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Chapter 322: The Juggernaut's Retreat
Despite transforming into a berserker, Aiden's rigorously tempered skills didn't degrade in the slightest amidst his madness. Instead, they became more unconstrained, more unpredictable, and infinitely more... unconventional.
He no longer limited himself to just slashing with the Godslayer: Surtr. This ruined battlefield and the crystal debris scattering the floor all became his weapons.
A crystal pillar as thick as a barrel, snapped by the shockwaves of their clash, crashed down from the ceiling. Aiden seized the opportunity, delivering a spinning jump kick that slammed his flame-wreathed right foot fiercely into the end of the pillar.
Whoosh—!
The massive crystal column hurled toward the newly stabilized Juggernaut with a shrill, shrieking whistle.
Boom—!!!
Completely unprepared for such a strike, the Juggernaut took the blow head-on. The terrifying kinetic force blasted its massive frame away, sending it tumbling wildly across the floor before it finally skidded to a halt.
Roar!
Thoroughly enraged, the Juggernaut displayed the terrifying adaptability worthy of the Calamity. It stomped the ground, moving at a divine speed the naked eye couldn't track. Using the fractured terrain to its advantage, its silhouette flickered and leaped madly between the walls, ceiling, and floor, unleashing a three-dimensional, cascading assault upon Aiden from a myriad of unbelievable angles.
Faced with this onslaught, Aiden merely let out a hearty, battle-crazed roar. He stopped chasing the blue-purple blur and stomped hard, shattering the crystal floor beneath him. Then, with an absurdly divine speed of his own, he kicked the varying-sized crystal chunks one after another using his roaring, flame-clad legs.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Countless crystal stones enveloped in crimson fire transformed into whistling, lethal fiery cannonballs. They rained down like a tempest, unleashing an indiscriminate, omnidirectional saturation bombardment.
The Juggernaut's pitch-black armor had the ability to reflect pure magical attacks. However, the essence of these blazing crystal shards was purely physical. This rendered the Juggernaut's proudest defensive measure completely obsolete.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions rang out continuously. Although the Juggernaut's extreme speed allowed it to dodge most of the bombardment, its body was ultimately too large. Coupled with Aiden anticipating its evasion trajectories flawlessly with every kick, the monster simply couldn't escape.
Countless fiery projectiles detonated against its black shell one after another, blasting its sturdy armor into a miserable, tattered mess.
Dodge left? Or right?
It didn't matter anymore. All who defied him would be slaughtered.
This savage, barbaric combat style that turned the entire battlefield into his domain made the blood in Aiden's veins boil completely. An unprecedented, exhilarating rush swept over his body. His mouth uncontrollably twisted upward, ultimately forming a feral, ecstatic grin bordering on the grotesque.
In that moment, the gentle, calm, and reliable image he usually projected was personally shattered and torn down by his own hands.
"That's right... exactly. Burn to your heart's content, like the sun, and then... illuminate this dull world."
Watching from afar, Hermes's smile grew wider and wider. Aiden's performance filled him with immense satisfaction—even a deep, genuine ecstasy.
"Mr. Aiden..." Ryuu muttered.
Leaning against the freezing wall, Ryuu supported herself on her uninjured left leg and forced herself to stand. Her complex gaze was locked onto the figure resembling a demon of fire.
Have you... already... grown this strong?
An indescribable warmth slowly trickled from the depths of her long-frozen heart, spreading through limbs that were numb from blood loss and terror. That figure stepping forward, clashing head-on in a frenzy of madness against the Calamity, was just so... so radiant.
Radiant enough to make her feel ashamed of her own inadequacy. Radiant enough to sting eyes long accustomed to the dark.
She couldn't stop wondering.
If...
If she had possessed this kind of reckless courage on that day four years ago.
If... she had possessed this power capable of burning even despair to ashes.
Then, back then...
Wouldn't everyone have survived?
The Juggernaut felt shock. This was only the second time it had experienced such a sensation since being birthed from pure malice within the Dungeon's abyss.
The first had been against the Boarman Warlord known as Ottar. With his greatsword, that man had effortlessly lopped off its arm and tail, branding the fear known as "death" into its newly formed, chaotic consciousness.
And this time, it was the white-haired man wreathed in crimson flames standing before it. Once again, he made it feel that bone-deep terror of death.
No matter how it attacked, no matter how it pushed its speed to unbelievable extremes, those cold blue eyes always caught its trajectory beforehand. No matter how madly it swung its invincible Destruction Claw, it couldn't breach the guard of that blazing, red greatsword that looked like a fragment of the sun.
Still newly born, its primitive and muddled mind couldn't possibly comprehend why it was being so completely suppressed and intimidated. Perhaps it viewed the unceasing, ever-sharpening storm of crimson slashes as an insurmountable threat; or perhaps it ultimately yielded to the domineering, overwhelming aura burning like the sun around Aiden...
For the first time, the Juggernaut stepped back.
Its long, twig-like, reverse-jointed hind legs stumbled awkwardly backwards by half a step. In this barbaric battle betting both their lives, it was the monster—this beast symbolizing ruin and the Calamity—that surrendered first.
The second the Juggernaut stepped back, a brilliant, absolute spark of fire erupted in Aiden's battle-hungry blue eyes. He raised the Godslayer: Surtr, a blade linked directly to his soul, high into the air.
Accompanied by a hum that vibrated through the air, he unleashed a slash... a slash so blindingly radiant it outshone the sun and moon.
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