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It was a strange sensation, one she’d never experienced before.

Her small body, once a weakness.

The body she saw was still small.

But if she were to describe how she felt, it was as if she could reach out and touch something a thousand miles away.

Not like the body of a young Elf, but like becoming water, becoming the sea, engulfing the world.

The sensation in her Upper Dantian felt as if it was communicating with the heavens and earth, not just in her Upper Dantian, but throughout her entire body.

A sense of liberation.

She couldn’t fully express the sensation she was feeling in words, but if she had to, liberation was the closest she could get.

Like breaking out of the shell of a small world and facing the vast world for the first time.

The laws that had been with her until now no longer felt so natural.

She stared blankly at the world, which hadn’t changed, yet was different from before.

Then, she suddenly turned her head in the direction where she felt a gaze.

The golden dragon who had been toying with the two giants just moments ago.

Gal Dragon was staring at her with wide eyes.

His reptilian pupils were constricted, filled with emotions such as doubt and astonishment.

Unlike the intense emotions she had felt until just now, she looked at Gal Dragon with a strangely calm mind.

The surroundings of the giant dragon were another world.

A solid and vast world built over hundreds of years by a being born as omnipotent as her mother.

It was a tyrant’s world, on a completely different level from the fragile and small world that had just been born, pieced together haphazardly.

Ironically, it was only now, after fighting for so long and being on the verge of death, that she could clearly feel how tremendous the being before her was.

“What is this… a mere mortal achieving mythology after the fact?”

Ignoring the bewildered dragon, she examined her body.

Internal energy depleted.

Her arm twisted by the dragon’s incantation.

Even in perfect condition, she would have a nine in ten chance of losing.

‘It’s finally moving.’

The surrounding Mana, which had been immobile, dominated by the dragon’s world, the dragon’s domain, moved her body, which had been as heavy as a prim maiden.

Her whole body breathed, accepting the energy of heaven and earth.

The dried-up Dantians filled with energy, and it began to circulate throughout her body.

But the energy didn’t properly spread to her terribly twisted right arm.

Crack. Crack.

The gruesome sound echoed as she returned the twisted bones of her right arm to their original position.

The places where her arm had returned to its original position were bruised and swollen.

There, her Living Spirit Armor covered her arm.

The bruises that had covered her arm disappeared a little, though only slightly.

But even if it looked good on the outside, the inside of her arm was still broken, simply returned to its original position.

She closed her eyes and contemplated her inner self.

Thirteen paths were severed in her right arm.

Energy gathered at Gyeonjeong, and a thread appeared in her mind.

The threads of the unraveled skein moved towards the severed paths in her right arm, connecting them one by one.

Meridians and bones began to be sutured or fixed with qi threads.

After a brief meditation, she clenched and unclenched her right hand a few times.

‘It’s not perfect, but it’s roughly connected.’

However, it wasn’t fully recovered, so she wasn’t in perfect condition.

She would have to keep her main force in her left hand, but she would have to be satisfied with having restored the balance between the left and right, which had been broken.

She turned her attention away from her healed right arm and looked at the dragon, who was staring at her with bewildered eyes.

‘Normally, my strike would never reach the dragon.’

The rules covered by the dragon’s incantation.

Unlike before, she could feel the existence of those rules.

What she saw was a small distance, about 100 steps away even for a child.

But her intuition told her that she would never reach him, even if an eternity passed.

‘It’s strange, I don’t think it’s impossible anymore.’

Perhaps it was because she had forcibly achieved what the dragon called the completion of the world.

‘I need to go before my disciples get hurt any more.’

How many times was this today?

Inspiration, which had rarely visited her in her life, surged.

Perhaps more martial arts were being created today than she had created in her entire life.

To refine the inspiration that came to mind, her consciousness sank into her mind.

The core idea was dragonslaying.

What she desired was a fraction of the power of the Eight Legions of gods and demigods, the protectors of Buddhism.

The authority of the Garuda, the great golden-winged bird that eats dragons.

As always, a moment was enough for the necessary enlightenment.

She felt that one step was enough, even though it was a distance that would never be reached.

Araya Style, Garuda Wing Step.

Peng Journey of Ten Thousand Miles.

Units to describe the distance were useless.

The distance, which had been close to infinity, contracted.

The flapping of the Garuda’s wings, which could fly ten thousand miles at once with a single flap.

The dragon’s body, which seemed impossible to reach.

The True silver sword was swung towards the dragon’s claws, which were skewering Silb like a skewer.

“!”

Had he believed in his incantation? The dragon, who had blankly allowed her to approach, simply watched as his toes were cut off.

The dragon’s scream was a mixture of pain and anger.

It was the dragon who had been enjoying a game, feigning inferiority while taking her on with all his might.

But for some reason, she believed that his reaction to this attack was genuine.

Although it was just a hope in a still difficult situation.

