what if I'm an undead! then so what?-Chapter 45: Solstice Spring underground event (6): you think that’s enough to kill me?

Chapter 45: Solstice Spring underground event (6): you think that’s enough to kill me?

The Chimera roared, not as a mere beast, but as an ancient force born of calamity itself. Its massive head snarled with fury, vibrating intensively while releasing a distorted echo that sent tremors cascading through the atmosphere. A lion’s head bared molten fangs, its crimson mane dancing with embers. Opening it’s mouth to an unbelievable angle, it pulsed with shifting sinew, its maw dripping void essence.

It rose to its feet, towering over the trio with thunderous steps that fractured the arena stone. The reinforced coliseum—designed to withstand the wrath of dragons—shuddered with every movement of the creature. Veins of chaos energy pulsed along its limbs, and a ring of distortion coiled around it like a living storm.

No elemental force resonated from its aura. No mana. No spirit energy. No divine essence. It was something purer, older. Something raw.

Chaos.

A swirling black sphere formed between the dragon head’s jaws, sucking in light and sound alike. The air around it twisted, and a high-pitched whine sliced through the crowd’s ears. It was the absence of matter, the compression of oblivion into a singular point.

Vaelion raised his hand to counter it, he had confidence in his defence more than any amour and that’s why he only wore simple clothes, as a Ryukar his scales were strong enough to survive most impact. However before he even got the chance to tank the blast.

The old swordsman.

With surprising strength, the elder warrior knocked Vaelion aside and moved away from the blast as well, the raw force if that blast was not something the Ryukar could handle from his own perspective.

A moment later, impact.

The blast carved through the earth like divine wrath made manifest, vaporizing a stretch of the arena in a thunderous eruption. Dust and debris flew like shrapnel as a crater over twenty meters wide marked the impact zone. Even the barrier spells meant to protect the spectators flickered momentarily under the pressure.

"What the hell is your problem?!" Vaelion snapped, rising to his feet with dirt on his cheek and fire in his voice. "Don’t lay your filthy hands on me without permission!"

The old man didn’t flinch. He pointed at the smoking crater.

"You wouldn’t have survived that unscathed. Pride will get you killed."

For the first time since the match began, Vaelion’s grin faltered. His pupils narrowed slightly, a bead of sweat trailing down his brow.

He clicked his tongue and chuckled. "I’ll let that slide just this once... because you begged."

He stretched his arms, muscles coiled like springs beneath his cloak. His smile returned—wilder, sharper. "Finally... a worthy opponent."

The crowd sensed it too. An unease had spread. This wasn’t a tournament bout anymore. It was war.

"I don’t know about you losers," Vaelion growled, fire crackling beneath his skin, "but I’m not waiting. Watch from the sidelines if you’re scared."

With that, he launched himself forward, leaving behind a blast of pressure that cracked the tiles beneath his feet. Dust spiraled in his wake.

"Don’t fall behind, kid!" the old man said with a grin, drawing his aged blade with a clean metallic hiss.

"Wouldn’t dream of it!" Masaru replied, his eyes burning crimson. Blood surged from his pores like mist, coalescing into the form of a broadsword with jagged edges. He held it with both hands, crouched low in a sprinter’s stance before rocketing forward.

Vaelion reached the Chimera first.

The lion head swung down like a boulder, and Vaelion ducked under it, his movements loose and fluid. He delivered a spinning kick to the creature’s side, sending ripples of force through its chaotic form. But the Chimera barely flinched.

The lion head responded, spitting a bolt of black lightning that crackled through the air.

Vaelion vanished.

He reappeared above the beast and slammed his knee into the crown of its skull, driving it down into the earth with an impact that shattered the surrounding ground in a spiderweb of cracks.

As the Chimera roared in frustration, a flicker appeared behind it.

Shougo.

His presence was like a whisper in the wind. No flash. No flare.

Just sudden, precise death.

"FIVE THOUSAND LIGHT-SPEED EDGES!" he roared, his sword a blur of silver light as he delivered an incomprehensible flurry of strikes at the nape of the creature’s neck.

Sparks flew. Skin was gashed—but barely. The Chimera’s hide absorbed the slashes like dense armor, and the damage was shallow at best.

"Tch!"

Shougo backstepped just in time as a tail thicker than a tree trunk swept across the ground, narrowly missing him.

A scream echoed overhead.

Masaru.

