Ch.902Dragon Slayer

# Sky Slash.

The ultimate strike I had been saving finally carved a fatal wound into the dragon’s body, one that could never be healed.

A skull and eye socket sliced diagonally. One remaining wing. Internal organs burst from the impact of the fall.

Thanks to the dragon’s robust vitality, it was barely clinging to life. Had it been human, it would have died instantly without even leaving last words.

【 Grrrrrk…! This is…, this is Carolus’s…? No, even more advanced…! 】

With its one remaining eye, it shed bloody tears while muttering words filled with shock and confusion.

Through the cross-section of its skull, all kinds of bodily fluids poured out like a waterfall.

Saliva, tears, and brain matter mixed with fresh blood. Its very life was draining away.

Like a collapsed dam, with a force no one could stop.

【 Gaah… stand up, I can’t stand up…. 】

Amitamir struggled desperately to rise despite trembling violently. Its knees buckled, and the dragon’s massive body crashed back to the ground.

It was like someone who had been struck in the jaw with a mace while completely drunk.

Well, that was to be expected. How could it possibly stand properly when its head was sliced open and its brain was slowly leaking out?

Even a dragon cannot escape the limitations of a living being. When the brain is damaged, the body inevitably fails as well.

“Can’t get up? No surprise there. It’s only natural.”

With that, I approached it with a relaxed smile.

“It’s normal to have trouble standing when you get old.”

Using recovery magic to heal injuries is only possible when you have the luxury of time. In front of an enemy, it would be nothing more than a futile struggle.

“I don’t know how old you are… but you must be at least a thousand years old, right? At that age, it’s about time you stopped being able to stand.”

My victory was already assured.

【 Grraac…! Don’t, Grrrrk…! Don’t come near me…! 】

Amitamir opened what remained of its maw and cried out as if spitting blood.

– Kwaaaaaaa!

What it actually spewed was not blood but a stream of fire like lava.

“You never learn, do you?”

I extended my left hand forward to receive the flames it spat out.

“Hagalaz!”

The rune of destruction I thrust forward decomposed and scattered the approaching flames, while the flame rune engraved on my right hand greedily absorbed the heat from all around.

– Kwaddddk…!

I couldn’t block it completely, so my arm felt like it was burning, and my body, greatly shaken by the pressure, was pushed back slightly….

‘Still, I can endure this.’

There was no reason to feel disappointed. Being able to withstand a dragon’s breath head-on was already nothing short of a miracle.

If Amitamir’s breath had contained lightning or cold instead of fire, even I wouldn’t have been able to endure it this way.

But, very fortunately, it had become a fire dragon that breathed flames.

Whether it had a choice or not, from the moment it chose to breathe fire, its fate was essentially sealed.

“Kenaz!”

I extended my right hand behind me, awakening the flame rune, and spewed magical fire to resist the pressure of the breath pushing against me.

【 Graaak…! What…! You’re absorbing my breath…?! 】

Amitamir finally grasped the situation and spat out its astonishment.

“…Why are you so surprised? You’ve seen this before.”

Earlier in the battle, I had already withstood its breath once with the flame rune. Its shock now was rather amusing.

【 Kah, Grrrrr…! I thought you had dodged it…! 】

Amitamir stopped its stream of fire and growled as it closed its maw.

【 Yes, yes…! That is the power of Cheonsal-seong. The power of predation…! 】

It was spouting nonsense, perhaps because its brain was leaking out.

“No, it’s not.”

I shook my head lightly while brushing off my right hand that had been extended behind me.

I knew the meaning of the term Cheonsal-seong. I had heard it when fighting Meiharin.

They were psychopaths who appeared once every few hundred years, rampaged madly, and were eventually caught and killed. Like the first Cheonma eight hundred years ago.

Hersella too, in the original work, went mad and met a bad ending, so it would be fair to say she fit the definition of Cheonsal-seong.

So I understood why it called me Cheonsal-seong.

I just didn’t understand why it misunderstood that blocking its breath was due to the power of Cheonsal-seong.

It was thanks to the flame rune engraved on me, not Hersella’s ability.

In other words, it had nothing to do with Cheonsal-seong.

【 Kryaak…! Such an obvious lie…! 】

Amitamir didn’t seem to think so.

【 Absorbing a dragon’s breath… what absurd power could do that other than the power of predation…! 】

“Predation is what you did to your father’s spine.”

Why are you pretending to know about my power? And what the hell is this power of predation anyway?

From what it was saying, it seemed to be an ability to absorb an enemy’s power and convert it into one’s own, but I had no memory of ever using such an ability.

[ …Ah, so that’s what it’s referring to. ]

However, Hersella seemed to have some insight as she uttered a brief exclamation followed by words I couldn’t ignore.

‘What do you mean by “that”?’

[ When fighting Meiharin, I created a technique called Hyungsinjiche by spreading the power of murder karma throughout my entire body. ]

Hersella explained in detail.

[ Surprisingly, while using this, my anti-magic power strengthened significantly, allowing me to absorb and neutralize that witch’s curses and bindings. ]

She told me about the battle she had fought against Meiharin when my consciousness was briefly cut off.

[ That viper woman mentioned that it was the power of the Sky Wolf… what you would call Vanirgand. The power of predation probably refers to this. ]

Along with a name so shocking that it barely registered in my mind.

