The Strongest in Our Neighborhood - Chapter 113

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Strongest in Our Neighborhood (113)
“Gain, what do you think? First time seeing my lair?”
“I expected a dragon’s lair to be just a large cavern dug into a mountain, but this is more elaborate than the Smed Kingdom’s palace.”
“It’s the place I’ll live my whole life—it needs to be impressive enough to make anyone who visits envious.”
“This must have taken years just to build.”
“With a High-Rank Spirit of earth, you can raise it in a few hours.”
Jang Gain’s eyes went wide.
“What? A few—a few hours? You can create something this intricate in just a few hours?”
“Since it’s all stone work, the Spirit of earth forms the overall structure and I just refine the details with magic. You saw how Virus summoned a Spirit of earth and turned the sea route humans spent months building into a rocky reef in an instant, didn’t you?”
“Right, I saw that. But you can’t summon a High-Rank Spirit of earth, can you?”
“I can.”
“What? Really? I’ve never seen you summon a High-Rank Spirit of earth before.”
“There’s been no need, so I haven’t. Dragons have abundant mana and Spirit Power both—once we reach Worm-Rank, we can summon most High-Rank Spirits, and at Ancient-Rank like my father, we can even summon a Spirit King.”
“You can summon a Spirit King? Mayarvan’ta, can you truly summon a Spirit King?”
“I can summon one, but a Spirit King is an entity I shouldn’t summon carelessly, so I rarely do.”
“Even a High-Rank Spirit is extraordinary, but what exactly is a Spirit King? Would you summon one just once? I’m so curious.”
“A Spirit King isn’t something I can summon without proper cause. I’m sorry, but I can’t grant that request of yours, Count Gain.”
“Then when can you summon a Spirit King?”
“Only in unavoidable circumstances—if a Demon Lord descended or a natural disaster was about to destroy a city. I’ve made a pact to summon them only then.”
“Ah, I see. So you can’t summon one until then?”
“That’s right. Anyway, the reason you’ve come this far is to have me assess your abilities, isn’t it? We should start preparing.”
“Yes, understood.”
Jang Gain drew a long spear from his Subspace.
Seeing this, Mayarvan’ta tilted his head in confusion.
“Hmm? Wasn’t your main weapon a sword?”
“I wield a sword well, but I also handle a spear well. And I thought a spear would suit you better.”
“Fair enough, if you’re skilled with both.”
“But won’t you return to your true form?”
“If I return to my true form, you won’t be able to handle it. That’s why I’m facing you in this human form.”
“I’d like to face your true form, Mayarvan’ta.”
“Then make me think I have no choice but to return to my true form. For now, this form should be enough.”
“I understand. But my attacks will be fierce—when the moment comes, you won’t have the leisure to transform.”
“I hope that happens. Let me show you how strong a being called Ancient-Rank truly is after two Transcendences. Come at me.”
“Then I’ll do my absolute best.”
Jang Gain dismissed the Spirit of wind he’d summoned earlier back to the Spirit Realm and stored the Chimera Wyvern he’d been riding in his Subspace.
Since his opponent was in human form, riding the Chimera Wyvern would be cumbersome rather than helpful.
Swooooosh…….
As Jang Gain did this, a thick Shield formed around Mayarvan’ta, and geometric patterns on its surface began to emit light.
Seeing the magic pattern resembled Noxscasarsis’s, Jang Gain roused his Internal Energy and wrapped his spear in Qi.
‘Let me try the Death Flower made of Qi first.’
With a graceful motion.
He charged forward and launched the Death Flower from his spear toward his opponent, when a blinding bolt of lightning suddenly burst from one of the many magical patterns.
Boom-boom-bang…….
When the Death Flower and lightning collided, the Death Flower exploded into fragments scattering in all directions, and the lightning dissipated.
Seeing the petals of Qi—fragments of his Strong Force—pour down toward Mayarvan’ta, Jang Gain felt a surge of triumph.
‘If I play this right, I might take the advantage!’
