Chapter 393: Injuring the Water God Dragon
The violent collision that one would expect to destroy the world never occurred.
The Wind Release: Rasenshuriken cleaved cleanly through the center of the Water God Dragon's roar, hurtling straight toward its massive target. Mercphobia's pupils constricted; he clearly hadn't expected his cataclysmic breath to be countered so easily.
Hidden in the distance, Kiria's eyes widened in sheer disbelief. She possessed Blade Dragon Slayer Magic—an incredibly rare power that allowed her to unleash invisible blades capable of cutting through anything.
Yet, no matter how much pride she took in her own destructive capabilities, she knew deep down that she could never slice through the raw, concentrated breath of a God Dragon. But that towering, golden Nine-Tailed Fox had managed it without breaking a sweat.
Just who the hell was this guy?
Boom!
The Wind Release: Rasenshuriken slammed directly into the Water God Dragon's colossal body. The sheer kinetic force of the impact halted the beast's momentum entirely, leaving him suspended for a brief second before the true horror of the jutsu was unleashed.
Sizzle! Screech!
Countless hyper-compressed, microscopic wind chakra blades mercilessly ground against the Water God Dragon's azure scales. A true Dragon's scales possessed unparalleled defensive power—completely immune to standard arcane attacks, making it nearly impossible for human magic to leave so much as a scratch.
However, Ren's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken was no simple magic. The countless microscopic chakra blades acted like a high-speed, omnidirectional grinding wheel.
Even if they couldn't breach the Water God Dragon's divine scales in a strike or two, the instantaneous barrage of thousands—tens of thousands, even millions—of cuts in a single second produced a terrifying lethality. It bypassed conventional durability entirely, ravaging the target at a cellular level.
Pfft!
The impenetrable scales on the Water God Dragon's body were finally sliced open, violently giving way to the grinding storm. A massive, horrifying wound erupted across his draconic chest, sending a torrential spray of thick dragon blood raining down into the churning ocean below.
"He's injured!"
Kiria, Skullion, and Madmole couldn't suppress their excitement upon seeing the invincible Water God Dragon actually wounded. Their predatory instincts as Fifth-Generation Dragon Slayers flared to life, their mouths watering at the sight of the divine blood.
With the Water God Dragon injured, they finally had a legitimate chance to kill him. If they could just finish him off and consume his divine flesh and blood, there was no telling how much their strength would skyrocket.
Just as they were inwardly hoping Ren would press the assault and leave the God Dragon crippled at death's door, the battlefield suddenly went quiet.
Ren abruptly stopped.
"Alright, let's stop here!" Ren called out to Mercphobia, his voice echoing clearly over the roaring waves.
Simultaneously, he deactivated his massive Full Tailed Beast Transformation. The colossal, blazing golden fox dissolved into motes of shimmering light, gently returning Ren to his standard Take Over form of Minato Namikaze as he hovered calmly in the air.
Mercphobia stared blankly at the dissipating golden chakra for a moment, then looked down at Ren in utter confusion. He could feel the agonizing sting of his torn flesh, yet the killing intent that had previously locked onto him was completely gone.
"Why?" the colossal dragon rumbled, his voice laced with bewilderment. "I'm already injured. If you just push a little harder, you might be able to kill me and complete a part of the 100-Year Quest. Are you really going to give up?"
"I can't give up on the quest, but the mission parameters specifically say to Seal you, not kill you," Ren replied casually, crossing his arms.
"If you were truly a mindless, evil dragon who committed every imaginable atrocity, I wouldn't mind finishing you off right here. But you don't seem to be, so there's naturally no need for me to take your life."
"No! You should kill me!" Mercphobia roared, a profound sense of desperation bleeding into his heavy voice.
"I have a premonition that you are the exact entity I've been waiting for! I'm gradually losing control of my own immense power. Once I lose my mind completely, this magic will bring unprecedented disaster to humanity. Only by killing me now can you save countless innocent lives."
Mercphobia continued to fervently urge Ren to strike him down, desperately clinging to the hope that this overwhelming stranger would be his executioner. He had lived with the guilt and terror of his own fading sanity for far too long.
Ren merely curled his lip into a dismissive smirk. "If others die, they die. I'm not some noble-hearted hero or a self-proclaimed savior of the world. I don't really care about the life or death of nameless strangers, so don't try to guilt-trip me into doing your dirty work."
He locked eyes with the massive dragon, his azure gaze uncompromising. "Everything I do is of my own volition. Even if you are the vaunted Water God Dragon, you don't get to tell me what to do."
Mercphobia was entirely stunned; he hadn't expected Ren to say such blunt, almost callous things. Yet, beneath those cynical words lay an undeniable undercurrent of mercy that left the dragon speechless.
"Alright, go get yourself treated," Ren instructed, waving a hand dismissively. "That Wind Release: Rasenshuriken isn't so easy to withstand. Those countless energy blades slice through much more than just your physical body—they sever every tiny nerve and chakra pathway."
He pointed toward the massive, bleeding gash. "If you don't take care of it immediately, the cellular injury will only get worse, and your body will start to shut down."
Pfft!
