Ch.323Chapter 323: The Final Confrontation, and the Curtain Call (3)

…What’s going on?

The thought that instantly flashed through Desire’s mind was primarily bewilderment.

No matter how much she pondered, such a sound should never have reached her ears.

Kahl, who had already taken one of her eyes, had lost consciousness after being struck by her tail.

Due to the slow flow of time that had persisted throughout their battle…

Even if the human adversaries quarreling with Adorator in the distance tried to approach her, they clearly wouldn’t arrive even after waiting for what would feel like an eternity.

And even if they did somehow reach her, there was no reason such a cutting sound could penetrate her five senses and energy perception, which had been sharpened by the fierce battle.

No matter how much she reconsidered, her conviction remained unshaken.

Such a terrifying cutting sound, seemingly targeting her, should not be coming from nearby.

Perhaps that’s why the sound that just reached her ears felt all the more unnatural and frightening.

[I told you. They’ve already arrived…]

Desire’s behavior bordered on pathetic as she failed to even register Fafnir’s voice, which, despite showing clear signs of fatigue, revealed a sense of relief.

Trembling—

Her robust body, which would normally consider the cold northern winds mere breezes, was trembling delicately without anything to lean on. This could only be described as pathetic.

Naturally, this wasn’t a shiver from the cold, but rather a chill born from the fear she felt upon realizing that something she hadn’t even detected was plotting something here.

Well, regardless of what kind of chill it was, it remained something she had never experienced before.

Had she ever felt such a chill in her life?

Even when she asked herself this question, no immediate answer came to mind.

As the unidentified cutting sound struck her ears…

The composure that had dwelled in Desire’s heart as she navigated the slow flow of time completely vanished.

Her remaining eye turned toward the source of the cutting sound that had reached her ears.

Even searching through memories accumulated over countless years…

She couldn’t recall ever hearing a sound that felt so chilling as this one, which was why Desire abandoned her attempt to take the divinity residing in Kahl’s body and naturally turned her head.

And as soon as she turned, Desire’s single remaining eye could identify the source of the cutting sound and what it had been cutting.

The sound came from a sword wrapped in golden battle aura drawing a sharp trajectory.

And what that sound had torn apart was the right portion of her massive wings, which could easily lift her enormous body into the sky.

It’s falling. One side of the massive wings that had allowed this enormous body to glide through the skies.

Like her lost eye, it separated from her body and continued its slow descent, matching the sluggish flow of time.

Boom—!!

The sound of the fallen wing hitting the obsidian floor was quite thunderous, even within that slow movement.

But an even more thunderous sound soon followed.

【Ugh…AAAAAAHHH!!!】

It was a roar-like scream that erupted from Desire’s mouth as the pain she had barely escaped with the help of her old friend Renium returned.

Though the intensity of pain was less compared to before, it was more than enough to express her inability to endure the sudden tragedy.

Although the pain wasn’t as severe as when she lost her eye, or even compared to when her old nemesis bit her nape long ago…

Unlike an eye, which wouldn’t significantly impair her ability to perceive the world even if lost…

Losing just one wing meant it could no longer function properly, which was why the anguish in her scream grew increasingly intense.

If she could take the divinity residing in Kahl’s body and step back into transcendence, freeing herself from this cumbersome physical form, she could escape this tragedy and pain.

Yet she also thought that whoever had inflicted such pain upon her would never allow her to take it, adding fear to the anguish mixed in her screams.

But knowing that if she remained immersed in pain and failed to regain her composure, her head might be the next to go after her wing…

【WHO ARE YOUUUUU!!】

A clear, articulate shout erupted from Desire’s mouth after she finished her thought.

Though the emotion contained in her shout was closer to volcanic rage than dignity or composure due to the impact of the pain, it was still better than trembling in fear amid pain and helplessness.

She directed her shout toward the end of the trajectory drawn by the golden aura-infused sword that had severed one of her wings.

She shouted in that direction, thinking that whoever had reduced her to this state would be there, arrogantly staring at her.

But despite such a dramatic entrance, the unknown entity showed no response to her call.

Since she could still sense its presence, albeit faintly, it was impossible that no one was there.

Though Desire wanted to confirm who had inflicted such pain upon her…

Already driven by savage instinct rather than reason, before even hearing a response from her opponent…

Whoosh—!!

Without hesitation, she swung her tail—currently her most powerful weapon—to exact retribution.

Even as this process continued, Desire’s single eye couldn’t identify who had cut off her wing from the point she was looking at.

