Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

"You?" The black dragon asked, having watched everything that transpired from his front-row seat. "You think I'll allow you to take part?"

"This king's an eighth-rank warrior and mage. There's no reason why this king can't participate." Wukong stated directly, not willing to back down.

But when he heard the dragon's logic, he was at a loss for words.

"You said this was a competition to determine who was stronger between humans and magical beasts. I can tell from your scent that you're not human. Not completely, at least!"

Like Killian, Wukong was an orphan, so he didn't know who his parents were, but he wasn't an idiot. He was well aware of the physiological differences between him and other humans. Whether it was his external appearance, his physical attributes, which resembled magical beasts, or his bloodline ability, it was obvious he wasn't entirely human. He'd even been told by his master that his energy signature wasn't entirely human either, but it never mattered much to him.

The only reason he was taken by surprise was because he never expected the dragon to use such a loophole to prevent him from fighting.

"I admit the humans have done a lot better than I thought they would originally, but this is the end of your good luck." The dragon declared confidently. "Sartius, you win this, and I'll personally help you become a saint. Don't let me down!"

As he said that, a giant beast ten meters long and three meters tall with pitch-black scales the same size as an adult palm covering its monstrous body leapt off his back, crashing into the ground in the centre of the two armies. Its icy gold eyes swept over the human army as if it were searching for its prey.

Despite being eyed by a rank nine armoured razorback wyrm, the soldiers of the Silverlight Army glared back at the wingless dragon fearlessly.

"Ignorant humans!" The saint-level black dragon snorted disdainfully when he saw the army's reaction before turning back to Wukong. "Hurry up and pick your final fighter!"

Just as Wukong was about to open his mouth, Venerin and two of his generals all stepped forward simultaneously.

Ace could sense from their respective auras that Venerin was the strongest of the three at the eighth rank. The other two were both in the seventh rank, but whilst the woman was a warrior, the middle-aged man was a mage.

"Meina, Silum. You two step back. As the leader, the responsibility of this final fight is mine!" Venerin stated with a calm confidence.

"You're right, my lord. You are the leader, but that's exactly why you can't fight that beast," Silum, the middle-aged mage with greying brown hair, said respectfully. "Your presence will be necessary for what's to come later. Allow me to do my part as your humble subordinate."

It didn't take a genius to read between the lines and understand what he was getting at.

Venerin was the strongest of those able to participate, but they all knew that he wouldn't be able to defeat an armoured razorback wyrm – one of the more powerful known types of dragons – which was also of a higher rank.

This final opponent was unbeatable to everyone present, bar Wukong. But since he was forbidden from taking part, they had to plan for the worst, which meant sacrificing one of them whilst still retaining as much strength as possible for the inevitable war that was still to come.

"Silum's right, milord. You shouldn't take part; neither of you should. It should be me." Meina, a stoic woman with a surprisingly stocky frame, donning plain white armour carrying a Lance in her left hand with short blonde hair, stated indifferently.

"Meina, you-"

"You know I'm right. Lord Venerin's the strongest combatant the city has, and you are the most powerful mage in the city." Meina stated as she walked towards the wall, preparing to jump off. "If a war breaks out, both of you will be invaluable if our city is to find a way through this."

Venerin watched silently as another of his generals marched towards their death with their heads held high. Never in his life had he hated his lack of strength as much as he did at that moment!

Meina calmly made her way through her subordinates towards her opponent. Slowly moving faster and faster with each step, she went from a calm walk to a gentle jog to an all-out sprint.

But the wyrm didn't seem to care in the slightest. Even as the amazonian woman coated her whole body and weapon in an earthy green battle-qi, the expression on the beast's face was one of disdain.

Armoured razorback wyrms had incredibly sharp claws and boasted impressive attack speed, but the feature that made them so fearful to all other creatures was their nigh-impenetrable defence.

Even amongst those at the 9th rank, be it warrior, mage, or magical beast, there were very few who could actually pierce its dense obsidian scales, let alone a warrior two ranks below.

As a veteran warrior who lived in a city that regularly faced beast tides, she obviously knew this. It was why she chose to take this round instead of Venerin or Silum.

But as she charged towards the horrifying beast, her eyes showed no fear or concern. As her lance shot forth like a rocket, it did so without an ounce of reservations. It was as if she were facing any old beast, like it was just another day in the office.

It wasn't that she was ignorant of the difference; it was just that, as far as she was concerned, if she were definitely going to die today, she would die with pride.

