CHAPTER 357: CHAPTER 356 - SHE’S GONE...

For Raven, the time seemed to have slowed down, his mind working at a pace impossible for humans.

He knew that if he attacked now, then the chances of slaying the black dragon would be higher.

However, that didn’t mean the attack would hit.

Maybe the dragon would dodge at the last moment, but by then, its breath attack would’ve already hit Graye.

So, in that millisecond, Raven made up his mind. He would save Graye.

Time resumed as Raven’s crimson eyes widened, then hardened to burning slits.

His grip on Omni trembled—not with fear, but with a brutal decision. "DAMN IT!"

With a snarl, he twisted his arms sideways.

Omni’s mountain-sized edge screeched as it carved a new arc through the air, the deafening shriek of void-steel against the atmosphere splitting the battlefield.

The sword’s trajectory shifted from a killing strike to a desperate barrier, the colossal blade now free-falling between Graye and the onrushing pillar of death.

Raven released the hilt of the mountain-sized sword, letting it crash into the ground.

The next instant, he jumped up, landing on top of Omni’s spine, and without a second’s delay—

BOOM!

—With a sonic boom, he sprinted full speed.

Crimson scales flared. Voidfire burned against the slicing wind.

He ran along the descending edge like a phantom, each step sparking ripples of energy.

It was like watching the Monkey King sprint across a falling dragon—wild, impossible, and breathtaking.

However, no one could appreciate that scene.

Below, Graye finally caught the blur of movement.

Her violet eyes widened as Raven’s voice detonated across the chaos.

"DODGE!"

His roar ripped through the choking dust, raw with panic.

The moment she saw his expression and heard his roar, she knew something wasn’t right.

The next instant, she decided to move.

That was until her gaze swept the battlefield—every inch of ground a boiling sea of black radiance.

The dragon’s breath devoured everything, a wall of annihilation wider than any escape. There was nowhere to run.

Her fingers clenched tighter on the hilt of her massive sword as she realized that dodging was suicide. Defense was all that remained.

Her decision came like lightning.

"No choice," she hissed.

In a single fluid motion, she pivoted, dropping to one knee.

The 1.5-meter blade came down before her like a fortress door, its violet flames roaring to life as she crouched behind the slab of enchanted metal.

Her teeth grit. Her shoulders squared.

’If this is death, then I just won’t open the door for it.’

From above, Raven’s breath burned his lungs.

"Graye!"

It was as if the world itself screamed.

And in that instant, the dragon’s death-breath struck.

BOOOOOOOOM—!

The impact was apocalyptic.

A sonic boom ripped through the Ashen Expanse, tearing sky from earth. The black inferno engulfed Graye, her violet flame vanishing beneath the sheer density of the attack.

Raven’s pupils constricted to pinpoints.

He couldn’t see anything, but he could imagine her position—kneeling, sword braced—before the searing darkness swallowed her whole.

The sight ripped a raw, wordless roar from his throat.

"GRAAAYE!!"

Gritting his teeth harder, Raven stomped on Omni’s body, voidfire exploding beneath his feet.

BAM!

The kick drove Omni faster—faster than gravity itself.

The great blade howled as it descended like a world of black steel.

And then—

SKKRRRRAAAANG!

—Omni hit.

The collision unleashed a shockwave that split the land like a god’s judgment.

The ground caved inward, molten rock vaporizing on impact.

Dust and fire erupted in a mushroom cloud that clawed at the bleeding heavens.

But Omni—indestructible, void-forged—held firm.

The dragon’s death-breath met the immovable blade and scattered, its annihilating torrent diverted in a furious hiss of black flame.

Raven skidded along the sword’s spine, boots smoking, until the titanic weapon settled into the shattered earth. He landed hard, claws gouging molten grooves as he straightened—

—And stared.

Where Graye had stood, there was nothing.

No flame.

No sword.

No shadow.

Only scorched earth, blackened and gone, as if existence itself had been erased.

The battlefield roared with collapsing stone and molten rain, but to Raven it was silent.

His chest rose and fell, but he did not breathe.

His eyes—glowing pits of crimson—locked on the void where she should have been.

Blank.

Empty.

’She was just here... hugging me... smiling...’

His mind flooded with flashes.

Graye’s fearless grin.

Her reckless laughter as she taunted the dragon.

The warmth of her arms only minutes ago.

The promise in her gaze that they’d fight side by side.

All gone.

"...Omni," he muttered, his voice a raw whisper of his pain. "What... divinity was that?"

A rare, grave weight replaced the sword’s usual cocky drawl as it spoke.

