Chapter 255: The Thousand Curse Dragon (7)  

"Ohjin I I'm so scared." Isabella, caught in Barbatos's grasp, called out in a high-pitched, trembling tone. Contrary to what she was saying, though, her lips were curved into a massive smileas if she could hardly contain her laughter.

Haha. Did you hear that, human? Barbatos, unable to see her expression, arrogantly believed hed already won. Humans were social animals, so he knew just how important relationships were to themthey would even do irrational things like sacrifice themselves for others.

'They're stupid.' Dragons didnt have social circlesthey were each complete and perfect by themselves, so Barbatos believed humans were foolish and ignorant. How could a creature only exist if it was around others? He believed them to be fundamentally weak.

"S-save me, Ohjin!" The woman caught in his grip pitifully screamed. Barbatos quite enjoyed the scream and smirked as he turned his head to Ohjinthe man whod dared to harm his magnificent self.

Ohjin was shaking, and he looked pale and tired, but Huh? Barbatos raised his eyebrows in confusion, and his smile vanished. Instead of seeing fear on the face of the man whod destroyed one of his wings, he saw a look of awkwardness.

"Oh, um, you want me to save you?" Ohjin asked, scratching his head and smiling sheepishly. "I don't think I can spare Barbatos in the process, though."

What? Barbatos frowned. Hed taken a hostage, so why was Ohjin saying something like that out of the blue?

"Oh, is that so?" Isabella asked.

Also, why was the woman speaking as if she werent being held hostage? What nonsense are you spewing? he asked.

"Okay, then I'll kill him." Isabella burst into laughter and gently put her hand on Barbatoss claw, which was still wrapped around her. Her soft, seemingly fragile touch glided over his scales.

"The blood of the dragon... What does it taste like?" she murmured.

It took less than 10 seconds for the feather-soft touch to turn into a terrible pain. Kaaaaahhhh! His purple scales ripped apart, and red blood fountained from his body. Wh-what is this? Barbatos looked down at his arm to see his scales cracked like slabs of glass that had been hit with a hammer, and his hand was severed just as easily.

"Huh. I was looking forward to it because it was dragon blood, but it just tastes like fish." Isabella, who had fallen lightly on the ground, lightly licked her bloody fingers before frowning in displeasure.

Blood poured from Barbatoss arms like a waterfall, but every single drop parted around her like Moses parting the Red Sea. I wouldve just come here alone if I knew you were this weak. Isabella waved her arm lightly, as if chasing away a fly.

Spurt!

The blood raining from his wound turned into a sharp blade and pierced him again. Kaaaaahhh! Barbatos shrieked and faltered before all 50 meters of him collapsed. Crash!

The battle ended in less than five minutes.

Ohjin nodded and approached Barbatos. "I told you, our power was more than enough. The Thousand Curse Dragon was undeniably powerful, but Awakeners had grown so much since he last threatened South Korea that their strength was hardly recognizable.

Ohjin, a powerful man whod been chosen over other high-ranking Awakeners as one of the Seven Stars, wouldnt even dare to go against Isabella without using Heaven Unfolding.

'Im not even the strongest.' Thanks to the universes constraints on Riak and Vega, they couldnt use all of their power. No matter how great a named monster was, the 9-Star Barbatos simply wasnt strong enough.

'We all came together just in case... Was there no need?' Ohjin narrowed his eyes at Barbatos, who was a complete wreck. He didnt think the dragon had the energy for even a single curse.

"I'll wrap it up," Isabella said.

Ohjin grabbed her shoulder before she could get too close to the dragon and said, "Wait a minute." Rather than logic or reason, his intuition and instinct were telling him something was off. It can't end like this.

My child Vega approached and stood next to him. I can feel an unpleasant energy from the horn. She frowned and pointed to the two black horns on Barbatos's forehead. The horns, which had grown to a size of several meters once he morphed into a dragon, were flowing with ominous energy that sent shivers down the spine.

