Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

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Chapter 218: Dragon (2)

The Dragon's Words.

At the same time, a massive backlash engulfed the space.

Crack!

The shadow clinging to the Dragon exploded in an instant.

It lost its form and reverted to a normal shadow.

Crackle!

[Grrr!]

The flames that made up Piego's body peeled away.

Unable to withstand the enormous backlash, the flames scattered, losing their bull-like form.

“Damn!”

Seraphina's face hardened under the immense backlash.

She hastily protected herself, the power of the incarnation tightly enveloping her body.

Bang!

But the moment it collided with the Dragon's backlash, it shattered.

The brilliant light broke apart like glass.

Seraphina's body staggered greatly.

“What is this!”

The Spellweaver, in shock, tried to protect himself with magic, but all of it was in vain, shattering as the backlash engulfed his body.

The Spellweaver's body was pathetically thrown to the ground.

And the impact on the Mercenary King, who was closest, was even greater.

Having concentrated all his power into his sword, he was virtually defenseless and took the Dragon's backlash head-on.

His body was flung away as if repelled.

‘De-Defend.’

He tried to assume a defensive stance in haste, but couldn't respond to the overwhelming force and was sent flying.

If he crashed into the wall, he wouldn't be left unscathed.

At that moment, Ketal moved.

He swiftly kicked off the ground and caught the flying Mercenary King.

“Grrr!”

The Mercenary King's body trembled under the intense shock, but he barely held on.

Ketal asked,

“Are you alright?”

“Th-Thank you.”

“…What is this?”

Seraphina gritted her teeth.

Though they were in a disadvantageous situation, they weren't being completely overpowered.

They had somehow succeeded in defending themselves.

But suddenly, everything fell apart.

The Spellweaver, struggling to stand, muttered with a groan,

“Dragon Words.”

A Dragon's words hold power in themselves.

With just one Dragon Word, the battle had been completely overturned.

The Spellweaver had lost all initiative.

The recent events had made him realize there was an insurmountable gap between them.

‘Why on earth…’

The fact that the Wandering Merchant gave the quest meant it should have been winnable….

The Spellweaver simply couldn't understand.

[Grrr.]

The Dragon sneered at them. It inhaled deeply. It was preparing to unleash a breath attack.

They tried to move their bodies, but everything had been destroyed by the Dragon Word.

If the breath attack came again, they wouldn't be able to block it.

Whooosh!

The crimson flames engulfed the world.

At the moment when they felt their impending death,

Ketal moved.

* * *

The flames engulfed the world.

The powerful breath that could burn even the primordial flames and melt magic.

Ketal stepped forward with his bare body against such a breath.

“Ketal?”

Seraphina's eyes widened in shock.

The Dragon sneered.

As if to say, "You think you can stop my breath?"

And Ketal answered with action.

He punched the air.

Boom!

The Dragon's breath, which had overpowered three top-tier superhumans, exploded against the force of his punch.

The flames scattered in all directions, dissipating.

[Grr?]

For the first time, the Dragon was bewildered.

Ketal didn't stop.

He launched himself towards the Dragon.

Clenching his fist once more, he struck the Dragon's chest.

Boom!

A thunderous roar erupted.

The Dragon's body was flung into the wall, and the Dragon's lair shook from the impact.

[Kaaaah!]

The Dragon cried out pain as it rolled on the ground.

Ketal nodded.

“You're certainly tough.”

“…What?”

“W-What?”

Those who had been prepared for death widened their eyes in disbelief.

“Ketal…?”

“Wait. You.”

[You crazy master… only now do you start moving…]

Piego, barely regaining his form, spoke in a dying voice.

Ketal was someone who moved according to his own interests.

He saw the world as a toy.

The lives of others weren't particularly important to him.

Because of this, Piego didn't expect Ketal to make a move.

“It wasn't on purpose.”

Of course, Ketal hadn’t deliberately waited until they were on the brink of death before intervening.

“The situation was a bit ambiguous to step in. It’s hard to know what the observer is thinking. But now that it's come to this, I have no choice but to act.”

