Welp, that was a fun little side-quest but it's time to go to the main event
Once I teleported the money back to my room, I walked towards the northern part of the forest while killing every single monster that comes in my way. Oddly enough, I could still hear Yato's crying a bit from a distance. I know I just broke his dreams and all, but that can't be healthy for his throat...
If anything, I expected the quicksand to have consumed him by now...Eh, no biggie he's as good as gone anyway...
As I continued to search for the ruins, I noticed the fact that the monsters are getting fewer compared to the other parts of the forest. Sure, you can argue that maybe it's because it's close to a sort of mountain range which is generally more peaceful, but I prefer to believe that it's because there's an apex predator lurking around
When a single monster is too strong, it could drastically shift the natural balance of the ecosystem. When that happens, the weaker monster would usually steer clear from where it is, or move away entirely...
I stopped in my tracks as I noticed something interesting
"Hm? This is?...Ahaha, and would you look at that...I'm right again..."
Just as I was scouting the area using my magic, I finally sensed something big. It was a massive surge of mana that was coming from a specific direction, I could already tell that it was something incredibly powerful by that alone. If you were to add all of the mana that those bandits had earlier, and if you toss in my sister's in the fray as well, it probably won't even be half as close to this thing's magical energy
It was a fascinating encounter, to say the least, but considering the fact that I've been experiencing nothing but disappointment recently I tried to quell my expectations a bit...
With my target locked on, I pushed ahead toward the source of the mana.
As I moved closer, I caught the sight of human corpses that were scattered about. From their clothing, it seems that they were Imperial units from the capital. If this was the first subjugation unit then I can't help but wonder why their comrades didn't carry their corpses back home...
One look of my surroundings was enough to answer my question
To put it simply, it was absolutely wrecked. The ground had massive craters, and everything as far as my eyes could see was burnt to a crisp. Saying that a storm passed by here would be a grave understatement
Whatever caused this, it was probably attacking them as they retreated...
"Well, well, this is getting very interesting..."
I tried to check if I could loot some items from them, but they're all useless now. So I just decided to leave the dead be and continued forward. After a while, I finally caught sight of the ancient ruins that everyone was talking about. It's underneath a cliff so no one would really notice it at first, but it is there
I floated down to the entrance and walked into the massive entrance which had ancient runes engraved on it. I lit up a tiny flame in my fingers as a torch as I walked inside. More corpses greeted me as I explored the pitch-black ruins, and after a few minutes of walking I noticed the mana suddenly grew stronger
"So it finally spotted me, huh?"
Took it long enough, I was practically making myself a beacon out here...
I heard a low growl which literally shook the earth. I could feel the menace in its voice and how it was warning me to stay away. Jokes on it though, that roar only served to fuel my excitement which made me walk faster
But I immediately stopped in my tracks the moment I noticed a surge of magic headed toward me
From a distance, I could see an extremely bright blue beam, that had the same hue as the constellations, was quickly evaporating everything that it touched. Normally, I would take such an attack head-on to test how strong it was, but I could already tell from its looks alone that this was extremely powerful...
"[Teleportation]!"
The scene changed from the dark ruins to the cliffs that were above it. I could see the blue beam reach the outside of the entrance of the ruins, destroying everything that comes in contact with it. Such destructive power would rank it at a level 7...No wait, possibly a level 8 magic spell?
Even if my magical defenses were strong, I could've gotten into some serious trouble if I met that attack head-on. Damn, it's been a while since I actually fought something that seemed powerful that I'm shivering in excitement!
And did it really greet some stranger in the night with something like that?...It must really mean business...
Once the dust settles, a massive portion of the cliff fell over which forced me to float up in the air. I then slowly headed toward the entrance of the ruins, the sound of gigantic footsteps greeted my ears as the guest of the hour finally emerges from the darkness
It was the dragon that I'd been looking for...And based on how the figure seemed to be as big as a mountain itself, I would guess that this one is an Elder dragon...
The first thing I noticed about this creature was its eyes which seemed to glisten with the light of the stars. It was oddly mesmerizing in a way that I couldn't even take my eyes off it. Its mouth opened wide in which it exhaled a copious amount of steam, and it spread out its wings which seemed to be a mirror of the cosmos itself
Its scales were dark-blue which had the same hue as the deep space, and it glowed brightly upon the light of the night. Its magical energy surged forth which was so powerful that it seemed to make the air surrounding me to be as cold as ice...
It...was simply beautiful
I slowly floated down in front of the giant beast. Our eyes met for a moment that seems to be an eternity. I found myself being encaptured by its gorgeous eyes as if it was a black hole that kept sucking me in.
