Chapter 184: Effort Does Betray You

Purple.

That was everything that Raga’s blurry eyes could see before full blindness.

It was as though a purple sun emerged from the ground. If an outer observer looked at this sight, he’d be amazed to see a giant mouth launching a purple beam leaning toward a crimson hue, and that beam was bigger than itself.

The dragon’s mouth was open so wide that it broke, its neck was tearing from the inside, and its lungs had exploded. It was obvious that such a release was beyond the dragon’s limit. The dragon likely used everything it had for that one single attack, and somehow, it wasn’t affected by the pain.

Or maybe it was. It released a thunderous roar alongside the beam. What Raga didn’t know was that the roar was actually a scream of agony.

Raga’s life flashed before his eyes.

He remembered his only childhood friend, a hybrid titan who was kicked out of the kingdom only because of an abyssal bloodline that he was born with.

He remembered his second friend, the king who trusted him so much that he helped him to become a master.

He remembered his wife. A titan that he loved deeply despite her race.

And finally, his son, the boy that he had given his best defensive relics and artifacts to keep him safe.

His mind worked at its full potential in search of anything that could save him at this moment, as he remembered every single detail in his life.

’Will I die… just like this?’ Raga found himself wondering, the thought heavy on his heart.

’After everything I have endured, am I going to die against a kid who was simply lucky enough to be born talented? A boy who was lucky enough to get the Crown that Henry, Valor, I, and many others had always dreamed about?’

’Did all my efforts mean nothing? Did I spend my whole life training and learning and fighting just for a boy who is younger than my son and one rank under my rank to kill me?’

Raga felt an intense sense of unfairness. Were talent and luck really so important?

“No, they aren’t.” The words of Valor suddenly echoed through his mind, like a distant memory that found its perfect moment to shine: “Remember! Effort never betrays you! So long as you’re willing to sacrifice anything when needed, so long as you do your best, so long as you seize every opportunity, and so long as you never give up, you can defeat those talented bastards!”

“Now look at you, Raga. You’re about to get a demon bloodline! Tell me, did your effort betray you? You always envied me for having a bloodline, and here you are about to get one!”

“Now raise your head proudly as the fastest Rank 3 being and show me your best. If your effort ever betrayed you, then it simply was not enough!!”

Raga’s head rose proudly, glaring at the purple beam.

’Yes, I can defeat that lucky bastard.’

Talent can never replace real effort and hard work.

Raga had only one thing that could save him right now, and he got it only because of his effort!

Before the purple beam could erase him from existence, a necklace that Raga had been wearing the whole time shattered. At this moment, Raga’s skin, fur, and feathers turned silver.

The purple beam finally covered his entire body. The force of the beam was overwhelming, causing Raga to feel as though his very atoms were splitting, leaving no part of his body spared.

Yet, he wasn’t dead.

His body wasn’t even pushed back. All the damage was converted to the silver layer covering his body, which was cracking rapidly.

It was a defensive relic that he had gotten after killing a Lord Rank 3 beast. It could be used only one time, and it worked on absorbing all the damage that hit its owner in an instant.

In other words, the beam had caused enough damage to kill Raga tens of times, but it was absorbed instantly, leaving Raga with only the pain that was caused by the beam.

And for someone like him, that pain was nothing!

What was some pain? It was the latest thing he would care about during a fight!

Of course, he had only a few seconds before losing his strongest defensive relic. He couldn’t stay like this for so long.

Thankfully, those few seconds were everything he needed.

His ability finally activated.

Absolute Vacuum!

An ability that used the World Runes to enhance his next vacuum spell or technique. It wasn’t a simple power up, it was giving them the form of perfection that broke the natural limit.

Once again, Raga fell under two options.

Run or kill?

Should he use vacuum to escape this battlefield and return to Uldor, or launch an absolute attack that would kill the demonic dragon?

’As if I’d escape!’

His pride wouldn’t allow him to run like a coward, like a weakling, like a pathetic being.

He would never dare to use his bloodline ever again after running from someone who was clearly weaker than himself!

Raga’s tongue moved on instinct, muttering only two words.

’Vacuum Blade!’

“…!”

All of a sudden, an invisible attack launched toward Dante.

He couldn’t see it, but he saw its effect clearly.

And what was that effect? It was the dragon breath that he used.

It was cut in half!

It suddenly split into two directions, leaving a space for Raga to rest.

’That’s…’

But there was another effect that Dante didn’t notice until it was too late.

