Chapter 242 - Chapter 242 (1/2)

As it was being shoved away by the enormous impact force coming from the side, the Dragon Emperor saw it.

It clearly saw a gigantic shadow tall enough to touch the skies standing there proudly. And perhaps trying to reject an existence that shouldn't even exist in the first place, thousands, no, tens of thousands of black lightning bolts could also be seen violently roiling and crackling beyond the shoulders of this black shadow.

'….Spiritual Body Manifestation?'

No, that couldn't be right.

The Shadow Sovereign used to be one of the Fragments of Brilliant Light. He didn't have any other 'hidden' form to activate, and how he appeared was how he looked.

However, how could the current Shadow Sovereign assume such a massive form right this moment?

Kwa-gah-gahk!!

The Dragon Emperor pushed down hard with its legs, causing a thin layer from the ground to peel off like the skin of an apple, as its gigantic body came to a stop.

'Could it be....?'

When a certain theory brushed through its head, the eyes of the Dragon quaked in sheer surprise.

'The b*stard…. Could he be summoning the power of death to the surface world?'

But, how could that be?

How could a man who used to be a normal human not too long ago control the power of death to such an astonishing degree?

[So, that's how it was.]

Another sigh of admiration left the mouth of the Dragon Emperor.

[You have spent a lot of time on the border between life and death, haven't you?]

There was a reason why the previous Shadow Sovereign, Osborne, chose to hand all of his power over to a measly little human being. This particular human had been continuously fighting a bitter battle against himself right up until he inherited this power.

All for the sake of his life.

The Dragon Emperor had been looking down on the current Shadow Sovereign just a tad in comparison to his predecessor but now, he felt renewed respect for its human opponent.

[….]

And then, it reflected on itself for even thinking of manipulating the weakness of humans to pit him against the Rulers earlier.

'Without a doubt…. This human must die. As expected, he's far too dangerous.'

While the Dragon silently glared at its opponent, the giant Shadow Sovereign was also doing the same thing in silence.

Having become this gigantic Shadow Sovereign, Jin-Woo shifted his surprised gaze lower to his hands that had also grown into a size easily exceeding his own imagination.

'This…. Is this really me?'

He tried to move his fingers. The ginormous body that had become the darkness itself began moving according to his will. It wasn't just his body that had grown huge, though.

From deep within his gigantic frame, the kind of dizzying power that defied all attempts to estimate how big it was gushed out infinitely. He had truly become a mountain in order to bring down another mountain.

Jin-Woo raised his head back up again. And there it was – the personification of Destruction rushing towards him.

BOOM-!!

Violent flames and black lightning bolts scattered in all directions.

Jin-Woo propped his body with his legs extended to his rear and stopped the charge of the Dragon Emperor.

Their physical strength was about evenly matched!

An even contest of strength briefly played out before the Dragon suddenly bit Jin-Woo on his shoulder. Crimson-red flames danced around the bitten part. Jin-Woo didn't panic, though, and proceeded to grab and yank at the Dragon's horn to pull the creature's head away.

And then, one more punch to its face-!

Ka-boom!!

This time, though, the Dragon Emperor wasn't pushed back.

Kuwaaah-!!

Almost as soon as it was shoved back, the Dragon pounced towards him again, before opening its huge maw wide to take a big bite of Jin-Woo's side.

"Keuh-eeeeuhk!"

For the first time since he began fighting against the Dragon Emperor, Jin-Woo couldn't hold back and spat out a pained cry.

Boom! Boom!! Boom!!!

He used his elbow to smack down on the Dragon's head several times, but the creature still lifted him up in the air and began shaking him around without mercy.

An incredible pain akin to his waist being snapped in half rushed up from below.

"Kuwaahk!! Keuh-eeeeuhk!!"

Deciding that enough damage had been inflicted on its enemy, the Dragon Emperor threw Jin-Woo to the ground.

THUD!!

That was followed by another round of Breath of Destruction pouncing on him. When the conflagration-like Breath swept by, one of Jin-Woo's arms had vanished.

However, he didn't scream in pain. He just gritted his teeth. He instantly closed the distance and shoved his remaining hand deep into the Dragon Emperor's jaw.

Rip, riiiip!!

Along with the thick leather being torn apart, the Dragon Emperor's huge tongue was ripped out of his throat.

[Kuwaaaaahk!!]

Rather than blood, crimson lava exploded out from the torn wound of the creature's tongue.

The Dragon writhed in pure agony. Jin-Woo took this opportunity to punch the head of the creature. The lengthy maw was spun to the side as lava spilt in all directions.

