CHAPTER 187: FINAL STRIKE

Leon, arriving back inside the dimensional space, could see the destruction all around. Everything within a hundred kilometers was completely in shambles; the ground was still hot, and there were cracks all over the place.

The sight was one of total destruction.

He felt lucky to have survived in time.

Despite the destruction all around him, there was a smile on his face as he saw the ancient golden runes around him being generated, their number many times more than before.

The golden letters floated all around him like a sky full of celestial butterflies.

It was a mesmerizing sight.

Yet what made him so delighted was the fact that he knew this time he was going to get even stronger than before.

But this time, there was no lightning thrown at him to merge with his body. Instead, out of hundreds of ancient letters, many of them moved toward him and directly entered his body.

It was as if the letters had turned into spears of sunlight, driving into his muscles, burning until his skin screamed red.

Leon didn’t know what was happening inside his body, but a searing hot pain assaulted his whole being. Even he, who had thought that he was getting used to pain, felt this pain to be unbearable.

The agony clawed up his spine, burrowing into his skull, until every thought cracked under the pressure.

"Arrrgghh!"

Gritting his teeth, the only thing he could do was endure the pain as the ancient letters merged with him. His muscles writhed under his skin, his bones, tissues, and cells—everything—were changing into something else entirely.

This change was on another level from before; his body was red, and steam was coming out of it due to how hot it had become.

He endured it until the end. It lasted for a whole five minutes, and after it was done, he felt better than ever.

The strength he felt inside was just overwhelming; he knew he had reached a completely different level altogether.

I can fight the dragon head-on with my current physical strength.

Which meant he was hundreds of times stronger than before, as he hadn’t even been able to teleport before it trashed him like garbage.

Looking at the massive grey thundercloud, Leon’s face turned serious, and the intensity of the crackling made him realize that he should be ready for the next strike.

The thirteenth and fourteenth strikes—Leon survived them, even when he got hit in the end, as the black hole wasn’t able to entirely devour the humongous amount of energy in the strikes. It lasted only for a short amount of time, over which he had no control whatsoever.

Now, he couldn’t even see the end of the ominous grey cloud in the sky. The disparity between its size and the dragon’s was too much.

It didn’t feel like the fifteenth strike, but like the fiftieth strike.

What actual monstrosity is about to come out of this hellish cloud?

He restocked himself with another twenty Elixirs and Mana potions. He had been going to opt for ten, but seeing the size of the cloud in the sky, he bought twenty instead, out of caution.

He would have liked to browse for even more items, but he had no time. He never knew when it would happen, and he wouldn’t even have the chance to blink before he was dead.

Yet the Sword of Convenient Sharpness was in his hand; the previous fight had made him realize that he didn’t just have to defend—he could attack as well to survive.

The entire dimensional realm held its breath.

——

Even a certain white-haired elemental beauty, who looked too much like a human with some distinctive traits, was also holding her breath. What surprised her even more was the fact that he had survived the dragon.

She had too many thoughts in her mind regarding what was happening to him. Still, one thing she was aware of was the fact that even if she decided to self-explode her mana heart and escape, there was nothing she could do to help him. The only thing she could do was pray that he would survive this unfair battle.

This phenomenon was nothing like the tribulations they had to endure when climbing major ranks in cultivation—it was more like a death sentence.

She couldn’t even imagine any other person besides him surviving up until now in this situation in the entire universe she had seen.

Survive, Master. You can’t just die here. There is much more you have to accomplish with your talent. Your destiny couldn’t just end here.

——

Leon looked at the cloud with intensity, but he didn’t see another gigantic monster condensing to fight him, or any other humongously large weapon to erase him.

For a moment, he thought that the cloud might disappear, as time was ticking—it was already past the four-second usual attack time.

Just then, his mystical eyes narrowed, and in the sky, he noticed a small golden figure.

What is that? I can’t see properly from here.

But Leon didn’t have to wait long to see it properly. In the next second, the golden figure vanished from the sky, and suddenly, his instincts screamed at him.

