Chapter 41: Lanza del Relámpago
"Ugh ah... ah... AAAAAHHH!!"
The Magic Dragon Alazam let out a pained, gurgling shriek. The Cero Oscuras had struck its already-wounded back, and the pain was unlike anything it had ever experienced.
It was not the searing, clean burn of Yoriichi's sun-fire. This was a void. It was a cold, empty, negating power. It felt its own magic power being annihilated, its very spiritual core being eaten away by the black, crushing emptiness.
This power was completely different from human magic. Its natural magic resistance, the pride of the Dragon race, was almost completely ineffective against this opponent's strange, hollow strength. This strike had dealt it significant, perhaps fatal, damage.
If it hadn't been injured by that other monster, the swordsman, it would have been fine. It could have withstood such an attack. But now, in its wounded, burning, and hollowed state, such an attack was fatal.
At this moment, a thought, primal and terrifying, suddenly flashed through its mind: death.
It could never have imagined, in all its 400 years of arrogant existence, that one day it would be forced into such a desperate, pathetic situation by a mere human.
No! I cannot die!
I am a noble Dragon! A supreme being! How could I possibly be killed by a mere human!
Right! That's right! I don't need to fight him head-on!
This guy... his transformation! He said it himself! It only lasts for one minute!
Alazam's desperate mind clung to this single thread of hope. Dozens of seconds must have already passed. If he just... if he just avoided him for the remaining dozens of seconds... he would be safe!
Ren would revert, exhausted and powerless, and then! Then he could deal with him! Then he could tear him apart, cell by cell!
Why should I bring trouble upon myself? Why face this demon head-on? Yes! Flee! Stall!
At this point, the Magic Dragon's strong, primal will to live erupted. It pushed off the ground with its powerful legs, ignoring the agony. It spread its wings and, with a powerful flap, flew rapidly and desperately towards the sky.
"The Magic Dragon... it fled?!"
Everyone on the wall was shocked to see the Magic Dragon turn tail and escape. Such a powerful Giant Dragon, a creature of legend... was actually driven away by Ren. His strength was just too immense.
"BRAT! I WON'T FIGHT YOU!" Alazam's voice roared from the sky, a mixture of fear and false bravado. "In just a few more tens of seconds, you'll be out of combat! Then you'll be at my mercy! You just wait, human! I'll make you watch everyone you know die in front of you! I'll torment you endlessly, making you wish for death but unable to find it!"
"Oh no!"
Hearing the Magic Dragon's words, everyone's expressions changed. The relief they felt vanished, replaced by a new, cold terror. The dragon wasn't defeated; it was just waiting. If it were to return for a sneak attack after Ren's power faded, things would be dire.
Ren, however, showed no panic. He simply hovered in the ruined crater, his demonic form a stark black against the grey dust, his long tail lashing. He watched the purple speck climb higher and higher into the sky.
"Can you escape?" he said, his voice cold and indifferent. It wasn't a question. It was a judgment.
Ren brought his hands together, and fluctuating, green-black spiritual particles began to gather in his palms. He pulled his hands apart.
A spiritual particle spear, crackling with green-black, destructive lightning, floated before Ren. It was longer than he was tall, and the sheer, unstable pressure it emitted warped the air around it.
"Lanza del Relámpago."
[Akarin's Note: Lanza del Relámpago (Spanish for "Spear of the Lightning," Japanese for "Lightning Lance") is Ulquiorra's ultimate attack in his Segunda Etapa form. It is a javelin of highly concentrated spiritual power that creates a disproportionately massive, devastating explosion on impact.]
Ren raised the long spear in his hand, his cold, green eyes looking at the gradually receding Magic Dragon. He wasn't in a hurry to act. He just waited, watching the dragon fly further and further away, watching its hope grow.
'Hmm... let the trash believe it is safe,' Ulquiorra's mind reasoned. 'Let it think it has survived. Despair is most potent when it comes after hope.'
He was in no rush. He simply tracked his target. He watched. He waited.
"Hmm... this distance is about right," he mused, his voice devoid of emotion. He assumed a throwing stance, his black, feathered muscles tensing.
Then, with a force that shattered the air, he hurled the Lanza del Relámpago towards the Magic Dragon.
Fwoooosh—!
The green-black spear vanished. It moved at a speed that defied physics.
High in the sky, the Magic Dragon seemed to sense something. A primal terror, even greater than before, seized its heart. It turned its head to look back, only to see the Lanza del Relámpago already upon it, a green-black streak of death.
It roared in terror and tried to dodge, to swerve, to dive—
A searing, white-hot pain suddenly flared from its wound!
It wasn't the Cero's coldness. It was the burning pain! The injury left by Yoriichi Tsugikuni! The Sun Breathing wounds, agitated by the dragon's desperate movements, had flared up at this exact, critical moment, seizing its muscles in a paralyzing spasm.
Because of this pain, this echo from the first monster that had wounded him, the Magic Dragon missed its chance to dodge.
"NO—!"
Amidst the Magic Dragon Alazam's terrified eyes and pained, final scream...
Pfft!
The Lanza del Relámpago pierced into the Magic Dragon's body.
For a single, silent second, nothing happened.
Then...
"Boom—!"
An energy explosion, far greater than the Giant Dragon's Roar, erupted in the sky.
It was not a wide, purple wave. It was a concentrated, colossal pillar of green-black light and pure, destructive spiritual energy that shot hundreds of meters into the sky, vaporizing the clouds. The ensuing shockwave was so powerful it looked like the sky itself was cracking open.
