Chapter 394: There Is Still a Difference
"Nothing is impossible in this world, but your arrogance is severely misplaced." Mercphobia's voice echoed across the churning waves, carrying the heavy, suffocating authority of a deity. "You are merely humans who have gorged yourselves on the stolen remnants of the Dragon Clan. Do you truly believe that consuming dead flesh grants you the power to slay a living god?"
The Water God Dragon hovered above the turbulent sea, his deep blue eyes narrowing with absolute disdain. "The gap between a true Dragon and a mongrel playing dress-up is as vast as the gulf between an ordinary mortal and a master Mage."
Without waiting for a response, Mercphobia casually waved his hand. The ocean beneath him immediately responded to its master's call, rising into the air and condensing into a massive barrage of hyper-pressurized water blades. With a sharp flick of his wrist, he sent the torrent slashing mercilessly toward Kiria.
"Aaaahhhh!"
Kiria's feral smirk instantly vanished, replaced by a scream of genuine agony. Despite wielding Blade Dragon Slayer Magic, she found her own cutting power utterly eclipsed by the sheer density of the water. The God Dragon's blades easily bypassed her defenses, slicing numerous deep, bleeding wounds across her arms, legs, and torso.
"Kiria!"
Madmole rushed over with earth-shattering speed, throwing his massive body directly in front of his injured comrade. As the Armor Dragon of Diabolos, he specialized entirely in unparalleled physical defense. He crossed his thick, scale-covered arms, fully confident that his magical armor could block almost any attack thrown his way.
Whoosh!
Before Madmole could even brace himself, the sound of tearing wind filled his ears. Mercphobia's body flickered, crossing the spatial distance in a mere fraction of a second to appear directly in front of the armored giant. Madmole's confident expression instantly crumbled into sheer terror.
Mercphobia's fist had already buried itself deep into Madmole's armored chest.
"Ugh—aaaahhh!!"
Madmole's defense was renowned within his guild as incredibly formidable, capable of withstanding the fiercest of physical assaults. However, he was currently facing the Water God Dragon. Even restricted to his humanoid form, Mercphobia's raw, unadulterated physical strength existed in a completely different dimension than that of a Fifth-Generation Dragon Eater.
The fist, completely enveloped in the overwhelming, crushing pressure of the Water God Dragon's magic, was terrifyingly heavy. It felt as though the entire weight of the ocean had been concentrated into a single, devastating point of impact. Even Madmole, the impenetrable Armor Dragon, could not withstand the apocalyptic force.
His metallic scales cracked and shattered. Madmole let out a breathless scream as he was violently launched backward, skipping across the surface of the water like a thrown stone.
"Corpse Ash Dragon's Absolute Ash!"
Taking advantage of the momentary opening, Skullion Raider initiated his counterattack. He clapped his hands together, casting a massive wave of his signature Fifth-Generation magic directly at the Water God Dragon. A dark, suffocating cloud of ash erupted from his palms, possessing the terrifying magical property to instantly decay and turn anything it touched into lifeless dust.
Facing Skullion's lethal magic, Mercphobia's expression remained perfectly stoic. He merely opened his mouth and unleashed a violent, highly concentrated roar of pure, raging water.
The roaring geyser completely engulfed the sky, its immense mass and velocity instantly neutralizing Skullion's attack. The heavy water thoroughly soaked the magical ash, stripping away its decaying properties and violently washing it out of the air. Without losing a fraction of its momentum, the water jet slammed directly into Skullion's body.
"Waaaaahhh!"
Skullion didn't even have the time to break his body down into ash to use his signature teleportation. The sheer kinetic impact of the water struck him like a runaway train, sending him flying an unknown distance across the coastline alongside his battered guildmates.
"Pfft!"
Having effortlessly swatted away the three intruders, Mercphobia suddenly doubled over. A sharp, violent cough racked his chest, and he spat out a thick mouthful of dark blood onto the pristine white sands of the beach.
He leaned heavily against a nearby cluster of rocks, clutching his chest as a blinding, electrical pain flared through his body. He finally realized that the warning Ren had given him earlier was no lie. The blonde mage's bizarre, energy-infused strikes hadn't just bruised his exterior; they had directly bypassed his dragon scales to inflict severe, lingering damage to his internal nervous system.
He was internally bleeding, and his magical pathways felt as though they were constantly misfiring. He desperately needed to retreat and recover properly.
