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Nyrathrom had always wanted to maintain peace with the humans, including the dragonkin—Plesiduxis' descendants. Not only was it their duty to protect the humans but they were also not common enemies. In fact, they share many common enemies.
So, why?
Why did a human suddenly attack them? Their own kin no less?
That was undoubtedly the Draconic Halo she saw, an ocular ability that manifests when one is of dragon's blood and forms a contract with a divine soul of the dragon race. From what she understood, none of them made such a contract so it must've been one of the Ancient Dragons who acted independently.
As half-dragons live very long—sometimes up to a thousand years—it's difficult to say who is that mysterious man.
'Is the battle… over?' after that strange roar shook the skies, everything went silent.
Without a way to move, Nyrathrom had no choice but to endure, hoping at least one of them breaks free of the hypnosis.
'I had no idea… humans could awaken such dangerous abilities…' she knew the existence of the eye itself but the abilities were quite mysterious. What she knew for a fact was that the first patriarch of the Taelith House dominated the continent as a powerful warrior due to his dragon's blood.
If Nyrathrom had birthed a child, would they have come out the same as that man?
How could he betray his own kin like this, when they simply wish to coexist with humans?
Is he truly the puppet of an Outer God?
A sharp pain stung her heart even in this situation. It was sympathy for her enemy, who might've been brainwashed to do this. Why couldn't he just ask for help? Surely together they would be able to face any threat?
A figure began to float down from the hole in the ceiling.
'He's here!' she felt his presence despite not being able to move her head. Strangely, it appeared far weaker than it did before.
'Curses!' if she was free, she'd be able to take him down. This man intends on killing their sibling so no mercy will be given to him.
He levitated over to Nyrathrom and landed on her head, right in front of her eyes where she could see him.
"The power to control all living beings… I should make more use of this often. I could commit genocides with the power of a dragon lord, especially with four of you."
A chill went through her spine.
Is this his objective? Will she remain trapped in her own mind, unable to do anything for eternity? Will she have to kill the very people she's meant to protect for this man's goals…?
"You can probably hear me, right? There's no reason for me to do that. I probably don't have the internal energy to pull something like that off right now. I'll blow up from Aether if I do something so stupid."
Why is he… reassuring her?
From her perspective, he's no different from a demon lord. So why is he not abusing his power?
'His presence… I wasn't imagining things… Suarif was able to gain the upper hand.'
Judging by this strong signature rapidly approaching them, he's awakened his element after thousands of years. A bit of a late bloomer but it was probably worth it. He's probably the closest to Nyrathrom in strength now.
"I'm going to need your help in killing your brother, though."
This is the worst outcome that Nyra feared. Being controlled and ordered to kill her own sibling—it would traumatize her greatly.
'The gates…' The things he called Torii gates slowly disappeared and the dragons' bodies fell to the floor.
The man gained some distance from Nyrathrom and spread his arms.
'W-What is he planning on doing to us!? Is he going to kill us after all!?' being unable to do anything agitated Nyrathrom greatly.
"This is going to be a bit of a new feeling you've never felt before."
'!?' it felt as if something was being sucked out of Nyrathrom. It wasn't her bodily fluids or ice Ki, but something else entirely.
'My lifeforce!?'
A dragon's lifeforce that's had thousands of years to mature…
'This can't be… This kind of ability existed!?'
**
While Nyrathrom was panicking just like her siblings, Arnold was focusing on gathering their lifefoce using [Life Drain]. The name sounded like some debuff spell but it actually converts borrowed energy into the user's own energy.
As mentioned by the system, there are limitations to the ability so he's not going to put dragons under hypnosis every time he needs a power boost.
After about a minute of draining and converting their lifeforce, a sharp pain stung his heart and he coughed up blood.
"Ugh…" the pain only went away when he stopped absorbing their lifeforce.
"I guess this is all my body can handle for now…" he said, looking at the blood in his hand.
"Well, I feel much stronger now, far stronger than with 100% of my power."
The moment Arnold finished absorbing all that lifeforce and internal energy, pure white energy leaked out of every orifice in his body.
Turns out the dragon lords had lots to spare so even after absorbing so much, their signatures were still normal.
This… could be useful in the future.
At the moment, a shockwave parted the clouds in the distance. He barely blinked before Suarif appeared right in front of him, swinging his arm.
"Aether Shield."
Arnold used one of his newer skills. Though it withstood the strike, Arnold couldn't handle the force that blow and was sent flying several tens of kilometers, crashing through mountains, across grass lands and finally landing in a river 50 kilometers away.
