Chapter 161: Gut Buster
Don’t be mistaken. Unlike some people, Belladonna was neither stupid enough nor delusional enough to think that she could leap into the dragons mouth and survive past the bone crushing teeth, and then past the lava that it would constantly spew out.
If anyone thought that they were going through that death zone alive, they were beyond saving.
No her idea was not follow in that poor idiots footsteps, but to call back to the techniques of the real world.
When she was in training, all those years ago, her teacher had always used the phrase ’Don’t aim to strike the board, aim to strike through it.’
Of course at those times, that was just about following through on attacks and putting the correct force behind them. But the idiot and his friends conversation got her thinking about that phrase, and the possibility of taking it literally.
What if she could actually punch through the armour. To strike the armour as if it was the board, and actually hit the soft and gooey bits behind that armour, all without having to actually break the armour.
It seemed almost impossible, but considering what she could do and what she was fighting. Impossible was more like a suggestion these days.
Rushing up to the dragon once more, Belladonna focused her mana in her fist. It was the essence of magic and if she wanted to perform this magical punch, then she needed to use it.
Compressing it tight in her knuckles, causing them to glow with a soft blue light under the skin, Belladonna slammed her fist into the dragons craggy scales, generating a loud boom that sounded impressive, However the actual result was pathetic.
Not only did the dragon not even notice her attempt, it didn’t budge it a single inch.
She performed the same punch a few more times, using both fists, as she slammed them repeatedly into the dragons belly. But nothing happened. The energy stayed in her fists, fusing itself with her muscles.
It made her punches strong and her knuckles incredibly tough, even without the earth element infusion. But toughness was not what she needed. She needed penetration. She needed energy expulsion.
She needed flow. Only then would she be able to perform the attack she could see in her mind, and budge the dragon back that magical inch. In fact... Perhaps that is where the secret lay. In a single inch.
Taking a deep breath, Belladonna took the time to centre herself. Tuning out the noise of battle, the presence of the dragon and all the possible threats around her. She forced herself in a state of shallow mediation as she focused on the energy flowing through her body.
She felt how it moved through her veins, carried and infused into her blood. How it naturally saturated and massaged her muscles to increase her strength, and how she could amplify that by feeding it more.
Belladonna took hold of that mana and began to focus it once more in a singular place in her body. But this time, it was not her fist she focused it on.
Instead, she pushed it towards her foot, her left foot to be exact, as she sank into a particular position.
Her feet, shoulder width apart, pointed perpendicular to one another with her right foot pointed forwards towards the dragon. She bent her knees, kept her torso facing side on towards the dragon, as she extended a single hand.
Her arm was bent slightly and her fingers were straight like a knives edge, as she held her hand so that her fingers were hovering just away from the dragons scales, leaving a gap of one inch. One inch, exactly.
Perhaps she should be thankful to the suicidal idiot, that he distracted the dragon with his deliciousness to keep it still for long enough for her to carry this all out.
Once she was fully centred, Belladonna finally moved. She pushed off with her left foot, letting not just the mana flow through her body, but all of the power of her punch. They moved in sync, flowing up her leg, through her torso and into her arm.
Forced through her body by a series of rapidly constricting muscles, Belladonna shot her arm forwards, clearing the one inch gap faster than a bolt of lighting, as she struck out with all of the power of her body.
Driving that striking power, and the mana mixed in with it, into the dragon and through it. Finally, her mana followed the path of her power, forcing itself into the dragons body, past the scales and into the fleshy goodness, where it immediately started to rebel.
It didn’t want to be outside of Belladonna’s body. More than that, it hated being inside something else’s body instead of being comfortable at home.
Her mana stirred up, becoming like a hurricane of razor blades inside the dragons guts, as she tore it up from the inside. The shredding hurricane tore its way through its guts, until finally it exited the dragons body and found peace drifting through the air.
The dragon roared in hellish pain as its insides were twisted up and torn apart. A few droplets of blood splattering across the ground alongside that roar.
[Congratulations! You have created a unique skill!]
[Please enter the name of this skill.]
’Well would you look at that, even this system recognises my martial talents.’ Belladonna thought to herself, all the while leaping backwards to avoid being whipped by the dragons sweeping tail, as it lashed out in anger at being injured.
[You have named the skill - Shredding Strike]
[Congratulations! You have learned the skill Shredding Strike!]
’Hehe, it’s not bad if I do say so myself. Although I do need to work on the build up. Not everything is going to stand still and let me hit it.
Besides that, it still felt too shallow. Perhaps I really do need some extra strength, even if it’s going to be incredibly risky.... Nothing good comes easily, right teach?’
Her eyes drifted to the draconic blood that was splattered across the ground, as well as the litres of blood that covered the battlefield, staining it completely crimson, from the countless people that had been crushed, stabbed, whipped, bitten, eaten or slashed by the colossal dragon. And that wasn’t even including the ones who were burned to death, and therefore spilled no blood when they died.
’It would be a true shame to waste all of this delicious nectar. All I need is something still living to act as my starter, before I move onto this delectable main course.’