"Brother..."
"Brother, where are you?"
"It's so dark here... I'm so scared, brother."
"No, don't leave me..."
Inside the pure white cocoon, Constantine muttered in a whisper, like a nightmare. The illusion was deeply imprinted in his mind, inescapable, impossible to avoid.
...
...
...
The Dragon King's wrath turned the world dark!
Though he hadn't fully returned to his original form, Norton was still the Dragon King. He was fundamentally different from humans and even hybrids, a chasm that no human or hybrid could easily cross.
Word Soul · King's Blaze!
With a casual wave, Norton summoned violent flames with immense heat, followed by a tremendous explosion, instantly consuming the human in front of him.
Boom!
The long steps outside the bronze temple were blasted into a huge crater.
Fortunately, Nono reacted quickly, rolling backward. Though it was a bit messy, she managed to avoid the disaster.
"Dragon Slayer, is this all you've got?"
Norton's gaze turned cold, and his five fingers suddenly clenched. A supreme will spread out: "Come, let me see what courage the dragon slayers of this era still have!"
As his words fell, the snake-faced humanoid statues holding halberds at the front of the temple seemed to awaken once more. Their pupils lit up with piercing golden light, and they began to stride forward.
"That... can't be, right?"
Nono's little face paled, her pupils shaking.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The two twenty-meter-high snake-faced statues shook the ground with each step, their massive feet leaving deep indentations in the bronze ground.
There was no hesitation. Woken from a thousand years of slumber, the palace guards raised their massive bronze halberds, which were nearly three meters wide and nearly thirty meters long, and thrust forward with thunderous speed!
Boom!!!
The bronze spear shot out like a sea serpent, or perhaps like two giant pillars holding up the sky, stirring the air with violent turbulence. The fierce wind spread out in all directions!
Run!
Following the principle of "if you can't fight, run," she wasn't stupid enough to try and match strength with two twenty-meter-tall bronze statues. Besides, her tiny arms and legs wouldn't even be enough to scratch them.
Nono's eyes turned golden as she gathered her strength and leaped off the bronze steps. Thanks to the height advantage, she flew a great distance, just barely dodging the incoming bronze spear.
Boom... Boom...
The fierce wind and shockwaves rushed forward, like a tsunami lifting its waves, directly sending Nono flying.
She rolled all the way down the bronze staircase, the sensation like being shoved into a washing machine and spun at maximum speed. The centrifugal force made her organs feel like they were being thrown to the side.
Ten minutes to climb up, ten seconds to come down...
Feeling the vibrations from the ground, Nono shook her head, desperately fighting the urge to throw up her dinner. She staggered to her feet and tried to run toward a nearby passage.
The bronze passage was narrow, and those two giant statues definitely couldn't fit through.
As for the rest... well, she'd deal with it after surviving this trial!
Taking a deep breath, Nono dove straight into the lake, planning to swim all the way through the underwater route. It was her only chance.
The two bronze statues followed, but their massive size made them move slowly. That gave Nono a small window of opportunity. She'd done well in her swimming lessons at the academy.
100 meters in 49 seconds, nearly Olympic-level, and with her life on the line, her potential surged, making her even faster.
Splash!
Nono broke through the surface of the water, gasping for air. The intense swim had nearly drained her.
But now, there was no time to stop.
Seeing they couldn't catch up, the two bronze guards gripped their bronze spears tightly, gathering their strength before throwing them with all their might.
Boom!
The sonic boom of the spears shattered the lake's surface.
Two dark bronze spears streaked through the air like flowing light, moving so fast that they left visible shockwaves behind, like two roaring sea serpents tearing through the boiling lake.
"Trouble…"
Nono, already exhausted, had no strength left. Her eyes widened as the shadow in front of her grew larger, a chilling sense of death enveloping her body.
Suddenly, at that moment!
A jet-black flame shot through the tunnel in a flash!
Boom—!
The bronze spear aimed at Nono was instantly melted by intense heat!
Along with the dripping molten bronze, a fierce figure, covered in scales like dark armor, emerged. One hand held a burning sword, and the other lifted a massive dragon's head. Step by step, it walked out of the bronze tunnel.
It was… Chu Zihang?!
Nono stared in disbelief at the savage figure. If it weren't for the alchemic sword "Murakumo" from the equipment department, she would never have linked the monstrous being, almost indistinguishable from a dragon, to Chu Zihang.
The head he was holding was unmistakably the decapitated one of Samson, the second-generation Dragon Knight who had tried to ambush them in the tunnel earlier!
The head was crushed, the face dented and bloody, with exposed bone and gaping wounds—evidence of a brutal battle Samson had suffered.
"Chu…"
Nono tried to speak, but was frozen in place by the fierce, brutal aura in the golden eyes of the figure.
Completely transformed into a dragon, Chu Zihang ignored Nono's fear and focused on his target, moving toward the small yet imposing figure at the palace across the lake—Dragon King, Nordon.
His prey was none other than the Dragon King!
Like a challenge, Chu Zihang gripped Samson's iron face. His muscles swelled, wrapped in a steel-like grip, and with a loud roar, he hurled the massive body of Samson with the force of his enormous strength!
Whoosh!
The heavy object shot through the air!
Samson's massive body soared across the lake, following a perfect parabola, and then crashed straight into the palace on the Heavenly Steps, landing right in front of Norton.
Boom!
The massive weight, several tons, struck with such force that it dented the hard bronze, sending dust flying and shockwaves in all directions.
"Master..."
Samson, barely alive, his golden eyes under the iron mask, looked at Norton with an expressionless face, his voice filled with shame. "Please... forgive me... Samson... can no longer... protect... you..."
As a dragon servant, being brutally beaten to death by a Hybrid was already a disgrace. To be thrown before the king like this was the ultimate humiliation, a direct insult to the Dragon King's honor.
Having committed such a grave offense, Samson should have taken his own life.
But he couldn't, because this body, this life, belonged to the Dragon King. He had to offer everything to his master!
Norton raised his hand, gently stroking Samson's iron mask. His eyelids lowered, and his voice showed no emotion. "Rest now, Samson... you've worked hard all these years."
Samson let out a low, deep groan in response. He could no longer speak; the King's Blaze was too overwhelming, nearly destroying his organs. The only reason he was still alive was sheer willpower.
********
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