Pushed back by the tremendous impact delivered from his flank. The Dragon Emperor saw it. A massive black shadow stood there, towering enough to touch the sky. It was as if something that should not exist had appeared and the world was rejecting it. Black lightning struck endlessly, thousands, tens of thousands of times, upon the shoulders of that colossal black shadow.
'...Spiritualization?'
No, that couldn't be it. The Shadow Monarch, who had once been one of the fragments of Radiance, had no separate hidden form—his current appearance was his original one. So how was the Shadow Monarch now this enormous? Crack! He dug his legs into the ground, shaving the surface thin like an apple peel, and the Dragon Emperor halted in place.
'Could it be...?'
A single hypothesis flashed through his mind, and the Dragon Emperor's pupils trembled.
'He's... calling the power of death to the surface?'
How? How could someone who had been nothing more than an ordinary human until just recently wield the power of death with such profound depth?
[I see.]
A low murmur escaped the Dragon Emperor's lips.
[So you have spent a long time on the boundary between life and death.]
This was the reason the previous Shadow Monarch, Ashborn, had been able to hand over his complete power to a mere human. Before receiving that power and all the way to now, this human had been fighting his own war. For life. The Dragon Emperor, who until now had slightly underestimated the Shadow Monarch before him unlike his predecessor, felt a sense of reverence rise within him.
[...]
And for a moment, he reflected on his own attempt to use the human's weakness to turn him against the Rulers.
'I must... kill him now. He truly is too dangerous.'
Just as he was staring, the colossal Shadow Monarch was also gazing back at him, utterly still. The colossal Shadow Monarch. Jin-Woo looked down at his own hands, which had transformed to an unimaginable size.
'Is this... is this me?'
He moved his fingertips. His enormous body, now become darkness itself, moved exactly as he willed. It wasn't just size that had changed. Inside his body—within this gigantic form—an unfathomable, staggering power surged endlessly. He had become a mountain in order to topple a mountain. Jin-Woo raised his lowered head. Over there. Destruction was charging toward him. BOOM—! Fierce flames and black lightning splintered in every direction. Jin-Woo braced his extended rear leg and blocked the Dragon Emperor's charge. They were evenly matched! After a brief, deadlocked struggle, the Dragon Emperor sank his teeth into Jin-Woo's shoulder. Crimson sparks erupted from the bitten area. Without losing composure, Jin-Woo grabbed the creature's horn and tore its head away. Then he delivered another blow to its face—CRASH! This time, the Dragon Emperor didn't retreat either. RAAAAAGH! The instant they separated, the Dragon Emperor rushed in again, wrenching its massive jaws wide open and clamping down on Jin-Woo's side.
"GRRRAAAH!"
It was the first time since the fight with the Dragon Emperor began that an uncontrollable groan burst from Jin-Woo's mouth. Bam! Bam! Bam! Jin-Woo hammered down on the Dragon Emperor's head with his elbow, but the Dragon Emperor lifted Jin-Woo into the air and thrashed its head violently from side to side. An excruciating pain surged upward from below, as though his waist were being torn apart on both sides.
"AAAAGH! GRRRAAAH!"
Having decided he'd inflicted enough damage, the Dragon Emperor slammed Jin-Woo into the ground. BOOM! A torrent of annihilation rolled over him. When the breath of destruction, like karmic fire, finally passed, one of Jin-Woo's arms was gone. But instead of screaming, Jin-Woo clenched his teeth. He closed the distance swiftly and drove his remaining arm deep into the Dragon Emperor's maw. Snap, snap! With the sound of thick hide tearing, the Dragon Emperor's massive tongue was ripped out.
[CRAAAAAAAH!]
