SWNOVELXO Chapter 104
Chapter 104: Scene of Harmony (4)
When Martin and Christian charged forward, the wyvern spread its wings wide and leapt from the World Tree.
“GRROAAAR!”
Soaring into the sky with powerful wingbeats, the creature unleashed a flurry of wind blades, slashing indiscriminately through the air.
These strikes were sharp enough to obliterate anything in their path, leaving not even a trace behind. But despite knowing this, neither Martin nor Christian showed any sign of fear.
“I’m counting on you, young master!” Christian shouted.
“I know!” Martin replied calmly.
With a swift motion, he extended his left hand toward the sky, channeling his Omni Distortion ability to manipulate the air.
CRASH!
The violent gusts of wind surrounding the wyvern’s attacks suddenly lost direction, shattering against the ground instead of reaching their intended targets.
The wyvern’s eyes flashed with fury as its assault was rendered useless. It beat its wings even harder, stirring up a massive surge of mana in the air.
A giant whirlwind formed on the ground, tearing across the earth as it hurtled toward Martin and Christian.
Seeing this, Martin’s lips curled into a smirk.
“You’d think it’d learn after one failed attempt.”
Vwoosh!
A turbulent wind coalesced around Martin’s left arm, forming a small vortex. He extended his palm, meeting the wyvern’s whirlwind head-on.
This time, there was hardly any impact.
‘I wasn’t planning on breaking it with force in the first place.’
Thanks to the dragon’s curse, Martin could clearly see the flow of mana, allowing him to locate the core sustaining the whirlwind.
With a decisive grasp, he seized this core, causing the whirlwind to intensify as it struggled to consume him. But Martin amplified the wind around his left arm, completely nullifying the wyvern’s attack and emerging unharmed.
“SKREEEE!”
Frustrated by another failed assault, the wyvern let out a furious roar.
“Shouting won’t change a thing. I learned from a fine teacher how to disrupt an attack like that, even if I can’t completely take over your power.”
Martin felt a surge of gratitude toward Arelia, whose guidance on the flow of “release” in flame techniques had allowed him to replicate the effect with wind.
Thanks to this, he had managed to interfere with the wyvern’s attacks, even while fighting against its overwhelming strength.
Unwilling to accept defeat, the wyvern opened its massive jaws, pulling in a vast amount of mana that gathered in a brilliant red glow.
“SKROOAAAR!”
With a mighty roar, the wyvern unleashed all its gathered power in a blazing beam of fire.
The dragonkin’s ultimate power, its breath attack, surged straight toward Martin.
Anticipating this, Martin shouted, “Christian!”
“Leave it to me!”
Christian responded confidently, and above him, a spectral dragon of blue flames appeared.
The fire dragon, summoned by Christian, opened its jaws wide and fired a scorching beam that clashed against the wyvern’s breath.
BOOM! BOOM!
As the two forces collided, waves of extreme heat expanded, engulfing the surrounding area and igniting parts of the World Tree.
Unable to withstand the scorching intensity, the ground melted, bubbling like lava as the temperature around them surged.
However, over time, the fire dragon’s beam began to lose ground.
“Hyaah!”
At that moment, Christian burst forward, piercing through the wild flames.
With his greatsword gripped firmly, its blade enveloped in a blue aura of fire, he charged at the wyvern’s breath.
BOOOOM!
The entire space around the World Tree shook with the impact.
“Ugh!”
Christian let out an instinctive groan, struggling against the intense heat. But instead of retreating, he poured more mana into his blade, making the aura around it glow even brighter.
‘I’m the wielder of the Flame Dragon Sword—I can’t afford to lose to mere fire!’
Determined, Christian gritted his teeth, and the blue flame dragon above him bit down on the wyvern’s breath, absorbing as much of the fire as it could.
As Christian pressed on, he finally managed to split the massive energy mass in two.
KA-BOOM!
The divided flames exploded on the ground, causing a massive detonation.
Watching this, Christian let out a heavy, exhausted laugh.
“Phew… I think I’ve done my part.”
“Good work. I’m glad I brought you along,” Martin commended him, then looked up at the wyvern in the sky.
He acknowledged the creature’s strength—it had more raw power than both him and Christian combined.
But the wyvern’s choice of attacks was its downfall.
Wind and fire.
Martin had mastered Arelia’s techniques of both the First and Second Blade of the Flame and knew exactly how to counter them. And bringing Christian, a master of flame manipulation, had proven to be the best decision.
The wyvern’s breath, its strongest attack, had been neutralized by Christian.
Now, with most of its power spent, the wyvern was vulnerable.
“SKREEE!”
As if realizing its predicament, the wyvern dived toward Martin, intending to crush him with its sheer physical might, its mana reserves too drained for another long-range attack.
‘Predictable.’
To Martin’s advantage, the creature was moving exactly as he expected.
He flicked his left index finger, and immediately, intensified gravity pulled down on the wyvern, accelerating its descent.
Already in a dive, the added force threw it off balance, causing it to lose control.
THUD!
The ground shook as the wyvern crashed into it, but thanks to its armor-like scales, it sustained minimal damage.
“Grrrr…”
With a fierce growl, the wyvern whipped its tail, aiming to crush Martin.
SLAM!
The tail strike split the air with a terrifying force, but it only smashed into the ground—Martin had evaded using spatial movement.
Frustrated, the wyvern twisted its head frantically, searching for him.
Then, as it looked skyward, it finally spotted Martin hovering above.
“This ends now.”
SWISH!
Twelve golden and crimson slashes rained down upon the wyvern.
These strikes, enhanced with spatial slicing techniques and high-heat cutting methods Christian had taught him, maximized their penetrating power.
“SKRAAAAH!”
