Cliche Chapter 419-420: Ddraig vs Great Red (Patreon)

Being a dragon, Ophis could sense the presence of her kind inside the gauntlet as well as the change in Asahi’s aura. Ophis couldn’t wrap her head around it, so she stared inquisitively at Asahi.

“Is that a dragon soul? How did you… become a dragon?”

Asahi was tempted to throw out Great Red’s name just to watch Ophis’ reaction at betrayal.

(Loli dragon’s wrath… let’s not go there, shall we?)

Asahi chuckled at Klyscha’s trembling voice. He introduced the loli dragon god to God’s genius concept of the Boosted Gear and the Longinus.

“Make one with Stupid Red?” Ophis asked and pointed at the Boosted Gear. “Stronger weapon.”

“Asahi, what is wrong with her?” Ddraig yelled in a lively voice as she manifested in her chibi form. “Great Red isn’t someone we can fight!”

Ddraig wasn’t fond of Ophis’s idea to pitch Asahi against Great Red. She hadn’t met Great Red in person, but Albion had. The battle-maniac White One acknowledged Great Red’s aura was endless like the Dimensional Gap he occupied.

“Coward,” Ophis berated Ddraig. “Weak.”

Asahi put the groaning Ddraig on his lap and smacked her head. “I’m going to beat Great Red just like I beat you.”

Ddraig couldn’t say anything when he sounded so confident. The same confidence he showed when he challenged her and ultimately bested her in combat.

“Why don’t we bet on the winner?” Asahi gave a provocative grin. “Ddraig, the Red Dragon Empress won’t back down from a challenge, now would she?”

Ddraig bit on his finger and slipped away. “In your dreams. I have but one condition: the use of the Boosted Gear is prohibited.”

“Handicapping me, huh. Alright. I will win without the Boosted Gear.”

He didn’t need any external help in fighting an opponent with the same expertise as Klyscha. He might not win, but he definitely wouldn’t lose.

“So what’s my reward for winning?” Ddraig asked, seemingly confident in her victory. History failed to teach her anything.

“The winner can make the loser do anything. Anything, you hear?”

Ddraig floated aimlessly in the air, wondering about her desires. The two skills she received after the pact had solved her biggest troubles. She had no haunting concern at the moment.

‘I can use it later when Klyscha bullies me.’

Ddraig nodded to herself. “Agreed.”

“Sweet.”

Ophis, who had been standing in silence until now, spoke of her desire, “Make Red disappear.”

Asahi aggressively ruffled Ophis’s hair. “No need to be that extreme.”

Ophis looked up at him in astonishment. No one apart from Great Red ever dared to touch her, much less ruin her hair this way. This gave her more assurance of Asahi’s victory over Great Red.

The man in question was pondering over his future. The next step in his journey. He loved adventuring just as much as he loved to sit around and spent time with his family. Great Red was indisputably the strongest being in the world excluding the ExE world. Although she was at the threshold of Level 500, Asahi was confident of defeating her. Unless the ExE world came for an intergalactic war, he would pretty much become the strongest person in the world.

The room for his growth shrank considerably in this world. In Orario, there was still the looming threat of the dungeon with fifty-plus floors left to explore. He intended to clear it in the month leading up to his marriage. The two worlds had no challenges for the current Asahi.

(Very few worlds can keep up with my love now…)

‘Don’t worry. I got the Almighty Klyscha Points to raise the power levels.’

(Hehe, what will we do?)

‘Empower a world with super-strong enemies. Something like One Punch Man.’

Putting aside the comically overpowered protagonist Saitama, the world had much to offer in terms of villains.

(A modern world… Alise and Ryuu would love that. You want to finish your education?)

‘Well, I can have fun with some part-time studies.’

He could also have fun with the Tatsumaki sisters while he was there. They were his favorite waifus in the One Punch Man world. There were many other worlds on his list.

‘Let’s tie up the loose ends here before diving into a new world. One of them is finding Saeko’s father.’

He owed the sisters this much for their selfless affection. His only concern was Ais. He would miss years of her growth if he went to his previous world. He also didn’t want to bring Ais along, which will set her years behind her peers.

(We can’t do anything to settle that… I should have included a world stasis function in the Heavenly Path… it was a lack of foresight on my part…)

‘I can always bring the whole Loki Familia with me. Though, if they declined... I need an item that will give me the time element.’

Freezing an entire world’s timestream was no joke, but he might succeed if he mastered the elemental form of the time element. Embodying time might be the most disorienting experience.

(There are the skill orbs you previously used to learn the stealth skill. One of them can awaken the time element.)

He had yet to try the darkness elemental form. The element was overall creepy. Dark in nature and the ability to revive the dead as undead made it a top-tier choice for necromancers. The darkness element was best suited for stealth.

There were so many elements he had yet to acquire.

‘Sweet.’

***

In the endless flow of the Dimensional Gap lived a bad red dragon with a horn. The dragon had stolen the home of its peer, the black dragon. The dragon was wild and noisy, and never let the black dragon sleep in peace. Ophis described her situation to Ddraig in a childish, very fairytale-like way.

