Chapter 439

〈Chapter 439〉 Part 1, Chapter 18, 21

At that moment, Cape Town, South Africa.

■■■■■■!!

“Kyaahhh!!”

Team L’s leader stationed in Cape Town, Tempest Lady, felt her heart drop as a petrifying breath from the Earth Dragon whizzed past her head.

“Haa, haa!”

Had she not hastily cut her hair with blades of wind, it would’ve likely started hardening from the tips. The Earth Dragon’s breath had the ability to turn anything it touched into stone.

“Support… gah!”

[Hang in there, Chunja! Just 30 more seconds! Dive down!]

“Looks like I’ll die before 30 seconds?! Kyaahh?!”

Yang Chunja screamed and rode the wind downward in a flash. Having dodged the Earth Dragon’s petrifying breath, now the Dark Demon Dragon tried to strike her with its wing.

“Huff, huff!”

[23 seconds left!]

“One by one… aaaah!”

Tempest Lady thrust wind energy downward. A massive cloud of dust rose up as the Earth Dragon’s breath collided with wind attribute magic power, sending it soaring high into the sky.

“Y-you insane… MA DRAGONS…!”

It was absurd that an A-Rank individual like herself had to take on two SS-Rank monsters, but Tempest Lady was doing her best to draw the aggro of both dragons while squeezing every ounce of strength out of her soul.

She had to keep flying through the skies, dodging attacks, and ensuring neither the Earth Dragon’s petrifying breath nor the Dark Demon Dragon’s poisonous breath hit the city.

‘Someone, help me please!’

“Everyone, evacuate while I distract them!!”

In this situation where appearances and reality were at odds, Yang Seonyu gritted her teeth and dodged the attacks. Fortunately, the dragons’ attention was completely focused on her, and their patterned attacks had become easier to evade.

‘The training program saved my life ten times over.’

The virtual training system at Galaxy University naturally included creatures like ultimate difficulty-classified dragons. Yang Seonyu honed her skills fighting simulated dragons.

■■■■■!!

If not for that experience, someone merely A-Rank would’ve been squashed instantly. Yang Seonyu checked the time on her magical gear.

Remaining time: 3 seconds—

“Aa.”

The Earth Dragon and Dark Demon Dragon simultaneously opened their mouths toward her. It was too late to dodge. Why did her ring have to shimmer just now?

“I’m getting married—”

“Excuse me.”

Someone wrapped their arm around Yang Seonyu’s waist. An unfamiliar yet oddly familiar woman voice intoned softly as she raised her staff forward.

“Reverse Gravity.”

The brown core at the tip of the staff flashed, and the Earth Dragon, which had been sprawled on the ground like a turtle, floated up into the air in an instant. The entity who could flip and lift an SS-Rank monster so effortlessly made Yang Seonyu catch her breath.

“Yuinah?!”

“I’ll take over.”

The ivory-coated Yuna pulled Yang Seonyu back. The Earth Dragon, flung into the air, collided with the Dark Demon Dragon, and their breaths clashed explosively.

KWA—-ANG!!

A massive explosion shook the surrounding air violently. As Yuna placed Yang Seonyu safely on the ground, she struck the staff against the earth.

“Reinforcements are here. I’ll handle this.”

“You, you’re really Yuna?!”

“Yes.”

Yuna raised her staff high. Simultaneously, dozens of muddy hands erupted from the ground and entangled the two dragons.

Keeeeeek!!

Though the dragons thrashed about desperately, the mud hands didn’t break under their struggles.

“Kung.”

Yuna dispassionately struck her staff down. Immediately, the hands grabbed the two dragons and dragged them all the way to the horizon. The Earth Dragon and Dark Demon Dragon were crushed like squeezed lemons.

“Aah. This is <Yaldabaoth>. Cape Town is done.”

“…Could it be?”

Yang Seonyu’s heart raced at Yuna’s words. She remembered the rumors quietly circulating within the Blue Wind Sect. Professor had indeed mentioned that there were at least five beings as strong as Phoenix or Seoyea in the world.

One of them, Yaldabaoth, turned out to be Yuna. Yang Seonyu found it strange seeing Yuna with hair tinged brown.

“Uh, uh… Miss Yuna? No, Lady Yuna?”

“You can speak casually. …Hmm.”

