novelraw Chapter 457
Chapter 457
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Chapter 457
The renowned craftsmen of Dragon Forge, in truth, possessed experience and skill that could not even be compared to most craftsmen outside.
In the case of the Sea Dragon Armor, even they had been unable to resolve it, so they had wandered in search of even the slightest possibility that a solution might exist outside.
But judging purely by the result, their skill was recognized anywhere on the continent—so much so that even royal families would invite them in.
“Urgh….”
“Take a break.”
“No. I can still keep going.”
“If you collapse, the rest of us will have to bear all that work.”
“But….”
Clenching his trembling hands, groaning, he glanced toward Leon Cascadia, who was silently hammering away in a corner.
Was his workload small?
No.
Was what he was doing easy?
No.
Though he didn’t fully understand the craftsmanship that surpassed limits, as someone who had hammered metal for a long time, he could tell.
The technique Leon used when performing the final processing on the metal they had forged—was an incredible technique.
Someone from outside had come to help them and was working like that, yet for them to collapse first—it felt unbearable.
He staggered over, then immediately grabbed a bottle of Ice Blood, famous for its potency, and gulped it down.
“Phew. That’s enough. Let’s start again.”
“Good grief….”
Dobog let out a hollow sigh and shook his head.
It had already been two days since they started working.
During that time, the additional waves of Dragonfang soldiers pouring in were shattered the moment they emerged from the mine, at the hands of Arc Dragon Tooth, Luna, and Grivy.
However, they had also heard that inside, Merkavalt’s cries of pain could be heard, which only made the dwarves’ resolve burn even stronger.
One by one, they collapsed.
This was not simple hammering.
Because it required perfect tempering that would not tolerate even a single mistake, no matter how skilled and tenacious the dwarves were, there was a limit to how long they could endure.
All that remained were Dobog and his successor, the chief great smith.
After forcibly putting to sleep the dwarves who tried to grip their hammers even on the verge of collapse, the work continued.
Even accounting for recycling, the amount of mithril consumed in this process was enormous.
“Leon. Aren’t you pushing yourself too hard?”
“I think I’ve almost found it.”
“Is it normally this wasteful?”
“No. It’s just because of the situation. This is extremely crude work—something I normally wouldn’t do.”
Even as he answered calmly, there was no wavering in Leon’s eyes.
Kang!! Kang!!
A neatly shaped dagger was completed, yet Leon didn’t even bother sharpening it—he simply manifested the Machine God’s Heart and crushed it.
Then threw it back into the furnace.
“Another failure?”
“No. It’s a success.”
“Then why destroy it?”
At his question, Leon shifted his gaze toward Dobog, who was still hammering until the very end.
“That’s the finished product.”
Soon, Dobog staggered over.
And handed over the material he had painstakingly hammered.
“Truly… will this be enough?”
“Yes. You’ve worked hard.”
“Puh… I feel sorry leaving it all to you… but perhaps because I’m old, this isn’t easy at all.”
With those words, Dobog collapsed to the ground.
“When that dagger is complete, will it stabilize Lord Merkavalt like the Sea Dragon Armor?”
“No. The existing method won’t work. It’s impossible to produce the same effect as the Sea Dragon Armor.”
“Then?”
“I’ll stab this into her heart.”
At a glance, it sounded like he intended to kill her—but that wasn’t it.
“Are you saying you’ll harm Lord Merkavalt?”
“That’s not it. To begin with, its lethality is no different from a standard mithril blade. You can think of it as a kind of magical artifact.”
“Then… how do you intend to stab it into Lord Merkavalt’s heart? Even like that, she is a Dragon Lord.”
“Don’t worry. That part is my specialty.”
After all, blacksmithing wasn’t his main field.
At that explanation, Dobog let out a hollow laugh, then staggered over and poured a nearly empty glass of Ice Blood, handing it to him.
“Ice Blood. Do you know what it means when dwarven craftsmen offer this drink?”
Leon thought for a moment.
Drink it, Leon—grasp your fate?
Something like that?
As he remained silent, Dobog chuckled heartily.
“A salute to a craftsman’s skill.”
At those words, Leon slowly reached out, accepted the glass, and drank it down.
“Get some rest. I’ll rescue her soon.”
“I’m counting on you….”
* * *
The deepest abyss of the abandoned mine in Dragon Forge.
At the very bottom, a massive blue dragon crouched, letting out pained groans.
“Foolish creatures… I told you to just run away….”
