Galeno walked calmly through a legion of void creatures, showing no signs of apprehension or the will to fight. Void creatures fell in waves around him, unable to withstand his heavy presence. Even the evolved void creatures, the humanoids, and the void beasts couldn’t stay a second longer around him. They died before they even knew what was happening.

In another part of the area, a similar thing was happening, but with this one, the void creatures were being killed by a very potent poison. The place had even become a domain of poison, so potent that the atmosphere and climate in the place went through abrupt changes.

The source of this was a pale-skinned, insanely thin, 8-feet-tall man, with a bald head, four short dark green curved horns, dark red eyes, a long draconic tail, and four tattered wings folded on his back. He was one of the dragon rulers, the Poison Ruler, Thalgar.

The poisoned wasteland stretched for hundreds of kilometers.

Nothing natural remained alive there.

Forests had melted into black sludge. Rivers hissed and bubbled with acidic vapor. The very clouds above had turned greenish-black, dripping toxic rain that dissolved mountainsides into steaming ruin. At the center of it, Thalgar floated silently.

His long claws twitched slightly as countless streams of venom spiraled around him like living serpents. Every breath he exhaled corrupted the atmosphere further. The poison wasn’t merely chemical anymore.

It was conceptual. Decay, corrosion, and collapse. Even mana dissolved around him. A normal Saint Realm being would die simply by existing within several kilometers of him. And yet, Galeno walked forward calmly.

The earth stabilized beneath his feet each time he moved. The poison touching him simply... ceased to exist, as if it just lost permission to continue. Thalgar’s red eyes narrowed slightly.

"You are irritating."

Galeno adjusted his spectacles calmly.

"You’ve repeated that six times already."

The poison dragon’s aura flared violently. Millions of toxic particles erupted outward. The entire domain screamed. The skies darkened further as gigantic dragon-shaped manifestations formed from venomous storms overhead. Each one radiated enough poison to wipe out entire civilizations.

Galeno finally stopped walking, not because he was threatened, but because he seemed mildly inconvenienced.

"You know," he said thoughtfully, "I expected more from a dragon ruler."

Thalgar’s eyes twitched. The poison dragons above opened their jaws simultaneously and fired. The world vanished beneath emerald annihilation. The poison beams descended like divine judgment, erasing everything in their path. Space warped. Reality corroded. Entire layers of the atmosphere dissolved instantly.

The blast consumed Galeno completely. For a moment, there was silence. Then a hand emerged from the poison perfectly unharmed. Galeno walked out of the attack while lightly dusting off his shoulder.

"Hmm."

Thalgar froze. The poison dragon’s pupils constricted sharply.

"That attack," Galeno continued casually, "would probably kill most third ascension Saints."

He looked up slightly.

"But unfortunately..."

A heavy pressure descended.

"I am not most Saints."

BOOM!

The poison domain shattered, not metaphorically. It physically broke apart like glass. The toxic clouds exploded outward. The venom rivers evaporated. The poison laws governing the region collapsed instantly beneath Galeno’s aura. Thalgar staggered backward in disbelief.

"What—"

Galeno disappeared. Thalgar’s instincts screamed. He twisted violently, but a fist already met his stomach. The impact folded space. Thalgar’s body bent unnaturally as shockwaves erupted through his back, vaporizing mountains dozens of kilometers behind him.

His eyes widened. Blood exploded from his mouth. Then Galeno grabbed his face and slammed him downward.

BOOOOOOM!!!

The continent cracked.

Entire fault lines split open beneath the impact as Thalgar disappeared into the earth. Molten magma erupted skyward from the force alone. Galeno floated above calmly, his expression unchanged.

Thalgar roared. The ground exploded.

Gigantic poisonous roots burst upward like spears, each one dripping corrosive venom capable of melting divine steel. Galeno sighed. A tortoise-shaped projection appeared briefly behind him.

The roots shattered on contact. Thalgar shot upward from the crater with feral rage twisting his face. His body expanded rapidly. His bones cracked. Scales erupted across his flesh. His wings split into multiple layers. His jaw elongated into something monstrous. Poison flooded from every pore as he transformed into his true draconic form. A gigantic skeletal dragon covered in rotting emerald scales emerged fully into the sky.

Its mere existence poisoned gravity itself. The clouds died around it. Its roar caused entire regions to decay instantly.

Finally, Galeno looked slightly interested.

"Oh."

Thalgar opened his massive jaws. A sphere of poison condensed there. But this wasn’t ordinary poison. It was annihilation through decomposition. Everything touched by it would rot.

The sphere grew larger and larger until it rivaled a city in size. The skies trembled violently from the pressure. Even distant void creatures began dying from residual exposure. Thalgar’s voice thundered across the battlefield.

"DIE!"

The poison sphere descended. Slowly at first, then instantly. Reality peeled away in its wake. Galeno stared at it silently. Then raised one hand and slapped it. 𝐟𝚛𝕖𝚎𝕨𝗲𝐛𝚗𝐨𝐯𝐞𝕝.𝐜𝗼𝗺

SMACK!

Silence. The gigantic poison sphere changed direction instantly, like a toy carelessly batted aside. It flew sideways, crossed the horizon, and detonated somewhere far beyond the visible world. A green sun erupted in the distance. Several mountain ranges vanished. The aftershock arrived seconds later.

Galeno lowered his hand and looked at Thalgar. Disappointment filled his face.

"You are so boring."

The words hit harder than any attack. Thalgar roared in fury. His poison exploded outward uncontrollably as he charged like a mad beast. Galeno sighed again and moved.

There were no flashy techniques, no dramatic attack. He simply appeared before the gigantic dragon and punched upward.

CRACK!

The sound echoed unnaturally. Thalgar froze. A massive crater had formed in his chest. Then, the damage spread. Cracks raced across his entire body. His poison destabilized, and his aura collapsed. Galeno grabbed the dragon by the throat before he could fall.

The size difference was absurd, and yet, the gigantic dragon couldn’t resist at all. Galeno’s golden eyes glowed faintly.

"You dragons rely too much on power."

The tortoise shell on his back shimmered softly.

"Weight."

The world suddenly became heavier. Thalgar’s eyes widened in horror. He felt it instantly. Not physical weight, but existence. Galeno’s presence pressed down on him like an entire reality. His bones shattered, his organs collapsed, even his poison stopped functioning properly. The dragon ruler screamed. Galeno looked almost apologetic.

"Your foundation is too light."

He squeezed and Thalgar exploded, reduced to raining fragments of poisoned flesh and shattered emerald scales.

The storm clouds dispersed, the toxic wasteland stabilized slowly, and Galeno adjusted his spectacles once more.

"Now then," he muttered calmly, already turning away.

"Where’s the next one?"