Chapter 201
Erich's eyes moved rapidly. Every time his pupils shifted, a golden afterimage trailed behind.
The massive dragon before his eyes was astonishingly agile for such a hulking body.
It spread the aura of decay in every direction—but only for a moment.
Erich's eyes widened.
Because the dragon's black claws were now right in front of his nose.
'Fast!'
—KWAAANG!
Instinctively, Erich swung his sword to block the creature's claws. His hand trembled from the sheer weight of the dragon's attack.
—KAGAGAGAK!
Sword and dragon's claws met, sparks flying. Erich instinctively sensed that if this continued, he'd be crushed.
He twisted his sword, glancing the trajectory of the dragon's claws, and slashed between the creature's talons.
—CHWAAAACK!
Erich's blade swept across the decayed flesh of the dragon.
Yet, contrary to his expectations, no blood spurted from the wound left by his sword.
Instead, black-red energy surged from the torn injury, taking the place of bodily fluids.
'This doesn't feel alive at all.'
The apex of all creatures—a dragon. Unlike other living beings of flesh and blood, the dragon before Erich was nothing but a font of power and energy.
It was like staring at an erupting volcano or a surging tidal wave right before his eyes.
To Erich, a dragon was nearly akin to a natural disaster.
—KWAAANG!
At that moment, a sudden attack from the dragon struck Erich head-on. The dragon had come at him at a speed barely perceptible, swinging its wings at Erich.
—KWAAANG!
Erich quickly took up his sword and stood. Even though it wasn't a proper attack—just a swipe of the dragon's wing—the jolt made every bone in Erich's body creak.
Considering Erich was currently in an avatar state shrouded in a white aura, the impact was utterly unbelievable.
However, the dragon did not follow up with another attack. Erich quickly realized why.
—Charge at it from its blind spot!
All around, soldiers wrapped in white energy began launching attacks against the dragon. Unlike before, since the dragon was no longer airborne, it seemed possible they might actually reach it with their swords.
Of course, the dragon's roar turned charging soldiers into bloody pulp, yet Erich realized that those attacks were not entirely meaningless.
'... The attacks are working.'
Ordinarily, their swords and spear tips couldn't possibly harm dragon flesh.
Perhaps, just perhaps, a blow from Mikhail, who'd risked everything, might leave a scratch. For the rest of the members, dealing meaningful damage would have been next to impossible.
But now, they were all wreathed in white energy. Empowered by the divine ritual and their own life force, their power was of the same tier as the black aura enveloping the dragon.
Thus, their swords, also wrapped in power of equal rank, could now slash through the dragon's body.
Evidence could be seen in the swords of several soldiers embedded in the dragon's flesh.
—They are able to wound it.
Just that much was enough to be encouraging.
Of course, striking a dragon that moved faster than even Erich could react to was far from easy, regardless of possibility.
But Erich had overwhelming numbers. The dead who guarded the Lord of the Dead were now being blocked at the entrance to the Great Wall by Grand Duke Krupp.
Krupp prevented the dead from joining their master, the Lord of the Dead.
Therefore, at this moment,
On this battlefield, there was only Erich, nearly tens of thousands of coalition forces—and a single dragon.
"Haaah!"
Hrung-ga let out a bizarre shout and swung his club at the dragon. The wind energy he wielded tore at the dragon's hide, sending up black-red mist.
At the same time, Ungrim, who had charged in alongside him, spotted the dragon's massive claw descending upon Hrung-ga.
—KWAAANG!
Ungrim took the dragon's claws head-on, his axe bending downward under the force.
But Ungrim desperately blocked the attack.
In pure strength alone, Ungrim surpassed even Erich. Enhanced by the white energy, he managed to barely withstand the dragon's might.
But it only lasted a moment.
Ungrim's legs began to shake. A sign that he would be crushed soon.
Before things could get any worse, a burst of blue sword energy ran wide across the dragon's shoulder.
—KWAGAGAGAK!
It was Mikhail's attack. Erich's sharp eyes observed that Mikhail's sword energy was actually composed of countless smaller blades.
Though Mikhail's sword energy possessed overwhelming sharpness, without directly releasing the white energy, it could not inflict grave wounds on the dragon.
But as soon as Mikhail realized that white energy could pierce the creature's skin, he seemed to have found a way to utilize it.
He released hundreds, thousands of sword energies all at once, infusing only the tips with white energy.
The dragon's shoulder, wounded in a wide swath, was now shrouded in black-red mist.
As it filled with the blood-like black-red energy, which resembled human blood, the dragon, which had until now been unmoving, let out a growl.
—KRRRRRRRRR!
The beast locked eyes with Mikhail. Then, a writhing silhouette appeared in its throat. Something utterly black began to glow as it flowed along a protrusion in the dragon's neck.
With that, Mikhail seized his sword and shouted to the others.
—Everyone! Keep away from me!
The moment Mikhail yelled, the black dragon unleashed a black-red breath at him.
It was a deadly breath, combining freezing power that seemed to turn everything to ice with the aura of decay.
—KWAAANG!
In an instant, Mikhail was engulfed by the breath. Still, Erich knew he could not waste the fleeting opportunity provided by Mikhail.
—PAT!
Erich's body shot forward at tremendous speed. As the creature unleashed its breath, he noticed scales moving on the back of its neck.
'There.'
The scales turned upward when it breathed. Normally solidly covered, now smoke-like fumes escaped, as if venting heat.
It was thus much thinner here than elsewhere, Erich realized with certainty that this was a weak point.
