Chapter 858

At the voice filled with shock and disbelief, Ian let out a low scoff and answered, "I’m getting pretty tired of that name by now."

The only reason he didn’t charge immediately was that a quest window had appeared before his eyes.

[Priest of the Blue Abyss, Rimuta.]

Rimuta shouted with its eyes wide open. "Don’t play games with me! Dragon Slayer slew the Archdemon long ago and departed for the mainland already!"

Its tone made it obvious it didn’t want to believe what it was hearing. Then again, considering he already knew Ian had killed Bukikia, that reaction made sense.

"He should be in the North or the Central region. Why would he come all the way to these irrelevant islands—"

"Publicly? To stop the bullshit you bastards are pulling." Closing the quest window as he cut Rimuta off, Ian’s smile deepened. "But really, I’m here to level up."

"Level?" Just as Rimuta asked back in confusion, Ian kicked off the ground with all his strength and launched himself forward.

The golden magic wings billowing behind him thrust backward all at once.

Whoosh—

Even with Ian’s Concentration and Intuition activated, Rimuta closed the distance in an instant. Ian immediately twisted his waist violently while pouring chaos into the sword hilt clenched in his grip.

Boom, boom, boom!

The heat haze blazing along the blade erupted explosively and carved a deadly arc through the air. It aimed precisely for the neck of Rimuta, whose towering body easily exceeded three meters.

Crackle!

A thick forearm covered in dark blue-black scales blocked the strike a split second later. Rimuta had reflexively raised its left arm.

Judging from its dumbfounded expression, the reaction had clearly been instinctive.

Crunch! Crackle!

Even so, no matter how powerful a demon it was, it couldn’t block the Fangs of Heaven Defier with a mere arm.

The violet slash completely severed its left forearm before carving deeply across the neck behind it.

Not deep enough.

Realizing instinctively that it had been too shallow, Ian clicked his tongue inwardly.

The Avatar of Platinum Dragon, the demonic beast fleet approaching from the side, and even the smuggling ships—all of it meant they had to end this quickly.

That was why he had opted for a surprise attack from the very beginning, why he had gone straight for the neck without hesitation.

Even then, it twisted its body at the last possible moment. Ian drove shoulder-first into the center of Rimuta’s chest.

Crunch—

At the same instant the crushing impact tore through him, Ian felt the already damaged shoulder guard, vambrace, and connecting rings along the edge of his breastplate finally shatter apart completely.

Fuck!

It was the result of enduring the curse of corrosion and fighting continuously while moving between demonic ships.

Dragon magic and blue chaos erupted brilliantly together.

Boom!

With an explosive blast, Rimuta’s chest caved inward as the creature was hurled away like a cannonball. Its limbs and the tentacles extending from its back all stretched violently forward.

Blue bodily fluid mixed with chaos sprayed from the severed left arm in a long arc. The detached forearm itself spun away sideways, caught in the explosion.

Swoosh—

Ian was blasted backward as well, along with the shattered remnants of his equipment.

As he spun through the air and activated Platinum Barrier, Yog’s low laughter echoed through his mind.

—Just hold on a little longer, friend... I’ll recover soon enough and help you...

Ian glanced beneath the thick smoke spreading from the explosion.

Blue cracks spread like spiderwebs across Yog’s rough hide. They were the traces of Rimuta’s corruption through the coral blade embedded earlier.

Even now, the ends of the cracks were turning violet before gradually fading away.

It’ll be over before that.

Ian steadied himself. He then slammed down the newly formed Platinum Barrier.

Boom, boom, boom!

Golden magic scattered like sparks from the shield's edge as Ian slid backward across the surface. Around him, shattered pieces of destroyed equipment clattered noisily across Yog’s back.

"So, it truly seems you are the Superhuman of the North after all. Dragon Slayer, Ian Hope," Rimuta’s voice spread through the air like metal grinding together.

Lifting his head, Ian looked straight ahead.

As the swirling smoke dispersed, Rimuta’s figure gradually emerged near Yog’s maw.

"Now that I think about it, everything finally makes sense. Even that chaos of yours."

The creature, radiating dark blue-black chaos across its entire body, floated diagonally in the air as though suspended there.

The tentacles extending from its back had anchored downward, supporting it in place.

Crackle... crunch...

The half-severed neck reattached itself amidst bubbling slime, while the caved-in chest slowly began swelling back into shape. Even the severed left arm was regenerating as it bubbled grotesquely.

However, there was another reason Ian’s brow twitched.

Whoosh—

Though slowly thinning, the fog still blanketing the sea had begun spiraling upward from both sides. It was even gathering toward Rimuta as though being sucked into it.

"So the rumors that the Platinum Dragon harbored different intentions were true after all. Then perhaps your true purpose, Dragon Slayer, was never to destroy us, but rather— ...What, again?" Rimuta, straightening itself midair while supported by its tentacles, abruptly faltered.

Ian was charging toward it once more like a bullet, his magic wings thrust sharply backward.

Frowning deeply, Rimuta shouted while raising both arms as though grasping the air itself, "You shameless coward! Is this how your entire reputation was built?"

Almost simultaneously, the fog vortices converging from both sides twisted like living creatures and changed direction.

Rimuta’s glowing eyes burned as it stared directly at the rapidly approaching Ian.