Oh, ugh, aaahhh, Barbatos groaned. Kaaaahhhh! Then the dragon writhed in pain and bashed his head against the ground as the black horns began to vibrate and glow. The dragon opened his eyes and raised his head. Ah, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I can hear you!

What was that supposed to mean?

* * *

* * *

The dragon nodded at empty air, his face pale. Of course, when Ohjin tried to see what he was looking at, he saw nothing.

Barbatos politely lowered his head to whatever it was that only he could see. My lord... grace your humble servant... with great darkness. It was like an Awakener praying to their celestial for strength. Would the existence he called lord fulfill his earnest request?

Whoong!

The dragons previously purple scales turned a dull black, and a thick, mist-like aura extended from his body. Krrrrr! Barbatos shuddered and lifted his head. His eyes, which had been shining amber, burned with a grim, blue flame. Hahaha! Thank you! Thank you! My lord!

His entire body dyed black, the dragon bared his teeth at Ohjin. I'll admit it You guys are strong, incomparably so compared to six years ago. The dragons wing healed itself, and Barbatos fully extended both wings again and stood. Even so

Rumble!

The ground shook as breathtaking energy gushed from the dragon. Don't think Im the same dragon I was six years ago! A black cluster of lights gathered around him.

"As expected, he had a trump card." Ohjin clicked his tongue and looked at the black horns on the dragons foreheadblack horns that hadnt existed in Shinhyuk's memories.

The horns had felt ominous from the first time he saw them in the picture, and now they were revealing their full strength. He didnt know who had blessed Barbatos, but that didnt matter. I can beat him up and figure it out.' Ohjin grabbed Dantalian and readied his stigmas mana, sending blue lightning crackling along the pitch-black spears blade. "Hmph. Is that the trump card the Thousand Curse Dragon was saving?" Isabella looked at Barbatos, her eyes shining with interest. The thick, dark mana pulsing from the dragon was incomparably stronger than before.

"It's a little disappointing that it's only a small amount." Isabella lightly pressed her fingernails against her palms and smiled. Red blood streamed down her hands and formed a giant scythe that she spun in a flourish, smiling like a hunter before taking down their prey.

"Krrrrr! I don't know who his lord is, but for him to make such a fuss after borrowing power from another! Riak snorted.

Ohjin laughed when he saw how relaxed the two of them looked. 'Well, he might think hes suddenly pretty strong, but' No matter how blessed he was by a divine being, a cat couldnt become a tiger overnight. 'At the end of the day, the difference in power cant be crossed so easily.'

Ohjin, who had been 'blessed' by Vega so far, was more than aware of how the dragons strength was only enough to make the gap in power comparable to the sky and mountains instead of the sky and ground. He had organized the party while considering that Barbatos could have a trump card.

How dare you? Maybe it was because their reaction was far different than he expected, but Barbatos glared down at them. Let's see if you can still say that as you die a painful death!

"Let's start the battle in earnest." Ohjin laughed and aimed the end of his spear at the dragon.

"Ohjin, wait a minute," Ha-eun said as she grabbed him by the shoulder and stepped forward.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Ha-eun stared at Barbatos in a subdued manner and looked back at Ohjin. "Can I deal with him alone?" she quietly asked.

"What?" Ohjin frowned as if to ask what she was on about. "You're going to deal with him alone?"

"Yes. Please, Ohjin." Ha-eun nodded.

Ohjin shook his head in firm denial. "If you're going to say that its for revenge, stop it." He couldn't have her risk her life for such a petty reason.

"It's not for revenge," she said.

"Then?"

Ha-eun turned her head towards Barbatoss darkness-shrouded form. Why was it that, even when shed seen him collapse on the ground, he was more frightening to her than any other being?

"If not now" She thought back to when shed been blinded by the dragons curses and the time shed spent crying in that endless darkness. Six years later, that terrible nightmare still lingered in her mind. I I dont think I can move forward otherwise.

Just like that day six years ago, her legs shook.

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