With a soft sound, Raon sheathed his Heavenly Drive sword and closed his eyes.
'Just as I expected.'
He could have easily killed Azgoros like Igni Serpang, the leader of the Red clan, with a surprise attack, but instead he endured all the magic and breath attacks Azgoros unleashed before finishing him off. In the end, it didn't make much difference.
His current power was at a level where he could kill even the dragon leaders, supposedly the highest beings on earth, with a single stroke. Beyond his realm of mastery, he could feel how terrifyingly his martial prowess had grown.
'No, come to think of it, that wasn't even my full power.'
While he had struck with all his current strength, he still had his Sword Domain. If he were to open the Divine-Demonic Harmony Sword Domain and enhance his power, he could demonstrate swordsmanship at an even higher level.
-Hmph!
Wrath snorted contemptuously.
-To be amazed at killing just one lizard, that's why you're still a greenhorn!
He shook his head, suggesting that Raon still had a long way to go.
-With lizards like these, it's not about how to kill them, but in what manner you kill them!
Wrath smacked his lips, saying that the truly strong had an entirely different way of thinking.
'In what manner you kill them?'
Raon tilted his head as he looked at Wrath.
-That's right! Cutting off the neck like you did is fine, but crushing or freezing their innards would be better. Because then...
Wrath narrowed his eyes as if he was about to share the best method for killing dragons.
-The meat becomes more tender when you eat it!
'Sigh...'
Raon opened his eyes and heaved a heavy sigh.
'I had a slight hope, but it's just as I expected.'
He'd hoped for some good advice, but once again, it was all about eating. He was getting tired of this glutton's whining.
'Well, even so...'
Raon smiled as he watched Wrath muttering about how delicious Azgoross's corpse would be.
'He must be saying such things because he trusts me.'
Wrath wasn't always fooling around. In dangerous moments, he became more serious than anyone else, so Raon felt he must have become strong enough to eliminate Wrath's anxiety.
-No! This King is completely serious!
Wrath snorted, insisting that wasn't the case at all.
'Ah, I see.'
Raon closed his eyes again and thought about improvements for the Azure Sky Sword technique he had just used.
"Ha! After seeing that, we have no choice but to step up!"
Martha raised her aura to its maximum as if she also wanted to hunt dragons.
"Let's go right now!"
She stepped forward, unable to wait any longer.
"Three of us against one?"
Burren bit his lip, seemingly excited after watching Raon's swordsmanship.
"If that's all, it's not such a difficult mission."
He nodded, indicating that the conditions were favorable enough for victory.
"I-I'm still scared though..."
Dorian trembled with fear despite having seen Raon overwhelm and kill Azgoross, the leader of the Blue clan. Yet contrary to his words, he stood beside Burren and Martha with his sword raised.
"B-but who will face the remaining two?"
Dorian rolled his eyes, wondering who would handle the two remaining dragons after they fought theirs.
"I cannot."
Bartius shook his head as he stretched his hand toward Azgoros' corpse.
"I need to extract the key to open the dimension and stabilize it."
He closed his eyes, saying he couldn't help because he needed to extract the dimensional key from Azgoros.
"I'll take that one."
Sirtiren pointed at Saphiren, the Blue Dragon who had been arguing with her until Azgoros appeared.
"We have bad blood."
She dusted off her hands, declaring that she would also settle her past grudges.
"Hey, Saphiren. Let's play, you and me."
Sirtiren returned to her true form, emanating blue light. Though not as large as Azgoros, she had more lustrous blue scales and breathed a mysterious blue mist.
"Damn it!"
Saphiren cursed as she released her human form. She had a body similar to Sirtiren's, but her mana presence was much weaker. A deep rumbling sound echoed.
The Blue Dragons dove into the sea, their natural habitat, and began a fierce battle. Even though they were clashing with magic and physical attacks in the deep ocean, the vibrations reached all the way to the surface.
"S-so will the Palace Master help us with the remaining dragon?"
Dorian looked back pleadingly.
"No."
But Raon stepped back decisively with his arms crossed, making it clear he wouldn't help.
"T-then maybe the other dragons maintaining the barrier could help us..."
Dorian turned his teary eyes toward Bartius.
"Sorry, but the others can't move either."
Bartius shook his head with his eyes half-open.
"If we remove the barrier, the remaining dragons might escape."
He closed his eyes again, saying they couldn't remove the barrier until they killed those three dragons and finished cleaning up.
"Urgh..."
Dorian was looking around with his chin trembling.
"Shall I take one?"
It was Evelyn. She smiled brightly as she stepped next to Dorian.
"Huh? Yes! Please do!"
Dorian jumped with excitement as he looked at Evelyn. He clasped his hands together as if it were a miracle that Evelyn, who was even less predictable than Raon, had volunteered.
"Oh, no."
Evelyn shook her head with her hand at her mouth.
"You two take one, and the two of us will take the other."
She curled her red lips, suggesting that Martha and Burren should handle one dragon while she and Dorian took care of the other.
"I don't like her, but the proposal isn't bad."
Martha nodded calmly.
"That's certainly better. If three of us move at once, our paths might cross while dodging magic."
Burren also tilted his sword slightly, agreeing that Evelyn's idea wasn't bad.
"Eh...?"
Unlike Burren and Martha, Dorian's chin trembled as if he couldn't accept Evelyn's suggestion.
"You worms!"
"What do you take us for!"
The Blue Dragons, shocked by Azgoros' death, revealed their true forms in rage at being treated like inferior monsters by humans. A thunderous roar erupted.
Though smaller than Bartius or Sirtiren, the two Blue Dragons had clearly reached the realm of mature dragons, able to control the sea freely, and they emitted terrifying auras.
"Let's begin!"
Martha roared excitedly as she charged toward the Blue Dragon with an injured horn.
