A white flash swallowed the battlefield, searing the sky and ground alike as the dragon’s roar of agony split through the light.
The severed foreleg, flung itself like a living club and slammed into Yu Xuan. He flew backward end over end, skidding across the churned earth, taste of dust and blood in his mouth.
Before the limb could strike again, Lingluo was already there. She planted both hands on the massive appendage, muscles coiling like springs, and with violence, she spun it into a wide arc.
The limb snapped across the dragon’s face with a wet, echoing smack — the dragon’s own severed limb delivering him a humiliating blow.
[A/N: True Face Slapping...]
For a beat the giant beast staggered, stunned and bleeding. Then, with a terrible sound, it ate the very limb that had assaulted it.
Flesh and scale vanished between its teeth, and its body shivered as regeneration began to crawl along cracked skin. The leg knit itself back as if stitched by miracle — all except for the ruined eye. That wound remained, raw and smoking, a place that refused to heal.
Yu Xuan and Lingluo regrouped. Lingluo flicked a recovery pill into his palm; he swallowed it without fuss, then watched as she popped one of her own.
"Are you alright?" she asked, glancing at the bloody dent in his thigh.
"It’s not much" Yu Xuan said.
Though he felt pain, the injury was not life threatening.
"Its regenerative power is dangerous. It heals too fast."
He studied the dragon while they caught their breath. The beast was slower. The wound at its eye bled; It was wounded, grievously so — but not finished.
"Sister," he said, voice low.
"How many more times can you use that move?" he gestured at her lotus-chaos technique.
Lingluo chewed the corner of her lip and counted on her fingers.
"One more. Maybe. Any more than that and my body will collapse."
Her eyes flashed with stubborn pride.
Yu Xuan met her gaze. He knew that look.
He had felt that hidden gaze in this area and the other party had still not shown itself — so he was saving her move for that.
"There’s something else," he said quietly. Read complete versıon only at 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✦𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚✦𝕟𝕖𝕥
"We may not be done after this. I can use my technique twice more if I strain myself, but I want to save it for whatever is coming next. I felt that stare when we arrived — stronger than this dragon. If it’s still watching, using everything here could leave us vulnerable."
"But I really want to kill this dragon."
"Please this once?" Yu Xuan pleaded with a puppy look.
Lingluo contemplated for a few breaths and then said.
"Fine. I’ll distract it. You finish it."
"You sure?" Yu Xuan pressed.
She puffed out a breath and gave him a half-smile. "Don’t mess it up, junior brother."
She had the thought process that, for the happiness of my junior (???), I will sacrifice my dream.
He rubbed his temples and steadied himself. The dragon was pulling itself upright; the blood sigils at the five nodes pulsed again, faint and insistent.
"Ready?" Yu Xuan asked.
"Always," Lingluo said, voice steady with the reckless joy of a fighter who loved a challenge. Tririri chirped on her head as if it were the smallest, most important spectator in the world.
They separated, circling to different flanks. Yu Xuan went towards the head of the dragon.
"Hey!! Mega house lizard," he shouted, voice echoing across the cracked battlefield.
"Let’s finish this properly."
The taunt worked. The dragon’s slitted eye burned with raw fury. But instead of charging, the beast hurled itself into the sky, its broken wings still managing to form a storm into the air. From its maw came a rising pressure, heat thick enough to make the sky ripple.
A torrent of dragon’s breath cascaded downward, swallowing the battlefield in flames.
"Shit!" Yu Xuan yelled, taking a heavy shield from his space ring. He willed a [Telekinesis] barrier into place, doubling it with the shield. The impact rocked him to his core. The world turned into fire and thunder.
His boots sank into molten soil.
’...Weaker?’ His golden eyes narrowed. The pressure, the heat of the flame — no longer the overwhelming force it had been earlier. The breath burned, but it lacked its full force.
Above, the dragon’s bellow of frustration thundered through their minds.
Ahhh! Damn!!! These restrictions!!!
Yu Xuan’s eyes widened. Restrictions. So it had seals to it’s strength.
’If that’s true... then a prolonged fight works in our favor.’ His thoughts raced.
’The longer this drags on, the weaker it’ll become. It can heal, but it can’t break free of the restrictions yet. If we hold out long enough—’
The seed of a plan took root.
But before he could move, everything shifted.
The five blood pillars flaring at the battlefield’s edge suddenly blazed brighter, their light lancing into the heavens. The ground trembled, carved with widening cracks as rivers of blood surged into the lines beneath their feet.
A wave of crimson energy erupted outward, smothering everything in sight. It wasn’t just light this time — it was a dome of oppressive, choking aura that sealed off the battlefield entirely.
The air itself thickened, the sky distorted, and Yu Xuan’s heart skipped.
Then, like a song carried on wind, came a voice. A voice that didn’t belong here. Melodic, calm, and utterly out of place amid the carnage.
"Oh my~ Your state looks terrible, my pet."
The words slipped into the battlefield like velvet knives.
The dragon, mid-flight, froze. Its massive frame stiffened, wings faltering as though the voice alone carried absolute command. Slowly, unnaturally slowly, it descended, its colossal body dissolving under a thick wave of blood mist.
What stood when the mist cleared was once again the hooded figure’s true form: the red-haired, red-eyed man, his robes in tatters, body covered in wounds that refused to heal cleanly. Blood trickled down his temple, yet his crimson gaze burned with reverence rather than hatred.
The man dropped to one knee, lowering his head toward the castle gates. His voice, unlike before, lacked arrogance, it was humble. Almost worshipful.
From the gates, a silhouette stepped forward.