Silb fell with the severed dragon’s toes.

It was only for a moment, but he was already losing consciousness due to the pain of being pierced through the body.

“Golb. Take Silb and go back. And never return north. Not until I return, no matter what happens.”

“…What are you going to do, Master?”

“I’m going to hold this dragon here.”

Ignoring the dragon, who was looking at her with a complicated expression, she pointed in one direction.

“If you go back in that direction, you’ll be able to meet Rudolph. Take him with you.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just feel it.”

Golb, who had been listening to her in silence, bit his lip and said.

“…I’d rather-”

“Do you think you can? Against that dragon?”

“…But.”

“This is not a fight you can afford to join.”

She smiled quietly at her silent disciple.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to die in your place. I have a small realization that gives me some countermeasures against that dragon, so that’s why.”

At those words, Golb gritted his teeth, slung the unconscious Silb over his shoulder, and said.

“I’ll be waiting. You must… you must come back.”

“Yes, get out of here as quickly as possible, even if it’s hard with your injured body.”

She watched the Giant brothers, who were sneaking away while watching the dragon’s reaction, disappear, then turned her eyes to the dragon.

The dragon’s severed toes had already been restored, but he was still looking at her with a complicated expression.

“You seem surprised, Gal Dragon. I didn’t think you’d just let them go.”

“…I don’t care about such insignificant things anymore. Tell me, mortal. How did a mortal create their own world?”

“Is it that surprising?”

She said, moving the space that made up her and her surroundings.

Metaphorically speaking, she had created a world, but in the end, it was the will and mind transcending the individual and manifesting as a phenomenon.

It was also a realm of attainment that was rare even in the history of the Central Plains, but since humans themselves had not yet properly mastered Mana and existed in an uncivilized realm, he might have been surprised that she was the first being in this world to reach this realm after the fact.

Even though it was incomplete and could break at any moment.

“…I was already surprised enough by the many talents you’ve shown so far, but even with my knowledge, I can’t believe the sight I’m witnessing now.”

“Then, as compensation for providing you with surprise, would you let me go?”

“I can’t do that.”

Desire burned in the dragon’s eyes.

“There are five beings in this star, including myself, who were born as transcendent beings who created the world from the beginning. Now there are only three left, but there is a being in front of me who has reached transcendence after the fact. I want you very much… very much…”

The golden giant dragon. Gal Dragon’s world.

His domain began to creep into her domain like a swamp.

“Become mine. Araya.”

With the dragon’s obsession, the battle of the transcendent beings began.

◈ ◈ ◈

The battle continued for three more nights.

The vast nature of the north was also caught up in the battle of the transcendent beings and suffered.

“You look tired. Why don’t you give up now?”

“…I can do this all day.”

“It’s already been a day.”

Each time the dragon’s domain and her domain collided, the collision of the domains, which were equal in rank even if the total amount of power was unknown, left traces throughout the wide-open land and forests.

The swung sword and the dragon’s claws created a huge force that could not be seen or heard before they even touched each other, pushing each other away.

Even the domain that contained the possibility of omnipotence was, in this way, merely a force field with enormous power.

The enormous force created by the collision lost its way and soared into the innocent land and sky.

The land screamed and created huge scars, and the force that stretched into the air stirred up the clouds.

“Don’t you know that I’m holding back in order to get you completely? If you become mine quietly now, I won’t treat you badly.”

Gal Dragon said with a desperate emotion.

The dragon’s obsession grew stronger as the battle continued.

She didn’t know if he wanted to get her completely, but she also felt that he wasn’t giving it his all.

Even when he used the technique of folding the earth and walking, like her Garuda Wing Step, and engaged in close combat.

Even when he summoned wind and storms, called forth the flames of hell, and created the harmony of bringing forth the cold, she could feel him controlling his power.

It must be because he wanted to get her as flawlessly as possible.

She examined her inner self with an expressionless face.

As Gal Dragon said, she was already close to her limit.

It was a reaction to reaching the domain imperfectly and forcibly, rather than naturally reaching the domain.

Her mind, which was not complete, and her power, which was not suitable for her realm, had been wielded for three days and nights, and cracks were forming from within.

‘If I only had one chance… if I only had one chance.’

A suicide attack that she had been weaving for three days, hoping for just one chance.

But the dragon did not allow even a single gap.

For a long time, they were waiting for a chance, hoping for a collision that would target each other.

“…That’s enough. I’m sick of it.”

The dragon said coldly, unlike before.

“I don’t know how you reached it, but I can feel you collapsing on your own. A created transcendent being was just that, after all. I’m no longer interested in broken wreckage.”

She could feel the dragon’s obsessive will, which had been sticking to her like a swamp for three days and nights, disappearing.

“A half-baked piece of trash. The sin of bothering me. And the sin of insulting the dignity of a transcendent being. I will erase you from this world without leaving a single speck of dust.”