Instead of blood, crimson lava erupted from the severed cross-section of the tongue. As the Dragon Emperor writhed in agony, Jin-Woo smashed the back of its head. Its head snapped sideways, spraying lava everywhere. Then the Dragon Emperor opened its vertically slitted eyes and glared at Jin-Woo. And it drove its horns into him. A battle of give and take. BOOM! Every time they collided, the earth quaked and the atmosphere howled. Wherever the flames fell like rain, everything burned black, and wherever the black lightning struck, everything shattered grotesquely. A desperate battle. Fangs watched the clash of the two Monarchs, utterly transfixed. The High Orc Grand Shaman could only stare, slack-jawed, unable to close her mouth at the majestic and terrifying spectacle. If the Absolute Being had created them for precisely this kind of fight, she thought she could almost understand. Their battle was that much of a catastrophe, and yet simultaneously a spectacle of epic proportions. Watching the godlike beings collide at full force, Fangs shed tears. The power of annihilation and the power of death intertwined and shook the world to its core. Jin-Woo squeezed his clenched fist tighter. CRACK—! It was working. It was working, working, working! With shockwaves tearing through the atmosphere, his flurry of punches landed viciously. Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! The Dragon Emperor's razor-sharp claws sliced through the air. Shhk—! Jin-Woo had briefly dodged the attack by pulling back, but now he surged forward, driving his shoulder into the Dragon Emperor and knocking it over. BOOM—! Jin-Woo quickly mounted the fallen Dragon Emperor. And the barrage continued. Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! A merciless rain of blows hammered downward from above. Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! Lightning, flames, the scream of the atmosphere—all of it went on without end. But. There was clearly a limit to delivering lethal damage with only one hand. He was concentrating his mana into that single arm, yet it was like striking in a dream—strength bled out of him the longer it went on.
'What's happening?'
Jin-Woo's face stiffened. Soon the Dragon Emperor noticed the change occurring in Jin-Woo as well. The Dragon Emperor thrust out its hand and caught Jin-Woo's fist. It clamped down. Everything happened in a split second. Trapped and unable to pull his fist free, the Dragon Emperor spoke to the rattled Jin-Woo.
[This is the difference in experience!]
Jin-Woo's eyes went wide.
"GRAAAH!"
With its other hand, the Dragon Emperor drove its sharp claws into Jin-Woo's side and spoke in a voice laced with laughter.
[Sustaining such enormous power alone is already draining an incredible amount of stamina.]
With Jin-Woo pinned helplessly in place, a horrifying energy began swirling inside the Dragon Emperor's mouth. The flash of annihilation—the finishing blow—was ready. It was over—the Dragon Emperor was certain of his victory. But. Just before the breath of destruction erupted, he saw a new arm sprouting from the shoulder where Jin-Woo's had been severed.
'He still had that much power left?'
The Dragon Emperor was stunned, but there was no possibility of the outcome reversing in this state. A blinding light gathered deep within the Dragon Emperor's mouth. At that moment, Jin-Woo jammed his newly grown arm straight down the Dragon Emperor's throat.
"GRAAAAAAA—!"
Then he scraped together every last drop of remaining power and concentrated it at his fingertips. VWOOM—! Along with a violent impact, light blanketed everything around them. The light flickered. Silence descended in every direction. Jin-Woo, having returned from his colossal shadow form to his human shape, lay sprawled flat on the ground, gasping for breath.
"Hah... hah... hah..."
His entire body was blazing hot, as if it had been burned. There wasn't a single unscathed spot on him—wounds covered him in a mess. Panting heavily, struggling to steady his breathing, Jin-Woo slowly pushed himself upright. Through the thick haze left by the explosion, someone was approaching. When Jin-Woo saw the Dragon Emperor, now revealed in human form, he clicked his tongue.
'A monster...'
The Dragon Emperor wasn't in perfect shape either, but he was far less injured than Jin-Woo.
[What a stubborn one.]
