Chapter 166: Impossible Odds (VI)

The dragon stood straight and breathed heavily through gritted teeth. It was evident that he was feeling immense pain all over his body.

The orb on his head was pulsing with greater efficiency than it ever had… for the first time since awakening, the ancient creature found itself wounded so severely against a single opponent.

His body was riddled with uncountable holes… if not for him turning into his original form there was a chance that the orb would have been removed.

That would have been truly unfortunate.

Suddenly his eyes widened and his hair stood on end. He turned around to face the ruins of the building which were now half gone as they were turned into that sphere.

The darkness inside the ruin seemed to move and then it surged out from all directions.

Blood erupted from the collapsed buildings all around the dragon like a crimson geyser or a tsunami of liquid death. All the blood from the corpses littering the Secondary Ring, every drop spilled during the carnage, responded to the demon’s will and flowed together into a singular mass.

From one of the broken buildings… Arthur’s body manifested. Both his hands were raised, directing the blood with minute gestures. The strain clearly showed on Arthur’s stolen face. His veins bulged, eyes bloodshot and red blood leaked from nose and ears.

The blood from his body too mixed with the rivers of crimson liquid moving and reflecting the crimson moonlight.

“This body has so much potential…” Arthur’s mouth opened and closed. “Its a shame that with this… I will no longer be able to use it.”

The dragon was slowly healing… but his expression darkened as it looked at the blood from the corpses get sucked out… leaving behind skin plastered on bones.

**

Ishiki had sneaked away from his hiding place back when Filch shot him up in the air. Now both of them had gone beyond this street… Ishiki could no longer see what was going on in the battle.

But from the grating sounds and the falling of rocks and all… Ishiki was sure that Filch was holding his own against the dragon.

He gritted his teeth and strode towards the ruin where Yuki was… she was trying to remove some rubble.

Kaori was buried chest-deep in rubble… stone and timber debris were pinning her legs, one of her arms was twisted. She was conscious but her face was pale with pain and blood loss.

Yuki knelt beside her, pink hair falling across her face as she tried to shift the debris with her bare hands. Her pink eyes were wide with desperation as she scrabbled at stone that was too heavy to move alone.

“Come on, come on,” Yuki muttered. “Just move.”

Ishiki deactivated Ghost Blade and stumbled toward them. “Yuki!”

She jerked upright, one hand instinctively forming ice shards before she recognized him. The shards dissolved immediately. “Ishiki! You… where were you?”

“For now.” He dropped to his knees beside them, assessing the situation. The rubble pinning Kaori was too heavy for one person, but two might manage it. “On three, we lift together. Ready?”

Yuki nodded, positioning her hands.

“One… two… three!”

They heaved and then pushed… the rock groaned, then lifted just enough for Kaori to drag herself free. She collapsed onto clear ground, gasping and clutching her broken arm.

They let the rock fall with a thud and then let out a breath of relief.

“Whe-re the fuck were you?” Kaori glared at Ishiki and asked through gritted teeth. “I didn’t even see you fighting. Why do you look so pathetic?”

Ishiki glanced at her and shrugged. “I would be lying dead somewhere if I fought that thing.”

Then he looked at Yuki who was staring at the sky with a strange expression. Ishiki slowly moved his head up and his pupils constricted. Not too far away from them… the sky was blanketed by a lot of blood which moved around trying to form a definite shape.

’That is Arthur’s skill… that means the demon is back at fighting the dragon. What about Filch… what is he doing?

’

Ishiki suddenly had a bad feeling about this. He gritted his teeth and grabbed Yuki’s hand.

He looked at her and opened his mouth. “Can you—” He hesitated, unsure how to phrase it. “I mean… can you please heal Kaori.”

Yuki was momentarily taken aback and kaori was the first to respond to him. “What!? Princess can heal?”

She looked between Ishiki and Yuki… and then closed her eyes. “Seriously? Why are you the only one who knows about that?”

The pink haired girl let out a sigh and then looked at her fallen comrade. “That goes without saying… I was going to heal her.”

Ishiki was relived as he heard that. One thing could be confirmed from this… and that is the fact that Yuki could indeed heal others.

“Cough… cough…” Yuki cleared her throat bringing Ishiki back from his thoughts.

Ishiki blinked a couple of time and then looked at his hands.

He was holding Yuki’s hands!

He jerked his hands back and looked the other side… trying to hide the red glow of his cheeks.

Yuki stood up and crouched down besides Kaori. Then she raised her hand and put them on Kaori’s broken arm.

Mist swirled around her hands and a thin layer of frost began to form on the wounded part. The didn’t glow or magically go back to as it was. Instead the frost slowly seemed into her skin and tissues.

Kaori hissed through her teeth. “That’s… cold. Really cold. But…” Her eyes widened. “The pain. It’s fading and I can feel my arm again.”

Ishiki stared at the process that he was witnessing for the first time. ’Why does Yuki hides it? It is clear that this is related to her skill and not an effect from a vestige.’

As he looked at it… he suddenly remembered the feel of her hands. They were cold… not ice cold or frozen, but it was like holding a stone that had been sitting a frozen river.

This kind of coldness should not exist in human flesh. Human bodies are supposed to be warm!

Following this train of thought… Ishiki had two hypothesis. First that the use of her skill to heal other costs her something. After all nothing in this world is ever for free.

And the second was that it is because of her corruption, and he was more bent towards the latter.

Above them, the demon’s technique had reached critical mass.

A serpentine figure. Fifty meters long, thick as a house and a face that could even bite down a two story building was constructed entirely from crystallized blood that gleamed like rubies in the moonlight.

It rose above the ruins with fluid grace, its faceted eyes gleaming with reflected crimson light, jaws opening to reveal fangs the size of swords.

At its base, barely visible through the churning blood, stood the demon wearing Arthur’s body.

Under his command the serpentine figure raged down on the dragon and struck it.

It moved with terrifying speed despite its massive size, jaws opening impossibly wide, aiming to swallow the dragon whole in a single bite. The air displaced by its passage created a vacuum that pulled loose debris inward, sucking dust and fragments into the construct’s wake.

The dragon was still healing and his face twisted to reveal an ugly expression. At first he thought about breaking through the wall besides him… but he was not fast enough and he could not use his special skills.

He was weakened considerably.

It chose to meet the serpent head-on and raised his hands. He grabbed two of the teeth and kept the mouth from closing around him.

And yet the momentum was so high that it dragged the mighty being with it. They hurled through a series of houses.

The dragon finally stopped the push by planting his feet deep into the broken marble street.

Ishiki’s eyes widened as he saw the building about fifty meters away from them break down. The dragon being pushed back by the blood serpent came out of the resulting rubble.

’Shit!’

He glanced back and saw that Kaori was back on her feet and both she and Yuki were staring at the scene in front of them.

“Move… let’s get away from here!” He suggested as he moved away. Kaori and Yuki followed behind without a word.

Golden light blazed from the dragon’s entire body, until it shone like a miniature sun dropped on to the ground. The light was painful to look at directly, forcing everyone to shield her eyes, turning the crimson-stained night into false day.

The dragon let go of the serpent’s fangs and the jaws closed around his entire form.

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