‘Argh!’
Seo Jun-Ho tried with all his might to maintain a cool and composed expression.
However, the pain he had forgotten about for a moment, thanks to a brief rest, had engulfed him once again.
He still hadn’t gotten used to using 400% Overclocking, and the battle against the imperial princess had turned his magic circuit into a mess.
He wanted to stimulate himself, so he decided to use 405% Overclocking.
‘Get it together, Seo Jun-Ho.’
He was getting weaker and weaker, so he needed a powerful stimulus to whip himself into action. Seo Jun-Ho briefly examined himself.
‘I have two minutes and forty-one seconds max.’
Every minute and second was precious, so even thinking was a waste of time here.
“Let’s get this over with. Today, only one of us will live to see another day.”
“The outcome has already been decided.” Kineos opened his mouth as wide as he could and shouted, “Accept your death!”
A hellfire capable of razing everything to the ground rushed toward Seo Jun-Ho like a deluge.
- Partner!
‘I know.’
Keen Intuition was telling Seo Jun-Ho that he would die if the fire managed to hit him.
Seo Jun-Ho possessed Fire Immunity (S), but the oncoming fire was strong enough to ignore his immunity to fire. It wasn’t strange. After all, it was capable of incinerating even the nine-headed Western Black Dragon into charcoal.
“...”
Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes rolled at an incredible speed. Seo Jun-Ho reached out with his hand and wrapped the oncoming ball of fire with a layer of darkness before sealing it with a layer of ice.
As a result, Seo Jun-Ho was struck by a ball of ice rather than a ball of fire.
The ball of ice quickly melted, but it didn’t matter. The fire grew too weak to pose any danger to Seo Jun-Ho by the time it emerged from the darkness and ice.
“Hm, you’re pretty clever.” The Red Dragon frowned upon seeing Seo Jun-Ho nullify his attack using his wit alone. “Unfortunately, your actions are meaningless.”
‘I am the strongest creature of the empire, the continent, and on this planet.’
“I’m strong enough to usurp Her throne. Do you really think that you stand a chance against me?” Kineos gestured with his claw.
Rumble!
Seo Jun-Ho was dragged away by the sudden shift in gravity and collided against a wall.
“Argh!”
Kineos then swiped at Seo Jun-Ho with his claw.
“Argh!”
Seo Jun-Ho briefly became darkness itself, but Kineos was a Star Destruction Stage Red Dragon. The aftershock of Kineos’ attack sent shockwaves that rattled Seo Jun-Ho’s organs and injured his magic circuit.
Seo Jun-Ho was buried in the rubble. He gnashed his teeth and clenched his fist.
“Wake up!” he shouted.
A ball of ice appeared in mid-air and took on the form of a large-framed knight made out of ice. Hart, the Frost Knight, briefly glanced at his liege before emerging from the rubble and flying away.
“Where are you going?!” Kineos’ eyes were unwittingly fixed on the figure that had emerged from the rubble. ‘He’s not… Seo Jun-Ho?’
He momentarily glanced at the rubble. Hart saw that and took advantage of the opportunity to take on the unique stance of his ultimate move—Cut the Mountain.
Slash!
A ray of sword light made a beeline for Kineos.
“Ah!” Kineos exclaimed and reflexively swung his tail at the sword light.
Boom!
The sword light disintegrated, but Kineos’ scales plummeted to the ground, revealing a bleeding wound.
“My scales are harder than mithril, but you actually managed to penetrate me?”
‘He’s just a creation. He’s not a Star Destruction Stage creature!’
Kineos was furious upon realizing that a mere creation had injured him.
“Get lost!”
Fwoosh!
A massive conflagration abruptly swept across the ruins, dispersing the surrounding clouds.
Brrrrt!
A loud mechanical noise echoed beneath Kineos’ claw.
“...That’s good enough, Hart.”
‘Sawtooth Sword.’
It was a three-meter-long sword with thirty-two saw-toothed wheels embedded along its body. It was made to slaughter monsters with thick hides, and it started rotating the moment Seo Jun-Ho injected it with magic.
‘Cover it with Watchguard of Darkness’ scornful power to disregard...’
Brrrrt!
The Sawtooth Sword spun furiously, spilling darkness into the air.
“Your scales are harder than mithril, but.”
The Sawtooth Sword had become a powerful weapon capable of slicing apart mithril.
“Let’s start with one leg.”
Brrrr!
The Sawtooth Sword ravenously dug into the Red Dragon’s left hind claw. The cut was obviously not clean, but it amplified the pain.
“AAAARGH!” Kineos screamed at the terrible pain. He could feel his flesh getting torn apart. ‘When was the last time I felt this kind of pain? Was it a few decades ago? Hundreds of years ago? No… has it been a thousand years ago?’
Kineos lost his balance and started tilting to one side.
“...!”
Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes widened upon seeing a massive shadow looming over him.
‘The tail!’
Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth.
‘I can’t waste any more time.’
He only had about a minute and forty seconds left.
Seo Jun-Ho took off into the sky and ran along Kineos’ tail.
Brrr—
The Sawtooth Sword abruptly stopped while it was lacerating Kineos’ tail.
“Damn it!” Seo Jun-Ho cursed. ‘Is it because his tail is thicker than his leg?’
“It must be done.” Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes flashed. He had to achieve the impossible by any means. “I have to keep going!”
Seo Jun-Ho tasted blood as he squeezed as much magic as he could into the Sawtooth Sword.
Brrrrr!
The Sawtooth Sword ravenously dug into the scales of Kineos’ tail.
“AAARGH!” Kineos let out a miserable scream as blood, scales, and flesh drenched Seo Jun-Ho’s face.