He had launched into the sky, a trail of red mist in his wake. His blade pulsed with condensed blood magic as he descended like a meteor. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

"Taste my blade!!"

The blade crashed into the creature’s shoulder, cutting clean through tendons and muscle. The lion head let out a guttural cry as the limb was severed completely, green ichor splattering across the battlefield.

But the victory was short-lived.

With a horrifying sound—like flesh bubbling under heat—the Chimera’s shoulder began to mend. Bone reformed. Muscle twisted back into place. Skin slithered to cover the wound. In seconds, the arm was whole again.

Masaru’s eyes narrowed. "Regeneration that fast?"

"HEY! OLD MAN!" he called out, glancing toward the aged swordsman who had yet to land a blow. "You need a sharper sword! I can forge you one right now!"

"No need, kid!" the old man called back, his voice firm as he held his katana over his head. "This old blade hasn’t failed me yet."

"Then keep up!" Masaru muttered.

The Chimera lunged forward, it’s four hands striking in tandem. Vaelion spun between the attacks, dancing like a blur of violet and gold, fists crashing into snouts and eyes with such force that shockwaves radiated with every hit.

"Eat my fist!" he shouted, delivering an earth-shaking uppercut to the lion head, sending the entire creature recoiling.

Masaru followed up immediately, slashing behind the beast’s knee. The creature collapsed, crashing to its knees and cratering the floor beneath it.

"Make way!" Shougo’s voice rang out. "Light-Speed Blade: Flashing Edge!"

A blinding arc of light erupted from his sword, carving into the Chimera and splitting it in two from crown to pelvis.

Silence.

Then—

Squirming.

The two halves began to twitch... then merge.

The flesh knitted itself together seamlessly, with no scar or blemish left behind. It was as if Shougo’s attack had never landed.

"This thing... has a moving core," Shougo muttered, eyes narrowing. "It’s shifting through its body constantly. We need to destroy that to kill it. Buy me time. I can locate it—but only I can track it!"

"Tch... always the complicated ones," Vaelion muttered.

But then, something changed.

Vaelion’s jaw clenched. His body tensed.

He opened his mouth.

It was the first time in the entire tournament he had used an attack other than punch’s bad kicks.

"DRAGON’S BREATH!"

From the depths of his lungs poured a column of violet fire, tens of thousands of degrees in temperature. The flame roared with such intensity that the arena floor began to melt. Air shimmered from the heat. Stone turned to magma.

The Chimera roared in agony as the fire consumed it.

Masaru had to leap back, shielding his face from the sheer force of the attack.

But through the inferno—

It came.

Burning, smoldering, still alive.

It lunged from the flame and slammed its fist into Vaelion’s chest, sending him flying across the battlefield, bouncing off the arena barrier with a thunderous crack.

"TWENTY THOUSAND LIGHT-SPEED BLADES: FLASHING EDGES!" Shougo roared again, unleashing an overwhelming cascade of silver arcs that struck the Chimera from every angle. It was reduced to fragments of meat.

The crowd cheered.

But Shougo didn’t smile.

"It’s not over," he said coldly.

He looked to the sky.

"In the air!"

Fragments of flesh reassembled in midair, drawn together by magnetic pulses of chaos. A new form took shape—a leaner, more agile variant of the beast.

Masaru reacted instantly, firing a barrage of blood bullets, each one explosive.

But it wasn’t enough.

The Chimera swooped down like a demon descending from hell. It slammed into Shougo, who tried to block with his blade—but the impact shattered bone.

"AGHHH!!"

His right arm twisted unnaturally as he was hurled across the arena like a ragdoll.

"Old man!" Masaru shouted, flashing forward and attempting to intercept the Chimera mid-charge.

He brought his sword down—

But the Chimera caught it in its jaws and bit through it like dry wood.

Masaru’s eyes widened.

The beast’s claw slammed into his stomach, sending him hurtling across the field like a broken kite, his blood splashing across the arena.

Smoke. Silence.

Three warriors.

All grounded.

One beast.

Still standing.

The Chimera roared once more, now triumphant, as chaos surged from its body in waves. Its triple heads raised high to the skies, defiant and untamed.

But the fight... was not over.

A shadow stirred beneath the rubble. A voice—raspy and bloodied—broke through the silence.

"...Heh... you think... that’s enough... to kill me?"

Vaelion’s eyes snapped open, glowing with draconic fire.