Sensing mortal danger, the wyvern spewed smaller fireballs, desperately attempting to intercept the incoming strikes.
But the wyvern’s efforts were in vain.
Vwoom.
All of Martin’s strikes vanished into the void, slipping into spatial rifts.
Moments later, they reappeared around the wyvern and struck with explosive force.
CRACK!
CRUNCH!
Its armored scales and bones offered no protection. They were shattered, broken under the relentless onslaught, scattering blood and flesh in every direction.
Both wings were severed, plummeting to the ground.
“SKREEE!”
The wyvern shrieked in agony, overwhelmed by the intense pain.
Yet, true to the dragonkin’s legendary resilience, it clung stubbornly to life. Even with its body mangled, it lunged forward, determined to crush Martin with its massive frame.
But it barely had time to react when it saw a single radiant slash coming straight at it.
Swish!
The golden blade cleaved the wyvern’s neck in a single, decisive stroke.
Thud!
Its severed head and colossal body collapsed onto the ground.
The short but intense battle was finally over.
* * *
“Hah…”
Martin struggled to catch his breath.
Though the fight itself had been brief, he had poured all his strength into ending it swiftly.
His clothes were soaked with sweat, his limbs trembled, and his mana circuits screamed in protest.
Fortunately, his advancement to the 8th circle had allowed him to survive the strain.
“You’ve worked hard, young master. Do I need to start calling you Dragon Slayer?” Christian asked with a grin.
“Dragon Slayer? Hardly. This wasn’t nearly enough for that title.”
To earn the Dragon Slayer title, one had to either slay an actual dragon or defeat a monster lord-level dragonkin from the 60th floor or beyond.
The creature he had just fought didn’t come close to either.
Claiming the title now would only earn him ridicule.
‘Still, it was worthwhile.’
Even though their banter was lighthearted, it gave Martin a moment to regain his composure.
He turned his attention to the wyvern’s corpse, examining it carefully.
Unlike the other strikes, he’d used only his aura blade when he severed its neck, causing blood to flow freely from the wound.
The prize he had sought in this battle—the dragon’s blood—was now pooling at his feet.
Since it was wyvern blood, drinking it wasn’t an option, but that didn’t matter; even applying it to his skin would suffice.
“Are you… really planning to apply that?” Christian asked, incredulous.
“Of course. Do you know how rare dragon blood is? I’ll take any chance I get to use it.”
“I’m certain Lady Igreet will kill me this time. All because I failed to stop you from covering yourself in dragon blood.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll explain everything to her… Hmm?”
Just as Martin was about to gather the blood, he noticed something strange.
A leaf from the World Tree had fallen into the pool of blood.
Under ordinary circumstances, this wouldn’t have been surprising, as the intense battle had shaken many leaves loose.
But this leaf had begun to emit a faint glow as soon as it touched the dragon’s blood, and, to his amazement, the blood itself was slowly losing its murky hue, turning lighter.
Startled by the unexpected reaction, Martin hastily applied a handful of the altered blood to his left arm.
“Young master!” Christian shouted, alarmed, but it was too late.
Swish.
The dragon blood was quickly absorbed into Martin’s skin.
“Ah!”
“Wow.”
Christian was shocked, while Martin couldn’t help but marvel.
The reason was simple.
Even though he had applied dragon blood, he felt no pain whatsoever.
‘Is it because it absorbed the World Tree’s mana?’
He wondered if perhaps this was a unique reaction when any dragon blood came into contact with the World Tree’s leaves.
‘I should take a few leaves from the World Tree with me when I return.’
He felt an urgent need to investigate further.
But first, he had something else to take care of.
“Christian, raise a flame and cover me.”
“You’re not going to listen if I try to stop you, are you?”
“Of course not.”
“Sigh. Alright, then.”
Resigned, Christian shook his head and conjured a ring of flames, shielding Martin and the wyvern’s body from view.
Martin then removed his shirt and pants, using Omni Distortion to pull all the dragon blood toward him.
There was so much that his entire body was soon drenched.
Crack!
A disturbing sound emanated from within his body, yet Martin remained unfazed.
The noise was all for show; he felt no pain at all.
As the dragon blood seeped into his skin, his muscles grew tougher, more flexible, and his bones hardened, continually strengthening his physical abilities.
“How does it feel?” Christian asked.
“Incredible.”
Martin smiled as he responded to Christian’s question, feeling the enhancements.
‘With these abilities, I’d say I’m halfway back to my prime.’
It had been over half a year since his return.
His circle count had already reached that of his peak years, and his physical abilities were nearly restored.
He was closer than ever to surpassing the martial prowess of his past self, once hailed as the Sword Saint.
The mere thought was exhilarating, but what pleased him most was his increased lifespan.
He couldn’t be sure of the exact amount, but he estimated that he’d gained at least five more years.
With his physical abilities fully restored, he might be able to extend it by ten.
The prospect was more than satisfying.
“Oh, right.”
“What is it?”
“There’s one more thing I need to collect.”
Martin took the holy sword Karadyl and sliced open the wyvern’s chest.
He reached inside the gap, pulling out the heart.
Christian looked puzzled.
“But young master, you don’t need an increase in mana.”
“It’s not for me. I’m giving it to Sien.”
“A bribe to win her forgiveness, I see.”
“It’s not a bribe. She’s worked hard for my sake, so it’s a gift.”
“Sure, if that’s what you want to call it,” Christian replied with a playful grin.
Martin considered knocking the smirk off his face but decided against it.
After restoring the barrier, he stepped outside.
“Martin Adalbert!”
A fierce shout rang in his ears.
He saw Sien approaching, her expression far from pleased.
‘As expected.’
It seemed he was in for quite the scolding, and Martin had a feeling his intuition was spot on.