Chapter 223

Clank!

Lloyd pulled out the foldable shovel tied to the saddle.

He unfolded it and gripped it.

His heart was pounding.

‘Can I do this?’

His thoughts raced.

He had to save Javier—fast.

He had to save the guy who might be dying right now.

To do that, he absolutely could not let emotion take the reins.

‘The more it’s like this, the calmer I have to be.’

Lloyd’s eyes, murmuring to himself, sank into a cold gray calm.

With his heart pounding and his head clear, he thought. He calculated.

A way to break through the current situation.

The Bone Dragon blocking his path.

A method to break through and get to Javier.

The calculation was brief, and the conclusion came quickly.

‘I can do it.’

There was no time to hesitate.

He moved immediately.

“Ggoming!”

“Ggoming!”

Ggoming responded to his shout.

He flapped his stubby wings clumsily.

Pretending to drift right, he suddenly shot upward in a sharp ascent.

The Bone Dragon’s wingbeats intensified as well.

It climbed after him from behind.

Lloyd leaned close to Ggoming’s ear.

“Ggoming, listen carefully.”

“Ggoming?”

“What you do from here on out is important. I’m staying here, and you’re going to Javier.”

“Ggoming?”

“You’re asking if it’s the other way around? No. I’m staying. Here.”

“Ggoming…?”

“It’s fine. No matter how I think about it, this is the only way. I’ll hold that bastard here. Somehow, he’s been fixated on me since earlier, so I should be able to keep his attention. Meanwhile, you fly.”

“Ggoming…”

“To Javier. You saw where he crashed earlier, right?”

“Ggoming!”

“Good. Go find him. He probably isn’t dead yet. Because it’s Javier. Because he’s the Iron Blooded Knight. So when you find him, carry him immediately…”

“Ggoming?”

“No, you can’t bring him here. Not toward the city district. Take him to a doctor.”

“Ggoming?”

“Yes, a doctor. You didn’t mishear.”

“……”

“Normally, it’d be best if I did first aid myself. Because I have the Asrahan Heart Technique. I should be able to resonate his Circle directly. But that doesn’t seem possible right now. So yeah. If I can’t do it, a doctor’s first aid is better than nothing.”

“Ggoming…”

“That’s enough. If it’s Javier, he’ll pull through. After first aid, carry him again and fly. Wait near the southern gate of the royal capital. I’ll escape there too.”

“Ggoming?”

“It’s fine. I’m not planning to seriously fight a monster like the Bone Dragon, either. I’ll buy some time and slip away. Don’t worry.”

“Ggoming…”

“I said it’s fine.”

Ggoming’s face had crumpled as if he were about to cry.

Lloyd forced a smile at him.

Truthfully, he was anxious.

Could he really pull this off?

But no matter how he turned it over, there was no other way.

‘If I want to save Javier and survive this, this is the only option.’

He didn’t want to run alone.

He wanted to save that guy, too.

Because he was a friend.

The one who had been at his side ever since he’d come to this world.

The one he’d gotten through almost every hard moment with.

He didn’t want to lose him here.

He didn’t want to give up, either.

So—

“Ggoming, I’m counting on you!”

“Ggo— Ggoming?”

At the peak of the sharp ascent, Lloyd let go of the saddle.

He dropped off Ggoming’s back.

Like a Viking ship ride hitting its highest point.

A queasy, weightless sensation seized the pit of his stomach.

Then the fall began.

“Gg— Ggoming!”

Ggoming’s panicked shout faded upward as he shot away.

Instead, the enormous form of the Bone Dragon rising from below filled Lloyd’s vision.

Only then did regret bloom in a rush.

‘Ugh!’

Was this what an ant felt like when it charged at a mountain?

Goosebumps crawled over his skin.

Honestly, he was terrified.

And for a split second, he wondered if he’d just done something insane for no reason.

‘Seriously, what’s with this “friend” stuff?’

He should’ve just abandoned him and run.

But it was too late for regret now.

Lloyd focused.

He spread his limbs wide like a tree frog, fell in, and wrapped himself around one of the horns on the Bone Dragon’s forehead.

He clung to it, grabbing the base of the horn like his life depended on it.

Thump!

“Guh—!”

A jarring impact, like his insides had flipped over.

He nearly threw up.

But he managed to cling on—barely.

‘Just like earlier with Ggoming, the Bone Dragon probably didn’t expect this, either.’