“You should beat her yourself and claim your lair.” Ddraig being Ddraig, failed to empathize with Ophis.

She never restrained her thoughts. Great Red or Dragon God of Infinite didn’t make her cower, more so when she was already a soul.

“Stupid,” Ophis muttered under her breath.

Asahi chuckled at their exchange. The dragons’ fight didn’t continue as another one of their kind emerged.

“Back to play?” Great Red said playfully. “You’re here to beat the bad old me? Wait… who are you?” Great Red narrowed her eyes on Asahi. “Ophis’ friend… your aura is vastly different. Did you get your hands on some ancient potion or what?”

“Nope, a secluded god trained me.”

“That’s great,” Great Red said with a chuckle.

Ophis pointed at Great Red. “Your reign ends today.”

The dramatic declaration startled Great Red for a moment. She responded with a light chuckle, “Forgot the beating I gave you last time?”

Ophis stared emotionlessly at Great Red’s bullish behavior. “I have Asahi…”

She created serpents that boosted powers and hurled them in Asahi’s way. “Take.”

Asahi shook his head. “Never.” He turned to Great Red. “Fight me.”

“No.”

An instant denial. Great Red snickered as she narrowed her eyes. “Why should I fight you? You and I have no grudge. You don’t belong to the dragon race, which gives me all the more reason to not show my dominance.” She casually went back on the promise she made last time.

“And here I thought Great Red was the mightiest of them all.” Asahi shook his head in disappointment. “You have less courage than my friend Ddraig.”

“Yes,” Ddraig said as she materialized in her complete form. Even then she was less than half of the hundred meters Great Red. Ddraig turned to Asahi. “Mind if I fight her first?”

Asahi shrugged. “Go ahead.”

Ddraig’s soul was linked to him. She wouldn’t face any danger unless he died. She could rampage without any care in the world.

Ddraig stretched her wings, feeling free like a bird. “O spineless dragon god, I challenge you to a duel.”

Great Red’s golden eyes glowed. “Can’t rest even in death. Stubborn like my little friend over there.”

“I can’t fight strong people if I die.” Ddraig flashed her fangs with a grin and darted toward Great Red.

Ddraig’s claws imbued with the Penetrate trait drew a vertical line in the air. Great Red’s body turned ethereal, rendering Ddraig’s attack useless.

“Your trait is inferior,” Great Red said with a mocking laugh. “You cannot hit what isn’t real.”

Ophis teleported to Ddraig’s back and patted her scales. She knew better than anyone how annoying Great Red’s illusory state was. Nothing could hit Great Red in this form.

“Enough fooling around.”

Great Red decided to get serious. A white aura enveloped her massive pair of wings. Her trait ‘Dreamless Epiphany’ created a translucent domain around Ddraig.

Ddraig’s jaw opened with a soundless cry. Her sense of reason crumbled under the oppression of a Dragon God. Primal fear pervaded her entire being.

Asahi narrowed his eyes on Great Red’s skill. The domain was more than a simple projection of aura as it had a similar signature to Klyscha’s residence.

Ophis released snakes that latched on the boundaries of Great Red’s domain.

“Damned aura,” Ddraig cursed.

Great Red laughed like a maniac. “Let’s fight without aura then.”

Great Red was a flesh and blood dragon more than capable of overpowering Ddraig. She threw herself at Ddraig. As the two behemoths clashed, Asahi pulled Ophis away from the chaos.

Ddraig’s fangs failed to harm Great Red’s flesh. Contrarily, Great Red effortlessly sank her teeth into Ddraig’s neck and took a massive chunk of flesh. Blood sprayed from Ddraig’s newly manifested body.

Slowly and viciously, the beasts battled. Ddraig was on the losing end as she couldn’t get past Great Red’s tough scales. Great Red wasn’t using any abilities, so Ddraig also refrained from using the penetrate trait. That turned out to be a mistake, however. Great Red tore Ddraig’s wings before squeezing her throat with massive claws.

As Great Red went to pull Ddraig’s head, Asahi teleported Ddraig to his side.

“That’s enough,” Asahi said, unwilling to watch Ddraig getting maimed before her eyes. He lightly slapped Ddraig’s face, making her groan in agony.

Asahi deadpanned. “Stop acting, you damn masochist. You can repair your body any time.”

Ddraig chuckled and healed her injuries with a thought. The Soul Manifestation allowed her to literally come to life as long as her soul was intact.

Great Red stretched her wings and closed her eyes. “Fighting is less fun than swimming in the Dimensional Gap.”

She didn’t need to hurt anyone to have fun in the Dimensional Gap.

“You three are a unique bunch,” Asahi said, shaking his head.

One was crazy for fights, one yearned for peace, and the last one just wanted to glide endlessly.

“Dragons have always been one of a kind,” Great Red replied. “And, don’t challenge me. I don’t want ro fight you, little one.”

Great Red read his mind like a book.

Asahi frowned. “Why?”

“You’re far stronger than Ddraig, and your skills are uncommon. Defeating you will consume a lot of time. I am busy right now.”

“...”

***

Does OPM seem good for the next world? It has many interesting possibilities for development.