In the vast emptiness of space, within the chaotic universe, countless stones drift aimlessly.
Suddenly, one such stone was pulled by an inexplicable force and began moving toward a verdant blue planet. Its speed was incredible—no exaggeration to say it covered thousands of miles in an instant. In the blink of an eye, it entered the blue planet's gravitational field.
Upon entering the atmosphere, the meteorite's surface began to ignite. The intense heat instantly evaporated the moisture around it; wherever it passed, it cleared the air like a ship parting waves through clouds.
Finally, after crossing a distance of ten thousand miles, this meteorite arrived above a certain valley in Guiltina.
The heatwave arrived before the stone did. The high-temperature air currents pressed down forcefully, pushing aside the dark clouds as if clearing commoners from a road before an Emperor's procession—an act of extreme solemnity.
The arrival of the meteorite naturally did not escape the eyes of the other two closely watching the battlefield.
"Darwin, look up!!"
Erza patted Darwin's cheek with her right hand and pointed upward with her left. Currently, Darwin remained in his white giant form, with Erza standing on his shoulder.
When Erza slapped his face, Darwin felt as if he'd been nipped by a mosquito. However, he didn't have the luxury to compare whether a mosquito bite or Erza's slap was itchier.
"Yeah, I noticed it long ago. It's coming so fast!"
Darwin tilted his head, watching the rapidly falling meteorite, and voiced a doubt similar to Chris's: "I wonder which is harder: this meteorite or a dragon's scalp?"
One second, two seconds...
The meteorite fell with extreme velocity; in just a few breaths, it was already beneath the cloud layer. It was then that Darwin finally realized something was wrong.
"Hey, hey, hey..."
"Isn't this meteorite a bit ridiculously large?!"
Judging by volume alone, this summoned meteorite was large enough to fill the entire valley and then some! If it landed fully... half of Guiltina would likely shudder three times over!
Instantly, a layer of cold sweat broke out on Darwin's face.
"Run!!"
Without a moment's hesitation, he made the most correct decision—grabbing Erza and turning to bolt!
The sixty-meter Nika giant body moved quite fast. With a few massive strides, Darwin reached the edge of the valley.
"Wait! What about Chris!" Erza shouted from his shoulder.
Her gaze remained fixed on the sky above the valley, where Chris and Eclixion were still locked in a dogfight.
The dragon had clearly noticed the meteorite's arrival as well. Faced with a falling star, even with total confidence in its defense and speed, it didn't dare test its luck and was already intent on retreating.
However, Chris saw through its plan. She constantly manipulated the storms to block all its paths. Under the influence of the gale, Eclixion struggled even to flap its wings, let alone fly freely out of the impact zone.
As for Chris's own safety... with her speed while transformed into a Meteor, she could completely escape the impact zone in the very last second!
Hearing Erza's shout, Darwin stopped and looked back at the situation, cursing under his breath.
"That girl Chris..."
"She's been like this since she was a kid. Once she gets serious, she ignores everything else!"
Seeing the meteorite about to strike, Darwin and Erza acted simultaneously.
"Requip: Adamantine Armor!!"
Erza leaped from Darwin's shoulder, switching to her armor with the strongest defensive capabilities. Simultaneously, Darwin balled his right hand into a fist, just large enough to cradle Erza within.
The next moment, that thirty-meter-long arm suddenly extended like an unstoppable white ribbon, carrying Erza as it forcibly charged into the center of the battlefield!
Upon entering, the lingering storms ground against them like spinning propellers. But those wind blades—capable of cutting gold, breaking jade, and shattering mountains—were bizarrely "bounced" away the moment they touched the rubber arm.
Finally, the fist broke into the core of the fight.
THUD—!!
The fist slammed accurately into Eclixion's head, causing it to bulge upward like rubber. Eclixion felt eighty percent of its consciousness vanish instantly.
Darwin then opened his hand. His palm grew with the wind, expanding several times in a blink until it was larger than the dragon. Targeting his mark, he closed his fingers again, clutching Eclixion tightly in his palm!
It looked no different from a medical student clutching a laboratory mouse.
In the moment Darwin's hand opened and closed, Erza leaped from his palm. Her Sword of the Wind God and Blade of the Sea King flashed again with brilliant sword light.
"Dragon Slayer Swords: Wind and Water Five-Fold Slash!!"
Slash-slash-slash-slash-slash—
Five strikes imbued with the Dragon Slayer attribute landed on Eclixion simultaneously, kicking up a massive cloud of dust.
"ROAR—!!"
The pain brought back a fraction of Eclixion's consciousness. It distorted its body frantically, letting out another agonized howl from its throat.
Being knocked unconscious by a human's punch, then held in a hand in such a humiliating fashion to serve as a target—this was infuriating for the normally arrogant Thunder Dragon King. Unfortunately, no matter how it struggled, it couldn't budge the giant hand an inch.
"Dammit—!!" Eclixion roared in impotent fury.
Having reigned supreme in Guiltina for centuries, this dragon had almost forgotten how to fight. Now, suddenly encountering three exceptionally gifted wizards, it suffered setback after setback.
Conversely, Darwin, Chris, and Erza's tactical coordination was refined to perfection. Their transitions between offense and retreat were seamless, giving the opponent no room to breathe—a result of countless duels and battles fought side-by-side!
Feeling the dragon's resistance, Darwin tightened his grip, flipped his wrist, and slammed his palm down toward the earth!
BOOM—!!
Eclixion was slammed ruthlessly into the ground!
"Is that Erza and Darwin?" Chris looked at the scene and suddenly remembered a bedtime story her father told her about a certain rebellious monkey pressed under the Five-Finger Mountain by the Buddha.
"Chris, it's time to go!!" Erza's shout broke Chris's train of thought.
The girl looked up and saw that the meteorite was indeed very close. Looking at the dragon on the ground, there was no movement for the moment.
Since the goal of pinning the Thunder Dragon had been achieved, she didn't dare stay. She instantly turned into a Meteor, reached Erza, grabbed her armor, and sped along the path of the extended white arm.
Seeing this, Darwin retracted his arm at top speed, catching the retreating pair in his palm along the way to give them an extra boost.
Just as the three escaped the valley, the meteorite hanging over their heads finally struck!