Dragon King: Throne of Demons and Gods-Chapter 81: Storm’s Peak

A purple explosion rippled outward.

The air shook.

Bel’s aura detonated, turning into a permanent blast of energy that bent the floating stones around him and carved cracks into the jagged ground beneath.

Obsidian scales covered his arms, shoulders, and back. His white hair grew longer, wilder, whipping in the wind like the mane of a beast. Sharp black claws extended from his fingers.

And for the first time, a new feature: two twisted horns curled from his forehead.

His breathing slowed.

A pulse ran through him, from spine to skull.

"Huh..." he muttered, flexing his fingers. "This form... it feels strangely satisfying."

Above him, the bird shrieked.

Lightning danced across its feathers.

Bel smirked, eyes glowing beneath white strands.

"Now... let’s see what it takes to eat your heart."

[Abyssal Pressure - Active]

A wave of energy spread from his body, turning the air red and heavy.

High above, the lightning bird faltered.

Its wings twitched, its descent slowed. Even the wind seemed to resist its movement.

Bel didn’t waste a second.

He pushed forward, stomping the ground. The rock cracked and launched him into the air like a cannon shot.

The bird shrieked and twisted, becoming a streak of lightning in the sky, vanishing instantly, then reappeared behind him with a scream.

Bel twisted his body mid-air, barely parrying the sharp claws with the flat of his blade.

CRASH!

The blow launched him downward, smashing through a jagged rock ledge.

He hit the ground hard but rolled back to his feet, cracked stone raining behind him.

"Fast," he muttered, grinning. "That’s good."

The bird shrieked again and spread its wings wide.

Lightning surged from the black clouds above, gathering in a dense ball over its head.

A second later, the bolt split into hundreds.

A rain of lightning bolts shot toward Bel. They fell at true lightning speed, hundreds of them, blazing across the sky in blinding arcs of white and blue.

Bel felt them coming. Even more... he saw them.

In milliseconds, his perception flared. He moved by reflex, eyes glowing.

[Eternal Ice]

His aura burst outward—cold and sharp, ready to cover the sky in frost.

But the lightning was faster.

Before the ice could expand, the first bolt struck.

CRACK!

Then another.

And another.

The air flashed. The ground lit up like day.

The bolts slammed into Bel, entire body. The sky screamed. The ground split beneath him.

A shockwave of lightning exploded outward, ripping the nearby rocks into shards.

He remembered the burning feeling of pain he got used to miss.

He roared, a sharp, draconic bellow that echoed through the dungeon.

And then... He moved again.

Through the pain, the sparks and smoke, Bel pushed forward. The moment the lightning stopped, he launched himself into the air.

Crackles crossing his scales, eyes burning with anger, yet with a wild smile, he aimed for the sky.

With every second, more heat poured from his body. Flames burst beneath around him as he leapt, swinging the abyssal blade upward.

The fire followed.

A wave of blue flame rushed toward the bird.

But the creature twisted again, faster than thought.

Its body became lightning.

It zipped to the side and reformed behind Bel before he even ended his swing.

SLASH!

A bolt of pain tore down Bel’s back.

He roared and spun with a clawed strike.

Too slow again.

The bird vanished once more.

Bel hit the ground, trying to scratch his back. He was still in one piece without a single injury, only lightning crackling around him and a growing rage building inside him.

"Could you just take one hit so I see how squishy you are?" he growled.

He raised his blade again, this time slashing horizontally.

A line of flame carved through the battlefield... but hit nothing.

The sky above flickered, dark clouds gathering like a whirlpool of storms.

The bird circled high above, its feathers dancing with arcs of blue and white lightning.

Below, the battlefield was chaos. Fire and lightning had fused the terrain into a steaming wasteland of glowing cracks and scorched rock.

Bel stood in the center.

[HP: 5,580 / 5,700]

[MP: 5,620 / 6,120]

[Stamina: 4,450 / 5,000]

Barely scratched.

Steam curled off his body, and though the pain of the earlier strikes still rang through his nerves, it was distant now, muted beneath the growing excitation burning with his rage.

In reaction, a grin broke across his face.