The reason was that the golden battle aura emanating from the sword that had severed her wing extended beyond the blade, enveloping the area as if distorting it, making observation difficult.

If she had possessed a divine body rather than a dragon’s physical form, she could have seen through such a veil of light without being deceived.

But for the current Desire, who had abandoned her divine body with a resolute decision to escape a desperate situation, this was something she couldn’t do even if she wanted to.

Whoosh—!!

Her single eye didn’t continue to stare at the unidentifiable light but instead watched her tail as it flew to crush that light with a thunderous roar.

One reason was that she couldn’t observe what was beyond that light anyway.

Another significant reason was that the light was so bright and vivid that it made her frown.

As she slightly turned her gaze away from the light, fear once again rose faintly in Desire’s mind.

The pain and anger she had felt while looking at the light gave way to the pressure of encountering the unknown again, which rekindled her fear.

It might seem strange that fear hadn’t completely disappeared from her mind even as rage surged within her, making her want to crush whoever had inflicted such pain upon her.

But upon reflection, it’s not such a strange sight.

Even though she had descended from the divine status that had provided her with the power to dominate the world while stepping into transcendence…

How could an opponent who had deceived her accumulated five senses and energy perception—built up over a period long enough to repeat dozens of ordinary human lifetimes as a red dragon—and taken one of her wings be an easy adversary?

Since she was also considering in her mind that even this full-power strike might be ineffective and futile…

Though Desire couldn’t completely shake off her fear even as she moved through this moment where an instant was infinitely divided faster than ever before…

An even greater emotion overwhelmed even the fear she felt toward the unknown entity, driving her tail to approach that mass of light with the momentum to crush it.

It was anger born from the irreparable wound to her pride after suffering indelible injuries to her body twice.

Feeling shame just for experiencing fear toward such an unknown entity…

She was suppressing her shame and fear with the primal fighting spirit to forcibly move her body and crush the opponent who had inflicted such pain and humiliation upon her.

【DIEEEEEEE!!】

The angry shout that erupted from Desire’s mouth as she saw her swung tail almost reach its target was a measure of how enraged she was.

Even a dragon, considered the race closest to transcendence…

When experiencing rage enough to lose reason, shows little difference compared to other intelligent races, as demonstrated here and now.

Crack—!!

Her tail, which had been tracing its trajectory smoothly, successfully struck the point where the golden battle aura had been rippling, accompanied by an intense impact sound.

Boom—!!

The obsidian floor shattered with a thunderous sound, and fragments scattered.

Thick dust covered Desire’s one-eyed vision.

As if recognizing that her tail had accurately struck not just the obsidian floor but also her target…

【Hehehe…】

A faint laugh tinged with satisfaction, though not completely relieving her pain, flowed from Desire’s lips, which had been seized by primal rage.

That laugh showed no trace of the fear she had felt toward the unknown opponent who had cut off one of her wings without her even noticing.

But such a satisfied laugh…

Crunch—!!

With another extremely unpleasant sound that shouldn’t be heard according to her standards…

【AAAAAAHHH!!】

The time it took for Desire to scream in pain again and quickly subside was but an instant, even by the standards of this time flow where moments were infinitely divided.

Desire’s single remaining eye, unable to control her body due to the pain, captured something else.

It was the sight of something that made up her body being cut by something sharp and then falling from her body onto the cold obsidian floor.

It was her tail—which until just moments ago had been swinging powerfully, shattering this sturdy obsidian floor to pieces—that had fallen off.

Instead of screaming from the pain she should feel when a body part is severed, faced with this unbelievable sight happening again…

【Wh…why?!】

She could only express her confusion about a scene that made no sense no matter how much she thought about it.

Though no one would answer such a soliloquy, it was a statement born from an almost instinctive judgment due to the fear that she might suffocate from terror if she didn’t say something…

“Compared to the pain and suffering of those whose lives you violated in such a manner, this is merely a fraction.”

A surprisingly cold and solemn voice offered a response that seemed to match her incomprehensible soliloquy, and the unknown entity that had only brought vague fear finally revealed its presence to Desire.

It did so by extinguishing the golden light that had been concealing its presence until now.

“Are you prepared to die?”

And as that clearer voice than before struck Desire’s ears from within the fading light…

【…You, you are?!】

Astonishment and doubt erupted from Desire’s mouth.

No matter how much she pondered, a being that should not be revealing itself in this place…

Had arrived here possessing something it should never have, which was unbelievable even as she saw it.