SWNOVELXO Chapter 23: 23 Rainbow Dragon.
The hallway breathed like a living creature.
The air inside was damp and suffocating, as if every inch of the walls had absorbed decades of mold and darkness. Rusty old pipes along the ceiling dripped water in a slow, irritating rhythm—drip... drip... drip...—and the sound echoed down the empty corridor, as if it were the place's only heartbeat. A flickering neon light blinked lazily in the distance, casting a dull gray silhouette on walls mottled with moss and unidentifiable scratch marks.
Tora walked with a casual stride, hands tucked in the pockets of his jacket, a half-smirk permanently resting on his lips. His eyes were calm, almost lazy. As if this place—so frightening to most—was nothing more than a small playground to him.
"What is this place," he muttered, his voice echoing lightly. "Toshiro, why'd it have to be somewhere like this?"
Toshiro walked beside him, moving slightly faster. His face was tense, cold sweat clinging to his temple despite the chill in the air. His eyes darted restlessly, scanning every corner and shadow. His breathing was uneven.
"This place is full of low-grade cursed residue,"
he said, his voice slightly rushed. "And... I want to see how much you've progressed since we last met. Been half a year, after all."
Tora snorted, amused. "Yeah, yeah... Aniki."
Soon after, Toshiro pointed toward a small curse—Level 4. It looked like a tiny spider with too many eyes, clinging to the wall like it was watching them.
"There. Take it out."
Tora didn't reply. He simply sighed deeply, as if he'd just been asked to swat a mosquito. In one swift motion, his body darted forward. Like a living shadow, he unleashed a sideways kick—CRACK!—the small curse slammed into the wall and disintegrated into fragments of cursed energy. Then another. And another. He cut down the weak curses with brutal efficiency, like a farmer harvesting weeds.
Toshiro nodded slightly, satisfied. But Tora turned, flashing a cocky grin.
"How was that, Aniki? Proud?"
But the amusement didn't last long.
A foreign aura seeped in from the darkness.
Colder. Sharper. Deeper.
Toshiro halted, his expression freezing.
"Tora…" he whispered. "Stop."
Tora looked up, following his brother's gaze.
At the far end of the corridor, barely lit by the dying neon glow, a cursed spirit took shape—Level 1.
A massive eyeball, roughly the size of a basketball, covered in dozens of thin spider-like legs made of pure shadow. In the center of its pupil, a small serrated mouth let out a high-pitched hiss, one that stabbed into the mind like invisible needles.
The aura it gave off was suffocating. Disgusting. As if all of one's trauma, fear, and panic resurfaced all at once.
"No... This is—"
Toshiro took half a step back. His breath hitched.
His body remembered—Ren. Curses. Blood. Screams.
"Tora, we need to retreat. Now."
Tora didn't move. His eyes narrowed, then he chuckled softly.
"Level 1? In a dump like this? You serious, Aniki?"
"We're not ready! Its psychic aura could scramble our focus. Trust me, we—"
But Tora spun on his heel, raising his hands and grinning.
"Which is exactly why we should go forward."
And without waiting for his brother's permission, Tora clapped his hands together—CLAP!—forming a seal.
"Hear my call, guardian of darkness. Rise and show your fangs—Rainbow Dragon!"
The air churned.
Shadows from every direction—beneath the pipes, at their feet, even Tora's own shadow—were pulled toward the space behind him. They twisted, swirled, and converged, forming a growing mass that slowly began to lift off the ground. The neon light flickered violently, then went out.
In the pitch-black silence, a deep, thunderous GRUUUUUMMMM rolled out—low, heavy, and hitting the chest like a steel hammer.
And then it appeared—Rainbow Dragon.
A massive black dragon the size of a truck, its entire body cloaked in scales as dark and hard as freshly forged steel. Its eyes—two pale yellow points of light—glowed with cold, hollow intensity. Black mist leaked from between its armored scales. Its jaw was enormous and terrifying, like the gate to the underworld itself.
Toshiro held his breath. He wasn't ready for this.
"T-Tora… What is that…?"
Tora looked over his shoulder with pride. "My new toy. Cool, huh?"
The Level 1 curse hissed furiously, its frequency spiking into a shrill scream. It lunged forward like a spear, its needle legs stabbing into the floor and walls with a tik-tik-tik that created a maddening rhythm.
Rainbow Dragon didn't move.
It stood like a black mountain, becoming a wall between Tora and the threat.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The curse's attacks slammed into the dragon's head like thousands of hammers on steel. But… not a single scratch.
None of its attacks penetrated.
"Are you kidding…" Toshiro muttered, stunned.
Tora pointed toward the curse. "That's enough. Rainbow Dragon—destroy it."
WUSHHH!
The dragon moved.
Its jaw snapped shut in one swift motion—CRUNCH!
The curse was obliterated in an instant. The massive eye burst. Black fluid splattered outward, then burned away in the dark energy pouring from the dragon's mouth. There was no explosion—just raw, efficient, brutal destruction.
The hallway fell silent again. The evil aura vanished.
Tora patted the dragon's solid scale. "Well? What do you think, Aniki?"
Toshiro was still speechless.
"That… was incredible. But… it was just a Level 1 curse."
"Exactly why I used it for a test. And hey, it worked, right?" Tora chuckled.
Toshiro exhaled deeply, his eyes still sweeping the shadows.
"Don't summon it unless you really need to. You don't know who might be watching."
Rainbow Dragon let out a deep, rumbling growl, then walked behind Tora, its massive shadow swallowing the light of the narrow corridor.
They continued down the hallway.
But the aura of this place hadn't died completely.
Toshiro glanced at him. "By the way… about that question I asked you last time…"
Tora gave a small smile. "Yeah… I've found the answer."
And the corridor fell silent again—only the sound of footsteps and the dragon's distant breath trailing softly behind them.