, mocking voice hit the mark, somehow reading my thoughts despite my face being completely hidden behind my helmet, with no expressions visible.

Though I was curious, I wasn’t desperate enough to stop my advance and beg for answers, so I simply continued walking toward it in silence.

The price for refusing to engage in conversation by silently continuing my advance came immediately.

WHOOSH-!!

A ripping sound, like air being torn apart—no, like air being struck and pulverized—rushed toward me.

Since I perceived the sound with my senses at the same moment its source flew toward me, dodging was impossible.

I lowered my elbow and raised my right foot to protect my side, which was the endpoint of the trajectory drawn by Desire’s finger.

CRACK-!!

This time, with the sound of something breaking, my defense failed miserably.

…It seems I’ve lost two ribs.

The previous attack had caused damage but hadn’t broken anything, yet this one penetrated my Red Dragon Armor’s protection to inflict such harm.

My super-regeneration ability instantly healed the two broken ribs, leaving no trace of the fracture.

“Kuhek…!!”

Unfortunately, I couldn’t completely nullify the impact delivered to my body, and an honest reaction escaped my lips as my body couldn’t withstand the accumulated shock.

【Well, it doesn’t matter if you’re not curious—I had no intention of telling you anyway, so there’s no need for regret. Hahahahaha!!】

Desire’s cold voice, expressing a somewhat distorted satisfaction at seeing me groan in pain, brushed past my ears.

Seeing such a satisfied reaction from just one successful strike made me acutely aware of how serious this accursed dragon was about taking me down.

Even after this mockery ended, the sarcasm crafted by its cold voice continued without pause.

It sounded so cold that my body, which was managing the pain rising despite the healed wounds, momentarily flinched.

【I told you before taking this body. I said you’d feel the sting if you charged in relying only on that armor.】

The temperature emanating from its sneering mockery was reminiscent of absolute zero.

After being obsessed with the status befitting its position as a demon god, it seemed to be venting the frustration accumulated from descending from that transcendent position because of me, releasing it through sarcasm with each successful attack.

Being on the clearly losing end of the fight and having to hear such provocations on top of it…

In the past, I would have gone berserk, swearing to make anyone who vented their frustrations on me pay an equivalent price.

But now, after accumulating experience through countless repetitions of time, that cold mockery felt more like a healing remedy cooling my body heated by pain.

Well, laugh all you want. Do you think I’m doing this to defeat you?

My goal is to buy time until my comrades who can defeat and bring you down arrive.

If you get excited seeing me at a disadvantage and keep talking, that’s perfect for me—I can recover while continuing to charge at you.

I couldn’t ask for a better situation.

Besides…

【Hmm… Your reaction is rather lukewarm despite my personal taunting. Given your usual temperament, I expected you to flare up in anger.】

Seeing me like this, Desire expressed disappointment at the failure of its provocation in a somewhat deflated voice.

Just looking at Desire’s expression, I had no reason whatsoever to respond to her biting sarcasm.

Though it was a slightly more reasonable reaction than I expected—I had anticipated it would spew one-dimensional anger at my lack of response—

Why would I fall for the creature’s trick of subtly expecting me to lose my composure and charge in?

“Ptui-.”

So after managing the pain and roughly spitting out the pooled blood at the corner of my mouth, the remnant of the shock,

“Has the great Desire grown only a longer tongue after transforming into a dragon? If you had struck me instead of babbling during this time, you could have taken me down more effectively. Are you wagging your tongue to conserve energy because you’re getting tired too?”

I returned its mockery with enhanced mockery of my own.

【Am I that obvious…? And here I thought I delivered a fairly well-crafted provocation, but it didn’t work…】

I could see Desire scratching its head with the thick claw on its foreleg, honestly expressing its embarrassment at the failed provocation by trailing off at the end of its sentence.

…What is this? I knew that even in its days as a demon god, it possessed power and majesty but was far from intellectual.

