Chapter 597

Boom!

The air burst apart.

It was a phenomenon caused by Arisedon breaking the sound barrier with his speed.

Even as they passed through the wall of sound, it had no effect on Zeon.

Because Arisedon’s authority was protecting him.

Crackle!

Sparks flew from Arisedon’s horns, and a pure white lightning bolt shot toward Reikas.

Boom!

The lightning struck Reikas directly.

As if hit by a massive club, Reikas was blown back dozens of meters.

The lightning itself didn’t deal much damage to him. But it was enough to draw out his irritation and anger.

“How dare you!”

In that instant, beams of light fell once more from the sky.

He had unleashed his favored spell—Shining Laser.

Dozens of beams poured down, sealing off every direction Arisedon could evade.

Earlier, Arisedon’s scales had been shattered by that very Shining Laser.

But the Arisedon now was different from before.

Having evolved into a dragon, Arisedon possessed defense and authority incomparable to when he was an Imugi.

Ting, ting, ting!

The Shining Lasers struck Arisedon’s golden scales and ricocheted in all directions.

A dragon’s scales themselves possessed strength and defense surpassing any armor.

Not only that, Arisedon completely protected Zeon on his head from the Shining Lasers with his authority.

Because of that, Zeon could focus solely on offense without worrying about defense.

A torrential downpour was raging.

It was due to Arisedon’s authority.

In such conditions, Zeon’s sand would normally lose much of its power.

Moving sand soaked with water required several times more control.

The old Zeon would have refrained from using sand-based attacks in such a situation.

But the Zeon now was not the same as before.

Just as Arisedon had evolved from an Imugi into a dragon, he too had broken past his limits and grown stronger.

Kwoooaaah!

Within the downpour, a sandstorm rose.

The waterlogged sand had several times greater mass.

That meant its destructive power had increased as well.

The massive sandstorm struck Reikas.

“Keuk!”

At the different level of power, a suppressed groan escaped Reikas’s lips.

His face was clearly filled with shock.

Boom!

At that moment, Arisedon’s head slammed into his body.

Reikas’s massive form was sent flying back once more.

In that instant, Zeon summoned Sand Soldiers.

Dozens of Sand Soldiers appeared atop Arisedon’s back.

Strengthened with rock, the Sand Soldiers maintained their form even under the pouring rain.

Papap!

The Sand Soldiers kicked off Arisedon’s back and flew toward Reikas.

Dozens of them clung to Reikas and attacked.

Boom! Boom!

With chilling impact sounds, Reikas’s body shook violently.

Zeon unleashed another skill toward him.

“Diamond Spear.”

In an instant, high heat and pressure were applied to the rain-soaked sand.

The sand melted like lava, then gathered again into the form of spears.

They were reborn as spears with the immense hardness of diamonds.

Dozens of diamond spears, each as large as a human, shot toward Reikas.

And Arisedon’s authority was added to them.

The power of lightning was imbued into the diamond spears.

“Damn it!”

Reikas sensed that something was wrong.

He tried to change direction midair to evade the diamond spears. But he couldn’t, because of the Sand Soldiers clinging to him like leeches.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

With explosive roars, the diamond spears struck Reikas one after another.

The Sand Soldiers attached to him exploded.

The exploded sand slashed across Reikas’s body like the claws of a beast.

After the storm passed, Reikas’s condition was miserable.

The armor made from the skull of the three-eyed blood leopard was shattered, and large wounds had appeared all over his body.

Fury rose in Reikas’s eyes.

“How dare you!”

The wounds themselves weren’t the problem.

The real issue was the blow to his pride.

Even though he had polymorphed into a human, he couldn’t believe he had suffered such injuries.

Flash!

At that moment, lightning struck Reikas once again.

Arisedon had unleashed his authority again.

Boom!

Struck by lightning, Reikas plummeted toward the ground. Dozens of diamond spears followed after him.

Boom boom boom!

The cluster of diamond spears struck him directly.

Without even letting out a scream, Reikas slammed into the ground.

A hole so deep its end couldn’t be seen formed in the sand where he crashed. Zeon spoke to Arisedon.

“It’s not over yet.”

—I know.

With that reply, Arisedon began descending at terrifying speed.

They intended to finish it while they had the advantage.

Shaaak!

The air tore apart as the ground rapidly approached.

Arisedon’s Yeouiju began to shine.

He was about to use his authority once more.

At that moment—

Kwoooaaah!

The desert exploded, and something massive burst out, colliding head-on with the descending Arisedon.

—Kugh!

With a stifled groan, Arisedon was thrown backward.

The object that had burst from the sand possessed overwhelming size and mass—enough to send the 200-meter-long Arisedon flying.

The being that had knocked Arisedon away was a gigantic dragon.

A dragon of enormous size rivaling Arisedon—

It was Reikas.

