Above the plains, the three-hundred-meter-long golden-emerald dragon form stood towering and majestic. Its mere presence made the air heavy, and the shadow cast by the dragon's body blanketed nearly half the battlefield.
Agamaggan had been shaken back thousands of meters by a single tail swipe, his hooves plowing four deep trenches into the earth. However, this only served to ignite the primal ferocity in the Boar God's bones.
"Good! What strength! This is the battle I've yearned for!" Agamaggan shook his numbed shoulders. His thorn-like bristles stood on end, emitting a rhythmic clanging like clashing metal. "But that's not enough! Hahaha! Come, my new brother, let us fight to our heart's content!"
"ROAR—!"
The Boar God let out a heaven-shaking bellow, and his size swelled even further. Earth-colored runic light flared around him—he was channeling the Power of the Earth. He slammed his hooves down, causing the plains to collapse several meters deep with him at the center, before launching himself forward like a cannonball, twice as fast as before!
Almost simultaneously, Goldrinn seized the split-second gap while Rhodes clashed with Agamaggan. His silver-grey wolf form blurred into dozens of afterimages, pouncing toward the dragon's joints from all directions. Every afterimage felt real, their claws wrapped in silver blades that tore through space—the embodiment of the Wolf God's Law of Speed!
"Come then!"
The golden-emerald light in Rhodes's eyes flared. His dragon body twisted suddenly; what seemed like a cumbersome frame displayed staggering flexibility. Instead of meeting them with brute force, he slammed his tail heavily into the ground.
"BOOM!!!"
The earth surged up like a tidal wave, sending a ring of soil forty meters high radiating outward! This forced Goldrinn's afterimages to retreat and dodge, while making the charging Agamaggan lose his footing, causing his trajectory to veer off for a crucial second.
Truth be told, Rhodes was not yet familiar with this Wild God body; fighting in this form felt a bit restrictive, but that was exactly what made it exhilarating. Battle was undoubtedly the best way to master this new vessel, and Rhodes's own feral instincts were now fully ignited.
His four massive dragon claws shimmered with golden light. Now!
Rhodes's massive dragon head dove down. He opened a maw large enough to swallow a mountain peak, but instead of biting, he unleashed a world-trembling roar—
"AUNG—!!!"
Physical sound waves mixed with life energy, expanding as rings of golden-emerald halos! Everywhere they passed, space rippled and distorted. Goldrinn's afterimages shattered under the sonic impact, and his true form was forced to manifest and retreat. Agamaggan's charge was once again halted, his front hooves sinking meters deep into the soil.
But the fight had only just begun.
Rhodes's massive claw swept out. Goldrinn, unable to dodge, was forced to brace himself. With a thunderous crash, the Great Wolf was swatted thousands of meters away, tumbling across the ground, snapping countless trees, and even toppling a small hill.
"Ursoc! Ursol!" Agamaggan bellowed.
"Understood!" x2. The twin Bear Gods finally moved. They hadn't wanted to take an unfair advantage earlier, but seeing that their brothers were being overwhelmed two-on-one, they realized there was no need for further politeness.
Ursoc reared up on his hind legs and slammed his paws into the ground. Countless stone spikes erupted from the earth, sealing off Rhodes's movement space. Each spike was as thick as a house, their tips glowing with a brownish anti-magic light—these were Earth Spikes designed to pierce energy shields!
Ursol opened his maw and exhaled a yellowish shockwave, a combined effect of Life and Earth energies.
Rhodes's body glowed with a deep green light, shielding him from the Earth Spikes while simultaneously blocking the shockwave. Then, his massive divine dragon form surged forward. His two front claws snatched the two Bear Gods, one in each, and carried them into the sky.
At that moment, the Boar God let out another massive roar, charging toward Rhodes on all fours, his giant tusks aimed at the dragon's scales. With a resounding Clang, the tusks impacted Rhodes's scales. Rhodes felt a sting in his abdomen, but it was minor. The Boar God's full-strength strike had failed to break his defense, merely pushing through the outer barrier. Meanwhile, Goldrinn had recovered and rejoined the fray.
Rhodes snorted coldly and immediately cast a series of buffing spells on himself: Bloodlust, Stone Skin, Haste, Bless, Shield, and Fortune. He even added the newly acquired Fire-affinity buff, Slayer, to increase his attack power against large creatures, pushing his strength to a terrifying level.
