Boom!
It wasn’t the sound of an explosion or impact, but the sound of the shockwave released when Damien catapulted himself towards the raging storm in the distance.
He could no longer wait for the upcoming combat.
Sensing the bloodthirsty aura approaching it, the sea dragon roared in fury.
“Human! You dare challenge me within my own domain?!”
Damien responded with a wild grin as he reached the outer edge of the storm, thrusting himself into it without an ounce of hesitation.
The entire sequence of events took place in mere seconds, leaving the girls stunned without the ability to react.
“Hey, big guy, why don’t you give me a good fight!” Damien yelled.
“Hmph! I’ll show you what happens to those who dare challenge my authority!”
The sea raged as the waves transformed into massive tornadoes that wildly moved through the storm. The lightning that had been randomly striking the sea began concentrating on Damien’s location.
Boom! Boom!
Everywhere he went, he was greeted with another lightning bolt, but Damien didn’t seem to care. His entire being radiated that blood-red color that craved destruction.
Black lightning began crackling around his body. Unlike his previous lightning, this new iteration seemed much more threatening and wild.
He didn’t even try to aim, randomly discharging the lightning into the space around him to counter any attack thrown his way. At this point, he still hadn’t seen the sea dragon’s true appearance, only the faint shadow that presented itself within the storm.
As Damien dodged another lightning bolt, a tornado of swirling water charged in his direction, enveloping him within it.
Within the tornado, Damien was subjected to countless blades of water that barraged him from every side. It was clear that the dragon’s strength was above his, as the damage it could do to him was quite severe.
Cuts began accumulating on his body, but Damien laughed it off. He could feel his body regenerating, albeit slightly slower than the rate of injury.
Realizing that if he simply charged out of the tornado he’d get shredded, Damien summoned his sword before taking his stance.
He widened his legs and bent his knees slightly, crouching in mid-air while his arm holding the sword pulled back, keeping the sword angled perfectly horizontal.
‘Void Sword Art Second Step: Horizon Break’
Boom!
Damien’s sword flickered as he thrust his arm forward, causing a massive hole to be punched into the tornado. Damien rushed out of this opening, smiling at the potential of his new attack.
However, he wasn’t given a moment of rest. The second he left the tornado, he was barraged by a series of lightning bolts, as if the heavens wanted to smite him.
Boooom!
He avoided as many as he could, but some still hit their mark. Damien was flung back and his shirt was torn open, revealing the massive burn mark that had appeared on his chest.
Still, Damien was grinning from ear to ear. He wasn’t a masochist by any definition of the word, but he was finally in a fight that he wouldn’t automatically win.
Deciding that he had enough fun with the storm, Damien charged for the sea dragon. He abused his teleportation, spazzing from one area to another with seemingly no pattern.
“Human! Stop running and die for me!”
The sea dragon was losing its temper, but before it could do anything, it felt imminent danger. It quickly twisted its massive body at an impossible angle, watching a large gash be torn in the haze where it had been residing.
‘Void Sword Art First Step: Bladeless’
Now that he had reached a new level of destructiveness, especially after his training in outer space, the possibilities for bladeless were immense. Yet, Damien used its most primal form, putting large amounts of mana into the strike to enlarge its target radius.
With the haze removed, he finally got a good look at the sea dragon. Well, serpent was a better word to describe it. It was larger than even Zara, with its length being around 100 meters, and its entire body was covered in shining green scales.
It had no limbs, and its resemblance to dragons resided in its head. It looked like a knockoff version of a Chinese dragon, just massive and terrifying.
“You dare?!” It spoke once again. Not once had it met someone who could make it past the storm.
But it wasn’t weak without the storm. On the contrary, its abilities hadn’t even been showcased yet.
Now that he had a clear picture of his opponent, Damien went straight for its head. He wanted to slice it off in one go, but that was never an option.
The sea dragon whipped its tail, causing a loud clap as the air around it was pushed in on itself. Instead of teleporting away like he logically should, Damien met the tail head-on.
He charged mana into his fist as quickly as he could, sending his mana circuits into overdrive as he punched out.
