The battle raged on.

Merciless and overwhelming.

As soon as Gongbok revealed his true form, attacks far beyond comparison to before rained down.

Steel blades, massive and sharp enough to shatter dragon scales just by touching them.

The worst part? Those attacks weren’t just aimed at me.

They were indiscriminate, targeting everyone on the battlefield.

“Kyaeng!”

Wolves, one by one, were encased in ice.

“P-Polygamy…”

Even the bicorns staggered under the weight of their massive bodies.

The Snake Queen and Argentaavis weren’t in good shape either.

I had tried to use the power of wood to resist, but wood could never hope to overcome metal.

Argentaavis could no longer fly, and the once-beautiful scales of the Snake Queen were all but ruined.

I poured the last of my strength into wrapping them in massive vines.

The vines likely wouldn’t mean much in the face of Gongbok’s power.

But they were effective at restraining the Snake Queen and Argentaavis, keeping them from pushing themselves further.

Thud!
Boom!

From within the entangled vines came the sound of furious thrashing, but as if realizing that breaking free would cause more harm, the noise gradually subsided.

“My mate…”

The Snake Queen’s sorrowful voice was all that remained.

Had I not done this, she would have continued throwing herself against Gongbok, even without a plan.

Facing him without a proper strategy was nothing more than throwing one’s life away.

“…Finally, the nuisances are all gone,” Gongbok said.

His silver eyes locked onto me.

Yes.

He mistook me for someone else.

His only interest seemed to lie in fighting me.

The others had only been attacked because they were in the way.

“Grrrr…”
“Oh True Dragon, it is nearly time. The day your son surpasses you and attains the Dragon Pearl approaches.”

Still mistaking me for a True Dragon, Gongbok.

I had long since given up the idea of defeating him.

All I could do was hold his attention.

His indiscriminate attacks spared neither ally nor foe, leaving even the enemy forces in poor condition.

This meant few among them were left to pursue if my followers fled.

If Red Dragon could defeat Akbulhwi or at least force him to withdraw, if Baekrang and Cheoldooryong could freeze the ground to facilitate retreat, and if the Snake Queen and Argentaavis created an opening to escape, everyone might survive.

Yes.

Focus.

Despairing over a strong enemy won’t help.

I am the Divine Beast of Gae Gak. I have a duty to protect everyone.

With that thought, my eyes landed on Baekrang.

Encased in ice, part of my last fallback plan.

“Kyaek…”
“Kioong…”

The spiders frantically shook Tang Soyeong, who had her eyes shut tight with her arms limp.

…

This was the future I had foreseen.

The future I swore to change.

So why…

Did you think changing fate would be so simple?

Simma’s voice echoed in my mind.

Pathetic. Truly pathetic.

As if it had been waiting for this moment.

The Gongbok you saw in the future didn’t wield the power of metal, did it?

Mocking me.

So why, then, is it now using the power of steel to crush you?

The future wasn’t exactly the same.

But still, they were alive.

Red Dragon hadn’t fallen yet.

It wasn’t that the future had changed.

I simply hadn’t reached it yet.

Predictable. So predictable.

That is what fate is.

No matter how much a mere mortal struggles, fate cannot be defied.

Simma laughed.

Crahaha! Crahaha!

Time seemed to slow, crawling to a halt.

Do you hate fate?

It whispered seductively.

Do you hate the one who brought your followers to this state?

Though none of your followers have died yet, thanks to your useless efforts…what’s the point?

If you fall, they will all die anyway.

It was right.

Even Baekrang was in this state. I wouldn’t be able to ensure everyone escaped.

If I lost, my followers would all perish.

Just like the future I had glimpsed.

But there’s one thing left, isn’t there?

Simma’s voice tickled my ears.

My offer from back then still stands.

It repeated the words it had spoken when I glimpsed the future.

Take my hand.

Only I can save you.

It was a tempting offer.

If I accepted Simma’s hand, could I save my followers?

Offer me your flesh, and I’ll kill the dragon’s child.

Yes.

If I gave my body to Simma…maybe, just maybe…

I will carve true terror into their very bones.

For the sake of my followers, what wouldn’t I do?

I was about to accept Simma’s proposal.

Thud.

Something small struck my head.

Wrapped in webbing, it fell to the ground.

When I saw it, time, which had felt frozen, began to flow again.

“…Believe.”

The one who threw it was Nephila.

Encased in her webbing was something all too familiar.

A green object.

Yes.

It was a tail.

The tail I had left with Nephila when I departed.

My gecko lizard tail.

Seeing it brought me back to my senses.

Ignore it. Defying fate goes against all reason. Only I can—

Crunch!

Squelch!

I severed my tail with my own hand.

“Kh…kuuuugh!”

Only pain of this magnitude could free me from Simma.

Blood dripped steadily.

Even Gongbok, who had been silently watching me, seemed momentarily startled.

Simma’s voice no longer echoed in my ears.

“Grrrr…”

Fate cannot be defied.

That’s what Simma had told me.

A lizard destined to be devoured by an Oviraptor escaped its clutches.

A spider, once ruler of a single tree, evolved into an Arachne.

A pair of starving spiders, doomed to die in the swamps, met me instead.

Tang Soyeong, who should have perished to a Dilophosaurus, survived.

Fate cannot be defied?

No. I had defied fate time and time again.

I could no longer move, but my mind was clearer than ever.

[Activating Reverse Scale Lv5.]

Even activating Reverse Scale made me vomit blood.

But I couldn’t give up.

I had to defy this fate.

[Temporarily acquiring Dragon Speech Lv0.]

The power I had brought back was Dragon Speech.

But lacking resources, I couldn’t fully replicate it.

Even if it was a desperate act, was this truly my destiny?

…

Who decides my fate?

[Activating %! @■□ LV2.]

Chwaaaaak!

[Fox Orb reacts to Dragon Speech Lv0.]

[Dragon Speech Lv0 temporarily levels up.]

Scraping the bottom of the barrel, I barely managed to replicate Dragon Speech.

The divine energy of a dragon coursed through me.

Gongbok’s form, clad in steel through his Dragon Speech, was daunting.

To pierce what Dragon Speech created, I had to counter it with Dragon Speech.

What words would achieve this?

How could I pierce him?

“My flesh…”

What I needed was a weapon to destroy him.

A substitute for my broken claws, a tool to penetrate his armor.

“…become a blade.”

The severed tail began to transform.

Though its shape remained familiar, it morphed into a massive sword.

He had used Dragon Speech to create armor.

I would use it to forge a blade to pierce that armor.

A lizard who had never wielded a sword now held one in its grasp.

It could be dismissed as a futile struggle.

After all, I hadn’t trained in swordsmanship.

But so what?

A sword made of my own body felt as familiar as my claws.

Though I held a blade for the first time, I felt as if I had achieved unity with it.

Focus.

I had no resources left, yet my body felt weightless.

Woom.

The fox orb trembled faintly.

I instinctively understood what I held and what I needed to do.

Blue sword energy enveloped the blade.

The energy thinned into delicate threads.

The threads coalesced, compressing into a single force.

Black steel merged with blue energy to create an azure blade.

This sword would sever the fate that stood in my way.

Severing fate—once, I might have called it a fool’s errand.

Even if I understood its meaning, I’d have thought it impossible.

But the moment I gripped this sword, I realized something.

[%! @■□ LV2.]

The true name of the power I had resented for so long.

[Fate Severing LV2.]

Yes.

I hadn’t been cutting tails.

I had been cutting fate.