The Elven Cultivator

Isaac soon had no time for further thought.

The assault from the sixty-four sword lights grew ever more ferocious, giving him no chance to catch his breath.

A streak of Profound Gold Sword Light grazed his neck, carving a deep gash across scales that had only just healed.

Scorching Dragon Blood spurted from the wound and splattered into the blood pool, sizzling as it evaporated into wisps of faint red mist.

Isaac let out a muffled grunt. His massive draconic body thrashed in the blood pool, sending up a huge spray of dark red water.

He swung his right claw, which was wreathed in a grayish-red Power of Law, and swatted violently at the nearest sword light, attempting to shatter it in a single blow.

CLANG!

The great clang of metal on metal echoed through the vast hall.

The sword light faltered for only a moment before slipping through his claws like a fish, completely unscathed. It spun around to his flank and slashed down once more.

The sound of shattering scales was particularly jarring in the vast hall.

”Dammit!”

Isaac’s heart seethed with a mixture of shock and rage.

’These sword lights are even harder to deal with than last time.’

’They’re more agile and swift, and sharper too.’

’It’s like an inescapable net of blades, trapping me in the center.’

Every time he tried to break through, his path was simultaneously blocked by at least ten sword lights.

And every time he tried to channel the Power of Law to counterattack, more sword lights would assail him from cunning angles, forcing him to split his focus to defend. He was completely unable to concentrate his strength.

Isaac frantically swung his claws, his tail lashing out like a giant whip, tearing through the air with a sharp shriek.

Streaks of grayish-red light poured from between his scales, coalescing into the scorching power of embers as he tried to incinerate those damnable sword lights.

However, the sword lights merely dimmed for a moment before shining brightly once more.

Isaac could feel his body bleeding out, bit by bit. His Magic Power was also rapidly draining away.

Yet the sword lights showed no signs of fatigue. On the contrary, their assault only grew more dense and relentless.

”Impossible... This is impossible...”

Isaac muttered to himself, his slitted pupils filled with utter disbelief.

He was clearly on the verge of a full recovery; his remaining injuries were nowhere near severe enough to affect his combat strength. And this time, his opponent didn’t have that strange Array to rely on.

’So why am I being pushed into such a wretched state?’

’I haven’t even seen a glimpse of Anton, yet his sword lights have me backed into a corner.’

’What is this supposed to be?’

Anger, humiliation, indignation, fear... A torrent of emotions flooded his mind, throwing his thoughts into chaos.

But the sword lights didn’t pause for his emotional turmoil.

They continued to weave and slice in silence, leaving new wounds on Isaac’s body time and time again.

The sound of shattering scales was as dense as falling rain. Dragon Blood gushed from his wounds like a fountain, dyeing the entire pool an even deeper shade of crimson.

Isaac’s breathing grew increasingly ragged, his movements more and more sluggish.

He could feel his Life Force rapidly slipping away.

”I can’t die here...”

Isaac let out a hoarse roar. The power of the Ember Law—a grayish-red force—erupted from his body like a volcano, forming a thick, grayish-red curtain of light around him.

Dozens of sword lights struck the curtain of light simultaneously, producing a dense cacophony of metallic clashes.

The light curtain trembled violently, and spiderweb-like cracks appeared on its surface, but it didn’t shatter immediately.

Seizing the opportunity, Isaac gave a mighty beat of his wings. His massive draconic body shot up from the blood pool, rocketing toward the crack in the domed ceiling.

’If I can just break out, if I can just get into the open sky...’

The thought had barely crossed his mind when his vision suddenly went dark.

The sixty-odd sword lights that had been pressing in on him from all sides came to a halt. Then, like a hundred rivers flowing into the sea, they converged in a single direction.

VMMMM!!

A clear, resonant hum of a blade rang out in the vast hall.

In an instant, all the sword lights merged into one, forming a single Profound Gold Sword Light about a meter in length.

This new sword light was no longer overtly sharp or menacing like before. Instead, it seemed restrained and solid.

And yet, it was this seemingly placid sword light that made every scale on Isaac’s body stand on end.

A familiar terror surged through him like a tidal wave, leaving him breathless.

He recognized this sword light.

’Last time, this was the very same sword light that had pierced his right eye and nearly claimed his life.’

’And now, it was back.’

In the next instant, the sword light moved.

It appeared silently before Isaac’s eyes, so fast it seemed to defy the limits of space. Before he could even react, it had already pierced his right eye and exited through the back of his skull.

Dragon Blood erupted!

Isaac let out a short, piercing shriek. His massive body was thrown back by the impact of the sword light, and he slammed heavily against the edge of the crack in the ceiling, sending rubble raining down.

The restorative power of the Ember Law surged from within his body the instant the sword light pierced through. The grayish-red light flowed toward his right eye like a living creature, attempting to heal the wound.

The scene was almost identical to the last time.

