CHAPTER 125
125. A Torrent of Light**

He was freer than anyone.

To be the freest was to be the strongest. Since there was no one under the sky who could oppose him, he was the freest being in the world.

"Another clear day."

He enjoyed his strolls.

He didn't walk with his feet like the beings on the ground; he flew through the air on his massive wings. His shadow blanketed the earth, and the creatures below always cowered, bowing their heads in fear.

This itself didn't particularly please him, but he was delighted by the fact that they could not threaten his freedom.

"It is a wide world."

Although there was nothing in this world he did not know, he still felt it was vast.

Even though he possessed all knowledge, wisdom, and the magic to perform miracles, the world was still wide.

That was precisely why he enjoyed his strolls. A forest he had always seen felt new upon another look, and the ever-undulating sea created gentle ripples in his heart as well.

A world one never tired of seeing.

Comfortable and peaceful. A place devoid of any suffering, as if someone had prepared it just so.

That was the birdcage that had confined him.

[Kraaaahhhhh!]

Jerakson snapped the trunk of the World Tree. It was the thickest trunk yet, having grown by feeding on Jinwoo's Erosion, but it broke as easily as a wooden chopstick.

Not stopping there, he stomped on the remains of the trunk, crushing them, incinerated every fallen branch, and pulled out the roots hidden in the ground to chew them to pieces.

The power of the destroyed World Tree flowed into Jerakson and was absorbed, but he felt no joy from such a thing.

This act of destruction was not to gain power, but to express his hatred and humiliation.

"Ugh… why do dragons always let their fists do the talking?"

"That's because you provoked him!"

Dodging Jerakson's rampage, Kalesian chided Jinwoo.

As far as Jinwoo was concerned, he had merely spoken what came to mind, but it seemed to have been a particularly humiliating point for the dragon.

But he couldn’t have just not said it. Jinwoo was trying to remember and voice anything that newly surfaced in order to regain his memories.

"What should we do?"

"What do you mean, what should we do? Ugh, just dodge for now!"

A branch of the World Tree thrown by Jerakson flew their way. Though it was just a branch, it was as massive as a centuries-old tree.

CRASH!

Dodging the falling debris, Jinwoo glanced up at the sky.

[…]

Belkarim had, at some point, nonchalantly positioned herself to observe the situation. A moment ago she had been one corner of a fiercely contested three-way battle, but now she had become passive.

Her attitude was clear: now that Jerakson had lost his senses and started an all-out war with them, there was no need for her to interfere. No matter which side won, she wouldn't intervene until one party's strength was completely drained.

That meant they would have to take down the rampaging Jerakson with their own strength—while also conserving enough power to escape from Belkarim.

"Is it possible?"

"It's not about whether it's possible or not! We'll die if we don't!"

Kalesian was right. The time for weighing odds and choosing a course of action was over. Now, they could only react to the crisis at hand.

[Hiding is useless…!!]

Jerakson charged, intending to kill Jinwoo and Kalesian. Considering their relative sizes, simply stepping on them would be enough to make them pop like insects.

Jinwoo slashed at his foot. He cut through the scales, sliced the flesh, and then Kalesian's breath attack struck. His breath didn't match Jerakson's power, but it was more than enough to blow off a single foot.

[Kraaahhh!]

With a roar that was impossible to distinguish as pain or rage, mana swirled violently. The foot that had just been blown off regenerated in an instant. Jinwoo struck again with his sword, but the newly regenerated scales were even harder than before.

BOOM!

The ground buckled and roared as if a several-hundred-ton iron ball had been dropped. Fortunately, Jinwoo and Kalesian had already moved out of the way.

Jerakson tried to pursue them, but newly grown roots suddenly wrapped around his body, binding him. Despite being so thoroughly destroyed and trampled, the World Tree was not yet dead.

[Ugh! Let go!]

Lightning erupted from his scales, incinerating all the binding roots.

The living remnants of the World Tree tried desperately to restrain him, but it was futile. His rampage continued, and the snowy mountain was already nearly leveled.

Jinwoo didn't stand still either. He found openings in the rampaging beast's movements and slashed, and slashed, and slashed again. But…

‘He’s not cutting well.’

It was proving to be incredibly difficult.

No matter how many times he cut, the dragon healed instantly. The mana it possessed was near-infinite, so a simple war of attrition would not end it. What's more, every time its scales were broken and regenerated, their hardness increased. They were tough to begin with, but now they were on a completely different level.

Yet, these were not the fundamental reasons why Jinwoo was struggling to cut him. The reason lay elsewhere.

‘My sword can't reach his flame.’

What Jinwoo was truly aiming for was not the scales that covered the beast, nor the flesh and organs within. Such things could be healed in an instant with mana.

What Jinwoo sought was a wound that mana could not heal. He sought to sever the beast's very soul.

‘The wound I inflicted on Earth is actually still there.’

Jerakson's flame was immense, but a part of it still bore the mark of being cut. It was the wound left when Jinwoo had severed a piece of him on Earth.

