"Lian..." A soft voice called from midair—Inori's. Chu Lian turned her head, saw her beloved's worried gaze, and smiled faintly. "Inori, this won't take long. Wait for me to come back."
"I'll be waiting for you..." The constant worry on her face melted into a gentle smile, warm and tender like spring breeze brushing one's cheek.
"Big Sis, Chu Chu will wait here for your triumphant return." Chu Chu hesitated for a moment, then descended from midair onto the platform. Retracting the spirit of thunder, she whispered softly.
"Please... come back safely." Li Xiu'er clasped her hands together, fingers interlocked in prayer.
"I still want to hear you tell me that story yourself, so... I'll be waiting." The classical girl waved lightly, as though to catch dust from the air, her eyes watching through the gaps between her fingers as Chu Lian flew away.
"I believe you'll return." As if linked by a shared thought, two girls—arms still wrapped around each other—spoke the same words at the same time. They exchanged glances, then smiled gently.
"So... it's coming to an end?" Forcing herself upright, the white-clad girl lifted her gaze toward Chu Lian's fading figure and murmured softly.
"My Lord..." The Water Lord, bound to Chu Lian by contract, could sense the direction of her movement. It lifted its gaze toward the girl leaping from rooftop to rooftop in the ruined cityscape, pride shining in its eyes.
"End it yourself, then..." With a clean motion, the white-haired girl drew her katana from the back of the last A-class superhero's heart. Letting the warm blood slide down the blade, she turned and vanished once again into the shadows.
The sound of artillery faded away. Around the dragon, no one remained. The jets had all fallen, the tanks lay in ruins, and the surviving soldiers fled in panic, not daring to advance.
The wounded dragon rested within the narrow square. It already knew—today would likely be its last.
Having lost its wings and been gravely injured by Chu Lian, it could no longer rely on its superior mobility to fight.
Even with its formidable body and magic power, it could not withstand the endless waves of human attacks.
Thousands of years ago, it had faced the same scene—an assault that had led to its sealing for countless ages. Even now, though it had slaughtered those who besieged it, what did that change? Cornered with nowhere left to run, how long could it survive?
The wounds across its body did not weaken its destructive will. Though its enemies were gone, it continued to lash out at the city's remaining structures, reducing what was left to rubble.
"Even with that much power left... it seems this can finally end." Standing atop the ruins, Chu Lian looked down at the dragon's solitary figure and shook her head softly.
She still didn't know why this calamity had begun—but she knew one thing: it was her responsibility. Why else would she have borne the guilt all this time, insisting on ending it herself?
Though her spiritual power had only recovered by twenty or thirty percent and her body still felt weak, Chu Lian felt no hesitation about the coming battle. She knew there could be only one outcome.
"It's not time yet... I need to find the perfect moment for a fatal strike. I'll have to test it first." Her eyes locked on the dragon below, data flickering across her pupils as she ran her calculations. The odds of success weren't ideal. For now, she dismissed the thought of finishing it in one blow.
[Ancient Dragon: a species long extinct on Earth. Whether they left this world or vanished for other reasons, none can say. Once the source of countless legends, they remain iconic in fantasy tales—always portrayed as powerful, invincible, and filled with treasures beyond measure. In every story, they stand as apex predators of creation.]
[Name: Unknown. Condition: Mentally unstable, mind distorted, grievously wounded. Strength: Originally Heaven-tier Beginner, now Earth-tier Peak.]
[Attributes: Strength 470, Endurance 425, Stamina 440, Magic Power 500. Power Rating: Elite-level combatant on any battlefield.]
[Note: This entity is extremely dangerous. It is not recommended for the Host to engage alone—doing so may result in certain death.]
"This body could easily fly beyond Earth's atmosphere without issue. If both its wings weren't destroyed, there would be no way to fight it now." With the dragon heavily wounded, Chu Lian could finally observe it in full. Understanding its condition made her strategy clear.
The Seven Illusions Bow appeared in her hands. Gathering a fraction of her spiritual power, Chu Lian formed an arrow imbued with Unstoppable and fired it toward the wound on its back.