Boom-boom, boom-boom-boom-boom-boom…….
But the Qi fragments collided with the thick Shield surrounding Mayarvan’ta and exploded completely.
The petals, being fragments of Strong Force, should have possessed tremendous destructive power, yet not a single crack appeared on the Shield.
‘What? Strong Force blocked that easily? Could that Shield really have the same durability as Strong Force?’
As Jang Gain hesitated in surprise, a second thick bolt of lightning danced through the air toward him in erratic curves.
‘Huh! What kind of lightning—I can’t predict where it’s going!’
Using Different Form Transformation to leave afterimages, he dodged to the side, but the lightning shifted its path and struck straight at his true position.
Jang Gain swung his spear, infused with Qi, at the lightning, and the shockwave from the resulting explosion sent him staggering backward.
‘Even the same magic—its destructive power is incomparably stronger than Noxscasarsis’s!’
Against another incoming bolt, he deployed the Spear Heaven Blood Extreme.
Qi erupted from the spear tip, rising a zhang in height, and when he thrust it at the center of the lightning, the bolt exploded into dozens of branches.
‘Now’s the moment! Silron!’
Jang Gain summoned Silron and pushed the Wind Character Technique to its extreme limit, transforming his body into wind and scattering through the center of the diverging lightning.
Over the past two months of training his martial arts to face Mayarvan’ta, he had achieved Spirit Unity while resonating with Silron through the Wind Character Technique pushed to its limit, and since then his body could move like wind itself.
Transformed into a streamer of wind, Jang Gain hurtled toward Mayarvan’ta while lightning and fireballs rained down, thousands of ice shards engulfing the sky—yet none could impede the wind.
At last reaching the barrier that encircled Mayarvan’ta, Jang Gain sent Silron back to the Spirit Realm and unfurled the Spear Heaven Blood Extreme at full power.
Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack…….
As the spear wrapped in Qi struck the barrier, hundreds of fissures spider-webbed across it, and moments later it shattered with a tremendous crash.
Jang Gain thrust his spear toward Mayarvan’ta, whose face had twisted in shock as the barrier fragmented around him.
Mayarvan’ta reflexively raised his hand to block the spear point, and for that price his palm was pierced clean through and his cheek sliced open.
Thud.
In that instant, Mayarvan’ta’s foot transformed into a dragon’s claw and raked toward Jang Gain’s abdomen.
Jang Gain remained at a distance where the blow couldn’t reach him, still extending the spear—so when he saw the kick coming, he’d thought nothing of it. But the moment that foot swelled into a dragon’s claw many times its original size, he couldn’t dodge in time.
‘Damn it! Blast, he’s not human, how could I be so careless…! I lived through fighting a Duke-Rank Demon before and still let my guard down!’
Mid-flight backward, he saw Mayarvan’ta’s other hand—the left one, untouched by the spear—stretching toward him, and it too was a massive dragon’s limb.
‘He’s shifting to his true form to fight.’
Using the Spear Heaven Blood Extreme technique, Jang Gain poured forth his Qi and slashed at the incoming dragon claw.
Whoooosh…….
The dragon’s fist split open where the Qi cut it, exposing white bone beneath.
‘With a Strong Thread I could sever a Duke-Rank Demon’s fingers cleanly, yet with full Qi I can barely cut through flesh? Is it because he’s undergone Transcendence twice? His durability is extraordinary!’
As Jang Gain retreated, Mayarvan’ta withdrew his fist, his brow furrowed in displeasure.
By now he had transformed into a colossal dragon easily over a hundred meters tall.
“Well, I’ll be damned. Five layers of Absolute Shield shattered? And wounded on top of it? No wonder they call you a Grand Master.”
“I thought I might sever your fingers with that last strike, but your bones are hard as diamond.”
“You, who’ve only undergone Transcendence once, forced me to assume my true form! Truly remarkable!”
“How shall we proceed? If we continue, such wounds will only multiply.”
