The Great Sword is not the Main Body!
Chapter 210 – Hero

How many had I killed?

At least 30%, maybe more.

Four hundred were slain by my sword alone.

Twice as many perished from their own kin’s magic.

It might have exceeded 40%, possibly even more.

Regardless, 

After relentlessly forcing breath into lungs that felt like they’d shriveled dry, 

Even the dense swarm of dragons under the pitch-black sky began to break apart.

In the arrogant gazes once aimed at me, a hint of fear seeped in.

Their once frantic assaults became more refined.

That made killing them harder, sure, but damn, it felt good.

Took losing half your numbers to finally wake up, huh?

Stupid reptilian bastards.

Heh, 

Wearing a familiar smirk, I turned my gaze to the distant earth below.

Unlike the sky where I stood, it looked too quiet.

No surprise. The Nameless One, who had only just begun her awakening, wouldn’t have access to many [divine authorities] yet.

What concerned me was her Apostle and the Primordial Beast. I didn’t know what they were thinking, but it didn’t seem like they planned to move just yet.

Sure, Laila had declared she’d handle it. She’d stake her life on it, no doubt.

But not once had this shitty world ever gone the way I wanted, so I couldn’t let go of my worry entirely.

Even so, 

I had to trust her.

Because right now, there was someone even more reliable than Laila.

I sighed and shook my head.

To shake off the useless thoughts, I swung my sword.

Slice. 

Amid the deafening blasts, the now-familiar crisp sound of a clean cut rang out.

Just like always, the sound had come from a dragon’s neck.

Its severed head, pouring torrents of blood, plummeted to the earth.

Immediately afterward, the magic circle the dragon had prepared before its death activated with a harsh spinning roar.

Guess it fancied itself a master of magic, prepping a spell even after losing its head.

If you’re dead, just die already.

Clinging to your pride like that is just pathetic.

I clicked my tongue and flicked the blood off my sword. Then, stabilizing myself atop the falling dragon corpse, I stepped forward, chasing the flickering golden thread before me.

First, two steps to the right.

Snap!

A blast of wind, just narrowly missing, sliced through my hair and tore through the dragon’s back hide.

Three steps forward.

A spike of lightning burst from its hide, grazing the back of my neck.

Four steps to the left, five steps back.

Whoosh!  

A pillar of flame erupted as if it had always been there, instantly reducing half the dragon’s torso to ash before dispersing into the sky.

I dropped low, leg sweeping forward.

Bracing my rear leg, I swung my sword with full force.

CRACK! 

I cut through the wall of boulders that filled my vision.

Without pause, I twisted my planted leg inward.

The added torque snapped through my waist, sending my horizontal blade upward.

CLANG! 

A claw chilled with icy frost clashed with my blade and bounced off.

To stabilize the shuddering vibration in my sword, I supported its base with my free hand.

Then, 

BOOM! 

I launched forward and drove the blade into the throat of the dragon with its maw open in front of me.

The exhilarating sensation of ripping through hide, muscle, and then shattering bone coiled through my palm.

The dragon’s head drooped limply.

But the killing intent that pricked at my instincts hadn’t vanished.

Even with its neck hanging, the pulse from the embedded sword told me the bastard was still alive.

My eyes darted around, searching for the cause, yet I never stopped moving.

I yanked the blade free and continued fending off the relentless dragon onslaught.

And then I found it.

Where the golden thread was tangled and darkened.

The origin of death pulsed from inside the dragon’s throat.

A slow, searing heat, [Breath], leaked through the gap in its slackened neck.

I thrust forward with all my might and stabbed my sword deep inside.

Then, 

Crack,

twisted the hilt, pulverizing the neck bones.

SHHHACK! 

From the pierced point, I carved the throat wide open.

Thick, sticky blood spurted from the half-severed neck.

All the dodging I’d done until now was meaningless, blood splattered across the once-pristine white of my uniform.

“Hoo.”

Furrowing my brow, I reversed my grip on the sword.

Blinding light began to concentrate, [Breath] forming again.

Perched atop the falling dragon’s body, I braced my feet.

“Hrrgh!”

I thrust my sword, brimming with blue moonlight, directly into the searing core of the red light at its peak.

BOOOM! 

An explosion of light swallowed my vision.

