Page 240

Late Evening - Early Winter : Northeastern Bahamut

-

*clink* *Crunch-CRACK-FWOOOSH* The scales on the dragon's face shattered like clay as my tail sent him flying into the crowd of dragons a couple hundred meters away.

"Now, where was I?" The air turned cold as I shifted my gaze back toward Holcyon.

He immediately paled from fear.

"How about you tell me about that god you worship?" My expression slowly turned crazed as I loomed over him.

He immediately looked toward the crowd, as if to look for someone.

But that wasn't the answer to my question. *tap-CRUUUNCH* His paw crunched like a bundle of sticks as I stepped on it.

"AAGH!" He immediately grit his teeth as his expression turned angry. "You b-bastard!" He stuttered as he pushed through the pain. "You didn't even let me answer!"

I calmly lowered my head next to his, so he had to look into my eyes. "Maybe if you didn't look to signal someone in the crowd, I would have given you more time."

*cRaCkLe* "Ack..." He gritted his teeth again as I put more weight onto his paw.

"Now, how about you start with their name?"

"W-why would I tell that.. to a dead man?" A smile slowly crept onto his face as he spoke.

I almost wanted to laugh. "You can't be serious, right?" *CRACKLE* His shin broke like a twig as I moved my paw forward. "You really think someone can save you here?"

"TCH-... Bastards like you.. who refuse to open your eyes.. will always fall to the strong."

A smile quickly came to my face as I noticed his confidence.

"You better pray your god personally comes to save you then.

" *cRaCkLe* A bloody mist appeared over my head before small pieces of flesh, bones, clothes, and the shattered remains of a metal sword fell to the ground around me.

"Because I can guarantee no one else is strong enough. "

His face paled before my attention turned to something else. *ding-cling*

Looking toward the noise, I saw a golden band rolling off my body from the human I had just killed.

On the band, there was an insignia I had come to know quite well recently. -The Holy Kingdom...-

The moment I thought of the name, over a dozen more people with their presences concealed dashed at me. -Humans really are overconfident... No matter the world...-

Instantly pulling my aura off Holcyon, I used it to wring the necks of the humans like chickens, causing them all to limply and helplessly fall to the ground.

But the moment I made an opening, Holcyon leapt up and lunged at me, gripping his claws into my neck before a surge of mana flowed into his paw.

It was his last, fear-driven attack, but it was shamefully weak.

*CrAcK-WHAM* His claws shattered and his body slammed back into the ground the moment I turned my attention back to him.

"For a dragon to depend on humans... You truly must not realize the kind of blessing being born as a dragon is.

.." Raising my foot over his head, I decided it was best to knock him out and wait to regroup with Myles, but the moment I did, a cold and domineering voice met my ears.

"Child, although I usually forgive the ignorant, I cannot let you ruin our plans any further."

-Huh?- My body turned weightless instantly. *FWOOOOOSH-WHAAAM-CRUMBLE* The next thing I knew, I was hurled into the Elder Hall at a speed I wasn't ready to react to.

*tumble-SMASH-WHAM* Finally coming to a stop, I found myself embedded in the wall of a colosseum-like room with two large dragons staring at me with wide eyes. -Is this the inside of the Elder Hall?-

Both dragons were half-breeds that I hadn't seen before, but it's not like that mattered.

*Crumble* Using my wings to push myself out of the wall, I looked out of the hole I created on my way in and saw the clouded figure pointing at me. -For a god, he's quite shameless...-

But I couldn't even finish my thought before a bone-chilling suction of mana started pulling everything into the middle of the room.

It was a familiar sensation that simply made my eyes go wide.

It was a fusion artifact. -There is one in the ground?! Are they trying to kill everyone in this city?!-

Instantly blocking out my surroundings, I darted toward the center of the room and stomped the ground. *CRUNCH-VWOOOM* Almost immediately, a huge column of stone was ejected from the ground, bringing with it a large, brightly glowing orb. -You want to play like that?! ALRIGHT!-

*CRRRUNCH* Biting into the stone column, I ripped out the artifact and moved it to the back of my mouth.

But by the time I turned to actually run it toward and use it on Holcyon, it was too late. -SHIT!-

The next thing I knew, time was frozen, and in my mouth was the fusion artifact on the verge of detonation.

Countless thoughts ran through my mind as I questioned the limited number of things I could actually do before it detonated.

But amongst the ideas, there was only one option that kept everything in front of me from getting obliterated.

*Chomp* Making sure my mouth was tightly closed, I instantaneously layered space mana around my reserve. -HERE GOES NOTHING!-

*vwwwWWWOOOOOM* A searing pain coursed through me as divinity flooded my body at the expense of the mana in my reserve.

But even though the divinity spread through my body faster than light, it still wasn't quick enough. *tink-VWOOOOM-BAAAAAAAANNNNNGGGG*

The Elder Hall melted instantaneously before the shockwave sent the molten rock hurtling into the town at an astonishing speed and sank the whole area into a crater.

*fwoooossshhh-crackle-blub* Air rushed through the area as it eagerly tried to find equilibrium within the blazing plasma.

*pft-splat-thump* Almost falling over, I caught myself with a haze filling my mind. -I'm.. alive...-

My reserve had barely one percent of what it did just a single second ago, and my body felt like it was on fire.

But oddly enough, as the haze started to clear, I felt confident I could make due.

-To throw me like that.. that god must be tethered to a physical body nearby.

..- *crackle-thump* *thump* *thump* Quickly recollecting myself, I slowly made my way out of the crater and met eyes with Holcyon and the figure with him.

This time the god's body had the clear form of a man in archaic-looking armor, and I could even partially see his expression.

He simply stood there, paralyzed with wide eyes, as I walked out of the crater with a smile slowly creeping on my face.

But that was when he vanished from where he was and appeared next to me without uttering a word. *vwwooop* A glove of divinity formed around his hand as an invisibly small string in the air seemed to supply him with the mana to make use of it. -A.. tether?-

*WHAAAMMMMM* The molten crater exploded the moment his hand hit me, sending a huge shockwave into the town and causing the whole area to sink further into the ground.

It was a hit that I expected to do a number on me.

But I stood there with a crazed expression after having my head only recoil slightly. "To think you'd willingly show me your tether!"

His eyes instantly widened with fear as I looked over toward two ancients who had ceased their fighting and were staring at me.

"To think a god can form a tether with a dragon!

" *FWO-CRAAAACKKK* I instantly vanished from where I was before appearing next to the ancient named Erpo.

"Sorry to interrupt!" *Fwip-CRAACK-VWOOOOM* Driving my paw into his side, his bones and scales shattered as if they were never there, before causing a violent explosion of mana as his reserve ruptured and shredded his tether with the god *CRACK-FWOOOOOOOSH*

Seeing the dragon hurtling toward the horizon well past Mach, I darted back to the god, who now had a massive chunk of his body missing. "You know! Killing gods is pretty fun!" The glow between my scales turned bright blue instantly the moment I aimed up at him.

His eyes widened as he sat there, seemingly unable to move. "SKULD YOU LYING WHOR-" *FLASH* An instantaneous flash caused the night sky to turn white before a beam that absorbed and annihilated everything followed it. *BBBbrRRRRRRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*

The noise echoed through the area countless times faster and farther than sound as the beam stretched into the sky like a beacon.

Even dragons over 500 kilometers away could hear and see the beam with ease as it stretched toward the stars before turning bright once more and illuminating the world like a rising sun.

The deep and chilling noise that countless dragons heard that day quickly earned it a name that would become known all throughout Bahamut, before the news of what happened could even spread.

It became known as the Sound of Death.