Above the sky.
Kong Tai was bathed in golden light, his entire being seemed plated with gold, shimmering with a golden halo.
He gazed at the increasingly brilliant silver flying dragon under the sun, his pupils constricting.
This creature, struck by his slash, had not sustained a single scratch.
Such defense was truly terrifying.
Kong Tai looked at the dragon's tail, his face grave.
The metallic scales of this flying dragon were definitely not of this world.
As far as he knew, this world had not yet produced such hard metal.
His slash had already reached the pinnacle of the world.
And it was imbued with Conqueror's Haki.
Even if not stronger than Mihawk's slashes, it was at least comparable.
When it came to offense, his slash might not be the world's strongest, but in terms of sharpness, it was close to it.
And yet, even with this, it couldn't leave any mark on the flying dragon. Who else in this world could defeat the creature before him?
If not for his stamina, he would have wanted to conjure another Blade of Space to see if it could kill it.
Kong Tai was lost in thought, but the flying dragon was not.
After repelling the slash, it flapped its wings, its blood-red pupils unwavering, filled with indifference.
It opened its maw, its teeth, sharp as blades and vast as mountains, rapidly bit towards Kong Tai.
The pitch-black maw was like the mouth of the world, and Kong Tai, like an ant. If bitten, anyone would surely die.
But would Kong Tai let himself be bitten?
Even if bitten, could it truly harm Kong Tai?
Obviously not.
Seeing the monstrous maw rapidly approaching, Kong Tai vanished from his spot.
The next moment, he appeared above the flying dragon's head.
He stared at the silver scales below, finding the joint between them. Gripping his blade with both hands, the pitch-black blade, entwined with purple-red lightning, plunged downwards fiercely.
*Bang—!*
The blade collided with the scales, instantly halting the flying dragon.
"It's not just the metal itself."
Kong Tai lowered his head, his eyes fixed on the tip of his blade.
He saw that at the point where the blade tip met the scales, a layer of energy, invisible unless one looked closely, was blocking them.
"No wonder it's so hard."
The dragon's scales were already incredibly tough, and with the added defense of the energy layer, it could naturally withstand his slash.
And based on his observation, although this energy layer was thin, the energy within it was as deep as an abyss.
Given the dragon's colossal size, the energy it possessed would be immense.
To destroy this energy layer, one would have to destroy the dragon's power system.
And to destroy the dragon's power system, one would first have to break the energy layer, leading to a dead end.
"Troublesome."
Kong Tai retracted his blade, his form vanishing again, dodging the dragon's sweeping wing and appearing before its head.
*Ding—!*
He flicked his wrist, twirling the blade before sheathing it.
"Alright, no more fighting. I truly can't do anything to you, but you can't do anything to me either. Let's leave it at that!"
Kong Tai hovered in the air, unhooked his wine gourd from his waist, took a swig, and then stared directly into the flying dragon's eyes, his killing intent undisguised. He said coldly, "Since you want me to go to the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, I will oblige you. I hope you won't regret it then."
Although he wished to defeat the dragon, with his current power, short of the Blade of Space, he couldn't even break its defense. What was the point of fighting?
He could sense that Im surely had some scheme waiting for him, but he wasn't worried.
In a little more time, his strength would not be what it was now.
Then, he believed destroying this flying dragon would be as easy as flipping his hand.
Despite its massive size, if he could breach its defenses, it would merely be a large piece of scrap metal before him.
As for Im's true form, he believed that no matter how powerful that being was, it couldn't harm him.
If that being were truly powerful, it wouldn't have remained in the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, for so long.
He speculated that Im was either injured and hiding in Mary Geoise to heal, unable to come out, or, like the Siren, was imprisoned in Mary Geoise by someone. And the reason Im wanted him to go to Mary Geoise was simple: to use his strength to break free.
The flying dragon gazed deeply at Kong Tai, then flapped its wings and soared into the sky.
It left behind a defiant declaration.
"I'll be waiting for you."
"Heh heh!!"
Kong Tai responded to Im's words with a slightly mocking laugh.
He then withdrew his gaze and looked down.
The once immense Kokodoro was now reduced to just Bretos.
From his vantage point, Bretos now resembled a precarious little boat on the vast sea, on the verge of capsizing at any moment.
"Sigh."
Kong Tai sighed inwardly.
They had come on this journey intending to be heroes.
Little did they expect it to end up like this.
Although it was all Im's fault, Kokodoro had also been implicated and suffered this fate.
Fortunately, they could relocate to Gues.
Thinking of this, Kong Tai felt a sense of relief. He looked up in the direction the flying dragon had disappeared.
"No matter what you are, I will send you to hell eventually."
"Eight hundred years, perhaps even longer, you have lived long enough. It's truly time for you to die."
He retracted his gaze, and Kong Tai vanished from his spot.
...
"Did we win?"
In Bretos, countless people watched the flying dragon depart. Their standing bodies instantly collapsed to the ground, faces filled with the relief of survival.
They then all turned their heads, their eyes erupting with a fanatical glow as they looked at the white figure who had appeared on the city walls.
It was him. It was he who, just as Bretos was about to be engulfed by the explosion's aftermath, appeared in the sky and, like a descending deity, sliced open the heavens, sucking in all the residual blast waves that threatened Bretos.
That figure, with his back to them, facing the monstrous explosion.
It was as if he had imprinted himself on their hearts, etched into their souls, ensuring they would never forget him for the rest of their lives.
And now, the wicked dragon that had nearly destroyed Kokodoro had also been driven away by him.
"Hero."
"Hero."
"Hero..."
No one knew who started it, but countless voices connected, then merged, forming a torrential, almost religious chorus.
It echoed throughout all of Bretos.
On the city walls, Charles and the others also watched Kong Tai, their eyes filled with gratitude.
Charles's eyes welled up with tears, which then spilled over.
The stoic king, who had not cried even when Sophie returned, could no longer hold back his tears.
Sophie stepped forward, tightly gripping her father's trembling hands, tears also streaming down her face.
At this moment, although Kokodoro was reduced to just Bretos, the despair had passed.
They all believed that the future would be even brighter.
Therefore, these were not tears of sadness, but of joy.
Of course, more than anything, it was the relief of having survived.