With these buffs active, Rhodes's speed, defense, and attack power soared, all while being bolstered by the Luck attribute. Since this was just a spar, he refrained from using curse-type magic; otherwise, the battle would have been even more lopsided.
The coordination of the four demigods was now on full display: Agamaggan held the front, Goldrinn harassed with hit-and-runs, Ursoc controlled the battlefield, and Ursol attacked from a distance—tactics honed over ten thousand years of fighting powerful foes!
The watching demigods grew solemn.
"Their teamwork is as seamless as ever," Aviana the Avian Goddess noted, hovering in the air with starlight wings spread. "Our new brother might be in trouble."
Malorne the White Stag paced gracefully, a sharp glint in his eyes. "Not necessarily. Look at how he responds."
"Exactly," Cenarius added. "Rhodes just cast several enhancement spells on himself. His power, speed, and defense have increased dramatically."
"Have you noticed?" Ysera the Green Dragon Queen frowned. "Just now, Agamaggan's tusks clearly should have hit him, but they somehow slipped. And Ursoc's paw was supposed to land on Rhodes, yet it somehow struck his own brother instead."
It was eerie. It was as if Rhodes were enveloped in an aura of supreme luck, where every disadvantageous event simply veered away from him.
"Rhodes must have a spell that increases his luck," Cenarius said. "Let us watch closely. I believe Rhodes will be the victor, even against four at once."
In the center of the battlefield, Rhodes was growing more excited. These demigod bodies were incredibly sturdy—the perfect sandbags.
"Now we're talking!"
Rhodes's dragon body suddenly coiled and sprang—not forward, but vertically, leaping hundreds of meters into the air like a coiled spring! The corrosive breath and earth spikes aimed at his belly all missed!
But he wasn't done. In the air, his 300-meter body began to rotate at a speed that defied logic! Golden-emerald light formed a massive energy vortex around him, churning the elemental flow of the entire battlefield.
"That is..." Yu'lon the Jade Serpent's eyes widened in surprise.
"Using his massive frame to create energy turbulence," Xuen the White Tiger observed. "Clever. Now Goldrinn's extreme speed will be disrupted."
These four challengers couldn't fly. Sure enough, as Goldrinn tried to pursue, he felt the airflow around him turn chaotic, weakening his prideful speed by at least thirty percent!
Rhodes's counterattack began. His rotating body snapped straight, and his massive tail, like a whip of the gods, lashed out with a sonic shriek toward the landing Agamaggan! This strike was more than twice as fast as before.
"Come on!" Agamaggan didn't dodge. He lowered his head, pointing his spike-covered back at the incoming tail and digging his hooves deep into the earth to brace for the impact. He was a tank of a demigod, thick-skinned and immensely strong. The Bear brothers also rushed in to support him.
But Rhodes's massive head turned toward the other side, exhaling a highly condensed beam of golden-emerald light. This dragon-breath-like attack instantly forced the bear brothers back.
"What!" Ursol cried out, rolling to the side.
But Rhodes's true killing move was just revealing itself: that golden-emerald beam split in mid-air into hundreds of smaller energy filaments, turning like living things to chase the rolling Ursol! Simultaneously, the tail aimed at Agamaggan shifted its trajectory mid-swing, sweeping in a path that also caught Goldrinn, who was trying to flank him!
One attacking three! Targeting three demigods simultaneously!
"BOOM! BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"
The sounds of explosions, collisions, and energy shrieks blended into one. Agamaggan's back grazed the tail, sending sparks flying as the giant boar staggered sideways from the force. Goldrinn narrowly escaped the sweep, losing a patch of silver-grey fur to the wind, landing and gasping for breath.
Ursol fared the worst. Although Ursoc managed to raise a stone shield to block most of the filaments, dozens still pierced through, leaving charred marks on the great bear's hide.
The battlefield fell silent for a heartbeat. Against four opponents, Rhodes had actually seized the upper hand. Rhodes stood in the center and snorted, then cast a Cure spell on himself, instantly replenishing his spent stamina.
He could fight, he could tank, he could heal, and he could buff. He was the ultimate boss.
"He is... perfect," Ysera murmured, her voice carrying a rare trace of excitement. "The combination of life form and energy circuitry... it has the ancient authority of the Progenitor Dragons and the potential to surpass the current evolution of the Dragonflights. If the Green Dragonflight could bond with such a bloodline..."
She trailed off, but her meaning was clear.
"Mother?" Cenarius noticed her unusual tone.