"Such tough hide!"
As the evil dragon charged forward, Eiji immediately gained altitude, narrowly avoiding its massive form. A contemplative gleam flashed in his eyes.
The golden light swords were pure energy blades. Once their energy weakened or their radiance dimmed, they couldn't even pierce the dragon's scales. Even when they managed to leave wounds, the injuries healed in the blink of an eye, leaving no opportunity for follow-up attacks.
The dragon's body was overwhelmingly powerful—comparable to ultra-hard metal. Attacks from low-level adventurers wouldn't even register as an itch!
"Guess I have to aim for the upper half!"
Eiji's gaze locked onto the dragon's head.
The stunningly beautiful female torso blinked with murky golden eyes. Sensing his predatory stare, she crossed her arms over her chest, shielding her only weak point.
With a thought, several new golden light swords materialized.
This time, however, only three appeared.
Without a word, Eiji sent the trio of blades—arranged in a triangular formation—streaking toward the dragon.
"Bone-Stripping Veil!"
Crackle—!!
Lightning far more intense than before erupted from the spirit's upper body, illuminating half the sky in an instant.
Bolstered by immense magical power, the electricity coalesced into a suit of armor enveloping her entire form!
This was on a completely different level from the earlier clones!
The sight of the terrifying sea of lightning set off alarm bells in Eiji's mind.
Hundreds of meters vanished in a breath.
This time, the dragon didn't spew fireballs. Having gauged the light swords' power, she simply extended her gleaming claws, swiping at the incoming blades with both forelimbs.
Simultaneously—
A massive surge of lightning exploded outward. The colossal electric sea instantly engulfed a hundred-meter radius around the dragon, sealing off all escape routes!
The evil dragon and the spirit appeared as one entity, but in truth, they harbored two wills.
Under the spirit's control, the two acted in perfect unison—as if two monsters were fighting Eiji at once.
Trapped within the lightning sea, Eiji couldn't dodge in any direction. The sheer momentum made stopping impossible—
Yet in the next moment, something happened that left the corrupted spirit and countless spectators utterly stunned.
The golden light swords came to an abrupt halt.
Defying the laws of inertia, they decelerated from top speed to zero in an instant!
Human eyes couldn't adjust to such a sudden stop—even the dragon's brain was completely fooled.
Miscalculating, its claws predictably sliced through empty air.
Then—
The golden blades accelerated explosively!
Their target? The female torso's chest!
Clang—!
A resonant chime echoed.
The light sword collided with the lightning armor in the blink of an eye. Like the ultimate spear clashing against the ultimate shield, the two forces strained against each other, sending restless surges of electricity rippling outward.
"Ahhh—!"
The corrupted spirit shrieked instinctively.
Only now did she react, summoning endless bolts of lightning to reinforce her chest, compressing them into an even denser defensive layer.
Clang!
In that split second, the other two light swords shot forward, slamming into the first blade.
Crackle—!
Three lightswords connected end-to-end. Under the consecutive impacts of instantaneous maximum acceleration, the lightning armor finally shattered as the blades pierced straight through her chest!
A brilliantly colored magic stone shattered before Eiji's eyes.
"Did we succeed?"
On the ground, Finn's eyes lit up.
With their fatal weakness—the magic stone—destroyed, no monster could possibly survive!
But clearly.
This corrupted spirit avatar defied that rule!
"ROOOOAR!!!"
Having her magic stone shattered right before her eyes, the evil dragon flew into a rage.
She swung her claw again, sending an arc of lightning hurtling through the air toward Eiji.
This counterattack also caught Eiji off guard.
But with his intuition's warning, he kicked off a lightsword to leap backward first.
The arcing lightning collided with the golden lightsword, taking several seconds to overpower it—by which time Eiji had already descended toward the ground.
BOOOOM—!
The evil dragon immediately followed up with a crimson breath, flames surging toward the falling Eiji!
No way to dodge!
Everyone's hearts leaped into their throats.
Thud!
Eiji kicked off another suddenly appearing lightsword.
The recoil sent him flying sideways, narrowly avoiding the flames by a hair's breadth.
"Damn, that's hot!"
Scalded by the intense heat, Eiji finally escaped the evil dragon's attack range.
Standing on a new golden lightsword, he frowned at the distant dragon.
Despite having the magic stone in her female upper body's chest cavity pierced, her form didn't vanish—instead rapidly regenerating.
She glared at him with pure hatred.
"What the hell..."
Eiji muttered in disbelief.
He'd risked getting roasted alive charging into enemy lines to destroy that magic stone, and now you're telling me it was useless?
"Plus the mana consumption is insane!"
Every lightsword forged drained another chunk of his mana.
So he minimized waste, channeling as much power as possible into each attack.
Even so, continuously creating lightswords remained an enormous burden for someone with his limited magical capacity!
How the hell was he supposed to fight this?
"Hey Dionysus, why isn't the evil dragon dead yet?"
Loki grabbed the golden-haired god by his collar, demanding answers through gritted teeth.
Everyone had seen the spirit's chest get pierced.
The experienced Loki Familia knew for certain—that had to be where the magic stone was!
Dionysus merely smirked coldly, lips sealed tight with no intention of speaking.
He was determined not to reveal that secret!
"Only a few possibilities exist!"
Finn approached them, gnawing his thumbnail.
"First—the magic stone wasn't in her chest. But Eiji's intuition wouldn't let him waste effort, so we can dismiss that. Second—the shattered stone regenerated. Honestly though, from my observation, that seems unlikely. Third, and what I consider most probable—she has multiple magic stones inside her!"
"Multiple stones?"
"That's impossible!"
Tiona and others nearby cried out in disbelief.
"Hard to imagine, yes. But remember."
Finn glanced at the group.
"Eiji said his Heavenly Spiral Acceleration didn't work on this evil dragon avatar. What other explanation could there be for such a formidable technique failing, except multiple magic stones?"
Tiona and the others exchanged glances, suddenly realizing the truth.
Indeed, the Heavenly Spiral Acceleration was an ultimate technique—once unleashed, it could definitely annihilate any monster.
Unless that monster had multiple lives!
"I assume my guess is correct, Dionysus."
Finn glanced at the golden-haired evil god.
"Tch."
He didn't speak, merely clicking his tongue in displeasure.
This was the reaction of someone whose secret had been exposed.
"Though it's hard to believe, this appears to be the undeniable answer."
Finn let out a heavy sigh.
"Riveria, Gareth, gather the remaining adventurers and resources. Eiji will likely have to fight a prolonged battle next!"