Episode 92
“What on earth is that?”
Zeke, perched atop a tree, gazed at the monstrous figure emerging from beyond the forest.
A deep, guttural roar echoed through the woods as a massive beast, seemingly sculpted from filthy mud and sludge, revealed itself.
Sizzling!
The creature’s body oozed a corrosive fluid that melted any tree it touched, turning the surrounding area into a bubbling swamp. The swamp greedily swallowed any living thing that dared to move.
Zeke focused his keen eyes on the beast.
[A corrupted ancient dragon species, completely consumed by dark magic.]
“A corrupted ancient dragon species?”
It seemed that, like the hydra they had encountered at Kaishir’s sanctuary, this swamp’s master was another dragon species tainted by dark magic.
Just then, the swamp’s master lifted its head and opened its maw wide toward those in the trees.
A sticky liquid shot out from the beast’s mouth.
Splat!
The special forces, already on edge, leaped to other trees to avoid the spray. However, some knights, feeling secure in their perch, were caught off guard and drenched in the acidic substance.
Sizzling!
“Aaaargh!”
The knights screamed as the acid ate through their bodies, their protective armor offering no defense against the beast’s corrosive attack.
Rowe, who had narrowly avoided the acid, broke into a cold sweat as he scrambled to another tree.
“Huff, huff.”
But the beast was relentless. Its back writhed, and suddenly, tentacles coated in the sticky fluid shot out.
Splat!
Dozens of tentacles lashed out, ensnaring the special forces and knights in the trees.
“Aaaargh!”
The fluid on the tentacles was acidic too, and the bodies they wrapped around began to dissolve. The beast’s back split open, swallowing the captured knights and agents whole.
Rowe, sword in hand, slashed at the tentacles from his perch.
“Take this!”
His aura blade severed the tentacles, but maintaining the aura blade was draining. A tentacle snaked into his blind spot and grabbed his arm.
“Ugh!”
Rowe managed to cut the tentacle again, but the acid had already eaten through half his arm. He grimaced and severed the melting limb with his sword.
“Huff, huff.”
Pale-faced, Rowe realized he had to escape, honor as a knight be damned. Facing the swamp’s master felt like battling an unstoppable force of nature, and despair loomed large.
“Haah!”
Channeling his aura into his legs, Rowe leaped from tree to tree. The tentacles pursued him relentlessly as he tried to escape the beast’s domain.
Splat!
Acidic rain fell from the sky, as if the heavens themselves were weeping black tears.
“No! No!”
Caught in the downpour, Rowe’s body began to dissolve. The tentacles dragged his half-melted form back to the beast, and he vanished into its maw.
The beast roared louder, shaking the entire forest.
Zeke, using his stealth skills, observed the tentacles’ movements, analyzing their attack range.
“Incredible.”
The tentacles stretched in all directions, their movements fluid and deadly, spewing acid that could kill with a mere touch. The acid penetrated even the toughest dragon-scale armor, and healing factors struggled to keep up.
“Now I see why it’s called the swamp’s master.”
It was hard to believe that during the era of the Terracan Draker, they fought dragons even more powerful than this. But if he fled now and the beast caught Karus, all their efforts would be for naught.
Zeke discarded his corroded sword and retrieved Bahamut from his inventory, activating Hersion.
With a rustle, Hersion enveloped him. With the special forces and knights all but wiped out, there was no need to hide his power.
Bahamut, with its indestructible properties, and the divine metal Orichalcum could withstand the acid.
With a hum, Zeke summoned Bucephalus.
“Bucephalus! Let’s go!”
As he mounted, Bucephalus leaped into the air.
Splat!
The beast’s tentacles pursued Zeke and Bucephalus through the sky.
“These tentacles make it hard to find an opening.”
Just then, as if reading Zeke’s mind, Bucephalus changed direction, charging at the tentacles. Lightning crackled from the horn on its head.
Crackle!
A powerful bolt of lightning shot from Bucephalus’s horn, striking the tentacles.
Sizzle!
The tentacles burned black and crumbled to ash.
The beast writhed in agony.
Zeke marveled at the power of Bucephalus’s lightning.
“Wow, Bucephalus, you’re not just any dragon horse!”
Bucephalus danced through the air, unleashing lightning on the approaching tentacles.
Crackle!
The charred tentacles fell to the ground.
Zeke grinned.
“Great! Keep those tentacles at bay, Bucephalus! I’ll deliver the big hit!”
Standing on Bucephalus’s back, Zeke raised his sword.
“Haah!”
As he gathered energy into his sword, a three-meter-long aura blade formed. He leaped from Bucephalus’s back, slashing at the beast.
Dragon Slayer Technique
Triple Strike
Great Dragon Slash
One of the ultimate techniques for cleaving through a dragon’s body.
Zeke’s aura blade sliced through the beast’s back.
Splat!
The beast twisted in pain, its mouth gaping wide.
Screech!
Black acid shot toward Zeke in midair.
Using wind magic, Zeke changed direction in the air.
“Here comes another big one!”
He gathered the power of fire into his sword.
With a hum, flames gathered, turning blue.
Zeke swung his blazing sword at the beast.
Elemental Sword
Field of Fire
Blue Flame Frenzy
Dozens of blue flaming swords erupted from Zeke’s blade, piercing the beast’s body.
Screech!
