Roar!!!!
The celestial dragon’s furious bellow shook the heavens, its deafening cry rolling across the island like crashing thunder. The sea beneath it churned violently, waves rising several meters into the air as if even the ocean had acknowledged its rage.
The instant its golden eyes landed upon the holy sword resting within Arthur’s grasp, every trace of hesitation disappeared.
The massive beast lunged forward.
Boom!!
Arthur barely had enough time to raise Excalibur before the dragon’s body slammed into him with overwhelming force, sending him crashing through an ancient tree before launching both of them high into the sky.
Splinters exploded in every direction.
Several more trees bent from the resulting shockwave.
Despite the violent impact, Arthur refused to loosen his grip around the dragon’s scales.
The reason behind its sudden frenzy was simple.
Dragon Killer: Excalibur.
The legendary holy sword carried more than overwhelming offensive power. It possessed an innate provocation toward creatures of draconic blood, especially those that had reached higher tiers.
To dragons, the sword was an insult.
A declaration that mankind viewed their race not as divine beings worthy of reverence, but as prey waiting to be hunted.
It was an affront to their very existence.
Roar!!
The celestial dragon twisted violently through the clouds, trying to fling Arthur away before that hateful blade could reach its body again.
Watching everything unfold from above, Ethan didn’t waste even a second.
"The king can wait."
His eyes remained fixed on the dragon.
"This comes first."
Tywin’s ritual, Bark’s scheme, the royal family...
None of it mattered more than this.
The celestial dragon was his evolution requirement.
He had to kill it.
Without another command, the mind dragon beneath him folded its wings before diving after the celestial beast.
Wind screamed past Ethan’s ears as the distance between them rapidly disappeared.
High above, Arthur noticed him approaching.
A faint smile crossed his face.
"About time."
With both hands wrapped firmly around Excalibur’s hilt, Arthur planted one foot against the dragon’s side before driving the holy blade downward with all his strength.
Shing!!
Golden light erupted from the sword.
Although Arthur stood two entire tiers beneath the celestial dragon, Dragon Killer ignored such differences to a frightening extent.
Against dragons...
It was their natural bane.
The blade carved effortlessly through the creature’s shimmering scales before burying itself deep into flesh.
ROAR!!!
Pain unlike anything it had experienced tore through the celestial dragon.
Its enormous body twisted wildly through the air.
It rolled.
Spun.
Dove.
Shot upward again.
Anything to throw the human from its back.
Yet Arthur remained firmly attached.
Instead of pulling Excalibur free, he shoved it even deeper into the dragon’s body.
The sword became an anchor.
Each violent twist merely dragged Arthur along while the holy blade continued ripping apart flesh beneath its scales.
Blood rained from the sky.
The celestial dragon’s pupils narrowed.
For the first time...
True anger surfaced within its gaze.
Its massive wings folded.
Instead of climbing higher, it suddenly pointed itself directly toward the island below.
Then it descended.
Boom!!
The air exploded around it as the beast accelerated faster and faster, intending to smash Arthur against the ground hard enough to reduce him to nothing.
Unfortunately...
It had completely forgotten about Ethan.
Waiting directly beneath its descent was a young man calmly raising a storm-forged crossbow.
"You looked away."
Chuuu!!
A bolt of lightning pierced the sky.
Then another.
Chuuu!!
Another.
Chuuu!!
Another.
Ethan released one bolt after another without leaving the dragon even a moment to breathe.
Every shot landed against its wounded body.
Every shot forced it further off balance.
Every shot fed power into the gathering storm overhead.
Dark clouds rapidly swallowed the sunlight.
Thunder rolled endlessly across the heavens.
The smell of ozone filled the air.
Within moments, flashes of natural lightning began dancing between the clouds.
The battlefield itself had become part of Ethan’s weapon.
Boom!!
A massive bolt crashed somewhere behind the dragon, illuminating the battlefield in blinding white.
Blood.
Lightning.
Fire.
Steel.
The three figures became locked within a relentless aerial battle.
...
Far below...
A lone silhouette silently appeared beside Tywin’s ritual circle.
She wore flowing robes that drifted without wind, her silver hair falling nearly to her waist as pale golden eyes settled upon the young prince.
