Chapter 431: The Void Dragon

Chapter 431: The Void Dragon

Just moments ago in the Evergreen Forest, Ren had effortlessly gathered the ten soul energies required to unleash the Soul Shattering Impact.

Now, Ren was making his way up the charred mountain path, but before he had even covered a third of the distance, he suddenly stopped, and the two golems behind him came to a halt as well.

A tall but slightly corpulent figure was quickly descending the mountain.

Despite his bulk, the figure moved with agility, and soon stood before Ren, several dozen meters away.

"A rare Puppet Master? If you were to fall here, the Drargon Empire would surely feel the loss," Collins said, sizing Ren up.

The figure was surrounded by ripples of metallic energy particles, and despite his youthful appearance, he exuded the aura of a late-stage Crystal Wizard. He was likely a carefully cultivated heir of a major noble family within the Empire.

Killing such a figure would indeed be an accomplishment.

With this thought, Collins couldn't help but smile.

Ren, on the other hand, studied the suddenly-appeared Collins.

"I thought I'd have to reach the summit and search carefully to have a chance of encountering them."

"It seems these heretics are more arrogant than I imagined, believing their strength to be far greater."

"This is a good thing; it saves me the trouble of searching for them." With this thought, Ren smiled.

Additionally, Collins' aura shared some similarities with that of the Multiarm Pierce, both carrying a hint of madness within their ferocity.

This suggested a high likelihood that Collins also originated from the Limb Graft Church.

At that moment, Collins took the golden double-bladed battle axe from his back and held it in his hand. He then dragged the axe on the ground, creating a hissing sound as he approached Ren.

Initially, Collins' pace was not fast, but after a couple of steps, he suddenly accelerated, and a fierce aura rushed towards Ren.

In the next instant, a golden arc of light flashed by!

"Clang!!"

Sparks flew!

Collins' massive battle axe descended towards Ren, but it was firmly blocked by Ren's left hand, which had instantly transformed into a crane shield.

Ren's counterattack was swift; his right hand transformed into a knight's longsword, aiming for Collins' corpulent abdomen with a swift thrust!

"Ssss!"

A sticky resistance emanated from the sword handle.

Collins responded with a sinister smile and struck again with his battle axe.

"Clang!!!"

This time, the force was even greater, leaving a deep axe mark several centimeters long on the hardened fine gold crane shield. However, it quickly returned to its original shape due to the metal deformation technique.

After a few rapid exchanges, Ren guided Collins to adjust his position, moving to a slightly flatter area on the mountainside. The Inferno Golem carrying the black-robed maiden on its back naturally followed, arriving at the clearing.

At this moment, Collins sensed something amiss.

Firstly, Ren's gaze was too calm, showing no fear or even tension when looking at him.

Secondly, if Collins was a Puppet Master, why wasn't he controlling the golem to attack? It didn't make sense.

Logically, a Puppet Master should heavily rely on their puppets, and they wouldn't choose to engage in a direct confrontation.

Seeing the flicker in Collins' eyes, Ren knew that his opponent had grown suspicious.

However, this wasn't important.

Ren had done this intentionally, as his focus had always been on the Void Beasts behind Collins rather than Collins himself.

He noticed that as they fought, the activity of the Void Beasts behind them intensified.

Several waves of Void Beasts gathered together at this moment.

As the golems finally came to a stop, over a dozen Void Beasts quietly approached and swiftly piled on top of each other, then began to melt like candles, quickly forming an exceptionally large Void Beast.

Ren narrowed his eyes, knowing that the creature was about to make its move.

At that moment, a three to four-meter-wide rift suddenly appeared where the Void Beasts had been, and a giant claw shot out like lightning, grabbing towards the Inferno Golem carrying the black-robed maiden.

"I've been waiting for you!"

Ren smiled, his entire demeanor changing as his muscles expanded. With a flicker, he appeared behind the golem, facing the massive claw, and struck with all his might!

Several minutes earlier.

In the capital city of Temriel, on the second floor of the Astrologist's Platform.

Since Ren had dealt with the Goddess of the Abyss Hela, the tense atmosphere in the room had eased significantly, and most people wore smiles on their faces.

They were confident that the situation in the secret realm would not experience significant upheavals.

Even if the remaining heretic legends possessed formidable strength, it was unlikely that any of them could match the power of the Goddess of the Abyss.

Even she had been slain by Ren, so who among the heretic legends could possibly stir up trouble in the secret realm?

Many began to discuss Ren's strength, debating whether he had reached the Epic level.

As the battle between Ren and the Goddess of the Abyss had concluded, the command hall resumed its comprehensive monitoring of critical locations and personnel within the secret realm, assessing the situation every few minutes.

At this moment, the elliptical stone platform displayed Lambert's swift movements as he approached the Whispering Water Pool.

