What stunned Desert Queen Kaelira even more—

Was that the longer the battle raged, the stronger Ethan became.

His aura didn't wane with exertion—it surged, like oil poured onto open flame. His power climbed with every breath, every strike, until it began to brush dangerously close to her own.

And then—

The Dragonscar ranks parted.

A broad-shouldered man stepped forward, his body sheathed in deep crimson scales that shimmered like molten iron. The moment he appeared, the surrounding warriors instinctively backed away, giving him space.

His voice rumbled with the resonance of ancient dragonkind. "Who are you?"

He studied Ethan with narrowed eyes. "The Dragon God's power flows through you… the same as ours. By all rights, you should be kin to Dragonscar. So why fight for Sol'Rakka?"

Ethan didn't answer.

He simply raised his hand—

And compressed his power into a single, blinding sphere of energy.

Then hurled it.

"You—!"

The Dragonscar warrior hadn't expected that. He hadn't even finished his sentence before Ethan launched the attack.

"I was going to offer you a place in Dragonscar Citadel," the man growled, fury twisting into a bitter grin. "But if that's your answer—"

BOOM!

A thunderous blast erupted from his body.

Behind him, a massive Dragon God phantom unfurled its wings—though it wasn't pure. Its energy was muddied, its colors clashing in chaotic streaks. Even its roar sounded wrong, warped, like a dragon crying through broken glass.

Ethan's eyes flickered with disdain.

And then they collided.

THOOM—!!!

The world shook.

Air detonated between them.

The impact cracked the sky itself—spiderweb fractures spread through the space around them like shattered glass.

RUMMMMMBLE—!

The heavens darkened in an instant.

Bolts of lightning the size of towers crashed down from the clouds, turning the desert into scorched earth. Sand whipped into the air in a howling cyclone, a beast of wind and fury clawing at the battlefield.

But Ethan didn't budge.

His Dragon God power poured from him in an unrelenting torrent, drowning out the storm, the thunder, even the groaning of the fractured land beneath them.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

They clashed again and again, each collision warping the air into spiraling vortexes. The weaker Dragonscar soldiers were sucked in, their bodies torn apart in the rifted space before they could even scream.

And then—

With a final, deafening blast, both figures were hurled apart, flung to opposite ends of the battlefield.

A crater yawned between them, massive and smoking, as desert winds howled through the scar they'd carved into the earth.

Ethan drew in a deep breath, steadying his mind.

When he lifted his head again, the sky itself seemed to answer the call of the ancient, untainted power surging through him.

Whoooom—

Behind him, the air collapsed inward with a thunderous pull. From the heart of the light, a colossal Dragon God phantom rose, coiling and roaring, its form so vivid it looked ready to tear through the veil of reality at any moment.

The pressure of true divine blood shook the heavens.

"This… this can't be!"

The leader of Dragonscar Citadel staggered back, pupils contracting to pinpricks. Shock twisted across his face—then greed slithered in, sharp and venomous.

"Such pure Dragon God power… and it's inside you?"

His voice trembled, half awe, half hunger. "Perfect. Perfect. I'll devour every last drop of it."

Then—

His body began to swell.

Bones cracked like thunder. Scales flared open, pulsing with unstable energy. It was as if his flesh couldn't contain the force he was dragging in.

All around him, Dragonscar warriors cried out in pain as their power was ripped from them, siphoned into their leader's body like a tidal surge.

BOOM!

His strength exploded outward, volcanic and wild, blasting past the threshold of Tier 25 in a single, violent leap.

"HAHAHAHA—!"

He threw his arms wide, like a god delivering judgment. "I am the true Dragon God! Sol'Rakka is nothing but sand-dwelling vermin! Today, the world will remember my name!"

His power rolled across the desert in waves, shaking the dunes, cracking the earth.

Kaelira's expression darkened. If this continued, Sol'Rakka wouldn't survive the hour.

She was just about to act when—

A subtle, razor-sharp pulse of energy cut through the chaos.

"Huh?" Kaelira blinked.

Ethan's aura wasn't expanding—it was condensing.

His body shimmered, folding inward, shrinking until all that remained was a speck of golden energy no larger than a grain of rice.

"What is he doing?!"

Kaelira reached out with her power—but Ethan's presence had vanished from the sky.

Then—

The Dragonscar leader's abdomen caved inward with a sickening crunch.

Ethan had become pure energy—and slammed straight into his opponent's body.

"Bastard!" the leader howled, thrashing in agony. "You—filthy insect!!"

But the more he twisted and convulsed, the more his insides tore apart.

Inside the dark, pulsing corridors of flesh, Ethan shot forward like a comet.

His body was wrapped in searing Dragon God light, a divine blade forged in fire and fury. Every time he passed through a node of power, a vein, an organ—

It detonated.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Almost there…" Ethan murmured, voice low and focused.

Then—up ahead—a blinding gold light flared within the writhing mass of tissue.

The dragon pearl.

Golden. Perfect. Radiating raw, violent power.

Ethan didn't hesitate.

He crashed into it.

BOOOOM!!!

His form merged with the pearl, and light swallowed the world.

The pearl collapsed, dissolved, and then—

Unleashed.

A flood of pure, ancient divine energy surged into Ethan, and he took it all.

It was clean. Undiluted. Primordial.

The true force of the Dragon God.

His bloodline, Auri's, and Idra's synchronized in perfect harmony—three streams of light weaving into one.

His Tier shot upward, slamming into 25.

And still climbing.

RUMMMMMBLE!!!

Behind him, the Dragon God phantom exploded in size, its head rising high, its breath warping the very air around it.

Outside, the Dragonscar leader's body convulsed violently. His muscles withered, his skin shriveled, and his energy drained away in torrents visible to the naked eye.

"Stop! Stop! No—!"

But Ethan didn't stop.

A few heartbeats later, the massive dragon-bodied warrior collapsed with a thunderous crash.

What hit the ground wasn't a man anymore.

Just a husk.

...