In less than a millisecond, Leon backed away. He was already in his strongest form, clutching the Sword of Convenient Sharpness, ready to unleash his wrath upon whatever walked out of the cloud.

Without any more thinking, all three of his Auras burst forth and wrapped around the blade. The ice sang, the lightning snapped, and the wind screamed — three voices joining in a deadly harmony.

His mystical eyes locked onto the twelve-foot-tall golden-armored human-shaped being fifty meters in front of him. It wasn’t moving for some reason, just facing his way and standing silent.

But Leon wasn’t fooled by any of it; he couldn’t try to talk with it when his instincts screamed at him of its danger—especially the killing intent that was pressing on his mind.

If that thing was not his friend or some reward, it was more like a god of destruction with the pride of the previous dragon.

Give me the chance and I will make you the golden tin you deserve to be.

Without holding back, with his new profound strength, Leon used his transcendent rank Sky Breaker Draw.

An ultra-fast attack was made with his sword. He had anticipated a destructive attack that would obliterate everything in its path. Still, the destruction was there, and the attack looked quite different.

Seeing the massive black tear cutting the space itself in its path, the tear carved reality apart with a sound like silk being ripped by thunder. Leon had a big, fat smile on his face. He felt this would be the end of the armored golden giant humanoid, whose face couldn’t be seen, only the shimmering golden armor covering it.

I had tried to use the space element to form an attack that could cut through space and everything in its path. Still, I never succeeded and didn’t even feel I was ever reaching closer to it.

But unexpectedly enough, he had done it without even intending to during this fight, thanks to his new profound physical strength combined with his strongest form and most potent attack.

The outcome was inevitable to him—that the golden tin would be sliced into pieces. And the fool wasn’t even trying to move. But it didn’t matter, as that attack was too fast, and it was about to slice the thing apart.

Leon was already thinking of how strong he would be, with a broad smile on his face, when the next reward would come after this victory.

But then, out of nowhere, a strange sound came from the armored golden giant twice his size, which only sounded like gibberish to him. The noise sank into his skull like icy needles, each wordless syllable pressing deeper until his vision swam.

His vision felt hazy for a moment, his mind buzzed, and his ears felt hot.

What is happening?

Even with the hazy vision, he witnessed an impossible sight—one he didn’t even want to believe himself.

How can something like this even be possible?

He ignored the blood from his ears, which made a sizzling sound on the scorched ground.

As his eyes locked on the giant with terror on his face, his most powerful attack vanished into thin air as if it had never existed in front of him, erased by some strange sound made by the giant.

No! This can’t be p-possible... what is h-happening... t-this doesn’t make any sense.

Leon couldn’t even think of what to do. This was his most potent attack, and it had just disappeared—and the giant hadn’t even moved an inch. How was he supposed to accept the reality that he had to fight this monster?

Everything felt hopeless now. He didn’t think he could outrun the monster that had just appeared in front of him out of nowhere.

What about going out of the dimensional space...

But only after a moment of thinking, he realized that wouldn’t work either, as the ominous presence followed him like a plague. The death in front of him was the result of that plague—it would also follow him.

System! Yes!! Yes! The System will definitely have something that will help. It doesn’t matter how much Causality would be wasted—I just need to kill this thing or trap it somehow.

In his mind, he called out to the Cosmic Shop. The giant wasn’t even moving from its place, just standing there and watching, with its giant sword holstered at its waist.

Leon didn’t know if it was the pride or ego of the giant, but he would take advantage of everything he could.

The shop interface just opened in front of him, and he was about to search for the most expensive attack and defensive treasures.

But before he could do anything, another strange sound assaulted his very being. His vision blurred for a moment once again, and he witnessed the Cosmic Shop interface in front of him shatter like glass. Each fragment dissolved into static, the last spark of hope fizzling out with a soft hiss.

His expression darkened—the little bit of light of hope which was left in his mystical eyes was now gone.

Even the System’s gone... I’m standing here with nothing...Is this the end...