Lambert, being the fastest, had almost reached the pool, and with a single sword strike, he effortlessly dispatched several Void Beasts.

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

Normally, Void Beasts, being nearly immune to physical attacks, were challenging for even master swordsmen to eliminate. Yet, Lambert made it look effortless.

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

"Indeed, his presence in the secret realm is most opportune.

"He should be grateful to Sir Reign for not killing him when he lost the battle."

At this moment, as everything seemed to be going smoothly on Lambert's side, the image on the stone platform shifted, switching to Baldwin's perspective.

Baldwin and the Arida sisters were seen swiftly heading west towards the crater mountains, and due to the distance, they were just about to exit the Evergreen Forest.

Observing for a moment, the trio seemed to be making good progress.

Soon, the image switched again.

"Huh?"

This time, many people showed interest.

The current scene was of Reign's battle, which piqued their curiosity.

"Who is this? Is there any information about him? How can he be on par with Sir Reign? His strength is so formidable," Augustus said to Tatia, who stood beside him.

Tatia glanced at Collins in the image and then quickly checked the information, replying, "He is Collins Grik, the direct son of the High Priest of the Limb Graft Church, also known as 'Dragon Slayer.' According to intelligence from half a month ago, he is a legendary powerhouse. Logically, he shouldn't be able to fight Sir Reign to this extent."

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

"No, it's more likely that Sir Reign is deliberately concealing his power, although I'm not sure why," Marshal Alfred said, having quickly noticed something amiss.

"Look!" someone pointed at the image.

Everyone immediately turned their attention, and their eyes widened in surprise! Reign, who had been fighting Collins, flickered and disappeared. When his figure reappeared, he had transformed into a Dragon Human, grabbing a semi-transparent dragon claw behind the Golem.

"Is this...that Void Dragon?" Tatia exclaimed in astonishment.

Suddenly, she recalled Reign's request to adjust the rift closer to normal levels in the command hall. Tatia instantly understood, "I see. Sir Reign's intense battle with Collins was a deliberate ploy to lure the Void Dragon into action. It seems he intends to draw the Void Dragon into the secret realm and eliminate it!"

Upon hearing Tatia's words, even Marshal Alfred nodded in agreement.

This explanation made perfect sense.

"But according to the staff's analysis, this Void Dragon's strength might not be inferior to the Goddess of the Abyss's incarnation. If it fails..."

"Isn't Sir Reign taking too much of a risk?" asked Admiral Campbell, furrowing his brows.

After all, in Campbell's view, taking such a risk now, when the situation was already under control, seemed unnecessary.

"This Void Dragon is incredibly powerful. If it continues to roam the void around the secret realm, it's like a ticking time bomb for the realm's safety," Augustus said gravely.

"General Augustus, you're right. But the premise is that Sir Reign can defeat the dragon. If he fails or provokes it, the probability of an attack on the realm's space will greatly increase," Campbell replied.

"I believe Sir Reign wouldn't take such a risk without confidence in victory!" Augustus asserted.

At this point, Campbell chose not to argue further.

After all, he was merely expressing his opinion, not looking for a dispute with Augustus.

At the Flame Mountain.

Witnessing the scene, Collins was filled with uncertainty.

"Such formidable strength..."

The flawless version is available at 69 Book Bar! 6=9+Book_Bar first release of this novel.

Instantly, Collins understood the young man's intentions. His target had never been Collins himself but rather a ploy to lure the true enemy—the Void Dragon—into battle.

This realization left Collins with a mix of emotions. On one hand, he felt humiliated by being so easily overlooked, but on the other, he was relieved that the young man's true target wasn't him.

His face flushed with embarrassment and anger, but he couldn't bring himself to retreat.

After all, as the direct son of the High Priest of the Limb Graft Church, when had he ever been so blatantly ignored? And by a young man he had never even heard of before.

Damn it!

You think that was my full strength just now?

I was merely conserving my essence to deal with a genuine powerhouse like that.

Die!

Collins threw off the heavy cloak he had been wearing, revealing a shocking sight—a giant dragon's head with two pairs of eyes, front and back, its skin dry and withered. The dragon's head was attached to robust arms grafted to his chest and back, a much more impressive sight than Pierce's 'Multiarm' technique in his final moments.

This also explained the bulkiness of his body.

As Collins infused his essence into the two dragon heads, his face grew paler, and the heads, held high by the robust arms, rapidly swelled and expanded with blood.

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

At this moment, anyone nearby could clearly identify the heads as those of adolescent red dragons, both heirs to the Red Dragon bloodline.

Suddenly, the massive dragon eyes snapped open, and strands of blood trickled from the corners. Two distinct yet similar auras permeated the air.

Reign, despite sensing the drastic change in Collins' aura, paid it no mind, as it hadn't surpassed the legendary threshold.

Reign's focus remained solely on the Void Dragon.