Yuna frowned slightly as she watched the two dragons being crushed by the muddy hands. Their bodies were gradually merging into one.

“This is Yaldabaoth. Confirmed abnormal reaction from the dragons… other areas too? In two locations… Ah, yes, it seems accurate.”

“What do you mean, can you explain it simply…?”

“They’re fusing. The dragons.”

“Huh?”

■■■■■■■■!!!

Breaking through the mud hands and roaring, the two—no, one dragon scattered violet light from its eyes and growled menacingly. The reaction on the monster radar indicated a danger level comparable to SS+.

“Th-this insane…!”

“Yes, possible. Let’s seal it here first.”

Yuna plunged her staff into the ground and clasped her hands. Like the earth itself moved at her command, the entire ground flipped over, and a pile of dirt enveloped the fused dragon.

Clay. Clay.

Yuna manipulated the magic power between her hands as if kneading clay, and the fused dragon was compressed along with it.

Crack, smash, splat!!

Sounds of something breaking, being crushed, and exploding echoed from inside the dirt mound. Yang Seonyu swallowed hard at the grotesque sounds, while Yuna lightly floated the ball she had formed into the air.

“<Hades’ Vessel>. Executioner, capture complete.”

“…Capture?”

“Yes. Professor asked me to grab one for research purposes.”

Yuna pointed indifferently at the sphere she had created. The sphere remained eerily still, like concrete encasing nuclear waste. And yet, despite the SS+ Rank monster alive inside…

“What if it bursts out?”

“That won’t happen. To break through this, they’d need at least… no, never mind.”

Yuna trailed off, but her faint smile sent shivers down Yang Seonyu’s spine.

“T-that thing you just captured… isn’t it an SS+ Rank monster?”

“Yes. If we let it loose, half of Africa would’ve been wiped out.”

“B-but how could you capture it so easily?”

“Hmm…”

Yuna shrugged nonchalantly and smiled.

“It’s because I’m stronger. Oh, reinforcements are here. See you later at the dorm.”

Bang!

When Yuna struck her staff, a massive sinkhole appeared beneath her feet. Waving goodbye, she jumped into the sinkhole, and rough engine sounds followed from below.

“H-ha, ha, ha…”

Yang Seonyu decided to stop thinking altogether.

* * *

Legion (레기온).

A word meaning both a multitude and a malevolent spirit.

Dark Legion refers not only to the coalition of seven officers under Seongju but also names another “monster.”

Dragon.

Failed copies created by replicating the nucleus of spirits to produce Goddess Yuinah. All these dragons exist as one entity but were originally designed to combine seven replicated attributes into one.

Just as Yuna’s Core Gnosis merges the nuclei of seven spirits, the dragons also possess a unified core capable of fusion.

The overseer of these dragons was Azidahaka. Thus, Azidahaka summoned all his powers through his avatars to summon the seven dragons and fuse them into one.

[Dark Legion.]

The monster created by combining seven failures. Naturally, the core of this monster was Azidahaka himself.

Ahahaha!!

The voice resonated in seven layers. It sounded like a man’s voice, a woman’s voice, an old man, a child, an animal, electronic tones, even ghostly whispers, all overlapping.

I will never let you live–!!

Azidahaka, now an existence barely recognizable as such, became the monstrous Dark Legion.

[Dark Legion might as well just be called Seven-Headed Dragon.]

Each attribute had its own head, though heads sprouted everywhere unnaturally.

Centered around the long eel-like body of the Dark Demon Dragon, six heads jutted out like a heptagram. If the body wasn’t several dozen meters long, it might’ve looked outright grotesque.

[That’s why it got scrapped in the original work.]

Ahahaha! Die, Phoenix!!

Standing upper torso-first on the Earth Dragon’s head, Azidahaka pointed at me. The mouths of the Sky Dragon and Wind Dragon above opened wide toward me.

[Patterns aside, they’re just going to spew dragon breath, right?]

The Earth Dragon unleashed its petrifying breath. I fired a magic projectile ahead to detonate the breath. Then the Wind Dragon’s breath came rushing toward me, whipping up violent winds.

Ka-ga-gang!!

[Why don’t you just skip using the Wind Dragon? It’s counter-effective anyway.]

