Chapter 117:
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Seora took advantage of the dragon heads’ distraction with the angels and began climbing up the dragon’s body from its tail. The overlapping scales made the ascent quite easy. She paused near the neck where the heads were separated and carefully observed the fire-breathing heads.
The heads displayed a range of colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. Each color represented a personal sin. Seora wondered who could be trapped in each head.
“Ah, I recall the orange head saying something.”
“The sins of wrath are heavy enough to forget my thirst momentarily.”
Seong Jarim. She must be trapped in the sin of wrath at the moment. Seora speculated that Seong Jarim might be experiencing some delusion related to Baskar. How intense is Seong Jarim’s anger that Satan himself could be satisfied albeit momentarily? It was crucial to sever the head of wrath and free her immediately.
Seora aimed her whip at the neck of the orange head, coiling it tightly around the neck, and began climbing upward. As the head felt the sensation of an ant crawling, it shook violently. Seora seized the opportunity, gripping the whip and leaping. Utilizing the centrifugal force, she spun in a wide circle and landed on top of the head.
The surrounding angels were astonished, perplexed as to why someone without wings would take such a perilous risk.
〖“Don’t do anything reckless!”〗
Michael’s sword emitted a scorching heat, brushing against Seora’s cheek. Falling amidst the ongoing war would undoubtedly lead to severe consequences, regardless of her skills. Seora retrieved a sword from her inventory.
This sword differed from a conventional one, featuring a blade with a distinctive hooked shape. It was one of the two items she had acquired from the United States.
As Seora infused mana into the blade, it began to heat up, showcasing its unique characteristic. She had undergone extensive training to master this technique before entering the Labyrinth.
“With this… I should be able to…”
It should be enough to pierce through the dragon’s scales, right?
With determination, she thrust the sword into the orange crown. Unable to withstand the immense mana of an L-class Awakened, the crown shattered into pieces. The blade, engulfed in flames, pierced through the shattered crown and lodged itself into the head.
<Kyaaaaagh! Aaaagh!>
The dragon thrashed its head wildly, emitting a piercing scream. However, Seora’s body remained stable as she exerted all her strength to support herself with the thrusting sword. The blade’s hook-like shape prevented her from slipping off.
With her position secured, she directed her gun toward the remaining horns beneath the shattered crown and fired relentlessly.
“Give back my friend right now, you damn creature.”
Seong Jarim must be trapped in yet another bizarre illusion. Perhaps she was endlessly reliving the horrific 100 years she endured in the cursed realm of Baskar. What if the ‘Path of Sin’ had finally shattered her sanity?
“I cannot allow that.” Seong Jarim was only meant to be carefree and innocent. So return my friend, you wretched dragon.
After successfully breaking and scraping off the horn, the creature poured mana into it, initiating the process of regeneration.
“Huh, regeneration?”
Who would expect it to regenerate? Seora holstered her gun, transformed the whip coiled around the dragon’s neck into a mace, and fiercely struck down the creature’s head. Break, break! Shatter into countless pieces!
<Kyaaaaaagh! You damn vermin! I’ll kill you! I’ll tear your limbs apart and burn them in flames!>
“Shut up! The sin of wrath? What nonsense! The one who provoked that kind soul to anger is the true sinner. The one responsible for the destruction of an entire planet is to blame. The sin was committed by that despicable scum, not my friend. So give her back right now!”
Bang! The mace, unable to overcome the combined mana of Seora and the dragon, finally shattered. The ten horns also disintegrated into dust, scattering into the air along with the shattered fragments.
<Aaaargh!>
The spectacle of the dust dispersing in sparkling fragments was strangely beautiful. Seora smirked as she firmly grasped the thrashing head and forcefully withdrew her sword, causing the dragon to release a painful roar.
Without bothering to wipe the blood splattered on her cheek, Seora flicked her finger, and a red cube enveloped the creature’s head. It was time to bring this to a definitive end.
Drawing Hit from her holster once again, Seora aimed the barrel at the cube encasing the head. As a Sniper, her skills were maximized regardless of the firearm type, but especially when using a sniper rifle.
Infusing mana into the bullet, she pulled the trigger with her finger.
Bang!
A tremendous blaze erupted from within the cube, causing the creature to thrash even more violently than when the crown and horns were shattered.
The other six heads attempted to attack Seora, but the loyal angels defending Michael intercepted their attacks. Thanks to their intervention, she could focus solely on the orange head.
“This should do it, right?”
As the flames subsided, the charred head was revealed. Seora firmly grasped her sword once again and leaped high into the air.
She lacked swordsmanship ability since she was not a Swordsman. Creating a sword aura or mastering such techniques were beyond her capabilities. However, as an L-class Awakened, renowned as the strongest in the world, she could imitate even the slightest speck of their power when she poured her mana.
“Stay back.”
A long trail of crimson mana extended from the blazing tip of her sword. It stretched to 1 meter, then 2 meters, and finally 3 meters in length—sufficient to strike down the dragon’s head with a single blow.
Her sword cleanly severed the blackened head.