Cattle were spooked by the sudden noise, scattering in every direction, much to the dismay of the shepherd.
He got up as if nothing happened, the farmers nearby staring in bewilderment at the "visitor".
'If Suarif attacks me here, these people are going to die.' Thinking so, he flew into the air, shocking the ordinary farmers even more.
He met Suarif's strike head-on, causing the power of the shockwave to break the windows of the farm below them despite being ten kilometers above ground. Their clash opened the cloudy sky and booms resounded as they fought in mid-air.
"Something…" striking with his claws, Suarif pondered out loud, "is different about you."
Parrying every blow, Arnold ignored him, focusing all his attention on finding an opening.
"Umph!" he was kicked in the stomach and barely stopped himself from behind flung halfway across the country. Admittedly, Arnold is of the warrior class so he's more used to hand-to-hand combat than sword techniques.
If he's fighting Suarif, who is in the same plain of strength as Gederick, he needs to use all the knowledge and experience he has.
That being the case, he got into a different stance, holding his sword tip facing the ground while his fist was halfway to his chest.
"Hup!" Suarif swung his arm, the force behind it distorting the air itself, ready to skewer Arnold.
However, his elbow was struck with an equal force that quickly subdued his strike, giving his opponent the chance to cut him again.
'What!? My armor is far denser and harder than before so how can that sword cut me even now!?' he gained some distance. From that one exchange, it was obvious this human was more experienced in hand-to-hand combat than him.
Even if he has the greater physical might, it's meaningless if he can't land a hit or gets subdued by some strange martial technique.
As long as he had lived, he had never once properly learned martial arts, choosing to dominate his foes with overwhelming might instead of skill. He saw martial arts as tools used by an inferior species but that was the wrong mindset to have if you face a martial artist in the realm of demigods.
Suarif opened his hands, his fingers imbued with pure lightning itself, becoming several times sharper. He then infused lightning into his body.
His opponent faced him calmly in a martial arts stance.
He burst forward, his silhouette vanishing then reappearing, but as if expecting that, the human stepped forward and unleashed a flurry of strikes using his index and middle fingers.
"Kuack!? What is this!?" even though there wasn't much power behind those strikes, Suarif felt his internal energy being forcibly blocked, which cut off the lightning claws he made earlier.
He was then kicked in the face during his bewilderment and crashed into the forest down below, making a deep crevice across the land.
Without a moment's rest, the man crashed down with the force of a mountain, iwelding his sword.
"Kuh!" the moment Suarif felt the connection return, he imbued lightning across his entire body, barely making the man's sword bounce off his armor and pierce only his shoulder for a brief moment. He swung his tail, making the man crash into several acres of trees before landing in the bark of a gigantic tree.
Also not sparing him rest, Suarif charged with a lightning bolt of energy in his palm.
Startled, the man tensed up after climbing out of the tree, then when Suarif was barely inches away, he caught his wrist, struck several points in it, forcing Suarif's arm to bend on its own and send the bolt of lightning upward, scorching the tree with a great fire.
How many subduing techniques does this man know!?
"See if you can subdue this!" his neck elongated and—like a tentacle—his head shot out ready to bite the man.
But all he heard was a, "The worst thing you can do against a martial artist is fight with desperation."
"Huh!?" Suarif's neck was struck even before he could complete his attack. Then his neck went limp, falling down like a deflated balloon. No matter how much he tried, he couldn't pull his neck back.
'What a relief this monster is an inexperienced fighter.' Thought Arnold as he stepped on his neck, 'Sebas beat the methods into me of how to take down an opponent stronger than me.'
Furthermore, chances of success depend on the opponent's fighting experience and their own technique. Speed also plays a role but strength itself doesn't.
Compared to Arnold who trained until his body broke, Suarif is just a newborn baby with too much power. He might be a monster comparable to Gederick, but he possesses none of the experience of the God of War.
Simply striking the acupuncture points was enough to wear this monster down. Of course, it wouldn't have been possible before he absorbed all that energy but using his enhanced energy, he was able to pierce the defenses of this awakened dragon lord.
What would Sebas say if he heard that his student was able to use this technique on a monster wearing such strong natural armor?
"!" imbuing his sword with so much Aether that it created a pillar of light, he swung down with the intention to chop off Suarif's head. However, a strong force suddenly pushed him away before a gigantic shadow fell over this entire terrain.
