"Roar~~"
As the light dissipated, an ice-blue dragon silhouette, seemingly forged from starlight, appeared in Damien's view.
Massive... too immense to describe with words.
Freed from the Cardinal World's rule suppression, the True Dragon' true terror was finally revealed before Damien.
Planets, galaxies... none mattered.
In the presence of Velzard, now Velzard, they seemed utterly insignificant.
Like a dragon soaring through the galaxy, her passage stilled the flow of light and extinguished stars, her mere movement exerting immense pressure on the Void World.
"Hiss!!"
"So, so huge!"
"Is this really a form a living being can take?"
From Rimuru and Shizu's perspective, Velzard's size was nearly comparable to a galaxy.
Rather than a dragon...
It was more accurate to call her an incarnation of astronomical phenomena or the ever-decreasing entropy of universal laws.
"To force me into this form..."
"You're the first in countless eons!"
Velzard raised her dragon claw, gazing at Damien's figure... insignificant as a mayfly... her majestic and sacred voice echoing from the depths of the starry sky.
"Come, show me your true form."
"Let's see what gives you the audacity to toy with me like this!"
She didn't attack immediately upon assuming her dragon form.
As she'd said, Damien had given her fairness, and she would return equal respect.
In a battle of True Dragon, what meaning was there if the opponent wasn't thoroughly convinced?
"Don't worry, you'll see it."
As Damien spoke, ten radiant halos materialized behind him... his exclusive skill, 'Rings of Divinity.'
"What are those?"
Velzard froze slightly.
She realized she couldn't discern the nature of the Rings of Divinity.
Even using Lord of Envy to plunder, the feedback was 'unfathomable' and 'true form unknown.'
"These?"
Damien explained, "I call them Rings of Divinity. They're meant to bear a portion of my power."
"I'm not interested in your ability!"
Velzard was thoroughly annoyed by Damien's dawdling explanation: "Hurry up and shed your human form, dragonize, and fight me!"
"Don't rush!"
"If I don't explain, you won't even know how you lost, and you definitely won't be convinced afterward."
Damien's explanation wasn't him mimicking those villains who think they're invincible and can act freely.
He was doing this purely to make Velzard see the gap between them clearly.
"What are you trying to say?"
"What I'm saying is..."
"With Violet's help, I can use high-tier Ultimates to suppress you."
"But..."
"What if... hypothetically... I use God of the Void's power in this state? How would you handle that?"
In that moment, Velzard realized something terrifying.
She had never seen God of the Void's full power!
But before she could question further, Damien's figure vanished from her claw, leaving only specks of starlight dissipating in the void.
"What?!"
Almost instinctively, Velzard unleashed her magical perception.
The result was as she expected.
Unfathomable!
It was impossible to pinpoint Damien's location in this place.
The Void World wasn't just Damien's creation and the arena for his omnipotent power.
In this world, Damien had no true physical form.
This was why he could stand in Velzard's claw in human form, calmly explaining his abilities without batting an eye.
"Where is he?"
"Where the hell is that guy?"
Velzard focused all her attention, searching for Damien's transformed figure.
But there was nothing.
The universe remained silent, still under her time-stopping state!
No Damien!
He was nowhere to be found...
"Lord Damien... disappeared?"
"I can sense his presence everywhere, but I can't pinpoint his location."
Shizu and Rimuru were also searching for Damien.
The evolved Rimuru, with strength comparable to a Demon Lord Seed, was an S-rank powerhouse.
In the Void World, she too possessed galaxy-destroying power.
So, for mere detection, she was confident she could find Damien's trace.
"You didn't find him either, Great Sage?"
[Notice: Unable to pinpoint exact coordinates]
"So strange."
Rimuru was baffled by Damien's sudden disappearance.
They were in the middle of a good fight... how could he just vanish?
He'd promised to make Velzard concede defeat convincingly.
Rimuru had been looking forward to Damien revealing his dragon form, transforming into a cosmic dragon god and instantly crushing Velzard.
"Dragon god? Cosmic..."
Suddenly, a spark of realization flashed through Rimuru's mind.
Under Shizu's astonished gaze, Rimuru snapped her head up.
She focused all her magic, releasing her perception toward the boundless starry sky.
"Waaah!!!"
The next moment, Rimuru nearly fainted from terror at what she saw.
Eyes!
A massive, incomprehensibly vast dragon eye, as if gazing upon the entire world from beyond the universe!
"Miss Rimuru?"
"What's wrong, Miss Rimuru?!"
Seeing Rimuru faint in her arms, Shizu was completely at a loss.
"Heh..."
On the other side, prompted by Rimuru's reaction, Velzard also looked up in a daze.
She saw it...
A dragon, hidden in the void.
Velzard couldn't describe its full form; even she could only glimpse a fraction of Damien's true body.
As for the Void World he created...
It was like a fist-sized jewel, held in Damien's claw.
As if he could crush it at any moment, effortlessly destroying everything within!
"This is... the gap between you and me?"
Velzard reverted to her human girl form, now utterly dejected.
'I can't win...'
'There's no hope of victory.'
The immense gap left Velzard feeling hollow.
They were both True Dragon.
She was the nominal elder sister of the True Dragon, supposed to be the strongest.
Yet now, a newly awakened dragon had power surpassing hers.
***
If you want to read up to 50 chapters ahead, don't hesitate to visit our patron: pat reon . com / XElenea (remove space)