Chapter 124: Belgaroth Strikes Back
Isaac didn’t even have time to register the danger. A crimson flash tore through the air like lightning, and before his brain could process what was happening, a titanic force crashed into his chest with the power of an avalanche. The impact was unimaginably violent so intense that for a moment, Isaac thought his soul had been ripped from his body. His bones cracked under the blow like dry wood, and his body was hurled at breakneck speed against the nearest wall.
The ancient stone shattered upon collision like glass, a wave of debris and dust dispersing in a deafening shockwave that resonated throughout the entire structure.
His breath was knocked out of him, his vision blurred by pain, and Isaac collapsed heavily to the ground with a wet thud, his body trembling with uncontrollable spasms. His fractured ribs burned with every breath, like white-hot blades carving into his flesh, his breath ragged and wheezing, each inhalation an indescribable agony. He tried to push himself up, but his arms betrayed his will, shaking violently before giving out under his weight, his scarlet blood trickling from his mouth in a thin stream that pooled onto the cold stone.
Belgaroth appeared before him, his heavy footsteps echoing in the ash-laden air like the beat of a funeral drum. His aura had intensified, transformed now a purple flame with violet hues danced around his hands like living manifestations of his cruelty, crackling with destructive energy that made the very air vibrate. Isaac, half-conscious, lifted a blurred gaze towards the red dragon, his pupils dilated with pain, his vision veiled by a crimson haze.
- "It hurts, doesn’t it?" Belgaroth murmured, crouching before him with incongruous grace for his size, his glowing eyes shining with a sadistic gleam that seemed to feed off Isaac’s suffering. "Did you really think you could fight me? A miserable human rat daring to stand against a noble of the Scorching Fangs? Against me?"
Isaac did not respond, his teeth clenched so hard they threatened to shatter, suppressing the scream of agony that clawed at his throat. His body desperately tried to regenerate, the familiar warmth of mana pulsing weakly through his veins like a dying heartbeat, but it was not enough to counter the extent of the damage.
The blow had been too powerful, too brutal, too precise. He tried again to rise, his will fighting against the limitations of his flesh, but his arms gave out beneath him, sending him crashing back to the ground with a dull thud that resonated like a death knell.
Suddenly, a scream pierced the air like a silver blade:
- "Leave him alone, you monster!"
Akane appeared in a flash of movement, her silhouette cut against the shadows like a blade of silver. Her saber, catching the few rays of light filtering through the hall, gleamed with a supernatural glow, almost alive, as if the steel itself shared her newly unleashed rage.