He’d let go without warning.

Even Ggoming hadn’t expected it.

The Bone Dragon, chasing from behind, must’ve been the same.

And the distance between Ggoming and the Bone Dragon had been razor-thin.

‘If it hadn’t been, he would’ve gone, “What’s this rice cake?” and swallowed me whole.’

It was a gamble.

But the gamble worked.

That was all that mattered.

‘Grrrr…!’

Lloyd held on with everything he had.

The Bone Dragon, realizing too late, thrashed his head violently to shake him off.

It felt like being a fly stuck to a giraffe headbanging at a frantic tempo.

‘First—down!’

If this kept up, he was finished.

Either he’d be thrown off and splatter on the ground—

Or he’d end up like a flea crushed under a scratching foreleg.

Lloyd acted immediately.

He activated an option.

‘[Energize].’

Ding-dong.

[Asrahan Heart Technique Option ①: Energize (Modified) is activated.]

[It utilizes the efficiency of the Triple Circle to the extreme. For the next 20 minutes, you can move without getting tired at all.]

Riiing—!

The Circles around his heart responded at once.

The three-pronged Circles spun faster.

Like the endless Mana circulation only a Swordmaster could sustain.

The Mana amplified by the Circles surged through him—first Circle to second, second to third, then back to first.

Recycling endlessly, feeding him tireless vitality.

With that power, Lloyd endured the violent centrifugal force of the Bone Dragon’s shaking.

He crawled down beneath the horn like a stubborn sloth.

‘Gah—!’

He kept crawling.

Whenever a foreleg came clawing at him, he dodged with cockroach-like instinct.

Then he shot Ggoming a look.

‘Go. Hurry.’

Ggoming was circling in panic.

Lloyd gestured again.

Do what I told you.

Only then did Ggoming nod and fly off—toward where Javier had crashed.

‘Now it’s my turn.’

Until Ggoming found Javier and got him to safety, Lloyd just needed to buy time.

As reliably as possible.

‘Like this.’

Scuttle-scuttle!

He crawled over the Bone Dragon’s crown and down along the skull.

There—an eye socket.

‘Excuse me.’

Without hesitation, Lloyd slipped straight into it.

He crawled through the passage where the bundle of optic nerves would’ve run in life.

Soon, he reached a spacious cranial cavity.

He gripped the shovel.

He swung.

Clang!

The shovel struck the inner wall of the Bone Dragon’s skull.

Of course, it dealt no damage.

It didn’t even leave a scratch.

But it achieved what Lloyd wanted.

……!

Inside the Bone Dragon, the soul of the Black Wizard Targa flinched.

That sudden metallic sound echoing inside his head.

It was deafening.

Y-you bastard!

Targa surged with panic and fury.

Lloyd was already the one he wanted to tear apart and kill.

But now he’d dared not only cling to his horn, but crawl into his skull—

And worse, start banging around inside it.

Get out right now!

He roared, his entire skeletal body trembling.

But it was only a soul’s howl.

It didn’t reach Lloyd.

And it couldn’t stop him.

“Ha. Good reaction.”

One strike, and the Bone Dragon was twisting his entire body.

The response was better than Lloyd expected.

A nasty grin crept onto Lloyd’s lips.

His shovel danced, louder and faster.

“Hook! Hoouk!”

Clang! Clang! Clang-clang-clang!

……Guh—!

A ridiculous rhythm, played with a shovel handle.

The Bone Dragon’s thrashing intensified.

He even stopped flapping his wings.

He dropped to the ground, barely, and started shaking and scratching at his own skull—desperate to get Lloyd out.

But Lloyd was running [Energize].

He didn’t tire.

If anything, he swung even harder.

“Hey, you like the sound of scraping metal?”

……!

Screeeech—!

He even scraped the inside of the skull with the shovel, grinding it thick and slow.

The Bone Dragon’s convulsions grew worse.

The Black Wizard Targa’s happiness plummeted into the abyss.

But Lloyd wasn’t relaxed.

‘More. It’s not enough.’

This panic was temporary.

Banging and scraping inside his skull—he’d adapt eventually.

‘Because I’m not doing real damage.’

All he could do was annoy him.

And that anxiety became reality.

With a foreleg that came crashing in—

BOOOOM!

Unable to endure the metallic noise in his head, the Bone Dragon punched his own skull.

A blow carrying the weight of thousands of tons.

