novelraw Chapter 90: Ashen Kid [6]
Chapter 90: Ashen Kid [6]
The exchange intensified. Marco managed to position himself behind the dragon, slicing off the tip of its tail in a single strike. However, the beast didn’t flinch—it smiled and slammed the rest of its tail against the ground, forcing the blond knight to retreat.
Taking advantage of that distraction, Mitsuki propelled himself toward the dragon’s chest. He aimed at the ribs—the flame glowing between them—and fired point-blank. The water bullet tore through the ashen mist, but the beast reacted instantly, shielding itself with its wings.
The membrane tore apart, but the "heart" remained intact.
’I missed...’
He had to leap to the side and use Ashen Propulsion again as the dragon tried to crush him once more.
"You’re quite slippery, human."
The ground beneath his feet kept shattering with every strike of the beast’s claws. It seemed like that was all it would do, but then it leapt, flapping its wings, and quickly repositioned itself in front of Mitsuki. Its throat glowed green, and before the human could even turn to run, the dragon unleashed an immense burst of flames.
The fire spread across the battlefield, covering nearly half the area. Mitsuki thought he was about to be incinerated, but his survival instincts took over. Desperate, he rolled across the ground as his body broke apart into particles of ash.
The ash traveled through the flames, drifting above them as if carried by the wind. Then his body reformed.
"Surprise," he said, aiming and firing.
The bullet pierced through the flames and entered the beast’s throat. The dragon’s fire breath was extinguished, and it clutched its neck, coughing violently.
Marco appeared near the creature’s feet—Elyndor—and slashed at its joints. The beast dropped to its knees, groaning in pain as the water extinguished its spark once again.
But it still wasn’t enough.
Azel, watching the fight and firing as many arrows as he could, felt frustrated. He was contributing the least to the battle. Sure, he could force Elyndor to land whenever it tried to take flight, but beyond that, his impact felt negligible.
"Damn it," he muttered. "Even my strongest arrow does nothing."
Marco circled the dragon, maintaining pressure, while Mitsuki tried to land a shot on the flame in its chest. Azel felt useless staying in the back.
"I’ll have to try it this time," he told himself, gripping his bow like a sword.
He walked toward Elyndor. His steps quickened until he broke into a full sprint. As he closed the distance, he leapt powerfully, positioning himself in front of the dragon’s face, and with arms honed by training, he slammed the bow against its snout.
Elyndor’s head nearly spun from the force, and combined with its pained roar, it looked like something out of a grotesque horror scene.
The three of them retreated, preparing to strike again, but Elyndor roared in fury.
"Enough! Insolent humans! Do you think you own my domain?!" It rose with its hands on the ground, looking like the primitive beast it once was. "I will destroy you all! The games are over!"
’That wasn’t everything?!’ Mitsuki shouted internally, having thought the dragon had already shown all its power.
He was wrong.
Elyndor dug its claws into the ground. The magic circle carved into the earth began to glow intensely, the auroras in the sky trembled violently, and the ground itself cracked open with spiderweb fractures spreading across the battlefield.
Lightning struck, scorching flames erupted from the ground, lethal winds howled from its wings, and corrupted ash spread from its scales, glowing with the hues of the green mist.
Its cry of pain—the lament of a dead dragon—echoed throughout the World of the Ethereals. The souls that had once hidden among the ruins emerged to watch the battle. All of them were silent, eerily calm, like a vast, tranquil sea in a green inferno.
They were nothing but shadows of people—of all kinds—dressed in gray and black, barefoot, with hollow gazes that reflected the nature of death itself. They were lost, every one of them, yet showed no sorrow, pain, or grief.
In fact, they couldn’t. No soul in this world could remember who they once were.
"Condemned to search for something they will never find," Monar said, watching the souls in silence. "An identity..."
None of them were specters like Elyndor, who had become one due to the overwhelming emotions that never allowed him to rest.
He turned his gaze back to the dragon, which had turned the battlefield into complete chaos.
Azel, Marco, and Mitsuki ran across the terrain, dodging everything they could, but the violent gusts made it difficult. Finally, one of the many lightning strikes hit Marco, slamming him into the ground. His right arm was now burned—his skin blackened and smoking.
Before another bolt could strike him, Azel grabbed him by the other arm and dragged him along.
"Damn it..." Marco groaned, gritting his teeth to endure the pain.
Mitsuki glanced at the blond knight’s wound while using Ash Propulsion to dodge incoming attacks. He felt a bit of pity for Marco—he was the best in close combat, but without magic, he couldn’t truly damage the dragon.
"You’re not going anywhere!" the dragon roared, spreading its wings and leaping ahead of them. "Die, you cockroaches!"
Using every limb, it tried to crush them.
’The longer this goes on, the more unhinged it becomes. Is it because it’s a specter?’
There was no way to know for sure, but he could test the theory by provoking Elyndor further—pushing its rage to the limit.
’If that’s the case... I’ll need all the help I can get.’
[ You have equipped the "Ambrosia Bottle." ]
"Marco," he said, tossing him the bottle. "Drink that. It’ll heal you faster than Monar’s magic."
The blond knight looked at the bottle. He hesitated for a moment, then drank the amber liquid inside. A second later, the burn vanished as if time had reversed itself.
"Now let’s go all out!" Mitsuki shouted. "I know how to defeat it!"