Isha seemed to have guessed something. "You're not going to tell me that after using your trump card, you'll end up with severed meridians or worse, die, are you?"
Leon grinned awkwardly. "Well, that's what the book says."
"You really are a good student who loves reading, brother-in-law."
Rossweise waved her hand, interrupting the banter between Leon and Isha. "I think Leon was right earlier—the current situation is tough, but it's not to the point of mutually assured destruction." She continued, "I still have an ace up my sleeve, but I need you two to buy me some time."
Leon and Isha exchanged glances.
"What ace?" Isha asked.
"Primordial Magic."
Hearing this, Isha was slightly startled. "That powerful ancient magic, lost to the annals of history? Little Rose, when did you learn it?"
Rossweise lowered her silver eyes, looking at her palm. "I wouldn't say I've learned it… I can only gather the primordial power so far. I haven't yet figured out how to use it for different forms of magic." She looked up at the approaching monster, her silver dragon eyes gleaming with the queen's determination and decisiveness. "But I have to try. What if it works?"
Rossweise hadn't come up with the idea of using primordial magic on a whim. During their previous research, she and Leon had discovered that the damage and effects caused by primordial magic were fundamentally different from current mainstream magic. To put it simply, it was an entirely different damage system. After all, it was a 'divine technique' passed down by the dragon ancestors, so it naturally had to be something unique. Thus, when elemental magic and physical attacks failed against Constantine, primordial magic might have a miraculous effect.
"Okay, I'll try my best to buy you time." Leon believed in her, sensing that the time had finally come for primordial magic to play its role.
Rossweise nodded, then began gathering the primordial energy. Meanwhile, Leon and Isha moved forward to confront the monster. The three of them engaged in combat once more. Leon's remaining magic power was low, so he could only use the Gates of Nine Hells to temporarily hold Constantine back. Isha transformed into her dragon form and directly confronted Constantine. Their teamwork was effective, buying precious time for Rossweise to gather the primordial power.
However, this was only a temporary measure. They couldn't compete in stamina or strength against a revenge machine like Constantine, whose sole purpose was killing. Now, they had to delay as much as possible until Rossweise could finish gathering the primordial power.
"ROAR!!—" Constantine roared, his thick tail sweeping out and sending Isha, in her dragon form, flying back several dozen meters.
Leon seized the opening from Constantine's attack, quickly activating the Fifth Gate of the Nine Hells, 'Fixed Star,' and accurately struck Constantine's side. The blow caused some damage but wasn't lethal. It only served to further enrage the monster. Constantine howled and swung his giant arm, crafted from Hellfire Titan limbs, at Leon. Leon leaped into the air, narrowly dodging, but was still hit by the residual shockwave.
After several exchanges, both Leon and Isha had sustained new injuries. Yet, Constantine's health bar hadn't dropped at all!
Meanwhile, Scott, overseeing the battle from a distance, was already mentally popping champagne. "Fael, if I bring Leon's head back, what do you think Lord Valerius will reward me with?"
Fael glanced at him, clearly uninterested in the rewards the human world could offer. He knew that before completely defeating the enemy, it was unwise to celebrate too early. "It will probably be very generous, Mr. Scott," Fael said flatly.
Scott smirked, tilting his chin arrogantly. "I've never seen Leon this embarrassed. Back in the dragon-slaying army, he was the most arrogant one."
"Is that so?" Fael responded indifferently. People with different stances often don't offer objective evaluations, and Fael was well aware of that.
Just as Scott was about to continue, Fael furrowed his brow and pointed toward the battlefield. "It seems they have a new move, Mr. Scott."
"A new move?" Scott squinted and looked over. Sure enough, the silver-haired woman seemed to have accumulated a completely different type of power. Scott's pupils contracted as he quickly realized what it was. "It's… primordial power! That Silver Dragon has mastered primordial power?!"
Fael scratched his forehead; he had also recognized the energy Rossweise was gathering as primordial power. During his time in the Far North, he had stolen a portion of the Primordial Dragon King Noa's energy obtained by the survey team. He, too, was shocked. A Dragon King who had never come into contact with Noa's energy could use primordial power… It was incredible.
"Then, Mr. Scott, do you think this ultimate creature created by your empire can withstand an attack of primordial power?" Fael asked.
Cold sweat trickled down Scott's forehead. He swallowed and lowered his voice. "Who says it must withstand it?"
"Oh? You're saying this killing machine understands tactics?"
"Of course, it's not a pure zombie fusion. Just wait, Constantine will certainly complete this mission perfectly." Despite his words, Scott was secretly sweating. The shadow Leon had cast over the Empire was no small matter. Who knew what kind of divine skill his Silver Dragon wife might possess?
On the battlefield, Rossweise held the pure white primordial energy in her hand. Leon stood still, watching that power, the light reflecting in his slightly trembling pupils. In previous practices, Rossweise had never gathered primordial energy with such high purity. It seemed his wife was truly giving it her all this time.
