The Red Dragon Just Wants To Do As It Pleases-Chapter 549 - 339: Do I Look Like That Kind of Dragon!? (Part 2)

Soon, the third, the fourth, and then hundreds, even thousands, of 'Davids' rose from the Dragon followers, their forms overlapping.

This was not merely a superposition of his true self; each overlapping form also signified that David's Authority underwent an exponential, doubling leap in power. Thus, after fewer than a thousand such superimpositions...

CRACK.

With a soundless shatter, the Hand of [Despair] binding David's body crumbled under the suddenly swelling power of his Authority.

It wasn't just the hand binding David; under the backlash of that immense power, all the Hands of [Despair] constraining the Dragon Gods disintegrated one after another, like a cascade of falling dominoes.

In that instant, the Dragon Gods, including Pafila, freed themselves from the shroud of [Despair]. Empowered by the Authority manifested in their lives, they each emerged from the nadirs of their draconic existences.

Pafila, not having waited for Tiamat's 'rescue,' had resolved her life's draconic dilemmas in an incredibly simple and crude manner: she simply lazed about in the Dragon Nest until adulthood.

Faced with an adult Pafila—who had, at some unknown point, discreetly achieved legendary status—her incessantly chattering, middle-aged Brass Dragon mother had proactively conceded defeat. She couldn't best her daughter, Pafila.

And every time the mother opened her mouth to speak, Pafila would promptly silence her with her tail. This left her mother feeling frustrated, even to the point of [Despair]. So, she angrily stormed off, no longer imploring Pafila to listen to her gossip and little stories.

Pafila, having successfully broken free from her draconic shackles, opened her eyes with a look of immense relief, only to discover that due to her indolent method of breaking free, she was the last of the Dragon Gods to awaken.

However, upon seeing David, who was glowing all over like a cocoon of time, Pafila couldn't help but smile with relief and reassurance.

She knew that while they were shackled, her child, David Uthos, had silently shouldered everything for them, breaking the fetters of [Despair].

The rest could be left to them, these 'figurehead' Dragon Gods, to handle.

Pafila gazed at the Sin of Lust, which was now writhing frantically under the suppression of David's boundless Authority. Her eyes cold, she once again raised the towering Sword of Strength.

Without its Authority, that 'powerful cheat code,' 'Moravi' was merely a Sin of Lust made of flesh and blood.

It was like an invincible, plot-protected boss in a game suddenly revealing its health bar to players after a cutscene ended...

No matter how thick or long that health bar was, in the hands of Pafila and her cohort of 'elite global gamers'—who were pumped up as if on adrenaline—it was nothing more than a rag doll to be toyed with and torn apart.

And just as Pafila swung the Sword of Strength down for a killing blow, all the Dragon Gods instinctively recoiled from its terrifying edge.

Beneath this strike, which was like the cleaving of heaven and earth—so brilliant that even the assembled Dragons could hardly look at it directly—the Sin of Lust, 'Moravi,' let out a pain-filled shriek. Its body collapsed in on itself, unmoving, like a silent mountain range.

All the Dragon Gods halted as well. The outcome was decided.

"Let me do it!"

Pafila and the others turned around in astonishment.

They saw Tania, newly ascended to the divine seat of the God of Weakness, swooping down excitedly, dragging a tail of light that resembled a comet.

She looked just like a wealthy young lady who had splurged on a power-leveling service for her game account, now begging to deliver the final blow to the boss.

Seeing Pafila remain silent, the other Dragon Gods didn't stop the young Silver Dragon lady from 'beating the corpse.'

However, Tania, having just ascended to godhood, had an attack method that was indeed rather 'weak.' Her ice breath felt like a gentle breeze caressing a hillside.

But 'Moravi,' already ravaged in turn by the claws of the Dragon Gods and especially by Pafila's lethal strike, seemed to undergo a subtle structural change... It began to disintegrate, like a sand dune collapsing...

Yet Tania had no time to cheer for her magnificent feat.

Through the convergence of those 'true selves' he had brought forth, David—having attained profound enlightenment where myriad selves unified into one—plunged straight into the collapsing body of the Sin of Lust, much to the bewilderment of Tania and the others.

Flicking out his tongue like a chameleon, he snatched 'Moravi,' who was plummeting into the void of the Abyss as its Authorities, such as [Despair], began to collapse.

Yet, the instant he saw its true form, David the Dragon was utterly dumbfounded. Before his very eyes was, unmistakably... a female Elf. So, she should actually be called 'Moravee'... The Sin of Lust.

Only then did David finally understand why 'Moravee' had fallen into [Despair].

Perhaps neither Arlosh's soaring ambition nor Corellon's vigilance was the most direct cause.

Consider the unspoken agony of transmigrating to another world, only to find oneself... unmanned. Who the hell could possibly understand!?

Sensing David's astonished gaze, 'Moravee,' who had long since resigned herself to death, silently turned her head away. "You've already won. Do you intend to continue humiliating me like this?"

Indeed, from the moment she realized the battle was decided, she had wholeheartedly sought death. This was the last freedom she could choose. Yet, it seemed even this resolve was about to be trampled.

David, however, smiled and said, "I'm sorry, I can't let you die.

"To kill you would, in a sense, be destroying myself.

"I will never... I absolutely will not commit such a mistake, one I would regret for the rest of my life."

'Moravee' remained silent for a long time. Watching the collapsing Abyss about to swallow them both, she finally looked directly at this version of herself that had sparked her [Jealousy]. "What more do you want from me? What can I possibly do?"

David said with utmost seriousness, "Forgive yourself."

[Mercy] faintly manifested.

'Moravee' looked at David, somewhat taken aback, a flicker of life returning to her expression.

"After all, human nature is inherently fragile," David continued. "'Your' failure is not shameful."

Then, David extended his claw to her. "Come back. I need you to become whole again."

If he let go, it would mean David would lose all of this forever—he would lose his [Courage].

'Moravee' finally spoke. "But someone as hideous as 'I' will only... make you imperfect."

David smiled again. "Nothing in this world is inherently perfect.

"Even the universe itself possesses an imperfect axis.

"And so do we."

'Moravee' remained silent.

David continued, "Did you know? We have also failed in countless parallel worlds.

"The blunders we've made have piled up like mountain ranges; the errors we've committed have forged vast, barren seas.

"Along this path, we stumble, we fall, we fail, we waver, and sometimes, we even succumb to [Despair].

"Yet, we have still traversed these mountains and seas to meet here again.

"Because within us... deep in the heart of every living being, there lies hidden...

"A light named [Hope].

"In the crevices of good intentions, it resists the encroachment of shadowy darkness.

"But in our hearts, boundless coldness and emptiness also gather.

"Like... a dark dungeon.

"Surely, you wouldn't have the heart to let me languish alone in this prison, bored until the end of the world, would you?"

'Moravee' listened to this spiel—philosophy clearly ripped off from some game—and a flicker appeared in her previously vacant eyes. "I say, David, you can't possibly be so twisted that you'd even target 'yourself,' planning to engage in some unspeakable 'play' in your Dark Dungeon, all kitted out with those 'gentleman's MODs,' can you? If that's the case, just give me a quick end. Consider it... my plea."

"..." David was speechless.

"What the hell?! Do I look like that kind of Dragon to you? Huh?

"Get up here, you!"

As if struck by lightning, a furious David exasperatedly yanked her back from that metaphorical cesspit.

In that moment, it was as if yin embraced yang, their vital energies blending to create harmony.

At last, wholeness was achieved.