Says who. But not wanting to waste even the strength to answer, Jin-Woo quietly drew the twin daggers 'Kamish's Wrath.' The Dragon Emperor also unsheathed his sword. Shing— With no power left to maintain spiritualization, the Dragon Emperor summoned every last ounce of strength for one final attempt to end Jin-Woo's life. Jin-Woo also held his breath and clenched his teeth. In a single bound, the Dragon Emperor landed right in front of Jin-Woo and swung his greatsword. The two short swords and the one greatsword clattered wildly against each other. Every time the blades clashed and sparks flew, sweat and blood slid off their entire bodies and splattered in every direction. Then. Crack! One of the 'Kamish's Wrath' daggers, its edge ruined from attacking the Dragon Emperor's steel-like scales, shattered.
'...!'
He twisted his body to dodge the sword coming down diagonally, but the sudden movement slightly broke his balance. The Dragon Emperor didn't let the opening slip. The blade he thrust out in that instant pierced through Jin-Woo's abdomen. Thunk! Even as searing pain flooded through him, Jin-Woo gritted his teeth and swung the dagger in his other hand at the Dragon Emperor's neck. But just before the tip reached the Dragon Emperor's throat, the Dragon Emperor caught the blade barehanded. The black aura shimmering along the edge was blocked by his own crimson aura. The Dragon Emperor smirked.
[Did you really think a dagger made from dragon fangs could pierce the body of this Dragon Emperor?]
Confidently, he tightened his grip on the greatsword's hilt. The blade drove deeper into Jin-Woo's abdomen, and Jin-Woo spat up a mouthful of red blood.
"Guhk—"
The Dragon Emperor shoved Jin-Woo away with his foot and pulled out the sword. As Jin-Woo tumbled back and rolled across the ground, struggling to push himself up, the Dragon Emperor's blade was already at his throat.
'...'
With the sword tip so impossibly close, Jin-Woo froze. The Dragon Emperor smiled and spoke.
[Funny, isn't it?]
Completely certain of his victory, the Dragon Emperor looked down at the face of his captive foe.
[A fight between a flame born from darkness and darkness born from light. But I can already see the end of even this fight.]
Jin-Woo quietly agreed with the Dragon Emperor's words.
"Yeah. I can see the end."
The Dragon Emperor, who had been sizing up the grievously wounded Jin-Woo, tilted his head with an expression that was half puzzled, half amused.
[Decided to stop resisting in vain, have you?]
Then, in that instant, the look in Jin-Woo's eyes—which had seemed utterly defeated—changed.
[...!]
The Dragon Emperor urgently tried to push the blade in, but Jin-Woo did not retreat backward as he expected. Instead, he stepped forward. The greatsword grazed past Jin-Woo's artery by a razor-thin margin. Flesh tore away from his neck and blood sprayed like a fountain, but it was not a fatal wound.
'I can do it.'
By paying the price of a grave injury, Jin-Woo had closed the distance to the Dragon Emperor and summoned his father's dagger from the storage. The Dragon Emperor's eyes widened. Before he could even register what was happening, Jin-Woo's dagger plunged into the Dragon Emperor's chest. Crack! The dagger punched through the armor and pierced the Dragon Emperor's heart.
[CRAAAAAAAAAAAH!]
Not yet. Still more. Jin-Woo knew well enough that Monarchs did not die from a wound like this. After all, he himself was fighting now with injuries that would have killed a human outright. Pulling the dagger free, Jin-Woo unleashed the skill 'Rend.' Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud! Countless attacks embedded themselves in the Dragon Emperor's body. One more time! Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
[You... little...!]
But even as the barrage of attacks poured in, the Dragon Emperor raised his sword. Jin-Woo's pupils trembled. The Dragon Emperor—wounded with a hole through his chest—was batting aside Jin-Woo's daggers one by one. And as Jin-Woo's skill continued, the Dragon Emperor's speed only increased. This was the ultimate creature born from darkness, created by the Absolute Being for nothing but destruction. Jin-Woo, who was losing in the one area he was most confident in—speed—felt cold sweat beading on his forehead.
[KYAAH!]
The Dragon Emperor let out a beastly roar and shoved Jin-Woo back. The impact was like his wrist being wrenched.
