Ch.900How ugly.

As the goddess’s holy light completely faded away, I stood dazed in the middle of a world where only the deep blue sunlight and the crimson glow of the blazing earth remained.

“……”

I just stood blankly in midair.

Looking down at my body, which seemed optimized not for combat but for combat fetishism.

While my muscles and bones had certainly become tremendously stronger, that seemed trivial compared to the shocking transformation that greeted me.

In the form of massive flesh that seemed to block half my downward view.

Goddess… no, goddess, did you deceive me?

What is this flesh mass…?

I glared at the Stigmata of Astraea, demanding an explanation, but Astraea gave no answer.

Like a vaguely distant relative who cuts off contact right after you sign up for insurance.

Whether she had given me too much power and couldn’t speak to me for a while, or was simply enjoying my confusion in silence.

That much I couldn’t know.

Only one thing was certain.

From now on, instead of some grandiose title like “Avatar of the Sky Wolf” or whatever, I was likely to be called the “Avatar of the Sky Cow.”

I was tolerating this only because she had enhanced my strength as well; otherwise, I would have immediately hurled every curse imaginable toward the heavens.

Profanities that would make even Amitamir listen and applaud in admiration.

Anyway, as I stood there blankly staring at my chest…

[What in the world is this?! My chest? What happened to my chest…?]

Hersella also expressed astonishment no less than mine, making my head buzz with her thoughts.

[What is this! Even pregnant women don’t grow this large!]

‘…Take it up with the goddess.’

I had nothing particular to say.

Her observation was factual, and… this was no longer a situation where we could leisurely chat.

【Krrrrr…. Yes. The human vessel that can’t even manifest is a problem for later…. 】

Amitamir lowered his raised head and turned to look at me.

【First, the celestial killer who has become the human vessel’s dog…. 】

The moment our eyes met.

【….. 】

Amitamir tilted his head slightly and blinked his large eyes repeatedly.

As if witnessing something utterly bizarre, he even opened his mouth slightly, revealing his teeth and tongue.

【…Not a dog but a cow? 】

Yes, I knew I’d hear something like this. Since I was already prepared for it, my feelings weren’t hurt.

What difference does it make whether I’m called a dog or a cow? As long as I can hunt the lizard properly.

Right?

……

Siiiiigh……

For some reason, I let out what felt like a deeper sigh than before, and firmly gripped Durandal that I had been holding down.

“Cut the bullshit. From now on, all you’ll be allowed are screams and wails.”

As I turned my body sideways and pointed my horizontally held blade toward Amitamir, he snorted with sparks and shook his head slightly.

【After desperately running away, now you act all high and mighty… especially looking like that. 】

With eyes full of contempt as he glared at me.

“……”

It was such an irrefutable point that I had no words to counter.

This bastard, why has his verbal game suddenly improved? Did he reach some kind of enlightenment after openly venting his anger?

【I find it hideous. 】

“…Kuh.”

To be rendered speechless by a lizard’s provocation was the ultimate humiliation.

[That deranged lizard is spouting nonsense. Move. Are you going to let him continue with such rubbish?]

Hersella offered something like encouragement to comfort me.

[The only one in this world who has the right to mock you as hideous is me alone!]

That’s… encouragement, right?

—-

Hersella’s encouragement didn’t exactly fill me with infinite courage and fighting spirit. Honestly, it was just nonsensical drivel that left me dumbfounded.

But at the very least, it did push me forward.

After all, I too was increasingly eager to tear Amitamir’s mouth apart.

“You’re the hideous one!”

With that, I kicked off, expelling Karma flames behind me, kicking the air as I charged forward.

– KWAAANG!

The air exploded with a boom as my kick, filled with transcendent power, tore through it.

My body accelerated like lightning. My outstretched shoulder shattered the wall of air, sending circular shock waves in all directions.

The speed was astonishing even to myself.

“KYAAAAAAAH!”

My battle cry stretched out, unable to keep up with my body’s speed.

I shot like a bullet toward the white dragon, becoming a flash of flesh-colored, blue, and golden light.

【You’ve gotten fast- 】

Without time to finish his sentence, Amitamir hurriedly twisted his body and deployed hundreds of layers of mana barriers in the air.