Only this time, his opponent gave him no chance to escape.

The sword light paused in mid-air, then shuddered violently and split back into sixty-four streams before attacking once more.

They completely engulfed him, his eyes wide with despair and terror.

The shattering of scales, the tearing of flesh, the snapping of bone, the gushing of Dragon Blood... In an instant, all the sounds blended together into a symphony of death.

Dragon Blood gushed out like a waterfall, dyeing the entire domed ceiling a shocking crimson.

Isaac’s massive draconic body hung in the air for a moment, then, like a collapsing mountain, it plummeted with a roar, smashing into the blood pool and sending up a spray of dark red water dozens of meters high.

The bloody water churned, and bubbles gurgled to the surface.

His body bobbed in the pool, his remaining left eye staring blankly at the crack in the ceiling as the light in his pupil slowly faded.

The sword lights did not stop.

Like ravenous beasts, they frantically cut and tore at Isaac’s body.

Scales, flesh, bone... everything was ground into fine powder by the onslaught of sword light, then completely devoured by the soul-consuming power they contained.

In a matter of moments, the once-invincible draconic form vanished completely from the blood pool, leaving not even a single scale behind.

Having had their fill, the sword lights moved again.

Sixty-three of the sword lights shot toward the main gate, instantly shattering the heavy stone doors before fanning out in all directions.

Soon, the sounds of battle cries and screams rose one after another throughout Dragon City.

The final sword light circled once above the blood pool, then dove down and plucked a palm-sized, blood-colored crystal disk from the water, enveloping it within its light.

Having done this, the sword light shot skyward, passing through the crack in the ceiling and vanishing over the horizon.

Silence returned to the inner fortress.

Only the occasional piece of rubble still fell from the ceiling, landing in the blood pool with a dull thud.

The bloody water churned, bubbles breaking on the surface.

The stench of sulfur and rust hung in the air, refusing to dissipate.

...

Above the clouds, a giant eagle hovered high in the sky.

Grant and Alicia sat on the eagle’s back, their gazes fixed on the distant, motionless figure, each with a different expression.

”What is Anton planning to do?”

A flicker of confusion crossed Grant’s face.

Some time had passed since they’d caught up to Anton.

Anton simply remained hovering in place. He didn’t fly forward, nor did he make any move to attack. He just hung there silently in the air, as if waiting for something.

Alicia shook her head slightly.

She didn’t understand Anton’s objective either.

”We’re at least two hundred kilometers from Kresol Dragon City. Surely he doesn’t plan to kill Isaac from this far away?”

Grant said with a chuckle.

It was meant as a casual joke, but as soon as the words left his mouth, they both froze.

The jesting look on Grant’s face slowly stiffened, replaced by a strange expression.

Alicia’s eyes flickered as well, a thoughtful glint appearing in their depths.

”No way...”

Grant murmured, his brow gradually furrowing.

’To be honest, even I couldn’t pull off something so outrageous.’

Grant turned his head to look at Alicia.

Though he didn’t speak, Alicia understood his unspoken question and slowly shook her head.

”If I had enough time to prepare, I could cast a ninth-circle spell on Dragon City from a great distance. However, the intense energy fluctuations would certainly attract their attention, and they would be sure to activate their defensive Array ahead of time. I wouldn’t be able to kill the Radiant Ash Dragon either.”

Grant nodded thoughtfully.

He had come to a similar conclusion.

Unless it was a Legendary Powerhouse who had mastered Space Law and could attack regardless of distance, attacking a Legendary Giant Dragon protected by an Array from two hundred kilometers away was a virtually impossible feat.

But the sword light Anton had just deployed...

Before they could think any further, a streak of Profound Gold light suddenly flared up on the distant horizon.

Grant and Alicia both focused their gazes on it.

The eyesight of a Legendary Powerhouse far surpasses that of an ordinary person. Even across such a vast distance, they could clearly see what was enveloped in the sword light.

It was a palm-sized crystal disk, dark crimson all over, its surface covered with a dense matrix of runes.

”That’s...” Grant frowned slightly.

”The Blood-Seal Crystal Disk,” Alicia finished, her expression stirred. Her voice carried a rare, unconcealable shock. ”It’s the control core for the Blood-Seal Array.”

Grant’s pupils contracted slightly.

The Blood-Seal Array was the very core of Dragon City’s defensive systems. Its control core was personally managed by the guardian Giant Dragon and never entrusted to another.

Not even Dragon City’s highest-ranking administrator was qualified to touch it.

And now, that very disk had appeared within Anton’s sword light.

What did this mean?

An astonishing thought flashed through Grant’s mind.

’Could his guess have actually been right?’

Even someone as worldly and knowledgeable as Grant couldn’t suppress the intense shock that welled up inside him.

Seeing Anton set off again toward Kresol Dragon City, Grant and Alicia exchanged a look and followed without a moment’s hesitation.