As for the three Dragon Eaters he had just swatted away, Mercphobia didn't even bother to track their trajectory. They were nothing more than three jumping clowns, ignorant insects completely unaware of the heavens above them. If they ever dared to show their faces in Elmina and target him again, he wouldn't mind finishing them off permanently.
With a heavy, exhausted sigh, Mercphobia dove beneath the crashing waves, letting the familiar, comforting embrace of the ocean carry him back toward his underwater temple.
A short distance away, heavily concealed by the jagged cliffs of the coastline, three battered figures suddenly materialized from a swirling vortex of dark ash. It was the Dragon Eater trio of Diabolos, looking significantly worse for wear.
Kiria leaned against the stone wall, her breath ragged. She had sustained numerous slicing injuries from the water blades, though thankfully, none of them were fatal. As the Blade Dragon, her physical endurance and offensive capabilities were top-tier, allowing her to mitigate the worst of the damage.
Madmole sat heavily on the ground, groaning as he gingerly touched his cracked chest plate. He had only suffered minor internal bruising, but his pride was severely wounded. As the Armor Dragon, he realized he could barely manage to survive a single, casual strike from the Water God Dragon, let alone fight back.
Skullion's injuries were similarly non-lethal, though his aristocratic coat was completely drenched and ruined. During the final moments of the impact, he had managed to turn a fraction of his body into ash to cushion the blow. If he had taken the God Dragon's water breath head-on, his bones would have been pulverized.
"Damn it! Damn it all!" Kiria slammed her fist against the cliff face, her eyes burning with feral fury. "Our prized catch just slipped right through our fingers! He's right there, heavily wounded, and we're running away like beaten dogs!"
Madmole let out a heavy sigh, his usually stoic demeanor replaced by quiet pragmatism. "Calm down, Kiria. That is one of the Five God Dragons. They have reigned over the continent of Guiltina as untouchable myths for over a hundred years. This guy's inherent strength is far, far greater than we could have ever imagined."
"Skullion, you coward!" Kiria snapped, turning her furious gaze to the Ash Dragon. "That guy is practically on his deathbed! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to take down a God Dragon! We can't just let a feast like that swim away!"
Skullion adjusted his wet collar, his brow furrowing in deep thought. To be entirely honest, he hated the idea of giving up the prey just as much as she did. The flesh of a God Dragon was an absolute delicacy that would push their magical power to unprecedented heights. But under the current circumstances, his logical mind knew they had to back down.
"Let's retreat," Skullion ordered, his tone leaving no room for argument.
"What?! Skullion, are you seriously scared?!" Kiria sneered, her fangs bared. "I never expected you to lose your nerve after getting splashed just once!"
"Use your brain for a second," Skullion hissed, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "The Water God Dragon was already engaged in a brutal battle with some mysterious, overpowered mage. And yet, even after sustaining such heavy internal injuries from that fight, he still possessed enough combat strength to effortlessly swat the three of us away like flies."
He paused, letting the harsh reality of the situation sink into his comrades' heads.
"His inherent strength is completely out of our league. Perhaps only the Guild Master coming here in person could rival him. We are not yet a match for a God Dragon. Furthermore, the regenerative physique of the Dragon Clan is absurdly strong. Even though he's injured now, there's no telling when his internal wounds will fully heal. If we don't retreat while we still have our lives, we won't get a second chance when he recovers."
"Then what?" Kiria spat, kicking a loose rock. "Are we just going to sit back, watch the ocean, and give up?!"
"No," Skullion replied, a dark, calculating smile slowly creeping onto his face. "The fact that the Water God Dragon was severely injured in a battle with a mysterious human is massive, top-tier intelligence. Currently, only the three of us know this."
He looked between Kiria and Madmole, his eyes gleaming with greed. "As long as we report this critical vulnerability to the Guild Master, he will definitely be unable to resist coming to Elmina himself. After all, Master Georg is obsessively interested in devouring the flesh and blood of the Five God Dragons."
Madmole nodded slowly, beginning to understand the Ash Dragon's plan.
"When the Guild Master kills the Water God Dragon," Skullion continued, "it will be recorded as a monumental achievement for our team. Although the Master will naturally take the lion's share of the dragon's flesh, he will still reward us with a small portion of the kill. And trust me, even a small fraction of a God Dragon's flesh will be more than enough to make the three of us exponentially stronger."
After quickly calculating the risks and rewards, Skullion had decided that outsourcing the kill to their Guild Master was their only viable option. Although their personal gains would be significantly reduced, a guaranteed reduction was far better than dying horribly on this beach with nothing to show for it.