[What nonsense are you spouting…]

“If you don't understand, that’s fine. You've done well. You can return to the Spirit Realm now. I'll give you a reward later.”

[I wish you'd never summon me again…]

“That’s not possible.”

[You bastard…]

Piego returned to the Spirit Realm.

In the meantime, the Dragon, having barely recovered from the pain, rose to its feet.

As it stared at Ketal, the look in its eyes was filled with confusion.

The Dragon’s eyes glinted with killing intent.

From which pure mana surged, numerous magic circles formed in the air.

A storm of magic rushed towards Ketal.

Ketal calmly took a step forward.

He advanced, shattering, crushing, and trampling the storm of magic.

The Dragon's power had no effect on Ketal's body, and Ketal once again reached the Dragon's presence.

The Dragon cast a defensive spell.

Dozens of barriers appeared simultaneously in front of Ketal.

But all of them.

Crack.

Shattered with a single strike.

Standing before the Dragon, Ketal looked displeased.

“This feels sinful.”

The Dragon, a creature he'd only dreamed of, was right in front of him.

And now he had to beat it with his own hands.

It felt like smashing a priceless work of art worth billions with his own hands.

He'd felt something similar when facing mythical creatures, but the feeling was even stronger this time.

However,

“I guess I have no choice.”

His fist struck the Dragon's belly.

The Dragon’s abdomen caved in.

Its body was flung back into the wall again.

[Kaaaah!]

The Dragon let out another scream of agony.

Ketal immediately charged at the Dragon again.

The Dragon thrashed its head wildly.

[[Get lost!]]

The Dragon spat out.

It was the Dragon’s Word.

The Dragon's words carried power within them.

Ketal’s body was forced back.

In fact, his body was momentarily pushed backwards.

“No.”

But Ketal refused.

He planted his foot firmly.

With the sound of something breaking, the backlash that had hit Ketal dissipated.

Boom!

His fist slammed into the Dragon once more.

[[Get lost!]]

The Dragon’s words struck Ketal again.

They tried to expel him from the Dragon’s lair, twisting space around him.

“I said no.”

Crash!

As Ketal forcefully shook his body, the distorted space shattered.

Ketal grabbed the Dragon’s head and slammed it down.

It was absolute domination.

The others could only watch in stunned silence.

“…What is this.”

“Wasn’t he a summoner?”

Ketal was a contractor of a highest-ranking spirit.

He wielded the power of spirits.

They had thought that his own strength wasn’t particularly remarkable.

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But the scene before them was something else.

Highest-ranking spirits seemed meaningless.

It was a power beyond their understanding.

If that was the case, there was only one explanation.

“A hero-level powerhouse.”

Someone with the strength to stand at the top of the world.

The Spellweaver let out a dry laugh.

“We were just extras from the start.”

Only now did they realize why they had paid the Wandering Merchant.

They were not a party to slay the Dragon.

They were merely extras, following alongside Ketal.

Boom!

The Dragon’s body slammed into the wall.

It staggered.

Ketal brushed his hands off.

“Tough.”

He was hitting it seriously, but the Dragon was still holding out.

Ketal fiddled with the handle of his axe.

‘Just in case, I’d like to kill it without damaging it.’

He needed the Dragon Heart to gain its mysteries.

If he lost control of his strength, it could cause problems, so he wanted to capture it while preserving its form as much as possible.

Ketal was contemplating how to capture the dragon without causing any damage, while the dragon was struggling to accept the current situation.

What on earth was this?

How could he be beaten so effortlessly like this?

No.

This wasn't right.

A dragon.

The ruler of the world.

The dragon roared fiercely.

[[I am the ruler of the world!]]

The fierce roar echoed.

At the same time, the very space around them began to distort.

The space where the dragon and Ketal were became violently twisted.

[[Enter my world!]]

And then the space expanded around the dragon.

Ketal exclaimed in awe.

“This is... fascinating.”

With those words, Ketal was swallowed by the expanding space.