The primordial energy wind lightly brushed through her silver hair, and her upright dragon eyes were filled with unyielding determination. "It's time."
With those words, the Queen vanished into a silver blur, rapidly closing the distance to Constantine. For the first time, the fearless monster felt fear as it faced that terrifying pure power. Primordial magic was a mysterious force passed down by the dragon ancestors, possessing a bloodline-level suppression over dragons. Even if the only dragon feature left on Constantine was his head, the suppression effect was still obvious.
Rossweise's form flashed as she leaped high, releasing the purest primordial energy she had gathered. The light immediately enveloped Constantine. The external effect wasn't as flashy or exaggerated as previous elemental magic, but everyone present was deeply shaken by this power. Even Rossweise herself was somewhat incredulous. "Primordial power… it is powerful."
Soon, the light began to fade. And Constantine had vanished without a trace.
Rossweise furrowed her brows. "How could this happen…"
Leon and Isha rushed forward. "Did it work?"
"It turned to ashes, so it should have worked," Isha said.
But Rossweise shook her head. "It's strange… my attack hit him, but then—"
Boom—
Boom—
Heavy, oppressive footsteps suddenly came from the side. The three turned toward the sound. There stood the chaotic monster. Even though Rossweise's attack had blown away half of his body, he still had no intention of stopping.
Isha looked at the bloody, mangled body of the monster. "How did he withstand the primordial power attack…"
"No, he didn't withstand it," Leon said. "He just… escaped."
"Escaped? At such close range, even a Silver Dragon like Little Rose, who specializes in speed, couldn't escape. How did his clumsy body teleport from here to there in an instant?"
Leon sighed slowly, then… laughed.
Rossweise and Isha were both stunned.
What's going on? Did the battle make him go crazy? The strike that could've ended the crisis didn't work, so why is he laughing now?
"Leon, did you… figure something out?" Rossweise gasped, her body extremely weak from expending a vast amount of magic power on the primordial attack.
"Constantine didn't teleport there." Leon slowly raised his hand, pointing at his own chest. "He used spatial magic."
"Spatial magic?" Rossweise and Isha looked in the direction Leon was pointing. On Constantine's remaining half-body, they noticed a glowing black dragon scale, revealed where Rossweise's attack had broken the Steel Mammoth's body.
Rossweise's thoughts stirred. "That… that's Bly's heart-protecting dragon scale!" Black Sun Dragon King Bly, one of the Dragon Kings skilled in spatial magic, had been defeated by Leon along with the Chaos Dragon King, Jags.
"I told you," Leon said, stepping forward. "Stitching together so many dangerous species, even Dragon Kings, without using some black technology, how could it be done? At the same time, this also explains why this guy suddenly appeared at the Red Dragon Temple and launched this surprise attack—it's spatial magic."
"Wait, wait, Leon!" Rossweise said worriedly. "Even knowing his body structure, there's still no way to defeat him. I… I don't have enough strength left to gather a second round of primordial energy." There was a hint of guilt in her tone.
"It's okay, darling," Leon said, his voice calm and confident. "We've already won."
"What… did you say…"
"I said, we've already won." And not just the words about winning, but the first two words... 'darling'... Rossweise's heart fluttered slightly despite the situation.
"Brother-in-law, what are you going to do?" Isha asked.
Leon slowly raised his right hand. "It's not what I'm going to do, it's what I've already done."
Isha didn't understand. But after a brief moment of thought, Rossweise grasped the meaning behind Leon's words. "So that's it…" she murmured, a satisfied smile forming on her lips.
Constantine dragged his broken body and charged toward Leon once more. But this time, Leon's counterattack was merely—a snap of his fingers.
Snap!
A spark of lightning flickered at his fingertips. At the same time, Bly's heart-protecting dragon scale on Constantine's body also emitted a blue light. The light grew brighter, and the next second—
BOOM!!
Constantine's body was instantly consumed by the explosion triggered from within the heart-protecting dragon scale. The organs and limbs of the various dangerous species were shattered into pieces. Lightning crackled, light and shadow intertwined, and smoke and dust spread.
"I… damn… Little Rose, why didn't you tell us your husband had this ability sooner? We've worked so hard," Isha exclaimed, breathless.
Rossweise shook her head and smiled wryly. "He only realized he could do this after seeing Bly's heart-protecting dragon scale."
"Eh… I still don't get it."
"We'll explain it to you later."
It turned out that when Leon knew the Empire would retrieve Bly's heart-protecting dragon scale, he had chosen not to destroy the Dragon Kings' heart scales completely, leaving behind a hidden trace of his lightning magic within them for precisely such an unexpected victory…
Rossweise looked at the man standing proudly before the flames, shaking off the remaining lightning from his right hand. He walked forward and once again stepped on what remained of Constantine's head.
"I told you, Constantine," Leon said, his voice cutting through the crackling fire. "Winning the revival match doesn't mean anything. It's the final victory that counts."