As long as the three of them consumed the God Dragon's meat and became stronger, their status within Diabolos would skyrocket, making it a guaranteed profitable endeavor.
Hearing this logic, Kiria clicked her tongue in annoyance. She knew he was right, no matter how much her pride hated it. They had all felt the crushing, suffocating weight of the Water God Dragon's magic earlier. He was simply a monster they couldn't butcher on their own.
"Let's go," Skullion said, turning his back to the ocean. "Besides the Water God Dragon, there are four other God Dragons wandering the Guiltina Continent. As long as we get a taste of this one and increase our power, we might actually have the strength to hunt down the others ourselves in the future."
After finishing his piece, Skullion activated his Corpse Ash magic. A swirling vortex of grey dust enveloped the three injured mages, quickly breaking their bodies down into ash before the ocean breeze scattered them into the wind, leaving the rocky coastline completely empty.
[Akarin's Note: Georg Reizen is the Guild Master of the dark guild Diabolos. Known infamously as the 'Four Beast Dragon Slayer,' he is a monstrously powerful individual who gained his unique magic by personally hunting and consuming the flesh of four different, highly powerful dragons.]
Meanwhile, on the northern edge of the Guiltina Continent, a brilliant flash of golden light illuminated the quiet interior of the Magia Dragon guild hall.
After executing several consecutive long-distance spatial jumps using the Flying Thunder God Technique, Ren had seamlessly crossed the massive expanse of the continent. The spatial coordinates he had marked earlier that day made the return trip completely instantaneous.
When Ren suddenly materialized from thin air directly in front of Elefseria's massive wooden desk, the ancient Law Dragon Slayer nearly jumped out of his skin.
"Yo! I'm back!"
Ren offered a casual, relaxed wave, greeting the stunned Guild Master as if he had just returned from a quick stroll to the local market, rather than a legendary, century-old suicide mission.
"You... you..." Elefseria stammered, his eyes wide as saucers as he pointed a trembling finger at the young mage. "How are you back so soon?! Aren't you supposed to be out executing the Hundred Year Quest? Where is the Water God Dragon? Did you not manage to find his territory?!"
Elefseria was completely dazed. He had only just sent Ren off to Elmina, the Water God Dragon's domain, yesterday afternoon. How on earth was the boy already standing back in his office after barely twenty-four hours?
The ancient guild master's mind raced through the possibilities. If the Water God Dragon had actually been eliminated, it would be an impossible feat for a single day. Furthermore, if Mercphobia had been truly killed or completely sealed, the magical tracking circle deeply engraved into the floor of the guild hall would have instantly reacted and lit up.
Since the grand magic circle remained dark and completely dormant, it mathematically proved that the Water God Dragon hadn't been defeated.
"Oh, I ran into him," Ren replied casually, leaning his hip against the edge of Elefseria's desk.
"You ran into him?!" Elefseria gasped, quickly scanning the blonde mage from head to toe. "Then what happened? Did you fight? Were you not his match?"
Elefseria realized with a jolt of confusion that Ren didn't have a single scratch on him. His clothes weren't torn, his breathing was perfectly steady, and his magical aura was as calm as a placid lake. It didn't look like he had just gone toe-to-toe with a cataclysmic deity.
"It went alright," Ren shrugged, picking up a pen from the desk and twirling it between his fingers. "That Water God Dragon guy is definitely pretty tough, I'll give him that. But he's comfortably within the range of what I can handle."
Ren paused, setting the pen down and looking the ancient guild master directly in the eye. "I actually came all the way back here because I wanted to consult you about a specific technicality in the contract."
"A technicality?" Elefseria blinked, utterly bewildered. "What is it?"
"When your quest board says I need to 'Seal' the Five God Dragons," Ren began, crossing his arms over his chest. "What exactly do you mean by the word 'Seal'? Does it strictly mandate that I have to kill the guy, or does simply sealing away his magical power count toward completing the objective?"
"Is there really a difference?" Elefseria asked, his ancient brow furrowing in deep confusion. In his century of endless, bitter struggle against the dragons, the two concepts had always been mutually inclusive. If a mage miraculously possessed the overwhelming, god-like power required to forcibly 'Seal' a God Dragon's magic, then they naturally possessed more than enough strength to just execute the beast outright.
Ren offered a small, knowing smile and gave a firm nod.
"There's still a massive difference," Ren clarified, his tone shifting from casual to absolute confidence. "If I kill him, his existence is permanently erased. But sealing away his divine magic and stripping him of his destructive power... that is something I can easily do without ever having to take his life."
[Akarin's Note:
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