Chapter Seventy-Two: Acknowledging Hell (Nine)
Shhh shhh shhh shhh shhh…
In a noise that pierced the ears like boiling steam, wisps of black smoke slowly rose around me, drifting into the dark night. In the next moment, they rapidly converged overhead, forming a fawn that looked like it had been dipped in ink, almost identical to the one I had eaten earlier.
Only its eyes, just like the earlier appearance of “Goat Cheese No. 2,” were bl**d-red.
After solidifying midair, the little black deer happily leapt a few steps forward, trailing a thick cloud of smoke behind it. It stopped high above, balancing without any support like a pro on a tightrope.
Then, it lifted its head, directing its gaze toward the position of the dark green eyeball encircled by a flock of birds.
At the same time, I slowly closed my eyes.
Imagine…
Picture a powerful beast with sharp teeth and claws, capable of tearing everything apart…
Envision its form…
In just one second, a complete image formed in my mind.
I opened my eyes.
—Oblivion!
A gem-like red flickered rapidly in my eyes, only to disappear moments later. The red light seemed to transfer my intent, and the fawn’s eyes shifted to a crimson hue as light burst from its pupils. My vision shot forward like an arrow, piercing through the dense flock of crows and diving straight into that glimmer of green.
Roar—！！！
The wind roared once more, and the entire castle began to shake violently, the ground booming as if an earthquake had struck. In the blink of an eye, the sky was cleared of the crows, which dissipated into dust and vanished into the dark.
I tilted my head back, eyes unblinking, fixated on the huge, eerie eye that reappeared high above.
The once strange, menacing, and skin-crawling eyeball, now bore a thousand wounds after the brief assault from the crows. Its green slit pupil was covered in countless scars, resembling glass cracks, while pus flowed down from the bl**d-red crystal.
A thick liquid poured down like a waterfall onto the castle below, disappearing behind the fortress walls shrouded in darkness, as if an unseen black abyss were ready to swallow the bl**d whole.
That position…
Is it the little church inside the castle?
The thought flitted through my mind.
Then, the countless dissipating ravens suddenly began to recombine in the sky, swirling like a massive storm cloud. Red thunder flashed through the mist, rumbling with deafening roars as the entire sky was illuminated once more.
Amidst the cataclysmic bl**d-red thunder, a giant claw emerged from the black mist.
The claw was bluish-green, with five fingers resembling an eagle’s talon and a tiger’s paw, covered in tough scales. From a distance, it appeared capable of ripping the very fabric of reality apart. With a fierce wind accompanying it, the claw reached for the floating eyeball that lingered not far away!
“Aww—!!!”
“ROOAAARRR—!!!”
Two heart-thumping dragon roars suddenly erupted above the castle. One came from the rolling depths of the black mist, while the other emerged from the dazzling white light in my chest.
The astonishing roar shook the universe as if trying to flip this dark world upside down. In an instant, it drowned out the sound of wind, thunder, and everything else I could hear, crashing into my mind from all directions. Even I was left dazed, stars in my eyes, as I covered my ears and yelled, “Stop, Dumb Dragon, don’t shout!!!”
Boom—!
In that same instant, the dragon claw slammed down onto the eyeball. A flash of green light erupted, producing an explosive sound, followed by a cracking noise like breaking glass. The eyeball’s crystal was struck head-on, instantly fracturing, and massive cracks spread from the bl**d-red crystal, countless transparent shards tumbling down.
The fierce wind hit my face, and I felt the walls of the castle tremble beneath my feet. The dragon’s roars continued, and a second and third giant claw emerged successively from the black clouds. The white light on my chest now exploded with a brilliance not seen in ages.
Bzzz bzzz bzzz bzzz…
Amidst the buzzing of the divine miracle, the branches of the white tree seemed ready to emerge, and the roaring from within the Dumb Dragon grew ever more thunderous.
“ROAR—!!!”
As if sensing a threat in the sky from what must be a “relative,” the white dragon hidden in its lair didn’t back down. As the king of dragons in this world, its roar felt like a contest of dominance among perceived “kings.” But the heart-stirring dragon roar left me battered by sound waves, and I couldn’t help but smack my chest.
Bang!
“Dumb Dragon! Stop it, you’re making me angry!”
“Awuu—”
With my voice elevated again, the dragon’s roar instantly shifted to a slightly whimpering tone.
“Quit distracting me! Stay put!”
“Glub glub glub…”
The roars ceased.
And the blinding white light emanating from my chest started to dim.
Seriously…
“Stupid dragon… can’t tell friend from foe, can you…”
I couldn’t help but mutter under my breath. Seeing that the Dumb Dragon finally settled down, I released my hands from my ears and refocused on the skies.
Yet, with this interruption, I noticed the massive beast lurking in the black mist was revealing its form.
A giant creature resembling a Qilin, with coral-like antlers and long whiskers, burst through the black mist. Following that was its serpentine body, hundreds of meters long, with a fish-like tail but tufted with fur, slashing through the thick mist with terrifying winds, its tail whipping towards the eyeball!
Boom—!!!
Another thunderous sound erupted as the eyeball shrank and trembled violently with the massive force of the blow. It seemed incapable of moving, lacking any means to counterattack, and hardily taking this terrifying hit. The already cracked sphere’s seams widened once more, with even more shards falling into the darkness, as the tremors in the castle and space intensified.
Chinese Dragon…
Yes.
This was my first time attempting to use the ability of “Oblivion” to create a mythological beast that doesn’t exist in this world, and one so massive at that.
I was just trying it out, but clearly…
I succeeded.
The best way to obliterate an illusion is to create a more formidable one, smashing through it with sheer force in the same illusion.
“Aww aww—!!”
The colossal Azure Dragon surged in the flickering thunderlight of the black mist, soon revealing its entire nearly thousand-meter-long body. It roared as it lunged at the eyeball, using its serpentine body to wrap around it completely, its five devastating claws gripping tightly. Then it opened its cavernous mouth and bit down on that eyeball.
Boom!!!!
Crackle…
Amid the huge commotion, the eyeball was directly crushed.
Then, a blast of eerie green light exploded into the sky.
Shhh shhh shhh shhh shhh——
Like shattered glass, a massive sound burst forth from the high altitude where the ball had been, the strong winds quickly spreading down to the entire castle below. The scene resembled the very fabric of space fracturing, with terrifying cracks sprawling outward like a spiderweb from the eye’s origin.
Just like this…
Facing this, I’m dying to see what tricks you’ll pull next!
But in such moments, I couldn’t afford to relax—I had to be wary that thing could launch a counterattack at any time, likely in completely unpredictable forms.
So, I stood on the castle walls, braced against the oncoming wind, my eyes glued to the expanding cracks in the dark sky, carefully observing any changes all around.
…Yet after waiting for a long time, nothing happened.
Crack—!!!
From the center of the crack, a second colossal blast ripped through, and every image before me shattered in an instant.
Darkness faded from my vision.
Sunlight poured down.