"Harbinger of Death," Omni said, each word a cold confirmation. "A perfect-death divinity. Kills anything—mortal or immortal. Even divine immunity means nothing. And Graye’s tale... was its natural prey."

Raven didn’t move. Didn’t blink.

His eyes stayed fixed on the smoking void as the words sank into his bones.

Harbinger of Death.

’Perfect counter...’

The memory of Graye’s last defiant smile sliced through him like a blade.

That was when a rumble rolled through the fading dust.

"...This," a voice thundered, deep and contemptuous, "is what happens when insects dare to fight a god."

Raven turned slowly, muscles coiled like drawn steel.

Fifty meters behind him, the black dragon loomed through the settling haze.

Its colossal form was wreathed in shadow and molten light, one wing still bleeding black ichor.

Its molten-gold eyes burned with cold amusement.

It tilted its massive head, gaze boring into Raven like the weight of a dying star.

"You struggle. You roar. But in the end—" The creature’s lips peeled back in a slow, cruel smile. "—all insects break."

The words rolled across the shattered plain like a funeral bell.

Raven’s fists clenched as he waved his hand, causing Omni’s mountainous size to shrink into a three-meter-tall road sword.

Simultaneously, Raven’s crimson scales rippled as if molten, cracks of light tearing across them. His eyes narrowed to burning slits before flaring gold.

A searing glow erupted from his pupils, brighter than fire, hotter than rage.

The air around him shook with the promise of something final.

Without a second’s delay, his body arched, veins glowing, muscles twisting, his form threatening to split apart into his ultimate transformation, until—

—A low groan shattered the tense silence of the battlefield.

Both Raven and the black dragon froze, their heads turning toward the ruined plain in unison.

There—amid the broken stone and scorched earth—Graye stirred.

Her figure was distant, thrown aside like a discarded weapon. Yet, impossibly, she was standing.

Her armor was gleaming, barely scratched, violet flames still licking faintly at its edges as she staggered upright, one gauntlet braced against her broadsword, which was now reduced to a stick, muttering curses as if she had merely been shoved, not erased.

Raven’s glowing eyes widened, disbelief cracking through his fury, while the dragon’s own molten pupils narrowed in shock.

"...Impossible," it hissed. "How... did she survive my breath? How did she survive death?"

Raven was thinking the same until realization hit him.

Of course.

Graye’s other divine tale.

The Last Bastion of Armor—a tale that provided her absolute immunity to any magical attack as long as she wore armor.

The breath of the dragon, no matter how strong it was, in the end, was a magic attack.

So, all the damage it could do to Graye was hurl her away.

Before he even knew he was moving, Raven was already sprinting toward Graye.

He closed the distance in an instant, and before Graye could even realize what was happening, he scooped her into a crushing embrace.

The girl didn’t even get enough time to steady herself.

"R-Raven?!" She squeaked, her voice muffled under her visor. Her face, unseen, flushed crimson as her arms flailed. "W-What are you—?! Did you hit your head?!"

Raven’s grip didn’t loosen. His chest heaved against her armored frame, words failing, but relief flooding through every scale.

From afar, the black dragon’s massive head tilted, molten eyes narrowing with a predator’s disbelief. It stared at Graye as if she had spat on death itself.

It couldn’t accept it, but a human did survive death, an inevitable element.

Raven finally pulled back just enough to meet her visor with blazing eyes, a sharp grin breaking through his grimness.

"Graye... you’re the key," he said, realizing how Graye was the breakthrough to defeat the dragon.

Graye blinked, still red-faced. "K-Key?!"

He turned his head, gaze sharpening at the towering beast, a plan already forming in his head as he went through different scenarios.

Of course, he knew that Graye couldn’t kill the dragon yet. After all, the dragon had a divinity called Harbinger of Death, and it wasn’t something it could imbue only in its breath attack.

There was a chance—no, Raven was sure that the dragon could imbue even its body with that divinity.

So, he needed Graye to grow stronger—enough to be able to match the beast physically—by taking hits.

That was the only way he could think of to overpower the beast eventually.

However, he now knew that there was a way to defeat the creature.

Instead of stalling for Crisaius to arrive, Raven could now aim for the kill.

He turned back to Graye. "Together," he muttered, his voice like steel. "We’ll break this thing."

Graye didn’t know what plan Raven was cooking, but right now, she didn’t care, as the sudden hug from Raven had rattled her head, making it hard for her to think straight.

"W-What do I have to do?" She whispered back, making use of the time as the dragon remained in shock, its whole belief shaken.

Hearing her words, Raven grinned and told her what she had to do.