Terragor quickly fueled more blood essence into his defenses. Stone walls grew in layered rings around him, rattling under the strain of his will. He coughed, lips flecked with blood as the cost of pushing his body to its limits.
Fenix then unleashed the fiery sphere. The onrushing torrent shattered Terragor's barricade, melting away stone in a storm of blistering heat. For a breathless instant, Fenix thought it was finished.
A second later, Terragor's roar tore through the chaos. He stumbled out of the flames, gauntlets disintegrating, his skin raw and burned.
Yet the anger in his eyes had not dimmed. Summoning another quake, he split the ground in a jagged line, propelling shards of rock like miniature spears aimed at Fenix.
One of Fenix's flaming wings swept down, creating a makeshift shield that vaporized most of the shards.
A handful still grazed him, slicing shallow lines that sizzled on contact with his aura. They healed almost instantly, thanks to the ongoing regeneration of [Infernal Ascendance.]
Terragor coughed, his crimson aura flickering like a fading ember. Each breath was more labored than the last, yet fury and grief kept him upright. He refused to surrender until he had nothing left to give.
"Not... done... yet," he rasped, scraping together every last ounce of earth energy. The ground convulsed, forming a massive rock golem that towered above him. Its vacant eyes flickered dully, and it lumbered toward Fenix, each step shaking the battlefield.
Fenix's wings flared brighter at this new challenge. The golem raised a colossal arm, swatting aside nearby debris. In response, Fenix summoned another surge of flames, his entire form glowing like molten metal. Then he dove straight toward the behemoth.
The collision of fire and earth was deafening. The golem swung a massive fist, but Fenix deftly weaved around the blow, carving glowing slices across its stony frame.
Each slash left blazing rifts etched in the rock. Terragor's depleted stamina made the golem's movements clumsy, giving Fenix more openings than the creation could defend.
Noticing a vulnerable crack in the golem's chest, Fenix poured every bit of his fiery might into his swords. With a savage thrust, he drove them into the creature's core, unleashing a focused inferno at point-blank range.
Boom!
The resulting explosion tore the golem apart, hot rubble raining across the battlefield.
Without its heart, the golem collapsed into a heap of stone and dust. Terragor dropped to one knee, wheezing for air. His stone gauntlets had disintegrated, and the once-violent tremors beneath him subsided.
Fenix descended, folding his wings. Terragor looked up, eyes exhausted yet still brimming with defiance. With the last shred of his power, Terragor conjured a thin stone spear. Trembling, he threw it at Fenix.
A single swipe of Fenix's sword reduced it to useless shards. Terragor's vision blurred. He gasped one final time before collapsing, knees meeting the broken earth. Still, he directed a glare at Fenix and spat his final words "I hope you'll die in a horrible death" in a voice barely above a whisper.
Fenix's expression stayed expressionless as he thought that there was no room for mercy here, only the cold necessity of survival.
Flames danced along his sword as he raised it high. Terragor shut his eyes, too weak to resist, and Fenix brought the blade down in a swift, final stroke. Steam rose where blood met scorching soil.
The battlefield fell silent. Whatever energy had ripped it was gone. Fenix wrenched his blade free, his flaming wings dimming from a fierce blaze into a faint glow before fading away completely.
He scanned the battlefield and saw Falmon's body lay on one side, Terragor's on the other. The heat shimmered above the ground, though the roars of combat had dissipated.
Soreness gnawed at Fenix's limbs—Infernal Ascendance had healed him, but it also exhausted him. The muscles of his back ached, reminding him of the scorching wings he had just manifested.
"That was a decent fight." Fenix chuckled as he glanced at Cain, who nodded in approval with his performance so far.
Cain then stared at Draven's party as if waiting for their next move.
However, as his gaze just met Draven's solemn expression, Cain raised his eyebrows as he was surprised to hear the notifications that he had been anticipating ever since Fenix killed his first opponent.
[Ding! Fenix has killed three Peak-level Conqueror Rank Awakeners]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 34 billion Evolution Points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 18,400 Gacha Points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 3 High-level Summon Pools]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 8 Random-level Summon Pools]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 4 High-level Lottery Pools]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 11 Random-level Lottery Pools]
When Cain checked the rewards, he was overjoyed since he thought of what kind of reward he would get after killing them all.
Cain licked his lips unknowingly as he couldn't wait to receive all the rewards later.
Naturally, Cain's expression was seen by Lucan and the others as they suddenly had a bad hunch when he saw it.
Meanwhile, Garran studied Fenix, who still stood strong after his victory. Turning to Butler Zen, Garran lifted an eyebrow and asked, "So, what do you think of his strength?"
"Hmm?" Butler Zen replied, glancing over. He had been observing Fenix's fight while also keeping an eye on Lucan's protector.
With a calm smile, he said, "I never expected to see someone possessing the Phoenix's bloodline. His power is truly impressive—worthy of a hidden family's protector."
"As I thought." Garran nodded his head as he also guessed about this after Fenix used his [Infernal Ascendance] talent.
He paused, then asked, "By the way, how does his strength compare to yours?"
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Butler Zen was surprised when Garran suddenly asked this question out of nowhere.
Caught off guard by the sudden question, Butler Zen hesitated before returning his focus to Fenix with a slight frown. "It's hard to say. If we were to fight to the death, I'd probably only have a fifty-percent chance of winning—assuming he's already shown us his full power," he explained.
Deepening his frown, he added, "And if he's hiding more trump cards, my odds would be even lower."