Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System
Chapter 132: Bastion of Humanity, Part Two

In that barren landscape on the outskirts of the base, there was nowhere to run or hide, not that running would do any good at that range, nonetheless–

Each of the special soldiers found death quickly approaching as the beast swept its hand towards them–CLANG.

"Huh–?" Zack stammered out.

Somehow, the gigantic reptile's sword-like claws were stopped before bisecting the soldiers' bodies. Even more confusing was the fact that it was via the appearance of another person; a soldier in a black, skin tight uniform of a unique structure.

"You're…" Zack recognized.

The tall, built man of silver hair calmly spoke while holding the beast's hand back with his blade, "Return to the beast, immediately."

["Sleuth Status"]

[...Assessing information about [Jotham]...]

[Name: Jotham]

[Age: 25]

[Designated Class: Slayer]

[Level: 50]

"But–" Ralph attempted to interject.

Before any protest could come, Jotham rejected the colossus' hand with a push of his thin, long sword, causing the beast to recoil despite the disparity in size.

"Go," Jotham ordered.

Zack understood better than to ignore the command of the timely savior, nodding his head as he grabbed the collars of his comrades' uniforms, "Let's go–!"

"Wha–!" Ralph reacted to practically being dragged away.

"Hey!--" Brandon protested.

As the soldiers practically jumped into the vehicle to drive away, none of them could look away even as the truck began to pull away at the clash between man versus dragon.

Despite the overwhelming difference in size, with the man of silver hair being no more than an insect in the scope of the beast, it was the scaled calamity that steadily watched him with its guard raised.

Wielded in Jotham's right hand was a blade longer than his body, though thinner than his arm. It looked incapable of cutting paper, yet as the beast swept its arm at the man once more, the slayer responded in kind.

A single motion was made with calmness and little haste; only focus and sheer finesse. In the battle between the platinum scales and the slim blade, the sword won–

The reptile left out a roar of pain as its hand was amputated, flung away as if chopped off with monstrous force, yet the man only moved with gentle grace. A fountain of blood sprayed from the lost appendage, leaving in such abundance that a crimson rain poured down on the gravel.

As the drake writhed in pain, a bright-blue glow rose from its abdomen to its throat, exuding from its maw as it roared at the man with an expulsion of sapphire flames.

Not a single step was taken by the calm man, not closer to the beast nor away from the flood of fire, allowing himself to be engulfed in the sublime heat.

From the moving vehicle, those that watched were left with a sinking feeling at the sight–

Ralph clutched the seat while peering out of the window, gasping out, "Shit, shit, shit–!"

"We have to go back!" Brandon urged, slapping the back of the driver's seat.

"Are you crazy?!" Zack shouted, barely managing to steer the vehicle as it hit every bump in the uneven ground, it felt like. "We'll just be food for that damn thing, too!"

"We can't leave a soldier behind!--" Brandon protested.

"If you want to charge to your grave, go ahead!" Zack yelled.

Amidst the clash of what to do, it was Ralph that interrupted them while the men were distracted, "Err, guys…look. Look!"

As the sapphire flames behind them dispersed, what should've been ash, or at the very least, a charred figure, was the silver-haired man left completely unburnt. It surpassed all logic, even seeming to leave the beast itself perplexed as the pale man didn't even exude a droplet of sweat.

[//Confirmation of draconic cells successfully utilized by the subject. Without altering the form, the subject's skin possesses the same properties of dragon scales–an absolute resistance to heat.//]

"I've confirmed that, at least," Jotham remarked to himself with almost a disconnected tone, hardly focusing on the mountainous beast before him. "Enough wasting time. I'll handle this, Doctor."

The now one-handed beast spread its wings, rising to its hind legs as to make itself larger, more imposing against the man that was already minuscule in scale to its own form. A parade came from the pebbles of the barren landscape at the calls of the drake, its thunderous murmurs sending tremors through the ground.

Jotham simply raised his sword, pointing the end towards the sky as he uttered a single word while the beast imposed itself: "Sigurd."

[Mythos System Activated.]

Your source is m-vl|em|p,yr

[Aspect of the Dragonslayer summoned.]

The air around Jotham swirled with a verdant force, extending the length of his blade with an emerald light until it pierced the clouds above. A sword befit for slaying beasts of catastrophic scale, brought down with impunity as his sapphire irises honed with complete focus on the threat ahead.

It was a sight to behold from afar; that luminosity that contested the overcast of despair. The shining edge carved through the clouds, befalling the beast as its scales were reprimanded by the light.

"--Fffuu," Jotham exhaled through parted lips, bringing his blade at his side as the emerald radiance dispersed like ligules to a breath.

The clouds that loomed over the base were left split; a wound left in the world's crust as the beast that once stood so mightily was left in two. After committing such a swing, the man's physique had swelled to almost twice its mass in muscle before deflating naturally.

[//Confirmation of ogre cells successfully utilized by the subject. The genetically altered muscle structure of the subject has allowed for spontaneous growth-and-deflation moment-to-moment. Usage briefly has brought no visible tear to the specimen's body, all vitals are perfect.//]

A quiet breath was expelled from Jotham's lips, dismissing his blade as there was no longer any need for it.

Jotham pressed the communication device in his ear, "Target has been eliminated. The squadron on patrol is returning safely. Mission trial success."

["In humanity's darkest hour, the greatest of mankind was born. A glimmer of light in a world engulfed in shadow."]