The booming sound reverberated in all directions.
Golb stared at the epicenter of the noise.
A monstrous creature that appeared to be nearly twice as large as himself, who was already one of the bigger giants.
And yet, an elf, minuscule in comparison to the monster, wielded a flaming sword to fight the beast.
‘This is the first time I’ve seen Master giving it her all.’
Araya, who used to toy with both him and Silv when they attacked simultaneously.
Though unable to sense it due to dulled perception, he felt that if he or his younger brother were to truly meet the energy contained within that sword, their essence would be torn apart before they could take ten breaths.
And the being who was clashing with the master.
Perhaps the entity responsible for the massacre of countless giant corpses he had seen up until now.
‘Gal Dragon.’
He had thought it to be nothing more than a legendary tale passed down amongst giants.
Having only heard about it through the words of Terato, their former lord, and never having witnessed one since the creation of Titans.
A unique and unparalleled being with an appearance unrivaled by anything in the world, possessing a golden body.
A being that declared itself the perfect evolution of its kind.
A being whose very name represented its species.
In terms of power, it would likely be on par with Terato.
Should such an existence attack, even giants wouldn’t be able to escape death.
‘…But if the legend were true, it should be a little more…’
A momentary question popped into his mind but was quickly dismissed.
Now wasn’t the time to ponder.
The campsite, once surrounded by trees, was now a chaotic mess.
Surely, Master Hwal had stood against the Gal Dragon’s ambush while they slept.
Rudolf had disappeared somewhere, and Silv stood trembling, watching Master Hwal’s fight without regaining his senses.
Golb slapped his own cheek, believing he should regain his own focus.
“Though Master Hwal seems to have the advantage now…”
The image of Araya wielding her blazing sword, cutting through the dragon’s claws and scales, appeared before his eyes.
Each time, the Gal Dragon roared in anger, but its injuries weren’t severe. There were only superficial wounds; no deep or fatal cuts existed.
This was because, though the sword and energy cuts should have pierced its body, the creature’s sheer size was overwhelming.
He had fought humans before when he was smaller, and he remembered their weapons stinging and annoying but never truly life-threatening.
Meanwhile, Araya’s expression grew more anxious, while the Gal Dragon, though bleeding more, remained largely unaffected.
Even more peculiar, the wounds seared by the fiery blade were slowly healing.
‘If Master falls, we will all be annihilated.’
Golb judged the situation, then slapped Silv on the back of the head to bring him back to his senses.
“Why did you hit me all of a sudden?”
“Snap out of it! Master is in danger. If she falls, we all die. We need to help now.”
As Silv stared blankly with wide eyes at those words, Golb continued in a serious voice.
“Master seems to be tiring. We need to join.”
Silv observed Araya’s fight for a moment before nodding his head.
“What should we do?”
“Our training.”
…
Silv liked his master, Araya.
Unlike himself, who was slow and clumsy, Araya was pretty and moved with a certain grace.
From the time they were cast out from the Village of Giants and barely had enough to eat, their lives improved after being taken in by Araya. They no longer worried about starving.
Cold winters were no longer fearsome.
Though the humans Araya had brought to care for them were initially afraid of Silv, they befriended each other when he helped with tasks that humans found difficult but were easy for a giant.
After being separated from the village, only his mother and brother were with him, but now he had many human friends. He wasn’t lonely anymore.
And Araya, though small, was incredibly strong.
Other humans were weak, but Araya, smaller than even them, could casually toy with both him and his brother when they attacked.
Araya taught her students, including Silv, the martial arts to grow stronger. She occasionally gave him a whole ripe date when he did well and made him large honey cookies.
That’s why Silv liked Araya.
She effortlessly did the things that had always been difficult for him and his family.
Araya always treated even the clumsy Silv well.
Now she was in danger.
His brother, who always scolded his mistakes, had a serious expression on his face.
The always confident and strong Araya was now wielding her sword with a serious look and terrifying intent.
The monster that attacked while they were half-asleep was terrifying.
