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The Battle with the Red Dragon (4)

“Everyone, listen up!”

Rihard Polsen slammed his shield into the ground. The earth trembled with a resounding thud. Though it wasn’t as powerful as the dragon’s stomp, it was enough to make the subjugation team turn around.

Rihard, having captured everyone’s attention, extended his hand forward. Pointing towards their objective, he shouted with a strained voice.

“Clear the way!”

Commands on the battlefield were always concise and powerful. Rihard, a former knight commander with countless operations under his belt, had a voice and gestures that could lead people effectively.

“Make way for the New Star!”

Right behind Rihard stood Najin.

His body was battered and covered in wounds, but the sword in his hand still shone brilliantly. With a determined grip on his glowing sword, Najin adjusted his stance.

The White-rank adventurers saw this.

The knights saw this.

Only Najin’s attacks were effective against the Red Dragon. He was the one who held the potential to turn the tide. Everyone knew this, having seen Najin make the dragon bleed.

Thud, thud, thud!

No further instructions were needed.

It was time to prove themselves through action.

Rihard took the lead and started running. With heavy steps, he charged towards the Red Dragon. Following closely behind, Najin also began to run.

『————————!』

The Red Dragon instinctively knew that Najin was a threat, that his sword aura was dangerous. The dragon turned its head towards Najin, who had managed to rise again and was now charging towards it.

Ignoring the White-rank adventurers who were scratching its scales, the dragon opened its maw wide and roared at Najin.

That light, the light on that sword, irked it. It was a light reminiscent of the nightmare etched into its soul. The light wielded by the human who had once cast it down and sealed it beneath the stone pillars. Feeling both fear and rage, the dragon exhaled the breath it had inhaled.

Breath.

A radial burst of flame, as brilliant as a flash of light. In that moment, Rihard planted his shield into the ground. The large shield, measuring two meters and made of rare metal, shimmered with blue mana.

Envisioning a sturdy wall, his spirit entwined with the shield, turning Rihard into a living barrier. Najin, sheltered behind Rihard, watched the flames split and flow to the sides, unable to melt the shield.

“It’s hot!”

Rihard shouted with a laugh.

“But it’s bearable!”

He pushed the shield forward.

Dragging it along the ground, he advanced. Despite the shield’s edge melting and burns spreading up his forearm, he pressed on.

He was determined to keep his promise to clear the way.

After taking six steps, the flames subsided. Pointing towards the distorted landscape shimmering with heat, Rihard gestured. Najin sprinted past him before he even had a chance to shout for him to go.

Najin ran across the burning ground.

But the dragon’s thrashing was far from over. As if to ward him off, the dragon spun and lashed its tail like a whip. Najin, realizing he couldn’t leap to avoid it, knew his ankle had reached its limit.

Running was all he could manage.

Leaping was impossible.

Should he face it head-on? Najin couldn’t think of a way to counter the tail swipe. But the decision was made for him.

Twang!

The sound of a ballista’s string snapping echoed as a harpoon shot forward. Mages among the knights reshaped the ground. All this slowed the dragon’s tail slightly. Just enough…

“Grisel!”

“No need to tell me.”

“Now!”

The delay proved meaningful. Using the altered ground, three adventurers leapt. With mana condensed to its limit, they swung their weapons at the dragon’s tail simultaneously.

Slash!

Bashen Corte’s greatsword, Grisel Paramelt’s halberd, and Roseline’s twin swords struck the dragon’s tail.

Screeeeeeech!

With a thunderous sound, the dragon’s tail was forced back for the first time. As the dragon staggered, Najin gritted his teeth and picked up speed. The path was clear. The opening appeared. This was a chance that wouldn’t come again.

Najin sprinted towards the dragon’s maw.

Najin’s target was the dragon’s maw.

From the beginning, Najin’s objective was inside the gaping maw of the dragon. It wasn’t a method any ordinary person would consider. Knowing the dragon’s nature, it was even less likely to be thought of.

After all, the dragon’s interior was an entirely different world.

Until a dragon faced death, it held another world within itself, with its mouth as the only entrance. Anyone stepping into that world would meet a gruesome end.

The body would be crushed, the soul disintegrated.

The disintegrated soul would be absorbed by the dragon, becoming a part of it.

This was the dragon’s digestion process. Those swallowed by the dragon would become part of it, living eternally in agony, unable to find rest.

‘But, that’s not all.’

When Najin heard this from Merlin, he asked one question. If the dragon’s interior was another world, wasn’t it like an image? And wouldn’t that image have a core?

Merlin affirmed Najin’s hypothesis. Reluctantly, she explained.

The world inside a dragon had a core, and if that core was destroyed, the dragon would die. However, it was a rarely used method, and in history, only one person had succeeded using it.

-There was one person who thought like you.

-An idiot known as the Dragon Slayer did it.

According to Merlin, the world’s biggest fool. Yet, in popular opinion, the one who killed the most dragons and stood alongside Arthur as a great hero.

-The first Sword Saint, Siegfried.

The first Sword Saint who founded the Order of the Sword.

His tale of jumping into the evil dragon’s maw and destroying its core was told by many bards. His heroic saga lived on a thousand years later.

So when Najin pointed at the dragon’s mouth, and Rihard commanded to open a path to the dragon’s mouth, everyone understood what Najin intended. Despite thinking it was madness, a suicide mission, they gladly cleared the way for him. The odds were slim, but if successful, it could turn the entire situation around.

Reenacting the myth of Dragon Slaying.

Among the countless great heroes, only one had pursued Arthur and reached the same pinnacle as him—the Sword Saint. Najin intended to challenge the feat achieved by that hero.

‘Originally, I would never use this plan.’

But the situation left no other option.