Even though I took the full brunt of the Wind Dragon’s breath, I was unaffected. The scratches from Azidahaka’s fingernails hurt far worse. Attacks of the wind attribute couldn’t harm me at all.

Not finished yet!!

Azidahaka lifted three heads simultaneously. The heads of the Water Dragon, Light Dragon, and Illusion Dragon combined their breaths at the center.

■■■■■■■!!

A blue, gold, and gray breath merged into a murky violet breath. Unadorned with special abilities, this breath packed pure magic power akin to Karna unleashing his Brahmasutra at full power.

[Avoid it and that’s that.]

I kicked off into the air, spreading my wings again to soar vertically upward. The breath narrowly grazed the tip of my foot as it missed.

You bastard!!

[Phoenixes are birds, you idiot.]

Aaaaaaah!!

Azidahaka tore at his hair. The Dark Demon Dragon, whose lower half was immobilized, opened its mouth and gathered magic power. Watching the Dark Demon Dragon open its mouth already made me want to laugh.

[Why aren’t you using the Fire Dragon? Is it just for show? It’s the coolest looking one.]

Shut your mouth—!!

[Annoyed? Shut it then.]

The Dark Legion shot a breath at me. There was no space to dodge. After all, the breath covered the entire Black Bible territory.

[Even if I dodge, it doesn’t mean I can’t counterattack.]

I surrounded myself with magic power. My azure wings acted as a shield, forming a sturdy barrier. The Dark Legion’s breath crashed onto the feather shield.

Creeeak!

Cracks began to form on the shield. Feathers were torn away one by one, leaving only the bare bones. The destructive power of the Dark Demon Dragon’s breath was unimaginable.

Ho ho ho ho! Do you think you can block it with such a feeble shield?!

[Is that so?]

I flicked my finger. Flames engulfed my whole body, shattering the feather shield. I tapped Azidahaka’s back of the head with my foot.

[So I dodged. While dodging, I transferred here.]

Already, hundreds of blue falcons – combat mini-phoenixes – were scattered around the Dark Demon Dragon, strutting confidently.

[Wherever there’s fire, I can teleport. Teleportation isn’t your exclusive ability.]

You, y-you!!

[Don’t act like a Stage 2 boss pretending to be the final boss.]

I stepped on Azidahaka’s head and leapt backward. The elongated mouth of the Earth Dragon lunged toward where I had been. Had I been slower, the teeth harder than diamonds would’ve pierced my armor.

[Slippery like an eel, huh? You’ll wriggle out fine.]

I pushed off with both hands and fell downward. Hundreds of flame spheres appeared in the air. Though spaced apart, they were positioned such that any slight movement from Azidahaka would cause them to graze him.

[Random bullet hell. Know what happens when you graze? Residual flames ignite.]

Snap!

I clapped my hands together. The flame spheres ignited, growing larger and larger. The continuous breath from Dark Legion was consumed by hundreds of blazing phoenixes.

[If this were Earth, nearby humans would’ve instantly turned into monsters. But here’s your holy land, with no humans, no monsters, no friends around. What will you do?]

This bastard till the end!!

[Disappear.]

Looks like he’ll struggle until the end. Right before hitting the ground, I spread my wings. Azidahaka mobilized even the unused Fire Dragon, spewing breaths in all directions.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaah!!

Seven elemental breaths and hysterical breath. The random fireballs floating in the air like balloons were destroyed by the aftermath of the breaths, but residual flames lingered in the sky after their destruction.

[Hate direct flames? If you insist on being cooked, I won’t stop you, but I prefer direct flames personally.]

A single fiery falcon landed on my palm. Raptors scattered everywhere aimed their sharp beaks at Dark Legion.

[Let me tell you one thing. There’s only one way to avoid this attack.]

I raised my arm high and launched the falcon. Small phoenixes dived toward Dark Legion and Azidahaka, their beaks and talons glinting. I extended both hands toward Azidahaka watching me from above. Between my hands burned azure flames, Blazing Phoenix Revival, fiercely.

[Friend Shield.]

Ah.

[You have no friends, so you deserve it.]

If there had been a Friend Shield, it might’ve truly blocked it.

[An attack charged with full strength.]

I hurled the Blazing Phoenix Revival filled with all my magic power toward Azidahaka, toward Dark Legion.

[Blazing Phoenix Revival!!]

At maximum firepower.

The sky, blazed open.