Just being near it made it hard to breathe, and Silv desperately wanted to run away.
But the thought of Araya being harmed or dying was even more frightening.
If Araya were to die, it felt like all the wonderful things in his world would disappear.
Araya was a god to him.
Trembling, Silv stood and steadied his legs.
‘No one will take my master away from me.’
Lifting his head, Silv looked at the golden dragon combating his master with the eyes of a warrior.
…
Ordinarily, people from Central Plains are prone to exaggeration.
Is it because the landmass is so vast that it encourages their grandeur?
Or is it due to the sheer immensity, making it difficult to verify facts, so they speak first and verify later?
Moreover, even among the people who belong to the prestigious Sword Forest, most were similar.
Parting heaven! Piercing heaven!
The names and meanings behind martial art techniques, were they real? If they were, the world should’ve been destroyed a hundred times over.
Take, for instance, the Three Disasters Sword techniques, which can be easily found in any bookstore. One simple horizontal slash claims to cut down a thousand soldiers.
Though higher martial arts may produce results closer to their described meaning, ultimately, it’s still wielded by humans.
The forms and techniques of martial arts are largely metaphorical expressions.
However, I can decisively state that the scene before me now perfectly matches both the move and resulting phenomenon.
Araya’s martial pulse, Gigantic Strength Fist
Gigantic Strength Crush Mountain
With one stamp of the foot, the ground trembled, and the atmosphere rippled with the release of a powerful energy from a mighty punch.
The massive golden dragon’s great body wavered slightly.
Truly a shockwave capable of shattering a small mountain landed fully on the dragon’s body to bear.
Human-sized by a hundredfold, their mere movements were almost calamitous.
This was the strike from the Titan siblings, Golb and Silv.
Observing the movement of the giant duo, they found an opportunity. The dragon’s body accepted the punch in full.
“Kraaark! You impertinent ape remnants dare interfere in my battle!”
Even allowing the two giants to deliver a blow capable of pulverizing small mountains and thick castle walls, the dragon did not fall.
It swung its tail, now wrapped with a flame-imbued sword wielded by Silv.
Though the siblings had an attack power bordering on catastrophe, their defense was merely slightly above the average Titan.
Allowing too many attacks would be dangerous.
But the dragon’s tail shrugged off the sword, which had scarred its flesh, and struck Silv with leftover force.
“Giieeeeii!”
It was a monstrous tail swung by a dragon many times larger than himself. Even if reduced by his sword, the impact was enormous, and Silv collapsed to his knees, emitting a cry that was not quite a scream.
“Sil-!”
As strong as giants were, Silv was delicate.
Golb started to call out his name, ordering him to step back, but Silv’s eyes instead revealed a fierce determination.
Rather than retreating, Silv stood up quickly and delivered a powerful punch straight into the dragon’s abdomen.
The sound of compressed air exploded, followed by Golb’s additional strikes. The dragon’s body, which was moving, was finally halted.
I swung my sword using the techniques from the Cutting the Dragon’s Neck skill towards a specific point on the dragon’s neck.
“Kraaaarrrgh!”
For the first time, the dragon’s previously solid stance wavered and collapsed.
For the first time, from the dragon’s neck, a deep sound, like phlegm being cleared, was heard.
‘…I couldn’t cut through!’
On the dragon’s neck, through the sight of the Extreme Perception technique, a massive condensation of energy was visible, like a core.
Instinctively, I understood it to be akin to a human’s energy reservoir or the reverse scales of dragons from the Central Plains legends.
Yet, the neck, which should have been one of the weakest vital points in a normal creature, was instead protected by scales much tougher than other parts and a structured defensive energy field.
The more fortified it was, the more certain I was that that point was indeed significant.
‘Just now, I swung with the strongest technique against a dragon from my arsenal.’
The most powerful strike I can currently muster merely deepened the injury, enraging it further.
‘Among the things I possess now, there’s no way to pierce this dragon’s hide and destroy that core.’
