Side Story Chapter 175

Revenge, grudges, enemies, anger... Crevasse believed that those words were just for humans and he still thought the same, so his challenge wasn’t made for such lowly reasons. It didn’t matter what the human in front of him thought about this challenge.

‘The only reason why I’m doing this is that my pride hurts a lot.’

Dragons could not avoid their extinction. Crevasse was the only surviving dragon. A human, the race which Crevasse had treated like vermin, had single-handedly ended them. Had that human been Joshua Sanders... Yes, Crevasse would have accepted his race’s downfall even if it would have irked him a little; considering his experience with Joshua Sanders, he knew the human was capable enough. But the name of the human that had exterminated the dragons was Bel, a human whom Crevasse had never heard of.

‘Almost a hundred of my kind were killed by a human who won’t even live for more than a hundred years.’

Did Crevasse resent the human? Absolutely not. Dragons had zero sense of kinship, and Crevasse was the most eccentric dragon of them all. It just hurt Crevasse’s pride because he felt like he was cowering in the Palace’s underground in fear of a puny human. The possibility that other, even more pathetic humans might think the same was unbearable to Crevasse.

Right before her death, the dragon lord used all of her remaining power to deliver a message: Crevasse was the only proof that the race of dragons had ever existed, so he should never battle the man named Bel.

‘Stupid woman. Who’s worrying about who...?’

Crevasse smiled bitterly as he recalled the last moments of the dragon lord. However, the smile slipped away quickly.

-Regardless of how this fight ends, I’m going to go out into the world.

“...That’s rather sudden,” Joshua said.

-It’s time. Black dragons are the only dragons who use demonic power, not mana. That is also the reason why we’re called evil dragons.

“I’m aware.”

-That means that we and demons pursue a similar kind of power in some ways.

Joshua’s eyes widened. “Wait... Did you use the Demon Spirit’s legacy for yourself?”

-Get the answer to the question after you bring me to my knees. Keep in mind that one thing is clear.

“What is it?”

-The moment I get out of this underground vault, I’m going to eat up not only your power of Greed but also the other Evil Sins that I can detect aboveground.

Crevasse’s goal was clear.

“...You’re going to destroy the Human Realm,” Joshua somberly stated.

-Not a single human shall be spared. Yours is a filthy and detrimental race that only causes harm to others.

“I’m also a human.”

-You have the shell of a human, to be precise. Don’t worry. I’ll spare you and your family for old time’s sake.

A wave of Crevasse’s demonic power silenced any retort from Joshua.

“We’ll have to live like livestock for the rest of our lives in return?” Joshua guessed.

-You can defeat me here and now if you don’t want that. Are you ready?

Joshua straightened his back. “I understand that this is a fight that I must win.”

-I like that you catch on quickly.

Joshua Sanders was the zenith of the Human Realm. In fact, Crevasse didn’t think that Joshua could possibly be any weaker than Bel, so Crevasse intended to use him to prove that dragons were still the greatest creatures in the Human Realm by defeating him.

Crevasse lightly breathed in, turning the entire chamber into a vacuum. He was preparing to use dragon breath, one of the dragons’ strongest weapons.

‘Th-This is crazy! He’s using dragon breath right at the start?’

Lilith gasped.

-It’s a very abrupt start to the fight that will decide the fate of humanity.

‘Can you really afford to joke right now? You’re going up against a dragon!’

-A man named Bel beat up one hundred of those dragons with his bare fists.

Lilith couldn’t reply.

Crevasse exhaled a black fog that blanketed the area in moments. Everything—living and otherwise—melted away into nothingness. The black dragons’ acidic breath was so poisonous that most knights’ lungs would melt just by breathing it in.

‘Run!’

Lilith yelled.

-I’m not going to.

With that, Joshua gave his spear a mighty swing. By using the Second Form of the Magic Spear Art, which created gales with every swing, Joshua’s red spear became a windmill. Crevasse’s dragon breath tried and failed to break through the gale Joshua with Longin, although it sounded like a veritable hail of artillery.

‘Thunderstorms!’

Lilith exclaimed. She recognized the technique. It was a Level 2 Magic Spear Art technique, which originally didn’t work on dragons at all, but Joshua had used it without hesitation. Forms and levels were meaningless to him now, so he simply used the techniques that would be most effective in each situation.

-I’ll show you another way of using Thunderstorm, so watch and learn.

‘A-Are you going to give me a lesson in a time like this?’

