Chapter 308 Power Beyond The Bounds Of Flesh

Testing the waters with the new skill multiple times now, he began to understand its benefits much more intimately. [Draconic Might] seemed to excite the blood pumping out of his heart; it accelerated the burst of strength given by the Dragonheart System, providing an overwhelming boost in power, yet at the risk of overheating himself if it stayed for more than seconds.

Gripping the jeweled sword tightly, azure embers naturally sparked from his grip as he waited until the exact moment War charged towards him–

Now! He thought.

The entirety of the chamber shook as both took off at the same moment, approaching one another with utmost speed; it was a collision that meant certain death for any that would attempt to intervene.

Towered over four times over, the Dragonheart hardly looked as though he stood a chance against the knight-resembling centaur, especially not against its colossal lances, though he had a plan of attack of his own.

Just as War pierced forward with both of its ebony lances, drilling through the air and wishing to skewer the scale-armored young man, the Dragonheart dropped down and slid across the ground.

"---Ngh!"

He managed to slide right under the giant centaur's legs, summoning his draconic strength to full, unleashing a strike of his blade empowered by a [Dragon Strike], rending the air and the underbelly of War.

Flames sparked from the edge of his blade, igniting even the blood that poured from his foe as he managed to pierce the flesh of the monstrous entity.

A distorted roar emitted from War's helm as its stomach was cut, stomping down, thrashing its hooves against the ground just as the young Dragonheart managed to escape the flailing stomps and jump to his feet.

Peeking into the destructive room, the elven tinkerer had to lift his goggles to believe the sight before him.

"He's doing it…He's actually fighting that monster!" Blimpo said to himself in astonishment.

–

Though he successfully slashed War's underbelly, the edge of his blade failed to dig deep, only spilling superficial blood that seemed to anger the entity more than hurt it.

As he flipped back to put distance between himself and the injured colossus, he witnessed an emission of steam from War's pores; the being's skin reddened as if heating up.

"Looks like somebody is mad," Emilio said, pulling back the helmet of his scale armor.

–His response earned a maniacal transformation from the already overwhelming entity, finding its arms now transforming once again, this time taking a more violent, malicious state; a transfiguration made with the intent to slaughter.

"...!"

The shape of it was bone-chilling; War transformed both of its arms into yet another weapon, this time creating enormous flails with boulder-sized, spiked balls at the end of razor-sharp chains.

"That looks…dangerous," he muttered nervously.

There was no gap for a lapse in focus as he witnessed the monstrous centaur whip its left arm around, causing one of the flails to curve across the chamber, digging through the wall in its path as it sailed straight for the young Dragonheart.

It was larger than his own body, casting a spine-shivering shadow over him in that split-second before he dashed forward, dodging with the guidance of wind at his feet.

Close, he thought.

He immediately rolled to the side just as the right-armed flail slammed down from up above, landing against the ground like a meteor as it shattered the stone beneath.

Despite the size of each flail, they were whipped around rapidly by War's supernatural strength, causing the air to crack repeatedly as the edged chains whirled around the Dragonheart, closing in on him.

As he stood there, beading his amethyst irises around the room as he tracked the massive flails that attempted to move faster than he could keep up with, he began manifesting wind around himself.

"Come on…!" Blimpo yelled out hopefully.

A shadow loomed over the young Dragonheart; the deathly flails were now rapidly closing in on him; the one on his left was carving through the floor, seeking to slam into his side while the right flail was descending on him in an attempt to crush him from up above.

–He allowed neither to happen.

Just as they came within range of him, he pushed both of his arms out, unleashing a massive burst of wind, momentarily invoking the howls of a storm from his very position.

FWOOM

["Windcaller's Savior"]

It was an adaptive propulsion of wind from every angle, focusing onto the chains that guided the spiked boulders; the wind solidified and curved around the chains, pushing them back and slamming each flail into opposing walls.

In that moment, with the armed weapons of War lodged in the walls, the violent entity was left open for the Dragonheart.

Gather it…Condense it…Strengthen it! He thought.

This thought process was bolstered by the short timeframe he had to launch his counterattack; through embodying the very heat that flowed through his body, he squeezed those azure flames into a singular point.

That singularity was in the palm of his hand; a swirl of bright-blue embers then united into a perfect sphere of heat. A unison of magecraft and the Dragonheart System; winds feeding oxygen to the flames, mana of heat further bolstering its firepower–

["Ascent of Dragon's Wrath"]

Without wasting a moment, he tossed the sphere like a ball, hurling it towards War as its size rapidly grew from that of a softball to a raging meteor of flashing, blue-and-red light.

The entity had only just then dug its flails from the walls before the supreme fireball collided with its body, resulting in a sparking explosion.

It was nothing like the flame of the standard Dragonheart flames, and far transcendent from normal heat, yet he knew well it was leagues below the white flames he briefly achieved before death. A small click of his tongue came as his intent was to reach that threshold of sublime fire once more.

Looks like I can't quite do it…It's still beyond my grasp, he thought.

Still, the result was still spectacular nonetheless as the colorful flames lashed out before being repelled by a roar of steam from War, casting the fire off of its body.

"Hurt that time, didn't it?" He asked.

It was clear that some damage was dealt to the sturdy hide of the entity this time as marks were laid on its flesh, yet it remained stalwart, facing him as changes to its shape took form again.