There Is No World For ■■
Chapter 167: Ghosts Of The Past, Connections Of The Present (6)

* * *

A human wielding a shining sword fell from above.

The dragon reacted immediately. It beat its wings and swiped with its foreleg simultaneously.

However, instead of dodging, Yeomyeong layered more auras over his sword.

Comet Sword, the Surging Wave technique, and even the Sword Aura he stole from the Player—all combined.

!

The sword, layered with three Sword Auras, silently severed the dragon’s claws. Yet, it didn’t stop there, slowly making its way toward its true target—the dragon’s heart.

As Yeomyeong descended between Kahal Magdu’s ribs, his eyes caught sight of the heart, glowing like a blue gemstone.

And just before Yeomyeong’s blade reached the heart—

The Dragon let out a laugh—whether from rage or joy was unclear—and detonated the mana within its heart.

Was it similar to the mana explosion that had repelled him before? No, this was on an entirely different level.

Fwoooooosh!

An eerie blue flame, fueled by itself, erupted from the dragon’s heart .

Not to push him away, but to burn Yeomyeong to ashes completely.

For a moment, his vision faded as the flames engulfed his face.

- *I’ll give you credit for creativity.*

Kahal Magdu’s flames gradually consumed Yeomyeong. Any thoughts of turning him into a Death Knight or retrieving the launch codes were long gone.

Only death and killing. Nothing else mattered.

However, Yeomyeong was neither pushed back nor incinerated.

Using Telekinesis to hold the dragon’s heart in place, he withstood the flames by wringing every last drop of mana from his body.

Even as his skin was burned away, numbing his senses, and his vision dimmed as his eyeballs melted, he pressed on.

Amidst the searing pain, only the dragon’s heart shone vividly.

Instinct, conviction, and his blade.

Following his will, the flames parted as he swung his sword—

And the blade struck the heart.

!!!

There was no sound. No cheers, not even a scream.

Inhale, exhale.

The flames spewed by the dragon’s heart vanished, and Yeomyeong was flung backwards, tumbling through the dragon’s ribs, and fell.

Through his regenerated eyes, he saw the massive body of Kahal Magdu plummeting to the ground.

I… won.

As he felt certain of his victory, a red dragon’s swift hand caught him.

He wanted to say, Nice catch, but his scorched mouth and tongue refused to move. So Yeomyeong simply leaned into the dragon’s hand as it descended slowly.

Moments later.

BOOOOM…!

The sound of the Skeleton Dragon crashing into the earth echoed across the land. It was the sound of victory.

On the contrary, Orsay Taboul landed softly as the entire city held its breath in the face of the shocking outcome.

Laying Yeomyeong on the ground gently, it spoke.

[It’s our—or rather, your victory, Cheon Yeomyeong.]

Yet, Yeomyeong couldn’t quite rejoice. The city was still teeming with zombies.

I’ve already defeated the caster… so why?

As if to answer his question, Kahal Magdu let out a cough at that very moment, a rough and guttural sound.

- Ha, hahaha! I’ve lost. I lost to an Earthian.

The Skeletal Dragon burst into laughter as it tried to raise itself. Its half-severed right hand barely supporting its weight, trembled precariously.

[What an insufferable corpse you are.]

Preparing for battle, Orsay Taboul bared its fangs and began casting a spell. But Yeomyeong merely frowned a little.

He realized why the creature was still alive.

Kahal Magdu had thrust its left hand into its own ribs, clenching its split heart.

It wasn’t first aid or anything meaningful—just a crude effort to delay death for a moment longer.

The dragon lifted its head and stared directly at Yeomyeong.

- Congratulations on becoming a Dragon Slayer, Cheon Yeomyeong.

“…”

- How ironic. For the first Dragon Rider and Dragon Slayer since the Hero… to be a human from Earth.

The Skeletal Dragon’s mocking didn’t faze Yeomyeong, who simply drew his sword and approached the dragon.

Step.

Charged with Sword Aura, the blade glowed again.

While not as powerful as the strike that cleaved the heart earlier, it was more than enough to kill a dragon on the brink of death.

Seeing this, Kahal Magdu let out a laugh as it seemed to realize something.

- That pure mana, unlike a human’s… I see now. The World Tree’s crystal we sought—it was inside you all along.

“…”

- Not guided by the stars, but chosen by the World Tree. That damned bitch Mara… hehe… fate…

Faint flames flickered between the dragon’s teeth as he spoke, but Yeomyeong didn’t care.

There was no malice left in the creature.

A moment later, Yeomyeong raised his sword right in front of the dragon’s snout, intending to sever both the heart and its left hand…

However, Kahal Magdu pulled its left hand out of its chest instead.