Lilith stammered in disbelief.

-There’s no better training than actual combat.

Joshua extended his spear and the black fog followed along as if the dragon breath was a toy. Joshua turned in a full circle.

‘Hermes!’

Lilith gasped, awestruck by the extraordinary feat Joshua was performing.

The black cloud continued to follow Joshua, amassed at the end of his long spear as if it were covered in glue.

-It’s only right to return a gift.

Joshua hurled the black cloud, forcing Crevasse to hastily lean back or else fall victim to his own breath.

The dragon breath hit the ceiling with an ear splitting

boom

, sending massive cracks running through it.

Crevasse’s brows furrowed.

-I knew it. It’s not nearly enough.

“I was lucky,” Joshua lightly replied.

-You just look full of yourself when you’re too humble.

“Do I look full of myself?”

Crevasse grinned, baring his fangs.

-You can save the smugness. My dragon breath wasn’t the real attack in the first place.

Joshua felt the mana flows shift dramatically and raised an eyebrow. “When did it...?”

The terrain had changed into a wet swamp. Just like Crevasse said, the dragon breath was just a diversion so he could change the terrain.

𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

-Ragnheur, the god of thunder.

Joshua felt a rising sense of urgency since the only kind of magic that a supreme dragon would need to incant was Ninth Circle magic.

“Water and lightning... You stuck to the basics, huh?” Joshua murmured.

-I’ve repeated it a thousand times. Human mages don’t seem to understand that mastering the basics is the most important aspect of practicing magic. They only chant about the mighty upper Circle magic. You have nowhere to run, so surrender. You’re the one person I don’t wish to harm.

Crevasse was relaxed and obviously feeling certain of his victory.

“Do you think you’ve won?” Joshua asked.

-Don’t try to escape from reality.

There was a reason why Crevasse was so sure of his success. The deciding factor in a fight between strong individuals like them was who gained control of the battlefield first. Escaping the battlefield using teleportation spells like Blink was insane because Crevasse was a dragon. The moment that his opponent teleported, Crevasse could twist the coordinates and the opponent would explode.

Of course, Joshua wasn’t a mage. Could he avoid the crisis with his superhuman speed, then? Crevasse could fill the air with lightning bolts of apocalyptic power with a flick of a finger. Lightning versus a human. Which one would be faster?

“Are all dragons like you, Sir Crevasse?” Joshua suddenly threw out.

-What? What are you talking about now?

“No reason. I never thought about it, but I’m starting to sense why the other hundred dragons were defeated by Bel.”

-Are... you mocking me?

Crevasse’s brows furrowed.

“I’m laying out reality, not mocking you. Your entire race can’t progress any further because you fail to accept the truth.”

-You’re begging me to kill you, aren’t you?

The lightning currents around Crevasse intensified as if they were going to explode at any moment.

“Dragons are too prideful, including you. They loathe learning from someone else and they never want to make any effort. Despite the fact that they live for eternity, they sleep most of their lives away or they polymorph into other creatures and play around.

-You talk as if you humans are different.

Crevasse sneered. Humans constantly went to war against each other and were overwhelmed by their sexual desires. Most of them died before they even lived out their life span, which was already less than one hundred years.

-There are no other races as pathetic as humans.

“Those pathetic humans have exterminated the great dragons. Not all humans are as pathetic as you think, Sir Crevasse. Each human has a unique personality and different thoughts. That is the biggest difference between humans and other races, unlike the prideful dragons.”

-You...!

“Analyzing the cause of our defeat is humanity’s specialty. We admit and accept our defeats, allowing us to find new opportunities and improve themselves. As a dragon, do you understand what that means?” Joshua slowly raised his spear. “Unless you admit it and accept your race’s defeat, you’ll never emerge victorious over Bel.”

-How dare you!

The numerous, powerful lightning currents exploded in every direction, but most of them were directed at Joshua.

-Ah...!

Crevasse gasped, realizing he’d lost control of his emotions for a moment. The spells that he had used were Ninth Circle, so not even Joshua Sanders would be unscathed after being struck by them.

-I can’t believe that I made such a mistake...

“Unfortunately, I’m fine.”

Crevasse was astounded to hear Joshua’s voice. He whipped around and saw a familiar woman slowly emerging from the floor.

-Sh-Shadow?

Joshua rose from the shadow and then leveled his spear at Crevasse.

“This is what I was talking about.”