A massive, ash-colored spherical space formed at the center of the dragon's lair.

Inside were the dragon and Ketal.

The sudden event left those who were watching in a daze, confused.

“Huh?”

“What just happened?”

It was a power they couldn't understand.

Amidst their confusion, a boy calmly explained.

“It’s a domain.”

“A domain?”

“The dragon is creating a space that favors it, intending to fight there. Dragons are large creatures, right? This space is too cramped for them to use their power freely.”

“Ah, I see.”

The Spellweaver nodded in understanding.

The boy narrowed his eyes.

“But… he's really strong.”

“Indeed…”

“No matter how much it can’t properly speak dragon words or cast dragon magic, this dragon has just reached adulthood… but to be overpowered like that.”

“So even among dragons, this one is considered weak…”

Seraphina murmured in awe.

As she admired the scene, she suddenly noticed something.

“Huh? Ian, why are you here?”

The boy they had left outside, Ian, was standing beside them.

“This place is dangerous. You should go back,”

Seraphina calmly said.

The boy, however, didn’t seem to care and looked around the lair.

“It’s too flashy.”

He muttered in discontent as if he didn’t like the jewels embedded in the walls.

“It’s garish. Jewels should be used to enhance the beauty of the surroundings, but this is just overdone. I guess it can’t be helped since the dragon is still a child, attracted to flashy things.”

“Ian?”

Ian's words were strange.

They were too out of place for a normal boy.

But Seraphina, not realizing this, continued to speak calmly.

“This place is dangerous. You should go back.”

“…Wait.”

The ones who sensed something wrong were the Mercenary King and the Spellweaver. They subtly grabbed Seraphina’s arm and began to back away.

“Come over here.”

“Huh? What?”

Even as she was being pulled away, Seraphina looked confused, not understanding why.

It was as if her very perception was distorted.

The boy didn’t pay any attention to them.

It was like how no one would pay attention to ants crawling along the road while people were busy fighting.

It was the same here.

“I noticed even though you were hiding… Could you really be one of those from the ‘Inside’? Hmmm.”

“…Who are you?”

The Mercenary King swallowed nervously and asked.

“Oh, I forgot I still looked like this, didn’t I?”

With those words, the boy’s appearance began to distort.

As if erasing a drawn illusion from the air, the boy’s form disappeared, revealing a new one.

What emerged was a voluptuous woman.

She had striking red hair and red eyes to match.

She wore a red dress.

She was very tall.

She was a head taller than the Mercenary King.

The hidden presence overwhelmed them.

Seraphina gasped for air.

“Sorry, everyone. I meant to move sooner, but I was too caught up in my standoff with that guy.”

While they had been fighting the dragon, Ketal had been preoccupied with something else.

That something was this woman.

“The journey with you all was so much fun. Especially you, Seraphina. Thank you for protecting me, even though you knew I wasn’t really an ordinary person.”

The woman who had been a boy smiled sweetly.

“It was an extremely satisfying game. So, truly [[Well done]].”

* * *

“Ah…”

In an instant, they felt all their strength leave their bodies.

A massive sense of exhaustion and satisfaction, as if they had achieved a lifelong goal, took over.

It was such an overwhelming feeling that they wouldn’t have regretted it even if they declared their retirement right then and there.

“This, this…!”

But they overcame it.

They barely managed to shake off the satisfaction that had taken over their bodies.

The woman looked at them with a hint of surprise.

“Oh. I told you to rest, but you resisted? You’re the kind of people who can walk new paths even at the end of a journey?”

“You, you…”

“Who are you?”

The Mercenary King had drawn his sword and stepped back.

The Spellweaver was preparing a spell, and Seraphina’s hands were glowing with divine power.

Their faces were filled with shock and wariness.

‘No.’

Something about this presence.

Just facing it made it hard to breathe.

For these top-tier superhumans to feel this way, ordinary superhumans would have found breathing impossible.

This woman had reached a level they couldn’t comprehend.

The Spellweaver let out a groan.

“There’s… another hero-class here.”

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