Roar... A low growl thundered through the air as the dragon turned and unleashed a torrent of dragonfire, burning the arrow to ash. Its massive eyes locked onto Chu Lian's figure atop the building. Deep within, something stirred—something it had nearly forgotten.
Boom! Even with countless thoughts pressing on its mind, instinct ruled. Having been attacked, the dragon retaliated with overwhelming force.
A bolt of lightning crashed down, blasting a crater where Chu Lian had stood moments ago, tearing through the thick walls and shattering the building's interior.
Dodging with perfect timing, Chu Lian didn't hesitate. Another arrow formed in her hand, which she swiftly loosed.
The earlier use of Unstoppable wasn't for damage—it was bait. Its danger had been enough to draw the dragon's full attention away from the city and onto her instead.
Now that her plan worked, there was no need to waste her limited spiritual power on ineffective attacks. Without military cover, it would be far too easy for the dragon to defend itself if she simply fired aimlessly.
Boom—! A massive fireball—ten meters in diameter—began forming above the dragon's head. The pale yellow flames gradually darkened to crimson; at that intensity, the heat must have surpassed ten thousand degrees. If struck by it, not even a Gundam could withstand it.
"Did you think I can't deal with you?" In Chu Lian's eyes, the pentagram reappeared, surrounded by a strange circular sigil. In that moment, there was nothing in her vision that could not be killed.
"Found it." Forming another arrow, Chu Lian released it decisively the instant the fireball neared completion—striking precisely at its core.
Hum... The fireball emitted a strange vibration before collapsing inward, all flames surging into a single point—then exploding outward violently.
Roar... The dragon's pained cry echoed through the ruins. It had intended to obliterate the entire battlefield with its attack, ensuring Chu Lian had nowhere to hide, even if it missed her directly.
But with her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, that nearly game-breaking ability, Chu Lian had destroyed the fireball before it could fully form.
The resulting explosion scattered into a rain of fire, some of which fell upon the dragon itself. Even its formidable scales couldn't fully withstand that heat. The areas struck turned black, releasing the acrid stench of charred flesh. Though its armor-like hide endured, the flesh beneath had been scorched—a cruel irony of its own creation.
Its two hind legs tensed, and despite its pain, despite the fire burning across its body, the dragon glared at her and charged at full speed.
"No... what's it trying to do?" The thought flashed through Chu Lian's mind. Without pausing to think further, she instinctively activated Teleport, shifting her body to another rooftop.
"And again—" The place she had stood seconds ago was obliterated by a cascade of lightning. The entire building collapsed under the barrage, yet the sense of danger within her heart did not fade—it only grew stronger.
She teleported again, pressing a hand to her chest as she exhaled sharply. "Damn it... how did it get so smart? Wasn't it supposed to be mentally unstable and half-mad? That 'Chain Lightning Descent' was way too precise."
The reason Chu Lian had been forced to teleport twice in quick succession was because the dragon had used a spell called Chain Lightning Descent.
It was a single-target area destruction spell that, once it locked onto a target's aura, created a lightning field within a hundred meters around them. As long as the target remained within range, the lightning would continue to fall—until nothing was left.
She had seen the skill listed in the exchange shop before, but had dismissed it as strange and impractical. Now, wiping the cold sweat from her brow, she realized just how deadly it truly was—and how lucky she was to have escaped.
The lightning struck relentlessly—each bolt landing the instant she reached a new position, leaving her no time to rest. It was as if she were being pursued by countless homing missiles, unending and merciless.
Had she not vanished in the blink of an eye through Teleport, disrupting the buildup of the second bolt just long enough to escape again, she would've been reduced to ash.
This time, Chu Lian had warped over two hundred meters away and immediately concealed her presence, hiding her aura so the dragon couldn't locate her. Only then could she breathe for a moment.
"Still... after casting those two spells, its magic power should be nearly spent, right?" She exhaled, calculating the dragon's remaining energy.
