Chapter 72: 72 Fallen.

The surrounding area around Silvia buzzed with a furious blizzard. Slow in responding, the bear was blown away by the wind that swirled around its prey, creating a cage.

It let out a cautious growl, seeing the sudden change in its prey situation.

A pale blue light shone inside the cage, casting a gentle silhouette of a girl standing majestically, gripping a blue sword in hand.

The atmosphere froze momentarily before the blizzard surrounding the girl scattered away, sending shards of snow into the air, blocking the bear’s attempt.

Silvia stood in the middle of gouging snow on brown soil, her body shrouded in deep blue ancient mana.

Her silver hair fluttered gently with blue light converged around her body and limbs, formed battle armor made from thin blue ice, reflecting the figure of the stiffened bear.

Silvia opened her closed eyes, and white mist gathered around her before transforming into a coiling, tiny dragon swimming freely as it perched on her shoulder.

{Master, the water welcomes you}

“Yeah, thank you”.

Her azure eyes stare ahead at the trembling bear. Its red eyes slightly faltered because of the appearance of a great being that grasped it within her finger.

The monster growled softly, trembling even to utter a loud growl. Its huge body flinched, seeing Silvia move her sword forward and point it at the bear.

Silvia’s movement was slow, yet it carried the will of the weather. All the moisture in the atmosphere gathers at the tip of her sword, and when she conjures a spell in her mind.

*Rawr! Unable to breathe under the oppressive aura that Silvia released. The bear turned around, but its body was losing its freedom as it froze mid-step.

“Halt”. A white mist exhaled from Silvia’s mouth. She tightly gripped the hilt, and the gathered mist started to solidify and turn into a spear.

“Go”.

Her soft voice sent a terrifying chill toward the bear, who stood frozen, not knowing that a spear as big as its limb pierced its torso, creating a gaping hole, but no blood spurted.

The bear’s whole body had turned to ice sculpture, forsaking only its mind to wander without knowing what had happened before the flame in its eyes dimmed.

With a swing from her hand, the sword cut through the air, accompanied by the cracking sound from the sculpture that scattered into fine dust.

{Master, are you alright?}

Silvia’s lips parted away, looking at the water dragon that floated before her eyes. She shook her head and exhaled softly.

“I’m fine; let’s go save Jin.”

The water dragon paused for a moment before it swam back to Silvia’s shoulder.

{…Alright}

“What? Don’t worry about me”.

{But, you bring your full power this early. I’m afraid it would put a strain on your body, Master}

As the words left the water dragon’s mouth, her grip on the sword wavered, and Silvia could feel her freezing fingers number the longer she kept her transformation.

This was bound to happen because Silvia was still adapting to her new power. It involved an elemental power, which was unheard of, knowing that Silvia was the holder of physical talent in mastering swords.

However, her resilience and grit prevented the flame in her heart from dimming, and the light in her eyes shone brighter. She glanced at the source of the Green and Blue aura clashed and tightly gripped her sword.

“Let’s go; help me for a bit more.”

{Your wish is my command}

Once their goal overlapped, Silvia kicked the ground and shot forward, pushing away the blizzard surrounding her. ’Jin, please stay alive’.

***

A loud explosion rang across the battlefield when two forces met. The green wind howling the whisper of death flies freely in the atmosphere, relentlessly attacking his enemy.

The towering blue aura stood undeterred, brandishing its sharp claws, and swung its limbs, sending snow waves and sharp slicing power that tore the air.

Jin kicked the air, dodging the attack, clicked his tongue and put everything in his right leg, shooting forward like a gale.

’Kuh!’. His face knitted in a deep frown, seeing the scattering red fluid burst from his veins.

After battling for a minute that felt like a year, he was immune to his pain. His once pale face was bathed in crimson like his own body.

The skin in his hand tore, spurting blood, but Jin tightened the grip on his katana and thrust toward the dragon’s wing, ripping it.

“*Roaaar! Mortal, you dare!”.

A shimmering light emerged above the dragon’s head. Jin counted there were more than thousands as it shot toward him like falling stars.

Jin landed on the ground, but one of his legs softened. He looked up, raised his hand forward, and forced open his connection with the primal mana in the atmosphere.

“Sanctuary!”.

A thin layer of swirling wind wrapped around his surrounding area, but the relentless attack that rained upon him cracked the barrier before it shattered into pieces.

“Aakh!”.

