For Eclixion, today should have been a comfortable day.
Waking up naturally in the morning, he opened his eyes to find the weather was his favorite—overcast with stifling rolls of thunder. After lingering in his cozy nest until nearly noon, he got up and headed to a nearby town for a hearty meal, caused a bit of a ruckus while he was at it, and then returned to continue his long nap.
Normally, he would have slept until nightfall, or simply until the following morning.
To his surprise, shortly after closing his eyes, movement stirred in the surroundings.
At first, Eclixion thought it was just the weather changing, so he didn't mind. He even felt a faint expectation for more thunderclouds overhead and louder thunder in his ears; ideally, a lightning storm would break out right in this valley.
He was a Thunder Dragon, the king among Thunder Dragons!
Ordinary lightning striking him felt like the heavens giving him a neck and waist massage—it was a very comfortable sensation. If he got hungry, all he had to do was roll over and open his mouth, and the falling lightning would turn into food for him to swallow or spit out at will.
Rumble—
The thunder grew louder and closer.
Just as Eclixion was full of anticipation, preparing to welcome this rare full-body massage, he suddenly caught the scent of humans!
He finally realized something was wrong!
Driven by the instinct to respond to a crisis, Eclixion didn't stop to think. He stood up immediately while releasing lightning into the surroundings, which, as expected, neutralized the attackers' strikes.
Before he could react, a series of attacks hammered the back of his head.
It hurts—!!
This wasn't a full-body massage anymore; someone was hitting the back of his neck with a hammer!!
The pain in his back instantly jolted Eclixion from his half-asleep daze. His gaze swept the area, and he finally saw the enemies who had struck him—two women!?
What audacity!
Eclixion's fury erupted. He immediately swung his tail to attack the woman flying behind his head—she was the one who had disturbed his peaceful dreams!
Just as his sneak attack was about to land, a hand suddenly thrust in from the side and firmly pinned his tail down.
"Dammit!!"
"There's another one?!"
Eclixion couldn't help but curse inwardly, but as he turned his head, he was so shocked by the sight that he nearly cried out. The one holding him was a massive figure entwined with white flame-clouds.
Imaginary Take Over: Nika Form!
This was a transformation target Darwin had selected from the many stories told to him by his father, Weston.
Supposedly, this "Nika" was not only immune to lightning damage but could also solidify lightning to hold it in his hands as a weapon—the absolute nemesis of lightning magic!
"I'm saved... thanks, Darwin!"
Having escaped a disaster, Erza didn't linger. She quickly manipulated the wings on her armor to fly to a safe distance.
"Erza, you fall back for now. I'll take the lead!"
Darwin, transformed into the white giant, pinned Eclixion's tail into the ground with one hand to restrict his movement. His other hand balled into a fist, and with a face full of excitement, he smashed it down toward the dragon's head!
Thud!!
Eclixion's head was very sturdy. When Darwin's fist landed, it let out a sound like muffled thunder.
Dragons are immune to over 90% of damage from non-Dragon Slayer magic, but they have little resistance against pure physical attacks, relying only on their own skin and scales to endure. Darwin's swinging fist, however, was clearly not an attack that could be easily endured.
"It hurts—!!"
Stung by the pain, Eclixion let out a roar: "Damned human, how dare you ambush me... let go of your hand!"
A deafening dragon roar exploded alongside violent flashes of lightning. Eclixion's massive body erupted with unbelievable strength. The dragon tail pinned to the ground struggled fiercely; hard scales grated against the earth, carving deep furrows as stone fragments flew everywhere.
"Dammit—"
"This guy's strength is enormous!"
Darwin felt his palm go numb, and that massive tail actually forced its way out of his grip!
The limit of Darwin's "Nika Giant" transformation was about sixty meters, which was roughly the same height as Eclixion's body. Seeing the dragon twisting so frantically now was like watching a crazed, oversized crocodile in his eyes.
The next moment, Eclixion snapped his head back. His bloody maw was wide open, and a ball of heart-stopping, destructive energy gathered deep in his throat.
It was highly concentrated Dragon Lightning!
"Darwin, watch out!" Erza, watching the battlefield closely from nearby, shouted a warning.
However, Darwin's face showed no panic; he didn't even bother to move his feet an inch.
BOOM—!!
The lightning beam struck Darwin directly!
Seeing this, Eclixion couldn't hide the triumph in his eyes: "Stupid human, this is what happens when you cross me..."
Before the words could finish, his voice cut off abruptly, and his pupils shrank.
That pillar of lightning, capable of shattering a mountain peak, seemed to have hit its natural enemy. Though it pressed the white giant's body deep inward and arched it back high, it failed to penetrate even a fraction!
The violent lightning power gathered entirely at Darwin's caved-in chest until it was compressed into a golden orb. The massive body entwined with white flame-clouds displayed an incredible elasticity completely inconsistent with normal biology!
The next second.
The white body snapped forward like a slingshot.
The elastic potential energy, built up to its limit, converted into kinetic energy, propelling the golden lightning orb back along the path it came!
Whoosh—!!
The golden lightning orb grazed Eclixion's head and blasted a hole dozens of meters wide into the mountain peak behind him.
"Wh... what?!"
"This giant's body... could it be made of rubber?"
Eclixion couldn't understand it. In several hundred years of life, he had never heard of a race possessing such a rubber-like constitution.
"So sorry, your lightning is useless against me!"
Lightning ineffective? How could such a "natural enemy" exist in this world?!
While Eclixion was in a state of shock, the corners of Darwin's mouth curled up. He swung his right arm like a fully drawn whip, lashing it forward!
"Take a Nika God Slap!!"
Slap!!
A merciless palm strike slammed into Eclixion's head. Eclixion was sent spinning, seeing stars and unable to speak.
Darwin pressed the advantage. He raised both arms high above his head, balled both hands into fists, arched his body back slightly, and then—
Smashed them into Eclixion's head with all his might!!
BANG—!!!
The massive dragon head crashed into the ground. Two teeth flew out amidst a spray of blood. The earth cracked and disintegrated simultaneously; rocks flew as the ground sank three feet deep.