Chapter 968: You are not quite as weak as I imagined

“A challenge? Hardly.”

“I doubt you truly possess the strength to slay a demigod’s phantom,” Adras rumbled, his voice thick with disdain. “You must have devised some sort of trap, an illusion to deceive the elders.”

“But there are no demigods watching now. Let me see what you are truly made of.”

As a dragon at the peak of an arch lord’s power, Adras was both mighty and proud. He did not underestimate Orion, precisely; he simply believed the tale of three arch lords besting a demigod’s phantom concealed some trickery. Adras knew better than most how vast the chasm was between an arch lord and a demigod.

“It seems you hold little respect for your own elders,” Orion observed.

He could see it clearly now. The fire dragon before him simply didn’t believe the word of the brass dragon, Latychrenber. The idea that three arch lords could handle three demigod phantoms was unthinkable to most of dragonkind—a fairy tale. It was far easier for them to believe their elders had been ensnared by some grand deception.

Orion studied Adras. The dragon’s attitude suggested that the unity of the dragons was not as absolute as it appeared. There were fractures, rivalries between the different flights, hidden beneath the surface by the pressure of external threats.

“Giant,” Adras snarled, “you must understand. We dragons are the masters of the sky and the earth. You, your kind, the entire Dusk Continent—you are nothing more than our prey!”

Orion rolled his eyes. The dragon had to be a fool. How could a creature with such a temperament survive long enough to become an arch lord?

“Has this beast ever even left the Uynting Realm?” Orion muttered.

He couldn’t have known how right he was. Adras was the scion of a demigod elder and had indeed never ventured beyond his home. He had ascended to his power through bloodline alone, sleeping his way to the rank of arch lord without a single trial. The dragon clans knew of his sheltered existence; he had been kept from the front lines in all previous invasions.

But with the Deputy Commander and Arthas leading a full assault on Dragonflame Island, and the demigods unable to control the field, even Adras had been forced to join the fray.

“Not even a demigod can save you today!” Orion raised his trident, its points leveled at Adras.

“You dare provoke the great Adras? You dare defy the mightiest of dragons?” Adras roared, his voice like an avalanche. “I will incinerate you with my flame! Filthy insect, you are dead!”

As the roar echoed, a blinding light flared from Adras’s body. Crimson runes ignited across his scales, and the very air grew thick and heavy with raw, fiery power. Orion heard a sound like a world-spanning wildfire catching all at once. The very surface of the sea around them erupted into flame.

Orion’s brow furrowed, his expression hardening. This was no simple fire magic. Adras was demonstrating a masterful command of two opposing elements. The flames were not merely burning on the water’s surface; they were feeding on it, drawing the essence of the sea into a volatile reaction that amplified the inferno tenfold.

In the moments Orion took to analyze the phenomenon, Adras had already summoned two towering fire elementals. They stood upon the burning waves, flanking their master like sentinels—one wielding a spectral greatbow of fire, the other a massive greatsword of living flame.

“Heh heh heh… In the domain of fire, I am without equal!” Adras hissed and began chanting again, preparing to summon another elemental.

Orion would not let that happen. He activated Ghostly Steps and used Instant Impact, appearing directly before Adras in a flash and thrusting with his trident. The sequence was brutally simple, but it was a strike delivered with his full might, empowering himself with Titan Form and Aura Lock in the same instant. Short of revealing his deepest trump cards, this was the most powerful assault he could muster.

BOOM!

The trident slammed into a shimmering barrier of pure fire, the impact unleashing a deafening shriek of tortured energy.

“Hahaha! My fire giants are not merely for attack!” Adras gloated. With a vicious sneer, he revealed that the greatbow-wielding elemental had vanished, its essence reformed into the very shield that now held Orion’s trident at bay.

“Insolent gnat, daring to challenge the majesty of a dragon! Die!” As Orion was locked against the fire shield, the second elemental swung its massive greatsword in a devastating arc.

CLANG!

The blade was stopped cold by a sphere of rippling force that erupted around Orion—his Battle Will Surge.

“Don’t you know?” Adras’s voice was a mocking purr. “A dragon’s scales are unbreakable, its claws without peer.” As he spoke, his own massive claws shot forward, scissoring through the air to shred the shimmering sphere to nothing.

The situation was a stalemate. Faced with the ferocious assault, Orion did not retreat. He would meet the dragon’s attack head-on. But he was not merely defending.

The web of spider spears hovering in the air—many of which had already been consumed by the inferno—swiftly merged, coalescing into four colossal spears that shot toward Adras from four different directions.

SCREEE! GRIIIND!

The horrifying sound of claws tearing at the energy shield mingled with the high-pitched shriek of the spider spears grinding against dragon scales—a maddening cacophony of destruction.

“You are finished!” Adras bellowed, ignoring the agony of the spears beginning to bore into his flesh. With a single, immense effort, he drew all the fire from the surrounding space into himself. The elemental energy converged on his claws, which began to crackle and pop, every scale glowing with white-hot power.

“Infernal Rupture!”

A terrifying wave of force erupted from the dragon. With a series of sharp cracks, Orion’s Battle Will Surge shattered into a million pieces. The blast caught him square in the chest, tearing his body in two and sending the halves flying in opposite directions.

In the distance, Orion’s upper torso used Instant Impact to appear beside his lower half. The flesh of both pieces came alive, writhing like a nest of worms as the severed parts rapidly crawled toward each other to knit back together.

It was the regenerative power of a siren, capable of mending even the most grievous wounds in moments.

“Well.” Adras sneered, his eyes glowing with murderous intent as he watched Orion reform. “It seems you are not quite as weak as I imagined.”

Orion stared back coldly. The dragon’s power was a stark contrast to its foolish words. This one had real strength.