A Thousand Changes by the River (2)
“Ugh! Coward!”
The dwarf had expected lightning or fire to shoot from Dalen’s hand.
But contrary to the dwarf’s expectations, no spell emerged from Dalen’s hand.
Instead, a small blue-scaled dragon, which had been resting as a tattoo, returned to its true form.
The dragon quickly swallowed its usual playful chirp and let out a menacing growl through its sharp teeth.
“Oh, oh no…”
The dwarf, who had just rolled to his feet, froze in place.
In the heat of battle, where life and death hung in the balance, the sudden presence of the dragon was overwhelming. Already shaken from the previous fight, the fear rising from deep within was impossible to suppress.
“Hah, kuh…”
The dwarf, who hadn’t even been attacked yet, was gasping for breath, his eyes unfocused. He bit his lip hard enough to draw blood, trying desperately to regain his composure.
But there was no reason for Dalen to give him any respite.
The young dragon, now the size of a grown man’s torso, opened its jaws wide in front of the petrified dwarf.
[――――!]
Magic surged.
Though still small for a true dragon, the resonance from its dragon words was genuine, and the extreme cold gathering in its mouth was enough to evoke the image of a dragon of destruction.
With a roar, the dragon’s icy breath engulfed the dwarf’s upper body.
The dragon’s magic shattered the rune magic embedded in the dwarf’s armor, and the destructive cold pierced and fragmented his tough skin.
In moments, the dwarf’s upper body crumbled into pieces, and his short lower half collapsed to its knees.
[Whimper…]
Silence followed the dragon’s breath.
Whoosh―!
A sharp dagger flew toward the panting young dragon.
[――!]
Instinctively, Dalen cast a spell. He was a bit late.
The dagger flew faster than the protective shield could form.
It was a situation where deflecting was possible, but complete evasion was not.
Thwack!
Suddenly, a silver hand axe came from nowhere, striking the black dagger.
Clang!
The dagger, hit by the axe, was sent flying. But instead of falling to the ground, it quickly righted itself and targeted its mark again.
This time, it aimed not at the dragon, but at the owner of the hand axe.
And the hand axe, too, engaged the returning dagger in a strange aerial dance.
[Whimper…?]
“You’ve done your part. Take a rest.”
Dalen chuckled softly, gently stroking the young dragon.
Though it had grown enough to use its breath in just a few months, it seemed it needed more time before it could fully participate in battle.
The dragon shivered with pleasure at Dalen’s touch, from head to tail, before he stepped forward.
‘A telekinetic. And a spiked armor.’
Two opponents remained.
Clang! Clang!
Even amidst the chaos, the hand axe and dagger clashed continuously, performing a dance without a master.
Dalen turned his gaze to the telekinetic, the owner of the dagger.
The man, with mismatched eyes, was frowning deeply, focusing intently on the dagger.
His hands moved in complex patterns, seemingly drawing out power.
It was clear he was preparing a decisive strike.
“Psychic powers are indeed efficient.”
Instead of responding to the man’s actions, Dalen scratched his chin and commented.
”…What?”
“Without needing mana or divine power, you’re managing to match a B-grade skill, albeit with difficulty.”
“What are you talking about?!”
“There were a couple of times I stumbled upon psychic powers. I’ll keep it in mind for prioritization.”
“You damn monster! Die!”
With a roar, the man thrust his hands forward, causing a nearby building to collapse and crash toward Dalen.
He had amplified the range and intensity of his innate telekinetic power using a localized force.
Bricks, wooden planks, plaster, and tiles formed a massive wave, sweeping across the street.
“Let’s see if your precious ice storm can stop this!”
The man’s eyes were bloodshot from overusing his power, and he shouted with a crazed look.
Instead of engaging with the childish taunt, Dalen quickly formed hand seals with both hands.
Rumble…
The turbulent magic winds pulled down the dark clouds above.
A torrent of black-red clouds descended between Dalen and the telekinetic, blocking the wave of debris like a breakwater. The clouds twisted into a towering column, several meters high.
Roar―!
This was the second phase of Karkas. Unlike when used in the hellish illusion, the original incantation was unnecessary.
Dalen had surpassed human limits, with all his abilities exceeding 30 and having acquired a dragon’s heart.
All that was needed was the manifestation of a simple will.
A small effort to bring the realm’s image into reality.
「Pillar of Crimson Flame」
The color of the dark clouds reversed, and a massive pillar of fire began to consume the wave of debris.
“Aaaah!”
The telekinetic screamed as his attack was nullified in an instant.
Desperately, he extended his hands further, causing two more buildings to collapse and join the wave.
The wave of stone and wood, now more than twice its original size, surged forward.
The man, pushing his power beyond his limits, bled from his eyes, nose, and ears.
“This can’t be stopped…!”
His voice, shouted through blood-stained teeth, abruptly cut off.
The hand axe, having circled around the pillar of fire and debris, sliced through his throat, severing his windpipe and vocal cords.
“Guh, guh…”
“You shouldn’t have let your guard down.”
Dalen chuckled.
Distracted by the overwhelming pillar of fire, the telekinetic had neglected the dagger, and the outcome was already decided.
In truth, the result had been determined long before.
Unlike the man, who focused solely on his telekinetic power, Dalen wielded numerous spells, martial arts, and even the skill of a flying sword.
In the end, battles between superhumans were akin to a sharp game of strategy.
No matter how powerful the card in hand, without the ability to adapt and apply it to the situation, it was like a pearl necklace on a pig.
