Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 482: Sakura’s Wrath (4)

Dragon Raja 3

Herzog was stunned by his laughter and took two steps back, alarmed.

Chime kept laughing, coughing up blood with each laugh, his mouth filled with blood foam. Despite the agony, his laughter was wild and unrestrained.

“Yes! I killed God! Because God means nothing to me!” Chime lifted his head, his face torn and bloody from Herzog’s attacks, yet his expression carried a stunning pride and cold arrogance. “Osho, I’ve been overestimating you this whole time. I thought you were the cruelest human being in the world, that you thought like a dragon, and that’s why I feared you so much, why I was terrified of you. But now I understand—you’re just a petty, small man! Hahaha! You’re nothing but a complete and utter small man! You despise humans, but you’re entirely human yourself—greedy! Cowardly! Despicable! What use would it be for someone like you to evolve into a dragon? Even dragons would despise you, wouldn’t they? Hahaha! What can you do now? You can kill me and my brother, but you won’t survive either! You can’t escape! My friends will hunt you down to the ends of the earth!”

He struggled to crawl toward Chisei. “We’re all going to die, but in the end, at least I can die together with my brother. But you? You were a lonely small man in life, and you’ll be a lonely small man in death!”

Herzog stared dumbfounded at the blood-soaked madman before him, finally realizing the flaw in his near-perfect plan.

For the past ten years, he had hypnotized and manipulated Chime, forcibly splitting off the personality of Ruri, the evil oni. From that moment, he believed he had complete control over Chime. Ruri was a puppet he had created, following his commands and harboring deep hatred for Chisei. While Ruri occasionally showed signs of rebellion, it was never a major problem—Herzog could always take away his power by using the signal from the bangzi he held.

When awakening the Yamata no Orochi, Herzog himself wasn’t present; instead, a hypnotized “shadow warrior” wearing a mask played his role. He believed that even without being there, things would develop as he expected, because his puppet, Ruri, was still in charge. However, what he didn’t foresee was that Ruri was, in essence, still a facet of Chime’s personality—the side of the boy abandoned by his brother, born from the depths of his soul in extreme loneliness and pain. So not only did Ruri fail to stop Chisei from killing Herzog’s “shadow warrior,” but he also destroyed the Sacred Remains with his own hands. To him, the Sacred Remains were nothing but an ugly insect. What he longed for was only one thing: to reunite with his brother on this final stage and end all the pain and hatred.

Thus, on this final stage, the ones filled with anger and frustration were not Chisei or Chime, but Herzog himself. Because both Chisei and Chime came here seeking death, while Herzog sought great power and a future.

Those who seek life can never defeat those who seek death, for the latter have nothing left to fear.

Therefore, Herzog was completely unable to harm Chime. Chime’s suffering had already reached its peak—he had lost the most important person in his life, as well as his purpose. He no longer cared about his own life, let alone his beautiful face. He was in such pain that he was on the verge of passing out, yet he still laughed maniacally after taking his revenge on Herzog, genuinely happy. Herzog panted furiously, breathing like a wild beast. Without the Sacred Remains, he had reached a dead end. He knew that Chime was right—even if he had destroyed the Yamata no Orochi and the Oni Clan, Cassell College was still out there. That ultimate organization, which existed to slay dragons, would never allow him to live. Chime indeed still had friends—a group of noble heirs, battle maniacs, and misfits who would certainly hunt Herzog to the ends of the earth.

Chime finally crawled to Chisei’s side, holding his gradually cooling brother in his arms. After his transformation, Chisei was much larger and stronger, like an armored general, while Chime was slender, almost like a girl. Yet he still held his brother tightly, as if trying to warm him with his own body, to extend his life just a little longer. Many years ago, in the embryo incubation chamber beneath Black Swan Bay, they had lain together like this, unconsciously embracing each other.

Herzog suddenly leaped to his feet. He couldn’t escape, but he still had one last way to punish the traitorous Chime. Even if Chime sought death, he still had a weakness. Herzog wanted to make him suffer, to make him pay for his laughter.

