Chapter 205: Dralma [2]
"Grandpa?" Louis wondered. "Ah, I spoke with him the other day. He favors me greatly, but he seemed quite dismissive of the rest of you. He is happy that I work so hard to earn my power, while he appeared rather disappointed that all of you have grown complacent."
"...?!" Dralma asked in disbelief. "When did you ever speak with my father?!"
"I wonder if I could awaken my dragon power if I ate a dragon?" Louis rubbed his chin. "What do you think, Dralma? Ah, of course I won’t do that. It was just a funny thought. So, to show your sincerity... Dragons can easily regenerate limbs, right?"
"..." Dralma nodded.
"Give me your wings, one of your arms, one eye, your horn, a few fangs... Oh, and a lung as well," Louis said. "Then we will become allies forever, and I swear upon my mother that I will remain your loyal ally."
"...?!"
Dralma stepped back, shaking her head.
Although he was such a dazzling and handsome young man, and she had even felt a spark of attraction when she first saw his strength, Dralma now wondered why he had suddenly changed like this.
Or rather... was he finally showing his true colors?
"You suggest I mutilate myself?!" she asked in disbelief.
"You are my grandfather’s direct descendant. He possesses the famous Immortal Body, and you inherited part of it. You can easily regenerate limbs, just like my dear mother could," Louis said. "Did you know? My mother was a martyr. To feed her people, she cut off her own flesh. To quench their thirst, she gave them her blood. She never hesitated or felt pain while saving countless humans, who now look down on her and treat her like nothing more than a resource, an object to secure power. So... I will use that same mindset against them."
"I am not your enemy!" Dralma protested.
"Family? Yes," Louis nodded. "Do I know you? No. Maybe you will betray me one day. Who knows?"
"You’re being paranoid!" she cried.
"Are you going to give me your apology gifts, or do I have to claim them by force?" Louis asked, completely serious.
To the people of Frostbane, Louis appeared stubborn and slightly mad, yet ultimately a good person. And he was, to his own people. To everyone else, however, it was difficult to predict how he would respond. His reactions could feel disturbingly inhumane.
"Dralma, did you forget where we come from?" Louis shook his head and clicked his tongue. "Tsk, tsk. You are so hopeless. It makes me want to crush you. Why are you trembling? Is this how a dragon should react? Where is your draconic honor and pride?"
"Louis..." Dralma muttered. "Do you want to fight me that badly?"
"Yes!"
Louis stood up and spread his arms. A pair of skeletal wings sprouted from his back as his aura overflowed with aberrant power.
"An opportunity like this cannot be missed! Let’s fight! I have made bonds with people by beating each other to death!" Louis laughed. "Mirai, my most beloved, has fought me relentlessly every day. I love those who fight and struggle the most. They are the most beautiful. Even that brat Arthur... he was so stubbornly relentless! Hahaha! I like him! I want to train him and fight him for years. I want to see how he will grow."
"...You’re twisted. You’re crazy!" Dralma said.
Louis shook his head.
Then silence fell. Even the air itself seemed to stop.
Dralma felt a chill run down her spine as Louis stared at her. Half of his white hair covered one eye, while the other gleamed coldly through the strands.
"Of course I am. I’m a Sinner."
She spread her wings desperately, preparing to leave. "I’m leaving. You are too unstable. I won’t deal with you. Please rest, and tomorrow we can start over as if nothing happened."
"Hahahaha! And I thought I was the pathetic trash of the family? What is this? Are you... afraid?"
Dralma stopped. She had been trying to remain calm and pragmatic, but now she glared back at Louis. Her dragon instincts awakened as draconic fury blazed in her heart. Her reptilian eyes locked onto his.
"I am not afraid of you."
"Oh? Then show me, coward."
"Louis... don’t test me. You may have power now, but I have had mine since birth, and my power is—"
In that instant, reality warped. Dralma found herself standing in a desolate ashen wasteland.
"What...!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief as she looked around, trying to comprehend how she had been pulled here so suddenly.
Before her stood no longer Louis, but a giant, towering white dragon with six golden eyes, sharp golden horns, and enormous wings glowing with holy light. He possessed four arms, each holding a different powerful weapon: Niflheim, Gram, Muramasa, and Gungnir.
Hundreds of Ashen Frost Swords, refined with his own Sword Energy, floated menacingly around him.
"Let’s fight."
"You! What are you—"
"COME ON!"
Louis laughed and charged toward her.
At last, he would fight another divine dragon—the goal he had pursued ever since entering the academy.
Dralma tried to escape, but four powerful weapons struck at once: a sword of chaotic death, a demonic katana, a heavenly spear, and a frost spirit blade.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Four devastating attacks overlapped, unleashing massive explosions. Demonic, chaotic, holy, psychic, and elemental energies converged and erupted against her as Louis unleashed his most destructive techniques.
If she died now, then she was nothing but a fake dragon who never deserved to bear the name Drakeheart.
However... to his amusement...
BOOOM!
A brilliant explosion of light erupted from her body. Endless forests rose across the wasteland, and pillars of light slammed into Louis from every direction.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Louis laughed wildly as his Draconic Embodiment Form—more spiritual than physical—was pierced and shattered like glass, only to regenerate instantly.
"HAHAHAHA! There it is! THERE IT IS!!!"
Amid the smoke, a lush spiritual forest manifested. Pillars of light surged into the chaotic skies, illuminating the dark wasteland inside Louis’s Fantasy Heart.
In the center of it all emerged a majestic divine dragoness, one hundred meters tall. She gleamed with white and gold scales. Spiritual wooden horns grew from her forehead and neck, forming long hair made of living vegetation. The same vegetation spread across her body, creating natural armor and wings of spirit wood. She had apparently been born wingless but had formed her own this way.
With six beautiful eyes—two blue, two gold, and two green—she radiated the True Divinity of a Divine Dragon, wielding authority over nature, life, and light.
The half-elf divine dragon, Dralma, had unleashed her True Form.
"I will teach you a lesson, little Louis. It is about time someone put you in your place."
"Hoh? Then by all means, come at me. Fight me like a real dragon, Dralma!"
Louis roared and flew toward her as the air behind him rippled and shattered like glass.
Dralma leaped forward, her massive arms extended and sharp claws reaching for his weapons. Both clashed violently, releasing explosions of divine dragon fire.
CRAAASH!
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