Suarif took his dragon form again.
"Smart." With his body this big, striking the necessary pressure points to paralyze him again will be difficult. You need to do it within a certain interval, "Looks like you still can't move, though."
"The blood arts sealing gates won't be of much help if he awakens again." Arnold flew up, searching for Suarif's head. upon spotting that elongated neck, he flew towards it, meeting the glare of the Dragon Lord of Wrath.
"Insolent… bastard…!" even now, he spewed curses as he growled, his growling echoing across the valley, "How can human martial arts work on this great me!?"
"…"
"Hah! Ashamed of your cowardly move!? You have no honor as a warrior!"
"I don't need to care about my honor as a warrior. All I care about is your soul." he landed on Suarif's neck, the surface of his skin and scales feeling no different from a cobblestone road.
"Heh." The dragon lord suddenly cackled then the clap of thunder alerted Arnold.
"!?" before he could even look up, several thunder bolts surged across the dragon's body, hitting him all at once, "Gk!?"
The force of the lightning sent him crashing to the ground. Though it didn't take too much of his HP, the shock made his limbs feel like butter, sealing his movements.
"…Shit… Have to circulate my… internal energy… before—" at that moment, the sun was suddenly blocked out as a gigantic shadow hovered over Arnold.
The dragon lord, his upper body as tall as a mountain and wide as a lake, looked down at Arnold with a red glare in his eyes. He raised his gargantuan claw and struck down with the force to crush a castle in one strike.
However, instead of crushing Arnold, it made a clank sound after colliding with an Aether Shield. The next moment, a powerful force erupted from the ground, even lifting the behemoth of a dragon. The force was strong enough to send trees breaking out of the ground from their roots and cause wild winds.
After being pushed upwards, Suarif spread his wings and gained some distance.
"Humph, such annoying abilities."
Coughing, Arnold used a technique to circulate the lightning energy out of his body through his fingertips. It sank into the soil and finally released him from that paralysis state.
"Haa… Haa…"
"Since you have forced my element to awaken, I will grant you mercy." Suarif's voice boomed throurhgout the forest, "Instead of devouring you, I shall give you a painless death."
He then opened up his mouth. The next moment the clouds began to darken and thunder boomed again, then a ball of energy began to gather in front of his mouth.
Lightning then struck that ball of energy, making it bigger.
It struck again.
And again.
It repeated until the ball of energy was almost as big as Suarif's entire body.
Arnold thought about what he needs to do—
Dodge? With Yorm's gift, he can easily teleport away.
However—
He stood up as that ball of energy continued to grow bigger and bigger. All that was behind him was empty mountains and forests so that blast won't kill any people unless there are tribes in the mountains and forests here.
"Hoh, you won't dodge? I thought you were a warrior without honor so I chose this attack deliberately to test your resolve!" Suarif mocked him and cackled.
That kind of power can destroy an entire nation. He won't survive that blast.
Or will he?
Arnold spread his arms apart and closed his fists.
-"Boy, what are you thinking of doing!? Why are you gathering all your energy in your two hands!? I've almost gotten this spirit!"
'Disconnect from my consciousness, Gederick. Go back to my original body.'
-"Don't you need my energy!?"
'My lifeforce and Aether as a clone will be enough for this technique.'
-"You really are pathetic if you're relying on a suicide skill just to take that lizard down! Only you can do such a stupid thing with your strange clone technique."
Gederick already knew what Arnold was about to use. It's one of the most powerful level 30 skills in the game but it requires a significant price. As he said, Arnold can perform this technique at no cost to his original body since he's utilizing this new "skill tree" that the system's A.I gave him.
Then again, it will be difficult for him to regather all that internal energy he'll lose, especially after putting that much internal energy on the line just to carry out Ladiath's order. Hopefully Lian managed to create a cultivation pill that he can use to gain more internal energy.
He'll have to bet on that chance.
"No matter what you're thinking of doing, you will not survive this, traitorous dragonkin!" shouted Suarif when the final lightning bolt struck the ball of energy, clearing the skies once again.
The flash of the lightning was so blinding, it overwhelmed the sun's light.
Arnold smirked, "I'm not betting on surviving."
"Hm!? This confidence of yours is infuriating! Die, traitor!"
"You first." All the Aether in Arnold's body gathered in his fists, creating a thick coating of white energy. He tensed his muscles and closed his fists.
Finally, he brought his fists together with all his might as if trying to use one to crush the other.
[Sacrificial Black Hole Fists]