It was quite bewildering to see Desire showing this strange regression, completely discarding even the pretense of intelligence it had maintained after stepping away from transcendence.

[Don’t be fooled. It’s deliberately acting dim-witted.]

Paphnir’s excited voice corrected my misconception.

‘…Deliberately?’

I questioned back to confirm what seemed unbelievable.

[Do you know how cunning that bitch is?!]

Paphnir injected me with certainty mixed with excitement and firmness, without any supplementary explanation.

Hmm, hearing that and observing Desire carefully, I could see that despite its seemingly dull exterior,

It was emitting a sharp energy so subtle that it could only be detected with highly refined senses, fully focused on preparing for me.

Only then did I understand.

Just as I was avoiding getting caught up in its pace while recovering my tired body,

It too, though in a better situation than me, was trying to provoke me with such cheap taunts to recover energy consumed in the fierce battle.

Realizing this made me feel like all the strength was draining from my body, almost forgetting that we were in the midst of a life-or-death struggle.

【There’s nothing wrong with trying to gain an advantage by hiding moments of fatigue that naturally occur as a fight continues.】

Despite the failure of its low-level provocation, Desire’s manner of proudly revealing its thoughts without any hint of shabbiness was better than during its days as a demon god full of malice.

Though fundamentally violent and showing no mercy in its attacks against opponents,

It was strangely pleasing to see that Desire still retained the spirit of the Red Dragon clan recorded in ancient texts—preferring straightforward contests of strength without deception in battle—even within this cunning facade of regression.

…What am I doing? Harboring such sentiments about an opponent fighting fiercely at the boundary between life and death.

[This is no time for admiration.]

Paphnir’s half-laughing, half-scolding rebuke echoed clearly in my mind, showing I wasn’t the only one who found this absurd.

BOOM-!! BOOM-!!

Having completely regained its composure, Desire violently swung its tail, mercilessly shattering the obsidian floor that still maintained its presence despite being in the process of collapse.

【Indeed. As my kin says, this is no time for admiration.】

With this dry declaration devoid of sarcasm as a signal,

The brief moment when I could rest my body exhausted from the fierce battle came to an end.

【You could have inflicted one or two fatal wounds if you had endured the pain and approached me a few more steps, but you’ve completely wasted a good opportunity!!】

Pressuring me with a dry, heavy, echoing voice reminiscent of an evil deity from mythology rather than the cold, sneering tone it had used for its cheap provocations earlier, Desire declared:

【Take this! This body, heated from fighting you, shall deliver death unto you!!】

With this declaration,

The air filling the space between Desire and me vanished in an instant.

Not in a figurative sense.

【HUOOOOO!!】

As Desire began an inhalation close to a roar, an enormous amount of air concentrated around its mouth.

“Holy shit…!!”

Despite struggling to breathe while witnessing this, I couldn’t help but curse at the spectacle unfolding before me.

The sight of a storm gathering around Desire’s mouth, having collected as much air as possible, and

FWOOOSH-!!

The clearly visible black smoke leaking because its mouth couldn’t completely contain it, along with a crimson flame deeper than blood red that displayed an equally impressive presence.

Yes.

Desire, having returned to its dragon form, was now attempting to project its greatest power at me to achieve its primary objective of taking me down.

The dragon’s hot breath, recorded to burn everything into nothingness without leaving even ashes.

I tried to move my body as much as possible to avoid it upon recognition, but

【UOOOOOOO!!】

With Desire’s roar signaling the beginning of exhalation that naturally followed inhalation, the wave of bright red flames that spewed forth engulfed me, making evasion impossible.

Throughout countless repetitions of time, my end had always concluded with being reduced to ashes, though the process varied.

Now, it seemed my final end—with no chance of returning—would be to be consumed by flames that wouldn’t even leave ashes behind.

In what felt like completely frozen time, the only thing my senses—aware of approaching death—could perceive was:

[Shit…]

A somewhat vulgar curse spat out by Paphnir, who was beyond shocked at the current situation.