Chapter 0.3 prologue - one last journey (3)

Steam hissed and roared through the air as Edward finished speaking, his entire body undergoing a remarkable transformation. He grew in size and his face sprouted hair, while his body became even more massive and muscular. Before the dragon army, Edward revealed his transformed self—a majestic white lion hybrid with claws and a head reminiscent of a lion's.

"COME AT ME, YOU FUCKING LIZARDS!" Edward's roar echoed through the battlefield as he seized a dragon fang from the ground and leapt towards an approaching red dragon. His sword glowed with a sharp red hue as it ripped through the dragon's hard scales, taking its head clean off its body.

"DIE, FUCKER!" Edward shouted, momentarily impaling the dragon's head with his sword and then using his newly transformed claws, covered in a crimson hue, to stop a charging green dragon. With a display of raw strength, Edward lifted the dragon off the ground and split it in half, covering his body in blood, which turned his silver mane to red.

"ARGHHHHHHHH!" he roared, jumping and picking up his sword, spinning violently as the red aura surrounding him split the dragons and their magic.

A little further ahead, John slashed through hordes of dragons, his armor emitting a golden hue, protecting him from the constant dragon blasts. His spear, covered in silver, pierced and cut through the dragons with precision.

"ASCENSION STAGE ONE - MATERIAL CUT!" John shouted, swinging his spear down with a burst of golden light that cleaved through everything before him. A green dragon, covered in a black hue, halted John's attack.

"You people are strong for mere humans, to have been able to kill so many of us, your handling of spirit aura is great too, for you to be able to defend against our attacks, but that stop—"

"Ascension stage 7 - dimensional cut," John interrupted, and with a more pronounced silver hue on his spear's tip, he sliced the green dragon in half before it could finish speaking. "Fucking lizard," John muttered as he looked back at the fountain of blood from the slain dragon.

"Heavenly spear dance + ascension stage 7 - world splitter," John declared as he danced around the battlefield with long steps, cutting through the breaths of fire, ice, poison, and the bodies of the dragons as they attacked him.

While John and Edward wreaked havoc among the dragons, things were not looking good on the titan side, where Geoffrey, Henry, and William stood against the titan army.

"7th stage magic - METEOR!" Geoffrey cast, throwing up a mouthful of blood, while Henry protected him, wielding a bow made of the branch of the world tree. William, in his wolf form, jumped around, killing every titan that approached, protecting their ranks.

"Huff, huff, Geoffrey... I don't think I can last much longer at this rate. These bastards are too strong, and unlike those two monstrous bastards on the dragon side, William and I aren't quite as adept in using spirit aura. What I am about to do will be my final stand... Don't die, old bastard," Henry said, throwing his bow and quiver to the ground, to which Geoffrey offered nothing but a silent nod. They knew there was a great degree of certainty none of them would make it out of this battle, and if Geoffrey stopped Henry now, it would be an insult to Henry's determination.

"Ascension final stage - ENT!" Henry shouted, as he did his body slowly transformed into a tree, growing larger and larger until he dwarfed even the Titans in size.

"Huff, huff, huff," William heaved as he climbed onto Henry's head, shouting, "Go, Henry! I'll make sure nothing gets in your way!" He then leaped down and muttered under huffed breath, "Ascension stage 5 + Ethil family secret technique - flame world."

As he spoke, *everything around him, even the air, turned to flames*. His sword moved with incredible speed, obliterating everything in its path, leaving behind nothing but charred bodies and a battlefield engulfed in fire. The flames only stopped when they reached their intended target, the titan emperor, Kostas.

"It seems I must get involved earlier than I anticipated," Kostas said as he gazed at the lightning dragon, just launched at him by Henry. "Impressive… for ants," Kostas scoffed, swinging his sword and cutting the dragon in half with ease.

"No way," Geoffrey muttered, coughing up another mouthful of blood.

"Hut," Kostas muttered as he jumped, instantly appearing right in front of the gigantic Henry. "Impressive, I give you that, but unfortunately, you met me," Kostas proclaimed, lifting Henry off the ground.