A continuous explosion echoed as white mist covered the entire area, blocking the dragon’s sight of its prey condition.

The dragon’s eyes knitted; they swept around the area, not wanting to lower its guard even for a second. At first, the dragon planned to deal with the human half-heartedly, torturing him to reveal where its child was.

However, the battle escalated as time passed, and the dragon’s face tightened. Something deep inside it stirred something that was once lost after spending its life leisurely under the blanket of snow and away from the watch of the sky.

Upon seeing a movement from the clouds, the dragon’s body flinched, and it parted away, revealing a huge slash made from compressed wind.

“Little trick, disappear!”.

With a swat from its claws, the wind blade shattered, and the white cloud dispersed under the shockwaves it created, but there was no sign of the mortal below it.

“Stop hiding and come out, you coward!?”.

“Heh, that’s funny”.

The dragon stiffened and twisted its neck upward to the source. It saw the mortal, with his right hand retracted back, and its blade glowed in green.

As the one who stood at the pinnacle, the dragon was sensitive to mana. Its sharpened eyes widened after it felt dangerous mana condensing into that silver metal; the mana density and its firepower could leave a wound on its protective scales.

[Black Heaven Style Swordsmanship – Wind Roar]

The dragon flapped its wings, but the death whisper of the wind descended in a swirling vortex and shredded one of its wings.

*Rooaaaarrrr!

Jin, flung back by the recoil, saw the dragon thrash away on the ground, screaming like a child who received its first deep wound.

’Is it time?’. Jin’s face hardened as he looked down. His skin was torn, and muscles snapped, yet he was away from the agony.

Jin exhaled and stayed in mid-air, his cold eyes indifferently watching the dragon, who kept wriggling around and creating a mess in its surrounding area.

He was torn between delivering a last blow and killing the beast for good or fleeing and following Silvia’s steps, which were probably still not far away from the place he was in.

His mind was tilted toward the latter option, but Jin’s expression tightened when he saw the dragon’s wing slowly repairing its tissue.

’Huff, let’s finish this once and for all’. Jin inhaled deeply, holding his breath in this last attack.

After pondering it for seconds, he decided to finish the dragon for good before chasing Silvia’s back, even though he was in a dire situation. He knew well his condition, which entered a critical state.

For the last time, Jin grabs the flowing mana in the atmosphere, entering his body like cold poison, eroding his vision.

[Elemental Enhancement]

Jin concentrated everything in his physical body, and with a jolt, his body shot downward like a meteorite.

A green line, descending as the boy in its center clenched the Katana hilt with the veins from all over his body, exploded.

His vision turned red, and the light in his emerald eyes dimmed. The life that he desperately clung to escaped his grasp, and Jin raised his katana upward. ’This is the end!’

[Black Heaven Style Swordsmanship – Severing the Heaven]

As the blade descended downward, Jin’s vision blackened out, and his body was hit by a massive impact from the dragon’s tail, followed by a cracking sound of shattered bones.

His body lay motionless on the ground as the dragon’s elongated mouth parted in a hideous smirk. Its humongous body stood up with a dull thud and spread its wings.

The dragon inhaled deeply, sucking the mana in the atmosphere, and in a flash, its torn wings returned to normal.

“Kuh, kuhuhahahaha, foolish mortal, you easily fall into my trap.”

When Jin shredded its wing, the dragon felt a searing pain that squeezed its mind, but the act it took after that was an act to lure Jin.

After battling the cold that eroded his senses and destroyed his body, Jin mentally took a massive tool, which dulled his judgment.

If Jin had been in his prime and had the help of his surrounding area, where the mana flowed naturally, and the wind freely traversed the atmosphere, he could have won the battle.

The dragon folded its wings and walked forward. Each step it took shook the ground, but the mortal kept its body still. The dragon stomped the ground near him, making his body bounce from the ground.

“Hmm, it’s admirable for him to be unconscious but still grip his sword tight.” Internally, the dragon’s heart flinched as it muttered, ’What a fearsome mortal’.

For the first time in its life, the dragon found an enemy who gave it a severe wound, and if the field was not to its advantage. Its body shuddered, thinking about it.

“Hmph, if it’s like this. I couldn’t force him to spill where my child was. Should I chase the other one?”.

As the dragon lowered its gaze, it failed to notice a huge shadow looming over it in the form of a massive block of ice.

“Leave him alone!”.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep