part1 · 081-ep81
Episode 81: The Deciding Blow
On floor 100, two beings faced each other.
The Ancient Dragon.
And Ren.
The air was clearly different from moments before.
The dragon glared at Ren. From the human standing before it, it felt power beyond any comparison to moments ago.
"Gwoooargh!!"
The Ancient Dragon roared.
That huge body moved all at once. The ground shattered. The massive frame bore down on Ren. A sharp claw came down.
—But.
Ren's figure vanished.
"..."
The next instant, Ren was slipping past the dragon's side. The claw cut empty air.
"...Too slow."
Ren looked back.
The Ancient Dragon stared at him, almost startled.
Until moments ago, Ren had needed every nerve he had just to dodge the dragon's attacks. Even then, he hadn't dodged them all.
But now was different.
The dragon's body in motion. Its muscles working. The flow of its magic. The faint shift in the instant before an attack.
All of it, clear as if held in his hand.
The Ancient Dragon closed in again.
Right claw. Left claw. Tail. Then a bite.
Ren slipped past the oncoming attacks, one after another, each by a hair.
One step. Half a step. Only the slightest shift of his body.
The attacks never even grazed him.
"..."
Ren watched the dragon, calm.
It was fast. Strong, too. Its defense overwhelming.
Even so—
to the Ren of now, all of it looked slow.
The Ancient Dragon spread its wings wide and shot up into the air in one motion.
"Gwoooargh!!"
It plummeted from overhead — a charge with its whole massive body as the weapon.
Ren readied the magic sword.
The dragon closed in.
And—
Ren's body slid sideways.
The Ancient Dragon slammed into the ground.
—Thoom!!
The ground caved in, deep.
Ren ran past the rim of the crater and swung the magic sword.
—Slash!!
The dragon's scales tore open.
"Gwoh!?"
For the first time, the Ancient Dragon let out a cry of unmistakable pain.
Blood flowed.
Ren looked at the magic sword. A faint smear of blood clung to the blade.
"...It cuts."
Until moments ago, even breaking through those dragon scales hadn't been easy.
Now was different.
The magic sword, wreathed in magic, was slicing through dragon scales with ease.
The Ancient Dragon bellowed in pure rage.
"Gwooooargh!!"
The magic around it swelled up all at once.
Fire. Wind. Lightning.
Three attributes gathered around the dragon.
The dragon worked its magic. The attributes churned together savagely, becoming one enormous mass of power.
The air trembled. The ground scorched.
And—
the dragon's jaws opened wide.
"..."
Ren didn't move.
The next instant, a dreadful Breath was loosed.
Flame and wind and lightning. A torrent of destruction packed with vast magic came at Ren as if to bury all of floor 100.
Nowhere to run.
But—
Ren didn't run.
He readied the magic sword and poured magic into the blade.
This was different from before. The magic obeyed his will — completely.
Into a single edge.
Compressed to the very limit.
"..."
And—
one slash.
—Slash!!
The magic-wreathed magic sword split the Breath clean in two. The giant torrent divided left and right. It never even grazed him.
"..."
Ren lowered the magic sword, quietly.
The Ancient Dragon went still. It stared at him as if at something unbelievable.
Its greatest attack.
And he—
had cut straight through it.
"...Grr..."
The Ancient Dragon backed away.
It was the first time. The Ancient Dragon showed clear wariness toward the human before it.
But—
Ren was already moving.
He closed the distance in an instant. The dragon swung a claw. Ren slipped under it.
He swung the magic sword. Cut the scales. Whirled to the other side. Cut again.
The Ancient Dragon lashed its tail.
Ren leapt. Twisted in midair — and landed behind the dragon.
"...This ends it."
Ren readied the magic sword.
The Ancient Dragon whirled around.
Too slow.
Ren's slash tore deep into the dragon's body.
"Gwoooargh!!"
The dragon's massive frame swayed hard and dropped to its knees. Even then, it tried to rise.
《Self-Regeneration》 Lv.10 activated. The wounds began closing fast.
Ren watched it happen, calm.
"...Persistent, huh."
But—
the next instant, he was already inside the dragon's guard.
The magic sword flashed. He cut open the freshly regenerated body all over again.
Another strike.
And another.
Blows poured in faster than the dragon could regenerate. The Ancient Dragon couldn't even fight back.
It was overwhelming.
Moments ago, the Ancient Dragon had been the stronger one.
Now Ren—
stood completely above it.
"..."
Ren swung through the final blow.
The dragon's massive body crumbled down, slowly.
—Thoom.
A great sound rolled across all of floor 100.
The Ancient Dragon didn't move.
Ren lowered the magic sword.
"...It's over."
Floor 100, gone utterly silent.
And standing in it was Ren alone — the one who had overwhelmed the dragon.