"As I thought... it's still not time." After a moment of thought, Chu Lian sighed softly.
With its current reserves, the dragon could continue fighting for over an hour if it refrained from using high-destructive magic. However, if it unleashed another powerful attack like that fireball or earlier destructive beam, it would nearly exhaust itself in an instant. The question was—how to make it do so again?
After pondering for a while, her eyes suddenly brightened. Of course—if it wanted to kill her, then she would simply let it attack. She just needed to survive five seconds, long enough for it to burn through most of its magic power.
Her goal wasn't excessive. If she could drain even three-fifths of its remaining magic, she could finish it easily.
Lifting her hand, she drew the bowstring and formed another arrow, releasing it toward the dragon.
Pff... With a casual breath of fire, the dragon incinerated the flimsy spiritual power arrow. Its eyes fixed on Chu Lian, filled with frenzied hunger.
The Seal of Magic Suppression that the white-clad girl had engraved within its soul had finally weakened beyond function due to her severe injuries. At this moment, the dragon shattered the seal completely. The desires it had long been forced to suppress surged back into its mind—the insatiable yearning for divinity.
"If I can claim divinity... what are these wounds? I'll kill her, seize her divinity, and become the god of this world—the one and only god..." That single, obsessive thought consumed its soul.
"You want to kill me? Then come." Chu Lian met its gaze calmly, standing two hundred meters away, a faint, taunting smile playing on her lips.
Roar...! Kill her—kill her! The voice within its mind screamed. A sphere of destructive energy condensed in its mouth before it unleashed it straight toward Chu Lian.
The scene mirrored the moment it had fought Chu Lian's giant form before.
But this time, she did not resist. Instead, she crouched down, using Head-Hug Squat Defense, and let the destructive beam strike her directly.
Zzz... Everything around her—save for the small space she occupied—was reduced to primal particles, disintegrating into the air and vanishing completely.
The beam lasted four full seconds—not as long as the previous ten-second blast, but still incredible. For the dragon to fire such a devastating attack twice in such a short span was a testament to the absurd durability of its body.
When the light faded, Chu Lian—and even the small patch of ground she'd crouched on—were gone. Yet, the divinity it expected did not appear.
Silence. The entire battlefield fell deathly quiet. Nothing stirred—only the dragon remained.
"Goodbye..." Chu Lian's voice whispered faintly. She appeared before its massive head, a small fist wrapped in glowing blue spiritual power driving forward.
Her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception revealed the intricate web of death lines upon its body. Her spirit armor shimmered as she struck, her expression calm and serene.
No one could have imagined what would happen when Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Teleport, and an ordinary punch were combined.
But Chu Lian knew exactly what it meant—just how terrifying their combined force could be.
In that instant, the dragon's death lines flared vividly before her. Without hesitation, she gathered every ounce of her strength, teleported directly onto one of those lines, and threw a single, ordinary punch.
"Let everything disperse with this punch!" she cried.
The small fist, insignificant compared to the dragon's colossal head, connected—and time seemed to freeze. The dragon stood motionless for a breath, and then its body erupted.
Chunks of flesh exploded outward, scattering across the ruined city. Rivers of blood poured down the streets, dyeing them crimson. The dragon's scales, drawn by a mysterious force, flew toward Chu Lian and disappeared into her storage space.
Only one thing remained in the air—a massive, pulsating heart. Chu Lian, weak and drained, recognized it immediately: the quest item that only appeared when she personally slew the dragon—Dragon Heart.
With trembling fingers, she lifted her hand. The heart dissolved into light and flew toward her, merging into the system's space where it floated quietly.
Her body, however, fell like a cut kite, plummeting toward the ground.
"Mommy, Anna's back..." Just before she hit the earth, Anna appeared, catching her in her arms.
The black mist surrounding Anna reacted to the scent of blood like frenzied sharks, devouring the dragon's remains in moments.
Walking through the burning ruins, Anna gently held Chu Lian, carrying her back toward the platform.
Behind them, only the blazing, ruined city remained.
And with that, everything... finally came to an end.