SWNOVELXO Chapter 22: 22. Dragon
And with just that—just one look—Licht felt it.
An uncontrollable force, rushing toward him like a runaway train on flaming rails.
It wasn't fear. It was something beyond that.
Transhuman dread.
The primal, instinctive terror of confronting something utterly superior—Not merely dangerous but Transcendent
Any normal man would've collapsed under the pressure.
But—
Ding!
Your trait 「A Valtier's Pride (S)」has been activated.
Licht was no ordinary man.
His eyes ignited—not with fear, but with divine arrogance. The innate pride of a bloodline that stood at the pinnacle of this world simply couldn't be restrained
What was a dragon… before the glory of a Valtier?
The dragon roared.
A , soul-rending cry shook the crypt to its core. It reared back, ethereal flames trailing from its fanged maw before exhaling a long, cold snort of fire across the chamber.
But just as it seemed poised to strike…
It turned away.
With regal indifference, the phantom beast settled back atop its treasure hoard, curling like a tired cat.Its gaze no longer even acknowledged Licht.
It had dismissed him.
A Provocation.
Licht's lip curled into a sneer.
Hoh… So you're ignoring me now?
This dragon wasn't the master of this place, but instead merely a guardian bound by rules and confined to this space.
It could snarl.
It could threaten.
But it could not leave the treasure hoard—
Not without permission from its true master.
Looking down on the beast below, Licht drew his sword and closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, they burned with a transcendent light—As if constellations of golden stars were swirling within them.
「Infinite Copy Eyes (SSS)」
Without hesitation, Licht reached into his backpack and pulled out several orb-like devices—grenade-shaped objects with arcane circuits etched into their shells.
Thunder Bombs.
In the futuristic age of demons and ever-shifting magical attributes, technology had evolved.Weapons were born created that could channel and use elemental mana to directly fight enemies—And the Thunder Bomb was one such creation.
But Licht still wasn't satisfied, ever the reckless innovator, poured his own mana into them, something they clearly weren't built for that.
Almost instantly the bombs grew unstable, shaking wildly in his grip.
Licht didn't panic and just smirked as lobbed them into the pit.
A sharp whistle tore through the air before The clink of metal could be heard as the grenades bounced off ancient dragon scales
BOOM!!
An eruption of thunder and light tore through the chamber with a blinding flash of light
The second the attack went of, the dragon's eyes snapped open.
It was no longer indifferent but instead now furious.
It roared as it leapt forward, its body surging toward Licht with unnatural speed.
Its body pulsed with spectral fire and murderous rage.
The guardian could not leave the hoard but that was only under one condition, no threat could be attacking.
Licht had broken that one rule
And now?
Now, it was free to unleash as much havoc as it wanted
Despite having mythical creature rushing towards him, Licht didn't flinch.
He simply chuckled as he thought
Why are you so mad? The gift was never meant for you
『Rushing Thunder God — Gods Descent! (S)』
"It was meant for me."
As Licht uttered those words, he threw his back pack to those side as lightning cracked beneath his feet like the first beat of a war drum.
In an instant, he launched into the air, thunder spiralling around him, lashing out across the crypt like a spiderweb of electric fury.
Arcs of lightning raced toward him, some coiling around his body, others surging outward and partially paralyzing the dragon before him.
The storm poured into his veins, igniting his body from within and making his eyes glow with a fusion of violet and cerulean lightning.
His hair stood on end, haloed in raw electricity, as if divinity itself had chosen him as its vessel.
To witness Licht in that moment was to feel the crushing weight of divinity. Any mortal who looked upon him would be overcome with the instinct to kneel—to worship.
It was like it was no longer a man who hovered above the earth, but something far greater.
Like a god had descended!
Ding!
Your trait 「A Valtier's Pride (S)」has been activated.
Licht heard that notification and his wonderful eyes locked eyes with the dragon and smiled
That simple, serene expression was enough to break something deep within the beast and for the first time since being imprisoned by the ancient Archmage, the dragon felt it—
Fear.
No, it was more than fear…
Death.
Its pride fractured, and the instinct to fight vanished beneath the pressure of that divine gaze.
Regardless of the dragons change in heart Licht showed no mercy and shot downward like a thunderbolt, aiming directly for the dragon's heart, lightning trailing behind him in violent spirals.
Fortunately the dragon's instincts that been honed over millennia, snapped back in when it was on their verge of death and it was just in time.
Suddenly, Its wings flared, and with a flawless aerial twist, it barrel-rolled away, narrowly avoiding the incoming strike causing Licht to streak right past it like a comet of raw voltage.
The dragon saw this and exhaled in relief, confusion and dread still pulsing beneath its scales.
That human released such an ominous aura it had felt fear for the first time in millennia
But unfortunately a human was still a human.
A inferior terrestrial species.
It was a dragon, a ruler of the skies and-
The dragons train of thought was interrupted as a sudden sharp and vicious pain exploded in its dragons tail.
It was Licht.
In the midst of his missed strike, he'd twisted mid-air and driven his blade deep into the base of the dragon's tail, embedding it with precision and force.
But Licht wasn't done yet
The lightning within him hadn't dissipated—it surged through his body, enhanced by the godlike precision of his 「Infinite Copy Eyes (SSS)」, amplifying his strength to impossible levels.