【The head of ‘Wrath’ has been destroyed. Awakened ‘Seong Jarim’ has been freed from ‘Path of Sin’.】
Upon receiving the long-awaited message, Seora smiled happily and extended her hand. The cube containing the severed dragon head flew toward her, signifying her friend’s liberation. Descending to the ground, she felt a sense of relief.
<You damn vermin! I won’t forgive you!>
Enraged, the dragon forcefully expelled the angel and swung its tail toward Seora.
“Ah, that’s too much!”
She had to minimise the impact to withstand the destructive power that could bring down one-third of a star. Just as she was about to defend herself with the cube containing the dragon’s head…
“Huh?”
Suddenly, her body was swiftly pulled and lifted into the air. This sudden movement caused the dragon’s attack to miss, resulting in agonized screams from the dragon.
“Kang Sejun?”
Seora was surprised. When did he wake up? Kang Sejun held her in his arms as they flew away. Today, she found herself leaning into the arms of unfamiliar men more often than she expected.
“It doesn’t seem like I’ve been trapped for long. Did you manage to sever one of their heads in the meantime?” Kang Sejun peered inside the cube that followed Seora and clicked his tongue. Even with Michael, the nemesis of the Dragon of Revelation, present, it was still astonishing how she had accomplished that already.
“It wasn’t that difficult. By the way, what happened? I didn’t receive any message about your liberation.”
“Well, I forcefully broke through the space.”
“But didn’t they say the only way to break out of the ‘Path of Sin’ was to destroy the horns or completely cleanse the sins?”
“Thanks to someone partially breaking the horns, the space was destroyed.”
“What? So, were you trapped by the sin of ‘Greed’?”
“Yeah.”
As the angels kept the dragons at bay, Seora and Kang Sejun safely landed on the ground together. Seora examined him from head to toe. “I didn’t think greed would suit you at all, surprisingly. Are you okay? Is your mind intact? Any traumatic memories resurfacing or anything like that?”
If Seong Jarim couldn’t shake off Baskar’s influence, Kang Sejun carried the memories of his previous lives in his heart. Perhaps what he witnessed this time was also related to that. Thus, Seora cautiously assessed his condition.
“What if I say I’m not okay?” His face, replying vaguely, turned slightly pale. Oh no. Seora lightly tapped his shoulder as if sympathizing with him.
“It’s okay. Hold onto your sanity tightly. Whatever you saw, it’s not reality, so forget about it. Even if it’s difficult, let’s try to forget.” As she tried to comfort him in her own way, Kang Sejun, who had been staring blankly, burst into a bitter laugh.
“What is it? Did you see something else?”
“…No. Yeah. It’s not reality, that’s right. It can’t exist, and it didn’t happen. Mhm.”
“Hey, Kang Sejun. Are you really okay?”
“…Yun Seora, can you hug me just once?”
Seora’s eyes widened at Kang Sejun’s sudden request.
Wait, in this situation? Right now, when the angels are fighting to protect us from the enraged dragons because of me? I feel like we should return to the battlefield immediately.
However, she refrained from voicing those thoughts. Instead, Kang Sejun gently held her hand, his touch careful and examining.
It felt like a jolt to her senses.
“Was what you saw in the illusion related to me?”
“Why are you so perceptive, knowing things you don’t need to know?” He released her hand and turned away, furrowing his brow. Seora quickly reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Is it true? Why do you all keep experiencing these illusions? I already have enough people going through strange things with Director Do alone.”
“Did you think I saw it because I wanted to? Anyway, as you said, it’s just an illusion, so there’s no need to dwell on it for too long. Now that you’ve severed one head, only five remain. We need to rescue everyone…” Kang Sejun’s words trailed off as Seora wrapped her arms around his shoulders. In an instant, Kang Sejun, embraced by her, widened his eyes.
Thump, thump. The first sensations he felt were the warmth and the sound of a heartbeat—sensations that were absent in the illusion.
“Oh gosh. Were you surprised, thinking I was dead? I’m not dead, I’m very much alive and well. I’ve been smashing dragon heads with a mace, so don’t worry.”
After patting his back and shoulders several times, Seora stepped back and locked eyes with him.
Instead of the face that cursed him in a pool of blood, he saw a bright smile.
“Haha. But I’m glad you were that worried about me. I’m not going to die. I have multiple lives at stake, and even if that weren’t the case, I still have plenty of things I want to do. Never think that I will die, especially not you, Mr. Regressor. Let’s see this through to the end.”
Seora hugged him tightly once more. As the cube containing the dragon’s head descended next to them, she swatted it away in annoyance and stomped on the cube with her foot.
Seora vented her frustration a few more times, releasing the pent-up emotions. Eventually, she noticed Seong Jarim, who had regained her senses, standing up groggily in the distance. Seora hurried toward her.
Under normal circumstances, Kang Sejun would have found amusement in that sight. He would have laughed and immediately taken flight to confront the dragon. However, he felt rooted to the spot, unable to move. He simply stared blankly at Seora’s retreating figure.
Thump, thump, thump, thump. Even though Seora had departed, the lingering touch and warmth of their momentary connection still resonated within him.