"But I will not fall for the same trick twice! Witness my true pow—" Rimuta’s head suddenly snapped backward. A blue streak had pierced straight into its maw without warning.

Broken teeth fragments scattered into the air, revealing the hilt of a dagger jutting out between them. It was the dagger Ian had thrown through the Willful Grasp.

Of course, silencing the creature wasn’t the only purpose.

Zip, zap!

Brilliant blue lightning erupted inside Rimuta’s mouth. It was enough to make the creature convulse violently as all four limbs spread outward.

The converging fog vortices spasmed and scattered apart.

Crunch.

The edge of the Platinum Barrier’s shield slammed deep into Rimuta’s freshly regenerated neck.

Ian collided with the creature while curling his body inward, hanging onto the Platinum Barrier like a support brace as he spat out, "Creatures like you who’ve just become demons always talk way too much."

Rimuta’s head bent backward until it nearly touched its own spine. Even Ian could see the panic flickering through its glowing eyes.

Of course, that was all the creature could manage.

Ian had already reversed his grip on the black sword and brought it crashing down into the demon’s chest.

Crackle!

Wrapped in a violet haze like serrated saw teeth, the black blade carved through Rimuta’s flesh and bone as though slicing clay.

Yog’s mocking whisper echoed leisurely through Ian’s mind.

—Even for a half-baked thing, I didn’t expect it to be this pathetic.

Ian ignored it entirely and poured more chaos into the sword hilt. The black sword howled ominously as it unleashed the Fangs of Heaven Defier.

"-------!" Rimuta’s scream exploded outward hard enough to shake Ian. The shriek wasn’t coming from its mouth, but from the thick fog surrounding them.

The dagger’s hilt was still jutting from its jaws, while the Platinum Barrier had already carved more than halfway through its neck.

Wonder if the ones escaping heard that too.

Ian never stopped forcing chaos into the blade.

The scream soon transformed into a booming roar. "I lured you here with the relic to trap you! But now I see... the one caught in the trap was me."

Even then, Rimuta desperately tried to raise its clenched right fist as though attempting to smash Ian away.

"But I refuse... to become your prey like this! I would rather offer myself to my master!"

Despite the dramatic declaration, the creature couldn’t swing its arm. An invisible force had seized its forearm mid-motion.

Just... a little... more!

A splitting headache clawed through his skull like fingernails scraping against his brain, yet Ian grit his teeth and forced his Willful Grasp harder. At the same time, he continued pouring chaos into the black sword.

Violet cracks had already spread across Rimuta.

"Damn it! This can’t! Not like this!"

Blue light suddenly flared from the torn-apart chest, and Rimuta’s body convulsed violently.

The instant its dying scream rang out, an explosion mixed with violet chaos swallowed Ian whole.

Boom!

His vision turned white, and every sensation vanished completely in the very next moment. Of course, Ian wasn’t particularly surprised.

So this is how it continues.

Another vision had clearly begun. Since the Avatar of Platinum was still active, the explosion’s impact probably hadn’t affected him much.

Swoosh—

The light filling his vision suddenly transformed into sea foam scattered across crashing waves.

As the tide pulled away into the distance, a deep rocky valley leading inland revealed itself. Damp pools of seawater remained scattered throughout the area.

Only appears during low tide, huh?

He unwillingly entered the dark valley that resembled the mouth of a cave. Right now, he was peering through Rimuta’s memories like scenes flashing past in a dying dream.

"You’re late, Rimuta."

The next moment, a thick voice echoed out as a space surrounded by dark stone revealed itself.

Someone stood waiting atop a raised platform at the center, looking down at him. It was an islander with bronze skin and ominous tattoos etched across his stern-looking face.

"Don’t be so uptight, Gunhir.... After all, I’m your guest right now."

A low voice continued as it approached the platform. Those words alone were enough to make Ian relieved.

So I was heading the right way after all.

He had just confirmed that Kalinso’s sanctuary, managed by Gunhir, was the real one.

The altar concealed behind Gunhir revealed itself the very next moment.

Whoosh—

The dark blue coral was far larger than the one Ian had seen aboard the command ship. Not only was seawater pooled around it, but it even felt alive somehow.

Perhaps the fragment aboard Rimuta’s command ship had merely been broken off from this massive structure.

Looks similar to what I saw in a museum as a kid.

However, the ominous coral wasn’t the only thing drawing Ian’s attention. Resting atop the coral branches was a gigantic black fossil shaped like an enormous fang.

Cracks glowing with sinister blue light spread across its surface.

Is that the link connected to the seal of the deep sea?

It wasn’t difficult at all to guess that it was likely the remains of Raskagin. And in that instant, everything Ian needed to do became perfectly simple and clear: reach Kalinso, find the sanctuary, and destroy the fossil and the altar.

Crack, crack—

At that moment, the cracks carved across the fossil began widening. Sinister blue light flooded Ian’s vision in an instant.

An instant later, he began sensing an enormous darkness and a gaze beyond it. It was even drawing closer with every passing second, suffocatingly so.

A low chuckle tickled the inside of his mind immediately afterward.

—Now, now... getting pulled in that far is dangerous, my friend...

Ian’s consciousness was violently yanked backward as though something had seized and pulled it away.