Chapter 1754: Crown [11]

5 years.

'Five years too long.'

By the time August found himself in a state where he could confidently challenge the First Dragon Emperor and aim to land that blow, it had been five years since he first arrived in this realm.

He was now sixteen years old. He was the same age as his friends who were always far older than him. It was unbelievable, really.

In the short moments of respite that he had between training and challenging, he sometimes wondered if it was necessary to grow as fast as he did.

However, he knew that there wasn't another option. The situation in Arulionn was too urgent for him to slowly grow and develop into who he needed to be.

He started to understand why Damien had him spend his childhood in that small village in the middle of nowhere. There, far away from his problems, August actually got a chance to experience what would have been otherwise impossible for him.

When August entered this realm, he was at the beginning of 4th class but could display power matching someone halfway through the same rank.

Now, however...

He was far, far better than he was back then. If he had to face Eris again, he was certain that he could end their battle in ten moves or less.

That was the kind of strength he had to accumulate in order to even stand in front of the First Dragon Emperor with confidence.

Time passed and passed and passed, and he got better and better and better.

Now that five years had passed, now that his attempts were falling short by just a hair's breadth, August knew that the end of his trial would come soon.

'No, it'll come now.'

It was the same thing he said to himself every time he challenged the former emperor, but it was motivating nonetheless.

[Child, have you come again?]

The First Dragon Emperor had become quite fond of August in their short time knowing each other. He had provided a separate area for the young genius to train and occasionally told him stories of an era long forgotten to pass time.

He had truly taken August as a future successor, though, until August achieved what he was striving for, he didn't need to know that he'd practically already passed the First Dragon Emperor's test.

"I'm back. This time, you won't be able to catch me off-guard," August declared strongly.

[Hahaha! How long have you been saying the same thing? What makes you think that today is the day?]

They weren't malicious words. The First Dragon Emperor was truly curious about what August had planned.

"You'll find out soon enough."

Nevertheless, August didn't speak. Nor did he utter a single thought about what he was going to do. He lost too many times because the former emperor was able to understand his entire plan through his thoughts.

He merely took a stance, following Yuna's methodology to erase all thoughts from his mind.

'This time...'

It was the only thing the First Dragon Emperor heard.

'...I will succeed!'

August dashed forward.

If the former emperor was constantly changing his attack patterns, then five years wouldn't have been nearly enough time. August would have required at least a decade in that case scenario.

However, the patterns were always the same.

The first attack, a powerful flap of the wings. August learned how to dodge this one long ago.

Incorporating the new light-based concepts into his element, August attached mana to the ends of his wings and spread them as far as possible.

XIUUU!

His body created trails of white in the air as he accelerated to a degree that the environment couldn't track.

A furious burst of wind charged towards him, but, rather than avoiding it, August charged directly into it.

WHOOOOSH!

The roaring sound that he had become so used to graced his

ears. Actually, in this moment, August found that his winged

form wasn't the best option. In the past five years, he learned

how to consciously switch between his two forms, and as he

approached the winds, he did exactly that.

Without wings, August's body became somewhat more

aerodynamic. He rode the wind as if it was a wave of water,

swimming through it with such proficiency that even a first-

time viewer would know that he was incredibly skilled at this

maneuver.

'Now...'

On August's call, the second attack came.

The First Dragon Emperor opened his jaw wide and spat out a

beam of light that could incinerate an entire city.

It took August months to find a way to escape its trajectory,

but once again, he eventually realized what he needed to do.

Still in the air, August transformed again. He spread his wings

and used the wind to pull him away from the First Dragon

Emperor. He lost some progress, but he also rose high above

the beam, which gave him a few seconds of time.

VOOOOOM!

Its light was only a few inches below him. The First Dragon

Emperor was already raising his head and changing its angle to

chase him.

In response, August leaned and allowed his body to naturally

fall backward. He did a few spins in the air to increase his

momentum and rode the side of the light beam until he was

almost under it.

That was enough for that particular attack, but the First

Dragon Emperor's breath wasn't like any other.

As August arrived below the beam, countless smaller beams of

light illuminated the sky. Thousands of densely packed light

columns extended from the original beam, creating a maze that

August needed to find his way through.

'Left. Right. Left. Down. Spin.'

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

August expertly avoided every single auxiliary beam. He knew

exactly where they would appear. He died 43 times to learn the

pattern of the first area alone, and another 68 times as he

memorized the further patterns.

The light maze was a large portion of the First Dragon

Emperor's attack pattern. They would continue for over ten

minutes, tracking August so that he could never escape their

golden-white walls.

Still, once he'd memorized it, the problem disappeared.

Rather than a difficult attack to get around, this one was an

opportunity for August to get close.

As he dodged and whirled, maneuvering through every single

beam that appeared, he got closer and closer to the First

Dragon Emperor until only a kilometer separated them.

'Now.'

VOOOOOOOM!

August opened his own maw and gathered a ball of mana. It

soon transmuted itself into water, and as a sudden unfamiliar

property worked its way into the element, it took on a

translucent white color like a hologram.

XIUUU!

It whizzed in a high-pitched tone as its speed reached untold

levels. By the time it reached the former emperor, it was also an

attack capable of leveling a city in one go.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A golden shield covered the First Dragon Emperor, and the

breath attack faded.

'Okay.'

The first phase was over. August now had a chance to get as

close as possible before the second phase began.

Usually, he would only attempt to attack in the short break

between the second and third phases, but he had a different

plan in mind this time.

The First Dragon Emperor was going to assume that he was

following a similar pattern because his head was empty, but he

emptied his head precisely to form this kind of assumption.

The break between the first and second phases was barely

noticeable, but it was a window that August knew he could

exploit.

Perhaps this battle would end faster than any other that had

taken place in this realm.

However, for the first time since his arrival, it would end in

August's win.

Or, at least, that was the goal.