My shoulder crashed into them like a comet.

– KWAGAGAGAGAGAK!

The mana barriers shattered miserably like ice hit by artillery fire. The impact on my shoulder was not even a third of what I had expected.

“Too thin!”

I swung my blade with that brief assessment. I didn’t even draw upon the power of severance. I was confident it wasn’t necessary.

【Not yet! 】

Amitamir’s body flashed and disappeared, then reappeared far away with a whoosh.

Short-range teleportation magic.

What is merely an emergency evasion spell for humans, capable of moving only about ten meters, had become an impressive long-range teleportation technique, perhaps due to the dragon’s massive body.

It would consume a lot of mana, but… that probably wasn’t much of a burden for him. After all, he was a dragon.

“Must be nice being so big!”

I kicked off the air again and shot myself toward him.

Cutting down with my sword all the magical downpour that came flying to intercept me.

I could probably dodge if I wanted to, but to continue aerial combat, I needed to conserve my Karma of Murder.

Astraea’s blessing seemed to be incompatible with the power of Karma of Murder, as despite my injuries and fatigue being perfectly resolved, the remaining amount of Karma of Murder remained unchanged.

Even the recovery rate showed no significant difference from usual.

While the power of Good Karma was recovering rapidly as if filling a water bottle, the power of Karma of Murder truly showed no difference from before my body’s evolution.

Therefore, rather than wasting Karma flames performing aerial acrobatics, it was better to just break through head-on.

It wasn’t particularly difficult anyway.

“KYAAAAH!”

The blue-silver blade that severed mana itself cut through the storm of lightning, and my outstretched fist, like a cannonball, pierced through and shattered an ice spike the size of an iceberg.

A chain of catastrophic booms.

Even though I was conserving Good Karma more than usual, my punches carried more power than before.

Not only had my muscle strength been overwhelmingly enhanced, but my skeletal structure had also become sturdy enough to withstand even greater pressure than before.

Moreover, the speed at which Karma circulated within my body had tripled, and the output relative to Karma consumption had also increased.

Like switching from driving a truck on an unpaved road to racing a sports car on a well-maintained track.

At full strength, I felt I might even win in a contest of raw power against a dragon.

The only problem was that the flesh below my collarbone bounced vigorously up and down whenever I moved quickly…

But even that stopped when I tensed my upper body, making my chest as rigid as black iron armor.

It was a bit annoying to keep tensing constantly, but at least it wasn’t disruptive enough to interfere with combat.

Thanks to my abnormally developed senses, I could clearly perceive my surroundings even with my eyes closed, so having the lower half of my vision blocked wasn’t really a disadvantage.

…Anyway, I continued the superhuman aerial battle, breaking through his magic head-on.

【Krrrr…. A sword bestowed by a goddess. A sword that severs and destroys mana. What a troublesome item…! 】

Perhaps realizing that offensive magic wouldn’t be very effective, Amitamir cast enhancement spells on his entire body and engaged in physical combat.

With all kinds of enhancement spells making his entire body glow bright blue, he should now be called a blue dragon rather than a white one.

【Crash into the ground! 】

In fact, his strategy was somewhat effective.

The dragon’s vast mana was sufficient to transform simple enhancement spells into something transcendent.

The tip of his tail, whipped down like a lash, came flying faster than sound, and his swinging claws carried enough power to destroy a castle.

Even in my current state, I felt that taking a direct hit might bury me deep into the earth.

“You’re the one who’s going to crash!”

However, no matter how powerful an attack is, it’s nothing if it doesn’t hit.

His attacks swept through an enormously wide area at once, but the precursors were so obvious that they weren’t too difficult to avoid.

With timing, attack method, and trajectory all clearly predictable, why would I let myself get hit by such attacks, no matter how wide-ranging they were?

“Your father is desperately looking for his runaway son!”

I continued efficient evasion by strongly expelling Karma flames to ascend and descend, moving my body away just before his attacks began.

“So hurry back home! To the cave you’ve lived in for eight hundred years!”

Until the power of Karma, rapidly recovering, finally reached its peak.