A slight frown appeared across her face.
"You’re not a celestial dragon."
Her voice remained calm.
Almost disappointed.
For weeks she had heard the distant mating cries of a young celestial dragon echoing across the Great Sea. The cries had reached even the isolated waters she called home.
That alone had drawn her here. Young celestial dragons were extraordinarily rare. She had expected to meet one.
Instead...
She found a human seated inside a ritual.
Her gaze lingered upon Tywin’s motionless body.
The countdown glowing across his chest.
The strange resonance flowing through the island.
Everything pointed toward the dragon she had sensed.
Yet the source before her was undeniably human.
After several silent seconds, her attention shifted upward.
There...
A celestial dragon was being relentlessly assaulted by lightning while a human clung to its body with a dragon-slaying sword.
The woman’s expression immediately darkened.
"My senses weren’t wrong..."
"But how dare they..."
The surrounding air trembled.
To slay an ordinary dragon was one thing. To hunt a celestial dragon... That was an offense against the world itself. These creatures carried the blessings of heaven from birth.
Even gods rarely interfered with them directly.
Yet these humans had not only interfered. They intended to kill one. Without another thought, she stepped forward. She intended to stop them herself.
Suddenly—
Boom!!
An invisible force slammed down upon her shoulders.
The earth beneath her feet shattered. Her knees buckled. The immense pressure drove her directly into the ground.
"What..."
She struggled instinctively.
The pressure only increased.
"Divine Might?!"
For the first time since arriving...
Shock appeared across her face.
She had spent nearly her entire life deep within the Great Sea, in regions so dangerous that neither mankind nor ordinary beasts dared approach.
Her world had been painfully small.
The heavens above.
The endless sea below.
And long ago...
One irritating male celestial dragon.
That was all.
Never had she encountered a presence like this. This overwhelming authority didn’t simply surpass her. It eclipsed her entirely. Like comparing a candle...To the sun itself.
There truly existed beings this terrifying?
"Stop struggling."
The voice echoed softly. Yet it seemed to originate from every direction simultaneously. Behind Tywin.
Above the clouds.
Beneath the sea.
Across the heavens themselves.
The woman slowly lifted her head. Floating behind Tywin was a tiny bean-shaped orb of brilliant white light.
It possessed no recognizable features. No overwhelming aura. Yet every instinct within her screamed.
Run.
Before she could react... Space around her distorted. Her figure disappeared instantly. Far away... Her true body vanished alongside the projection she had sent.
Silence returned to the island.
Tywin slowly opened one eye before allowing himself a relieved smile.
"So it worked..."
He had expected interference.
He simply hadn’t imagined it would be resolved so effortlessly.
Looking upward once more, he watched Ethan and Arthur continue wearing down the celestial dragon.
The creature’s movements had noticeably slowed.
Its wounds multiplied with every passing second.
Blood stained nearly every scale across its body.
Tywin tightened his grip around his sword.
Now...
It was finally his turn.
He prepared to stand.
"Stay your hand."
The familiar voice froze him completely.
Tywin turned.
Standing only a few meters away was the king himself.
His father.
The ruler’s expression remained calm, though the weight behind his gaze left little room for argument.
"Bark has already gotten what he wanted."
His eyes briefly shifted toward the fading ritual.
"It’s time to return the dragon."
Tywin frowned.
"But Father—"
"Don’t make this harder on anyone."
The king’s tone never rose.
He simply stood there.
Waiting.
Tywin clenched his jaw.
Every instinct urged him to interfere.
Yet against his father...
He couldn’t bring himself to move.
All he could do was watch.
High above, Ethan and Arthur continued their relentless assault.
Another slash.
Another volley of lightning.
The celestial dragon’s roar gradually weakened.
Its massive body finally lost all strength.
Golden particles began peeling away from its scales.
The spirit beast had reached its limit.
Its enormous body slowly dissolved into countless streams of light before being dragged back toward the Spirit World.
The storm overhead gradually dispersed.
Silence returned.
Then a familiar voice echoed clearly inside Ethan’s mind.
[Congratulations.]
[You have completed your evolution requirement.]
Ethan slowly lowered his crossbow.
A smile spread across his face.
At last....
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