More often than not, it was the trump cards of the respective transcendents that made the difference between victory and defeat in a battle. Ordinary spells were rarely sufficient to end a battle between two individuals of similar strength.
It was usually an unexpectedly powerful strike or wisely executed strategy that determined the victor.
Theoretically speaking, there were no spells in this world that couldn’t be curbed. Thus, it was often said that as long as a person had a perfect understanding of his opponent and had reached a minimum level of strength, he would surely be able to defeat his opponent.
There was no absolute certainty in this world, but this showed just how important trump cards were to a transcendent.
On the Sia Continent, powerful transcendents usually had two trump cards.
One was their Origin Attribute, and the other was their bloodline.
Origin Attributes led to a divergence in the ability development of each transcendent, such that most people had their own unique set of spells. This allowed for a wide array of fighting styles, making battles much more complicated.
However, what really made a significant difference in a close battle was still bloodlines.
Roel’s Origin Attribute and bloodline were complementary to each other, but that wasn’t the case for most transcendents.
William’s trump cards consisted of the Swordheart she had forged with her willpower over years of training, her Courage Origin Attribute that was practically built for battle, and last but not least, the Dragon Bloodline she had inherited from her ancestors.
In the colosseum, the crowd had gone wild after witnessing Roel’s chain attacks because they thought that the battle was already set, but on the red mountain, Roel’s eyes were sharply narrowed.
The danger instincts he had cultivated through undergoing many life-and-death situations were screaming at him, telling him that things weren’t over yet.
The flames Peytra was breathing out had further intensified into a raging inferno, sending unbearable heat waves into the already torrid surroundings. Yet, William’s mana pulsation wasn’t weakening at all despite being assailed by the inferno.
If anything, it was getting stronger.
It had already surpassed the prowess William had displayed thus far. Each pulsation of mana harnessed unimaginable might, reminiscent of the resounding heartbeat of a powerful being.
It didn’t take long for Roel to uncover the reason behind this anomaly.
A pair of brilliant golden eyes lit up in the midst of the blazing inferno, signaling the return of a terrifying existence spoken of only in ancient legends. Along with its appearance came a wave of crushing pressure on those who dared stand in its presence. It unfurled its wings and tore through the inferno as if it was no more than a toy.
Finally, its true form was revealed before the crowd.
Dragon.
Reputed to be one of the strongest races in the ancient era, their massive wingspan veiled the sky and their breath demolished everything in their path. Their scales were so tough that even the strongest weapons struggled to breach their defenses.
And today, the dragons had returned to the world.
“!!!”
The loudest ever exclamation could be heard from the crowd when they saw the dragon tearing through the inferno. Many spectators shot to their feet. Their faces were first colored with disbelief before being swiftly replaced by ecstasy.
They viewed it as a huge honor to be able to witness one of the ruling races of the ancient era in action.
However, the development of events left the personnel managing the dungeon feeling utmost flustered. As excited as they were to witness the return of the dragons, the sheer might unleashed by the dragon was destabilizing the dungeon.
At the highest seat of the VIP stand, the white-haired Antonio revealed a slight frown. Looking at the projection of the terrifying existence and the black-haired man facing it, his expression turned grave for the first time in the tournament.
On the battlefield, Roel had a grim look on his face too. As the one facing the dragon’s might in person, he knew better than anyone else how frightening William was in his current state.
The moment before Peytra’s flames struck, William had already activated his bloodline to begin his transformation into his primordial form. It took more than just being a bloodline inheritor to undergo such a transformation. Even Kurt, who possessed the Renascence Origin Attribute, could only reconstruct the body of the giants and not morph into one himself.
Restoration of Primordial Bloodline—this was the basis behind William’s inconceivable ability. By this point, he was practically no different from a real dragon anymore.
He sure has hidden his trump card well, Roel thought with a sigh.
William had chosen an opportune moment to reveal his hand, and things weren’t looking optimistic for Roel right now. But great power comes at a cost. He wouldn’t be able to sustain his transformation for long.
As the man and the dragon exchanged gazes from thousands of meters away, they implicitly knew that they couldn’t afford to fight a battle of attrition anymore.
The battle would be decided within the next few minutes.
A disquieting silence fell upon the battlefield. Neither William nor Roel made a move, but the mana in the dungeon had started to converge toward the two of them.
The rowdy crowd slowly returned to their seats as they waited for the inevitable clash with bated breaths.
Ten seconds.
Twenty seconds.
Thirty seconds.
One minute.
