As the three beams of dragon breath surged towards him, Wood didn't feel a trace of fear. In fact, he actually let out a sigh of relief.
His primary role was to attract the dragon's attacks. If the target of those breaths had been Zenith and the Demon Wolf King instead of him, their combat abilities would be severely diminished, if not wiped out entirely.
With only one dragon breath aimed at them, the Demon Wolf King should still have enough agility to evade, avoiding any critical danger.
As for Wood, who now faced three breaths, he first used Observation Haki to leap and dodge the first one.
Then he summoned Saint-Level Water Magic to defend against the second.
"Rokushiki: Moonwalk!"
When the third dragon breath locked onto his airborne form, Wood, to the Nine-Headed Dragon's astonishment, began bouncing off the air itself, rapidly dodging while remaining suspended above the ground!
There was no visible platform under his feet, yet the boy moved through the sky as if he was running on solid ground, his steps exploding through the air!
Watching this scene, not only the Nine-Headed Dragon, but even Zenith and the Demon Wolf King, who had witnessed this technique before, were shocked by how effortlessly Wood was moving in the air.
A human running through the sky? It seemed more magical than any spell. But according to Wood, this technique didn't belong to magic but was instead an advanced physical ability, one that surpassed human limits.
"Yay! Big Brother Wood is flying again! That monster can't even touch him!"
Seeing Wood use Moonwalk, Norn and Aisha cheered excitedly from afar. For any human, the ability to fly was a powerful aspiration, and for these curious children, it was especially mesmerizing.
For over half a month now, Wood had stopped focusing on swordsmanship or magic, instead dedicating all his time to honing Moonwalk.
Since he had already mastered Shave from the Rokushiki techniques, learning the more advanced Moonwalk wasn't difficult for him.
His body had already reached the necessary physical condition, and the technique was something Wood had mastered in other worlds.
To conquer the Nine-Headed Dragon, having agile mobility was essential, especially since they couldn't afford to take the dragon's breath head-on every time.
The dragon's magic was tied to the entire moving labyrinth, so no matter how impressive Wood's magic reserves were, they were nowhere near enough to compete.
That's why Shave and Moonwalk became crucial—they allowed him to swiftly evade the dragon's attacks and take control of the battle's rhythm, just as he was doing now!
After dodging all three beams of dragon breath, Wood used a combination of Shave and Moonwalk to rush toward the Nine-Headed Dragon.
"Hyakki Yagyō Sword Style: Dual Blades—Jorōgumo!"
Since the opponent was so powerful, Wood held nothing back this time and unleashed one of the techniques from his personal sword style.
After all, Zenith was a magic user and a complete outsider when it came to sword techniques, so she wouldn't be able to discern anything specific.
As for the Demon Wolf King, being a magical beast that had never even left the labyrinth, there was even less to worry about.
In Wood's hands, the two black swords danced like weaving needles, forming a vast spiderweb of slashes in front of him.
The web of slashes was made entirely from the afterimages of his strikes, overlapping and crossing in all directions, creating the illusion of a web hanging in the air.
"Roar—!"
The Nine-Headed Dragon let out a pained howl as blood splattered everywhere. In an instant, its body was covered with dozens of deep, crisscrossing wounds.
Enraged by the pain, the dragon lashed out, several of its heads either biting or ramming towards Wood.
Why didn't the Nine-Headed Dragon use all nine of its heads to unleash dragon breath from the start?
This was the reason—because the dragon was very aware of its own weaknesses.
If it was fighting a group of magic users, it could easily take on ten King-Level mages and still not feel threatened.
Its dragon scales offered near-total immunity to magic, and combined with its powerful regeneration, it was almost invincible.
And as for its magical reserves, with the entire moving labyrinth backing it, the dragon never had to worry about running out of magic.
However, against swordsmen, the situation was different.
While its magical immunity was high, its physical defense was weak.
If all nine heads fired off dragon breath simultaneously, it would certainly unleash devastating area-of-effect damage. But if a swordsman managed to get in close during this moment, the dragon would be left completely vulnerable.
Because of this, whenever it faced a strong swordsman, the Nine-Headed Dragon always had half of its heads on standby, ready to defend itself against any sudden close-range attacks.
Wood, who had just unleashed a powerful sword technique, found his body momentarily stiff and unable to move.
"Rokushiki: Tekkai!"
Seeing one of the dragon's heads snapping towards him, Wood activated Tekkai from the Rokushiki techniques.
There was a saying in the world of pirates: "Out of ten people who use Tekkai, nine will end up on their knees." Wood wasn't overly confident in his Tekkai either, but at that moment, he had no other choice.
Although Armament Haki provided a similar—and even superior—defensive ability, Wood wasn't yet proficient enough with it. His mastery of Armament Haki from the pirate world was still too low, and in this world, he hadn't been able to fully grasp its potential.
Crash—!
The dragon's fangs bit down on Wood, creating a teeth-grinding screech.
Being a creature known as a "dragon," its bite strength was naturally terrifying. But as the Nine-Headed Dragon bit into Wood, it felt as though it had clamped down on a solid rock.
Annoyed by the sensation of biting into something hard, the dragon, which had intended to crush Wood in its jaws, decided it wasn't worth the effort and released its grip.
However, before Wood could catch his breath, another of the dragon's heads slammed into him, sending him flying across the room.
The powerful impact launched Wood into the nearby wall.
Although the dragon hadn't managed to bite him in half, Wood was far from unscathed.
While Tekkai had prevented him from being instantly killed, it couldn't fully withstand the dragon's immense bite force, and deep teeth marks were left on Wood's body.
*******
P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 380+ at p@treon.com/Betek and change @ to a