Science/Magic

"… How can it be in his chest!?" Bloed was surprised. He was no expecting something like this.

He never imagined that the dragon would be this crazy. It was suicidal!

The dragon was using his own mana to keep the entire magic array running. That was an enormous amount of mana that a single individual should not be able to supply.

And if the dragon was unable to continue supplying mana to the array, then the rebound of the magic array could kill him.

No sane person would do something like that.

But when Bloed thought for a moment, he understood why the dragon dared to take the risk.

'His domain.'

Using his domain, the dragon could absorb mana from every individual in the city. It allowed him to replenish his mana quickly and continue supplying it to the array.

But even so, what he was doing was way too risky.

'What in the hell is that magic circle for? Why is he going so far?'

It must have a very important purpose if the dragon dared to go so far to keep it running.

Bloed could not help but think about the magic array in Diadel Duchy. Back then, the magic array was very similar to this one, and it was being used to nurture a powerful Devourer.

'Could this magic array have the same purpose?'

But if it was so, then how strong was the Devourer that the dragon wanted to nurture that he was trying to use the city with the most powerhouses in the world as a sacrifice?

Bloed could not help but shiver when his thoughts reached this point.

If his deduction was right, then this dragon was not just crazy. He was insane!

"Brother, what do we do now?" Eres asked at that moment. Just like Bloed, she had noticed where the sixth node was.

Bloed thought for a moment before looking back at Liu Ying, Aya, Charise, and the others.

"You should leave first. You won't be of help in your current situation."

The group put on complicated expressions, but they nodded.

Right now, they could barely stand, much less fight.

"What about you?" Liu Ying asked.

"Eres and I will stay and try to find an opportunity to help Regina and the others to defeat the dragon."

Charise raised an eyebrow.

"Are you planning to interfere in a battle of that level?" She said while pointing at the sky, where terrifying explosions were happening every second. "Are you crazy?"

"I know what I'm doing. Trust me."

Charise was dumbfounded. "I don't know if to praise your bravery or to curse your stupidity."

Bloed smiled wryly.

Liu Ying and Aya looked at Bloed with complicated expressions, but when they saw that he was determined to stay, they did not try to convince him otherwise.

"… Be careful, Bloed."

"Don't die."

That was everything the two girls said.

Bloed looked at Liu Ying and Aya and smiled.

"Don't worry, I will be alright."

Liu Ying, Aya, Saintess Charise, and the others nodded and left, leaving only Bloed and Eres behind.

"Brother, do you have a plan?" Eres asked.

Bloed nodded. "I have one. But I don't know if it will work. Eres, are you confident in injuring the dragon if you have the opportunity?"

Eres furrowed her brows. "… If I use my strongest attack, I could injure it. But I will be unable to fight after that."

"That is enough." Bloed smiled. Then, he spoke to the Valkyrie fighting in the sky using their mental connection. "Regina, I have a plan."

[Do speak, master.]

…

"Master has a plan," Regina spoke in the mind of the other demigods after she finished listening to Bloed's plan.

"The boy?" Wave was surprised. "What kind of plan is it?"

Regina quickly explained the plan. When she finished speaking, the other demigods were dumbfounded.

"Will it really work?" Kallevang could not help but ask. "We could lose if it fails."

Regina did not hesitate to nod. "I trust master. It will."

Kallevang, Wave, and Eve fell silent.

They hesitated whether to follow the plan or not. In fact, Wave and Kallevang didn't want to take the risk.

But Eve spoke up at that moment.

"I agree."

Wave raised an eyebrow in surprise. She then put on a complicated expression and sighed.

"We can't continue like this anyway. It's worth a try."

Seeing that the other two agreed, Kallevang could only nod with a helpless look.

"Let's follow the plan then."

Although the four demigods agreed to the plan, on the surface, they did not show any sign of it. In fact, during their conversation, they continued fighting the dragon as before.

Even so, the dragon's instincts warned him that something was wrong.

[It looks like you are planning something.] It said with a snort. [However, do you really think you have a chance to defeat me?]

Nobody replied. They just continued attacking.

Leading the attack was Regina. She continued using her energy sword to attack the dragon restlessly.

The dragon was the wariest of her. During the battle, she was the only one who had injured him the most. She had injured him more than once.

Unfortunately, the dragon's powerful regeneration allowed it to heal his injuries after a few minutes. Otherwise, the wounds caused by Regina alone would have been enough to make him unable to continue fighting.

Due to it, the dragon focused most of his attacks on Regina. However, most attacks could not break the defenses of Regina's shield, and every time he was about to injure her, the other demigods interfered, restraining him and allowing Regina to retreat.