A considerable amount of time had passed since that battle, yet the wound showed no signs of healing. It was only natural. It was a wound that would never heal unless the lost soul was reclaimed.

For the current Jinwoo, whittling down the endlessly regenerating body of the beast was impossible. Even if he recovered all the power he had given to the World Tree, it would not match the mana the beast possessed.

If there was a way to win, there was only one: to sever its soul with a single strike.

‘But I can't reach it.’

He didn't mean physical distance. The distance between souls, where the sword had to delve into the opponent's soul to cut it, could not be closed.

[Even if you obtained Rondar's sword, it's useless if you can't wield it!]

Jerakson laughed mockingly. He ridiculed Jinwoo's incompetence, scorning him for wielding an object beyond his worth.

There was no problem with the sword. If only the distance could be closed, it would surely cut. Rondar's sword, which had even cut the Red Cliff, would cleanly sever Jerakson's soul.

Yet, seeing that it couldn't reach, Jerakson did not stop his mockery. In his eyes, the outcome was already decided.

His opponent's sword could not reach him, while his own attacks relentlessly pushed the opponent back. Victory was only a matter of time. Just as he was thinking that…

Slice—

A piece of him was cut away. It was a very small piece, but it was undoubtedly his soul.

Feeling the scales all over his body stand on end, Jerakson leaped back.

At first, he couldn't find the way. Gauging the distance between souls was not something that could be done with ordinary senses. For Jinwoo, born in the material world and accustomed to swinging a sword, it was difficult to get a feel for it.

But it was fortunate that his opponent was Jerakson. He had a way to close the distance to the beast's soul. More accurately, he had a guidepost to avoid getting lost in the complex maze between their souls.

He possessed a piece of the beast's soul, taken on Earth. And that soul, drawn by the powerful soul of the main body, wanted to return.

In that case, all he had to do was release it, and follow its path with his sword.

‘I cut it.’

One success after countless attempts. It was a huge breakthrough. From now on, it wouldn't stop at just one.

[How dare you!!]

Jerakson unleashed his magic. Magic originated from mana, but a dragon's magic was bound to contain the power of the soul as well. He cut that, too.

The beast's massive tail swept down, triggering an avalanche. The body belonged to the material realm, but dragons were beings that valued and maintained the balance of the trinity. Its body, too, held a soul, and he cut that as well.

"This… such a weakness…"

Kalesian was horrified, as if it were his own problem. Because dragons maintained a balance of body, mind, and soul, if one was compromised, the others were also at risk.

But there was no creature in the world that could physically overwhelm a dragon. Likewise, there could be no mind more noble than a dragon's. Or if there was, it would have to be a deity who had trained for thousands, tens of thousands of years to reach that state.

The soul was no different, so it was never thought to be a point of attack. Thus, the dragon, maintaining the balance of the three, had no weaknesses and was rightly called the strongest of all creatures.

And Jinwoo had cut one of those pillars: the soul.

[…]

Jerakson's eyes flew open. Until now, he had been able to lose his reason—or rather, let it go—and rampage because he possessed absolute confidence.

Confidence that no matter what happened, he would not die. Even if the human before him had the memories of 'that man,' he was now nothing more than a human. Therefore, he thought he could not be a threat.

That premise was now shattered. In truth, the wound to his soul was minuscule. In terms of a physical injury, it was like tearing a hangnail and drawing a tiny drop of blood.

But it represented a possibility. The sword had only grazed him, resulting in a minor wound. But what if it had pierced his core? Even a small wound could be fatal if it struck the heart.

[Damn…it…]

And so, he came to his senses. That, to him, was an even greater humiliation. He had surrendered his body to rage to draw out all his potential, only to have it forcibly dispelled by his opponent.

That meant his opponent was half a step… no, a full step above him.

‘Now.’

Regardless of Jerakson's shock, Jinwoo did not miss this opportunity. This moment, when the enemy's state had shifted—when he was most confused, most bewildered, and most lost.

There was no need to run to close the distance. Physical distance and soul distance were separate. Though Jinwoo and Jerakson were some distance apart, the distance between their souls was well within the sword's reach.

Jerakson, too, did not bother to close the gap. Having fallen behind in the battle of souls, his only way to attack Jinwoo was to attack his physical body, and he had hundreds of ways to do that from afar.

Among them, he chose his breath. For a dragon, it was the most reliable attack in the most difficult moments. The most powerful, and a signature skill unique to dragons that no other creature possessed.

"Jinwoo! Dodge!!"

Kalesian shouted. He knew that the current Jinwoo was formidable. Finding a way to sever Jerakson's soul meant he held the dragon's life in his hands.

But even so, it would all be for naught if he lacked the physical body to wield the sword. Jerakson's breath was on a level that not even he, let alone Silbaern, could hope to face. If it hit, not even Jinwoo would emerge unscathed.

But Jinwoo did not dodge. He raised his sword. And his vision was engulfed in light.

"Ugh! No…!"

Kalesian threw himself in front of Jinwoo, unleashing all his remaining mana. He hoped to slow the torrent of light, even for a single moment.

And his hope was mercilessly shattered as the light swept over the entire world.