Chapter 221: The Dragon (5)

Ignasia watched, her keen senses picking up the tension in the air. Ketal was pouring every ounce of strength into breaking free from the bonds that held him.

You can’t break free,

she thought. She had transformed the very space around them into conceptual chains, binding Ketal with the idea of shackles themselves. No matter how overwhelming his strength, this was something force alone could not break.

Maybe I should just let him go now...?

she mused. She had no true reason to be Ketal’s enemy. Their fight had only ever been a playful contest, a test, not a battle to the death.

She was about to explain this to Ketal when a strange sensation rippled through her. Her expression changed. The ground beneath her feet was trembling. At first, she wondered if it was an aftershock from their earlier blows, but as she stretched her senses out, her eyes widened in realization.

“What...?” she muttered.

She saw clearly that the space around Ketal was shaking. The chains of space that bound his body were trembling, as if something titanic was straining against them.

Is he...using Myst?

she wondered, startled.

Can this barbarian really manipulate the laws of the world itself, engaging me at the level of true conceptual magic?

However, a closer look told her that wasn’t it. Ketal wasn’t drawing on Myst. He was simply exerting his strength—utterly, brutally, with the entirety of his being. That was all. Yet somehow, that was enough to make the very fabric of space quiver and creak.

How?

Panic flickered in her eyes. By all logic, brute force could never interfere with the concept of space itself. This was something that even the strongest beings in the world couldn’t do unless they wielded powers on par with gods.

Unless you can affect the foundation of the world, you can’t break this kind of chain...,

she thought.

Yet, before her eyes, the conceptual shackles binding Ketal were rattling. It was as if the universe itself recognized that Ketal was not something it could restrain. As she frantically tried to analyze what was happening, she noticed something else, a subtle tilt, a shift in gravity.

The ground is slanting?

she thought as she glanced down.

Gemstones and treasure littered the lair’s floor, and now those treasures were slowly rolling away, sliding along a barely perceptible incline. Dragons were perfectionists by nature. Their lairs were always constructed with absolute symmetry, every surface meticulously level and balanced. However, now, the ground was tilted, something that should be impossible.

Her senses expanded, sweeping beyond the lair, past the mountain, out into the vast range. She realized that the mountain itself was beginning to fracture. A massive crack was splitting the peak. The very mountain was starting to lean, as if it were nothing more than a slab of soft earth.

“Wait...just a minute,” she blurted, panic in her voice.

The barbarian’s strength was shifting the mountain. In disbelief, she stared at Ketal, who continued to strain, muscles taut, veins bulging beneath his skin. He was pouring himself into the effort without reservation.

Ketal was a barbarian from the White Snowfield. He had survived, and eventually escaped, that wretched place, entering the world outside—a world that he found soft and fragile by comparison.

He had never once gone all out since arriving here. He had always held back, carefully limiting his strength for fear of breaking something irreparably. The first time he encountered the elves, a single casual clap of his hands had sent them flying. Even the formidable High Elf Queen, Karin, couldn’t withstand the full force of his presence.

He had met many so-called legends since then: Swordmasters, liches, powerful mages. All of them had turned out to be disappointingly weak, at least compared to what he knew from the White Snowfield. So Ketal reached a simple conclusion that the outside world was fragile. He had to be careful, or he would break it.

So he’d held back—always. Even when fighting Nano, even when facing demons, he had never truly unleashed his power. Only once, against Whitie from the White Snowfield, had he come close. However, even then, he hadn’t gone all out.

This fantasy world, for all its wonders, was delicate. He wanted to cherish it, to enjoy it, without ruining it through carelessness. However, here was an opponent he didn’t have to hold back against.

Against her... I can go all out,

he thought.

A deep rumble split the earth. The fracture in the mountainside widened, sending monsters fleeing in all directions, howling in terror. Landslides began to cascade, roaring down the slopes and crashing through the forest below.

Ignisia stood in stunned silence. All this was happening because of Ketal’s strength alone. He was literally tilting the mountain, shattering the concept of space itself with nothing but brute force.

How is this possible? she thought.

The conceptual chains binding Ketal began to break, cracking open as if the very laws of reality could no longer hold him.

Boom!

The shackles of space shattered. The released force rippled outward, causing the slanted mountain to settle back, crashing into the continent’s bedrock with earth-shaking violence. The impact sent tremors radiating in every direction. The ground split and caved in, centuries-old stone crumbling like brittle glass. In the surrounding mountains, entire peaks collapsed, setting off avalanches and earthquakes.

“Damn it!” Ignisia was caught in the backlash, flung across the lair, and slammed into the far wall. She barely managed to cushion the blow, but the sheer power of it left her reeling.

Ketal stretched, shaking off the last shreds of resistance. There was genuine delight in his eyes, a deep, exuberant joy.

“That was fun,” he said, grinning as he looked at her. “With you, I don’t have to hold back.”

