Old Tang

As Lu Mingfei's exceptionally high-ranking dragon blood stimulated it, "Wrath" trembled and let out a long cry. The alchemical domain of the Bronze and Flame King unfolded with it.

Its shape changed as well. The blade began to lengthen, becoming almost as exaggerated as the Storm Knight's greatsword. Blazing light shrouded its surface, and the once-smooth cracks turned into sharp serrated edges.

At the same time, Lu Mingfei's strength was pushed to its absolute limit. His heart pounded violently, pumping blood to his limbs, like an engine howling on the verge of exploding.

Yes, it was true that Little Devil had given him "unlimited mana."

But in the end, Lu Mingfei's current physical strength and power were not even on par with Margit, the Fell Omen. At best, he might have been slightly stronger than a Beastman of Farum Azula.

If Norton had not been barred from using Words of Power, if "Wrath" in his hands had not been powerful enough, he would probably have long since become a Turkish kebab skewer hanging from Norton's tail!

So how was he supposed to win?

The Dragon King was not an idiot. He would not throw himself onto the blade to die.

Samson the Dragon Servant's body possessed Heroic Tier strength in the Lands Between, no matter what! And he, Lu Mingfei, was merely Minor Elite Tier.

Emiya had said that if one died in the real world, one truly died.

Of course he did not want to die.

Who would want to die?

He, Lu, was still young. He had not even lived twenty years yet, and there was still so much youth left to squander.

But what else could he do?

He could only live by facing death.

Only this way.

He let that will capable of burning all eight horizons surge up against the hilt, crashing brutally into the depths of his consciousness.

Boom! Flames exploded, rushing and roaring through his limbs and bones. Fine black scales instantly covered more than half his face, while the gold in his Golden Eyes nearly burst forth. Power! An unprecedented sense of power nearly tore apart his veins, as if with a mere gesture he could rip open these muddy river waters and tear apart the enormous Dragon King before him!

At that moment, Lu Mingfei saw only Norton!

The power of Dragon Communion roared within him, while the instinct to kill was infinitely magnified by Wrath's savage will.

He ignored everything else. Only one thought remained in his heart: slay the dragon! Slay this even more powerful Ancient Dragon before him, just as he had slain Flying Dragon Agheel in the Lands Between!

This was his destiny, and the only path toward which the power he had gained pointed!

Roar!

Norton's massive dragon wings beat violently, stirring frenzied undercurrents beneath the water. His colossal body lunged at Lu Mingfei with an overwhelming majesty.

Lu Mingfei raised Wrath high with both hands. The power of Storm gathered along the blade, letting out a piercing shriek!

"Die!"

He roared, pouring all his strength and will into the blade. Where its edge pointed, even space itself seemed about to be cleaved apart!

One man and one dragon plunged into an endless slaughter.

Moniach, deck.

Despair washed over everyone's necks like an icy tide, leaving them unable to breathe.

The Dragon King's shadow hung above them like the Sword of Damocles.

Caesar braced himself against the violently shaking railing, his Golden Eyes fixed upon the huge light spot on the sonar screen that represented the Dragon King, rolling madly about, and the tiny yet unusually active point beside it—a moth rushing toward flame, Lu Mingfei.

His eardrums had yet to recover. Nearly deaf, he could not use Kamaitachi to gather information. At that moment, he was like a bat that had lost its hearing in the darkness.

Zero, who had already awakened under the medical team's care, stood silently by the railing. Her golden eyes pierced the churning river, as though searching for something.

"Look! What is that?!"

First Mate Grayson's hoarse voice was filled with terror as he pointed ahead of the ship.

Rumble—

As if a giant whale had rammed the underside of the ship, the Moniach let out a dying groan and lurched sharply to one side! Immediately afterward, an enormous column of water burst from the center of the river, shooting straight into the lead-gray sky!

At the top of the water column, a figure burst through the waves!

It was Lu Mingfei!

Fine black scales covered his entire body, glinting with a metallic gloom beneath the bleak moonlight and ship lamps. His tattered diving suit had long vanished, exposing his lean, hardened body. Both hands gripped a massive, viciously shaped horse-chopping saber that radiated savage malice—Wrath!

Lu Mingfei radiated an inhumanly terrifying aura, as if he had crawled out of hell itself. The killing intent burning in his Golden Eyes was cold and pure.

Close behind him, an enormous, hideous dragon head covered in bronze-colored scales burst from the water. Its molten-gold vertical pupils burned with world-incinerating fury and boundless pain. It was the Dragon King, Norton!

His dragon jaws gaped wide, about to devour Lu Mingfei whole. From the enormous bone-deep wound on his tail, blood gushed wildly, dyeing the surrounding waters into a boiling sea of blood.

One man and one dragon, like totems of slaughter breaking free from an ancient myth, were frozen beneath the biting river wind and bleak moonlight, filled with a beauty of violence and destruction.

"Motherfu..."

The rifle slipped from a crewman's hand and struck the deck with a hollow clatter. His mouth hung open, yet he could not force out even one complete word.

Everyone sank into profound shock and silence.

This... was really Lu Mingfei? The Lu Mingfei who had done nothing but eat and drink at the Amber House ball, who had refused to join the Bronze Project no matter what during mobilization, and who had lain around like a dead dog during closed training?!!

Crack.

Wrath's serrated teeth bit deeply into the bronze scales on Norton's neck, producing a scraping sound that made everyone's scalp tingle.

Holding the blade, Lu Mingfei clung firmly to Norton's head, his face covered in scorching dragon blood.

In pain, Norton instinctively twisted his enormous head. His huge molten-gold vertical pupil was now less than a foot from Lu Mingfei's face.

At that very moment.

Lu Mingfei's Golden Eyes clearly caught sight of something on the side of the Dragon King's head—or rather, Samson's body's head—briefly exposed by the violent twisting... an outline.

The outline of a human.

Though it was covered in iron-gray scales, though it had been twisted by inhuman majesty, he, Lu Mingfei, could recognize the lines and contours of that face at a glance.

Old Tang?!

That good brother who had played StarCraft with him until they lost track of day and night, who had taught him an American accent before his interview, who had promised to ride Greyhound buses down America's interstate highways with him, singing all the way—Ronald Tang?

Lu Mingfei could no longer speak.

His brain had already told him the truth.

Yes, the one before him was Ronald Tang, that struggling Chinese American kid, one of Lu Mingfei's few friends.

He was not human.

He was a genuine dragon, and one of the supreme Four Monarchs who shared a blood feud with humanity—the Bronze and Flame King, Norton!

The instant he confirmed it, Lu Mingfei felt as though an invisible hand had seized his heart and crushed it to pieces. An immense, indescribable sorrow pierced him completely.

"Old Tang!" Lu Mingfei shouted. Sorrow, loneliness... countless emotions tangled together and echoed through the realm of his mind.

The only response was an enraged dragon's roar.