Chapter 162
True Form
The exact moment I
thought Jahangir had shrunk his body, heaven and earth inverted, and my
line of sight turned toward the sky. It was thanks to the delayed heat that I
realized this was because only my upper body had been blown away.
「………Guuuuuuuh!?」
My flesh was past the
point of pain, now only feeling heat. The right half of my body had been torn
off, and an unbelievable amount of blood was flowing from my entire body. A
fatal wound, this is bad, at this rate……!
「Jaunt! All Heal」
Without the leeway to
specify exact coordinates, I instantly used a short warp to gain some distance
and then cast All Heal.
The reason I was able to
cast recovery magic reflexively while taking unprecedented damage was thanks to
my past efforts in training to be able to use recovery magic even while
experiencing pain.
（What was just done to me?
I didn't see the moment of the attack, but…… even so, this is……）
「Kohaaaaa…… You are the
third person to see this form, Masaru. You may be proud」
Before my eyes was the
figure of a dragon with a colossal frame that made me look up.
A physique densely lined
with lustrous red scales reminiscent of rubies, and sharply pointed, jagged
teeth. The pupils of its amber eyes were narrow, evoking a cat, and the very
breath it exhaled manifested into the world as flames.
Each and every talon on
its three-toed claws was pointed like a sharp blade, the thin wing membranes of
its flapping wings were tinged with iridescent colors, and the wings large
enough to support its massive body had a mysterious coloration blending red and
black. Naturally, the pressure emitted from its entire body had grown even
stronger than before.
（So this is Jahangir's
Dragonification skill……）
Unlike other demons,
there wasn't even a transformation motion leading up to the skill's activation.
Before I noticed, it was over in a flash, and in the next moment, I had already
been struck.
FWOOSH!
Along with a sizzling
heat that burned my cheeks, an armor of flames deployed around Jahangir.
This guy…… he can still use that normally even in his dragonified state?
「Hahha!」
Clad entirely in an
armor of flames, Jahangir flapped his wings and ascended into the sky.
「The breath of the Flame
Dragon King――Try and withstand it!」
When he took a deep
breath, his throat and mouth swelled, and in the next instant, my sixth sense
rang alarm bells telling me to run away immediately.
What was about to be
unleashed was undoubtedly a dragon-exclusive magic considered to be the
strongest strike a dragon possesses――a Breath Attack. I absolutely
cannot afford to take this, no matter what.
「――! Jaunt!」
I immediately activated
teleportation, circling to Jahangir's back. With a massive body of this
size, physical attacks are impossible, but because the target is bigger, it
should be easier to land attacks!
「Double Gungnir!」
「Naive」
Jahangir's figure vanished. I was barely able to follow
that movement with my eyes. I created a foothold and backed away to somehow
avoid the attack, but Jahangir closed in on me with a speed surpassing
that. A claw strike unleashed with a swing of his arm. I caught it with the Holy
Corpse Sword, but the impact coming from the side pierced through it and
assaulted me.
「Gahah……!」
Fresh blood spurted from
my body, which had been slashed into the shape of Jahangir's giant
talons, and I was blown backward while spinning in a tailspin.
（Damn it, this guy…… is
faster than me!）
That strike from Jahangir
just now. This time I knew it was coming and evaded, but it was still faster
for him to correct his movement. In other words, his Agility status was
higher.
Against an opponent who
moves faster than you, you are forced into a one-sided disadvantage. I truly
hadn't imagined that the violence of Agility I had been utilizing until
now would actually be turned against me.
（Uwah, that is, really
bad……）
Amidst my rapidly
spinning field of vision, the place where I had been until a moment ago had
expanded into a sight I could only describe as a hell on earth. Everything
burned equally, an overwhelming high temperature that wouldn't even leave
cinders behind. If I had taken that, there's no doubt I wouldn't have gotten
off scot-free.
「All, Heal……」
While falling toward the
ground, I stared intently at Jahangir, who was looking down at me.
Despite being in a position to mount a pursuit, Jahangir simply stared
back at me with a gaze that seemed to be testing me.
The intense, sharp pain
was soothed by recovery magic. My wounds vanished, but the battle situation
remained completely unchanged.
Even if I wanted to
engage in a magic battle, at this speed, it's difficult to land magic and peel
off that armor of flames. And fighting physically is also impossible because
the opponent's Agility is higher.
As I fell, the
simulation running through my head at record speed arrived at a single answer.
（With the way I am now, I
can't beat this guy……）
「It has been a while since
I've had a battle that made my blood boil and my flesh dance…… Farewell!」
Jahangir took another deep breath, entering the stance
to unleash a breath attack. Looking up at that, I…… let out a dry, hollow
laugh.
Whether it was the
trampling in the Kingdom or the fights against demons, I had only been
overwhelmingly dominating my surroundings lately, so I had forgotten. Even
though I've gotten stronger, the world is vast.
There are still plenty
of guys stronger than me in this world. Not even a year has passed since I came
to this world.
（With the way I am now, I
can't beat you yet. Therefore…… just you wait, Jahangir）
The breath was
activated, and the purgatorial breath that would incinerate everything in its
attack trajectory closed in on me.
（You are absolutely……
someone I will defeat）
Watching the breath
close in on my eyes, I…… grabbed a doorknob and tumbled into my home. It was a
defeat, one that I was experiencing for the first time in a long while――.
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