"Hmm? Why are you here?"
In the alternate dimension next door, Crom looked at Aži Dahāka beside him with some confusion.
"Even if you ask me, I don't know."
"Maybe there's internal conflict among the enemies?"
"Who knows? Let's just fight first."
Aži Dahāka's three heads spoke simultaneously, looking at Tatsuma ahead with full battle intent.
A massive energy fluctuation rose, and Aži Dahāka's body began to slowly expand.
At the same time, massive Magic circles formed all around, emitting terrifying auras.
However, just then, a cold light flashed across.
Space shattered, and the aura of destruction annihilated everything. In an instant, the hundreds of Magic circles that had just formed all disappeared.
On the open ground a hundred meters away, Tatsuma walked towards them, holding Gram.
"Aži Dahāka, is this all you've got?"
"Interesting."
"As expected of the Red Dragon Emperor, you are indeed very strong."
"Then how about this?"
After being mocked, Aži Dahāka not only wasn't angry but became even more excited.
Vast and endless magic power surged out madly, twisting the very air. He went all out, and thousands of Magic circles instantly formed.
Curses, lightning, darkness...
Various magic fell towards Tatsuma in an instant, as if they were free.
Not only that, but as the magic power was injected, the number of surrounding magic circles continued to increase.
When the first wave of Magic fell, the number of Magic spells ready to be unleashed in the sky was already close to five digits.
"A bit interesting."
Tatsuma swung his sword once more.
Gram, imbued with Time energy and Power of Destruction, turned into an afterimage, shattering all the Magic spells falling from all directions.
Origin Fruit was activated. Tatsuma ignored all sorts of curses and entered the Trinity Balance Breaker state, his aura soaring.
"Since you like playing with magic, let's see who's stronger."
"Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!"
A series of mechanical sounds rang out, and thousands of Magic circles also appeared around Tatsuma.
Over the past month, Tatsuma often made time to learn new magic from Le Fay. Coupled with Yahweh's guidance, his arsenal of magic greatly increased.
Although he still couldn't compare to a Magic expert like Aži Dahāka, it was enough for a head-on confrontation.
Thousands of Magic circles activated simultaneously, and a torrent of magic imbued with Power of Destruction crashed down.
Although the total number of magic spells wasn't as high as Aži Dahāka's, the quality overwhelmingly held the upper hand.
The two Magic torrents collided, and the battle line slowly pressed towards Aži Dahāka.
"Aren't you coming too?" Tatsuma looked towards Crom in the distance.
Crom shook his head. "I don't like anyone interfering with my battles. After you finish fighting Aži Dahāka, I'll give you some time to recover. We'll fight after you've recovered."
"You're quite upright. Just listening to you speak, you don't sound like an Evil Dragon at all."
Tatsuma chuckled softly, raised his hand, clenched his fist, and swung it towards Crom through the air.
A roaring sound rang out.
Natural energy, carrying a terrifying hurricane, bit towards Crom.
Crom frowned.
After blocking this attack, a look of confusion appeared on his face.
"What are you doing?"
"That should be my question."
Tatsuma pointed his sword at Crom, his aura continuously surging and transforming into tangible pressure.
"Crom, do you know why Yahweh put you and Aži Dahāka together?"
"..."
"That's right, the answer is what you're thinking. Even if you and Aži Dahāka team up, you're still not my match."
Crimson energy rose from Tatsuma, and the chant symbolizing destruction rang out.
Tatsuma used Juggernaut Drive and his aura began to shatter space, causing numerous cracks to appear.
A massive amount of energy was mobilized within his body, and the number of magic circles in the surrounding air began to increase further.
Under the suppression of absolute power, Aži Dahāka's magic defense began to rapidly collapse.
In just a few seconds, the magic torrent emitting a destructive aura arrived before it.
"So strong!"
"Looks like there's no choice, let's use our trump card."
"It's been ready for a long time."
Aži Dahāka's three dragon heads simultaneously widened their eyes, emitting a special fluctuation.
Under the influence of this fluctuation, the magic in the air seemed to be purified. Affected by it, the magic torrent that had already reached Aži Dahāka began to continuously disintegrate and dissipate.
"Finally getting serious."
Tatsuma diverted a sliver of his attention.
Eliminating the magic in the surrounding air to seal the enemy's magic.
This was the real reason Aži Dahāka was called the Forbidden Dragon of Demonic Origin.
Under the situation of being suppressed, he now gave up on winning with magic and started to show his true abilities.
However...
