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

Chapter 2363: Oda Nobunaga’s Endless Castle [81]

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FLUOSH!

Hydra’s Aura erupted like a divine storm, golden light surging from his body in radiant waves that rippled through the cursed dimension. The air itself seemed to tremble, bending around him as if reality were struggling to contain the force he now wielded.

This wasn’t just power—it was memory incarnate.

A spark.

One he had felt only once before.

Drake.

That name echoed in Hydra’s soul like a sacred chord. The memory of the dragon who had once stood beside him, who had believed in him when others doubted it, now flared to life. Unlike the other dragons, Hydra had studied that spark, nurtured it, and through the meticulous art of Alchemy, he had tried to channel it.

But the spark had resisted him.

It wasn’t brute strength that unlocked it. It wasn’t intellect alone.

It was trust.

A bond.

And now, standing beside Celene—a warrior whose resolve burned brighter than the stars, whose heart had never faltered—Hydra felt that bond crystallize into something sacred.

It was enough.

He could transform.

"Despite how strategies are necessary to win," Hydra growled, his voice reverberating like thunder across the fractured sky, "there’s nothing more effective than smashing your enemy’s face until they stop moving!"

RUMBLE!

His black-scaled body shimmered, then ignited in radiant gold. Horns and skull-like armor turned to rainbow crystal, refracting light like sacred prisms. Each of his eight heads bore a golden crown made of pure light—symbols not just of power, but of sovereignty, of ascension, of earned divinity.

"{Golden Dragon King Transformation}!"

Through Alchemy, he had synthesized the spark into his body with terrifying precision. The moment the conditions were met, the transformation was instantaneous.

FLUOSH!

His Aura surged again, now blazing with golden phantasmal fire. He became a comet of divine fury, rushing toward Sarutahiko with unstoppable force.

BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!

Hydra’s fists struck like meteors—face, stomach, shoulders, face again. Each blow shattered bone, tore through divine flesh, and left Sarutahiko groaning in agony.

Celene didn’t hesitate.

She roared, her heart burning with purpose.

She thought of the children she had sworn to protect. Of Drake, who had believed in her when no one else did. Of her mother, who had once doubted her.

Her sword—made of broken moonlight mirror glass—turned gold, overflowing with pink and golden moonlight. It swirled like a storm, radiant and wild.

Her metallic pink scales flickered, shifting between her natural hue and the golden glow of transformation.

Sarutahiko sensed something was wrong. He panicked.

He pushed them away with a burst of spatial force, sealing his wounds by collapsing space around them.

"Haaa... Haaa... Haaa..."

But it wasn’t enough.

His body was still bleeding internally. His bones were cracked. His soul was fraying.

Desperate, he unleashed all his spatial power, forcing the cursed dimension to bleed chaos.

"I’LL ANNIHILATE YOU BOTH, DAMNED LIZARDS!"

RUMBLE!

Chaos and void surged from every crack in space, forming vortexes of Karmic Energy.

SPLAAASH!

"Aaaaggh!"

"Nnnggh!"

Hydra and Celene were thrown back, but they didn’t fall.

Golden light erupted from their bodies. Flames burst from their jaws.

They roared together.

"RAAAHHHHH!"

BOOOM!

Twin beams of dragon breath tore through the chaotic void, pushing it back, defying the impossible.

Sarutahiko gritted his teeth.

He was afraid.

The void twisted into giant hands, reaching for Hydra and Celene, trying to erase them from existence.

He aimed to delete the space they occupied, to unmake them.

But then—

"N-Not yet!" Celene cried. "I have... the children! I promised them! I promised I would raise them and love them! That I would give them a future!"

"Huh?!"

Sarutahiko’s eyes widened.

Celene’s Aura surged. Her flickering form stabilized.

FLAAASH!

Golden moonlight exploded from her body.

She transformed.

Fully.

Her Golden Dragon King Form emerged—twice her original size, her arms stronger, her presence divine.

Her Mirror Blade swung down and up, slicing through the chaotic void and reflecting it back.

"{Reflective Blade Mirage}!"

"W-What?!"

Sarutahiko was stunned.

The Moonlight Dragon, exposed to the power of the Dragon King, had evolved.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

A storm of slashes engulfed him, each one reflecting his own chaotic void.

He tried to teleport—failed.

His own magic disrupted the space around him.

Blood drenched his body.

Then—

Hydra appeared behind him, tearing through space like a blade.

Golden claws struck deep.

All eight heads unleashed dragon breath.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Aaaaaaggghhh! Nnnnggghhhhh!"

Sarutahiko roared desperately.

He gathered a compressed sphere of space, slammed it into Celene’s blade, shattering it.

BOOOM!

Then he punched her face, pierced her eyes with demonic fingers, and stabbed her stomach with a spear of light.

"RAAAARRRGHH!"

Celene screamed, blood pouring from her eyes and mouth.

But she didn’t let go.

She grabbed Sarutahiko’s head and held him in place.

"L-LET GO OF MEEEEE!"

Hydra rushed forward.

He gathered Sarutahiko’s blood and chaotic void.

He synthesized a weapon.

"{Divine Phantom Alchemy}: {Divine Spectral Gear Creation}!"

"{Necrotic Spear Of Abyssal Death: Hades}!"

CRAAASH!

The spear pierced Sarutahiko’s chest.

Then it reached deeper—into his soul.

Hundreds of meters deep.

It found the Demonic Stigma.

"S-STOP! NO! NO! STOP THAAAAAT!"

Sarutahiko screamed, trying to tear the spear apart.

Too late.

Hydra gave me the command.

The spear exploded.

BOOOMMM!!!

Sarutahiko’s magic vanished.

Hydra and Celene stood, bleeding.

Celene was in critical condition—her stomach torn open, her guts spilling out.

"C-Celene!"

Hydra rushed to her, pouring elixirs into her mouth, over her wounds.

She drank them whole, bottles and all.

He used Alchemy to rearrange her internal organs.

"Uugh...! H-Hydra... did we do it?"

"I... believe so."

They turned.

The smoke cleared.

Sarutahiko remained—barely.

His soul shattered.

His torso was intact, one arm, half a face.

His body faded into white ash.

His soul melted into glowing fragments.

"H-How...?! T-This is...!"

"I used the venom you injected into me," Hydra said calmly. "It was really useful. Thank you."

"What?!"

Sarutahiko glared at him, eyes burning with disbelief.

But he could do nothing.

It was over.

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