The Begotten Fiend

Chapter 26: Reduced To Nothing

[I... dah... eh...]

Once more, Zenith became a jumbling mess when I questioned it.

I’ve never seen them like this before. How can something even manipulate Zenith? it’s not physical, and I don’t think it’s inside me either.

Still, there’s no point pondering on it. The fact is, Zenith isn’t worth much here.

"What the hell does this thing what?" I groaned. The air was heavy, and the only reason I’m not a skeleton is because Zenith helped me in the last second.

It’d be nice if they could at least give me the rest of my mana.

"I... am the West Dragon, known as the God of Senses. You have interrupted my slumber, and for that, you shall perish."

What?

It was blistering. I couldn’t see it, I couldn’t hear it, I couldn’t even sense it.

In a split second, it went from stationary to in front of me--its wings punching my guts.

Everything went black. There wasn’t even enough time to register that I’d been hit--all I could feel was my insides rearranging.

And then I was in the air. So high up that to me, the kingdom looked like a dot. I coughed blood, bile, and saliva.

Holy shit. This is insane. I can’t even feel the pain, my entire body was numb. The air is so thin that no matter how much I heaved, my lungs never felt full.

I can’t even imagine this. That something can be so powerful. This is it.

My ascent quickly dipped--leaving me victim to gravity. I started to fall.

The air blew into me like a heavy cloak. My entire body felt hot. There’s nothing I can do to survive this as I am.

Wait, there’s one thing.

"Zenith, take my training wheels off. I’m ready."

At this distance, there’s no way whatever the dragon’s been doing to Zenith can work. That was my hope, anyway.

And, at this moment, what I needed was my full power. Fighting in this forest, I’ve learned what it means to survive. I can handle it--the power vested inside me.

[Noted. Removing all limitations.]

Mana burst forth from my skin--popping and sizzling. It was so abundant that I could see it around me.

I tried to contain it, ball it up and keep it to myself, but it kept flying off. My Mana Control isn’t sufficient for all of this power.

A great amount of it was flying off into the atmosphere, forever lost and unused. It was like watching it wash away.

I’m not ready, but it didn’t matter. Here and now, I needed this power.

Eventually, I crashed into the ground. I’d built up so momentum that the earth cratered several dozen feet deep. My legs buckled from the sudden force, but it didn’t hurt. Not one bit.

"Oh~" the dragon mused, curling its wings inward. "You survived. Impressive."

I shook my head. "No. I didn’t just survive. What you’ve done is make me stronger, and you’ll find that I won’t be easy to take down."

Using the excess mana swirling within, I activated Mana Sense. Due to being stronger than usual, I could see the mana more finely.

They moved weirdly, rhythmically. The mana closest to the dragon almost seemed to quiver. Ah, so that’s what it is.

"You--what you did to me earlier, putting me under an illusion. I see now that just by simply existing, the mana influences the minds of all those around you.

That part makes sense, but I don’t understand what you meant when you said that I woke you up?"

The dragon laughed?

It stood on its back two legs, then spoke. "It’s rare to come across a creature capable of breaking my False Reality--though, you’ve only broken its most rudimentary effects. In doing so, you pushed against my mana, which woke me up. It’s laughable, that after all this time, you humans still don’t understand..." the dragon whipped its wings out laterally--its head shaking wildly. "That dragons aren’t too keen on rude guests!"

I couldn’t believe it. The mana--I could see it, even without Mana Sense.

Space itself was cracking?

There was no other way to describe it. A blast, too wide to dodge, gutted the space between myself. The speed was immeasurable. Even with my senses cranked up to the max, the attack was all but a flash.

It couldn’t be dodged. It couldn’t be tanked. Not even the world seemed capable of withstanding its impact. It held a nightly darkness, I could hardly even call it mana. No, it was pure destruction. freewebnσvel.cøm

I pulled my arms to my head. Push wouldn’t work, too slow. Mana Control can’t hope to compare to this. There was no way out. freёwebnovel.com

I’m going to die--

The darkness consumed me. Even with all my power, I didn’t withstand even a millisecond of the blast’s power.

My flesh, my bones, my soul. They all were reduced to nothing.

The dragon, closing its mouth, chuckled once. "So, that was all you amounted to. To think one as impudent as you would dare to interrupt my slumber. It’ll take another century for me to get any proper sleep."

It flapped its wings, propelling itself into the air. Looking over the kingdom, it shook its head. "My fury is not yet satiated. I’ll burn down that place one day, though it’s still too early."

Finally, it flew off, leaving behind it a loud, booming sound and a ring of clouds.

Thus, that ends the story of Nash. He died before he truly accomplished any of his goals, an utterly useless and deplorable human.

At least, that’s what I would say, were I not hiding in a bush, watching the entire thing happen in real-time.

I wiped my face, sweat beading down my face. My heart pumped profusely, banging against my ribcage.

I didn’t know what to say, other than prayers to god that the dragon hadn’t noticed me.

"That was a close one, huh?" I laughed to myself, though that didn’t wash away the dread I felt.

One wrong move, and I was dead.

When I’d dropped to the ground, my increased perception told me one thing. That the dragon was utterly unbeatable. No matter what I did, there was nothing I could do to beat it.

But that got me thinking. It said that it was the God of Senses, which meant that it must have some dominion over illusion magic.

In that case, it likely wasn’t watching out for illusion magic of my own. It was a long shot, but the only chance I had of surviving.

So, with every fiber of being, I concocted the perfect escape. Zenith once said that with enough mana, you can mimic physical objects.

Well, my body’s physical, right? And I had more than enough mana.

It was a one and done deal, but I did it. Combining Mana Control with Mana Sense, influenced by Illusion, I created a perfect replica of my body. I couldn’t make it move, but it served its job.

[Wonderfully done. Though, I suggest you lay low for the time being, so as to not attract its attention.]

I smiled. "Thanks. And I will."

But, if all goes well, I’ll be out of here in the hour. Now that the dragon thinks I’m dead, I have free reign to roam this forest outside of its influence.

Woah!

I clutched both sides of my head, kneeling down. This is weird, information is pushing itself into my brain as if I were learning a new skill.

[Acquired Refined Skill, Clone.]