An onyx-scaled dragon materialized ahead of me, its wings spread wide, towering over the surrounding trees and foliage.
It possessed a sharp snout, countless razor-sharp teeth gleamed between its jaws. Its eyes were slitted, characteristic of reptiles.
The creature bore two sleek arms ending in long, sharp claws. Its legs were muscular and elevated, similar to a raptor's. A tail extended behind it, coiling across the ground with considerable length.
Intricate blue circuits traced across its form, illuminating the onyx-black scales and creating a striking contrast against its natural appearance.
Accompanying the dragon's arrival was a roar so devastating it drowned out everything else.
ROOOAAARR!
A sky-toppling, sea-inverting pressure assailed us. The countless compound boundary fields Medea had engraved over this section of the forest shuddered from its mere presence alone.
.
Its pressure further attempted to immobilize us.
In response... I took a step toward it.
[Ultimate Despair] ground awake within me.
My presence surged with reckless abandon, escalating from a burning match to a blazing inferno.
Another step, and the ground beneath me was dyed blood red.
Pain. Anguish. Misery.
My entire existence distorted into a being synthesized to induce despair even in the unfeeling.
Our surroundings bucked as [Ultimate Despair] waged war against a mythical dragon.
My steps did not pause... because they never would.
Every single magic circuit beneath my skin surfaced across my form, covering me from head to toe in emerald circuitry.
[Body Reinforcement]. [Triple Accel].
My body was reinforced to a staggering level. My personal time advanced three times faster than my surroundings.
By my next step... I was already before the dragon's snout, my hand cocked all the way back.
I gazed into its widening draconic eyes, my own crimson eyes blank.
Magic circles flashed across my glove as...
BOOOOM!
I struck its face at the speed of sound.
It was launched backwards—my punch achieving nothing more than humiliating and irritating it.
The beast roared in rage, its wings beating, its jaws reaching for me.
Yet I did not dodge.
Why?
Because...
"Mana Burst."
Artoria's voice was followed by the sound of a tremendous impact.
BOOOM!
She had buried her fist in the exact same location I had struck earlier, doubling the dragon's humiliation and rage.
ROOOOAR!
It roared skyward while Artoria disengaged, landing beside me.
I glanced at her. She glanced back.
Both of us began walking toward the dragon with eerie synchronization.
An invisible sword materialized in her hand. My own hand became invisible from shoulder down.
[Invisible Air] & [Wind Blade].
Her surroundings dissolved into golden paths to victory. My surroundings dissolved into pure data.
[Instinct (A)] & [Ultimate Analyst].
BOOOOM! X2
Dual sonic booms sheared through our surroundings as we both reached the creature simultaneously.
My invisible hand slashed from below. Her invisible sword diced from above.
My hand attacked from left. Her sword severed from right.
My wind tore from ahead. Her wind ripped from behind.
A tempest of lethal winds engulfed the dragon within seconds, cuts raining down from every possible direction, shallow wounds opening across its body.
And the finisher?
Countless magic circles rotated to life above it, bombarding it relentlessly without regard for mana cost or environmental damage.
Yet... a dragon was still a mythical creature.
It enclosed itself within its wings, then jerked them open with a colossal impact.
Artoria and I were thrown aside like kites with severed strings. Even the magic circles bombarding it from above were shredded apart like paper.
The dragon continued by flapping its wings, beginning to hover above ground.
I emerged from the wreckage where I had crashed, my free hand grasping my invisible shoulder.
Crack.
A creaking sound was heard as I relocated it back into place.
I began walking toward it once more, my presence vanishing with each stride.
Artoria was already engaging the mythical creature blow for blow, sonic booms resounding in their wake.
Magic circles rotated to life whenever Artoria found herself in a pinch, helping her avoid fatal damage—courtesy of Medea, of course.
I traversed the destroyed battlefield, existing beyond anyone's perception.
My legs tensed just as Artoria clashed with it once more.
That was the moment I leaped, my presence reasserting itself within their perception instantly.
[Ultimate Detective] had already mapped the exact angle of approach that would slip past the dragon's peripheral awareness entirely.
Its slit eyes constricted... It couldn't even react as my invisible arm slashed across its eye, making blood spurt everywhere.
ROOOOAR
An anguished roar rumbled from it, Its limbs thrashing around without rhyme or reason.
Both Artoria and I retreated, creating distance between us and the maddened dragon.
We watched as...
Its single functioning eye fixed upon us with hatred, a blue light flashing from within its chest.
Master, Its about to use that! Medea warned through our connection.
Master, permit me to use my Noble Phantasm. Artoria spoke a moment later.
I absorbed their words and checked the progress of deciphering its physiology.
74%
I then turned my focus to [Ultimate Precognition], which had begun ringing warning bells just moments ago.
Interestingly... it was not warning me about the dragon.
It was warning me about other beings closing in on us.
Undoubtedly other Servants.
It seemed even intensive preparations couldn't conceal the titanic fluctuations of two Servants battling a dragon.
My mind raced into overdrive as countless known and unknown variables were factored in, plans numbering in the thousands being created and discarded in mere moments.
Mid planning, my eyes flashed towards my only visible glove. The magic circles on its back were glowing with accumulated force from our continuous clashes.
Master! Artoria urged.
Master! Medea cautioned.
I looked forward as the dragon finally gathered a breath between its jaws.
Stand down.
My calm voice rang inside their minds through our bond.
I began walking forward amidst the bewildered and uncertain gazes of both Artoria and Medea.
I stopped only when my back was the only thing visible to them.
[Ultimate Martial Artist] awakened.
Every martial art ever conceived by human hands—striking, grappling, internal, external—condensed into a single point of understanding.
My weight settled into my rear leg. My hip aligned with my spine. My shoulder dropped by a fraction of an inch.
A perfect stance. Not copied from any single school. Synthesized from all of them.
Today, I'll show you both what it means to stand at the horizon of Martial Arts.
My measured voice echoed in their minds, causing both of their jaws to drop at what I was about to attempt.
ROOOOAR!
With a final roar, the dragon released a condensed beam of pitch-black energy toward me.
Similarly...
Magic circles on the back of my white glove illuminated like a pack of chained beasts finally freed.
Embers of crimson and black engulfed my hand.
&
I punched.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Everything went white.
...
..
.
Taking a dragon's strongest attack head-on?
With bare fists?
Everyone considered it impossible.
But nothing was impossible for me.
After all...
I was...
The Ultimate Hope.
...
..
.
***
[200 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[5 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Mana Burst]: It is a signature skill of Artoria that allows her to instantly infuse and release massive amounts of magical energy into her weapons and body, vastly increasing her strength, speed, and defense. This ability enables her to fight head-on with monsters, enhance her combat prowess, and release devastating energy blasts.
...
[Authors Thoughts]
I was...
After all...
The Ultimate Hope.
...
No cap bro got hard carried by his gloves. As for the result? It's coming next chapter.
...
Anyway... Enjoy.