'Kuh!'
When Jin-Woo barely regained his footing, the Dragon Emperor was already right in front of him. Unlike before, the Dragon Emperor made no mistake of stopping his blade. The sword plunged straight through his heart.
"Guh!"
Jin-Woo felt a searing, burning pain in his chest. His airway was constricted so tightly he could barely form words. His legs buckled, and his knees gave way naturally. Thump. Still not satisfied, the Dragon Emperor threw his head back and let out a savage roar toward the sky. CRRRAAAAAAAAAAAH—! Having transformed into a form midway between his human shape and his true dragon shape—the Dragonkin form—the Dragon Emperor extended his claws to a terrifying length. A rumbling, draconic voice spilled from his lips.
[I will tear you to shreds and feed you to the wyverns!]
If his mistake had been wanting to properly honor the Shadow Monarch with a dignified execution befitting a king, then he would make up for that mistake by granting a death far crueler than necessary. He would show this one who had resisted him to the very last what awaited the enemies of the Dragon King! The enraged Dragon Emperor bared his long, razor-sharp fangs and howled—when suddenly, a battle cry erupted from the sky. WHOOOAAAAH— The Dragon Emperor raised his head. What unfolded before his eyes was a sight beyond belief. Through enormous Gates, the armies of the Rulers, the soldiers of heaven, poured down without end. Fluttering wings filled the pitch-black sky, once shrouded in storm clouds, turning it brilliant white.
'Impossible...!'
The Dragon Emperor was stunned. When he had first arrived here, there had been no Gates in sight. So where had these Gates come from, and how could soldiers be passing through them instantly? Opening Gates that could directly connect this world and that one would require an amount of energy so vast it defied calculation. The moment that thought reached his mind, the Dragon Emperor looked at Jin-Woo, who was gasping with trembling eyes.
[You... did you attack me with everything from the very beginning with this in mind?]
It hadn't been born from a difference in experience—it had been a deliberate act aimed at this outcome from the start? Clashing with overwhelming power to tear open space and call in his allies from the other side? The Dragon Emperor had been judging the Shadow Monarch's intentions solely through his own perspective. He had believed that drawing away the legion and luring him here had all been done so that nothing would interrupt their fight. But the Shadow Monarch had a different purpose entirely. However.
[But... there was no way you could have communicated with the Rulers...]
The Dragon Emperor couldn't finish his sentence. There had been a way. The vessels of the Rulers. Hadn't there still been vessels remaining, connected to the Rulers through whom they lent their power? That was why they had prepared Gates aimed precisely at this location.
[...]
The Dragon Emperor glared at Jin-Woo. He had chosen to engage knowing that even if he lost the battle, he could still win the war. It was a total defeat—he had only seen the fight itself. Jin-Woo, barely holding back the pain of his wounds, smiled weakly.
"You were the one." [...] "The one who ordered the Monarch of White Flames and the Monarch of Fangs from behind to attack the Shadow Monarch." [...Did the Monarch of White Flames blab about that?]
Instead of answering, Jin-Woo looked up at the sky where soldiers were descending in droves, then turned back to the Dragon Emperor with a smile on his lips.
"Ashborn asked me to pass along his regards."
When Jin-Woo raised his middle finger, the Dragon Emperor's eyes bulged.
[You!]
The Dragon Emperor's razor-sharp claws, fully extended, lunged toward the defenseless Jin-Woo. But. The claws never reached him—they were blocked by six beautiful wings that wrapped around Jin-Woo. The Dragon Emperor withdrew his halted claws and, looking at the figure who stood in his way, spoke as if groaning.
[Radiance's brightest light...]
The Dragon Emperor raised his head. Above him. Six angels with six wings each were slowly descending. The end of the fight was in sight. Recalling the exchange he had shared with Jin-Woo, the Dragon Emperor let out a wry, bitter smile.
[...So this is the end.]
Soon, the spears of the Rulers pierced the Dragon Emperor's body from every direction.