Chapter 431: The Void Dragon

Chapter 431: The Void Dragon

Just moments ago in the Evergreen Forest, Rain effortlessly collected the ten soul energies required for his 'Spirit Shattering Impact'.

Now, Rain walks along a charred mountain path, winding his way upwards. But before he's even covered a third of the distance, he suddenly stops, and the two automatons behind him come to a synchronized halt.

A tall but slightly corpulent figure descends swiftly from the mountain.

Despite his bulk, the figure moves with agility, quickly stopping a few dozen meters in front of Rain.

"A rare Puppet Master, huh? The Dragon Empire will surely feel the loss if you fall here," Collins remarks after a quick assessment of Rain.

The figure is surrounded by ripples of metallic energy particles, and though his face appears youthful, he exudes the aura of a late-stage Crystalized Wizard, likely a highly cultivated heir of some powerful noble family.

Killing such a figure would indeed be an accomplishment.

The thought brings a smile to Collins' face.

Rain, in turn, studies the suddenly-appeared Collins.

"I thought I'd have to reach the summit and search carefully to find you."

"These heretics seem to have an inflated sense of their strength, more so than I imagined."

"That's a good thing; it saves me the trouble of looking for you." Rain smiles at the thought.

Additionally, Collins' aura shares some similarities with the 'Multi-armed' Pierce, both exuding a kind of madness within their ferocity.

This suggests that Collins is also likely from the Limb Graft Cult.

At that moment, Collins removes the golden double-bladed great axe from his back and holds it in his hand. He then drags the axe on the ground, making a hissing sound, as he approaches Rain.

At first, Collins' speed is not remarkable, but after a couple of steps, he suddenly accelerates, and a fierce aura surges towards Rain.

The next instant, a golden arc flashes by!

"Clang!!"

Sparks fly!

Collins' massive battle axe descends upon Rain, but it is deftly blocked by Rain's left hand, which has transformed into a crane shield.

Rain immediately counters, his right hand morphing into a knight's longsword, aiming for Collins' corpulent abdomen with a swift stab.

"Ssss!"

A viscous resistance is felt through the sword's handle.

Collins, with a sinister grin, follows up with a heavy axe chop towards Rain.

"Clang!!!"

This time, Collins' strength is even greater, leaving a deep axe mark on the hardened mithril crane shield. But soon, the shield returns to its original state under the influence of Metal Transformation.

After a brief exchange of blows, Rain guides Collins to a slightly flatter area on the mountainside, and the Hellfire Automaton carrying the black-robed maiden also moves to the open space.

At this point, Collins senses something amiss.

Firstly, Rain's gaze is unusually calm, devoid of fear or even tension when looking at him.

Secondly, if Collins is a Puppet Master, why isn't he controlling the automaton to attack him? It doesn't make sense.

Normally, a Puppet Master should heavily rely on their puppets, and they wouldn't choose to confront Rain directly.

Noticing the flicker in Collins' eyes, Rain realizes that he has become suspicious.

However, this is of little importance.

Rain's intention is clear; from the start, his focus hasn't been on Collins in front of him, but on the Void Beasts behind him.

He discovers that as he fights with Collins, the activity of the Void Beasts behind them intensifies.

Several waves of Void Beasts gather together.

Just then, as the automatons come to a halt, over a dozen Void Beasts quietly approach and quickly pile on top of each other, melting like candles, soon forming an exceptionally large Void Beast.

Rain narrows his eyes, knowing that the enemy is about to make a move.

At that moment, where the Void Beasts are located, a three to four-meter wide rift suddenly appears, and a giant semi-transparent claw shoots out, reaching for the black-robed maiden on the Hellfire Automaton's back.

"I've been waiting for you!"

A smile plays on Rain's lips, his aura intensifies, muscles bulging, and with a quick movement, he appears behind the automaton, gripping the semi-transparent claw with all his might.

"This time, you're not leaving!"

A few minutes earlier.

In the Imperial City of Tamriel, on the second floor of the Astral Platform.

Since Rain dealt with the Goddess Hela of the Abyss, the tense atmosphere here has eased significantly, and many faces are now filled with smiles.

They are confident that the situation in the sanctuary will not face any major upheavals.

Even if the remaining heretic legends are powerful, none can match the strength of the Goddess of the Abyss.

If even she was defeated by Rain, what heretic legend could cause a stir in the sanctuary?

Many begin to discuss Rain's strength, debating whether he has reached the Epic rank.

With Rain's battle against the Goddess of the Abyss concluded, the command center resumes its comprehensive monitoring of key locations and personnel in the sanctuary, swiftly assessing the situation every few minutes.

Currently, the elliptical stone platform displays Lambert's swift movement towards the Echoing Waters Pool.

Lambert, the fastest among them, is about to reach the pool, having easily slain several Void Beasts with a single sword strike each.

The silver sword traces lingering in the air for several seconds astonish many.

Normally, Void Beasts, nearly immune to physical attacks, are difficult for sword masters to eliminate, but Lambert makes it look effortless.

"Lambert's strength is likely just a hair's breadth away from the Sword Saint."