‘Wait, what did you just say?’

I asked back with a dumbfounded expression, in a tone suggesting I couldn’t understand what I had just heard.

‘Vanirgand? Did you say Vanirgand?’

Why was that name suddenly coming up?

The identity of the Sky Wolf that the steppe people, including Hersella, frequently mentioned was actually Vanirgand?

The wolf of hatred and gluttony, designated as one of the four Great Evil Gods?

…This is insane.

My head immediately started spinning.

[ Yes. Cheonsal-seong and Vanirgand. That woman Meiharin definitely said so. ]

Hersella asserted decisively, as if driving in a wedge. The Sky Wolf was indeed Vanirgand.

It was a shocking truth.

‘Then, I…’

All the information I had heard about Cheonsal-seong and the Sky Wolf came rushing back, piecing together into a coherent whole.

The Ka’har worship the Sky Wolf. With an attitude closer to reverence than faith.

Divine blood flows in the Aishan-Gioro bloodline. Orhan referred to that divine blood as “the wolf’s blood.”

And among them, those born once every few hundred years with particularly thick blood are called Cheonsal-seong on the steppe. Meaning they are incarnations of the Sky Wolf?

And the identity of the Sky Wolf was none other than the evil god Vanirgand.

In summary, I… no, Hersella was a distant descendant of the evil god Vanirgand, and an incarnation who inherited his blood strongly.

In other words, like Isabella, she was essentially a minion of an evil god.

…Good heavens.

I had often mentioned that it didn’t seem like a human body, that it wasn’t a human personality…

But I never imagined I was actually a hybrid of human and Great Big Demon bastard.

I used to tease Hush by calling him half-black half-demon, but it turned out I was even worse—half-human half-dog.

Half-human half-dog with the blood of an evil god. If Lacy knew this, wouldn’t she have rolled her eyes, foamed at the mouth, and fainted?

At this point, I had to admit it. Hersella was indeed Cheonma.

This woman was truly a devil like no other in the world. She was an even more dangerous figure than the Apostle.

‘Wait, if Meiharin said such a thing, you should have told me right away. Why only now…!’

[ …You never asked, did you? I naturally assumed you already knew. ]

Hersella cleared her throat awkwardly and made excuses. As if it was my fault for not asking for detailed circumstances.

I had nothing to say. What could I possibly retort when the descendant of a canine was talking nonsense?

【 Grrrr… my head… hurts… like it’s going to burst…. 】

Besides, it wasn’t a situation where I could have a long conversation with her anyway.

“It’s already burst long ago.”

I walked into the pool of blood where Amitamir was lying and pointed Durandal at the exposed cross-section of its skull.

“Look. Your brain is leaking out, your brain. How can you go around leaking something like this? Want me to pick it up for you?”

【 Cursed, Kyaaac… cursed humans. What are you trying to do, Kraaak, what are you trying to do with this calamity…! 】

“Well, kill a death dragon?”

I’m not sure what gods like Elpinel or Astraea are thinking… but at least it’s not something harmful to humanity.

If it were, they wouldn’t have given power to Carolus in the first place.

Well, I’ll have a chance to ask someday. After all, I am Astraea’s stigmata bearer. If I keep asking through prayer, she’ll eventually answer.

Though I’m not sure when that will be.

【 Gra, Kyaak…! I, Amitamir, am not a death dragon…! 】

“Not a death dragon? That’s ridiculous.”

I cut off its nonsense and infused the blade I held high with the power of karma.

Sky Slash would be unnecessary. If I blew away its exposed brain, it would simply become a large chunk of meat.

“If you wanted me to believe such nonsense, you should have watched your mouth.”

Cursing humans, burning people. What was this lizard saying after gaining its freedom, spouting all kinds of crazy talk?

【 Gaaaarr…! You, Ghaaaahk! What do you know about me! 】

As if making a final struggle, Amitamir gathered all its mana and raised hundreds of magic circles all around.

“Do I need to know?”

However, just as the magic circles it deployed were about to release hundreds of spells, a moment ahead of them, the entire world was tinged with grayish-white.

Defying Fate. A heroic tale unfolded that went beyond compressing time to reach the cessation of time.

I could only stop time for a very brief moment… but if I chose compression instead of cessation, I could maintain it for a surprisingly long time.

I glanced at the slowed-down spells, ran along its forearm, and lunged toward the cross-section of its sliced skull.

“—!”

In a world where sound had disappeared. The swung longsword cut the dragon’s brain in half.

And the moment my following punch touched the grayish-white flesh. As the compressed time world reached its limit and was released—

– Kwaaaaaaang!

With an ear-splitting explosion, the dragon’s brain that my fist touched evaporated like powder. Along with the opposite side of the skull that had been somewhat intact.

【 Keoeoeoeo…. 】

The dragon’s corpse, having lost its brain, let out a death rattle and went limp.

Eight hundred years since Carolus deployed Heaven’s Wall. The moment the first returning death dragon finally met its end.

“Over there! Without a doubt. From that place, Astika-nim’s ‘Starry Sky’…!”

…As I had planned, right in front of the border area with the Holy State.

“Forget about the border! I will take all responsibility, so secure the site first! Before the Dragonborn guards arrive!”

The sound of the Holy Corps’ hooves echoed across the land beyond the horizon.