Book 2: Chapter 243

Sedi grabbed Lukas’ hand, which was on her shoulder, and directly pushed her demonic energy into it.

Krrr-

“…kuk!”

The influx of demonic energy caused Lukas to grunt and stumble back a few steps. His face became dark in an instant.

When she saw that, Sedi thought she’d made a mistake by listening to him, but she didn’t say anything in the end.

Because even at that moment, Lukas’ eyes were calm and firm.

Rumble-

Lukas’ blood vessels became swollen and red. His eyes became black as if ink had been injected into them. And a mist of demonic energy slowly began to flow from his mouth. Even his saliva had become discoloured.

[Don’t even think about it!]

A moment later, Kaz lifted both of his hands. He’d widened the distance between them because he was wary, but he finally realised that it might have been the wrong choice. He didn’t know exactly what they were doing, but he knew that if he let them do as they pleased, things would become troublesome.

Boom!

Huge beams of light shot out from both of his hands.

Maybe it was because of the mood and setting, but it felt like the Dragon Breath attacks were flying towards them in slow motion.

“Sedi.”

Lukas’ voice drifted into her ears. She turned to look at him with a blank expression on her face.

His lips were spread into a smile, but for some reason, it gave her a strange feeling.

“Since we’re on a continent floating in the sky, some of my calculations might be incorrect. So I’m not entirely sure where you’ll go.”

“What?”

“However, I’m pretty sure that anywhere is safer than here.”

“Wait, what are you talking…”

“It’s one of my bad habits. I’ve always been like this. I’d rather carry the burden on my own than watch someone else carry it.”

Sedi’s eyes widened as she looked up at his face. It was only at that moment that she got a vague idea of what Lukas intended to do.

She hurriedly opened her mouth.

“Fath-”

“Forgive me.”

Piht-

Sedi disappeared.

[…!]

Kaz saw this scene clearly.

She didn’t move at a high speed or hide away with some kind of stealth technique.

Instead, almost as if she’d evaporated, Sedi’s very being disappeared from this fraction of space.

Boom boom boom!

And in the next instant, the Dragon Breaths hit Lukas.

The safe area immediately disappeared, the force of the explosion so strong that it sent the nearby ocean water into the air like a geyser.

Whoosh—

And in the artificial rain he created, Kaz muttered.

[What did you do?]

He didn’t receive an answer.

He gritted his teeth and roared in a loud voice.

[Where did you send my partn-!]

“…”

Crunch-

Lukas slowly stepped out of the crater that had been created by the explosion.

Kaz’s lips twitched slightly.

‘He’s still alive?’

…No. He was probably just overreacting.

That guy had been beside Sedi this entire time. Knowing that Kaz had intentionally weakened his attack. That was probably the thing that saved his life. In fact, the state of Lukas’ body was enough to say that he’d barely survived.

After wiping blood from the corner of his lips, Lukas finally gave him an answer.

“A place far beyond your reach.”

[…you sent her out of Death Island.]

Kaz spoke in a voice that contained barely suppressed rage.

[I will give you one chance… Bring Sedi back. Then, I’ll give you a painless death.]

“A mere Half-Absolute dares to give me orders?”

[Half?]

Kaz’s gaze became cold.

[It seems you still have the energy to wag your tongue around. However, your struggles are pointless. You should have realised this countless times by now. Your little tricks won’t work on me.]

“They’re not tricks. I’d prefer it if you called them magic.”

[I don’t care what they’re called. You still don’t seem to understand the being that is standing before you.]

“Dragon King.”

[That’s me.]

“…”

After a brief pause, Lukas continued to speak slowly.

“…if that name means the lord of Dragons, then I could call you Dragon Lord.”

It was a very forced interpretation, but more than that, it was completely out of the blue.

Kaz remained silent because he was still unsure about Lukas’ intentions.

“Did you know, Kaz. In a universe that you never even heard of, there is also a race called Dragons. But they are much higher and more powerful than the Dragonmen, Dragonlings, and Ancient Dragons here.”

[What are you trying to say?]

Lukas lifted his hands with his palms facing the sky.

Rumble…

Kaz’s expression changed when he felt the clouds above begin to stir with lightning once again.

How?

Although he didn’t know what sorcery or ‘magic’ Lukas was using, he knew that it required the consumption of some form of energy to be used. He also knew that in order to perform attacks as powerful as the ones Lukas had used so far, it would require a lot of said energy.

And as far as Kaz could tell, Lukas no longer had enough of that energy to use.

…No, that wasn’t right.

If he didn’t have the energy, then he couldn’t have made Sedi disappear.

‘Is he using his life energy as fuel?’

Such an act would be as foolish as strangling yourself to death.

It wasn’t worth it.

Lukas’ magic couldn’t do anything to him unless it hit a vital point.

Besides, he’d already seen the type of magic that Lukas could use. They were all like the lightning bolt that had struck him at the very start.

At best, they were artificially created elements. And that kind of thing could never scratch his scale-

[…!]

Kaz’s expression suddenly changed.

This lightning was different from the lightning that he’d used earlier.

He wasn’t sure what it was, but he knew that something had changed.

This…

Boom!

Suddenly, the lightning bolt struck, piercing through Kaz’s body in an instant.

His eyes went wide.

[Ku-, aaaack-!]

Then he let out a scream that he wouldn’t have been able to hold in even if he tried. An extreme pain, greater than anything he’d ever felt, seemed to fill his entire body in an instant. It felt like every inch of his skin was burning.

His scales, which he was so proud of, hadn’t stopped it.

What just happened?

[You… What did you…?]

Puffs of smoke came out of Kaz’s mouth as he stuttered.

On the other hand, Lukas simply looked at him with a calm expression and continued his explanation.

“—There was a race that drove those Dragons to extinction.”

Kaz would never know.

The existence of beings who carried the name, Demigod.

“Indra’s Lightning.”

Crackle.

Lightning crackled all across Lukas’ body.

His gamble had been a success.

Demonic energy.

This tainted power could not be used in place of his mana, which could be called the energy of nature itself. But it was possible to convert it to another type of power.

A power that greedily devoured and converted any energy that was mixed with it, making it its own.

“Fortunately, this power seems to work on you. Since magic doesn’t work on you, I’ll have to change my methods.”

Not magic power, but the power of the Demigods.

Divine power.