Unfortunately, it seems that it doesn't feel the same way about me...
Because as I was entranced by her eyes, a giant shadow immediately dawned on me. And before long, I was swiped down by its massive claws which felt extremely heavy. I could only feel a smirk as It shred through my defenses. I haven't experienced something like this ever since I first started using magic...
I controlled my fall into the air and looked back at the dragon. It had already flown in the skies and was eyeing me like a hawk. I wanted to do something first so I took out my wand and pointed it toward the dragon and cast [Combust]
But it didn't do anything but pissed it off more
"No dice huh?...It seems that doesn't work on creatures that have strong magical defenses"
I couldn't help but smile as the dragon charged at me. Now, this is how a real fight should be! It'll be too boring if it ended with just that!
Once its teeth were mere inches from me, I cast [Teleport] and positioned myself behind it. I then stretched out my wand and focused my mana...
"[Flamestorm]"
Since she was kind enough to start this with a bang, I figured that I'd return the favor. This was one of the highest level 8 spells known to mankind, capable of literally scorching an entire village with just a single cast. The raging flames quickly consumed the dragon as well as everything around it...
The heat was so intense that it began to melt a massive portion of our surroundings. If not for my barrier, I would've melted like butter too
But despite this, the dragon emerged from the flames with seemingly no damage and began to chase me down. I immediately used [Telport] again and tried to do a long-range magical bombardment, but the dragon quickly sensed where I was and blasted the blue beam at me...
"[Teleport]!"
I moved away again, but every time I shift to a different spot, the dragon would fire the beam again at me mere seconds after I just teleported. That thing had to be using some sort of spell, or possibly an innate ability...But I've never heard of a dragon having anything like that...
Our little cat-and-mouse chase continued with both of us firing tons of high-level magic at each other until the once beautiful landscape of the forest was nearly unrecognizable. And by then, I finally realized that I was losing a lot of mana...
And while I could still handle the cost of mana to do [Teleortation] as well as other spells, this beast still had a lot of tricks that it didn't show so I knew that I had to be careful. I switched the tables from going defensive to going all out
"[Arms of Gia]"
The ground shook momentarily, and what emerged from the ground were gigantic arms that numbered about a hundred in total. I directed all of them to go after the dragon. While it might rule the skies, I can extend the length of my arms to however distance I please so it isn't safe up there
I don't know how, but I could tell that the dragon was surprised as it began dodging the arms from grabbing it. The dragon also began blasting its blue beam at the arms which quickly destroyed most of them. But it didn't really matter though, I'd already expected this to happen
"Gotcha"
I muttered this under my breath as I teleported in between the dragon's eyes. I could feel the annoyance plastered all over its face as it looks at me. I'm so close, yet it knows that it won't be able to get me unless she wants to get hit by those gigantic arms. So with a smirk, I placed my hands over its head-
"[Mark of the dead]"
The eyes of the dragon widened as it began to frantically shake to get me off. Its scales even began to emit a starry glow and burst forth a blue flame that almost melted through my defenses. But it was too late, the mark was already on here
I quickly teleported out of there and moved to the next spell
"[Soulseeker] Come forth and get her"
A black mist suddenly enshrouded me, and soon after, a massive skull that was the size of a human adult began to materialize and followed the dragon. Once close enough, it opened its mouth and began to suck in the magical energy it had.
The dragon realizing this, swiped at the gigantic skull which split it into multiple pieces. However, those pieces turned into a black mist and regenerated the skull back to its original form
The dragon tried many other things like blasting it with its blue beam or running away from it, but it was all useless. That thing was the unstoppable force of death itself which can't be destroyed, nor be outrun. And it was one of the forbidden level 9 spells in this world that could only be used by someone once a year...
And it cost so much mana that I could barely even float anymore...
I felt terrible using this much magic in one go, but it was all worth it
This dragon may have a lot of mana, but it's only a matter of time until the soul seeker eats through it all and kills it. And until then all I had to do to win was to sit back and enjoy the show...But of course, there is a catch to all of this...
Like all spells, this would be disrupted the moment I stop supplying the soul seeker with a constant flow of mana. This means if I die before it finishes its job, I sadly won't be able to take it down with me.
The dragon seemed to realize this, as it began to charge at me at such blinding speeds that even I was caught off guard. It began to emit such a powerful magic energy that my body couldn't help but tremble...
And not long after, I felt a circular wave of energy surround and trap me inside. And before I knew it I was standing in an unfamiliar place...
With only stars in the sky as my guidance...