Obsession became murderous intent and covered the world.

Gal Dragon spread his huge wings and pointed his snout towards her.

And his mouth opened.

It was an action that had never been seen throughout the battle.

A huge energy swelled from the dragon’s core.

‘Something’s different!’

Even the domain she was barely maintaining, having reached her limit, began to shake.

All the Mana in the atmosphere was sucked into the dragon’s mouth as if there was a huge attraction.

A phenomenon in which the surrounding Mana was condensed and appeared as visible particles.

In an instant, she felt a huge warning from her Upper Dantian, along with a premonition.

A huge pillar of light that would burn all things in the world.

‘…I can’t avoid it. And I can’t stop it…’

The dragon’s rage was directed at her, preparing to explode with only a moment to spare.

‘It’s over.’

I sensed my end.

I gave a bitter smile and stroked the blade of True Silver Sword.

‘You, too, met the wrong master and were only used for a short time.’

Inside the dragon’s mouth, a massive light of destruction was already beginning to take shape.

‘Even so, I don’t want to just accept my end without doing anything.’

I raised my sword to the sky and took a stance.

A suicide attack I had intended to use on the dragon if the opportunity arose.

The flow of ki reversed.

The circulation of defying the heavens.

The ki within me resonated with the surroundings and surged upward as if exploding.

The ki, which had nearly tripled in an instant, began to rampage, trying to break free from my control.

As it swept through every meridian point in my body, I felt blood rising in my throat.

Even in the pain, I looked at the dragon that would bring about my end.

One breath.

I poured all my spirit into the sword and swung it towards the light of destruction that was about to be unleashed.

Three faces and six arms cannot contain all power.

Araya-style.

Six Paths of Reincarnation, Asura, Asura’s Heart.

Asura’s Sky-Turning Dance.

The moment the three streams of sword energy shot towards the light and collided, I lost consciousness.

◈ ◈ ◈

Gal Dragon quietly looked down at the insignificant being before him.

A being who, with an insignificant body, had clumsily created her own myth.

A being who had stubbornly refused to become his, a being who stood tall even after taking his breath head-on. Gal Dragon wore a complex expression as he looked at Araya.

She stood upright, but her jewel-like eyes had lost their reason, and she was already unconscious.

“I was going to erase you from the world entirely.”

A voice uttered as if in lament.

Gal Dragon, who had rarely given up on his obsessions, felt his heart grow complicated as he looked at Araya again.

“To think this body would be shaken by something like this.”

It was regret.

The being before him was already a wreck, unlike when he had desperately desired her.

The transcendence’s spirituality could no longer be felt.

She was barely clinging to life, but if left alone, she would soon die.

Araya’s long fur, which had resembled his own golden scales, was now charred and grotesque from his breath.

Her dull green clothes were already in tatters.

Much of the brilliance he had desired was gone.

Nevertheless, Gal Dragon still felt possessive of Araya.

How many times had he reversed his decision in this short period?

It was the first time this had happened since he was born as a transcendent.

The dragon, who had reached out to Araya, paused for a moment and murmured.

“Even in this body, reduced in size from my true form, you are still small.”

After hesitating, Gal Dragon sighed and unleashed his power.

A light briefly enveloped the massive dragon.

In the place where the dragon had been, there was only a golden-haired beautiful man.

“To think this body would imitate a monkey just to obtain a broken toy.”

As Gal Dragon reached out, Araya’s unconscious body moved swiftly, and a sword strike flew towards Gal Dragon’s neck.

But the sword, which lacked proper strength, did not reach the body of Gal Dragon, who had transformed into a human.

“You are tenacious, Araya. Even in that state, you refuse me?”

Not knowing that it fuels my desire even more.

“This body has already displayed a lifetime of ugliness to obtain you. There is nothing to hold back now.”

Gal Dragon bent down and stroked the face of Araya, who was standing there unconscious.

“So, the things you thought were intact were because of these?”

The talisman hanging from Araya’s right ear.

And the branch of the World Tree on her left arm.

All had turned to ashes and scattered.

“It seems they were cherished quite a bit. But it’s done. Now you are mine.”

As Gal Dragon’s hand glowed, the scars on Araya’s body and her burnt hair returned to how they were before the fight.

“Such dull rags no longer suit you.”

Gal Dragon burned away all the martial robes that were barely covering Araya, and then picked up the naked Araya.

True Silver Sword, which had slipped from Araya’s grasp, hit the ground with a metallic sound.

“…Having a toy or two wouldn’t be bad.”

As he glanced at True Silver Sword, it disappeared before his eyes.

Along with it, Gal Dragon, who was holding Araya, also vanished without a trace.

The realm of giants, where transcendents had fought for three days and nights, had the opportunity to enjoy silence for the first time in a long time.