Volume 9 Chapter 2 (2/2)

Caesar sensed the potential danger this formation presented and tried to create some distance. However, unless something happens, the two dragons would eventually catch up with him.

If Caesar used his golden light to boost his speed, Enlil would have to leave Duke behind in order to fly as fast as he could and catch up. In this case though, Caesar then would be susceptible to Enlil's lightning bolts.

So, what Caesar chose to do was keep the golden light around him and rush toward Enlil instead.

Right before impact though, Enlil suddenly ascended. When Enlil vanished from Caesar's field of vision, Caesar found himself opposite Duke.

As for Duke, he already had a darkness breath attack filled with [Netherworld's Miasma] primed and ready to fire.

Caesar accepted that he couldn't evade in time and instead converted the golden light into a breath attack of his own.

The breath attack of light and darkness collided and pushed each other, both refusing to give way. Black and white light flashed in alternating order. It was a blinding spectacle.

At the point where the two breath attacks met, energy from both sides gathered and then swelled until it finally exploded.

The one that was able to push farther and receive less damage was… Caesar.

Duke meanwhile fell to the ground.

He was in tatters. After using his left arm to protect his body, it was now gone. All of his scales were also scraped away. His wings were blown away too.

He's alive, but only barely. He's certainly in no condition to fight anymore.

However, his attack was not in vain.

Although Caesar wasn't as close to the explosion as Duke was, Caesar was still heavily wounded.

Moreover, he had used up his golden light. Duke's breath attack had forced him to. From the start, this was Duke's true goal.

It would take some time before the golden light was back online.

”GRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY”

Enlil who had flown upwards earlier was now charging downwards while being clad in lightning.

Numerous lightning bolts then descended upon Caesar, making him shriek.

Now that the golden light was gone thanks to Duke, Enlil's lightning bolts were able to inflict damage to Caesar. And so, while Enlil chased after Caesar, he kept firing his lightning bolt attacks.

Caesar tried to shake Enlil off, of course, but due to the lightning bolt attacks he received, his body had gone fairly numb and thus was unable to function as well as he wanted to.

And then, finally, Enlil caught up with Caesar and the two wrestled while falling downward.

Stolas and I watched with bated breath. We hoped, prayed even, that we would win. Just a little bit more and it's our win.

But then…

”Your plan was good, but too bad… it's paper-thin, but it seems Caesar has already reconstructed a new one. This is checkmate. Your Duke and Enlil fought well. However, it seems they're no match for my Caesar.”

Ast confidently declared his victory when Caesar was once again clad in a golden light.

What?! While he was getting hit by all those lightning bolts, he was storing power!? At this rate, unless Enlil can tear that down soon, it's over…

”No, it's not over yet!”

I shouted so.

I had felt a strong heartbeat. It was Duke's.

It's not over yet. As long as Enlil notices Duke, there's still a chance. I guess the question now is, how much does Enlil trust Duke?

And then, Enlil began acting oddly.

Instead of lightning, he began using his wind again.

No matter how much he tries, he'll never get through that golden barrier with his wind. The most he can do is slam Caesar to the ground… wait, he's noticed it!

”Push through, Enlil! Remember, you are my knight!”

Having received his master's encouragement, Enlil exerted even more power.

He produced a powerful downburst while biting down on Caesar's wing, causing the two of them to descend swiftly toward the ground.

”Planning for a crash to the ground, are you? Sorry to tell you, but that amount of damage won't be enough to down my Caesar.”

”No, we're aiming for something else. And Enlil believes that Duke will get them there.”

Enlil had put his faith on Duke. He believed that Duke would persevere despite his injuries and do what must be done.

And so, careful to not expose Duke's form, Enlil plunged himself down along with Caesar.

Duke's injuries had left him immobile, missing an arm, and even unable to do another breath attack. Even so, he could still stand on his feet.

So, while looking up at the sky, he poured whatever remained of his magic power, miasma, and everything else into his remaining arm. He was hoping and believing that Enlil would notice him and bring their enemy near him so that he could unleash this attack. This was literally going to be his last shot.

When Caesar noticed Duke on the ground, he got startled, but it was already too late.

Of course, he tried to break free, but he just couldn't when Enlil was going all-out in bringing him toward Duke.

And when they were really close to the ground, Caesar decided to take a risk and convert the golden light from a barrier into a propelling force. However, the moment the barrier went down, he became numb from the lightning Enlil attacked him with and was thus unable to resist further.

”GUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Duke roared like that as he raised his right fist that contained everything he had.

Upon contact, there was thunderous crash and the surroundings was wrapped in a black flash. When the flash was no more, I discovered a cloud of dust.

For a moment, everyone forgot to speak. Everyone watched and waited for the cloud of dust to clear so that they could know the outcome of this fight to the death.

And when the cloud of dust no longer obfuscated the arena, we saw lying on the ground a barely alive Enlil.

Near Enlil was Duke who, almost like a statue, had his right arm firmly raised up.

As for Caesar, he could be found impaled by Duke's arm.

”We won… Procell, we won! Enlil and Duke won!”

Tears in her eyes, Stolas embraced me.

I embraced her back and expressed my own joy.

Our dragons had bested the strongest dragon. What a truly terrifying monster he was though. If Duke or Enlil had challenged him alone, there wouldn't have been any chance for victory.

The completely silent audience then erupted in applause.

That was soon followed by the roaring of the 19 other dragons. I was not familiar with the dragons' language, but I knew what that meant: they approved of Duke and Enlil.

”Stolas, let's go to the two.”

”Yes, we have to praise them.”

Our arms linked, Stolas and I headed toward our dragons.

I was quite curious on who inherited Caesar's [Dragon Emperor], but more than that, I just wanted to praise Duke for the excellent job he had done.