As soon as the tip of lance made contact with the obsidian scales, the cracking of her polearm rang in her ear, but before she could even retract it, the spiky tail of the wyrm whistled through the air slicing her arm clean off from the top of the shoulder.

Even as her arm fell to the ground, Meina didn't bat an eyelid. With one arm, she continued attacking the beast with every bit of strength she could muster.

After another two strikes, her lance broke, and still, she showed no shock or fear. She simply threw what was left of her weapon at her nigh-invincible opponent.

It didn't matter if it was the Venerin, his four remaining generals, or the ordinairy members of the army, tears welled up in the eyes of every soldier of the Silverlight Army, but they all refused to take their eyes off for even a second. They wished to etch General Meina's valiant display into the depths of their memories to use as a source of strength to draw on when it was time to avenge their losses.

Even Ace and Wukong, who didn't know the amazonian warrior particularly well, watched with heavy hearts as the wyrm's spiky tail cleaved straight through the general's left leg.

Still, even with only a single arm and leg remaining, Meina refused to yield.

"DIE!" She bellowed as she used her one remaining leg to propel her at the beast, using her only hand to deliver an uppercut to the arrogant beast.

Unfortunately, its scales remained impenetrable. Every bone in Meina's hand broke on impact, but she didn't care. She roared with laughter as she stared directly into the beast's golden eyes. "The pride of a dragon? Haha, a dragon's pride will never compare with the pride of a Silverlight soldier!"

In response, the wyrm simply bit off her mangled hand and devoured it right in front of her. Still, Meina showed no fear as she headbutted the snout of the draconian beast, ignoring the protruding spikes on its face.

Her face was a distorted mess, she had lost copious amounts of blood, and she only had one complete limb remaining. By all accounts, she shouldn't be conscious, let alone standing, and yet, despite her current condition, her aura seemed to soar into the sky.

The wyrm didn't know what had changed, but at that moment, it felt something it never expected to feel against an opponent as weak as Meina – Fear! It subconsciously took a step back as if it wanted to escape, but Meina had already moved.

"HAHAHA, DIE, YOU STUPID LIZARD!" Meina roared as her right calf bulged in size.

As she hopped into the air above the wyrm, the ground she was just standing on splintered.

For the first time since the fight began, the armoured razorback wyrm made a move to try and block the incoming attack.

Knowing it was too late to dodge, it instinctively coiled into a ball, protecting all its vital points.

Ace watched in shock as Meina, who looked to have become one with the earth, stamped down on the impregnable beast with unparalleled might.

Even Venerin was left speechless as he watched Meina's strike. "Did she…"

"She just gained insights into the profound!" Wukong declared in shock.

"Is that even possible?" Silum asked, unable to wrap his mind around Meina's sudden increase in strength. "She hadn't even stepped into the 'wielding' boundary of comprehension."

"The threat of death has always been a powerful stimulus. This king guesses that with the threat of her death looming and her raging desire to win this battle and protect those behind her, she was miraculously able to jump two boundaries of comprehension in one go and gain insight into the profound." Wukong theorised. "Unfortunately, it's still not enough…"

"ROOAAARRRR!"

As the dust cleared, Meina, who was standing on one leg panting heavily, ignoring the pain ravaging her body, watched as the enraged wyrm stood back up.

Other than a broken spike on its back, the wyrm appeared unscathed. Its anger didn't stem from pain but shame. It felt ashamed that it, a proud magical beast of the dragon race, had shown fear over such a trivial attack.

Seeing the wrathful beast charging at her, a peaceful smile suffused what was left of her face. She didn't have the energy to move another muscle, but she was just happy she would die on the battlefield – where she belonged.

The wyrm jumped on top of her and sliced through the leg that had managed to injure it with its claw, but seeing her still smiling despite facing death only served to anger it further.

It slammed down on her face with its tail, reducing it to a pulp, killing her instantly, but its anger was still bubbling.

The residents of Silverlight watched in horror as the beast opened its gruesome maw to take a bite out of the already dead general. They desperately wanted to stop it, but it happened too quickly, and they were all too far away.

Fortunately, just as the wyrm's razorlike fangs were about to take a chunk out of Meina's corpse, it was sent flying through the air, crashing into the army of magical beasts, killing several of the weaker ones.

"The fight's over; General Meina's body will be returning with this king for a proper funeral!" Wukong said coldly as he stood in front of the deceased general, staring fearlessly at the black dragon in the sky, bolts of lightning flickering around his body.

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P.atreon.com/AceInCoilingDragon: Book 2 - Chapter 22