Chapter 151 - 53

After seeing Ziel's fight from inside the world tree barrier, Kalya and the other girls were worried. Since the beginning of the battle, Ziel already looks challenging to approach the dragon. He seems to be more defensive and dodging than attacking. But after they saw that Ziel managed to land his attack on one of the dragon heads, they were shocked. That's because Ziel's attack only made a small cut on the surface of the dragon's skin.

"Isn't that dragon too strong? Will Ziel be okay?" Kalya asks Dryad next to her. Even though she knew it would be rude, Dryad was a spirit queen adored by the elves. But Dryad seemed to ignore that and was willing to answer her question.

"Ziel? Ah, you mean Ken, right? I do not know. I know he's strong, but if we have to fight a monster like that…then, we can only hope that he will win." Dryad shook her head and smiled bitterly. She wants to answer Kalya's question because Ziel has a very intimate relationship with Kalya.

"Is there nothing we can do?" Kalya asked her again. She couldn't shake off her worry after seeing Ziel struggling just to land one hit on the dragon.

"Unfortunately, none. For now, we can only pray and see from here." Dryad also felt powerless against such an existence. This was also the first time she had seen the guardian of the continent in person, and the power she felt from it was immeasurable.

While they were chatting, suddenly Ziel was blown away by the swing of the dragon's tail. This was the first time they saw Ziel getting hit while fighting.

"Ziel!" Kalya shouts worriedly. She could only watch him from behind the barrier without being able to do anything.

Ziel kept trying to land his attacks on the dragon. But all his efforts keep being thwarted, as predicted by the dragon. The dragon dealt consecutive attacks at him until it became difficult for Ziel to approach him.

When Ziel managed to escape the dragon's consecutive attacks, the girls saw Ziel suddenly freeze from his spot. They were confused about what he was doing.

"That… why did he suddenly stop moving?" Princess Freya subconsciously asked.

"He didn't stop his movement, but the space and time around him were sealed. Because of that, he couldn't move from that place." Dryad spoke glumly. She sensed that Ziel was in danger but couldn't tell the other girls. Dryad and Lilith felt the same way even though Lilith couldn't see what was happening as Dryad could.

What Dryad felt finally came true. The nine dragon heads opened their mouths simultaneously. A large amount of energy was concentrated within their mouths and could even be felt behind the barrier. The space around the dragon began to distort and crack due to that power. The girls got a shiver down their spines when they saw the dragon shoot all nine dragon breaths simultaneously at Ziel. Even though he held it for a few seconds, Ziel's barrier finally broke, and the dragon's breath hit Ziel heavily.

"Ziel!!!!" Kalya and the other girls screamed hysterically. Dryad bit her lip when she saw that Ziel was swallowed by the dragon's breath and disappeared from their sight.

Booooooooooooooommmmmmmmmm!

"Dryads! Please open the barrier now! I want to help him right away!" Kalya says to Dryad in panic. She no longer thought about manners when talking to her. What's on her mind right now is helping Ziel. She no longer cares about anything else around her.

"Sorry, but I can't." Dryad firmly refused Kalya's request.

"But why?" Princess Freya was the one who voiced her anxiety this time. She couldn't just sit back and look at Ziel like that. When it comes to feelings, then she won't lose to Kalya.

The other girls looked at the Dryads and waited for the answer. They were annoyed at Dryad's direct response to Kalya's previous request.

"Haa...you see. I can indeed break the barrier of this forest and let you out. However, the monster made its barrier outside of mine to prevent others from interfering and being impacted by their fight. The dragon's only goal is to eliminate Ken. The dragon wouldn't have killed the other creatures around him if he wasn't forced to." Dryad pointed at another barrier that looked like an aurora. She explains the reason she refused Kalya's request. She also had the same feelings because Ziel had saved the world tree and freed her from prison.

"Can't you do something to pull Ziel back into this barrier?" Princess Iris asked with a pale face. She couldn't help but worry about Ziel's condition. She was worried not because the power that suppressed her curse would disappear if Ziel died, but because she didn't want to see Ziel get hurt. Princess Iris felt it was sincere from her heart.

"I can if the opponent isn't a monster like that. But it's different if you have to help Ziel when he's fighting against the continent's guards. That monster will go on a rampage and destroy the entire place if it suddenly misses its target." Dryad replied with a solemn face. Whatever they were doing right now would only end up in vain if they all died in that rescue attempt. The only thing to do was kill the continent's guardians, which was impossible for them.

Kalya could no longer hold back her tears after hearing Dryad's explanation. She fell on her knees and felt helpless. The same thing happened to Princess Freya. Laurel and Princess Iris tried to calm them down.

"You guys calm down. For now, Ziel is still alive because the contract is still with me." Lilith showed a shiny pattern appearing on her forehead.

"Ah! You made a master and servant contract with Ken?" Dryad was surprised after seeing the pattern on Lilith's forehead. She immediately realized what the pattern meant. Lilith gave a slight nod and surprised Princess Freya and Laurel.

"Therefore, we just have to trust him." Lilith added her words.