"Hmm, he's come to the right place this time."

"He should thank Lord Rain for not killing him outright when he was defeated."

Just then, as Lambert's actions seemed to be going smoothly, the image on the stone platform shifted to Baldwin's side.

There, he was with the Aida Sisters, the three of them swiftly heading west towards the circular mountain cliffs, and due to the distance, they were just about to exit the Evergreen Forest.

After observing for a while, everything seemed to be going well for the trio.

Soon, the image switched again.

"Huh?"

This time, many people showed interest.

Because the image was of Rain's battle.

At this moment, Rain was fighting Collins, and from the situation, it seemed like a defensive battle, with Rain appearing to be at a disadvantage.

This caused Augustus to frown, and he said to Tatiya beside him, "Who is this? Is there any information about him? How can he match Lord Rain so evenly? He's so strong!"

Tatiya glanced at Collins in the image and looked confused. She quickly checked the data and said, "He's Collins Gerrick, the direct son of the High Priestess of the Limb Graft Church, nicknamed 'Dragon Slayer'."

"According to intelligence from half a month ago, he's at the Legendary Peak level. Logically, he shouldn't be able to fight Lord Rain to this extent."

"Of course, there's also a small probability that he's hiding his true strength."

"No, it should be Lord Rain hiding his strength, though I don't know why." Alfred Marshal, standing beside them, quickly noticed something amiss.

"Look!" Someone pointed at the image.

Everyone immediately looked, and they were all astonished!

Rain, who was fighting Collins, flickered and disappeared. When he reappeared, he had transformed into a Draconic Human, grabbing a semi-transparent dragon claw behind the Automaton.

"Is... is that the Void Dragon?" Tatiya exclaimed in surprise.

Suddenly, she connected it to Rain's earlier request to adjust the Rift Closer's power to normal levels, and Tatiya suddenly realized, "I understand. Lord Rain's intense battle with Collins was to lure out the Void Dragon. It seems Lord Rain wants to draw this Void Dragon into the sanctuary and eliminate it!"

Upon hearing Tatiya's words, including Alfred Marshal, everyone nodded in agreement.

This explanation made sense.

"But this Void Dragon, according to the staff analysis, might be no weaker than the previous Incarnation of the Goddess of the Abyss. If he fails..."

"Isn't Lord Rain being a little too reckless?" Campbell frowned and said.

After all, the situation was already in their favor, and taking such a risk seemed unnecessary to Campbell.

"This Void Dragon is very strong. If it's been roaming the void around the sanctuary, it's like a ticking time bomb for the sanctuary's safety." Augustus spoke gravely.

"You're right, General Augustus, but on the condition that Lord Rain is certain of victory. If he fails or angers the dragon, the probability of an attack on the sanctuary's space will greatly increase." Campbell added.

"I believe Lord Rain wouldn't do something without assurance!" Augustus asserted.

At this point, Campbell didn't continue the argument.

After all, he was just stating his opinion, not looking for a fight with Augustus.

Flame Mountain.

The scene before Collins' eyes naturally made him doubt his senses. "This level of strength..."

Instantly, he understood the cause and effect. This young man's target had never been him; instead, he was using their battle to lure out the true enemy—the Void Dragon.

This made Collins feel both secretly pleased and humiliated, as if his strength was being ignored.

The mixed feelings made his face alternate between red and white. He wanted to retreat, but he couldn't bear it!

After all, when had he ever been ignored as the direct son of the High Priestess of the Limb Graft Church? And the one ignoring him was an unknown Empire youth.

Damn it!

You think that was my full strength?

I was just saving my essence blood for a real powerhouse like the one before.

Die!

Collins flung off his heavy cloak, revealing a shocking sight—a huge dragon's head with two pairs of tightly shut eyes and dry skin, attached to his chest and back.

This was far more sophisticated than Pierce's 'Multi-armed' technique used in his final moments.

It also explained why Collins' body was so bloated.

As Collins injected his essence blood into the two dragon heads, his face grew paler, and the dragon heads, attached to thick arms, were raised high. Simultaneously, the dragon heads swelled and grew larger due to the blood.

Soon, the shriveled dragon heads became as lively as if they had just been severed.

If someone else were there, they would clearly recognize that both dragon heads belonged to adolescent dragons, and they were both Azure Dragon Heirs.

Suddenly, the massive dragon eyes snapped open, and thin strands of blood seeped from the corners. Two distinct yet similar auras spread out.

At this moment, Rain sensed the drastic change in Collins' aura, but as it didn't exceed the Legendary limit, he didn't pay it much mind.

Rain's focus was always on the Void Dragon.

Currently, he had transformed into the third stage, and the rifts around him expanded due to his drastic power increase.

However, Rain discovered that even in the third form—the Dragon King Form, he was at a disadvantage in this power struggle.

Before him, the Void Dragon was actually overpowering him, slowly dragging him towards the rift.

Clearly, the other party was trying to pull him into the rift instead.

Although Rain wasn't worried about getting lost in the void turbulence, before he came, the Star Mages had already given them a preliminary astrological positioning for the participants of the second trial.