The problem was that the dragon continued absorbing the mana of the city every second, becoming stronger and stronger as the battle dragged on while the demigods became more and more tired and their mana reserves diminished as they fought.

The dragon was aware of it, so he was not in a hurry to end the battle. If he could keep the current status quo, he would win before long.

Suddenly, though, Regina appeared above him.

The Valkyrie gathered energy in the sword in her hand. She then kicked the air and flew towards the dragon at great speed!

The dragon roared. He created a shield of mana in front of Regina to stop her attack.

[Useless!] He roared.

Regina remained calm, though. She stopped her attack abruptly before releasing her sword and shield.

As soon as the sword and shield left her hands, they turned into flowers again, but it was not the end.

In the next second, the flowers turned into two enormous energy wings behind her back.

[What is that?] the dragon was surprised, but before he could understand what was happening, the wings lit up.

The next second–

"Die."

Several energy rays were shot towards him.

[!!!]

The dragon's eyes opened wide. It could felt an enormous amount of energy in that attack. He did not dare to take it with his body.

He did not hesitate to create another shield, this one even stronger than the previous one.

But at that moment, Eve suddenly appeared over his head.

[You…!]

Eve ignored him. With an expressionless gaze, she extended his hand and touched the dragon's head.

In the next second, her hand turned translucid, going through his head and reaching deeper.

She touched his soul.

The dragon's face changed at that moment.

[A soul attack!]

Eve's eyes flashed coldly. She had risked having her entire mana drained away just to land this attack.

It was too late when the dragon realized Eve's intentions. In that instant, his movements stiffened briefly, stopping him from supplying energy to the barrier.

Then–

*BOOMM!!!*

Regina's attack hit the barrier, breaking it almost instantly.

[Arrgh!!!]

The dragon screamed in pain. Regina's attack hit it head-on, creating a huge wound on his back.

If he did not manage to resist Eve's technique at the last second before moving his head away, that attack would have hit his head and perhaps killed it!

But when the dragon thought that he had managed to escape the danger, he felt a chill on his spine.

Looking up, he saw Regina's wings turning into a greatsword. The greatsword then lit up brightly as Regina gathered an enormous amount of energy in it!

The dragon's eyes opened wide in fear. He did not hesitate to cast another barrier in front of him as he tried to retreat, but all of sudden, he felt his movements being restricted.

At some point in time, several magic circles had appeared around him, releasing countless chains made of mana that restrained him.

It was Wave! The headmistress had used almost all her remaining mana to cast this spell to restrain him.

[Do you think this is enough to kill me?] The dragon roared. He then opened his mouth and filled it with mana, releasing a breath towards Regina to interrupt her attack.

But then, Kallevang appeared in front of him.

"Don't forget about me!"

With a cold gaze, the knight of the church of fate swung his greatsword down.

*Boom!*

The greatsword and the breath collided, creating a powerful explosion that rocked the entire city.

Kallevang was thrown away by the power of the explosion, but he bought Regina enough time to complete her attack.

"Die." She uttered coldly.

In the next second, her greatsword descended, cutting the world into two.

But–

[Don't underestimate me!]

The dragon bellowed. In that instant, all the mana in his body erupted, turning into a giant breath that clashed against Regina's greatsword.

For an instant, the greatsword and the breath were in a stalemate. They collided midway between Regina and the dragon, creating a blinding explosion.

But an instant later, the breath started to push Regina's greatsword away.

Surprisingly, even when the four demigods joined hands and used their trump cards, the dragon managed to resist them.

But right then, the dragon's eyes opened wide.

An enormous feeling of threat gripped his heart. For an instant, he felt as though he was going to die.

'The ground!'

He looked down, only to see a black-haired girl swinging a sword towards him.

[Skysword]!

The strongest sword technique in the world. A sword able to cut through anything.

'I will die.'

The dragon realized it at that moment. If that attack hit him, he could die.

With his last strength, he managed to move his neck away. But even so, Eres's sword hit his neck.

*Spurt!*

Blood gushed out of the dragon's neck. Half of his neck had been severed by Eres's sword.

Nevertheless, he managed to survive.

Even this grave injury would heal completely in a few minutes.

'I won.' He celebrated in his mind.

But then, he froze.

Because at that moment, a slash had hit his chest, cutting both the node and the devourer fused with him.

[… Impossible.] The dragon looked at the source of the slash in disbelief.

There, a blue-haired boy was holding a saber and looking at him coldly.

[Imaginary Slash].

That was the technique that had cut the dragon.

Looking at the boy, the dragon smiled self-deprecatingly.

[Just a B-Rank boy.]

Then, the magic array in the city shattered.

And blood erupted from the dragon's body.