The Dragonfang soldiers currently going outside were something she had created, but they were not beings that followed her will.
If things continued like this, everything she had protected would be destroyed by her own hands.
After restoring the Sea Dragon Armor, she had unleashed the power she had been suppressing, even at the cost of consuming her own strength.
Because if the Sea Dragon Armor had been restored, there was no longer any need to hold it back.
But.
This was the result.
The Sea Dragon Armor had done nothing to resolve her problem, and all she could do was hide here, enduring the madness that surged like waves.
Even so, it felt far too fast.
She knew.
That the madness now consuming her was progressing far faster than expected.
If even the Sea Dragon Armor failed, then there were no methods left.
Clutching her blood-red eyes with her massive forepaw as she trembled, she suddenly sensed someone approaching before her.
“You are….”
At her murmur, a being of pure white light approached.
Four pairs of wings.
A higher existence that even dragons could not treat lightly, and the guardian of this continent—this dimension.
If humans were called guardians of nations or territories, and those bearing star titles were called continental guardians on a transnational level, then those beings were no different from guardians of the world itself.
“You’ve come to kill me.”
If such a being had appeared before her, the reason was obvious.
They must have judged her existence harmful and come to kill her.
After all, neither the children of Dragon Forge nor the humans of the continent could handle her.
With that, she desperately approached him and bared her neck.
“Please cut off my head in one strike. So that I… I won’t harm the children.”
At her desperate plea, the archangel, revealing himself from the light, spoke.
“Don’t you find it strange?”
“What…?”
“You must know as well. That your madness began faster than expected.”
At those words, Merkavalt’s intact blue eye widened.
“What do you mean?!”
“I did it. I made your madness erupt dozens of days earlier than scheduled.”
At those words, Merkavalt roared and swung her massive forepaw toward the archangel.
Her claws tore through the air like blades, but the archangel lightly blocked them with a sword of light formed in one hand.
“Archangel!!!! Why would you do this!!”
She tried to unleash a barrage of attacks in fury, but the more she did, the worse the madness became, causing her to instinctively shrink back.
“That is the only way for you to live.”
“What?”
“The one who can save you—if not now, you won’t be able to receive their help.”
With a bitter expression, he moved.
Clang!!
At the same time, he destroyed all the sealing magic she had placed on herself.
“Go outside.”
“Archangel… Gabriel!!!”
“If you must resent someone, resent me.”
With those words, the archangel leapt into the abyssal pit leading further below behind her.
Long ago, it was a place where an undying being had been sealed and annihilated with breath.
It was also a place no one approached, as the poison left behind by its death still lingered.
She did not ask why he was going there.
She had no time to ask.
Blood tears began to flow from her reddened eyes.
And then—
Her massive body shot upward, violently breaking through the mine as she flew outside.
In the process, strange barriers tried to block her approach, but whatever the archangel had done, they quickly shattered.
Dragon Forge, which she had thought completely destroyed, thankfully still retained its form.
‘Please… please run.’
Unable even to shed tears, she roared, releasing an overwhelming dragon fear in all directions.
Having completely lost control of her body, she gathered massive mana in her mouth to fire a breath at the Dragon Forge royal palace.
And, after inhaling, before her will could stop it, she released the breath.
A dragon’s breath that symbolized destruction itself—far beyond the threat of the Dragonfang soldiers’ assaults until now.
She saw the dwarven warriors who had spotted her and flinched in shock.
In their eyes were concern, fear—and sorrow.
Run.
Just run.
Why are you still standing here?
‘Please….’
Despite her desperate wish, the madness that prevented her from maintaining her reason tightened its grip even more.
And then—
The ultra-high-pressure, ultra-high-temperature breath tore apart the clouds in a circular shape as it struck downward, creating the illusion that all sound in the world had vanished.
In a situation beyond even her ability to undo, blood tears streamed down her reddened eyes.
It was then.
Within that illusion of silence—
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
In a moment where time seemed to slow as if frozen, Merkavalt belatedly noticed someone slowly approaching the place where her breath was descending.
Two pairs of pure white wings, and two pairs of wings made of light.
A total of four pairs of wings shone brilliantly.
The pink-haired woman slowly clenched her small white hand and took her stance.
Thoooom!!!!!
She threw a punch directly at Merkavalt’s breath.
To thrust a bare fist against such a massive, high-pressure, high-temperature breath was tantamount to suicide.
But—
Surprisingly, in the clash, the first thing to deform was her breath.
