Chapter 20
High in the air, the Sky King released a brilliant Sword of Light, giant enough to match the size of the 300-meter dragon flying with him. A barrier already covered this part of city as the clash raged on.
The Hidden Sky Empire, the strongest of the five Great Empires, boasted five Saint-Class individuals: the Sky King, his son, the Woman lover Ronan, the defected Elijah, and the raging beauty Eleanor.
Eleanor, her crimson hair and eyes blazing with flames so hot they turned the ground beneath her into magma, charged her strike. "Tier 9 Mana Beast, the Dragon of Destruction! let's see what you got!"
The ground caved in as she shot into the sky, reaching the dragon in the blink of an eye.
[Fire Spell: Inferno of Hell]
The entire sky shone more brilliantly than ever before as the Sky King's sword struck from the right and Eleanor's raging flame fist from the left.
Both attacks clashed against the dragon in a swift, simultaneous assault. The dragon raised its arms, and a barrier formed around it.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
The intense shockwave it sent in every direction destroyed everything on the ground, leveling a part of the city.
"We can't continue like this. Where are you, Logan?" Solas, the Sky King, spoke as he increased the mana input into his sword, holding Orion in his arms.
The barrier began to show signs of breaking as both sides pushed their power to the limit. A huge explosion and subsequent shockwave spread out, slamming against the protective barrier, which had been created to minimize the damage from the Tier 9 Dragon.
Everything within 500 meters was destroyed—obliterated by the explosion or the shockwave, reduced to nothing more than rubble and death. There were still some people who hadn't been able to escape; not everyone was a cultivator, and most were normal people who couldn't get away in time.
In the sky, seeing the dragon staggered by their attack, both Eleanor and Solas moved their hands in a quick, synchronized motion.
[Great Sealing Spell: Imperial Seal]
Golden chains formed, binding the huge dragon. It roared, and soon the clover symbol in its eyes disappeared as it returned to its senses. "GRGRGRG! The Clover eyes, not again!" the dragon shouted, now free from their control.
"You pathetic humans think you can seal me again?!" the dragon roared, sending shockwaves in every direction. But after seeing the child on the ground, protected by a barrier of light, fear rose in the dragon's heart. "The blood of the Imperial Clan!"
It thrashed and struggled, but to no avail. It compressed its mana, creating a fire breath that erupted from its mouth and shot toward the child on the ground. "Die!" Its roar was an endless sound of monsters, as none of them could understand the Draconic language.
"Eleanor!" Solas shouted.
Eleanor moved, barely reaching the ground before the fiery breath hit. She used her own attack to counter it.
[Fire Spell: Destroyer's Fist]
She punched upward, creating a barrier to protect the newborn below her. A shockwave spread in all directions, and the ground caved in as a crater formed, growing bigger and bigger.
In the sky, Solas activated all the runes on his body. Huge waves of Light element radiated outward, and countless swords of light materialized, stabbing the dragon from all directions—even piercing its heart. The dragon roared in pain, allowing Eleanor a moment to rest, her hand now severely damaged with a massive burn.
Using more runes, Solas increased the strength of the Golden Chains. "You shall not touch my city or my people! The Light of I, Solas, shall shine forever!" A brilliant light could be seen in all directions as a star formed in the sky. The golden light turned silver, and Solas's golden hair turned silver as well. His appearance aged dramatically into that of a man in his sixties.
'A Tier 9 Mana Beast is no joke,' Lucas thought, having just finished collecting all the equipment, techniques, and research he wanted. 'It has enough mana to destroy the whole city and almost part the empire if it self-destructs. It can expend enormous amounts of mana and still have more. Just like in the novel, it was just released after a long time, so its mana body hasn't adapted. The mind control also made its mana unstable as it tried to escape. But even so, it seems everything went according to the story.'
Solas used more of his power as the dragon struggled with all its might but ultimately failed. "Why are you beings so greedy? Your arrogance will be your downfall!" it shouted as the Tier 9 Mana Beast was sealed into the newborn on the ground, who was being protected by the exhausted Eleanor.
The silver light disappeared, and the Sky King fell from the sky, unconscious. Eleanor was the one who leaped up and caught him before he could crash into the ground.
Lucas, on the other hand, was considering two options: to kill the Sky King now, or to steal Orion. He thought hard about it, as it wasn't impossible with all parties exhausted.
But he shook his head. First, he didn't know for sure if the Sky King was a puppet of the Great Sage. Second, the Sky King was important for Orion to save the world. And lastly, he wasn't sure if he could escape if Eleanor had any power left, or if the Great Sage would enter the fray and attack him at the risk of facing greater resistance from the universal Laws.