Dalen, too, had reached this point by constantly striving upward through countless battles.
“Guh, guh…”
“It’s time to end this.”
Dalen’s thoughts lingered. With a flick of his finger, the pillar of fire began to tilt.
The flames poured down, engulfing the telekinetic, who was clutching his throat, and sweeping away the other incapacitated gatekeepers.
In an instant, the street was reduced to ashes. In the corner of his vision, the experience bar rapidly filled.
”…Tch. One got away.”
Surveying the charred bodies, Dalen clicked his tongue, noticing the absence of the spiked armor warrior’s corpse.
It seemed the warrior had escaped while Dalen was dealing with the telekinetic, using some method.
To have evaded Dalen’s heightened senses during the heat of battle, it had to be one of two things: either the warrior had hidden his true abilities, or he had used a powerful artifact he had been saving.
‘Chasing him down now isn’t feasible.’
Even with his senses sharpened, neither his intuition nor the Eye of Shadows could detect anything.
The faint traces of magic left behind only indicated that the warrior had fled a great distance.
In a different situation, Dalen might have pursued the trail, but killing one more demon’s minion wasn’t the priority now.
Perhaps the warrior had planned for this, hoping to escape with his life, or to buy time for the witch if Dalen pursued.
‘We’ll meet again someday.’
Dalen decided to let the chase go. After all, he and the warrior stood on opposing sides of the end.
They would undoubtedly meet again soon.
And when they did, there would be no chance for the warrior to escape like this time.
Dalen searched the bodies of the fallen for anything useful.
Though they had all been defeated by him alone, they were still formidable enough to have established a domain.
At the very least, they might carry better healing potions than ordinary mercenaries.
[Oh, master. What more are you trying to cram into this already cramped space?]
The demon, growing larger by the day, cautiously protested.
“If it’s cramped, fold yourself.”
[Do you even know how uncomfortable that is…?]
“Not my problem.”
[…Fine.]
Dalen had no intention of concerning himself with the living space of a leashed slave.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to gain.
The magical artifacts meant for self-defense were shattered under the relentless assault, and the other tools couldn’t withstand the barrage of spells, losing their functionality.
All that was salvaged were a few rune stones from the remains of a dwarf and a bracelet that had been fastened to the wrist of a shadow elf.
Additionally, there was a fist-sized essence shard from a summoned demon.
“At least I leveled up twice.”
Dalen stored his loot in a pocket dimension and turned his attention to his status screen.
Out of the nine enemies, one had escaped, and another was dealt with by a young dragon, but he had managed to level up twice, albeit narrowly.
――――――――
Name: Dalen
Level: 27
[Strength: 40] [Dexterity: 37] [Stamina: 31]
[Senses: 32] [Intelligence: 31] [Magic: 33]
Skills: Dehama’s Armored Combat (D), Night Vision (E), Leap (E), Flame Arrow (D), Laphantella’s Crushing Sword (C), Hegaleus’s Rain of Fire (C), Shooting Lightning (D), Curse Ward Seal (D), Leredonara’s Secret Blade (B), Sacred Flame’s Ember (C), Crimson Dragon’s Blood (A), Key to the Infernal Gate (C), Ackerman’s Diagram (C)
*Unique Skills (9)
――――――――
His level was now in the late twenties. He had invested both of his new attribute points into strength.
For the first time, his strength had reached 40.
It had been a while since he felt such a substantial surge of power coursing through his limbs.
As he clenched and unclenched his fists, getting used to the newfound strength, Everon arrived.
“Wow, you’ve already finished. It seems you’re on your way to surpassing the fourth tier and heading towards the fifth. I was planning to wrap things up quickly and come help, but it looks like I worried for nothing.”
“Against these kinds of opponents, it’s fine. If we fought together, it would just split the experience points.”
“Experience points…?”
The blond young man tilted his head at the unfamiliar term but shrugged it off and turned his gaze to the barrier guarded by the sentinels.
“I’ve disabled all the barrier’s defenses. We can walk right through the front door, and the witch won’t be able to do anything about it.”
With a flick of his wrist, as if turning an invisible key, the young man made a simple gesture, yet the magic that flowed from it was anything but ordinary.
Creeeak―!
With a sound like nails on a chalkboard, one side of the barrier crumbled.
Whoosh…
A noxious green mist, reeking of decay, began to seep out from within the barrier.
”…Hmm.”
The holy tattoo on Dalen’s shoulder activated instinctively. Beyond the thick, toxic fog, he could glimpse the writhing forms of the dead.
Groooan…
Inside the collapsed barrier lay a scene straight out of hell.
From the outside, the barrier made it look like a normal cityscape, but in reality, the buildings were in ruins, overgrown with dense, dark green vines.
Amidst the shattered urban landscape, the wails of the dead created a discordant symphony.
Just as the wounded guard had testified, the place was crawling with corpse golems, grotesque amalgamations of torn human remains.
“The witch has unleashed quite a few minions, so… it might be a bit noisy when we enter.”
“That’s fine.”
With a flick of his fingers, Dalen summoned a holy sword from the charred remains of a demon.
Despite countless battles, the blade remained sharp, its crossguard firm, and its grip snug in his hand.
Perhaps he was already anticipating the formidable foe that lay beyond this hellscape.
Vroom…
Holding the resonating holy sword, Dalen walked forward with a light step. He spoke.
“The more experience points, the better.”