Dungeon Predator

Chapter 594. Climax

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Translator: Boko

Helena could only maintain her new form for 5 minutes.

'We have to hurry!'

She pointed her fingers at Inarius and shot five purple bullets.

"Hmph!"

Then, Inarius's nine black spheres unleashed gray beams of light.

Inarius's beams seemed larger and more powerful than Helena's ordinary purple bullets. Upon contact, however, the purple bullets instantly pierced through the beams.

Inarius quickly formed a multi-layered barrier. However, Helena's bullets pierced through that too and struck Inarius directly.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Massive shockwaves occurred one after another.

It was an obvious result.

She had used magic in its raw form, the primeval energy that was harnessed to cast spells. Inarius's beams or its multi-layered barrier had no way of withstanding it.

Helena didn't stop there. She floated into the air and stretched out her arms. Purple energy fluttered in the wind like snow, and flew straight to Inarius.

Inarius protected itself with the ground and lava, but once again, it failed to block Helena's attack.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Kuhaahk!"

The dragon reeled from the impact.

The black tinge that covered Inarius's body spread further. However, Inarius didn't concern itself with this. It transformed its wings into skewers and attacked Helena.

Helena created a thin, purple veil. It was thinner than colored paper, but Inarius's wings were unable to pierce through it.

Meanwhile, Kang Oh and Valan made their move.

Kang Oh gathered a ton of dark red energy and struck Inarius's neck, while Valan unleashed a massive amount of destructive energy from his sword.

Inarius countered by swinging its tail and claws.

However, Inarius was on the losing end of these exchanges.

After all, Kang Oh and Valan's attacks were strong enough to shatter dragon scales. What's worse, most of the scales had fallen off as the battle progressed.

Inarius did manage to repel Valan with its tail, but… Both Kang Oh and Valan's attacks landed.

Swish!

Bam!

Inarius trembled.

"You insects! Stop annoying me!"

A giant ring of fire spread out, and their bodies began to float automatically due to the weakened gravity.

Sharp, stalactite-like rocks fell from the ceiling.

However, Kang Oh and Valan had Helena backing them up.

Helena drew a circle with her hands, and summoned primeval energy that wrapped around Kang Oh and Valan like a thin veil.

Inarius's magic hit them right after, but it couldn't break through.

"Thank you!"

Kang Oh sprung upwards like a spring and forcefully swung Sarahoff.

Transcendent Blade!

His dark red blade cleaved through Inarius's chest with transcendent speed. Hoffman's face smiled from behind Kang Oh's body.

After that, Valan cut through its wings, and then its back.

Inarius's golden irises turned black.

"Darkness!"

Annihilating Black Comet!

Spiral energy spun around Inarius's body like a whirlwind, and flung both Kang Oh and Valan away.

"Ugh."

"Tch."

They took quite a bit of damage.

Huge shards of light fell from their bodies.

"Pure power!"

The darkness was so potent that Helena had to focus the primeval energy to defend herself.

Kang Oh and Valan belatedly swung their swords in order to protect themselves.

A short while later…

The darkness energy dissipated.

"It's almost over," Kang Oh yelled.

'This is the final phase,' his instincts whispered.

Kang Oh, Valan, and Helena simultaneously attacked Inarius.

Small specks of fire seeped out of Inarius's closed mouth.

"It's a breath!"

It was a dragon's ultimate weapon: their breath.

Inarius had already used its breath twice before, and it was preparing to use it for a third time.

"Leave it to me," Helena yelled.

Helena gathered her hands together. It was as if she was preparing a palm blast.

Glittering purple energy the size of a forearm shot out of her hands.

Actually, to compare it to a forearm was disingenuous. Considering how powerful primeval energy was, it must be an incredible amount of energy.

"Haa, haa."

Helena returned to her original form. She had used all of the primeval energy she had left to unleash that attack.

Kuhang!

Inarius opened its mouth wide.

Fierce Fire Dragon's Breath!

Was it because its body was dyed black?

Fire radiating black light came out of its mouth.

At that moment…

Helena's primeval energy flew over and crashed against the Fierce Fire Dragon's Breath.

The purple energy glittered like a giant star. Inarius's breath, which was rife with evil energy, was overwhelmed by the primordial energy on all sides. It was as if a fully bloomed purple flower was drawn on black paper.

The two mighty energies clashed for supremacy. Eventually, the primeval energy was slowly overpowered by the dragon's breath.

Inarius widened its blackened eyes.

'I'm Inarius. I won't lose to the likes of humans!'

Then, Inarius gave it everything it had and spat as much fire as it could.

Roar!

The black portions of its flames shimmered, and ultimately overcame the primeval energy.

Boom!

Both energies dissipated simultaneously. The dark red flames flew through the air like tiny feathers, and shredded purple energy glimmered as it fell to the floor.

It was quite a magnificent sight.

"Kuhahk, kuhahk." Inarius breathed haggardly. It had used too much of its power in that last attack. However, there was no time for it to rest.

Kang Oh and Valan went on a rampage.

Kang Oh's attacks were especially painful.

It may be a strong-willed dragon, but the horrendous pain it experienced repeated over and over again, so it almost lost consciousness.

Kuhaaahk!

Inarius went absolutely crazy.

It unleashed countless powerful spells, attacked with its wings and giant body, and destroyed its surroundings with its tail and claws.

However, it couldn't hit Kang Oh or Valan. They scurried around like cockroaches, making them impossible to hit.

At some point…

Inarius's face showed fear.

Death. That horrifying word passed through its head.

'I have to run away.'

He considered retreating, but his pride as a dragon wouldn't allow it.

'I won't die to insects no matter what!'