The Magic Dragon's body was instantly and completely engulfed by the energy impact. It was not just burned, or torn; it was annihilated.
"Eek ah ah ah!"
"Wah ah ah ah!"
Everyone below let out screams of fear, shielding their eyes as the green-black light washed over them. The sheer power of this energy explosion was on a completely different scale from the Magic Dragon's Roar. They hadn't expected to experience such a powerful, terrifying magic again.
The energy impact annihilated everything around it in the sky. Fortunately, this time the explosion was high in the atmosphere and far enough from the city, so the impact and destruction on the ground were much smaller, though the shockwave still flattened the remaining ruins.
After a short while, the explosion subsided. The green-black light faded.
The sky was empty.
The Magic Dragon's figure was no longer there.
Everyone looked at the sky in shocked, stunned silence.
"The... Magic Dragon... is... dead?"
The person speaking was a little unsure. It all happened so fast.
"Yes! Dead!" a Magic Swordsman shouted, his voice cracking with emotion. "It's dead! Its magic power... it's gone!"
Many people present were mages. They could easily sense the immense, oppressive magic power of the Dragon. At this moment, they couldn't sense any of the Magic Dragon's magic power. It had vanished. That could only prove one thing: the Magic Dragon had been killed.
"Oh oh oh oh oh! That's great!"
"THE MAGIC DRAGON HAS BEEN KILLED!"
"We survived! We survived!"
"Long live Mr. Ren! Long live Mr. Ren!"
After confirming that the Magic Dragon was truly eliminated, everyone cheered, their voices raw with relief. Tears streamed down their faces.
Not long ago, upon seeing the Magic Dragon's terrifying power, everyone had despaired. Who would have thought that at the crucial moment, Mr. Ren would step forward again, transform into two different god-like beings, and eliminate the almost invincible Magic Dragon? He was truly amazing.
[Ding! SS-Class Quest: Eliminate the Magic Dragon, completed!]
[Reward: Two (2) ten-pulls!]
Seeing the system notification, Ren, still hovering in the air, let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Since the system indicated that he had completed the quest, it meant the Magic Dragon was truly dead.
Ren released his Take Over state.
The black feathers, the wings, the tail, the helmet... they all dissolved into black-and-green spiritual particles. His body, now back in his simple, torn clothes, was left floating in the air for a split second.
The next moment, an indescribable, crushing sense of exhaustion washed over him. It was the backlash from using Yoriichi's Thirteenth Form and Ulquiorra's Segunda Etapa, back-to-back. His body, which had been running on the fumes of the Kisame card's magic power, had nothing left.
It gave him no time to react. His eyes rolled back, and with a thud, he fell from the sky, unconscious, plummeting to the ruined earth below.
"REN!" Erza screamed, seeing him fall, and immediately began to run, her own injuries forgotten.
When Ren woke up again, he was in a large, soft bed. The ceiling was made of ornate wood, and sunlight was streaming in through a nearby window. It seemed he had been carried back after passing out.
Ren skillfully opened the system panel.
"Host: Ren"
"Age: 18 years old"
"Race: Human"
"Magic Power: ★★★★"
"Magic: Take Over Magic"
"Character Cards: Ulquiorra Cifer (Gold), Yoriichi Tsugikuni (Gold)"
"Current Lottery Chances: Twenty."
Looking at his panel, a strong sense of accomplishment rose in Ren's heart.
His magic power had reached 4-Stars. The recycle of the Kisame card had permanently boosted his reserves, which was the only reason he'd been able to pull off those final forms.
He was incredibly fortunate not to have recycled his two gold character cards. If he had recycled either Ulquiorra or Yoriichi in this battle, he would not have been able to achieve final victory. It had taken both of them—Yoriichi's burning, defense-breaking wounds and Ulquiorra's mobility and overwhelming final blow—to take down the dragon.
And now he had twenty lottery draws. He wondered if he could draw another gold character.
Creak!
The bedroom door opened, and Erza walked in from outside, her arm in a sling and a bandage on her cheek.
Seeing that Ren was awake and looking at her, she was pleasantly surprised. A wide, beautiful smile of pure relief spread across her face. She quickly walked over: "Ren, you're awake!"
"How are you? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?" Erza asked with concern, sitting on the edge of the bed.
Ren shook his head, testing his limbs. He was sore, but the exhaustion was gone. "I'm fine, I'm very well. It's just... that my magic power consumption was quite high."
Erza breathed a visible sigh of relief hearing Ren say this. "That's great! You've been unconscious for three days. I... we... were so worried."
"Three days?!"
Ren was shocked. He hadn't expected to have been unconscious for three whole days. He thought he had only slept one night.
It seemed his own body was still a bit too weak. It was somewhat unable to withstand the sheer consumption and backlash of the gold character cards, especially when used in their most powerful states. After returning, he would have to make time to exercise his body more.
"I really didn't expect that just sleeping would take so long," Ren mused, stretching. "Is His Majesty the King alright?"
"His Majesty the King is fine," Erza said, her smile returning. "He's currently handling official business, organizing the reconstruction. He's been asking about you every few hours."
"That's good, that's good!" Ren nodded, relieved.
He hadn't forgotten why he was here. He still hadn't received the reward for the SS-Class Quest... and the championship prize for the World's Strongest Swordsman Tournament.
A new, very different kind of energy filled him. Ren jumped off the bed with an excited expression:
"Let's go, let's meet His Majesty. Since the quest is complete, it's time to collect payment!"
[Akarin Note:
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