Once he stayed in the void turbulence for more than half a minute, he would be immediately pulled back to the Star Mage Platform in the Imperial City of Tamriel.

But fighting in an unfamiliar environment was not a wise move.

So, after a moment's thought, Rain fully unleashed the power of the 'Advanced' Enchanted Dragon Bloodline.

This was also the first time he completely unleashed his fourth form—the Dragon Beast Form! His height further increased to eighteen meters, but he looked much larger than the Void Dragon across the rift, like a small mountain standing in place. Rings of dark gray energy circled his body, dissipating outwards, giving off an immense sense of oppression.

His muscles were exceptionally developed, with thick limbs, a potbelly, and unusually broad shoulders, representing unparalleled strength.

Especially the claws, which had become almost indistinguishable from a dragon's, were now gripping the Void Dragon's forelimb tightly.

At this moment of transformation, the crowd on the second floor of the Star Mage's Platform in the Imperial City of Tamriel was astonished to see the image on the elliptical stone plinth tremble twice before completely disappearing.

Grand Star Mage Dalian, on the other hand, frowned and shook his head, saying, "The spatial fluctuations are too intense! It's completely impossible to view it now."

"Can Lord Rain win?" The crowd couldn't help but wonder.

With the full liberation of his fourth form, Rain clearly had the upper hand in terms of strength.

"Ah!"

With a roar from Rain, a semi-transparent giant dragon, nearly twenty meters tall, was forcefully pulled by Rain from the rift into the sanctuary.

At this moment, the diameter of the rift was only five to six meters, but the Void Dragon seemed to have good elasticity, so it was pulled over entirely.

"Boom!!!"

Apparently, Rain's sudden burst of strength caught the Void Dragon off guard, and it was directly pinned to the ground by Rain.

A huge crater appeared on the ground, and the shockwave sent mud and gravel flying in all directions, forming a giant mushroom cloud.

But it wasn't over yet. Taking advantage of the Void Dragon being knocked down, Rain swiftly slashed its abdomen with a lightning-fast claw attack and twisted it viciously.

He had to make use of the time.

The sanctuary was strongly repelling him, and his power level had long exceeded the sanctuary's capacity limit.

Although the Void Dragon had a high immunity to pure physical attacks, the problem was that at the epic level, no one's attacks were purely physical.

Sword Saints would have the strong will of the sword.

The witchcraft of the Dawn Wizards would also have obvious mental imprint damage.

Although Rain didn't possess either of these, the high-density metal energy particles surrounding him ensured that each of his attacks out of the sanctuary was accompanied by intense witchcraft damage.

With this claw attack, Rain tore out a chunk of flesh the size of an energy disc from the Void Dragon's abdomen, causing it to howl in pain! However, as a fully functional epic-level fighter, the Void Dragon was naturally not going to be defeated by Rain's single strike. Previously, the incarnation of the Sea Goddess Hela was injured, and secondly, she was stunned by Rain's Spirit Shattering Impact.

Suddenly, the two giant beasts grappled with each other, causing the ground to shake violently, dust and debris to rise, and the surrounding rifts to appear in abundance!

A halo-like void flame suddenly erupted from the Void Dragon's body, colliding with the energy halo on Rain's body, creating a fierce clash!

The collision caused a violent shockwave, forcing both massive creatures to retreat several steps! The Void Dragon, with its somewhat human-like features, revealed a hideous expression, its chest swelling as it unleashed a void breath towards Rain.

A blue flame-like energy rushed towards Rain, but he was prepared.

Remember, in his fourth form, he could also use breath attacks.

Rain unleashed a breath of crimson flames.

Instantly, the two energy breaths collided head-on, quickly forming a standoff, and the energy aggregation in the middle grew stronger, forming a giant, red and blue, dual-colored energy disc.

Meanwhile, Collins, who had just recovered his strength by consuming his essence blood and reviving the two dragon heads, was stunned by the scene before him.

He wouldn't dare to rush forward even if he had a hundred times the fear.

He had wanted to teach Rain a lesson, but he hadn't expected Rain's strength to be so terrifying. Collins didn't want to die!

Suddenly, the balance of the energy disc became uncontrollable, and a powerful explosion emanated from within.

Rain, the Void Dragon, and Collins, who was dozens of meters away, were all knocked aside.

But the next second, Rain quickly got up and charged towards the Void Dragon, knocking it off its feet and sending it flying dozens of meters away.

At this moment, Collins, dazed by the shockwave, struggled to get up. As he was still thinking, he suddenly realized that two massive creatures were rapidly charging towards him.

The overwhelming pressure made Collins's soul tremble in fear! Collins's face showed terror, and he tried to dodge, but in that moment of hesitation, a loud "Boom" sounded, and he was crushed under the Void Dragon's spine, while Rain's Dragon Beast form was pressing down on the Void Dragon, claws slashing relentlessly!

When the two giant beasts rolled away from each other, there was a huge indentation in the ground with a bloody, flesh-like pancake-shaped object stuck at the bottom of the compressed indentation.

However, neither Rain nor the Void Dragon paid any attention to the crushed ant-like creature, whatever it was.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end