The roar lasted for a good while, long enough to make my ears ring right after it ended. After it ended, all over the place, I started feeling the aura released by the red parasites from before.
“D*mn it!”
If we dallied any longer, then we’d definitely get surrounded. However, entering the heart of the Dragon King’s God Territory while it was fuming would definitely be suicidal. With it getting angry, I can’t even imagine what sort of danger would be waiting for us in there.
“Kuh…!”
Fang groaned, trying to lift herself from my shoulders. However, although she was no longer controlling her clones, the strain on her psyche was pretty heavy. It would probably take her a while before she could fully recover. Meaning that until then, I still need to carry her like baggage.
Just as I was wondering what to do, where to hide, and how to bide my time, the surrounding air suddenly started flowing. It was like a gentle breeze at first, but as time passed, it got stronger and stronger, enough to push us in the direction the air was flowing.
Rather than getting pushed, it’s more accurate to say that we’re getting pulled. The heart, which was a hundred meters away, now had a red portal opened at its surface, harnessing a powerful suction force and pulling us in.
It wasn’t as powerful as the micro black hole, though, so it was easy to keep our position even without using the cracked sword as a stopper. The problem was not the suction force but rather the approaching red parasites. They were already in view, coming towards us one step at a time.
If they got close enough, like earlier, then 10 out of 10, we’d end up with more injuries. To avoid that, I quickly pulled a long ammo belt for shotgun shells from my [Spatial Storage] and hung it over my neck. After making sure that it was secured, I then pulled the gun, still in its RPG form, and activated the morphing function, turning it back to the shotgun form.
I let go of Fang’s waist, using my left hand to load several shells into the shotgun’s chamber and cocking the lever before fixing my grip on her once again. With this, we could defend ourselves for a short while.
“… But this is just a temporary measure.”
With how the red parasites seem to be coming endlessly from all over, the few shotgun shells from the ammo belt would definitely not be enough to stop them all. At most, I can take a few down before we get skewered by dozens of those bullet-speed tentacles.
*BANG!*
Without waiting for them to get too close, I pulled the trigger. The shell flew with a powerful wake, passing through a red parasite’s body like a hot knife through butter. Unlike when they got slashed, the shell sent waves of energy from the fist-sized hole it made initially, destroying all energy points in its body. In a big blast, the red parasite exploded into a red liquid, raining all over the place.
The splashed liquids and the tiny parts of the parasite stayed unmoving even after some time passed. Seeing that the shotgun could kill the parasites, I heaved a sigh of relief. It was the first “confirmed” kill of the parasites that we did. Although it wasn’t much, it at least proved that they were living things that could die and not some immortal creature or something.
Without rest, I immediately cocked the shotgun and shot as many of the incoming parasites as I could. However, no matter how many I shot, they were literally all over the place. In about ten seconds, Fang and I would be completely surrounded.
Looking at Fang, she was wheezing already. The recoil from the shotgun, although indirectly, was also affecting her state. Looking at her blue face, it was obvious she was having a hard time breathing already. In this state, if I continue using the gun, then I fear Fang will be the first to fall.
“YOU LEFT US WITH NO CHOICE!”
I roared to the top of my lungs, ignoring the bubbling hole in my lung, hurting thigh, and immobile knee. Earlier, instead of the bullets, I should’ve had some potions instead. It was a bit too late, but I regret my choices now. What a blunder.
Even while limping and carrying another person on my shoulders, I ran as fast as I could muster. It wasn’t much compared to my top speed, but it was still fast enough to cover the 100 meters to the Dragon King’s heart in a few seconds. The pulling force from it was a great help too, since with it, I was able to relieve some pressure from my legs.
Before I could even prepare my heart, my knee finally gave in. I fell forward, slamming down straight toward the red portal that was right before the gigantic beating heart.
As soon as we entered, we started falling like meteors from the sky.
Yep, the exit of the red portal was high in the air. Looking around, the Dragon King’s God Territory was like a hellscape. Volcanoes scattered all over, spewing plumes of black smoke and red lava. Cracked earth, drier than even the driest desert.
The oceans, if they could even be called that, were of a deep red color, as if billions of living creatures had died there and poured their blood all over them to change their color.
*RRRROOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR!*
Just as I was wondering where the Dargon King was, a loud roar echoed from above. It was so loud that it felt like my eardrums would break. I can’t even cover my ears since I’m holding Fang in my arms now, as we were plunging straight down.
As I turned to look up, my breath was locked in my throat for an instant.
The dark sky, which I originally thought was dark to match the apocalyptic landscape, was actually dark due to the shadow of a single being. Right above us, the head of a large dragon was peeking through the dark clouds.
Its golden eyes glowed with an insatiable anger, enough that its killing intent could literally be felt through our skin. Before I could even feel amazed at the rolling flames gathering inside its gigantic mouth, enough to swallow Michigan Stadium whole, I quickly used [Shadow Skip] to jump as far away as possible from the Dragon’s face.
The God Territory isn’t as severe as inside the body, so we were able to gain enough distance in an instant. Just to be doubly sure, I repeated [Shadow Skip] while carrying Fang and moved to a place surrounded by erupting volcanoes.
“Fang, take this!”
As soon as I reached my target location, I grabbed another potion from the [Spatial Storage] and literally drained all its contents inside Fang’s slightly parted lips as quickly as humanely possible. Her injuries right now are internal ones, so applying it externally like earlier would have little to no effect.
*Cough!* *Cough!*
Fang choked lightly. The potion must’ve gone down the wrong pipe, but we have no time to let her recover her breath first. Without any mercy, I kept the lips of the bottle inside her mouth, letting the contents flow down to her throat.
Before she could finish the bottle, however, the temperature of the air around us rapidly increased. A foreboding feeling triggered my senses, making me turn toward the Dragon King from before. Although it should be a few kilometers away right now, the head is still large enough that it breaks my sense of distance.
“W-What…”
However, rather than the head, a different object was eating up most of my view. It was the sun. No, rather than the sun, it was actually an extremely large fireball flying toward us at a rapid pace!
The air was getting drained of what little moisture it had, releasing steam into the surroundings before becoming superheated and disappearing from sight. It could still be detected, though, as the superheated steam was morphing the view. Like a hazy scene, the large fireball was surrounded by distorted images of the sky beyond it.
“Wait, no!”
It’s not the time to be staring at this move that could literally kill us without even touching it! I quickly grabbed Fang once more, making sure that the potion bottle was still stuck between her lips, and used [Shadow Skip] to escape.
Going backward would just extend the travel time of the fireball, which could still reach us, and going forward, where the superheated steam exists, would be suicidal. In the end, I moved diagonally backward, moving out of range and beyond the path of the fireball.
After about five consecutive [Shadow Skip] I could finally breathe normally. With this much distance, the gigantic fireball’s effect shouldn’t be able to reach us anymore…
Just as I thought that, the fireball slammed to the ground and exploded. The power of the explosion was almost similar to an atomic bomb, as it created a mushroom cloud at ground zero almost instantly.
The two of us, who were just less than a kilometer away from the blast, were still within the kill radius. ．
“Are you kidding me?!”
I roared as I turned tail and spammed [Shadow Skip] many times, hoping to outrun the approaching blast wave.