The beam wasn’t the only thing that was cut in half.

Dante’s vision suddenly split into two distant scenes. He saw Raga in two different points of view, which was impossible, unless…

’Ah… I see.’

Dante finally understood what was happening.

His body was vortically split in two, and both halves were falling in two different directions.

Crack, crack, crack!

One by one, the Calamity Gems shattered into dust. The next second, his whole Crown of Existence turned into nothing but sparkles of light. The World Runes appeared out of nowhere, taking that Crown back.

However, Dante knew that the first crack sound wasn’t from the Crown… it was from his head.

His Core of Existence shattered.

That was the best target for Raga. No one could heal and regenerate without a Core of Existence. No one could live once they lost their Core of Existence.

No one really understood why. All living beings weren’t born with a Core, it was something given by the World Runes at adulthood.

However, the truth was absolute.

Thud!

Upon losing his Core of Existence, Dante had died.

Even he couldn’t live without a core.

Raga did it. His efforts never betrayed him. Against all odds, he won against the demonic dragon.

He killed a genius, a demonic dragon, a Crowned Existence.

…

Or so he did in Dante’s past life.

Staring daggers at Raga, who was falling from the sky, and remembering what happened in his past life, Dante finally stopped charging his dragon breath.

It was the moment in which he used his fifth Calamity Gem. A microburst had just hit Raga, forcing him to fall.

He was killed once, yet he decided to repeat everything the exact same way.

There were only two differences.

The first was that Dante dodged Raga’s first attack, which allowed him to have more demonic energy at this moment than his past life.

The second was that Dante had seen Raga’s final attack!

’I understand it!’

Normal blades cut using edges, but Raga’s attack used nothingness.

It sheared matter by removing the medium between two surfaces, causing clean, nearly frictionless wounds.

It was as fast as light, thinner than paper, and couldn’t be blocked.

Maybe if Raga was stronger, he could even split atoms with that attack. If Raga launched that attack again, Dante would simply die once more.

And he wouldn’t let that happen!

One of Dante’s arms held a small object, which suddenly shattered, releasing a green mist that instantly shot toward Raga.

“…!”

The green mist clung to his body and slipped through his fur and feathers, decaying him from the inside. The next second, he finally fell in the spot that Dante had been aiming at.

Before he could escape, Dante released his dragon breath, sending a purple beam toward Raga.

And then, it happened.

A silver layer coated Raga’s body right before the beam hit him.

But this time was different.

Dante had eaten more mana crystals, Dante had saved more demonic energy, and Dante had used the ultimate attack of his relic.

It was a gamble!

There was nothing telling him that Raga’s defensive method would shatter if it were attacked with more force.

However, Dante didn’t care.

What was the worst that could happen? Just another death.

He wasn’t afraid of using his regression marks anymore. If he had to use them for more profits, he’d do it with no hesitation.

CRACK!

Just then, the sound of something shattering resounded within the range of the beam.

Simultaneously, Dante’s throat exploded, forcing him to stop his dragon breath.

His head fell into a deep hole that was caused by the beam. Inside the hole, his eyes landed on a demonic giant that was barely alive.

He had no skin and almost no flesh. He was a skeleton with little flesh that barely held some of his organs.

As for the decaying mist, it was nowhere to be seen, likely erased by Dante’s dragon breath.

’Reclaim.’

Just then, a surge of crimson energy burst out of his head, moving toward the body.

However, it wasn’t enough to reach for Dante’s body. It returned in surrender, leaving Dante to die slowly.

He couldn’t regenerate his whole body, at least not fast enough.

’Oh… I didn’t expect that. Thankfully, I know what to do.’

Dante’s head rolled toward Raga. Once he stood next to Raga, he opened his mouth widely.

BAM!

His tongue pulled him into his mouth before he closed it, crushing and absorbing Raga’s body with his sharp teeth and intense demonic energy.

His stats increased significantly, but most importantly, he got enough demonic energy to reclaim his body before dying.

“Haha.”

A deep, cold, terrifying chuckle left Dante’s mouth, tasting Raga’s blood, bones, and organs.

“HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!”

He didn’t know how his body was laughing without lungs or throat, but he couldn’t help it.

Effort never betrays you.

Unfortunately, it did in Raga’s case.

Dante wasn’t lucky.

He was a being of misfortune, a bringer of disasters and calamities, a greedy demonic dragon who gained profits when the others suffered.

Raga would have needed more than efforts if he wanted to kill him.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep