"We can't get any closer, or everyone here will be in danger!"
Even if Rudy hadn't spoken these words, those present could acutely feel the truth behind them.
The battleground where Wood and Dragon God Orsted were fighting wasn't too far away. It was located at the border between the Holy Land of Milis and the Dragon King Kingdom. This area was also where the western and eastern ports connecting the Milis Continent to the Central Continent were situated. From the capital of the Holy Milis Kingdom, even a high-ranking adventurer would need at least half a day to reach this place on foot.
Yet earlier, Wood and Orsted had flown from the Milis Church to this location in less than a few minutes.
Fearing that their battle might harm innocent bystanders, the two had chosen to fight at the junction of the two continents. Here, there was nothing but sea and mountains, devoid of human habitation.
Although the capital of the Milis Continent was quite far from its western port, the shockwaves from their battle still reached this area, demonstrating the immense scale of their conflict!
The massive pillar of light that had descended from the sky moments ago, though extremely distant, was clearly visible to Rudy and the others. They watched as it instantly split a mountain range in two, forming a canyon!
Even after the colossal light pillar connecting heaven and earth disappeared, the magical energy permeating the air remained so dense and powerful that it was terrifying.
Rudy, Sylphiette, and Cliff, who possessed magical abilities, along with the captured Lartal, were all affected by the intense magical energy in the air. While Rudy's condition was relatively stable, Sylphiette, Cliff, and Lartal were so overwhelmed that they collapsed to the ground, unable to move.
This wasn't due to any weakness on their part. The magical energy in the air was simply too concentrated and powerful for them to withstand.
In fact, it wasn't just those with magical abilities who could sense the oppressive atmosphere. Even those without magical talent, like Paul and Talhand, could feel the suffocating pressure in the air. Their keen instincts as warriors and living beings warned them of the incredibly dangerous entities ahead. If they ventured any further, they might face an endless abyss.
The impact wasn't limited to Rudy's group. As another dragon roar echoed from the distant mountains, the monster hordes that had been circling over the Milis capital began to panic.
Compared to humans, monsters might not be as intelligent, but their ability to sense danger was far more acute. The shockwaves and aura from the mountain range triggered their survival instincts, making them acutely aware of the mortal peril. As a result, they formed a monster stampede, fleeing from the Milis capital in droves.
It's worth noting that this monster stampede wasn't caused by their usual hunting instincts or attraction to something. Instead, it was a mass exodus driven by the monsters' sense of impending danger!
Witnessing the sudden resolution of the monster horde crisis, Paul and the others were stunned. In all their years as adventurers, they had never heard of monsters forming a stampede to flee from fear of certain beings.
"Mother, we really can't go any further," Rudy insisted. "Even if you could stop Wood, with our current strength, we wouldn't even make it to where they are. Judging from the recent shockwaves, it seems that Wood isn't completely powerless against Dragon God Orsted. All we can do now is trust in Wood."
Previously, Rudy had tolerated Sylphiette's willfulness because they weren't in immediate danger. But now, the situation had clearly escalated beyond his control and expectations. Naturally, he couldn't allow his mother to act recklessly.
In truth, the battle between Wood and Orsted far exceeded what Rudy and the others had anticipated.
Including Rudy himself, no one here had believed that Wood stood any chance against Dragon God Orsted. After all, one was a fourteen-year-old boy, while the other was the legendary Dragon God who had lived for countless years and was known throughout the world. The two seemed incomparable.
Rudy was aware of Wood's strength and believed that he must have grown even stronger in the past two years. However, the psychological trauma inflicted by the Dragon God at Red Dragon's Lower Jaw two years ago was too great. Rudy didn't think that two years was enough to bridge such an enormous gap.
Cliff and Talhand were even more straightforward. With limited knowledge of Wood, they knew he was strong but assumed that if his opponent was the Dragon God, the battle would end quickly, resulting in Wood's crushing defeat.
However, the recent shockwaves and the continuous, massive disturbances from afar were proving with facts that the battle between Wood and Orsted wasn't one-sided as they had initially thought, but a genuine clash of equals!
Rudy and the others weren't sure what had happened to Wood in these two years, and they couldn't witness the battle between Wood and Orsted up close. But the battle's aftershocks and magical impacts reaching them were undeniably real!
Rewinding to about half a day earlier, Orsted and Wood, who had left the Milis Church one after another, were engaged in ultra-high-speed flight at high altitudes using their dragon wings.
Orsted had initially intended to intimidate Wood, believing that if Wood still possessed the same strength as two years ago, he would be utterly incapable of matching Orsted's current speed.
However, to Orsted's great surprise, Wood possessed an unexpected ability. Not only had his overall appearance transformed into a half-human, half-dragon form, but his magical power had also undergone a massive surge in an instant!
As the Dragon God, Orsted could clearly sense that Wood emanated a genuine "dragon's aura"!
In other words, Wood's current half-human, half-dragon state wasn't just for show; it was a true dragon-human form.
Orsted was eager to inquire how Wood had acquired such power, but Wood didn't give him the chance.
Just as Orsted was about to speak, a flying kick aimed directly at his back, sending him plummeting like a meteor towards a mountain range below. He crashed through several mountain peaks before finally creating a massive crater over a hundred meters in diameter!
The current Wood wasn't just using the released state of the Divine Treasure "Knight"; he had even employed its secret technique.
While the secret techniques of Divine Treasures came with certain side effects, for the current Wood, these weren't entirely unacceptable. Compared to the life-draining side effects of "God's Heart," the partial dragon transformation caused by "Frost Knight" was relatively insignificant.
Moreover, without using the secret techniques of either "God's Heart" or "Frost Knight," Wood's current strength alone wouldn't be a match for Orsted.
While only two years had passed in this world, for Wood, he had experienced simulated lives across multiple worlds, and his strength was now incomparable to his former self.
However, Dragon God Orsted's power remained formidable. Wood had sensed this as soon as he encountered him. In his normal state, Wood's magical power and swordsmanship would make it extremely difficult to even engage Orsted in battle, let alone defeat him.
"What exactly happened to you in these two years? It seems it wasn't just a simple matter of resurrection," Orsted said as he emerged from the crater. Despite being kicked down from the sky like a meteor and causing such a massive impact on the ground, Orsted appeared unharmed. Apart from his white coat being slightly dirtied, he seemed completely fine.
Orsted was genuinely surprised. In his over two hundred cycles of reincarnation, he had encountered all sorts of humans, but he had never met a monster quite like Wood.
Two years was not a short time for humans, but it certainly wasn't long either. For the long-lived Dragon God Orsted, it was barely more than a blink of an eye. Orsted was well aware of Wood's capabilities two years ago, which made Wood's current level all the more shocking.
Even considering humans' high potential and growth rate, the speed of Wood's power increase was simply too extraordinary!
"I told you before, two years have passed, and you've regained your original strength. But others haven't been standing still either," Wood replied to Orsted's shock and inquiry. He didn't directly answer Orsted's question but instead tightened his grip on "Frost Knight" and swung it towards Orsted.
"Hundred Demons Sword Style, Wind Element One-Sword Style — Kamaitachi!"
A sharp wind blade burst forth from Wood's long sword. The crescent-shaped attack grew as it traveled through the air, expanding to several hundred meters in size by the time it reached Orsted.
Faced with this wind blade attack as powerful as an "Emperor-class" magic, Orsted, to accurately gauge Wood's current strength, chose not to dodge. Instead, he extended both hands to directly block the massive crescent-shaped slash hurtling towards him!
"Boom——————!"
The moment Orsted used his hands to receive Wood's attack, his previously relaxed expression instantly turned serious.
A shower of sparks erupted at the point of contact between his hands and the slash. The raging wind blades, like countless small scythes, left clearly visible slash marks on the ground around them.
Strong winds continued to howl, causing Orsted's white coat to flutter violently. Soon, Orsted was shocked to discover that the power of Wood's slash was even greater than he had initially estimated.
As he took his first step backward, the immense pressure suddenly increased, like the last straw that breaks the camel's back, forcing his body to retreat continuously.
Despite Orsted feeling he had already exerted most of his physical strength, the slash's momentum and pressure remained relentless, pushing him back and carving two deep furrows in the ground with his feet!
Orsted's body was forced back until he finally collided with another mountain behind him, bringing him to a stop. At that instant, the massive wind blade exploded, instantly slicing the mountain—which was at least several hundred meters tall—into countless fragments.
As the falling debris buried Dragon God Orsted, almost immediately, a huge pillar of magical energy burst forth from the rubble, shooting straight towards Wood's position.
Non-incantation magic seemed to be an extremely difficult technique in this world, one that even the Dragon God hadn't mastered.
The magical energy beam Orsted had just fired wasn't actually magic, but rather a compressed blast of highly concentrated magical power.
Although it wasn't magic, given the Dragon God's vast magical reserves, this energy beam not only boasted incredible speed but also possessed power exceeding the "King-class" level.
Faced with the sudden magical energy beam piercing through the rubble, Wood quickly raised his other hand. A light blue magic circle instantly formed in front of him, followed by the appearance of a crystalline, snowflake-shaped shield.
When the magical energy beam struck, Wood's hastily constructed snowflake shield cracked under the impact, but it successfully blocked Orsted's attack.
However, just as the snowflake shield and the magical energy beam simultaneously shattered and dissipated, Wood's "Color of Observation Haki" seemed to sense something. He swiftly turned around and, in the same motion, swung his "Frost Knight"!
"Clang——————!"
The sound of clashing metal rang out in the air as Frost Knight and the Magic Sword Godsword collided. The impact generated circular shockwaves that exploded outward in all directions.
Despite their small statures, the collision between the two unleashed shockwaves that swept across an area of nearly ten kilometers in radius.
The massive mountain ranges and nearby coastal areas, faced with these concentric shockwaves, crumbled as easily as sandcastles, instantly reduced to scattered rubble.
The sea surface, affected by the powerful shockwaves, first formed into a massive whirlpool before surging into hundred-meter-high waves that completely engulfed the entire coastline!
A single head-on clash between Wood and Orsted had caused destruction akin to a natural disaster to the surrounding area!
________
P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to 100+ chapters for $5 and receive daily updates at [email protected]/Betek (@->a).