"ARGHHHHHHH!" Kostas roared, *tearing Henry's body in half* and throwing the pieces in opposite directions to prevent him from healing again.

"HENRYYYYYY!" William shouted as he launched himself towards the titan emperor from the fallen corpse of a titan he had just slain. "Ascension stage 7 + Ethyl family final form - purgatory flame!" he declared, his body enveloped in black flames as he sped towards the titan emperor. As he swung his sword, the titan emperor lifted his left hand, stopping the black firestorm. "To be able to damage me at the cost of your life… impressive," Kostas remarked as he watched William's burnt corpse fall to the ground.

"I'm sorry, John… I guess this is it for me," Geoffrey muttered to himself, a tear falling from his horrified face as he beheld the monstrous enemy they were facing—two of them, no less. "Ultimate magic - fusion," Geoffrey muttered, as all the mana in the surrounding area seemingly vanished and gathered around him. In a matter of microseconds, a massive explosion erupted, eradicating the entirety of the titan army and a great portion of the dragon army, along with 75 percent of the battlefield.

"Bleghh," Kostas coughed out blood, moving his right hand to clear the smoke that enveloped the battlefield. "What a monstrous attack. Had I not used my spirit aura, it would have taken even more than it already did," he remarked, gazing at his left hand, which was now vaporized.

"I, the great titan emperor Kostas the death bringer, acknowledge you, human, as the greatest mage to have ever been, and the first—no, the second human—to have ever damaged me," Kostas declared as he started moving toward the place where the dragon lord was fighting Edward.

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"You're good, very good, in fact. Come, I shall show you what it truly means to be the strongest in the world. It will be the greatest respect I can show to you," Pallas said in his dragon form, observing the beaten and bruised Edward, who was now missing an arm, while Pallas himself was missing a wing and three fingers on his right hand.

"Ahahahaha, I never thought I would lose this bad… but fine, I too shall show you my full strength…fuuuuuuughghhh," Edward laughed as he stabbed his sword into the ground and removed his upper armor.

"Ascension limit break - Death of the King!" he declared. His body grew larger until he stood as tall as Pallas. Two giant horns sprouted from the top of his head, his silver fur became scale-like, wings emerged from his back, and a silver crystal burned bright like the sun at the center of his chest.

"Watch carefully, you damned lizard, the final performance of Edward Lionheart the Great! Ahahahahahahaha!" Edward laughed as he lunged at Pallas, attempting to bite his neck while using his claws to push the dragon's shoulder and head apart.

"ARGGHGHHHHHHH!" Pallas screamed, using his hands to remove Edward's head, tearing off a chunk of flesh from his own body. Despite the dragon's superhuman healing ability, the wound didn't heal due to Edward's entire body being covered with spirit aura.

"How do you like that, lizard?" Edward taunted, gulping down the flesh of Pallas.

"Not bad, but not good enough to bring me down," Pallas retorted as blue flames covered his body. He swiftly slashed at the giant werelion with his left claw, too fast for Edward to react, but Edward retaliated, attacking the right side of Pallas with his jaws.

"GAAHHHHHHHH!" Edward let out a muffled roar as Pallas's left hand pierced through his heart.

"ARGGHHHHHH!" In one last shout while losing strength, Edward managed to bite through the diamond-like bones of the dragon, ripping out Pallas's right hand before he fell.

"Hahaha, I leave the rest to you, John…" Edward said as the silver crystal on his chest started to glow red, and then…

*BOOM*

Edward's body exploded. He had never intended to let Pallas recover, using himself as a catalyst to ensure that all the wounds he had inflicted on the dragon lord remained even after his death.

"You did great for a human," Pallas said, moving his left hand to clear the smoke.

The explosion wiped out whatever remained on the battlefield, leaving only John, Pallas, and Kostas, two of whom were greatly wounded.

"We meet again," Pallas said, glaring at Kostas and John, both of whom were glaring back at him.