—WHOOOSH
Fire flared from Erich's hands.
Just a little further.
Erich echoed the thought to himself.
It was thanks to burning his own life force that he'd stalled the Lord of the Dead and exchanged blows with the dragon.
At this moment, all Erich could wish for was to have enough life force left until this dragon collapsed.
Wishing so fervently—
The white aura surrounding Erich blazed even brighter, turning his blade pure white.
But once more, claws appeared before his eyes. He felt his spine icy.
Despite tens of thousands of troops charging the dragon from all directions, its deadliest blows still targeted the most threatening foe.
'... Is it about to use breath again?'
Erich's gaze flicked past the claws. If the breath attack followed immediately after the claws, Erich would have no way to block it.
Fortunately, there was no sign of the breath being readied.
That meant, if he could just handle these claws, he could reach the creature's neck.
Of course, after fending off the claws, he'd also have to deal with the incoming wing attack...
And if he could break through all of that with his remaining strength, perhaps he could slice through the neck of the Lord of the Dead.
'There's no choice.'
Erich made up his mind.
He decided he had to act now, or never.
But just as that thought formed—
—PZZZZZT!
A blue flash, faster even than Erich, shot past him. Like someone wielding a lightning-made spear, a figure passed by and gave Erich a glance.
"Commander."
Barnes.
The man who had offered silent loyalty to Erich until now.
Though not strong, Barnes burned his life force with such intensity that it was enough to divert the trajectory of the claws.
—CHRARRRR!
Erich felt the claws graze his hair.
'Barnes...'
Considering how Barnes's life had been ruined, indirectly, by the Lord of the Dead, the fact that Barnes parried this attack held great meaning for him.
—PAT!
Thanks to Barnes's help, Erich pressed on, his strength intact. His only destination—the creature's neck. Only by severing it in one strike would it matter.
—FLAP!
Again, the dragon moved its massive frame and beat its wings.
The overwhelming wind pressure sent hundreds of soldiers flying away.
—KWAAANG!
But this time, someone leaped out to take the wing strike head-on from the side.
Though clearly lacking in strength, with weapon in hand trembling and being pushed back, it was enough to allow Erich to slip past the dragon's assault.
'Frederick...'
"Hurry, go!"
Erich glanced back and met his eyes. Frederick struggled to hold on, but couldn't withstand the wing's strength.
—KWAAANG!
The massive wing tore through the earth. Even so, Erich kept his piercing gaze on the dragon.
His mind swiftly calculated.
'... Is it not yet?'
Just as Erich nearly reached the neck, there was only one means by which the dragon could attack him: To bite Erich directly with its jaws.
But the dragon made no such preparation. That only meant one thing—
It had at least one more attack method left.
As Erich tensed, the dragon's eyes suddenly flicked backward. If that was despite knowing Erich was right in front, something must've happened behind him.
Spurring himself higher, Erich saw the reason.
'... Milon!'
A knight in armor had plunged his spear into the dragon's tail, pinning it in place. He was burning his life force with such intensity that the light could be seen even from this height.
If there had ever been a holy knight empowered by Incensus, he would have looked like this.
From the cracks in his armor, no trace of a human face could be seen, just pure white energy. And he poured every bit of that strength into immobilizing the dragon's tail.
—WHOOOSH!
Erich's sword now shone brighter than ever before. As the white aura from all around grew stronger, the white radiance enveloping Erich's blade intensified.
Now, the Lord of the Dead, with its vertical eyes, stared straight at Erich. Its razor-sharp teeth were bared, ready for him.
Erich contemplated quietly.
What was the most powerful strike he could unleash?
Now was the time to show all he had honed until this moment.
Thus, the white aura burning from Erich's blade blazed ever brighter, settling along the blade's surface like white scales.
Finely.
Ever more densely.
The sword became longer, larger, to the point where the shapes of the scales could no longer be distinguished.
Erich's avatar shrouding his entire body grew ever clearer.
The white sword closed in on the dragon.
Soon, his greatsword clashed with the dragon's maw.
—KWAAAAAAANG!
White energy crashed against black energy. All around, others wrapped in white aura surged at the black dragon.
'An ant swarm.'
Anyone looking on might have thought so.
That a swarm of white ants hunted a mighty beast.
But the brightest among them all was Erich.
As Erich clashed blade and beast, a massive white shockwave shot upward, piercing the sky and erasing the black-red mist.
—PHAAAAANG.
The sword's edge vibrated violently. In a clash of transcendents, even a sword like this was but trembling metal.
But—
Tiny cracks began to form in the dragon's teeth. The fine scales clinging to Erich's blade flaked off and ground away at its fangs.
—CRACK.
—KRAK.
Erich sensed his sword slowly moving. The blade was slicing through the dragon's teeth.
And then, Erich felt the dragon pouring its utmost aura of decay in an attempt to crush him. But such strength wasn't enough to break through Erich's dense white avatar.
—PIIT!
Erich's sword sliced cleanly through the creature's canine. The dragon's body shook violently as it failed to block Erich's attack.
Without delay, Erich surged toward the creature's neck.
Once more, he raised his sword high over the scales.
'... Just this one time!'
For this one, single attack.
Erich exploded his power, ready to burn every last flicker of his life force. As the black-red mist was blasted away, a clear blue sky opened overhead—
The aura of light encasing Erich soared ever higher, climbing his blade, forming a pillar of light straight into the sky.
Just like the great pillar of light he had once seen when he returned to the past.
And then.
Erich's sword struck the creature's neck.