"Sigh, at least give me a heads-up."
Burren sighed but advanced using his footwork, positioning himself to support Martha.
[Die!]
The Blue Dragon with the injured horn unleashed dozens of ice spears. The cold energy mana infused in the spears was so intense that even a Grandmaster couldn't take it lightly—it was high-level magic.
"I'll go first."
Burren stepped in front of Martha and extended his sword. In the past, he would have calmly deflected only the spears coming toward him, but now he expelled heated breath and simply shattered all the ice spears before him.
"Well done!"
Martha advanced through the path Burren had cleared with his sword and slashed downward. Her stance hadn't changed from before she entered the Training Ground, but her brown-gleaming sword now carried an enormous weight and pressure that wasn't there before. A tearing sound filled the air.
Martha's heavy sword strike pierced through the scales of the Blue Dragon with the injured horn and completely shattered its leg.
[GRAAAAA!]
The Blue Dragon with the injured horn let out a piercing scream and unleashed high-level magic attacks at Burren and Martha. The ground shook violently. But Burren's iron-clad defense was impenetrable. He sliced through every incoming spell, leaving none to interfere with Martha's full-power attack. The air crackled with energy.
With Burren's help, Martha focused solely on attacking. Her ferocious sword strikes penetrated the Blue Dragon's defensive magic and inflicted fatal wounds.
[S-stop!]
The Blue Dragon with the injured horn tried to retreat into the sea to buy time, but Burren and Martha didn't give it the chance. They targeted its neck and heart area, completely cutting off any possibility of escape.
-Not bad at all.
Wrath nodded in approval at Burren and Martha's battle.
-That lizard is no youngster, but they've completely overwhelmed it by dividing offense and defense.
'It's also wise to prevent it from entering the sea and stopping it from using its breath.'
Raon narrowed his eyes like thin threads, agreeing with Wrath's assessment.
'The only real threat to those two right now is the dragon's breath.'
The current Burren and Martha could easily destroy a mature dragon's magic. If they prevented the dragon from entering the sea and controlled its breath attack, they could win without much difficulty.
'On top of that...'
Raon formed a thin smile as he observed the gleaming aura from Burren's sword.
'This is going to get even more interesting.'
The essence of Sword Domain emanating from Burren's sword had grown stronger. It seemed they might truly witness his Sword Domain soon.
'Then on that side...'
After setting aside his concerns, Raon shifted his gaze toward Evelyn and Dorian's battle.
"Huh...?"
His jaw dropped at the unexpected sight. The Blue Dragon in its true form stood frozen as if caught by a leash, while Evelyn had her palm extended toward it.
"How is it? This is my newly developed mana control magic. If someone is weaker than me, I can grip their internal mana and immobilize them completely—even a Transcendent. I could even burst them from the inside."
Evelyn smiled brightly, saying she had gripped the Blue Dragon's Dragon Heart with her newly developed magic.
[Grrrk!]
The Blue Dragon was just panting, unable to do anything, like a kitten caught by the scruff of its neck by its mother.
"Now, finish it."
Evelyn nodded to Dorian, telling him to behead the Blue Dragon.
"Just cut a bit above where the Dragon Heart is located."
"Ah..."
Dorian's hand holding the sword trembled violently, as if he was more afraid of Evelyn's casual demeanor than anything else.
"Ah..."
-Hmph...
Raon and Wrath exhaled roughly at the pitiful state of the dragon. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.
***
With a reverberating sound, the two remaining Blue Dragons died with their Dragon Hearts ripped out, and Sirtiren also emerged from the sea onto the island with Saphiren's corpse in her mouth.
"Urrrgh..."
Dorian's lips still trembled as if he hadn't regained his senses, yet he placed Azgoros and the other three dragons' corpses into his stomach pouch.
"What on earth is that pouch?"
Sirtiren whistled in amazement at Dorian's pouch, which still had room after storing five dragons, including two ancient dragons larger than a castle.
"I've stabilized the second key as well."
Bartius nodded with his hand placed on his chest.
"Do you really plan to finish everything today?"
He asked while looking up at the sun, which seemed still far from setting.
"Of course."
Raon looked at Bartius with his hand on the Heavenly Drive.
"As you know, the Dragon Lord is a cunning bastard. We have to move before he notices."
He rubbed his chin, saying he still had plenty of strength left.
"I'm glad we chose you. Or perhaps you chose us."
Bartius smiled thinly as he brought his hands together.
"Next is the forest where the leader of the Black clan lives."
As he spread his hands, another golden dimension opened. With a resonating hum, Raon entered the dimension Bartius had opened without asking questions. A rushing sound followed.
Just as Bartius had said, the home of the Black clan's leader was a massive forest. The dense foliage and towering trees blocked the sunlight, making it feel quite dark.
"Hmm?"
Raon slightly tilted his chin.
'Where is the leader of the Black clan?'
Unlike the other locations, he couldn't sense the presence of a dragon in this forest. No, he could sense that a dragon had been here, but couldn't tell where it was now.
"This is..."
Bartius also furrowed his brow as if sensing the same thing.
"It seems the leader of the Black clan has disappeared."
He trembled at his fingertips, saying that the Black clan's leader, who should definitely be in this forest, was nowhere to be found.
"Dariauran!"
The Red Dragon Valasiur turned to Dariauran and shouted.
"I-I don't know either. Where the hell did this guy go..."
Dariauran of the Black clan also frowned, as if this was news to him as well.
"We're doomed."
White Dragon Bursiarabi sighed as if he had expected this.
"No need to panic."
Raon calmly shook his head.
"He did escape, but he couldn't have gone far."
He narrowed his eyes as he gazed into the depths of the forest, seemingly sensing something that even the dragons couldn't detect.
"Not far enough that we need to chase after him."