Chapter 408: Subjugating the Moon God Dragon
"O mighty one, do you agree with this?" the Great White High Priestess asked, her ancient eyes seeking validation.
Ren crossed his arms, his expression unreadable. "No. I still intend to confirm it for myself to see whether she is truly good or evil. I cannot simply act on your one-sided story."
"Denial. Dragons are the natural enemies of humanity," Suzaku interjected, his voice as cold and sharp as the blade at his hip. His mission was absolute: slay the Moon God Dragon and bring her flesh back for the Guild Master to consume. He had witnessed far too many tragedies, far too many scenes of dragons slaughtering humans with careless abandon, to ever agree with Ren's lenient stance. In his eyes, there was no such thing as a 'good' dragon. They were all inherently wicked.
"Where is this Selene?" Suzaku demanded, his hand resting lightly on his hilt. "I will slay her right now so you can see the truth for yourself!"
"Oh, ho, ho! As expected of Lord Suzaku!" the elderly priestess cackled, her wrinkled face stretching into a wide grin. "I have heard she resides atop Black Moon Mountain. Faris, you must guide our esteemed guests there at once."
"Yes, Great White High Priestess," the young woman sitting beside the elder replied with a deep, respectful bow.
Faris rose to her feet, gesturing toward the exit. "My lords, please follow me. I shall lead the way."
Ren and the Diabolos mages fell into step behind the young woman, leaving the dimly lit shrine behind.
As they walked through the winding mountain paths, Kyria clicked her tongue, her sharp canines flashing. "Even though their little summoning ritual gave us the information we needed on Selene, that old hag still gives me the creeps."
Faris flinched at the blunt insult, but Kyria couldn't care less about hurting the girl's feelings.
Madmole, walking with heavy, armored steps, shrugged his massive shoulders. "It matters not, Lady Kyria. Just knowing Selene's location is a massive advantage."
"Let us hope we actually succeed in capturing the Moon God Dragon this time," Skalion muttered, adjusting his collar with a helpless sigh. "The Water God Dragon was a failure. The Wood God Dragon was a failure. If we let the Moon God Dragon slip through our fingers as well, Diabolos will truly lose all face."
"Confirmed! This operation will unequivocally result in the subjugation of the Moon God Dragon!" Suzaku declared, his conviction absolute. The mission bestowed upon him by the Guild Master had to be completed, no matter the cost.
Suddenly, the air pressure plummeted. The ambient magic in the atmosphere grew so dense it felt like breathing underwater.
"My, my! Isn't it a bit too early to be making such bold claims?" a melodic, sultry woman's voice echoed from above.
Several figures materialized out of thin air, descending gracefully onto the path. Leading them was a woman of stunning beauty, draped in a dazzling, elegant kimono that seemed to weave the very night sky into its fabric.
The moment Ren laid eyes on her, a terrifying, suffocating wave of magic power washed over him. There was no mistaking it. This entity standing before them was none other than the Moon God Dragon, Selene.
"Se... Se... Selene!!!" Faris shrieked, her legs giving out as she collapsed to the ground in sheer terror.
As Dragon Eaters, Skalion, Kyria, and Madmole instantly felt the oppressive, god-like aura radiating from her. In the past, they might have been fearless out of sheer ignorance, but after witnessing the apocalyptic might of the Water God Dragon and the Wood God Dragon, they finally understood the terrifying reality. The legendary Five God Dragons truly lived up to their mythical titles. There was an impossible, yawning abyss between their own strength and the power of a God Dragon.
Suzaku's gaze hardened, his playful demeanor vanishing instantly. "Is this woman truly Selene?"
"So, you are the little pests from the White Mage's village," Selene mused, her lips curling into a haughty, amused smile. "At first, I thought you were merely a gathering of insignificant insects and couldn't be bothered to pay you any mind. But I never expected you to stir up such a delightful amount of trouble."
Selene's piercing, crescent-moon eyes naturally drifted past the Diabolos mages, locking directly onto Ren. As the one God Dragon who constantly monitored the movements of the other four, she had been keeping a very close eye on him. Mercphobia and Aldoron were among the most formidable beings in existence, and this man had played a central role in their defeats. He was clearly not a simple character.
"You... how could you possibly appear here?!" Faris stammered, trembling violently.
"Surprised?" Selene chuckled, a sound like chiming silver bells. "Not a single event in this world escapes my sight. Hearing you all clamor so loudly about subjugating me made me quite anxious. Truly, what kind of world has this become, where the mighty Five God Dragons are treated as mere prey to be hunted? It is highly unpleasant."
Suzaku stepped forward, his posture impeccable. "I offer my apologies, but it is my guild that wishes to dine upon a Dragon. I shall be taking the head of the Moon God Dragon today."
A devastating surge of magic power erupted from Suzaku's body, the sheer force of it cracking the earth beneath his feet. His hand rested lightly on the hilt of his katana, his thumb pushing the tsuba up a fraction of an inch.
Seeing the lethal stance, Ren immediately took several casual steps backward, ensuring he was well out of the splash zone for any incoming blood.