Boom!
Soon, the Red Dragon’s tail fell to the ground.
The Sawtooth Sword couldn’t spin anymore. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it died to sever the Red Dragon’s tail.
“Well done,” said Seo Jun-Ho to the weapon that had fulfilled its role. Afterward, he took out the Twilight Sword and the Freedom Blade. He gripped the Twilight Sword tightly and ran on the Red Dragon’s back.
‘I can reach it.’
Seo Jun-Ho just had to run straight, and he would soon find the Red Dragon’s nape.
‘I can reach it.’
If he ran for another second or even half a second, he could chop off the Red Dragon’s head. Seo Jun-Ho got engrossed in the idea, and it stimulated him, making him run even faster.
‘I can cut him down.’
He invested all of his magic into his Twilight Sword, the Freedom Blade, and his legs.
There was a burst of speed as he briefly reached a new record of 410% Overclocking.
‘I can cut him down.’
Moments later, Seo Jun-Ho appeared in front of the Red Dragon’s nape.
He raised his sword up high.
‘I just have to bring this down, and his head will fall down.’
“Hmph.” the Red Dragon snorted. Seo Jun-Ho was about to make a move, but the scenery peeled away as he was sent flying away.
‘Ah! Ha…!’ Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t even breathe, let alone groan. The intense pain seemed capable of boring a hole in his soul, and Seo Jun-Ho felt like a kite that had lost its strings.
‘H-how?’ Seo Jun-Ho’s vision blurred. He had no idea how he got hit.
“You fool. You were engrossed in a sweet moment of hope upon reaching my nape, weren’t you?”The Red Dragon turned around and twanged a thin thread in mid-air using his claws. “You must have been in a hurry seeing that you failed to notice such a simple trap.”
“...A thread?”
Seo Jun-Ho narrowed his eyes, and he finally saw dozens of threads made out of Force suspended in mid-air.
It looked abrupt, but Kineos had installed the threads while he was thrashing around in pain. He made sure to show Seo Jun-Ho that he was in pain so that the latter wouldn’t get suspicious.
‘Damn it.’
Seo Jun-Ho was defeated, and he had zero excuses for his defeat. He was intoxicated with the thought of victory, and he was basking in the fact that he had severed the Red Dragon’s tail and lacerated one of its legs.
“How arrogant of you.” Kineos’ words before their battle started echoed in Seo Jun-Ho’s ears. ‘Is that it? Am I too arrogant?’
A deluge of fatigue overwhelmed Seo Jun-Ho. Soon, his magic circuit collapsed; he had run out of time.
“Ah…”
‘It’s my defeat. I lost.’
Seo Jun-Ho didn’t have even a handful of magic, and even if he had more magic left in his reservoirs, it would be useless without a magic circuit to harness it.
“You’re desperate,” said Kineos.
Seo Jun-Ho forced himself to stand up, even though he was aware that he no longer stood a chance. Kineos flicked Seo Jun-Ho away with his claws.
Boom!
Seo Jun-Ho flew away as if he were a pebble, and he cut a sorry figure as he rolled a few times on the ground before stopping.
“Your weakness is saddening.”
“Ah… argh…!” Seo Jun-Ho’s left arm and ribs were broken, and a sharp pain in his spine was making him feel dizzy. However, Seo Jun-Ho still forced himself to stand up despite the excruciating pain
“Just why on earth are you so desperate?” asked Kineos.
“...”
Unfortunately, Seo Jun-Ho couldn’t answer him. The former couldn’t even think straight, much less form a coherent sentence.
“It seems that you cannot talk anymore,” said Kineos, sounding disappointed. He opened his mouth wide and said, “Then, I shall cease the questions. It is about time I devour both your body and soul completely.”
Seo Jun-Ho saw a beam of fire making its way to him amidst his blurry vision.
‘Ah… it’s hot.’
The beam of fire burned Seo Jun-Ho’s skin off of his body.
‘Perhaps I might no longer be in pain if I let myself be engulfed by that flame.’
“...Bullshit.” Seo Jun-Ho gnashed his teeth and reached out with his trembling hand.
He circulated the Black Moon Heart Method to use magic without his magic circuit.
Crackle!
Seo Jun-Ho created a wall of ice to protect him.
“It’s weak…”
The beam of fire soon melted the wall of ice away.
“...”
At the sight, Seo Jun-Ho finally closed his eyes. He was already aware of his outcome.
‘If she were here… if Frost were here… if that arrogant and brazen queen who calls herself the Frostbringer of Worlds were here… could she freeze this oncoming flame?’
It was a question born from pure curiosity in his final moments, so he wasn’t expecting any answer.
“You ask stupid questions sometimes.”
Perhaps that was why Seo Jun-Ho unknowingly lifted his head upon hearing that cheeky, shameless, and naive-sounding voice.
“...Frost?”
“I am the Frostbringer of Worlds. I can freeze even worlds, so do you really think that there’s something out there that I cannot freeze?”
She was shorter than him, so he could see the top of her head.
‘But how did she get here? When?’
He was curious, but he was too tired to ask.
‘...No.’ Even if he weren’t tired, he wouldn’t have said those words out loud. The Frost Queen’s back looked bigger and more reliable than ever, and it wasn’t appropriate to question her any longer.
“That is nothing but just a bonfire to me. Take a good look,” said the Frost Queen with a light smile. She stretched her tiny hand and muttered, “The Queen of Niflheim demands—”
A flower cold enough to wake Seo Jun-Ho up bloomed at her fingertips and quickly grew in size.
“—Freeze, world.”
Comments