"You are right. I'm sure he can beat that monster." Kalya stood up slowly and wiped her tears. Unexpectedly she helped Princess Freya to her feet. Princess Freya was confused by what she was doing, but she accepted his outstretched hand and stood up with her help.

"If all this goes well, I will help you talk to him." Kalya smiles at her. Princess Freya trembled after hearing her words because she knew what Kalya's meant.

"Thank you." Princess Freya gripped Kalya's hand tightly, and her tears fell again without her knowing it.

Dryad, Princess Iris, and Laurel had their mouths wide open at the unexpected happening before their eyes. They didn't think Kalya would want to share Ziel with another girl. In addition, Princess Iris and Laurel also feel jealous of Princess Freya. They are not girls like her who dare to openly show their feelings and compete for the heart of the man she loves.

"Hey, look! That's Ziel!" Lilith's scream woke them from their thoughts.

***

Ziel slowly flew out of the giant pit formed in the ground from being hit by the dragon's breath. The hole was almost the same area as the capital of the Dwarven kingdom and was immeasurably deep. Ziel came out with his body covered in wounds. The divine dress he was wearing was partially shattered, and blood keeps to flow from the wound on his right hand.

"If I was still the same when I fought Azael, I might have died from that attack. Fortunately, I have a new divine dress and have mastered spiritism. Even so…" Ziel shook his head after feeling his current state. He thought that many of his internal organs were severely damaged. His entire body ached even when he only made small movements.

"Okay. My condition won't last long. If I don't want to die, I have to give everything to fight it. Besides, I made a promise to someone to come back alive." Ziel remembers what Kalya said before he left.

Ziel gripped his two swords tightly and charged towards the dragon again. The difference is that Ziel looks calmer and more determined. His eyes kept staring at the nine dragon heads like a beast staring at its prey.

The eyes of the red and brown dragon head glowed.

[Lava Tsunami]

Hundreds of meters high golden lava waves covered Ziel's path. The dragon prevented Ziel from getting close to him. But Ziel teleported and easily bypassed the blockade of the lava. As Ziel had predicted after passing through the lava wave, one of the dragon heads was already in front of him and opened its jaws wide. The dragon prepared its surprise attack as he had already predicted what Ziel would do. 

Ziel remained calm in the face of it. He made an energy ball in his hand and threw it into the dragon's mouth. After that, he teleported back to his original place.

Booooommm!

The ball of energy exploded inside the dragon's mouth.

Rooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaar!

The dragon roared in pain. While the dragon was busy with the pain, Ziel had already slipped and was near one of the dragon heads.

[Orbit slash]

He slashed his sword with all the strength he had. The dragon's head was cut off and fell to the ground.

Roooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!

The dragon roared in pain again. The remaining eight dragon eyes glowed.

[Ultra Regeneration]

The severed dragon's head grew instantly. The nine dragons reshot their dragon breath at Ziel. But this time, the dragon didn't make one but shot it in all directions.

Ziel frowned when he saw the dragon start to rampage. He found it difficult to approach him if the dragon kept shooting dragon breaths like that. But Ziel continued to attack the dragon. Ziel teleported continuously to get near the dragon. He gritted his teeth as he felt his body becoming increasingly difficult to move due to his previous injuries. Ziel slashed his sword after getting close to one of the dragon heads then teleported to keep his distance from the dragon. He did the same thing over and over again until the dragon went berserk and lost his ability to think.

"I'll try something to stop it from moving. right now, he can't predict what I'm going to do." Ziel muttered after seeing the dragon continuously roaring and shooting dragon breaths blindly.

[Seiryuu]

[Manifest!]

[Yamata no Orochi]

[Manifest!]

Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr!

Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrr!

Two mythological creatures that came from Ziel's homeworld appeared in that world. The first creature is a long dragon, one of the guardians of the winds and has been manifested by Ziel several times, while the other is a dragon with eight heads and tails, a mythological creature from Japan on earth.

"Hopefully, what I'm doing will work."

[Yamata no Orochi]

[Seiryuu]

[Fusion]

The two dragons turned into particles of light and merged into one. The light particles condensed and slowly formed a creature with nine heads and nine tails, similar to an imperial dragon.

[Nine-headed Ancient Dragon]

[Manifest!]

Roaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

A dragon of the same size and number of heads as the imperial dragon materialized in front of Ziel. Although the dragons have the same size and number of heads, the ancient dragons do not have a different head color like the imperial dragons. All of the ancient dragon's dragon heads are gray. Of course, his strength is not as strong as the imperial dragon.

"This is enough to hold him back." Ziel muttered and looked at the ancient dragon he had just materialized.

The ancient dragon quickly charged forward to attack the imperial dragon as soon as it materialized. The imperial dragon also moved forward to attack him. The monster seemed to have met its mortal enemy. Ancient dragons and imperial dragons bit each other and attacked using their tails. The environment around where they fought was severely damaged. They fought close quarters like wild beasts. While fighting, their heads got tangled together and made it difficult for both of them to move.

Ziel didn't waste that opportunity. He brandished his white sword, and a gigantic portal appeared in the sky above where the two dragons were fighting.

[Sky of Apocalypse]

From the portal emerged an asteroid the size of a small island that covered the sky into darkness.