Was it a final resistance? No. Holding its heart in its hand, the dragon offered it to Yeomyeong.

- *Take it.*

“…What?”

- From this moment, every powerful nation will target you for my heart and body… But you don’t need a political speech, do you?

Kahal Magdu lowered his gaze to meet Yeomyeong’s.

Dwindling blue flames met his golden eyes. The defeated and the victor. Amusement and bewilderment.

- Be it before Earth invaded this world or after, nothing has changed. This is the simple truth.

“…”

- The strong consume the weak, and the weak are consumed by the strong. The defeated are taken, and the victor takes all. That’s all there is. So… take it.

Before Yeomyeong could respond, the dragon clenched its fist tightly.

The heart compressed in its grip, absorbing the last of the mana sustaining Kahal Magdu.

- *Hah hah… Star Entrails… indeed… Fate must… defy itself to be… amus—*

With words that could have been either a final testament or laughter, the blue flames in the dragon’s eye sockets dimmed and vanished.

Thud!

The soulless skeleton collapsed, and the gemstone it held rolled to the ground.

The blue gem was tiny when compared to the dragon’s heart, which had been larger than a human torso—no bigger than a baseball.

Picking up the gem that had rolled to his feet, Yeomyeong turned his head.

Orsay Taboul’s conflicted gaze, the frozen zombies, and a limping Crow Beastfolk emerging from an alley met his eyes.

“…Corvus.”

Her body, covered in all sorts of wounds, was proof of the fierce battle she had experienced with the Death Knights.

Her left leg, bent completely the wrong way, dangled loose, forcing her to use her magic staff as an actual walking stick.

Regardless, she clacked her beak as soon as she spotted Yeomyeong standing before the fallen skeletal dragon.

“Impressive, my bad student. I wanted to peck you for disappearing without a word… but you’re still alive, so it’s fine.”

“…I’m glad to see you’re alive as well, Corvus.”

Smiling faintly at Corvus, Yeomyeong tucked the dragon’s heart into his chest pocket.

And then, he turned his gaze in the direction the Saintess had run off to.

More precisely, toward the place where Seti was still fighting.

“Orsay, there are still a few left. Can you help clean this up?”

[If that is what you wish.]

* * *

“Stop running away and just fight a little, will you?”

Seti ignored Ekatherina’s shouts coming from behind and rolled on the ground. And soon after…

KABOOOM!

The spot where she had been standing just moments ago exploded. It was a blast of magic more powerful than an anti-tank rocket.

The shards tore through her clothes and pierced her skin, but she barely managed to escape the blast’s radius.

As Seti rolled on the ground, she looked up and saw the Southern Count Palatine frowning at her while pointing the golden staff at her.

“Tch, what the hell is this? Chasing after a young wench like this…”

He seemed to find this entire fight unpleasant.

After all, it was not a very honorable task for two Superhumans leading hundreds of zombies to chase down a young girl.

Of course, honor was one thing, and duty was another.

The Southern Count Palatine fired his magic again because they needed a hostage in order to obtain the launch code.

“O Hilaria’s heat—!”

Another round of explosive magic.

Spitting out the blood in her mouth, Seti used the Flying Kick technique to retreat.

As expected, the zombies charged toward the spot where she had landed.

Damn it.

Seeing that, Seti raised her hammer and swung it in mid-air.

BANG! A lightning bolt erupted from the tip of the hammer, causing her body to change direction mid-air.

Her mana fluctuated and her insides twisted, but thanks to that, Seti was able to land on the rooftop of a building instead of the alley.

“Wow, you’re really good at running away. But… can we just end it here?”

Seti responded to Ekatherina’s provocative request by raising her middle finger.

A gesture from Earth, widely known even across the Dimensional portal.

Paying no heed to the Southern Count Palatine’s expression, Ekatherina chuckled.

“I told you, let’s just make it easy; come with us. Dragging this out is meaningless.”

“…”

“You don’t actually believe your lover can defeat Kahal Magdu, do you? Do you really think the fight will be different just because there’s a dragon involved?”

True to her words, a Skeleton Dragon and a Red Dragon were clashing in the sky above the city.

It was a magnificent scene where all sorts of magic and dragon breaths collided.

At the same time, it was clear that Kahal Magdu was gaining the upper hand in the battle.

Seti neither panicked nor became scared. She just believed in Yeomyeong’s victory more than anyone else.

Because of that, she calmly gauged the remaining grenades and mana, then checked her escape route.

If I make a break for it now, I can probably drag this out for ten… no, maybe five more minutes.

After five minutes? Whether it would end with her survival or death, she would put her trust in her short-term combat abilities and fight.

However, if, by any chance, she were to be taken hostage…

…I would willingly offer up one of my limbs as a sacrifice.