He violently tore Chisei from Chime’s arms, dragging him toward the equipment used for dissecting the Yamata no Orochi. The sharp circular saws could cut through the Yamata no Orochi’s body, and they could certainly slice through the scales protecting Chisei.

“Laugh! Laugh! Let me give your laughter a little bonus show! Want to see your brother cut open? I’ve dissected dragons and Death Servitors, but never a dragonized emperor!” Herzog panted, his expression twisted with rage. “The patterns on the cuts should be beautiful, right? Let me slice your brother piece by piece for you, and let’s see what this so-called emperor is really made of!”

“No! No! No!” Chime let out a heart-wrenching scream. He couldn’t even stand; he could only crawl in the blood, but he couldn’t catch up to Herzog.

Herzog deliberately moved slowly so that he could see the look of despair on Chime’s face, so that Chime could crawl closer and get a good view of his brother being dismembered under the circular saw. By now, everyone was mad, everyone was going to die, and the only thing they could rely on was the other’s despair to give them some fleeting warmth.

Dragging Chisei onto the dissection table took the last of Herzog’s strength. He stumbled toward the control panel.

“No! No! No!” At this point, Chime could only scream.

His rage caused Ruri’s personality to resurface, but Herzog struck his bangzi, suppressing Ruri. Without awakening Ruri, Chime would never possess the power to kill Herzog. This was a scientifically proven conclusion, tested on countless subjects.

Now it was Herzog’s turn to laugh. He manipulated the roaring circular saw, lowering it toward Chisei on the dissection table.

At that moment, a massive wind blew from behind, overpowering even the noise of the saw. Within that terrifying wind, something seemed to be breathing! What could create a windstorm just by breathing? After all, everyone else in the well was dead. Behind him, there was only a sea of corpses.

Herzog slowly turned around. He didn’t dare turn too quickly, fearing he might startle whatever was there.

In the darkness, Erii had silently sat up, like a wind-up doll. As her eyes slowly opened, the darkness at the bottom of the well was illuminated by the light in her pupils. It was as if molten lava flowed in her eyes. She looked up at the sky, then down at her feet, and finally surveyed this hellish place.

Her face was as cold as ice, yet she looked down upon everything like a ruler.

This was the awakening of a king, and her first act was to assess whether this world of ten thousand years had remained the same.

Both Herzog and Chime trembled under her overwhelming pressure. The circular saw stopped, and the only sound left in the well was that of the wind and rain. Amid the wind and rain, Erii breathed slowly, as if the entire world was expanding and contracting with her breath.

At that moment, magma once again lit up the Japanese night. From Mount Aso in Kumamoto to Sulfur Mountain in the Kuril Islands, the once-dormant volcanoes erupted again. From the sky, the volcanic chain across Japan appeared bright, as if golden blood was gushing from the earth’s core.

“Low Earth orbit satellite ‘Sky Watcher,’ identification code SW001, orbit adjustment successful. Approaching Tokyo airspace. Estimated time to target: 1 minute and 45 seconds.”

“Attitude adjustment complete. Sword of Damocles systems check complete, entering release standby mode.”

“Satellites CWA002 and CWA005 of the U.S. Department of Defense, DGC034 of the Russian Federal Space Agency, ESA254 of the European Space Agency, and CNS027 of the China National Space Administration are providing navigation.”

“Atmospheric turbulence is severe, visibility close to zero, gyroscopes are limited. Switching to spatial coordinate scanning for primary navigation.”

“Countdown 1 minute, all departments ready!”

On the roof of the Tokyo Meteorological Bureau, the vice principal monitored the release of Heaven’s Wrath through a wireless earpiece. For once, the Gear Department was being serious, and each department was working together with clockwork precision. These madmen could indeed be serious when they needed to be—just that, for geniuses, there weren’t many things worth taking seriously.

Heaven’s Wrath was an exception. Aside from nuclear weapons, which could potentially destroy the world, Heaven’s Wrath was the most powerful anti-dragon weapon humanity had ever created. Its precision strikes could reduce all known dragons to ash.

For the Gear Department, witnessing the launch of this weapon was a significant moment.