The breath that had struck downward burst outward like liquid rebounding from the bottom of a glass, being pushed away as an intangible shockwave crushed it and sent it soaring high into the sky.
In an instant, it brushed past Merkavalt’s head and created a massive distortion in the sky.
It was a terrifying power that made all her scales stand on end.
A truly shocking force.
Ordinarily, she would have expressed gratitude for being helped, but the fact that it was an archangel who had driven her mad earlier than expected made anger come first.
Just how much did the archangels intend to toy with her?
The distorted space shattered in succession.
At that moment, a voice came from above her back.
“Merkavalt.”
A calm yet familiar voice.
The one who had restored the Sea Dragon Armor and left Dragon Forge without regret.
It was Leon Cascadia.
Merkavalt could not respond. She had no leeway to.
Her body reacted before her will.
“Heavenly Fortune Golden Lock.”
Leon murmured as if reciting an incantation, then gripped the dagger in reverse and drove it down.
Fwoooosh!!!
The dagger plunged toward her heart.
She wanted to simply take it—if she died, others could live.
But her madness would not allow it.
In an instant, she twisted her body and threw Leon off.
Then, with her massive tail, she struck him, sending him crashing to the ground.
No!
Inside, Merkavalt screamed as she tried desperately to check Leon’s condition.
And then—
At what she saw, her eyes widened.
“Phew. The patient is way too restless. Luna. We’ll have to force treatment.”
“Got it.”
The archangel walked calmly over to Leon’s side.
Despite taking a direct hit from the tail, Leon stood up far too unharmed.
Then, looking up at Merkavalt in the sky, he spoke.
“We’re beginning the procedure now. Merkavalt. If it hurts, scream.”
The one who moved first was Merkavalt.
* * *
An enormous number of magic circles began forming around Merkavalt.
And from their center, hundreds of spears made of water poured down toward Leon and Luna like torrential rain.
The relentless barrage of water spears not only shattered nearby structures but also scattered into massive fragments, causing secondary damage.
But that was all.
Though there were hundreds of water spears, the moment Luna spread her wings and raised her hand, white discs of light formed around the ground near her, transforming into massive spears of light that began intercepting the water spears in midair.
Then, Leon, lightly loosening up, reached into the air, and space warped as a red sword was drawn from the gap.
“Luna. As long as the dragon is alive, that’s enough, right?”
“Possible.”
“Good.”
Thud!!
At that moment, Merkavalt staggered violently from an unknown impact.
What… just happened?
Even consumed by madness, she could not comprehend it.
Did that short-lived human just completely shatter the protective barrier of a Dragon Lord?
Shock surged, but her body moved honestly.
She gathered mana into her mouth once more and fired another breath at Leon.
Leon, holding the demon sword, moved swiftly, dodging her breath.
[7th Circle]
[Extreme Ice Type]
[Frozen Throne]
In an instant, the frozen ground moved as if alive and froze Leon’s legs in place.
Suddenly restricted, Leon lowered his head to check his legs—but before that, Merkavalt’s breath engulfed him.
Kwoooaaaa!!!
This time, it hit directly without interference.
Naturally, the aftermath of the breath burned everything around it, destroying Dragon Forge.
No—it should have.
What?!
Merkavalt was shocked once again.
Her breath—a condensed mass of massive mana—had clearly struck the ground.
Yet aside from shockwaves breaking the surroundings, it had no effect whatsoever.
She soon understood why.
In Leon’s hand, which had been frozen from the waist down, a black, unidentified sphere was writhing.
Even Merkavalt, known as a Dragon Lord, had never seen such magic.
Around the eerie sphere that seemed capable of swallowing everything, particles of light flickered, forming an accretion disk.
Light?
No—that was mana.
A sphere that swallowed a breath made purely of mana?
She had never heard of such a thing.
What was even more astonishing was that despite devouring such a powerful breath instantly, it had no effect on its surroundings.
As if it absorbed only mana.
Afterward, Leon casually dismissed it, then lightly stomped the ground with one freed foot, shattering the ice.
Crack!!
The frozen ground, as if alive, split apart all at once and collapsed.
This is absurd.
That’s the power of a short-lived race?
Merkavalt forgot even to suppress her madness and showed disbelief.
Her breath—and the ice magic from earlier—possessed firepower that even her kin could not easily block.
Yet a human—not even an archangel—had neutralized them so easily.
If she felt this way, how much more so would others?
At one side, the dwarves of Dragon Forge who had been fleeing were now watching the battle with stunned expressions.
