Epic Of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

Chapter 2351: Oda Nobunaga’s Endless Castle [69]

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Root clashed against one of the towering treants, its massive wooden palm dwarfing his entire body. The Skeleton Dragon roared, his bones trembling as jagged bone blades erupted from his hands.

"I can do that?!"

Stunned, Root slashed through the monster's body with his newly formed blades, now engulfed in his Golden Flames of Life. The flames weakened the undead creature, ultimately disintegrating its hand into dust.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

"GRYYAAAAHHH!"

The treant shrieked in agony as its body was consumed by golden fire. Root leapt into the sky—wingless, yet his Aura transformed into radiant wings of golden flame and green light. He soared toward another treant on the left and struck it squarely in the face.

CLAAASH!

"GAAAAHHH!"

The treant howled as its face ignited, but it retaliated by tearing off part of its own body and hurling it at Root. The impact destabilized him, nearly sending him crashing to the ground.

Then—

FLASH!

"Huh?!"

Root's eyes widened as he was suddenly teleported above the treant. Looking down, he saw Hermes smiling and giving a thumbs-up. Hermes's teleportation abilities had evolved—he could now relocate targets within his line of sight. However, Root was the upper limit of what he could manage.

"Thank you, Hermes!"

Root grinned and dove downward, his skeletal body spiraling as he plunged his massive bone blades into the treant's head. He pierced through to the ground, flooding the creature with his Golden Flames of Life from within.

"GRYYAAAAAHH!"

BOOOMMM!!!

Emerging from the burning rubble, Root was instantly teleported in front of Hermes and Alma. The sudden shift caught him off guard.

"You've really improved, Hermes. Thanks!" Root said.

"No problem! We've always been a great team. We can't solve this without working together, right?" Hermes replied confidently.

"Yeah, you're right," Alma nodded.

"BLEH! DISGUSTING! YOU THINK YOUR PATHETIC FRIENDSHIP CAN DEFEAT ME?!"

Toyouke-Ōmikami's fury shook the ground. A colossal black and red flower erupted from the earth, a massive red eye glaring from its center.

"{Abyssal Crimson Flower of Decay}: {Beam of Annihilation}!"

Desperate, the Kami summoned her strongest familiar. The flower charged with corrupted energy, the screams of countless specters echoing from within. A crimson beam burst forth.

TRUUUM!

"Fuck! Hermes, teleport us out!" Alma shouted.

"Okay, okay!" Hermes replied, his Spatial Aura enveloped the group as they vanished.

RUMBLE!

But the beam pursued them, incinerating everything in its path with terrifying speed and precision.

"Hahaha! You cannot escape! The Beam of Annihilation follows every trace of life until it extinguishes it!"

"Are you kidding me?!"

Hermes teleported them again, this time behind the flower. Root prepared to strike, but the flower spun a full 360 degrees and fired the beam instantly.

TRUUUM!

"Fuck!"

Hermes cursed and teleported them farther away, yet the beam continued its relentless pursuit.

"Hermes, we can't keep running in circles!" Alma said. "Teleport us to the stem! We'll cut it through!"

"It's too thick! Can you really do it?!" Hermes asked. "We'll only have seconds before the beam hits us!"

"We can do it," Root said firmly. "We have to."

"Fine... fine!"

Hermes teleported them to the stem. The flower reacted immediately, the beam already closing in and obliterating everything in its path.

TRUUUM!

"It's coming! Hurry!" Hermes shouted.

Root and Alma nodded. Their weapons were unconventional—nothing like what Drake or Surtr wielded—but they were effective.

Root's bone blades expanded to their maximum size, over thirty meters long, as he pushed his Divine Skeleton's power to its limits. Alma gripped Knife tightly, channeling her Aura until it transformed him into a sword of pink and silver Mana.

"HAAAAAHH!"

They roared, slicing into the flower's massive stem. It was like cutting through a mountain, but they pushed themselves beyond their limits.

Alma infused her Mana into Hermes and Root, sustaining them as Hermes held back the beam with a Spatial Barrier, constantly rebuilding it as it shattered.

"HURRY!!!"

Root and Alma broke through the stem, their Auras propelling them at lightning speed. They sliced through the flower's core.

SLAAASH!

The flower's eye darted wildly, confused, as its upper half collapsed and died.

"You cut my flower?! My beautiful flower?! AAAGGH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS!!!"

Toyouke-Ōmikami screamed. Root sensed her presence nearby.

"She's close. Just beyond that mass of trees and specters," he said.

"How do we get through?" Alma asked.

"The only way I know—brute force. Follow me."

Root charged forward on all fours, his skeletal jaws unleashing a massive breath attack that tore through the corrupted forest.

BOOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Hermes shielded them with his spatial barrier while Alma crushed enemies with her conjured Mana Aura Fists.

"S-STAY AWAY!"

The Kami's voice trembled. She tried to flee but had reached the edge of her Dominion—an invisible barrier behind her. Escaping would dissolve the Dominion and leave her vulnerable.

"GRRR! DAMN IT! DAMN IT!"

Her once graceful face twisted into a monstrous Oni-like visage. A black horn sprouted from her forehead, purple veins spread across her pale skin, and her hands turned charcoal black.

Her Demonic Karmic Stigma activated, flooding her with Karmic Energy. She summoned all her power and compressed it into a massive construction of wood and plants, placing herself inside.

RUMBLE!

Root, Alma, and Hermes watched in disbelief as the titan formed over five hundred meters tall, composed of decaying vegetation. It roared and stomped, trying to crush them.

BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!

Hermes kept them safe, teleporting short distances and lifting them into the sky repeatedly.

"That damned teleporter has ruined all my plans! And why did that plant dragon turn into a skeleton?!"

Toyouke-Ōmikami raged, analyzing the situation. Her titan swung its fists, barely grazing them as Hermes pushed himself to the brink. Alma's endless Mana had its limits, and Hermes began to feel dizzy, blood trickling from his nose as he strained to teleport them again.

"I can't keep this up much longer!" Hermes gasped, blood dripping from his nose. "Alma, I need more Mana!"

"I'm giving you everything I've got!" Alma shouted, her Aura flaring as she transferred energy into Hermes's weakening body.

Root narrowed his eyes. "We need to end this. Now."

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