BXBX NOVEL Chapter 221: Dragon (5)
Chapter 221: Dragon(5)
The woman noticed.
Ketal was exerting force to break free from his restraints.
‘Impossible.’
She had transformed the entire surrounding space into a concept of chains, binding Ketal.
No matter how strong he was, escaping was impossible.
‘Should I start letting him go?’
From the beginning, she had no reason to be hostile toward Ketal.
The entire fight so far had been her playful mischief.
Just as she was about to explain to Ketal, she sensed something strange.
"Hmm?"
The woman's expression changed.
She felt the ground trembling beneath her feet.
After briefly investigating the cause, she soon realized something.
"Oh?"
The woman saw it.
The space around Ketal was shaking.
The chains of space that bound his body were quivering.
‘What? Is he manipulating the mystery?’
Could this barbarian actually use the mystery?
Was he using it to interfere with the chains of space?
But after closer inspection, she realized that wasn't the case.
Ketal was still simply exerting force with his entire body.
That was all.
But just with that, the space was trembling.
‘How?’
The woman was genuinely bewildered.
Pure physical force alone could never affect the chains of space.
It was only natural.
No matter how strong one was, they couldn’t interfere with space itself.
One would need the power to interfere with space to affect the chains of space.
Otherwise, it was impossible.
But now, no matter how she looked at it, Ketal's strength was causing the chains of space to tremble.
As she anxiously observed the situation, the woman suddenly realized something.
‘...The ground is tilting?’
Jewels scattered from the aftermath of the battle were rolling down a slope.
Dragons, by nature, had perfectionist tendencies.
They built their lairs to be almost perfectly structured.
As such, the ground was also perfectly level with the earth.
But now that ground was sloped.
The woman, faced with the impossible, expanded her senses.
In an instant, her perception extended beyond the dragon's lair and spread across the entire mountain.
"What?"
And then, she realized something.
"...The mountain."
A crack had formed in the mountain, which was part of a massive mountain range.
The mountain itself was tilting.
"Wait a moment."
This barbarian was exerting so much force that he was tilting the mountain.
"This is..."
The woman stared at Ketal in astonishment.
Ketal continued to exert force with his entire body.
He was the barbarian of the White Snowfield.
Having escaped from that terrible place, he had emerged into the outside world, a fantasy world.
And in this outside world, he had never once used his full strength.
The reason was simple.
There was no opponent in the outside world worthy of his full strength.
When he first encountered elves, a single clap meant to calm them had sent them all flying.
Even the seemingly strong elf queen couldn’t withstand the wind from his strike.
Since then, Ketal had met many of the continent's strongest.
Swordmasters, liches, magicians.
All of them were exceedingly fragile.
After gaining various experiences, Ketal reached one conclusion.
Compared to the inside, the outside world was exceedingly fragile.
So, to avoid breaking it, he had to control his strength.
That was the conclusion Ketal reached.
So up until now, Ketal had never used his full strength.
Even when defeating Nano, even when facing demons, he hadn’t been serious.
He recognized demons as enemies, but that was all.
Only once, when facing Whitey from the White Snowfield, had he seriously intended to kill, but he still hadn’t used his full strength.
The fantasy world he had longed for was exceedingly fragile.
It could break if he weren’t careful, so he had to cherish and protect it.
With that thought, Ketal had been enjoying the world.
But now.
If the opponent before him was of this level.
There was no need to hold back.
Rumble, rumble, rumble!
The cracks in the mountain range widened.
Monsters screamed and fled.
Landslides began, spreading all around.
"What is this?"
The woman couldn’t finish her sentence.
Pure strength was tilting the mountain.
He was forcibly overturning the very space that had bound him.
‘Is this even possible?’
Crack, crack, crack.
The chains of space binding Ketal shattered.
As if it could no longer contain the entity known as Ketal, the space itself began to crumble.
And finally.
Ka-aaang!
The chains of space broke.
The backlash sent power surging forth.
The tilted mountain swayed and landed on the continent.
Boom!
Earth and debris shook in all directions.
An earthquake occurred.
The ground cracked and collapsed.
A massive fissure formed in the mountain range that had stood for millions of years.
"Ugh!"
The backlash hit the woman.
Distracted by her attempts to defend, she took the brunt of it unprotected.
Her body slid and crashed into a wall.
“Interesting.”
Ketal shook his shoulders as if feeling refreshed.
With a truly delighted laugh, he looked at the woman.
“With you, I can fight seriously.”
Ketal picked up his axe.
At that moment, the woman felt a murderous intent.
The fight up until now had all been a game, but now there was a horrifying, dense killing intent.
Ketal kicked the ground.
In an instant, he was right in front of the woman.
Her instincts warned her.
She would die. She quickly shouted.
[[ᛗᚢᚱ ᛁᛃᛚᛁᚴᛋ]]
Sever. Space.
Ka-ang!
Like a long crack spreading through glass, the space between Ketal and the woman split apart.