At this point, he had transformed into the third phase—the Dragon King form. The rifts around him expanded due to the surge in his power.

However, Reign discovered that even in the third phase, the Dragon King form, he was at a disadvantage in this battle of strength.

Before him, the Void Dragon was even stronger, slowly dragging him towards the rift.

Clearly, the dragon intended to pull him into the rift.

Although Reign wasn't concerned about getting lost in the void whirlpool, before his arrival, the Astrologists had already performed an astrological positioning for the participants of the second trial.

Should he remain in the void whirlpool for more than half a minute, he would be immediately pulled back to the Astrologist Platform in the imperial capital of Temriel.

However, fighting in an unfamiliar environment was not a wise decision.

So, after a moment's thought, Reign fully unleashed the power of his "advanced" mutated draconic bloodline.

This was also the first time he completely released his fourth form—the Dragon Beast Form! His height further increased to eighteen meters, but he appeared much more robust than the Void Dragon across the rift, like a small mountain standing in place. Rings of dark gray energy haloes emanated from his body, giving off an immense sense of oppression.

His muscles were exceptionally developed, with thick limbs, a bulging belly, and unusually broad shoulders, symbolizing unparalleled strength.

Especially his claws, which had become indistinguishable from a dragon's, now tightly gripped one of the Void Dragon's forelimbs.

As Reign transformed, the crowd on the second floor of the Astrologist Platform in the imperial capital of Temriel was astonished to see the image on the oval stone platform tremble twice before completely disappearing.

Meanwhile, the Grand Astrologist Dallian frowned and shook his head, saying, "The spatial fluctuations are too intense! It's impossible to observe anything now."

"Can Sir Reign win?" The thought popped into everyone's minds.

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

"Ah!"

With Reign's furious roar, a nearly twenty-meter-tall semi-transparent dragon was forcibly pulled out of the rift by Reign into the secret realm.

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

"Boom!!!"

Obviously, Reign's sudden burst of power caught the dragon off guard, and it was directly slammed into the ground by Reign.

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

But it wasn't over yet. Reign took advantage of the dragon's fall and swiftly stabbed a claw into its abdomen, twisting it fiercely.

He had to make use of his time.

The secret realm was strongly repelling him, and his power level had long exceeded the upper limit that the Dragon Valley could accommodate.

While 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.

The Sword Saint's attacks carried a strong Sword's Will.

The Dawn Wizard's magic was accompanied by obvious mental branding damage.

Although Reign didn't possess either of these abilities, the high-concentration metallic energy particles surrounding him ensured that each of his strikes inflicted severe magical damage.

With this claw attack, Reign tore out a millstone-sized chunk of flesh from the Void Dragon's abdomen, causing it to scream in agony! However, as an intact Epic-level combatant, it was impossible for the dragon to be defeated by Reign's single strike. Previously, the incarnation of the Goddess of the Abyss, Hela, had been injured and was stunned by Reign's Soul Shattering Impact.

Instantly, the two giant beasts began to grapple, causing the ground to shake violently, dust and debris to rise, and countless rifts to appear all around!

A halo-like Void Flame erupted from the dragon's body, colliding fiercely with the energy halo on Reign's body at this moment!

The collision created a violent shockwave, causing both beasts to retreat several steps!

The Void Dragon, with its anthropomorphic features, revealed a ferocious expression, its chest swelling as it unleashed a Void Breath towards Reign.

Blue flame-like energy rushed towards Reign, but he was prepared.

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

Reign unleashed a crimson flame breath.

Instantly, the two energy breaths collided head-on, forming a stalemate, and the energy in the middle continued to gather, creating a giant, red and blue, two-colored energy millstone.

Meanwhile, Collins, who had just consumed his essence and revived his twin dragon heads, froze in shock at the sight before him.

Even with a hundred times the courage, he wouldn't dare approach.

He had intended to teach Reign a lesson, but he hadn't anticipated the terrifying strength of his opponent. Collins had no desire to die!

Suddenly, the balance of the energy millstone became uncontrollable, and an incredibly powerful explosion emanated from within.

Reign, the Void Dragon, and Collins, who was several dozen meters away, were all sent flying.

But in the next second, Reign quickly got up and charged towards the Void Dragon again, slamming into it mid-air and sending it flying dozens of meters.

At this moment, Collins, still dazed from the impact wave, managed to get up. As he was thinking, he suddenly felt a darkness before his eyes, and two colossal beasts rushed towards him.

The overwhelming pressure made Collins' soul tremble. He tried to dodge, but before he could react, a loud "Boom" sounded, and Collins was crushed under the Void Dragon's back, while Reign's dragon beast form pinned the Void Dragon, claws still striking.

When the two giant beasts finally separated, a huge, bloody, pancake-like object was embedded in the deep depression in the ground.

However, neither Reign nor the Void Dragon paid any attention to the crushed ant-like creature, wondering what it was.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end