By the time Eclixion regained consciousness, it was already too late to flee.
He had not only been swatted from the sky by Darwin but had been slammed directly into the depths of the earth. A colossal crater had formed in the center of the valley from his fall; looking up through the pit, his vision was entirely consumed by the burning meteorite.
Eclixion suddenly thought of the fable called "The Frog in the Well."
At this moment, he felt exactly like that frog—trapped in a hole, unable to escape the approaching catastrophe. Having lived in this valley for so long, he had forgotten how vast the outside world was, and he had no idea that the creatures known as humans had grown powerful to such an extent!
The damage caused by Darwin's palm strike was far more severe than it appeared. Although the dragon had momentarily regained consciousness, he felt dizzy, his internal organs felt as if they were burning, and his limbs were weak and immobile.
It hurts...
It feels like some of my internal organs are crushed.
Have humans really grown this formidable? No... that's not right! It's not that they grew this strong; they were always this strong, and he had simply forgotten! Many years ago, wasn't it because of that human named Acnologia that he and his kin were forced to flee Ishgar and come to this continent?!
But those three humans didn't seem to be Dragon Slayers? And they looked so young? Moreover, from the exchange just now, they hadn't even used their full strength!
Damn it, damn it, damn it!!!
If news of today got out, he'd likely be mocked for a long time. They'd say he wasn't worthy of the title "Thunder Dragon King"... He might even implicate the other "Dragon Kings," causing them to be looked down upon by their kin or even by humans!
"Cough—"
Eclixion struggled to crawl up from the ground. Bright red blood flowed from his head and seeped from beneath his scales, trickling onto the ground.
"Only this... I can endure anything else, but I absolutely will not allow the title of 'Dragon King' to be tarnished!"
"Even if I must die here today, I will fight until the very last moment!!"
Hooo—
Eclixion let out a long breath, then inhaled sharply.
Instantly, magic power boiled and thunder churned. The ambient electricity drifting in the valley began to surge frantically into the pit, gathering within Eclixion's body. This Thunder Dragon King, sensing his life was nearing its end, decided on a life-risking strike to shatter the massive meteorite above his head.
As the currents gathered, Eclixion's aura rose steadily, like a cornered beast making its final stand. The aura of danger swept in all directions, making all living things tremble with terror. The mountain forests swayed wildly, and the earth shook incessantly. The entire valley seemed to come alive, waiting restlessly for the judgment of the meteorite and the dragon.
Massive fragments broke off from the main body of the meteorite, trailing fire like a meteor shower as they peppered the valley. Eclixion's aura reached its peak at that moment. All the energy condensed at his chest, transforming into his most frantic, violent, and hysterical breath.
"Roar of the Thunder Dragon King!!!"
BOOM—!!!
A golden pillar of lightning erupted from the ground, blasting straight toward the heavens and the meteorite! At the point of impact, the two forces collided, creating an earth-shattering explosion. Light, vibration, and sound traveled for hundreds of miles!
Amidst the endless smoke, a rain of rubble fell, filling one-fifth of the valley in an instant.
"Did I succeed?"
Eclixion's strength was spent; he collapsed backward. Meteorite shards pelted his body, but he was oblivious, staring wide-eyed at the sky, waiting for the result.
Finally, the smoke cleared. The meteorite... was still there!!
However, compared to before, its size had decreased by about one-third.
"Could my final strike only destroy a third of it?"
"How regrettable...!!"
Eclixion closed his eyes, full of remorse. With a thunderous crash, the meteorite struck the ground!
...
Outside the valley.
"Darwin, behind us!!!"
Chris, sensing the movement, shouted to Darwin immediately. Due to the shortage of time, the three of them hadn't retreated very far. While the energy from Eclixion's final blast wouldn't reach them, the shockwave from the meteorite's impact was absolutely unavoidable.
Fortunately, Darwin was still in his Nika Giant form.
"Leave it to me!!"
Darwin stopped instantly, stuffing Chris and Erza into the front of his shirt. He spun around, eyes quickly confirming the direction, and then his arms elongated violently as his fingers thrust into the earth.
The ground was instantly rubberized. Darwin gave a massive upward heave, and a vast stretch of land rose in front of him, transforming into a curved, rubbery shield. The shield was long enough to wrap around approximately three-quarters of the valley.
The next moment, the impact arrived.
But that energy shockwave, capable of sweeping across all of Guiltina, seemed to turn solid the moment it hit the rubber shield and was easily "bounced" back. A small portion of the reflected energy collided head-on with the following waves, venting instead into the depths of the earth.
Because of Darwin's maneuver, the land extending behind the shield would suffer minimal damage. On the other side, however, the situation was far more serious.
The original impact from the meteorite fall and the reflected impact from Darwin's rubber shield stacked together, forming an even more powerful shockwave that devastated the other side of Guiltina beyond recognition. Landslides, earth fissures, tsunamis, animal stampedes... all sorts of chaos erupted simultaneously, unstoppable.
Fortunately, their current position was quite close to the edge of the Guiltina continent, and the corner hit by the "double-layered impact" was toward the sea! As a result, the subsequent fluctuations would at most cause tsunamis at sea but wouldn't affect the people living further inland.
After an unknown amount of time, the tremors caused by the meteorite finally subsided. Darwin reverted to his original form, lying on the ground panting heavily from exhaustion. Taking Over the fantasy creature "Nika" already consumed a vast amount of magic, let alone the fact that he had used his full strength to block the impact afterward. It was a miracle he was still conscious.
"Hahahaha..."
"That was really dangerous just now!"
Chris laughed while teasingly giving Darwin a massage to curry favor. "Luckily you were here, otherwise if we took those two waves of energy head-on, we'd be heavily injured if not crippled. Thanks a lot."
Darwin felt both helpless and exasperated.
"If you knew that, you should have held back a little during the fight!!"