As the fiery swords burned its flesh, black smoke billowed, and the beast screamed in agony. Tentacles burst from its body.
Splat!
Hundreds of tentacles, coated in potent acid, flew toward Zeke.
Splat!
The tentacles wrapped around Zeke, who was clad in Hersion.
Messages flashed before him.
[External erosion and attack detected]
[Activating available defensive magic from the magic circle]
[Supplying mana via the system-linked Dragon Heart]
[Executing 6th Circle Magic ‘Plasma Field’]
With a hum, purple and blue plasma erupted from Hersion.
Sizzle!
The tentacles caught in the plasma disintegrated into ash.
In an instant, hundreds of tentacles were obliterated.
Zeke was astonished by the plasma emanating from Hersion.
“A magic circle inscribed with 6th Circle magic that activates automatically?”
To cast 6th Circle magic without incantation in battle, one would need to be at least a 7th Circle mage. Considering the current Tower Master was an 8th Circle mage, Hersion’s power was truly formidable.
The beast howled in pain from the plasma field’s assault. As the magic’s effect waned, Zeke began to fall.
“Bucephalus!”
Bucephalus swooped in, catching Zeke mid-fall.
The swamp’s master extended its neck, roaring even louder, shaking the entire forest. Hidden beasts cowered deeper in fear, and the forest trembled quietly.
Then, a strange sound emanated from the beast.
『…Cursed… Dragon Slayer… Hatred…』
The voice seemed to vibrate through the air. Zeke realized it was the language of the Chronos era, as Kaishir had mentioned before. The system automatically translated the beast’s words.
“It knows of the Dragon Slayer? Could it be a dragon species that survived from that era?”
The fact that it could speak suggested it wasn’t an ordinary dragon species. It might even be a true dragon consumed by dark magic.
“I never imagined a dragon could still be alive. It would be great if we could communicate, but it doesn’t seem like that’s possible.”
Just then, the beast roared, raising its upper body. Something began to grow from its back.
Splat!
A pair of wings burst forth from its back.
Even the wings were covered in a sticky, mud-like organic substance that writhed and squirmed.
The beast flapped its wings.
Whoooosh!
The viscous organic matter splattered in all directions.
Sizzle!
The decaying substance contaminated everything it touched—trees, grass, even the ground itself.
Bucephalus soared through the air, deftly avoiding the foul matter the beast had scattered. In retaliation, he unleashed a bolt of lightning at the creature.
Crack!
A white streak of lightning struck the beast squarely.
The creature opened its mouth wide and spewed a cloud of black poison towards Bucephalus.
Boom!
The toxic smoke, far more menacing than any liquid poison, filled the air.
Bucephalus climbed higher, evading the noxious fumes.
[Detected: Lethal poison emitted by an ancient dragon species.]
[The armor of ??? automatically purifies the deadly poison.]
Amazingly, the Herseion armor had the ability to cleanse poison automatically.
‘The more I see, the more incredible it is.’
Without this Herseion, facing the swamp’s master would have been much more difficult, he thought.
Zeke patted Bucephalus’s mane and said, “Bucephalus! Fry that thing with lightning!”
Neigh!
As if responding to Zeke’s command, lightning surged once more from Bucephalus’s horn.
Crack!
Dozens of lightning bolts pierced through the thrashing beast.
Simultaneously, Zeke drew his sword and assumed the stance of the Dragon Slayer technique.
A massive aura blade rose, exuding an imposing presence.
“Haaaaaah!”
Zeke leaped off Bucephalus’s back, charging directly at the now-paralyzed beast.
He swung Bahamut, imbued with the aura blade.
Dragon Slayer Technique: True Dragon Sword Art
Chapter 7, Verse 1
Dragon Head Cleave
Boom!
Zeke’s sword sliced cleanly through the beast’s neck.
Thud!
The beast’s head fell to the swampy ground, slowly sinking into the mire.
The severed area began to writhe, as if attempting to regenerate a new head like a hydra.
It seemed the swamp and the beast were somehow connected.
Zeke realized that simply cutting off the head was futile.
‘Being a dragon species, I need to destroy its core—the Dragon Heart.’
Zeke leapt into the air, using a field of wind to propel himself, and landed back on Bucephalus, circling above once more.
With the head not yet fully regenerated, this was the perfect opportunity.
‘I have to aim precisely and finish it in one strike.’
Zeke aimed his sword at the beast’s heart.
Vroooom!
As power concentrated, Bahamut roared fiercely.
The heart of Bahamut, nestled within Zeke’s core, stirred, and the emblem on his chest began to glow.
Zeke gripped his sword, adopting the Dragon Slayer’s final stance.
Aura swirled around Bahamut like a vortex.
Boom!
The essence of the True Dragon Sword Art, passed down by Sword Saint Shaton Draker, was embedded in Zeke’s Dragon Slayer technique.
As the Sword Saint’s successor, Zeke revived the true form of the Dragon Slayer technique in this era.
Rumble!
A storm of aura erupted around Zeke’s sword.
“Haaaaah!”
From atop Bucephalus, Zeke swung his sword with all his might.
Dragon Slayer Technique: True Dragon Sword Art
Chapter 6, Verse 2
Dragon Heart Pierce
Whizz!
Like a massive lance piercing a dragon’s heart, Zeke’s strike hit the beast’s heart with pinpoint accuracy.