They would die if this continued. Standing at the crossroads of life and death, Najin chose to challenge.

Najin glared at the Red Dragon. Its eyes, once dyed red by the witch, had returned to their original black, staring at the light emanating from Najin. With an ear-piercing roar, the dragon charged at Najin.

As if to swallow that light whole.

‘If you can swallow it.’

Najin also charged towards the dragon.

‘Then go ahead and try.’

Najin’s sword drew in light. The stars entwined with his sword followed his steps, stretching out. His gaze was fixed on the dragon’s maw. Without hesitation, Najin leapt into the gaping abyss.

Slicing the dragon’s tongue and scraping past its teeth, Najin stepped onto the base of the dragon’s tongue. He took another step into the abyss beyond.

True feats are only achieved by those who turn their backs on life and step towards death.

In this moment, Najin achieved a feat.

He had always challenged strong opponents, overcoming his limits, enduring the flames of transcendence, and now, he made the fully revived dragon bleed. More than that, he threw himself into the dragon’s mouth, taking a gamble.

While these feats might not be enough to make him a star individually, and might not even be called feats by themselves—merely fragments of stars—when combined under the theme of ‘challenge’, they transformed into a feat worthy of the heavens’ attention. The heavens acknowledged the feat of a human who challenged and overcame limits. A star rose in the celestial domain belonging to Najin.

A new star was born.

A new star shone brightly in the night sky.

Despite finally achieving the first star he had long desired, Najin didn’t realize it. He was merely bewildered by the sudden surge of strength in his dying body. Assuming it was a last burst of energy before collapsing, Najin threw himself into the abyss.

Crushing the lizard before him was the priority.

With that sole thought filling his mind, Najin stepped into the abyss. A completely different world welcomed him. Before him spread the world within the Red Dragon, engulfed in flames.

“Merlin.”

Najin shouted.

“It’s okay here, right?”

-You’re asking that now?

Merlin had approved this insane plan because Najin could use his greatest variable here.

A place where no one’s gaze mattered. A place where he could briefly hide the starlight. A world completely isolated from the outside. Here, Najin could reveal everything he had.

Pointing to the core at the center of the dragon’s world, Merlin shouted.

-Cut it.

Instead of answering, Najin gripped the air.

His eyes turned platinum, and the constellation on his wrist shone brightly. The light and heat from the flames in the dragon’s world couldn’t compare to the starlight forming a sword in Najin’s hand.

The boy held the Star’s Sword.

The Star’s Sword, Excalibur, shone brilliantly with the platinum sword aura that pierced mysteries.

At that moment.

The first of the thirteen stars engraved on Excalibur’s blade began to shine.

Inside the Red Dragon’s world.

At the center, engulfed in fierce flames, was the dragon’s core and heart. Piercing that would mean the dragon’s death.

But Najin realized something simultaneously.

Why piercing the dragon’s core inside its world was celebrated as a feat. Why only the great hero Siegfried had succeeded in this method.

Ssssssssssssssssssss!

His body was burning. Fire clung to his skin. Enormous pressure squeezed his body. This was a world solely for the Red Dragon, naturally rejecting any intruders.

The dragon’s digestion began.

His body burned. Moisture evaporated. His soul screamed under the pressure. A different level of pain, unlike anything he had ever felt, overwhelmed him. His overtaxed body writhed in agony.

Crunch.

Najin gritted his teeth, his eyes wide open.

Blood flowed from his eyes. Even the flowing blood evaporated, but Najin gripped Excalibur tightly. Relying on Excalibur’s healing power, he approached the dragon’s core.

If you can digest me.

If you can swallow me, then go ahead and try.

Let’s see which is faster: you digesting me, or me piercing your heart.

Thud!

With a determined glare, Najin plunged Excalibur into the dragon’s heart. Without enough force, he couldn’t cleave the heart in one strike. But Najin didn’t intend to stop.

If once isn’t enough, then ten times.

If ten times isn’t enough, then a hundred.

The platinum sword aura on Excalibur pushed back the flames, scattering light. And as if responding to the will of its chosen master, the first star engraved on Excalibur’s blade shone brightly.

By obtaining the star, the boy proved his worth.

The first unlocked power enveloped Excalibur.

The Grey Tower Master, Nayuta, groaned.

Out of nowhere, the sky was thrown into chaos by the witch’s constellation. The constellations were in turmoil, colliding sanctuaries, creating a mess in the sky.

“Cough, cough, cough…”

Having not turned off the spell for counting stars, Nayuta coughed up blood after staring at the witch’s constellation. She wiped the blood from her eyes with a handkerchief, downed a potion, and steadied her breathing.

A major event. A historic event had occurred.

First, Excalibur was drawn, throwing the sky into an uproar. Then, Arthur’s constellation and Merlin’s constellation shook. Now the Witch’s constellation too? It felt like historic events wouldn’t stop happening.

‘Damn, I can’t complain about Cyphria making me work hard…’

The position of Grey Tower Master wasn’t as easy as she thought. What historical events were happening every few months? She groaned, getting to her feet.

She still had work to do.

She needed to observe the tangled sky and report any changes caused by the witch’s constellation. This wasn’t an event that could be overlooked.

“……”

After a long time staring at the stars,

Nayuta tilted her head.

“What’s that?”

Her gaze was fixed on a star in the corner of the sky. Was that star always there? Had it been pushed aside by the turbulent constellations? No, she didn’t think that star existed before…

Casting several spells for observation, she enhanced her vision and analyzed the sky’s flow, looking again at the star.

It was a new star.

A new star had suddenly appeared where there hadn’t been one before. While new stars occasionally appeared, this one felt different. Nayuta sensed something off.

A star shining too brightly.

And beside it, new starlight was gathering.