"Alright... Time to go wilder."

His aura burst outward, igniting into a dome of yellow and blue flame.

[Burning Soul - Active]

He surged forward.

Flame trailed behind him like the tail of a comet. He swung his Abyssal Ember Blade, waves of fire chasing his strike, the air around him warping from the heat.

The bird shrieked, darting sideways in a flash of lightning.

Bel didn’t stop.

He twisted midair and sent a crescent of fire flying upward. It carved through the sky, only for the bird to blink away again.

CRACK!

A bolt of lightning lanced downward. Bel raised his sword, crossing both blades just in time to block.

Sparks rained, and the ground beneath him cracked open. But he stood tall.

Then he vanished, jumping toward the floating rocks, hopping between platforms, trying to close distance.

Another bolt. Another dodge. Then another.

He spun and slashed again, a trail of fire spread through the sky.

The bird barely dodged, lightning trailing its feathers, then struck back.

A full-body dive, cloaked in electricity.

It slammed into Bel with a crash of thunder. Sparks exploded. The force sent him flying backward, smashing into a wall of blackened stone.

Bel grunted, but didn’t fall.

His eyes flared. Fire erupted at his feet.

He pushed off the wall, flipping into the air.

He launched an explosion of flame upward, arcing toward the bird.

The bird twisted again, but this time, it clipped its wing.

It shrieked.

Bel smirked.

Finally... If only it was the abyssal fire.

He dashed forward, blade spinning. A flurry of strikes, flame swirling like serpents.

But the bird regained its momentum and vanished again in a bolt.

Bel skidded across the ground.

"So damn fast..."

The bird ascended.

It hovered in place, wings spread wide.

The clouds above churned, lightning gathered, the wind howling.

Bel looked up and narrowed his eyes.

"Oh..."

The clouds spiraled into a vortex.

Lightning condensed, focused into a single point around the bird. The creature’s feathers glowed.

Bel’s eyes widened.

"Da..."

But it was already too late.

All the lightning in the sky had condensed into a single giant pillar of lightning, wide as a tower, crashing from the sky.

BOOOOOOM!

The world went white.

The impact struck the battlefield with terrifying force, followed by a thunderclap louder than anything before.

The ground ruptured in all directions, completely obliterated.

Huge chasms tore through the rocky terrain, the very base of the mountain trembled.

Floating stones hovering nearby exploded, turning into burning fragments and glowing dust that rained down in waves.

A dome of pure shockwave expanded outward, tearing apart everything it touched, trees, rocks, skeletons, reduced to flying ash.

A crater formed in the center, wide and deep, glowing with cracks.

Lightning continued to dance across the walls of the pit, etching arcs of burning white into the stone.

The edges were blackened, steaming, hissing with evaporating moisture.

For a long moment, there was only silence.

High above, the bird flapped once, gliding over the destruction.

Silence.

It watched, waited. Then...

crunch...

A stone shifted near the center of the crater.

Then another.

Blue light spilled out between cracks.

BOOM!

Fire erupted.

A swirling vortex of blue flame exploded from the broken rocks, spinning higher and higher.

In the center, a figure stood, surrounded by spiraling inferno.

Bel.

But he was laughing.

A low, eerie sound echoed through the destruction.

He stepped forward.

Smoke curled off his scales, but his eyes burned like stars.

"Amazing..."

He raised his empty hand, system light shimmered around it.

[Inventory: Frost Fang Blade]

His second blade appeared, the cold mist rolling off its edge.

Now, in one hand, blue fire. In the other, frozen death.

Bel smiled.

He chuckled, shoulders shaking with giddy excitement.

"Hah... you really are... Fascinating ?"

His breath came out shaky, not from fear, but from barely-contained exhilaration.

"You’re strong... Very strong... So strong."

His eyes gleamed.

"Stronger than the wolf, stronger than a goblin... Stronger than anything I’ve faced before... When I devour you... This power will be amazing."

He grinned, and raised both swords.

The wind curled around him.

Lightning above, fire and ice below.

His voice rumbled.

"Keep entertaining me... I want to see how far your death will get me."

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