The Dragon Emperor glared at Jin-Woo with its vertical-slit eyes and rammed into him with its horns.

The battle's flow see-sawed between the two over and over again.

BOOM-!!

Whenever the two collided, the ground quaked and the heavens screamed. Every plot of land being showered by the falling flames was scorched black; every square inch being struck by the black lightning bolts was ripped apart without mercy.

A desperate battle ensued.

From the sideline, Fangs witnessed the battle between two Sovereigns with dazed eyes.

At this grandiose yet frightening spectacle unfolding right before his eyes, the High Orc Shaman was left completely flabbergasted, unable to turn his head away nor close shut his slack jaw.

What if...

….The Absolute Being created these beings in order to witness a fight of this magnitude? If that was the case, the High Orc Shadow Soldier thought that he might sort of understand the reasoning behind that decision.

Indeed, the battle between these two was no doubt a world-ending calamity but, at the same time, it was a spectacular once-in-a-lifetime event as well.

Tears slowly fell from the eyes of Fangs as he continued to take in the sight of two god-like beings colliding with everything they had.

The power of Destruction and the power of Death smashed into each other, writhed around, and shook the world to its very core.

Jin-Woo clenched his fist even harder.

Boom-!!

It was working.

It's working, it's working, it's definitely working!!

Each of his punches, issuing shock waves that tore apart the air every time he threw one, landed on their targets with scary accuracy.

Boom!! Bang!! Thud!! Kwahng!!

The Dragon Emperor struck out with its sharp claws, brushing past him and hitting the empty air.

WHOOOOSH-!!

Jin-Woo took a step back to evade the attack before pushing forward on his tiptoes to slam his shoulder against the Dragon and shoved it to the ground.

KA-BOOOOM!!!!

He then quickly mounted the toppled Dragon Emperor. What followed next was the continuous stream of vicious punches.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!

Brutal attacks rained down from above, without a single break in-between.

BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!!

Lightning bolts, sparks of flames, and the screams of air being torn endlessly reverberated throughout the land.

Unfortunately, it was clear to see that just one hand was not enough to land that one fatal blow.

He concentrated all of his Mana to the remaining hand, but as if he was stuck inside a dream, his strength continued to seep out of him the longer he continued on.

'What's going on?'

Jin-Woo's expression hardened gradually.

Not too long afterwards, the Dragon Emperor also noticed the change taking place in Jin-Woo. Its clawed hand shot up to grab his fist.

Grab!

It happened too suddenly. Jin-Woo got flustered as he couldn't pull his fist back. Meanwhile, the Dragon Emperor addressed him.

[This is the difference between our experience level!]

Jin-Woo's eyes widened considerably.

"Uwaaaahk!!"

The Dragon pierced into Jin-Woo's side with the claws on its remaining free hand and spat out its mocking words filled with laughter.

[Didn't you know that maintaining a large body wastes an unimaginable amount of stamina?]

After completely immobilising Jin-Woo, another round of horrifying energy began gathering and swirling inside the Dragon's maw. The Breath of Destruction was being readied to put an end to this battle.

'This is the end....!'

The Dragon Emperor was sure of its victory now.

However….

Just before the Breath was ready to fire, a new arm suddenly sprouted out from Jin-Woo's shoulder missing a limb.

'He still had that much energy left?!'

The Dragon was stunned but knew that it was still impossible for a different victor to emerge from this situation.

Soon, a blinding light formed inside the maw of the Dragon Emperor. It was then – Jin-Woo shoved his newly-generated arm inside that maw.

"Uwaaaaah-!!"

And then, he scrounged up every ounce of energy and concentrated it to his hand.

Wuuong-!!

Accompanying an incredible impact force, powerful blinding light blanketed the surroundings.

Eventually, the light receded and silence descended on the land.

*

Jin-Woo reverted back to his human form from the giant shadow. He lay sprawled on the ground and panted heavily.

"Pant, pant, pant...."

His entire body was burning up as if flames had scorched him. He was covered in wounds from head to toe. His current status was an utter mess.

He did his absolute best to control his heavy breathing while sucking in a lot of air. A short while later, he forced his fatigued body to slowly stand back up.

Just beyond the veil of thick fog kicked up from the explosion, someone was making its approach towards him. Jin-Woo could only marvel wryly as the Dragon Emperor, in its human form, revealed itself.

'What a monster....'

The Dragon b*stard was not okay either, but compared to Jin-Woo's own condition, it was noticeably better off.

[You are a very tenacious b*stard, aren't you?]

'That's my line.'