A world harboring gods is undoubtedly vast. For a typical traveler—even one as seasoned as the Empress—the trek from the bustling center of Orario to the desolate "End of the World" would be a grueling month-long odyssey.
When the legendary elites of the Zeus and Hera Familias made their historical march to confront the Behemoth and Leviathan, it took them nearly sixty days of relentless travel to reach the outer boundaries.
However, Leon was no ordinary adventurer. As a Level 9 powerhouse standing at the precipice of godhood, he viewed distance as a re suggestion. With his flight magic fueled by an almost bottomless reservoir of magic power, he cut a swath through the sky that reduced weeks of travel to a re forty-eight hours.
Had he been alone, Leon could have simply transford his physical form into a streak of prismatic light, crossing the continent in a heartbeat. But out of consideration for his companions, Hers and Asfi, he maintained a steady, though still incredibly rapid, aerial pace.
Two days after departing the guild, the trio descended upon the jagged, windswept canyons at the edge of the world. This was the recorded resting place of the One-Eyed Black Dragon, the final and most terrible of the Three Great Quests.
According to the reports of the heroes of old, the One-Eyed Black Dragon spent years in a deep, undisturbed slumber. It did not hide, it didn't need to. Its sheer presence was enough to ward off any living thing, and it only stirred when foolish mortals dared to trespass upon its domain.
But as the dust settled from their landing, Leon's eyes narrowed. The canyon was empty.
"Sothing is wrong." Leon muttered, his voice barely audible over the whistling wind.
Hers's face, usually masked by a playful smirk, was now a mask of grimace. He paced the periter of the designated nesting site, his eyes scanning the barren rock.
"The records are absolute. The One-Eyed Black Dragon has slept here for an age. It doesn't move. It doesn't migrate. It should be right here."
The sense of unease Hers had felt when the dragon first breached the surface of Orario had now crystallized into a cold, hard knot of dread.
Asfi interjected, her hand resting on the hilt of her weapon, "Hers-sama, Leon-sama, we should investigate the surrounding area imdiately. If a creature of that size moved, there must be a trail."
"I am already looking." Leon replied with a faint smile.
Hers glanced at Leon and gave a stiff nod. He signaled Asfi to remain silent, knowing that Leon's sensory capabilities were far beyond anything the two of them could achieve.
Leon closed his eyes, extending his consciousness. Ordinarily, a Black Dragon of this caliber would leave a residual aura so potent that it would act as a permanent curse upon the land. A single scale from such a beast could repel monsters for miles.
Yet, as Leon reached out with his senses, he found the surface of the canyon strangely "clean." There was no lingering pressure of a dragon.
Instead, there was a peculiar, rhythmic thrumming—a frequency that felt awkwardly familiar.
Leon thought, 'It's like the energy I felt when the Leviathan was being born between the 60th and 61st floors. Back then, the creature was essentially a prototype being gestated by the Dungeon. Could it be...?'
Leon used his signature technique, Veins of Light and Shadows, to perform a total scan of the environnt. Veins of Light shot upward, weaving through the atmosphere to detect any cloaking spells or high-altitude anomalies, while Shadows sank into the earth, behaving like a thousand dark fingers probing the depths of the world.
For thirty minutes, Leon stood as still as a statue. The sky yielded nothing but empty air. But deep beneath the crust of the earth—thousands of ters below the canyon floor—the Shadows struck sothing solid.
Leon's eyes snapped open, his pupils shimring with a pale light. He withdrew the veins of light from the sky and funneled all his energy downward, penetrating the bedrock.
What he discovered was a massive, subterranean void that shouldn't have existed. This wasn't a natural cavern, nor was it a known extension of the Dungeon. It was a localized, artificial space.
Floating in the center of this lightless cathedral was a giant egg, identical in structure and composition to the one that had birthed the Leviathan on the deep floors. But this one was different.
Through the Shadows, Leon could feel the pulse within. It wasn't just one life force. It was two.
Leon sensed the terrifying aura of the Level 10 Black Dragon that had recently escaped Orario—a jagged, violent energy. Intertwined with it, spiraling like a double helix, was a second aura: older, heavier, and far more malevolent. This was the essence of the original One-Eyed Black Dragon.
"Just as I suspected. They aren't just hiding. They are fusing." Leon murmured to himself, his expression hardening.
"Leon? What did you find?" Hers asked, stepping closer, his voice strained.
"The space several thousand ters below us holds the answer. The One-Eyed Black Dragon and the new Black Dragon are currently rging into a single entity. They are undergoing a total biological and spiritual fusion." Leon said, turning to face his companions.
Hers and Asfi froze.
The magnitude of the statent was almost too much to process. Either of those dragons was already capable of ending the world.
A fusion—a singular being born from the combined essence of the two greatest disasters in history—was a catastrophe beyond reckoning.
Hers whispered, the realization hitting him like a physical blow, "So this was the Dungeon's endga? The Dungeon sent the new Black Dragon up not to destroy Orario, but to deliver a missing piece of the puzzle. It was a courier. It brought the necessary catalysts to the original King so they could evolve."
Hers looked at Leon, his desperation evident. "Leon, we cannot let them complete this!"
"I'm with you on that."
Hers stared at Leon, his brow furrowed with genuine concern. "Leon, let's rush back as fast as we can and bring Ais and Haruhi here. If we have their support, our chances against these two monsters will increase significantly."
Leon rely offered a faint smile. "Hmm? Why would I go back to bring them all the way here?"
Hers paused, his eyes narrowing as he processed the implication. "Are you truly confident you can take on two Black Dragons by yourself? This isn't just a regular Monster Rex, Leon. This is the fusion of the world's greatest calamities."
Asfi added, her voice laced with anxiety as she stepped forward, "Leon-sama, this is far too dangerous. Even for you, fighting two Level 10 entities simultaneously is suicidal."
Leon replied, his voice calm and reassuring as he looked at Asfi, "I wasn't so sure before I arrived. But now that I'm here, I'm very confident. It's alright, Asfi. I can handle this."
Before his recent rank up to Level 9, Leon would have struggled to suppress two Level 10 dragons without tapping into his restricted divine authority. But now, standing at the absolute zenith of mortal power, he was effectively a demigod. His basic stats were so high they broke the logic of the Falna.
Without giving Hers or Asfi another chance to argue, Leon flicked his wrist. A powerful surge of flight magic gripped both of them, instantly launching them thousands of ters away from the epicenter.
He continued to push the spell, intending to deposit them tens of kiloters away. He knew that if a full-scale battle erupted, the re aftershocks would vaporize a Level 4 adventurer like Asfi and shatter the fragile mortal fra of a god with sealed powers.
Hers and Asfi tumbled to a halt far on the horizon, staring back at the distant canyon.
"Hers-sama, what do we do now?" Asfi asked, her breath hitching.
"What else can we do but watch?" Hers replied with a weary, wry smile.
"We're too far from Orario to get help, and without Leon's speed, it would take us a month to walk back. Even Fels' communication orbs won't reach this far. We can only pray. I always thought Leon was the composed type, but it turns out he's just as reckless as the rest of them."
As he spoke, a deafening explosion ripped through the air, shaking the ground even at their distance.
"It's starting!"
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