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Time slowly ticked by, but other than the dissipation of Peytra’s avatar, nothing changed on the battlefield. The atmosphere continued to grow heavier as the dragon and the giant stared at each other from afar.
On the audience stand, Alicia clasped her hands together and prayed hard for Roel’s victory. Charlotte’s body started trembling out of nervousness. Over at the Bluerose Faction, the two youths felt like their hearts were going to leap out of their mouths.
After a long silence, the two duelists finally made their moves.
“GRAR!”
The deafening roar of the black dragon shook the sky, heralding the final showdown.
After a long charge-up, William soared into the sky and released a cataclysmic dragon’s breath upon the lands. To her surprise, the giant on the ground didn’t react to her attack at all, and Roel didn’t bother to dodge either.
Instead, Roel raised his head and revealed a pair of golden eyes that glowed brighter than ever. With a calm voice, he summoned his final trump card.
“Glacier.”
There was an intense burst of mana as the Kingdom Origin Attribute throbbed intensely. The Crown’s Stone released a blinding light, and the vague silhouette of an ancient civilization destroyer resurfaced in the world.
The crackling flames scourging the lands were silenced, and the sky started to darken. Surges of frost aura rippled in all directions, seeking to lock all beings in eternal damnation.
Facing the searing dragon breath heading his way, Roel raised his hand and compressed the white frost aura into a sphere of bleak death before releasing it upward.
Boom!
The two antithetical forces clashed, splitting the world into two.
William’s flames flurried outward, dyeing the sky in the color of apocalyptic red. Similarly, Roel’s frost aura rippled outward, threatening to freeze the earth at its very core.
It was a clash far surpassing that of ordinary Origin Level 3 transcendents, and it rattled the very foundations of the dungeon. The personnel managing the dungeon were flustered by the turn of events. Such a situation should have warranted the cancellation of the fight, but the old man sitting at the top of the VIP stand gave no such order.
“Just a while longer,” ordered Antonio.
On the battlefield, the clash between the man and the dragon finally approached its end.
William was the first one to run out of strength while trying to maintain her dragon form, leading to the frost aura suppressing her dragon’s breath and encroaching on the sky. Even so, she refused to give up.
The moment she halted her dragon’s breath, she began charging downward with utmost recklessness. She was intending to use her massive dragon physique to crash-dive into Roel and destroy him with her sheer momentum, just like a comet.
Between the dragon and the giant, it felt like time had regressed back into the ancient era, where unfathomably powerful beings roamed the face of the world. William used her sharp claws as her sword whereas Grandar focused his might into his fist.
The roars of the dragon and the giant overlapped with each other.
Their collision cracked the earth and collapsed the mountains.
The crackling lightning fist sunk into the dragon’s flesh, causing dragon scales to rain on the ground. At the same time, a sharp claw swiped across the giant’s body, severing his white bones.
The spectators in the colosseum were so overwhelmed that they simply went silent. The sight they were seeing jolted their hearts, but at the same time, they felt incomparably small and insignificant before these legendary existences.
On the battlefield, the woman who had transformed into a dragon only had a single thought dominating her mind—I must win this battle.
The words spoken by Roel that night had moved her heart, but ironically, it also reaffirmed her sense of duty and faith. She gathered every last bit of the strength she had accrued from the monotonous training she underwent day after day to defeat the giant that stood before her. Her unwavering will and faith sharpened her blade like never before.
To protect him, I’ll have to defeat him.
On the ground, Roel was also harboring thoughts that were coincidentally similar to hers.
To liberate him, I’ll have to defeat him.
The conviction to win this battle burned in their hearts.
Under Roel’s furious channeling of mana, a crimson plain vaguely overlapped with the scenery behind Grandar. With an earth-shaking roar, the giant king hurled out an unstoppable punch.
It was an all-out attack from a Sovereign of the ancient era.
The cheers of the warriors could be heard echoing from the valleys as if they were already celebrating the triumph of their king. Even the dungeon trembled subserviently beneath his feet.
In the face of the unstoppable fist, the dragon’s body began to swell. Violent mana began rampaging within her body before culminating into an astounding explosion. Grandar’s decisive punch had destroyed the dragon’s body in mid-air, but an armored figure emerged from the explosion and continued charging forth.
This was the final opportunity William had created by paying a heavy price. She began imbuing her mana into her sword, causing it to glow faintly.
Roel was astonished at William’s tenacity, but he knew that there was no backing down now. He took a step forward and released a rush of frost aura against him.
For the last time, their manas collided with each other, sending a flurry of dust and snow into the air.
With this, the battle was finally over.