“Did he… polymorph into his true form?”

Even at the same size, there was a difference in mass. That was why Arisedon had been pushed back.

—I will not forgive you.

As Reikas roared and opened his jaws wide, a gray breath poured out like a waterfall.

It was a breath mixed with fire, corrosion, poison, and lightning.

True to the name Chaos Dragon, his breath itself was pure chaos.

Boom!

Struck by Reikas’s breath, Arisedon was blown backward.

If it had been the old Arisedon, he would have been severely injured, but now as a dragon, he endured the breath. Still, the shock left him dazed, and he shook his head.

Reikas charged at him at full speed.

Just like before, he intended to use his massive body for a crushing attack.

But Zeon did not allow Arisedon to take the hit.

Zeon stretched out his hand into the air.

In that instant, an enormous sand pillar rose from the desert.

Larger than Arisedon, the pillar descended from high in the sky toward Reikas.

At its immense speed, Reikas couldn’t dodge and was struck.

Boom!

With a thunderous crash, Reikas staggered.

This time, the massive impact left even him dazed. But true to a dragon with incredible defense, he did not suffer critical damage.

Like Arisedon, he would recover quickly if given a bit of time.

Zeon hadn’t expected this attack to seriously injure Reikas.

He had another move in mind.

“Diamond Spear!”

Fwoosh!

A massive diamond spear erupted from beneath Reikas’s feet.

It was on a completely different scale from the smaller spears before.

With a diameter of ten meters and a length of dozens of meters, the diamond spear struck directly into Reikas’s abdomen.

—Kugh!

Reikas groaned.

The diamond spear had pierced through his scales, famed for absolute defense, and embedded itself deep inside.

Fortunately, it didn’t penetrate completely, but it had sunk in quite deeply.

Having never suffered such a wound in his true form, the pain and shock he felt were even greater.

Zeon had no intention of missing this opportunity.

If he let this moment pass, he didn’t know when another chance would come.

He had to finish it while he had the upper hand.

“Sand Gehenna.”

With all his power, he created a hell of superheated sand in the area where Reikas had fallen.

What followed was a Sand Mixer using Sand Gehenna.

Gaaaaang!

The molten ground spun violently like a mixer, grinding away at Reikas’s scales.

—Kraaaah!

Reikas screamed.

The lava surged like a tidal wave into the wound pierced by the diamond spear.

Jjeoeong!

A massive beam of light struck down onto Reikas’s body.

Arisedon, having regained his senses, attacked with his authority.

Under the consecutive attacks of Zeon and Arisedon, Reikas staggered.

No matter how strong he was, even the strongest dragon couldn’t keep his bearings under their combined assault.

Just as Zeon and Arisedon prepared their next attack to finish him—

—KRAAAAH!

With a roar, an enormous amount of mana burst out from Reikas’s entire body.

A net of mana spread out, covering the sky.

It wasn’t ordinary mana—it was the chaos mana he possessed.

Chaos mana, which melted and destroyed everything it touched, struck Zeon and Arisedon.

“Keuk!”

—Ugh!

Chaos mana was unlike any mana they had ever experienced.

The mana itself carried destructive properties.

Boom, boom, boom!

Explosions erupted continuously around Zeon and Arisedon.

In that moment, Reikas shattered the diamond spear piercing his abdomen and flew into the sky.

His eyes were glowing purple.

The moment Zeon saw his gaze, he frowned.

The worst possibility crossed his mind.

‘Could it be… Reikas also absorbed a crystal containing Krasias’s will?’

A crystal containing Krasias’s will allowed one to transcend the limits of their species.

Just as Nigel had become a half-demonic dragon, surpassing a dragon’s body.

For now, Reikas showed no clear signs of having surpassed those limits.

‘Has he not fully absorbed it yet?’

If so, this was the perfect chance to eliminate him.

If Reikas transcended his limits, he would undoubtedly become far stronger than he was now.

As if reading Zeon’s thoughts, Reikas beat his wings and roared.

—I will retreat for today. But the next time we meet, it will not end like this.

“Running away?”

—Call it a strategic retreat.

“You think I’ll let you go?”

Gritting his teeth, Zeon flew toward Reikas together with Arisedon.

Reikas sneered at them.

—Heh. I’ll leave you a gift before I go.

“You—?”

A sense of foreboding made Zeon flinch.

At that moment, Reikas fired his breath.

But the target wasn’t Zeon or Arisedon.

The chaos breath was aimed at the World Tree and the High Elves.

Even with the great barrier protecting them, if they were struck by Reikas’s breath like this, they would surely suffer massive damage.

The World Tree itself might even break or burn.

—No!

Arisedon reacted before Zeon.

The instinct of the World Tree’s guardian had activated.

At full speed, Arisedon flew forward and blocked Reikas’s breath.

Boom!