Chapter 87: Borzoi vs Maxwell 8
Maxwell’s body rolled across the broken battlefield before finally stopping near the remains of a shattered boulder.
For several monts, he did not move.
Blood slowly spread beneath him.
His chest rose weakly.
Every breath felt painful.
The white and golden aura surrounding him had beco unstable now, flickering repeatedly like a fla struggling against strong winds. Even the dragon shadow behind him looked distorted compared to before, its massive outline wavering as if it too could collapse at any mont.
Maxwell tried moving his arm.
Pain exploded through his body instantly.
"...Kgh..."
His fingers trembled against the dirt.
His vision blurred badly.
One eye could barely open anymore.
Then—
Heavy footsteps approached.
Step.
Step.
Step.
Each one sounded closer than the last.
Maxwell’s breathing beca rougher.
Even without looking, he already knew who it was.
Borzoi.
The red-skinned warrior slowly walked toward him with steam still pouring from his body. His remaining arm was stained with blood while several wounds covered him as well, yet compared to Maxwell’s condition, he looked overwhelmingly better.
He stopped a short distance away.
Then looked down.
"...Still alive?"
His voice sounded almost impressed.
Maxwell forced himself upward slightly.
His arms trembled violently from the effort alone.
Borzoi stared at him briefly before snorting.
"You humans from this continent are strange."
He cracked his neck slowly.
"The weaker you are..."
His grin widened.
"...the harder you cling to life."
The next instant—
Boom!
His kick slamd directly into Maxwell’s ribs.
Crack!
Several bones shattered instantly.
Maxwell’s body flew sideways again before tumbling across the dirt.
Blood sprayed from his mouth uncontrollably now.
His ears rang loudly.
His consciousness trembled.
I’m... going to die...
The thought appeared clearly for the first ti.
Not fear.
Not panic.
Just realization.
Borzoi was too strong.
Far too strong.
Maxwell had entered this fight believing he could expose the truth behind the beasts, believing he could stop whoever was responsible.
But now—
He could barely even survive.
Boom!
Another strike landed before he could even recover.
Borzoi’s fist smashed into his stomach, folding his body violently.
Maxwell nearly vomited blood.
Then another punch ca imdiately afterward.
Then another.
Then another.
Every hit carried terrifying force.
Borzoi no longer looked like a warrior fighting carefully.
He looked like a monster beating apart prey.
Maxwell tried retaliating with light magic several tis, but his spells were weaker now, slower, unstable from his injuries and exhaustion.
Borzoi slapped them aside violently.
"You done yet?"
Boom!
Another knee slamd into Maxwell’s chest.
Maxwell crashed into the ground hard.
His body twitched weakly.
His master’s voice echoed urgently inside his mind.
Maxwell!
Stay conscious!
But the words sounded distant now.
Very distant.
Because another thing had begun surfacing instead.
mories.
Old ones.
Painful ones.
Maxwell’s blurry eyes widened faintly as fragnts of the past erged inside his mind one after another.
A massive palace floating in the sky.
Golden towers.
Endless mana rivers flowing through the heavens.
The Mana Dinsion.
His ho.
Or rather—
The place that rejected him.
"You failed again?"
A cold voice echoed through the mory.
Young Maxwell knelt on the floor silently while several figures looked down at him from above. Their clothes radiated brilliance while their bodies overflowed with power far beyond ordinary people.
One of them sneered openly.
"How embarrassing."
Another laughed.
"A direct bloodline descendant who cannot awaken a true Dragon Body properly."
"You sha the family."
"You waste resources."
"You waste talent."
Young Maxwell clenched his fists tightly.
But he lowered his head.
Because he could not deny it.
Among his family—
He was weak.
Hopelessly weak.
Compared to the true geniuses of the higher plane, Maxwell had always lagged behind. No matter how hard he trained, no matter how much effort he gave, there was always soone better, stronger, more talented.
And because of that—
The ridicule never stopped.
"You should be grateful."
An older man spoke coldly while looking down at him from his throne.
"At least we are giving you one final chance."
Young Maxwell slowly raised his head.
"You will descend."
The words echoed heavily.
"To the lower world."
Several people nearby laughed imdiately.
"The lower world?"
"How fitting."
"A trash descendant sent to a trash world."
Young Maxwell’s fists tightened harder.
Humiliation burned inside him.
But the older man continued calmly.
"If you cannot awaken your Dragon Body there..."
His gaze beca colder.
"...then do not return."
Silence followed.
No one defended him.
No one objected.
Not even his own parents.
Maxwell rembered that mont clearly.
The feeling.
The sha.
The helplessness.
The way everyone looked at him like sothing worthless.
Then—
Another mory surfaced.
A group of younger family mbers mocking him openly.
"You’ll probably die there."
"Maybe so beast from the lower world will eat you."
"No."
One girl laughed cruelly.
"He’ll probably get killed by mortals."
More laughter followed.
Maxwell lowered his head silently back then.
But inside—
Sothing had broken.
The mory faded.
Reality returned violently.
Boom!
Borzoi’s fist smashed across Maxwell’s face again.
His body skidded across the dirt weakly.
Blood covered him almost entirely now.
Borzoi walked toward him again.
"You’re stubborn."
He flexed his remaining arm slowly.
"But if this is all you have..."
His red eyes narrowed.
"...then you should’ve stayed ho."
Those words struck Maxwell harder than the punches.
Stayed ho.
Ho.
That place.
Those people.
Their mocking faces resurfaced instantly.
"You sha the family."
"Do not return."
"Trash."
Maxwell’s fingers dug weakly into the dirt.
His body trembled.
Not from fear.
Not from pain.
Anger.
For so long, he had endured everything.
The humiliation.
The mockery.
The rejection.
Even coming to this lower world had been treated like punishnt.
Like exile.
And now—
Even here—
He was being crushed again.
Stepped on again.
Looked down on again.
Sothing inside him began boiling violently.
Borzoi noticed it imdiately.
"...Hm?"
A strange pressure began leaking from Maxwell’s body.
Weak at first.
Then stronger.
Maxwell slowly pushed himself upward.
His entire body trembled heavily now.
Blood dripped continuously from his mouth.
One eye remained swollen shut.
Yet—
He stood.
Borzoi stared at him.
"...You’re still getting up?"
Maxwell’s breathing beca rough.
His glowing aura flickered wildly around him.
Inside his mind—
His master sounded alard.
Stop!
Your body is already reaching its limit!
But Maxwell barely heard him anymore.
Because the humiliation inside him had completely exploded.
"I..."
His voice ca out hoarse.
Weak.
But filled with fury.
"I..."
mories continued flashing inside his head.
The laughter.
The disappointnt.
The contempt.
His body shook harder.
Golden veins spread across his skin.
The dragon shadow behind him roared silently toward the sky.
Then Maxwell slowly raised his head.
His remaining eye glowed fiercely.
"I..."
Mana erupted violently around him.
The ground cracked beneath his feet.
Even Borzoi’s expression changed slightly now.
Maxwell clenched his fists tightly.
"I WILL NOT GO BACK AS A FAILURE!"
Boom!
The aura around him exploded outward wildly.
The dragon shadow behind him expanded drastically.
His master’s voice beca filled with panic.
Maxwell, stop!
You’re forcing the Dragon Blood too far!
But Maxwell no longer cared.
His rage had already consud everything else.
He stared directly at Borzoi.
Then roared with everything he had.
"I WILL BECO A DRAGON!"
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