The Second Dragonoid's Tale

Chapter 49: Cold Comfort For The False Dragon

On the Ice Continent, the top region of the world, Velzard and I engaged in combat. My attacks ripped through the seemingly endless snow-covered land as Velzard dodged everything in a twirl. Treating it all as a dance routine of little interest to her. I half-lied to Erebus when I told him I was going someplace where I would not cause problems. The only person I could think of who might help was my cold-hearted, ancient aunt.

"You were thinking something rude just now," Velzard snapped her fingers. "[Perma Freeze]." The air within a hundred meters around me froze solid in an instant, encasing me in ice. First you insult my pride with this. Now you insult it with your thoughts.

[Ruin Tempest].

"Veldora's skill?" Velzard recognized the attack as the sky turned dark and the forces of the storm shattered the ice surrounding me. "Borrowing skills to borrow time."

"You're goddamn right! [Vual]!"

Velzard noticed it in the beginning, the sub-skills [Necrosis] & [Expiration]. From the start, I was damaging her magic circuits and causing her body to decay. Yet she showed no signs of being affected. In fact, she did not even nullify them, as if saying her body was unbreakable. Therefore, the only other option I could think of was stealing her power.

Through the debris of ice, Velzard's blue eyes pierced through, and her body appeared more mature. Everything slowed down. I processed it for a second. Velzard's nature. Who she is as a force of nature. I didn't even see her next attack. I only felt it go through my [Pain Nullification]. I saw why Veldora grew a fear for her. Whatever bugs her gets removed.

Her frozen fist landed dead-center on me, sending me into a compact block of ice she had created in an instant behind me. The shards that broke off flooded for a moment before shooting at my direction. I tried to absorb it with [Beelzebuth] and recreate the ice attack at her. But nothing reached her. Every attack thrown at her lost momentum and either disappeared or fell to the ground.

"You said you needed help figuring something out," Velzard reminded me, "But I see now why you challenged me. The reaction you've given after every attack- you feel them. The nullifications you should have aren't there. If you had allowed your Harvest Festival to continue, this might have been more stimulating."

"So, it was halting the process that caused this..."

"Obviously," Velzard snapped her fingers, the snowy field seemed to calm, and her appearance became younger. "It reconstructs the body and the mind turns into a Spiritual Lifeform, which is what causes the personality changes. The process for you stopped midway through, meaning every aspect of you is currently in flux." She stared at me fiercely for a moment, "Ignoring that halting the process should not be possible, why did you?"

I thought for a moment and sat down on the ground. "I didn't want to change... When I heard it mention evolution, I guess I was scared. Milim is the only one of her kind in existence... but not just her, I already feel a gap between me and the others. Like Luminous, I can see myself becoming detached and separating myself from others. I know I was the one who told Rimuru not to dwell, to enjoy our time, but... I was angry with Luminous because I saw myself in her to an extent."

"The ideal self versus the real self," Velzard continued. "In theory, all you have to do is try and you'll likely be who you want to be. In reality, that ideal is holding you back. You're questioning who you wish to be, who you are, and who others see you as. Placing the ideal above who you can be. This leaves you feeling frustrated and that leads you to act out. In the end, you're finding aspects that you don't want to admit, denying them, and by denying the truth you not only fail the ideal, but the real is dragged further down. A repeating spiral."