However, they quickly came to their senses.
“Leon!! Kill me! That’s the only way left to stop me!”
Floating in the sky, she momentarily seized partial control of her body and shouted.
At that, Leon brushed off the ice fragments on his leg and replied.
“Hey. I told you to scream if it hurts, but you’re already whining before the needle’s even in.”
What?
At that absurd remark, she was momentarily speechless—
Then, as space seemed to tear, her will was seized again.
Her madness took control, and she turned toward the source of the eerie sensation.
The archangel!
At some point, Luna had approached, and in her hands were two spears of pure white light, which tore through the sky and mercilessly pierced both of Merkavalt’s wing joints.
!!!!!
Screaming in agony, she twisted her body, but the spears of light did not release her.
At the same time, her crimson eyes flared, and a massive storm of mana wrapped around Luna in the air, forming a colossal tempest of wind.
For dragons, magic was as natural as breathing.
In an instant, she bound the archangel’s movements, then ignited sparks within the storm, transforming it into a superheated tornado.
A flame so intense that any living being would be incinerated.
Yet the archangel broke through the storm as if it were nothing and flew straight toward her.
As Luna’s fist came crashing down, Merkavalt spread vast mana and formed dozens of layered barriers.
Krrrraaack!!
Luna’s fist collided with the barriers.
The entire shield buckled toward Merkavalt under the overwhelming force, but it managed to avoid being completely shattered.
At that moment, as Merkavalt tried to deploy magic again—
She realized too late that she had lost track of Leon.
In panic, she looked down.
There, a massive magic circle was locking into place with a clack.
Attribute: lightning.
Structure: a hybrid layered construct combining three-dimensional and four-dimensional strata.
Its density… immeasurable.
Even Merkavalt had never seen such an absurd high-dimensional magic.
Soon, the magic circle twisted with a click—
And around Leon, indescribable lightning mana surged forth.
[9th Circle—Explosive Lightning Type]
[Ultra-Long Wave Pulse]
[Giant Jet (Upper Atmospheric Lightning)]
A massive bolt of lightning stretching from the ground beyond the atmosphere.
A bizarre, quasi-cosmic natural phenomenon surpassing ordinary nature.
The enormous lightning shot upward from the earth and wrapped around Merkavalt’s entire body.
Then it surged to the far reaches of the sky and dispersed like a vast cone.
The lightning itself lasted but an instant.
But Merkavalt’s body, exposed to it, was rendered completely incapable of fighting in a single blow.
Was it because she had been distracted by Luna’s attack?
Or because the lightning magic was that powerful?
Either way, one thing was certain.
Even in perfect condition, she would have struggled to withstand it.
As she fell, she saw Leon drawing the dagger from his chest.
And—
Like a flash, Leon flew in and stabbed the dagger into her heart.
Her scales’ defense meant nothing.
The dagger rippled like liquid, piercing through her scales and burrowing into her heart.
And—
The madness that had tormented her scattered as if it had evaporated in an instant.
Boom!!!!!
The massive dragon’s body crashed to the ground.
Her sturdy dragon bones shattered, her scales ruined—but she felt relief.
She didn’t know what had happened, but if she died, Dragon Forge would be safe.
“I told you to scream if it hurts. And when you actually should, you don’t make a sound.”
Leon muttered in disbelief as he approached her.
“Th… ank… you.”
Regaining control of her body, she spoke with difficulty.
“For killing me….”
“What are you talking about? Surgery is meant to save, not to kill.”
Nonsense.
With that level of impact, even a Dragon Lord’s ancestor would die.
The fact that she was still breathing was a miracle.
Survival in this situation was impossible.
But she did not know who the archangel opposing her truly was.
Fwoooosh!!!
Merkavalt blinked in disbelief as her body was restored in an instant.
“What… is this….”
“Treatment complete. Please pay the medical fee at the Cascadia Hospital billing department.”
Luna finished the treatment as if it were nothing and lightly jumped down from Merkavalt’s head.
Then Leon spoke.
“I couldn’t find a way to neutralize your madness like the Sea Dragon Armor. I admit it. I couldn’t make it in time.”
“What…?”
“So I changed my approach. That ancient god’s curse that was devouring you—I transferred it to myself.”
At those words, Merkavalt trembled as she recalled the dagger lodged in her heart.
No! If someone as strong as Leon goes mad, then it would be a true catastrophe—
“But… why are you fine…?”
“I’m immune to mental contamination. So I digested it.”
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