“Even in my true form, you show no fear! I’ll teach you the true difference between human form and beast form.”
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom…….
Suddenly an immense barrier enveloped Mayarvan’ta—thicker and far more solid than the shield from his human form. Above it, a dozen Magic Circles materialized, each emanating an ominous power.
Jang Gain swallowed hard without meaning to.
‘The pressure is so intense my hair stands on end. If this were a foe I had to stake my life against, I’d turn and flee without hesitation.’
Fortunately, since this was merely a test of strength, he found the courage to endure.
Jang Gain summoned Silron once more.
“Silron, come forth again. Let us become one.”
-If you keep transforming into wind, your body could collapse…… Are you sure? You’re already pushing hard.-
“I’m fine for now.”
-If you reach your limit and begin to collapse, I’ll judge the moment myself, separate from you, and return to the Spirit Realm.-
“Understood. Do that if it comes to that.”
Jang Gain merged with Silron, operating the Wind Character Technique at maximum intensity.
Whoooooosh…….
Wind spiraled around Jang Gain’s body, and the Spirit Power of Silron, the wind spirit, surged dramatically.
‘Silron! Transform into a dragon for me.’
-A dragon? Are you thinking of using Breath…… Understood.-
Moments later, Silron transcended the Wyvern form and became a dragon of wind, while Jang Gain’s figure vanished beneath the tempest.
‘Just as the Divine Sword Unity lets sword and body become one, perhaps wind and body can achieve the same union…….’
Transformed into a single stream of wind, Jang Gain continued to chant the Wind Character Technique inwardly.
Flap, flap…….
Watching Jang Gain’s form, Mayarvan’ta’s eyes went wide when the wind wyvern grew into a dragon and Jang Gain’s figure vanished entirely, his very presence becoming undetectable. He tried desperately to locate him.
Yet even when he activated his Magic Eye, he could not find him, and his head tilted in puzzlement.
“A curious technique. Still, if I destroy that wind dragon, he’ll be forced to reveal himself.”
The fact that Jang Gain could command a High-Rank wind spirit surprised him somewhat, but for a Worm-Rank dragon, such a thing was commonplace.
Crack-rumble-rumble…….
He activated the Magic Circle and hurled lightning at the wind dragon, which dodged it with ease.
But it was not a single bolt.
Moments later, dozens of lightning bolts covered the wind dragon.
Whoooosh…….
The wind dragon split into multiple currents of wind, slipping through the gaps between the lightning bolts, then reunited and reformed into dragon shape before diving directly at him.
“How presumptuous, a mere wind spirit! Let me show you what true wind is!”
Another Magic Circle activated atop the shield, and instantly dozens of enormous whirlwinds materialized.
‘Now.’
At that moment, Jang Gain’s voice reached Silron’s consciousness.
Silron, now nearly one with Jang Gain, understood immediately what “now” meant.
Roooooar…….
Energy coalesced in the wind dragon Silron’s maw, spinning rapidly and swelling to an enormous size.
“What—what is this? Absurd! An Ancient-Rank Dragon like myself, and some bodiless wind dragon dares breathe in my presence?”
Rumble-rumble-rumble…….
As the wind dragon exhaled its Breath, Mayarvan’ta wove dozens of magical whirlwinds into a single vortex through sorcery. Then he hurled that colossal cyclone toward the incoming Breath.
Crash, crash-crash-crash-crash…….
When the wind Breath and the whirlwind collided, the air erupted in an explosion so violent the world seemed to tear apart.
The clouds above split east and west from the impact, and the stone ground of Noxscasarsis’s Front Yard shattered, leaving behind a gaping chasm.
Mayarvan’ta’s expression betrayed disbelief as he watched the Breath from the mere wind dragon not yield to his magically-crafted whirlwind, but instead cancel it out evenly.
“Hmph! Destructive force of this caliber—it rivals a Worm-Rank Dragon’s Breath.”
Crack!
In that instant, fissures spiderwebbed across the shield that had tightly enveloped his body.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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