The skull didn’t shatter.

But it was more than enough to send Lloyd flying inside.

“……!”

No matter how sturdy the vehicle—

Even if you’re inside an ironclad tank—

When it takes a hit, the person inside still gets slammed.

Sometimes harder, because there’s nowhere for the impact to go.

That was Lloyd now.

“Keuheok!”

A massive shockwave rattled the skull’s interior.

Like a seatbelt-less passenger in a wreck.

Lloyd’s whole body was flung across the cranial cavity.

He slammed into the opposite wall and crumpled.

His breath vanished.

No scream came out.

Only blood sprayed from his gaping mouth.

“K… keuheok…!”

Did a rib break?

No—did everything in his body shatter?

Lloyd barely tried to rise.

No, he struggled—crawling, reaching—until he grabbed the fallen shovel.

Then—

BOOOOM!

Another blow, from the opposite side, like heaven and earth colliding.

“……!”

He flew again.

He slammed into the inner wall on the other side.

His vision went pitch-black.

His consciousness returned only after a few seconds.

‘Damn it…’

Lloyd trembled.

No—he convulsed.

He needed to buy more time.

But his body wouldn’t obey.

He was past “getting up.”

He was fighting just to avoid blacking out.

‘You’re coming out like this?’

He hadn’t expected the Bone Dragon to start smashing his own head.

Everything hurt.

Like he was being crushed.

If he could, he wanted to run right now.

But it was too late.

He’d crossed a river of no return.

He’d chosen.

He’d acted.

So he had to follow through.

A bitter smile formed on his lips.

‘This is why I hate fighting.’

But once a fight started, he didn’t want to lose.

At the very least, he wanted to achieve his goal.

No—at this point, he wanted to land a real blow.

‘Like this.’

Ding-dong.

The moment Lloyd clenched the shovel and hardened his resolve, a new message flashed before his eyes.

[Asrahan Heart Technique Option ②: Potential Burst (Modified) is activated.]

[For 30 seconds, the amplification rate of the Circles increases fivefold.]

Riiing—!

That was the start.

The three-pronged Circles moved.

They writhed, they surged.

They rose and roared.

No—they ran wild.

That explosive force hauled Lloyd upright.

It didn’t matter that he was on the verge of death.

‘Twenty-four seconds is enough.’

Today—right now—he would do everything he could.

He activated the fourth option of the Asrahan Heart Technique.

[Asrahan Heart Technique Option ④: Circle Shift is activated.]

He controlled them.

He matched the rotation speed of the three raging Circles to the optimal collision ratio.

He resonated them.

Riiing—!

Was this what it felt like to put leashes on three raging beasts?

Under [Circle Shift], the three-pronged Circles tore into each other.

They tangled.

They collided.

They exploded.

Lloyd aimed the shovel toward the eye socket.

THOOOM—!

Output amplified fivefold.

Collision amplified even further.

It was [Confined Blasting], its power explosively increased fivefold.

To avoid being swallowed by that torrent inside an enclosed space, he fired it outward.

The [Confined Blasting] surged through the optic-nerve passage, gouging it wider.

It poured out through the eye socket.

‘More.’

Once again.

THOOOM—!

The bone around the eye socket was shaved away in fine strips by the raging torrent of the fivefold [Confined Blasting].

It wasn’t a decisive blow.

But it was enough.

He’d never expected [Confined Blasting] to deal real damage in the first place.

Because this was only preparation.

For the one strike he’d been aiming for from the start.

Ding-dong.

[Asrahan Heart Technique Option ②: Potential Burst (Modified) activation has ended.]

[Due to the penalty of option activation, you fall into a state of exhaustion.]

Red messages flooded his vision.

Strength drained from his whole body like a retreating tide.

The three-pronged Circles, which had been howling wild, quieted at last.

But Lloyd didn’t panic.

No—his eyes sharpened.

‘I told you. Move aside. I said I’d do everything I can today.’

So he did.

And now—

It finally activated.

The single most powerful strike he’d been building toward.

[Asrahan Heart Technique Option ⑤: Rapid Charge is activated.]

[It absorbs a large amount of Mana from random targets within the option’s effective range.]

That was the moment Lloyd emptied himself.

His Mana Circles opened their eyes again.

The eyes of a predator.

Ravenous.

Greedy.

Everything within range was prey to be devoured.

The Bone Dragon’s skull was no exception.