Chapter 568 - 558 Chasing after me

Chapter 568: Chapter 558 Chasing after me

Chasing after me, Ashem flicked his wrist and sent a barrage of energy projectiles screaming my way. Each single bolt packed the raw thermal output of a Trihexa flame. Even a graze would erase anything from existence without leaving a single atom behind.

Weaving through them effortlessly, I soared higher and higher into the empty, open skies above the clouds, far away from the army below. Stopping mid-air, I spun around, planted my fists at my waist, and locked eyes with him.

Ddraig, you ready?

『The method of your power-up was profoundly questionable, but the output is undeniable. Let’s do this, Issei!』

In an instant, a surging rainbow-colored aura enveloped my entire body. Activating Lianhuan Jing Qigong, I pulled every shred of ambient energy from the atmosphere directly into my core, forcing it into a high-speed internal cycle and compression. The overflowing power leaked outward, billowing around me like roaring dragon-fire.

And then, we began chanting in unison!

"O Red Heavenly Dragon slumbering within me, transcend the laws of reality!"

『O True Hero who walks beside me, reach the distant heights!』

Crimson—a true, blazing crimson armor materialized across my skin.

"O lotus soul shining in scarlet flame!"

『O noble soul that protects all things!』

The rainbow radiance swelled to an astronomical scale, expanding across the heavens. Behind my back, four pairs of magnificent dragon wings unfurled, beating the air with overwhelming force.

"『———Become the hope that shatters all despair!』"

Every single jewel across my armor flared with blinding intensity, growing brighter with every passing second!

"『We are those who have reached the absolute limit-————!』"

『EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEXA!!!!!!!!!!』

『Dragon Extreme Drive!!!!!!!』

As the blazing light and synchronized roars subsided, the true Crimson Dragon stood revealed. Eight dragon wings on my back, scattering iridescent particles of absolute limit-breaking power. The ultimate evolution: Valiant Surface — The True Welsh Dragon Form of the Scarlet Blazing Dragon Emperor. The absolute pinnacle achieved by me and Ddraig, further supercharged by the boundless power of my girls.

『Let’s go, boys!』

I lunged forward like a shooting star at the oncoming Ashem. The moment our paths intersected, our fists collided directly with each other’s faces, the shock sending both of us rocketing backward through the air!

But mid-flight, we forcefully twisted our bodies, arrested our momentum, and slammed right back into each other!

『Oraaaaaaaaaaaah!』

"Gnuuuuuuuuuaaaah!"

A ferocious, point-blank melee erupted in the stratosphere. Every single exchange carried enough kinetic devastation to shatter continents and slay gods, yet we absorbed each other’s blows and immediately fired back with interest. Amidst a blur of fists and kicks, Ashem’s fist caught me square on the cheek, shattering my helmet! But I didn’t flinch—I retaliated with an aura-imbued uppercut that snapped his chin straight up.

"———ッ!?"

For a split second, the sheer concussive force scrambled his consciousness, and Ashem shook his head to clear it. His arm swelled in size, his fist growing monstrously as he drew back to crush me.

Bad move. In a high-speed clash like this, even the slightest delay in momentum is a fatal opening.

Sweeping my left hand in front of my chest, I whipped up a vortex of internal ki, caught Ashem’s descending fist inside the spinning current, and forcibly deflected it wide of my body. Slipping straight inside his guard, I drove a devastating elbow strike right into his solar plexus!

"Guh...!"

Ashem choked out a gasp of pure agony as the shockwave pierced straight through his armor. Without giving him a second to breathe, I spun mid-air and delivered a roundhouse kick straight to his jaw!

Using the rotational momentum to drive him down, I watched as Ashem plummeted toward the ground below. Raising both hands high above my head, I whipped up a dense sphere of compressed ki between my palms. A basketball-sized orb of roaring, multi-colored energy spun frantically, threatening to tear apart my own gloves.

I hurled it straight down at him!

『Haaaaaaaah!』

The moment it left my hands, the orb fractured into a meteor shower of countless light-bullets, raining down with terrifying velocity to pin Ashem to the earth.

It only held him for a fraction of a second.

With a flash of eerie light in his eyes, an aura violently expanded from Ashem’s body in a massive dome, easily deflecting my barrage of energy bullets.

『He blew it all away just like that!?』

With a flick of his wrist, Ashem dissolved the barrier and whipped his three remaining tails upward. The beast heads at the tip of each tail snapped wide open, charging a horrific, world-ending thermal payload!

The plasma blasts fired at a speed even my limit-broken perception could barely track. And he wasn’t firing just one—he unleashed a continuous volley that completely blocked out any possible avenue of escape!

He really doesn’t hold back...!! To output that level of apocalyptic firepower while blanketing the entire sky with projectiles... Even with this crazy power-up, winning this cleanly isn’t going to be easy!

As I deflected and parried his onslaught with gritted teeth, Ddraig’s voice echoed in my head.

『To begin with, we knew his scale of power became completely absurd the moment he absorbed Trihexa. Frankly, the fact that the two of us can go toe-to-toe with a monster like that on equal terms is what’s truly abnormal here!』

『Fair point!』

Shouting back, I burst through the wall of roaring flames straight toward Ashem. We closed the distance instantly, trading movements so fast they rivaled teleportation, our eyes locking as every single calculation was made in milliseconds.

Then, amidst the storm of blows, Ashem spoke.

"What is your game plan here?"

『What do you mean?』

"Don’t play dumb. There’s no killing intent in your fists. Do you honestly think you can stop me without the will to kill?"

To his question, I answered with a grin, throwing everything I had into one final, converging path.

『Don’t misunderstand. I’m not fighting you right now to kill you. I’m here to stop you... and to save you.』

"Save... me?"

The duel of equals continued, a breathless symphony of absolute destruction. Ashem’s kick sent me spiraling back; my punch forced him to recoil. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of such blows were traded in the span of mere heartbeats.

"Hah!"

Ashem’s fist connected, sending me flying. Using the distance to my advantage, I spread my eight wings wide.

『Boost Eclipse!!!!』

The metallic voice chimed from the gem on my gauntlet as two heavy cannon barrels slid out from beneath my arms, locking forward.

『EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEXA!!!!』

Every ounce of amplified energy surged into the muzzles, locked dead onto Ashem’s center of mass. If this hits dead-on—————!

However, Ashem countered by unfolding a massive geometric magic circle right in front of him. A halo of dark light spun behind his back as the runes within the array began rotating at blinding speed.

He read my setup... but still!

『Eclipse Blaster!!!!!!!!!!』

The roar of the cannons shook reality itself, unleashing a pillar of crimson-and-rainbow annihilation. Simultaneously, Ashem fired his own concentrated magical artillery. Two beams of otherworldly, apocalyptic magnitude collided dead-center between us!

The two blasts locked in a fierce, blinding deadlock. Normally, this kind of mutual standoff would continue until one side was completely vaporized out of existence. Instead, a sharp, metallic screech echoed across the sky.

Fine cracks webbed across empty space itself. The cracks rapidly widened, swallowing the light—————and the entire spatial fabric surrounding us shattered completely into nothingness.

[Afterword Mini-Story]

Issei: "Say, what kind of worlds did you observe in those other alternate dimensions anyway?"

Ashem: "Hmm, let’s see~ Worlds filled entirely with beast-eared girls, I suppose."

Issei: "What, isn’t that just literal paradise?!"

Ashem: "Or worlds where everyone is just Mil-tan."

Issei: "What kind of terrifying nightmare world is that!?"

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