Having made her decision, she immediately leaped into action. Or, rather, she tried to leap.

However, the moment she raised her foot from the roof…

A bullet flew from the opposite side of the city and blew Ekatherina’s head apart.

BANG!

The bullet hit its mark before the sound of the gunshot could even echo—a high-caliber round faster than the speed of sound.

“Sniper?! Who was that?!”

Surprised by the sudden ambush, the Southern Count Palatine raised his shield and stepped back.

With her head burst apart, Ekatherina collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut but then regained her posture all of a sudden and started looking around with her headless body.

…She doesn’t die even if her head is blown off?

What the hell was she? Seti swallowed a dry laugh and checked the direction the shot came from.

Unable to detect anything, it seemed the sniper shot from hundreds of meters away…

An enemy? Or an ally?

It didn’t matter. If an opportunity came knocking, she would take it.

Seti immediately turned and leaped toward the now-alone Count Palatine.

Rainbow-Slashing Thunderstrike—Derived from the Sun’s Lightning Thunderstrike the South Korean government was proud of, it was a martial art that maximized attack power for a one-strike kill.

I’ll take out Southern Count Palatine while I can.

The hammerhead crackled as electricity gathered around it. Intense mana shone brightly, like lightning cutting through a rainbow.

“This wench!”

As the Southern Count Palatine tried to step back in surprise, another gunshot rang out from the distance.

BANG!

This time, the target was the Count Palatine’s shield.

The shield shattered after blocking the sniper bullet. It was able to block an anti-tank rocket but was destroyed in a single shot. Could it be…?

“…Weapon enhancement blessing? Why the hell is a priest involved?!”

The Southern Count Palatine hastily prepared his next shield, but Seti’s hammer was already casting its shadow over his head.

The next moment, with a thundering crash—

KABOOOM!

The hammer struck living bone and flesh.

However, it wasn’t the Southern Count Palatine’s, but the flesh and bones of Ekatherina, whose head had been blown off.

Just before the hammer could shatter the Count Palatine’s body, Ekatherina leaped in and took the strike in his placer.

In exchange, her body was reduced to a handful of blood, but the Count Palatine narrowly managed to escape with his life.

* * *

The Southern Count Palatine was a seasoned magician. Even while rolling on the ground, drenched in blood and looking grotesque, he was still able to cast his spells.

“Dammit, Light of Naras!”

Flash!

Flash magic that could simultaneously block the view of both the sniper and Seti.

Without looking back, the Count Palatine simply ran toward the zombie horde.

While he didn’t have the authority to command the zombies, at least they didn’t attack him.

And as the Count Palatine ran, using the zombies as a shield, all of a sudden—

A light burst from the sky.

The light, so small that it couldn’t even be seen clearly from this distance, erupted from a human’s sword.

The light then severed the Skeleton Dragon’s arm and went past the dragon’s ribs, causing a massive explosion inside it.

A brief silence ensued.

And just as the silence was about to stretch, Kahal Magdu began to plummet to the ground.

It was an unbelievable sight. The Undead Dragon had been defeated?

The nightmare of South America had fallen in a place like this?

“W-what’s going on…?”

As the Southern Count Palatine stared at the falling dragon in bewilderment, the zombie next to him suddenly opened its mouth and vomited dark red blood.

Startled by the sudden vomiting, the Count Palatine was at a loss for words, but before he could react, the blood began to take form in the air.

Clumping together like clay, the blood twisted and soon took on the shape of a familiar human body.

“…Ekatherina?”

A magic that formed a body out of blood? What kind of magic was that? As the Count Palatine swallowed his confusion, Ekatherina, now with a new body, rose from the puddle.

“Ugh, that hurts like hell.”

She grabbed one of the zombies’ clothes and hurriedly put them on, then turned in the direction where Kahal Magdu had fallen.

“Huh? The Unded Dragon is dead? This shouldn’t be our fate…?”

“W-what do you mean?”

“Tch, what do you think it means? It means we lost. Let’s retreat.”

“What? That’s impossible! I’ve already paid the price to you Old Rulers. We can’t just retreat now!”

The Count Palatine trembled, but Ekatherina didn’t even snort.

“Once Kahal Magdu is dead, it’s a lost fight. We should just focus on saving our lives.”

“No, not yet! The launch code… If only I had the launch code, we could turn this around!”

Launch code?

Watching the trembling Count Palatine, Ekatherina hesitated for a moment before a smirk appeared on her face.

“Ah, right… We still have that person’s fate.”

“That person? Who? Who else is there?”

The Count Palatine asked eagerly, but the answer disappointed him.

“The Eastern Count Palatine, Bykov Dzhugashvili.”

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