Inarius forcefully released the incredible energy contained within its heart. As a result, there was an explosion of energy, as well as a huge shockwave that swept through everything in the vicinity.

Boom!

Kang Oh and Valan were swept away, and were implanted into the ground.

"Mr. Valan!"

"Mr. Kang Oh!"

Nile and Sephiro, who'd been fighting the Giant Spirits, yelled simultaneously.

Then, Nile got hit by the Lava Spirit's fist, and one of the Darkness Spirit's spikes pierced through Waryong's body.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Inarius, whose heart was now in tatters, arduously lifted its body and stomped on Kang Oh.

"Just die already!"

Thud!

However, Kang Oh wasn't there. He had used Abyss Transfer.

"You cockroach!" Inarius swung its tail at Valan's location, and then forcefully pulled Kang Oh out of the darkness.

Bam!

Its tail struck the ground.

But…!

Inarius's tail was split in two, and fell to the floor in two equal halves!

Since Inarius was weaker than ever, Valan was able to sever its tail with Divide the Sea.

Kukyahahk!

Inarius almost lost its mind due to the pain of losing a limb. However, it just barely managed to keep its mind intact.

'I need to take one out first!'

Inarius quickly stretched out its neck, intent on devouring Kang Oh.

Then…

An hourglass appeared over Kang Oh's head, which turned upside down.

This was the dragon's hourglass, the object that controlled time! He used it to reduce all of his cooldowns to essentially nothing!

In no time at all, Abyss Predator and Ice Soul Wall were ready to go.

Ice Soul Wall!

A giant ice wall rose around his body. As it possessed the Ice Soul's power, it was incredibly resilient!

Bam!

Inarius's head smashed into the ice wall. The impact caused it to momentarily pass out.

There was no way Valan would miss that golden opportunity.

He leapt into the air, rapidly plummeted to the ground like a meteor, and stuck his sword in the middle of Inarius's head.

It was extremely deep at that!

Stab!

"Kuhaaahk!"

That was its death throes.

Inarius was no longer a red dragon. Jet-black darkness spread across its entire body.

[You have defeated the Black Nightmare and the Wings of Despair, Dragon Inarius!]

…

That was exactly what he'd been waiting for.

"We got it!" Kang Oh roared, and stretched out his hands.

* * *

"Haa, haa."

Kang Oh immediately plopped onto the floor. He was completely spent.

"Hoo." Valan propped himself up with his sword and took a deep breath.

"Good work."

"We really got it."

His companions came over one or two at a time.

Kang Oh smiled.

"We wo…"

However, he was interrupted.

"Kuhahahaha!"

All of a sudden, a wicked laugh rang out.

It wasn't Inarius. The system message had definitely confirmed its death.

"Finally! I finally took control of this body! I, Acroma!"

'Inarius' suddenly stretched out its black wings.

"Be careful!" Valan yelled urgently.

Then, the entire world was engulfed in darkness.

* * *

700 years ago.

There was a dragon born without wings. It was a genetic deformity.

The immortal, primordial dragon, Gainus, bestowed it with the name Inarius.

In the language of dragons, Inarius meant soul's wings. The name recognized that although it didn't physically have wings, Inarius's invisible soul did.

The dragons didn't discriminate or ignore him for his deformity. After all, Inarius's birth was a blessing for a race that'd lost so many during the war.

But as time passed, Inarius gained a complex for being the only wingless dragon.

Ultimately, Inarius became obsessed with finding a way to gain wings. After failure upon failure, it gradually began to delve into more dangerous and forbidden practices.

One day…

While Inarius was testing darkness magic, which he hoped to use to create artificial wings, something went wrong, and there was a massive explosion.

The explosion destroyed half of its nest and grievously injured Inarius, leaving it at the brink of death for a week.

However…!

When it awoke, it found black wings attached to its back. The experiment that it thought had failed had actually succeeded!

Inarius couldn't contain its happiness and cried for three days straight.

After that, Inarius abandoned its destroyed nest and created a new one on the Phamas Mountains.

At the time, however, Inarius had no idea that its experiment had actually distorted space, and had allowed a being from another world to come through.

Acroma!

It was a demon that originated from the Demon World that parasitized its host until it eventually took control of them.

Acroma infected Inarius, giving the dragon black wings, and gradually influenced Inarius subconsciously.

This is when Inarius became tyrannical and started his misdeeds.

Acroma was the reason Inarius had become an Evil Dragon.

However, dragons were the strongest beings on the planet. Acroma couldn't take over Inarius's body on its own.

It waited a long time. Until Inarius was either killed or was weakened enough for it to take control.

That time had finally come.

Once Valan's blade had ended Inarius's life, Acroma gained full control of its body.

Kuhaha!

A giant black dragon with black horns, four demonic wings, and four eyes raised its body.

The Demonic Dragon, Acroma, was born.

* * *

[You are being revived!]

Kang Oh opened his eyes.

The darkness had, at some point, disappeared. However, his allies had paid the ultimate price; the darkness had taken their lives away with it.

Sephiro, Bart, and Helena's bodies were sprawled on the floor.

'What happened?'

He had no idea what was going on.

At that moment…

"Defeat the demon that has taken over the dragon's body. If you do not, then the entire continent will be in danger," the Whispers of the Earth said. A Guardian of the Continent Quest popped up.

'A demon took control of a dragon?'

Kuhaha!

Inarius's body rose with wicked laughter. Kang Oh wasn't sure what exactly was happening, but he was sure of one thing.

"We're taking it down," Valan said.

"Yes," Kang Oh said firmly.

At that moment…

Valan's sword radiated intense light and transformed into a completely different form.

Max Perado!

The legendary holy sword had finally made itself known.