"Since you don't want to compete with magic, you can only face me head-on."
"Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost! Boost!"
A new round of mechanical sounds rang out, and Tatsuma amplified Time energy to the extreme.
His figure disappeared from the spot as he walked in the river of time and appeared behind Aži Dahāka.
Power of Destruction and Time energy merged into one.
Gram pierced through the dragon's body. In an instant, a penetrating wound several tens of meters long appeared on Aži Dahāka's dragon body.
Intense pain rose around his body. Even Aži Dahāka, who had faced countless battles, couldn't help but let out a miserable cry.
But Tatsuma still didn't stop. The moment he cried out, he appeared in front of Aži Dahāka.
Walking backward in the river of time, he split into three and simultaneously appeared before Aži Dahāka's three heads.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Deafening roars rang out, and Aži Dahāka's three heads were simultaneously struck heavily.
This time, Aži Dahāka's will finally reached its limit, and he rolled his eyes and fell to the ground.
[Congratulations on successfully defeating Aži Dahāka and obtaining the gold trait: Magic Source Sealing.]
[Magic Source Sealing (Gold): Consumes a certain amount of stamina to seal the magic of a designated target or surrounding area.]
A gold trait, not bad.
Glancing at the newly acquired trait, Tatsuma withdrew his gaze and looked towards Crom in the distance.
"How about it, Crom? Do you still dare to let me recover my stamina now?"
"No, I was too arrogant."
Crom recovered from the fleeting battle that had just happened, and his lips curved upwards, revealing an excited smile.
"To fight you, I have to use any means necessary."
Boom!
The moment his words finished, Crom took a deep breath and exhaled overwhelming dragon flames towards Tatsuma.
The temperature of these dragon flames was extremely high, even slightly higher than Tatsuma's flame magic, terrifying to the extreme.
Wherever the flames flowed, everything dissolved, and even the air was affected and twisted madly.
Tatsuma raised his sword and swung it down. The slash split the flames in two, revealing Crom who was lurking within the flames and charging over.
Massive magic gathered on his body surface. Crom didn't activate any abilities, relying on his powerful body to prove he could shatter the slash.
After that, Crom appeared before Tatsuma with undiminished momentum and punched down. Tatsuma didn't dodge, and similarly raised his fist to attack.
Fist met fist.
Pure violence intertwined, shattering the spatial barrier.
A surging shockwave spread in all directions, and the ground beneath Tatsuma's feet caved inwards.
The next moment, Crom turned into an afterimage and flew backward, crashing through the spatial barrier and disappearing from sight.
Tatsuma didn't pursue immediately, but instead lowered his head to look at the cracked armor on his fist.
"Ddraig, who do you think was stronger between you and him during your lifetime?"
[Partner, is that even a question?]
[I'm a Heavenly Dragon, of course I'm stronger!]
Ddraig's confident voice rang out.
However, inside the Sacred Gear, Ddraig's expression was somewhat strange, his eyes filled with shock.
Having followed Tatsuma for so long, this was the first time he had seen someone who could make him take half a step back.
Boom!
A deafening roar rang out.
Crom, who had just been sent flying, appeared before Tatsuma again.
His black coat was tattered, and his right arm, which had just launched the attack, was covered in bloody marks. However, compared to the injuries on his body, his fighting spirit was becoming more and more inflated, and his eyes were full of light.
"Continue!"
Crom didn't revert to his original form, but maintained his human form and attacked again.
Walking in the human world for hundreds or thousands of years, Crom continuously absorbed human wisdom and honed himself.
For him, the human form was sometimes more useful than the dragon form. His combat techniques, honed through countless trials and even reaching the realm of gods, were constantly displayed.
Crom showcased his accumulation of countless years to the fullest.
Facing the battle-hungry Crom, Tatsuma didn't activate Time energy or other abilities this time, relying solely on his physical stats amplified by Juggernaut Drive to engage in a head-on confrontation.
The sturdy steel base was torn like thin paper, and cracks spread outwards like a spider web.
At the edge of the battlefield, Yahweh appeared quietly with the surrendered Apophis.
"Oh... This is truly remarkable."
Yahweh let out a sigh of admiration. "Although I had anticipated it before, I didn't expect Crom to actually surpass the Two Heavenly Dragons through training."
Apophis asked, "Your partner seems to be at a disadvantage, aren't you going to help?"
Yahweh tilted her head. "At a disadvantage? Your eyes weren't blinded by my flashbang, were they?"
Apophis: "..."
If he had to say, he was a little blinded.