Lightning Blade Thunder Style, Flame Dragon Style, Harmonious Sword Techniques, Cloud-Flowing Sword, Pure Yang Sword Techniques, etc. – and hundreds of other sword arts.
Even the refined skills I’ve honed could not rightly be called unparalleled techniques, despite being more than adequate to cut or pierce the dragon.
‘…And I’ve never seen so-called unparalleled techniques before.’
Among the hidden and esoteric legacies passed down by famous sects, which were considered the sect’s ultimate skills, there were those who would never yield them, even if their original life was limited.
The ground rumbled as giants and monsters clashed.
What was left of the campsite where we stayed was indistinguishable; the surrounding trees were shattered and broken as forests turned into open spaces.
Is this what the final battle would be like in a dying world?
Even the mythical monster from the legends was still unyielding against the combined attacks of giants and elves.
Dodging the dragon’s attacks, I reflected.
With the help of the giant siblings, I briefly found some breathing room.
Still, the massive mana filling the air solely obeyed the dragon’s will, refusing me any control over it.
Even my once-confident inner energy techniques could not restore my powers under these conditions.
I was only growing more exhausted with time.
The blows from the giant siblings were heavy, but not enough to move the dragon immovable by my attacks earlier.
It won’t suffice as a decisive blow.
‘…If we don’t have a weapon, we must create one.’
If I cannot find a way out, Golb and Silv will die with me.
If we lack the means, we must create them.
It’s possible.
I am no longer the boy who only adjusted others’ martial arts while hiding in a secluded corner, waiting for death.
‘What is my target?’
The core on the dragon’s neck.
‘What is needed for that?’
A single, absolutely fatal strike.
The upper mind has been persistently warning me to retreat, but I ignored its alarm while focusing all my essence toward creating this single shot.
The flow of energy within my body, which followed the principles of Dragon Flame Style, was now reversed.
Energy gathered into the acupuncture points of my right arm holding the sword.
It’s a thrust, full of strength.
But unlike Dragon Flame Style’s dragon-thrashing thought, it lacked the power, merely bouncing off the dragon’s scales.
‘At least, I understand the feeling now.’
It’s enough, just for a moment.
I leave the dragon to the giant siblings and retreat backward.
‘What is the thought needed to construct this?’
A vivid image appeared in my mind, led by the upper mind – an arrow.
The mythology of the Central Plains.
The tyrannical ten suns born from Emperor Xin and Goddess Xihe, symbolizing both the disparity between the divine and humans and the unreasonableness of this cosmic design.
Indeed, it mirrors the unjust dragon causing calamity before us.
As the flow of Qi, from the Ground Center through the Vital Gate, up to the Sky Leap points, contracted, my entire body became taut like a resilient horn bow.
As the energy flowed from the Shoulder Well point down to the Pool of the Ruler acupoint, it filled my right arm completely, akin to loading a cannon in the military arsenal.
Simulating the unreason of mythic violence, confronting the unbeaten suns with heroism.
This body becomes the red bow and the polished white arrow, and the honed power becomes the sole arrow to fell a sun.
As numerous inspirations surged in the upper mind, constructing this ultimate thought, the world tree branch-hilt in my grasp splintered in my fierce grip, pieces cutting into my hand.
Knowing his doom after slaying the divine suns, yet pulling the bowstring despite it all.
My entire right side leaned back, disregarding any defensive posture. With the tip of my dark blade aimed at the core of the dragon observed through the Extreme Perception technique, the dragon itself seemed to sense the ominous change and turned its golden gaze towards me.
Simultaneously, the body, which was drawn back, surged forth like a bolt of lightning.
In the southern end of the Sky Domain, a strike so powerful that a sect renowned among the nine great sects of Central Plains achieved its name.
This technique of human gods defying the heavens and shooting down the suns, permitted solely to the head of that sect.
Jade White Mountain Sect Four Sun Shooting Sword Techniques
Original Heritage Shoot the Sun
From an inconceivable distance, this mythic reenactment from one world pierced through the dragon’s iron-like body like paper, continuing through dozens of thick trees behind it before dissipating.
…