His hand found the axe. As he took a single step forward, the atmosphere shifted. Killing intent poured from him, thick and suffocating, so dense it nearly formed a physical presence.

All of Ignisia’s instincts screamed:

If I hesitate, I will die.

She reacted instantly, her Dragon Tongue cutting through the tension. “

Be severed. Space.

”

The space between her and Ketal fractured like glass, splitting them apart and forcibly separating the two. It was a complete, total division—each locked in their own half of reality.

However, Ketal was undeterred. He swung his axe with every bit of seriousness he possessed, putting his entire being into the attack. The split in space collided with the axe, unleashing a shockwave that tore through the area. Ignisia’s eyes widened as the conceptual division, something only the greatest of dragons could achieve, was destroyed in a single blow.

Still, Ketal paused for only a heartbeat, gathering his strength. He landed on the earth, then surged forward again, axe raised. Ignisia twisted away at the last second, barely dodging. The axe struck the ground.

Boom!

The floor of the dragon’s lair buckled and shattered. The mountain itself split further, the destruction radiating outward. Towering cliffs began to break apart, slowly sliding down in a monstrous avalanche. All of this happened in the blink of an eye—one swing, one instant.

Barely avoiding the blow, Ignisia called forth her next weapon. “

Sword, come to my hand.

”

A blade of crimson appeared in her grasp. She attacked with a swift, practiced motion, her body moving almost too quickly to follow. Ketal responded by heaving his axe upward.

Clang!

Sword met axe in a shower of sparks. Ignisia’s arms buckled under the impact, her entire body swaying. Even as she righted herself, Ketal was already there, closing the distance. Gritting her teeth, Ignisia raised her sword in defense. Ketal’s axe came down with bone-crushing force.

Boom!

Her knees gave way. The ground beneath her splintered as she sank, overwhelmed by the pressure. Her arm fractured again, and she frantically healed herself with magic.

She called forth more power with her Dragon Tongue.

Scarlet light exploded from her hand, coalescing into a searing beam—a lance of pure destruction, erasing everything in its path. Ketal answered her attack by launching himself from the ground, soaring clear of the beam’s path. The force in that magic was nothing to take lightly. If it landed, even he might not survive.

However, there was no rule that said Ketal had to face every attack head-on. There was no need to trade blows with every spell. He simply dodged, leaping behind Ignisia in a single, fluid motion. She twisted in the air, teleporting away just as his axe came down, splitting the clouds with the force of the swing.

She had vanished, but Ketal’s senses expanded, seeking her out. He found her immediately, no distance, no barrier could hide her now. He charged once more, relentless.

“

Tch!

” Ignisia clicked her tongue, having teleported into the sky. There was no respite. Ketal was already on her. ”

Weigh down

.”

Boom!

A crushing force pressed Ketal into the ground. The weight was unimaginable, trying to drive him deep into the heart of the earth. Ketal lifted his leg, foot straining with power, and stomped down with everything he had.

The earth shattered, the mountain splitting beneath him. Ketal burst free of the pressure, soaring upward. He swung his axe again, battering her defenses and sending her sliding across the sky. The aftershocks shook the mountains yet again. The mountain, once proud and tall, was now little more than a ruin, broken boulders and heaps of dirt where greatness once stood.

Even the monsters that had survived the earlier destruction were now crushed, buried alive beneath the tumbling mountain. There was no escape. The shockwaves alone annihilated even the most powerful creatures of the region.

Ignisia regained her balance, her mind racing.

Ketal’s strength isn’t just overwhelming, it’s impossible to ignore. Sometimes, his blows are enough to overpower even my best efforts to defend myself.

At some point, her playful attitude had vanished. She no longer saw this as a game. If she didn’t give it everything, she would die. Her expression hardened. She couldn’t afford to hold anything back. It was all or nothing. She drew a breath, gathering the might of her ancient lineage, and prepared to unleash her most powerful spell yet.

However, Ketal didn’t wait for her to finish. He saw her preparing, felt the power gathering in her voice, and leapt in immediately. There was no time for hesitation, no chance to give her an opening. He gripped his axe, ready to strike.

In that instant, something new intervened.

Crack!

Space itself became a prison, seizing Ketal and trapping him in an instant. He poured all his strength into breaking free, and the prison of reality itself shattered almost as soon as it formed.

He landed, muscles coiled and ready.

Was that Ignisia’s doing?

he wondered. However, Ignisia looked just as surprised as he did. “What... What’s going on?”

The sudden interference brought the ferocious duel to a halt.

A voice rang out, echoing through the broken lair.

“Even for a second, you just can’t sit still, you monster,” the Wandering Merchant said, grumbling. “What are you two doing...?”

The Wandering Merchant appeared at the edge of the ruined battlefield, their tone caught somewhere between amusement and utter disbelief.