Noticing Ren acting like a mere spectator settling in for a theatrical performance, Selene's smile widened. She shifted her attention back to the swordsman. "Very well, then. Allow me to play with you properly."
In a blur of impossible speed, Suzaku drew his blade. He closed the distance in a fraction of a second, unleashing a devastating, crescent-shaped slash aimed directly at Selene's neck.
Yet, with a graceful, almost lazy leap, Selene floated backward, the lethal edge of the blade missing her throat by mere millimeters.
"Oh, ho! Your swordsmanship is quite impressive!" Ren murmured, genuinely surprised by the sheer speed and precision of the strike. The man's technique was flawless, and the slash itself was composed entirely of highly condensed magic. He was a master who had perfectly fused swordsmanship with magical power.
Had this been Ren before his transmigration, he wouldn't have been able to perceive the complex mechanics behind the strike. But now, having absorbed the memories of countless masters—most notably the peerless swordsman Yoriichi Tsugikuni—he could read the flow of the blade with crystal clarity. Even though Yoriichi's specific template had been recycled, Ren had relentlessly honed his own swordsmanship through sheer repetition and muscle memory. No matter what character he switched to, he never neglected his mastery of the blade.
"She dodged it?!" Suzaku gasped, his eyes widening in shock. His fully charged, instantaneous draw had been evaded as if it were moving in slow motion.
"A sword-drawing technique. How interesting," Selene purred, raising a slender hand. "Clear moonlight, flames of the age of gods! Moonlight Fire!"
A torrent of blinding, ethereal flames erupted from her palm, roaring toward Suzaku with incinerating heat.
Suzaku didn't panic. His blade flashed in a blinding arc, slicing straight through the center of the inferno, cleanly bisecting the roaring flames and scattering them into the wind.
"You may have 'extinguished' the fire," Selene whispered, her eyes glowing with an eerie, lunar light, "but the moonlight will never disappear."
The scattered embers of the bisected flames suddenly shifted, transforming into thousands of glowing, ethereal butterflies. In an instant, the swarm engulfed Suzaku, clinging to his clothes and skin.
"Dance, Moonlight Butterflies!!"
A chain of devastating, magical explosions detonated point-blank.
"Argh!!" Suzaku screamed, his body swallowed by the blinding lunar blasts.
"Lord Suzaku!" Madmole roared. Hearing the elite knight's cry of pain, the armored giant immediately charged forward to assist him. Suzaku was a member of their guild, and more, he was a Dark Dragon Slayer Knight. His strength vastly eclipsed their own. If Suzaku fell here, their chances of survival were practically zero, let alone their chances of returning to the guild with their heads held high.
Before Madmole could take another step, a towering woman with a physique even more heavily muscled than his own dropped from the sky, cracking the ground as she landed directly in his path.
"You won't be passing through here!" Mimi bellowed. Without a moment's hesitation, she pulled back her massive fist and threw a devastating punch aimed straight at Madmole's face.
BOOM!
Madmole crossed his arms, catching the colossal fist against his armored gauntlets. The shockwave shattered the earth beneath his boots, but he didn't budge an inch.
"What?!" Mimi gasped, her eyes widening in genuine shock. This was the first time a man had ever taken one of her full-strength punches head-on without being instantly pulverized.
Madmole noted the surprise in her eyes and smirked beneath his helmet. "I am the Armor Dragon, Madmole. Your blunt physical attacks are completely ineffective against me."
"Ineffective? I don't believe it for a second. Take this!!" Mimi roared, launching herself into a furious flurry of devastating blows.
"Then it's my turn!" Kyria sneered, her predatory instincts flaring. She leaped into the air, unleashing a massive, serrated magical slash aimed directly at Selene's blind spot.
Suddenly, a grotesque, multi-armed monster materialized out of thin air, throwing itself into the path of the blade. The slash tore through the beast, instantly killing it, but the kinetic force of Kyria's attack was completely absorbed.
"What is this?!" Kyria snarled, landing gracefully as the monster dissolved into smoke.
A woman with fox-like features giggled from the shadows, fanning herself lazily. "Fufufu! I will not allow a filthy mongrel like you to touch Lady Selene!"
Seeing Kyria and Madmole both intercepted, Skalion immediately raised his hands, his magic flaring to life. "Corpse Dragon's Absolute Ash!"
A massive cloud of necrotic, bone-gray ash erupted from his palms, ready to devour everything in its path.
"Freeze."
A single, chilling word cut through the battlefield.
A sudden, absolute-zero blizzard swept over the area. Before Skalion's ash could even travel ten feet, the very particles of his magic were snap-frozen in mid-air, clattering to the ground as harmless chunks of gray ice.
"How is this even possible?!" Skalion gasped, his composure finally shattering. His magic—an intangible, conceptual ash—had literally been frozen solid.
A beautiful woman with pale blue hair stepped forward from the swirling snow, her eyes as cold as the ice she commanded. "Lady Selene is currently enjoying herself. You are not permitted to disturb her."
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