Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

'Why is it that any creature with dragon blood – be it human or beast – is an idiot?' Ace thought to himself as he looked at the now reddened wings on the back of the twin-headed dragon.

The more injured it became, the more angry and reckless it became, which only served to benefit the young general as her opponent left more and more openings to take advantage of.

Whenever the dragon used its wings to attack, Hysode made sure to do as much damage as possible to prevent it from flying off, and it was a good thing she did.

Due to the loss of blood, the dragon was finally starting to noticeably slow down. It was only when it noticed its precarious position that the foolish dragon finally remembered it had wings.

It spun both heads round to create a ring of fire, forcing Hysode to jump back for fear of getting caught by the scorching white flames. Unfortunately, even after getting the space it needed, its wings were too injured to lift the rest of its colossal body.

Hysode, who despite never suffering a direct hit from the flames, had half of her armour melted, ignored the severe fatigue she felt as she once again vanished like the wind and appeared directly in front of the giant beast.

As she swung her sword with all her remaining strength, Ace instantly recognised the difference. Even though it was still extremely difficult for him to follow due to her fatigue, Hysode's attack speed had slowed just enough for Ace to follow, but that wasn't what caught his attention.

He didn't understand how or why, but as she swung her sword, it was as though it suddenly multiplied in weight – going from a lightweight liuyedao sword to a giant battle axe.

As the sword cleaved through the dragon's left neck, chopping one of its heads clean off with virtually no resistance, Hysode, unable to find the strength to counter the momentum generated by her strike, fell to the ground rolling several meters before shakily propping herself up with her sword.

Wukong raised a brow in surprise at her last strike. "Wielding light as though it were heavy?"

It wasn't just him; even Venerin looked down at his disciple in disbelief. "Haha, she did it. She really comprehended it! As a rank six warrior, no less."

"What did she just do?" Ace asked, turning to Wukong for answers.

"After 'one with the weapon,' the next boundary of comprehension is 'wielding.' It refers to a warrior's ability to wield a heavy weapon as though it were light, or in this case wielding a light weapon as though it were heavy.

In doing so, Hysode was able to wield her sword with the power you'd typically only see in heavy weapon wielders whilst retaining her speed." Wukong explained to the youngster beside him as he watched the tired young general drag her enervated body towards her opponent's, one feeble step at a time, preparing to finally put an end to the fight once and for all.

The dragon genuinely looked to be on its last legs, but with his ability to vividly sense energy, Ace's eyes widened in shock. "RUUNNN!"

His words came as a surprise to everyone, including Wukong and the black dragon, who was in the process of attempting to reign in its anger, believing one of the pure-blooded younglings from his dragon clan was about to lose its life to a pathetic human.

Hysode, who was running on fumes at that point, instinctively followed Ace's instructions and jumped back, despite not understanding the reasoning.

Unfortunately, she was too slow. The dragon, who was on the verge of death, suddenly found a burst of energy at the last minute. Its one remaining head suddenly burst to life, biting down on the left shoulder of Hysode's now unprotected body.

"AAGGGHHHHH!"

"HYSODE!" Venerin roared unwillingly when he heard the pain-filled scream of his disciple.

Just as he was about to jump to her rescue, Wukong quickly pinned him down.

"GET OFF ME, KONG!"

"LOOK UP!" The ape-like warrior instructed as he forcibly pinned down the city lord, preventing him from moving.

As he did, Venerin noticed the black dragon looking down at him in what appeared to be anticipation. Almost as if it wanted him to try and intervene. As if he wanted a reason to call this competition off.

He knew that Wukong did the right thing, but the thought of the girl he raised as if she were his own dying right under his nose filled him with terror.

Turning back to the makeshift arena, Venerin watched as his disciple struggled with all her might to free herself from the dragon's fangs. Unfortunately, it was of no use.

Suddenly, she felt its hold loosen, but before she could jump back, she felt the temperature skyrocket.

Looking back at its jaws, she saw the familiar silvery-white flames forming. She instantly understood that with her current strength, she was incapable of dodging, so she decided to go for broke.

Like her opponent, she too was able to somehow find a sudden burst of strength out of nowhere. Her sword moved faster than ever before as it pierced straight through the eye of the dragon, followed by its brain. An attack that killed the beast instantly.

Unfortunately, she was too late. Just as her qi-coated blade pierced its brain, Hysode's head was instantly incinerated by the dragon's flames.

Venerin opened his mouth, but no sound came out. All he could do was watch as his disciple's headless corpse fell to the floor. His eyes reddened as they welled up with water, but the only thing that fell was a single crimson tear.

Even though he made no attempts to move, Wukong made sure to keep a firm hold on him, just in case he did something foolish that got everyone killed, but his heart still ached for the man he referred to as his brother-in-law.

Venerin wasn't the only one in pain over Hysode's death. She was an integral part of the city whom everyone loved. Without fail, the heart of every soldier of Silverlight City ached over the loss of their young general.

All they could do was stare at her decapitated body in shock. It wasn't until they saw a young boy with long black hair scoop the woman, who was almost twice his size, into his tiny but strong arms.

Holding Hysode in his arms, Ace turned back to look at the trembling City Lord. His face may have been immature, but as Venerin made eye contact, he didn't feel like he was looking into the eyes of a child but a man who had experienced firsthand the vicissitudes of life.

"General Hysode gave her life so that Silverlight City would live on, don't let her efforts go to waste!"

Though he was talking to Venerin, all the members of the Silverlight army felt as though Ace was speaking directly to them.

After Hysode's death, their morale was at an all-time low. They had been moments away from breaking point, but Ace's words had been precisely what they needed to hear. If they had let their lack of morale be the reason they lost, it would be no different from shitting on Hysode's grave.

There would be a time for mourning, but it wasn't now. Right now, they needed to follow Hysode's lead and focus on protecting their home.

"You can get off me now," Venerin said softly to the young man pinning him down. "I won't do anything foolish. You have my word!"

A sigh of relief escaped Wukong's mouth when he heard that. He had enough stress with the saint-level magical beast above; he didn't have the time or energy to keep Venerin from doing something stupid.

As he got up, the young man couldn't help but look at Ace appreciatively. To march on to the battlefield under the eyes of so many powerful beings and not only retrieve the body of one of their comrades but also say exactly the right thing at precisely the right time took both courage and wisdom.

Even if the courage he showed could be explained by childish naivety, there was no denying the wisdom he showed. Every time he thought he finally had a good understanding of Ace's ability and potential, he'd find another layer to peel back.

But he wasn't complaining. Now that Venerin was stable, he could finally focus on the last remaining battle.

As Ace made it back up the wall with Hysode's body, he gently placed her on a couple of crates by her master.

"I'm sorry for your loss." He said sincerely.

"I appreciate it, and I appreciate everything you've done for us today. I am in your debt; we all are!" Venerin said as he once again took a bow, but this time he wasn't alone.

His five remaining generals and all the other soldiers on the wall also bowed with him. Ace had not only won the first battle, a feat that none of their low-ranking warriors would've been able to do, but he had also saved them from themselves in their time of need.

Just as Ace was about to tell them they need not go so far, he heard Wukong's voice.

"Just accept their gratitude; you deserve it." He said, patting the boy on his shoulder. "Now it's my turn. You can just sit back and relax as this king finishes this once and for all."

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P.atreon.com/AceInCoilingDragon: Book 2 - Chapter 21