As if on cue, Mercphobia violently coughed up a massive mouthful of dark blood. He didn't need Ren to lecture him about the anatomy of the attack; he could already feel that the nerves and magical pathways near his chest wound were severely, almost irreparably damaged.
Fortunately, what Ren had used against him wasn't traditional Dragon Slayer Magic, so the conceptual damage wasn't irreversible. With enough time and rest, his draconic vitality would ensure the catastrophic wound slowly healed.
A blinding blue light enveloped the massive beast, and within seconds, Mercphobia shrank down, returning to his humanoid form. He floated above the water, gasping for breath.
A horrific, deep gash was carved diagonally across his chest. Blood continuously oozed from the wound, staining his elegant garments a deep crimson. It was only thanks to a dragon's incomprehensibly tenacious vitality that he was still conscious. Had it been a normal human, they would have disintegrated long ago from such a severe, localized cellular strike.
"What do you intend to do now?" Mercphobia asked, looking up at Ren while clutching his bleeding chest.
Although he was injured—and quite seriously at that—he still possessed enough residual magic to fight. However, since Ren had chosen to abruptly end the hostilities, Mercphobia naturally had no interest in continuing a pointless, suicidal struggle.
There was no doubt in his mind that he had lost this duel. Having been definitively defeated, his draconic pride dictated that he accept whatever decision his victorious opponent made.
"Well, we'll talk about the sealing details later. Recover your strength first," Ren said, entirely unbothered by the tension in the air.
Truthfully, Ren hadn't yet decided how to handle the logistical nuances of sealing a God Dragon. He figured it best to return to the Magia Dragon guild and consult his employer, Elefseria, before making any permanent moves.
"You really are completely different from those previous Mages..." Mercphobia muttered, a complicated mixture of relief and disbelief washing over his pale face.
Mercphobia had encountered countless elite Mages who had arrogantly taken Elefseria's legendary commission over the decades, and every single one of them couldn't wait to violently claim his head.
Yet this young man named Ren, despite possessing the overwhelming ability to do exactly that, was in absolutely no hurry to take his life.
As one of the legendary Five God Dragons, killing Mercphobia would immediately grant any Mage supreme prestige, unimaginable wealth, and immortal honor across the continents. To walk away from that required a truly bizarre mindset.
"Everyone is different, and I don't particularly want to be like everyone else," Ren replied with a casual shrug.
"Alright, I'll go back and discuss things with my employer first. You should head back to your temple and recover from your injuries too. Try not to bleed out on the way."
Whoosh!
With a flash of golden light and the sharp crack of displaced air, Ren's figure vanished instantly, utilizing the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave the area without a trace.
"..."
Mercphobia hovered in silence, looking out over the vast, empty sea. Ren's terrifying presence had completely faded, leaving only the gentle lapping of the ocean waves in his wake.
"He really is an unpredictable fellow," Mercphobia sighed softly, a faint, exhausted smile gracing his lips.
Clutching his agonizing chest wound, Mercphobia prepared to turn and leave. He intended to return to his underwater palace in Elmina to rest and recuperate as advised.
Watching this massive shift in the atmosphere, Kiria, Skullion, and Madmole could no longer restrain their dark ambitions. This was an absolutely perfect, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to assassinate the Water God Dragon.
He was heavily injured, bleeding profusely, and his immense magic power was surely depleted from the battle with the golden fox. He was entirely alone. If they didn't act at this exact moment, when would they ever get a chance like this again?
"Move!"
At Skullion's sharp, commanding bark, the three elite Dragon Eaters exploded from their hiding spots, charging aggressively toward the weakened Mercphobia.
"Blade Dragon's Ripping Slash!"
The very surface of the sea was violently sliced open as Kiria descended from the sky. Swinging her arms, she unleashed a massive, invisible magical slash that ruthlessly tore through the air and water, aiming directly for the God Dragon's blind spot.
Mercphobia didn't even flinch. He had long since noticed these three arrogant clowns hiding like rats in the distant shadows, but he simply hadn't cared enough to address them.
Three pathetic humans who had somehow obtained Fifth-Generation Dragon Force dared to challenge him, the Water God Dragon? It was almost laughable.
He liked humans, and he went out of his way to protect the citizens of Elmina, but that certainly didn't mean he held any affection for humans who actively sought to kill and eat him.
The Water God Dragon had only grown mild-tempered and regretful in recent years; that didn't mean he had always been a pacifist. Decades ago, he was widely known as one of the most violent warmongers among the Five God Dragons—a true force of cataclysmic destruction.
Without even fully turning around, Mercphobia indifferently raised his bare, bloodstained palm.
Boom!
The massive, invisible slash landed directly on Mercphobia's outstretched palm, generating a deafening shockwave that rippled across the sky.
This terrifyingly powerful slash—an attack entirely capable of effortlessly slicing the sea and cleanly cleaving mountains in half—was completely halted. It was blocked just like that, casually caught by Mercphobia's bare hand as if it were nothing more than a gentle breeze.
"What?! How is this even possible?!"
Kiria was instantly struck by sheer, paralyzing disbelief. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks as she stared at the suspended magical blade. This was an ambush attack she had poured her full strength and malice into, yet it was blocked so effortlessly by a heavily injured, exhausted God Dragon.
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