The space completely severed, creating a barrier between them.
But Ketal did not stop.
He merely gripped his axe and swung it with all his might.
Choooong!
The severed space collided with the axe.
A shockwave erupted as if an explosion had occurred.
The woman’s eyes widened.
The severed space had shattered in a single blow.
Taat.
But Ketal also had to regroup his strength.
After landing on the ground, he gathered his strength and kicked off again, violently swinging his axe downward.
The woman barely twisted her body in time to evade.
The axe struck the ground.
Boom!
And the ground trembled.
The dragon’s lair, the mountain, split apart.
A massive fissure spread across the earth.
The towering mountain began to crumble slowly.
All of this happened in a single strike.
The woman, who barely avoided the blow, quickly uttered a command.
[[ᛁᛞᚾᛖᚼ ᚨᚾᛁᛗ ᛁ ᚦᚱᛖᚢᛋ]]
O sword, to my hand.
Kiiiing!
A crimson sword materialized in the woman's hand.
She quickly grasped it and slashed.
Ketal raised his axe and swung upward.
Ka-aaang!
The sword clashed with the axe.
The woman’s body staggered, unable to withstand the force.
She quickly regained her stance, but by then, Ketal was already in front of her.
The woman gritted her teeth and raised her sword.
She defended against the descending axe.
Boom!
The woman’s knees buckled.
Her body was driven deep into the earth.
The ground beneath her crumbled, unable to withstand the force.
The woman’s arm broke.
She quickly healed it with magic and muttered.
[[ᚢᚴᚾᛁᛏᛋ ᛋᚬᛃᛚ]]
O light, become a beam.
Kiiiing!
A crimson light became a beam and surged forward.
A force that filled the entire space, a power of destruction that erased all things.
It exploded towards Ketal.
Ketal's response was incredibly simple.
He planted his feet and launched himself into the air.
In an instant, his body moved out of the beam's range.
The power contained within the beam was something even he couldn't ignore.
If it hit him directly, it would be dangerous.
Therefore, there was no need to face it head-on.
It wasn't an unavoidable attack, so simply dodging it was enough.
The crimson beam pierced the sky, uselessly.
Ketal moved behind the woman by launching himself through the air.
He gripped his axe tightly and swung it.
Just as he was about to cleave the woman in two, her body vanished.
The wind from the axe cleaved through the clouds.
The woman had suddenly disappeared.
However, Ketal was not at all surprised and expanded his senses.
He quickly pinpointed the woman's location as she leaped through space and charged at her once more.
"Tsk!"
The woman clicked her tongue loudly as she saw Ketal flying toward her from her new position in the sky.
There was no time to rest.
[[ᚢᛏᛋᚢᚱᚦ]]
Crush.
Boom!
A force, pure and overwhelming, pressed down on Ketal’s body.
Ketal’s body was driven into the ground.
A tremendous pressure tried to force his body deep into the earth.
Ketal slowly raised his foot.
He exerted tremendous force and stomped the ground.
Crash!
The ground shattered into pieces.
Ketal’s body broke through the pressure and soared into the air.
He swung his axe once more.
The woman defended with her sword, but her body was pushed back.
The impact caused the mountain to crumble once more.
Boom!
The mountain had become something that could no longer be called a mountain.
It had turned into nothing more than a massive heap of shattered rocks and dirt, which no one would hesitate to call a mountain.
[Kaaaah!]
[Guahhh!]
The monsters that had barely survived were buried under the massive weight that had once been a mountain.
They tried desperately to flee, but they couldn’t escape as the entire mountain sank.
The sheer force wiped out the mighty monsters.
The woman quickly steadied herself and her mind raced.
He was strong.
A strength that even she could not dismiss.
No, it was beyond that.
The power she wielded was being neutralized by this barbarian’s axe swings.
At times, it even reached the point where she was being overwhelmed.
The thought that this was just a game had disappeared at some point.
If she didn’t respond properly, she would die.
That thought alone dominated her mind.
The woman’s expression grew serious.
She no longer had the luxury of holding back.
She needed to use all her strength to defeat this barbarian.
She tried to shout something.
The words she was about to utter contained more power than any she had spoken before.
Sensing this, Ketal immediately charged at her.
This woman was planning something.
The correct response was to act quickly and prevent her from executing her plan.
Ketal gripped his axe even tighter.
Just as they were both about to unleash their full strength,
suddenly, there was an intervention.
Crack, crack, crack!
The space itself became a prison, trapping Ketal.
Ketal exerted his full strength.
The space, transformed into a prison, began to crack and shatter instantly.
Crash!
Ketal landed on the ground.
‘Was that Ignisia?’
But Ignisia looked just as surprised.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
The sudden intervention caused a temporary ceasefire.
And then, a voice echoed.
[Even for a moment, you hesitated… What a monster…]
The one who had intervened revealed themselves.
[What are you two doing…?]
The wandering merchant appeared, speaking in a tone of disbelief.