Chapter 215: Divine Battle (2)
Warm, viscous liquid poured down like a torrential rain, instantly soaking my body and dyeing the hem of my armor a dark red.
！！！
I shut my eyes and clamped my mouth shut, caught completely off guard by the sudden bl**d rain. Shrinking my shoulders and bowing my head, I was engulfed in a sinus-clearing stench for a solid two seconds before I finally managed to react.
Nasty! Gross! I feel like I’m gonna hurl!!!
Boom—
My back wings flared like a tornado, sending waves of bloody mist crashing all around me. I couldn’t care less about Captain Gray at this point. In that explosive moment, I shot out like a cannonball, zooming away from the rocky peak.
So disgusting, so disgusting, so disgusting…
I was on the verge of losing it as a suffocating emotion flooded my mind. While flying at full speed, I unceremoniously unleashed black smoke to wrap my body, blocking out the bl**d rain like “hiss hiss hiss,” erasing the sanguine goo off me. Only once I finally soared beyond the shadow of the tumor did I let out a sigh of relief.
“Phew…”
Then, with a flash of red in my eyes, I spun around amid the falling ashes. My wings flared wide, halting in the gray sky, and I absentmindedly touched my cheek and hair before glancing down at my armor and tattered dress. After confirming that the sticky bl**d had been evaporated by the dead smoke, I shook my head in annoyance and glared back at that colossal tumor.
What in the world…
What a mess!
I could see the towering peak of rock where the gigantic tumor had shrunk to less than half its original size, now adorned with massive bl**d sacs pulsating on its surface. The sacs burst quickly, splattering dark brown bl**d that rained down on the mountaintop, quickly dyeing it bright red.
The horrifying scene made my scalp tingle, and I couldn’t help but shiver.
This doesn’t feel good…
But I thought I had eaten the bl**d pearl… Why is the tumor still changing like this? Is this a sign it’s about to go? Or… what should I do now…
I shifted my gaze from that horrid lump of flesh, biting my nails in thought as I glided down towards a floating black rock below. My eyes wandered aimlessly among the mountains. The rumbling sensation still reverberated, but it seemed much weaker than before.
In my sight, some lower-lying rocks were slowly beginning to descend back to the ground.
Is the collapse of this world… going to stop?
That thought gave me a slight sense of peace.
Is that big white dragon safe…?
Buzz—
Suddenly, in the distance, I spotted a place shrouded in gray fog, where the jagged stones lit up with a divine glow.
…It’s that dancer!
With a whoosh, I flapped my wings and dove from the floating boulder, speeding towards the source of the miracle. With two explosive sounds, the spiral gusts erupted in my view and vanished rapidly. The next moment, I found myself soaring above the jagged black rocks.
I saw her!
The dancer in a red dress stood atop one of the protruding stones, her body surrounded by a swirling glow, her silvery hair dancing in the ashes. Meanwhile, countless shadows lurked in the thick fog below, surrounding her from all sides. Long spears glowing purple shot towards the dancer, and thick vines with thorns slithered out from behind the rocks, sneaking up on her unseen, preparing for an attack.
Those pesky fairies…
How many fairies are hiding here…?
I hesitated in my heart, unsure about whether I should drop down.
That damned heretic was being swarmed by fairies, her chest corroded by the dead smoke. Here, she was struggling to wield the infernal fire’s power effectively. A hefty vine came rushing in from behind, and while she dodged the incoming purple spear, she barely evaded the vine’s attack, her skirt getting torn away in a spectacularly messy fashion.
Ha.
I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself.
It was quite the entertaining sight.
If it weren’t for being in this otherworldly mess and not knowing what to do next, and if I didn’t have questions for her, I would have grabbed a bucket of popcorn, found a good viewing spot, and settled in for the show.
…Nah.
Better go find her first.
Wings spread wide, the wind howled as the black dead smoke wrapped around me again. I dove toward the rock where the dancer stood, swatting away an incoming spear with ease, landing right next to her with a “thud.”
“Hey.”
I called out to the dancer.
The sharp winds from the flapping of my wings spread explosively around me, swirling up the ash and making her red dress flutter against her body, accentuating her almost perfect curves.
I rolled my lips in disdain.
“I smashed that bl**d pearl. But the tumor is bubbling, bleeding. What’s going on?”
As I spoke, a skeletal, emaciated ferocious dog lunged up from behind the rock, only to be sent flying by the glowing fist of the dancer. She turned back, looking pale, her eyes darkened, clearly forcing herself to look strong.
Is it because of the dead smoke…?
Like with Nero back then, she must be in a lot of pain…
“Where’s your friend?”
The dancer asked softly, revealing no hint of the pain on her face.
“The big white dragon turned into a light dot and vanished… It’s still alive, right?”
“Vanished?”
The dancer frowned slightly.
It seemed that the white dragon disappearing into a light dot was unexpected for her.
My heart sank.
“W-what’s wrong…?”
The big white dragon wouldn’t… really…
Surrounding feral dogs roared as I vaguely heard the cries of the fairies through the fog. The cacophony slowly faded from my ears as an arrow whizzed past, and I ducked my head just in time. A buzzing noise filled my brain, and the thought of the big white dragon potentially leaving me for good made it hard to breathe.
“This world is the hiding place of that white dragon; it can only disappear from other places and return here. It’s impossible for it to vanish here…” The dancer furrowed her brows deeply, her right hand formed like a blade, swiftly slicing through the flying arrows. She took a step back and continued, “That white dragon is the key to opening the dragon realm. If it disappears, we won’t get out unless the goddess’s corporeal form can completely destroy this place.”
“Y-you mean…”
I felt a little dazed, my emotions in a whirlwind.
“Your friend is definitely still alive. I’ve said before, this land is its corporeal form. As long as this place isn’t destroyed, that dragon is an everlasting existence. What you saw was just the spiritual entity of the white dragon, endowed with sealing power by the ancient deity, the fulcrum for maintaining this world’s operation. It shouldn’t disappear unless it loses divine power…”
The dancer suddenly paused there.
Then she turned back sharply. “Did that dragon give you something?”
…Oh.
It definitely did…
“It was a twig…” I stuttered.
That twig… turns out it was the sealing power from an ancient deity…
So that means…
“…A branch from the white tree.”
Shock flickered in the dancer’s eyes: “The ten-thousand-year white tree nurtured by the ancient deity, the source of vast divine power; you received its branch from the white dragon?”
“Yeah… and no…”
“What do you mean?”
“That thing… it merged into my body and disappeared… I don’t really understand what’s going on…”
“You’ve obtained it.”
“Really…?”
“Yes.” The dancer’s expression turned solemn, her tone resolute.
She took a deep breath: “Do you know what this means? If you got it, it’s equivalent to having that white dragon; that twig is the vessel for the dragon’s spirit. In a sense, having the white dragon’s spirit means… that whole land… this entire world, belongs to you…”
