A face to face shockwave tore apart the surface armor and inner bones of the Gigan, and a plasma cut split it cleanly in half. Then the huge jaws opened wide, as if about to yawn. After that, Augustus began his third revival cycle.
Each regeneration was slower than the last, and this time he truly reached his limit. Holding onto his resentment toward that old schemer, Augustus finally closed his eyes. If only it had ended there.
"Elfido… you old bastard, I will never forgive you… hm?" His mind shook violently, and as Augustus staggered up inside the palace, he noticed something following him. The loss from the mental Clone was heavy but not crippling, yet this time was different.
A Rift opened directly in front of him. A strand of sunlight shone through. "Boom!!!"
"Boring… you are the only one left." Almost yawning, Belial pulled the half destroyed remains of the Gigan out of the ground.
"Gravity Manipulation." Terrifying gravity gathered in his hand, twisting even light itself, and crushed most of the remaining Gigan into a lump of scrap metal. Then Belial clenched his fist.
"Boom!!!!!" The final punch smashed it into Shard, adding force to every remaining fragment and erasing it completely at a microscopic level. He lifted his gaze toward the distance.
"You should die." Far away, Edward, who was fighting the Bronze Dragon and steadily devouring him, froze for a moment.
His body had no fur, yet every scale bristled as a dreadful warning crawled up his spine like a snake. Safas, already exhausted from the battle, could barely stand. In his current state, he had no ability to stop what was coming.
He recalled that maybe that little girl Friffis had been right. Compared to all those grand titles, being a wandering street rogue suited him better. Back when he stepped into the Crown Realm through Space, he immediately traveled the entire continent, visiting nearly every place he could and could not go.
He had seen many things and lived through many strange experiences. Visiting the World Tree got him beaten by the newly appointed Grand Elder of the Elves, and exploring ruins in the Northlands earned him another beating from Ice Elves. To avoid being beaten again, he learned to run faster and faster.
By chance he reached the Sacred Domain, his name spread widely, yet he was never blinded by fame. He did not care for it, and he continued to make even more foolish choices. He lost many things all the same.
For example, he had to personally seal the collapsing body of an Ice Elves who had barely become his friend, creating a barrier between worlds. Or he failed to save a friend who was the previous Chosen Hero, only able to watch him fall into the Abyss. Worse still, he foolishly believed Edward's lies and used Spatial Magic to bring him into Dragon Valley.
That decision killed his old friend the Silver Dragon, indirectly caused a thousand year Dragon Calamity, and gave rise to a madman who sought godhood. In the end, he had to fill the holes he himself created. The freest man of the past was locked into a chamber that could never be opened.
He remembered a talented little girl he took in late in life. He had not yet figured out how to cure her illness before the door closed. It was a shame, and after decades of boredom, his past sins finally caught up with him.
Now it was time to atone. "Roar!!!"
With a twisted body and aging scales falling away, Edward clamped his jaws tightly around the neck of the Bronze Dragon. He greedily drank the ancient dragon blood, power and faint Authority flowing into him, while dragon swarms devoured the remaining flesh. Joy filled his heart as he felt the half Dragon Soul within him and the remaining Authority slowly completing, pushing him closer to the golden Gold Rank state he longed for.
"But it is not enough… far from enough!!!" Sensing the familiar aura approaching from afar, Edward sped up his devouring.
It did not matter. With the power of the Bronze Dragon, even dying once more would be fine. Gaining a complete Authority would be painful to lose, yet Edward still chose to abandon his body. No matter what, he could not escape and was certain to die.
Death would serve as a curtain to hide him briefly. The Abyssal Gods would not let go of such a useful chess piece. Thinking of all the unfair contracts he signed and the crushing loans he took on, rage almost flared from his eyes before being drowned by fear.
As devouring continued, Space itself began to collapse. Countless bookshelves fell beside the archive hall, yet he felt no fear of death, only regret and relief. "At last I can… hm?"
A hand grabbed him and pulled him into a pitch black vortex. Safas instinctively struggled, knowing too well what it was. Abyssal Darkness.
"It is me, do not worry." A familiar female voice sounded, and Safas trembled. He could never forget that voice, and when he turned, he saw the black haired girl behind him. "Chloe!"
"It is really you? I am sorry…" "Do not talk yet. While Edward is focused on something more important, I will pull you out."
"And if you truly feel sorry, then after that guy dies, go take a walk with me." Looking at the familiar face of his old friend, Safas could hardly believe it. He could not understand how she escaped the corruption of the gods and stayed sane.
He even wondered if someone was impersonating her, but the look in her eyes and the Black Iron Crown above her head could not be faked. Setting aside his joy, he caught what she had just said and asked in surprise, "Edward is about to die?"
"What happened? Who did it?" For him, this was almost worth celebrating, yet Edward now held power equal to two promotion trial dragons. Even if not the strongest, he should have been very hard to kill.
He knew the power of the Bronze Dragon well. It touched the supreme concept of time itself. Who could kill that monster? "We need to leave quickly, but before that, it is fine to show you who it is."
Chloe pointed toward the distant horizon that Edward was also watching. There, a patch of unnatural blackness had appeared. "Come on… let me test you with everything I have and see how strong you really are!"
After truly devouring a complete near divine dragon, Edward felt his confidence nearly burst from the power flooding his body. He even wanted to see if he could clash with the enemy. But after sensing that faint aura, he decided to probe first.
"Feel it… the Bronze Dragon's Authority!" A massive Magic Array rose around him, far larger than any before. With near complete Dragon Soul knowledge, such ritual Magic Array came easily to him.
Surging red white Lightning Magic appeared, twisting Space and vision under immense gravity, prying open a corner of time itself. "Cross time strike beam!"
Countless scenes appeared in his eyes, records of the world's past etched in light and darkness. He tried to attack Belial when he was still weak. This was the power of the Bronze Dragon.
If I cannot beat you now, I will beat you in the past. Yet he could not find any record of Belial, but he was not worried. His control of time Authority was imperfect, so failing at first was normal.
He kept searching, forcing himself through growing pressure, chasing backward through time. After finding nothing at all, Edward opened bloodshot eyes. "What are you… you have no time record?!"
"Have you reached the level of condensing all past time, just short of godhood?!" That was the only explanation, and he sensed danger. Such a realm was untouchable for him now.
"Not good…" "You idiot, what kind of pose are you holding there?" "Never mind, take my punch first!!!"
When Belial arrived, he did not understand why the enemy stood still for so long. Strange effects filled the area, but none of it affected him. Since the opponent froze, he struck without mercy.
"Judging by your size, this time it is finally your true body!" "Die right now! Space magnetic field, reverse core gravity, Space burst punch!!!"
He lunged forward, white light spraying behind him, and his energy and lightning charged fist slammed into the chest of the Great Dragon. A massive shockwave ring erupted, blinding light flashing as something like torn cloth flew away.
"Boom!!!" Edward's huge body was blasted into distant mountains, sending billions of tons of earth and stone into the sky. His chest caved in, nearly pierced through, blood pouring out as a strange force erased the wound and blocked recovery.
"Monster…" Edward stared at Belial in shock. Without using gravity to twist Space and reduce the impact, the damage would have been far worse.
"So I really must die this time… but at least I will learn more about you." The scales on his chest healed rapidly, time reversing his state back to before the injury.
"Oh… that looks interesting." After checking the surroundings, Belial narrowed his eyes. Based on his power and the movement of matter, he knew it was not simple regeneration.