Blade of the Goddess
Chapter 81 - Inside the Fracture Part 3

Chapter 81: Chapter 81 - Inside the Fracture Part 3

Zion pushed himself onto his feet, eyes locked on the wyrm. He raised his hand, unleashing a searing beam of light that tore through its neck. In a flash, he leaped into the air, a plasma sword igniting in his grip. He drove the blade into the wound and let gravity pull him down, carving a molten trail through scales and flesh as he descended.

The creature roared and screeched at the top of its lungs, its defining bellows ringing the ears of everyone around. Blood gushed from the wound, flowing down its neck like lava, but it wasn’t fast enough to reach Zion.

Zion leapt off, soaring toward the wyrm’s tail. With one swift, precise strike, he severed it cleanly. Without wasting a moment, he looped around and dove beneath its massive belly, slashing through its three remaining legs in a blur of motion, barely slipping free before the collapsing beast came crashing down.

Two hook blades shimmered into existence in Zion’s hands. He hurled them into the back of the wyrm’s skull, then launched himself into the air. Landing behind the beast, he yanked the chains taut, dragging its head backward and prying its jaws open as its neck arched under the strain.

"Luna!" He shouted

Already in sync with him, she channeled her energy into her staff, mana crackling and flaring with raw power. With a single, precise strike aimed into the wyrm’s gaping maw, she unleashed a colossal beam of mana that tore through its skull, ending the beast in one devastating blow.

"Nice work." Zion patted her shoulder

"You could have handled that yourself." She spoke without caring about their victory

"Sure, but this is a team battle, not a solo one." He reminded her.

She nodded, then turned around to check up on the others.

"Y’all okay?" Zion asked, kneeling down to heal the wounds.

Lars and Kaitlin’s entire upper bodies were badly burned. There were burn patches in their hair, blistering skin, Lar’s arm was almost melted off, and Kaitlin had accidentally breathed in the wyrm’s blood, which entered her lungs.

Thankfully, Luna had put them on ice to stop their body from being damaged any further, allowing for Zion to heal them completely as if they weren’t harmed in the first place.

"I’m okay now, thanks." Lars nodded

Kaitlin looked down as if she was sad about something. "I let my guard down. I’m ashamed. You even warned us of its blood."

"Don’t beat yourself up over it. Here, drink this." For extra precaution, Zion gave them both a healing potion to drink.

He also healed and gave a healing potion to Eliza, who thanked him even though she wasn’t fond of him.

"Why doesn’t Eliza like you?" Luna asked, pulling Zion to the side.

"She and Lidia were best friends, and Lidia was engaged to her older brother. Her brother tried to make Lidia do something she didn’t want, and I happened to be there and stopped it. After that, Lidia told her dad, who then called off the engagement, and Lidia and I got engaged after. Eliza blamed me for that happening, and their friendship soured. This was also around the time when you didn’t accept the engagement between us, ha."

"I see. She is stupid for having hatred against you."

"I know, right? I’m so awesome."

"That’s not what I mean." Luna tried to correct him

"No, no, it’s okay, I know I’m awesome."

"Is that it?" Lars asked as he got up.

Kaitlin looked at him. "What do you mean?"

"We defeated a wyrm, so this should be over. But I don’t feel like it should be. I don’t know about you all, but I want to fight more, grow stronger, and be better. I couldn’t help because of my carelessness, but that won’t happen again."

"I agree, but where are we going to find another Wyrm? We can’t stay in here forever,r you know?"

Just then, an alert went off in Zion’s ear. He checked his holo map and saw an even bigger red dot coming their way.

"It seems you got your wish because something is headed our way." He said, preparing himself.

"What are you-"

A massive earthquake shook the area, forcing everyone into the sky. Lars and Kaitlin couldntly fly, so Zion held them up with his own mana.

Coming from the ground was a giant talon clawing through the rock and lava. Surfacing onto the ground was a wyrm even more massive than the last, searching for whoever caused the commotion.

"Do you guys see the size of that thing?!" Lars asked

"Tsk, you had to go around asking if we could fight more! I could barely hold the last one in place, and now you’re expecting me to fight this monster?" Eliza complained

"You’re going to be fighting against dragons, and they are more powerful than wyrms. Stop bitching." Kaitlin demanded.

After assessing the situation, they all flew back down and prepared for battle.

The first to move was Lars, his sword glowing with a blue mana haze. He dashed across the blackened rock, feet barely touching the ground, aiming for the Wyrm’s neck. Beside him, Kaitlin followed, her blade crackling with fire. They struck in tandem—Lar’s swing carving through scales, Kaitlin’s blade flashing between gaps.

A burst of heat forced them back, and the Wyrm twisted violently. Flames licked the air as it spewed lava in an arc. Luna raised a shield of water magic, the hiss of steam deafening as it held the eruption at bay. Eliza stood behind her, murmuring a spell—sapphire runes circling her wrists.

Then came the strike.

A barrage of arcane mana in for form of crystals slammed into the Wyrm’s underbelly, destroying chunks of its molten armor. It howled, thrashing wildly—only to find Zion already beneath it. His plasma blade engulfed with wind mana, and with a single upward slash, he sent a gale-force arc through the softened belly, combined with plasma that ate away at its flesh.

The Wyrm screeched, collapsing onto its side, flailing. Kaitlin climbed its writhing spine with a grunt, jamming her sword between scales, one after the other, until Lars leapt high and brought his sword down into its skull—his mana exploding on impact.

The Wyrm, in a final act of desperation, reared back to unleash a torrent of molten spit—but before it could strike, Lars hung suspended near its neck, bracing himself. In that instant, Zion surged forward, his mana flaring. With a focused pulse of energy, he clenched the creature’s throat from within. The Wyrm convulsed violently—its neck swelling, veins glowing red—until, with a sickening crack and a burst of heat, it ruptured in a spray of steam and flame.

Silence returned, broken only by the bubbling lava and the team’s heavy breathing. Ash fell like snow, but they stood victorious.

"Let’s goooo!!!!" Lars shouted with triumph.

"We did it." Kaitlin smiled

"Phew, I don’t want to do that again!" Eliza sat down, tired from the battle.

"We could do better." Luna thought

Zion shook his head at Luna. "We worked as a team, properly this time. And we defeated our opponent. That was the main takeaway from this."

"Zion’s right. The main point of this exercise was not only to prepare you for a battle against dragons, but also to have you five work as a team, which you finally have." Negan said proudly as he revealed himself.

"So we can go back now, right?" Eliza asked.

"Of course. Just make sure to be here tomorrow. We’ll do this every day for the next month until the tournament starts." Negan smiled