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The dragon-like creature—since it had a dragon’s head, it was treated as a dragon—launched its attacks one by one, and Sophia found herself smiling faintly without realizing it.

This is fun. And exciting.

The dragon’s massive body was like a giant castle. With such a size difference between the dragon and Sophia, there was no way to bridge the gap in size and weight. Even with the Reverse Muscle Technique boosting her physical abilities and wielding a large longsword with both hands, the disparity was an undeniable reality.

At this point, the size difference made martial arts utterly useless. Martial arts were designed for humans fighting humans. Even the gap between the lightest and heaviest weight classes in combat sports still falls within human limits.

Against a colossal monster of a different scale, those rules simply don’t apply.

But even if fighting techniques became useless, the warrior’s insight and accumulated combat principles were clearly reflected in how she handled her body. In this situation, where one wrong move could lead to irreversible consequences, Sophia loved the sensation of pushing through.

The dragon’s three heads, each with a hundred eyes, tracked Sophia’s movements while its six arms continuously generated and hurled corrupted Elementals. Its rabbit-like hind legs closed the distance in an instant, and its camel-like forelegs moved relentlessly to crush her.

Each time the dragon leaped, the ground shook like an earthquake, and its thick tail, like an ancient temple pillar, whipped through the air with crushing force. But Sophia, guided by her inner vision, slashed through the storm with her longsword and suppressed the tremors with the subtlety of a thousand-pound hammer, steadily finding the right distance to engage the dragon.

Her insight, honed from traces of her past life, shone brightly in this life as well. Sophia compared the dragon’s movements and scale to her own capabilities, refining her defensive and offensive strategies in real-time.

“Thinking about it, I didn’t even have the Reverse Muscle Technique in my past life.”

In her past life on Earth, heroes who slayed dragons and sea monsters existed only in myths and legends. Those heroes relied solely on their skill, wisdom, and luck, without any universal self-enhancement techniques like the Reverse Muscle Technique.

Compared to those mythical heroes, how much better were Sophia’s current conditions? Moreover, her past life as Lee Beom-seok had experienced the trials of ancient heroes through the “Chivalry Inheritance” and “Heroic Trials Inheritance,” engraving their legacy into her soul.

Now, the inherited legacies of slaying dragons, monsters, demons, and giants activated within Sophia, aiding her. Her movements, which could have been simple, became intricate and rhythmic, guided by the internal energy flowing through her meridians and the Kundalini resonating through her chakras.

As Sophia’s longsword, spinning like a windmill, neutralized the corrupted Elementals, she soared into the air with the subtlety of divine technique. The dragon swung its six arms to attack her.

“But it’s useless.”

Sophia’s body fluttered through the air like a feather, twisting and turning to evade the dragon’s strikes. Occasionally, she ran along the dragon’s arms, causing two of its heads to instinctively lunge at her.

But the dragon’s attacks couldn’t keep up with Sophia’s agile movements. The two beaks filled with saw-like teeth snapped at her but missed, and the octopus-like tentacles on its chin wriggled, trying to grab her but failing.

The dragon’s corrosive saliva and toxic gas brushed past her, but Sophia’s thin protective barrier shielded her body and equipment as she continued her assault.

Krrrrr…

The dragon’s heads, having missed their target, let out a rough, lizard-like breath. Its two hundred eyes flickered as they tracked Sophia. By now, Sophia had moved from the dragon’s arm to its neck. Soon, her longsword glowed with a blue light.

With a sharp crack, Sophia’s longsword flashed like lightning. The blue sword energy swirling around the blade tore through the countless eyes on the dragon’s right head.

Kyararara——!?

The dragon let out a screech like metal scraping as countless eyes were damaged in an instant. But Sophia didn’t stop there.

“Your breath stinks. Be quiet.”

In a moment, Sophia radiated Light Power and unleashed a bright spell from her spell socket. The intense flash of light struck the dragon’s remaining eyes, plunging its vision into darkness. The dragon froze, forgetting even to breathe.

But this dragon had other well-developed sensory organs. Its forked tongue flicked out, detecting body heat, bioelectricity, echolocation, and scent. Gradually, the dragon’s heads began to pinpoint Sophia’s location.

+++++

From a distance, Hildegard and Conra watched Sophia’s battle, gritting their teeth.

“Ugh, we need to hurry.”

Hildegard urged the evacuation of the people. Conra agreed, his eyes filled with hatred as he watched the dragon hurl corrupted Elementals.

“We need to get everyone to safety and join the Master. The elemental spirits are being tainted by its vile energy. As a Druid, I can’t allow this monster to exist.”

Conra created barriers to expel the evil energy and enhance nature’s purification while escorting the evacuees. Frustrated by their slow pace, he clenched his jaw.

“I understand your feelings, but calm down, Conra. The demon’s energy exploits weaknesses in the heart. You must fortify your spirit.”

“…Thank you for the advice.”

Conra, realizing his composure had wavered, felt ashamed but quickly calmed his mind.

“By the way, Sophia is really strong.”

Hildegard marveled at Sophia, who was holding her own against the dragon.

“Aren’t most Paladin Knights that strong?”

Conra tilted his head, asking.

“Of course, Paladin Knights and Nun Knights are among the strongest on the continent.”

Hildegard nodded but then shook her head.

“But Sophia is exceptional even among them. She feels incredibly mature and complete. I wouldn’t be surprised if she ranks within the top three in the Paladin Order.”

Conra nodded in agreement. His revered Master was undoubtedly special among the Nun Knights.

While summoning animal and plant spirits to guide the people, Conra couldn’t take his eyes off the battlefield where Sophia and the dragon clashed.

At that moment, Sophia had roughly grasped the dragon’s sensory organs and was preparing her next move.

+++++

Though she had sealed its vision with Light Power and flash spells, the dragon’s heads began to perceive the battlefield through other means.

Body heat, bioelectricity, echolocation, and scent combined to create a complex awareness of the world. Each head’s perception, more intricate than the visual information from its hundred eyes, painted a detailed picture.

‘First, I’ll disable its echolocation.’

Echolocation was essentially ultrasonic perception based on auditory information. If she could disrupt that, she could paralyze its echolocation.

And Sophia knew just the technique. The inherited legacies activated, her internal energy and Kundalini moved, and a sound amplification spell triggered. Soon, her vocal cords unleashed a deafening roar of sonic destruction.

 

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