When the two came in contact, another explosion resounded through the area. The tail was pushed back, cracks evident in its scales, while Damien was flung much further.
His arm was dangling by his side, seemingly not functional anymore. His bones had been shattered in the collision, almost to the point of no recovery, but Damien was able to offset some of the damage at the last second.
The sea dragon was surprised that the human in front of it had survived that collision, but it shook off its thoughts. It was already getting bored of this battle, so it wanted to end it as soon as possible.
“Human, let me show you what it means to face a dragon!”
The sea dragon opened its mouth, gathering mana within it. A massive cerulean blue ball of water mana began forming within its jaws.
‘It’s going to use a breath attack.’ Damien thought. ‘Then, let’s compare that as well.’
He hadn’t used his breath in a very long time, and he hadn’t seen its capability after the change in his affinities, so he was anticipating the next clash.
Just like the dragon, Damien began inhaling a massive breath. A translucent hey destructive mana gathered within his jaws as black streaks crackled along its surface.
The two remained stationary, staring at each other with ferocious eyes as their attacks charged. Maybe it was out of respect, challenge, or because neither could be bothered, but they didn’t interrupt each other in the slightest. And then…
Two resounding roars shook the Cloud Sea. A beam of striking blue energy that looked eerily similar to a laser and a beam of translucent energy crackling with black light collided with each other.
BOOOM!
An explosion like no other was produced at their collision, but neither seemed willing to back down. They continued pushing at each other, attempting to overpower the other before their energy diminished.
The sheer heat generated by the collision was enough to damage both of them. The scales on the sea dragon’s neck began to melt, while Damien’s skin also started to blister. If one looked closely, one would be able to see the red muscles underneath.
But he wasn’t even close to done. Even while the collision of the energy beams was ongoing, Damien teleported onto the dragon’s head. Finding a crack in the scales, he thrust his sword down.
‘Void Sword Art 4th Step: Spatial Collapse’
He initiated spatial collapse within the dragon’s skin. Instead of the atmosphere twisting, it was the dragon’s body itself.
“ROOOAAARR!”
The dragon released a roar of agony at this feeling. It couldn’t allow this human to continue, or it might truly die.
The sky began to rumble as thunderclouds formed above the two. Without suspense, tens of lightning bolts began raining down.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Unlike before, Damien didn’t even try to dodge. He stood firm on the dragon’s head, pouring more mana into the spatial collapse as the lightning impacted his body.
His head felt fuzzy, his skin was burned off, and even his muscles began to melt due to the heat. Yet, he stood strong.
If he didn’t have innate lightning resistance because of his own affinity, he’d have been reduced to ashes already. But that was only a hypothetical scenario.
“AAARRRGH!”
Damien roared in pain, but he didn’t budge. Grasping his sword with both hands, he twisted it within the wound, causing it to expand.
Not wanting to stay stationary and be bombarded, he used all his strength, even using some mana to enhance himself, and dragged his sword through the dragon’s body, carving a massive gash into its flesh.
When he met with scales, he used sheet power and heat to blaze through them. He ignored everything else, only wanting to kill this damn beast.
His body tried its best to regenerate, but it was piling damage too fast for it to work effectively. For the first time since the dungeon, Damien began accumulating scars.
Pressurized jets of water shot towards him, drilling holes into his already breaking body, but he didn’t care. He twisted his blade once more, deepening the wound he was causing.
The dragon no longer had the ability to roar. Its internal organs had already been ruptured by the spatial collapse, and with the positioning of the sword, its brain was next. If it didn’t do anything, it’d die here.
The storm’s ferocity increased, leaving Damien’s regeneration insignificant. Both opponents were fighting death.
Damien’s eyes were filled with a light of madness. Something was driving him to these insane lengths, but he was none the wiser. He felt the pain and he felt the threat of death, but it only made his blood boil with excitement.
The battle seemed at a standstill, with both opponents knocking on death’s door, but Damien still had a card up his sleeve. A bright flame enveloped his blade, its heat melting even the air around it. With this final push, Damien cut through the dragon’s skull like butter.
Crack!
One final sound resounded in the area before everything went quiet. In the deafening silence that followed, only a single word could be heard.
“Devour.”