A heat powerful enough to melt me down surged violently.

The sheer volatility of the [Breath] overwhelmed even the dragons, thick barriers of magical energy quickly erected across their bodies in panic.

I followed suit, layering my own body with hastily gathered magic, then calmly searched for an exit.

And soon, I found it, a breach.

I hurled myself toward it, scattering moonlight in my wake.

Whooosh,  Amid the sudden dispersal of heat, a sticky, cool breeze swept in.

Through the fading brilliance, I saw scorched dragon corpses falling from the sky.

My body was falling alongside them, but I didn’t care.

The golden thread, the path to victory, was still connected.

Slowly, I turned my gaze, scanning for the next thread I needed to cut.

Past a falling corpse in front of me, off to the diagonal side, there.

I stretched out my arm to reorient myself, kicked my leg up to shift position, and swung my reversed sword.

Thud.

My sword, swung without strength, failed to cut through the dragon’s flesh and embedded itself deep into its thick muscles.  

But because of that, I managed to regain stability mid-fall and string together my next move.

Unlike before, I didn’t try to mount the dragon’s back as it fell.  

Though they looked like mindless lizard bastards, after seeing that trick several times, they’d grown wary of it.

It was a bit more annoying now, but no real problem.

I grabbed the embedded sword and crack, angled the blade downward.  

After making sure it was firmly wedged between its ribs, I kicked my legs back, lifting myself into the air.

And in that same motion, I pulled the blade free.  

Again, 

Crunch!

I stabbed it into the body of another falling dragon, climbing upward step by step as if scaling a cliff toward the sky.

Each time, the corpses I used as footholds evaporated, obliterated by ancient magic, but it didn’t matter.

I reached the top faster than their countermeasures could react.

At last, I made it to the very peak of the sky,   

Rather than landing on the back of a falling corpse, I now stood stably atop the head of a dragon still flying strong.

“Hah… Guess I really am getting old. Stamina’s starting to run dry.”

Wiping the blood-mixed sweat trailing down my chin, I caught my breath.

Then, I flicked the blood off my sword and scanned my surroundings.

The rampaging [Breath] from earlier had thinned their numbers considerably.

What remained were the smarter ones, or at least those who’d finally realized how serious things had gotten and started acting with caution.

The fact that they weren’t attacking me despite me standing on the skull of one of their own said it all.

Not that it changed anything.

The moment I wiped the smirk from my lips and raised my sword,   

An indescribable killing intent brushed the back of my neck.  

Reflexively, my head snapped backward.

Whoosh! 

A surge of unknown magical energy skimmed past my nose.

Was that the signal?

The moment I looked back up, dragon magic activated all at once.

Even the dragon beneath me was no exception.  

Its wings spread wide, trembling violently, and it let out a fierce roar of resolve.  

In response, countless chains burst from its back, flying toward me.

Clang-clang…

The chains, infused with a power that could bind even space, filled the entire sky.  

Yet even within that,   

The faintly glowing golden thread remained vividly visible.

Which meant, there was still a path out.

I tightened my slackened breath.  

Raised my drooping sword.  

Corrected my loose stance.

“Hrrgh”

I stuffed in as much air as I could hold.  

Closed my sweat-heavy eyelids.

When I gave up my vision, my heightened [Ki sense] began to hammer endless data into my mind.

Eyes, nose, mouth, ears, blood poured from every hole in my face.

My overclocked brain felt like it might melt at any moment, and the hand gripping my sword trembled with pain, screaming to drop it.

I ignored it.

Instead, I lashed my insolent body even harder,   

Filtering every piece of incoming information one by one.

And so, I unraveled the tangled web.

It was maddeningly complex, but not beyond my reach.

A thousand years ago,   

Before I faced the End,   

I wouldn’t have been able to follow it.

But now?

Now I could.

I had to.

Because now, I was a proper, dignified, and noble Master.

I swallowed the surge of blood rising in my throat.  

Forced my heavy eyelids open.

With a laugh, 

Heh, just like always.

Calmly, naturally,   

I took another maddeningly heavy step.

And at that exact moment, 

CRACK! 

A bolt of lightning shot up from the earth,   

And pierced the right arm holding my sword.

And then, 

The faintly glowing golden thread, 

Snapped. 

 

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