The One King

After Azrael’s words fell silent across the arena, a heavy silence descended over the entire battlefield, one that no one dared to break.

Then...

Azrael’s body began to radiate an intense black-and-purple light.

At first, the glow was faint, but it grew denser with every passing moment until it completely engulfed his body, obscuring his features from everyone’s sight.

Titania took a step back, while Caesar narrowed his eyes.

Jonathan, meanwhile, steadied his sword before him, prepared for whatever might happen.

Then—

BOOOOM!

A tremendous wave of energy erupted around Azrael.

The black-and-purple light gradually dispersed, revealing Azrael’s figure within it.

But he was no longer the same human-looking figure everyone had known.

His body remained humanoid, yet the true nature of his race had become impossible to deny.

Two enormous dragon wings had grown from his back, extending behind him with majestic grandeur. Dark scales covered parts of his body.

A long dragon tail extended from behind him, moving slowly through the air.

His teeth and fingernails had lengthened, transforming into sharp fangs and claws.

His horns had become even more pronounced, while his purple eyes had taken on a far more savage appearance.

But most importantly...

His aura had changed.

It was no longer merely the overwhelming aura of a Divine Ascendant.

A supreme draconic presence had merged with it—ancient, primal, and terrifying—causing the instincts of many creatures to respond with fear before their minds could even comprehend what was happening.

Everyone froze.

No one moved.

Then a whisper came from the stands:

"A dragon..."

No one answered.

Another person spoke in a trembling voice:

"He... he's a real dragon."

Whispers began spreading through the arena like wildfire.

"Impossible..."

"Azrael is a dragon?!"

"Then that rumor from years ago..."

"The rumor about the appearance of a true dragon!"

Even some of the judges rose from their seats.

Titania stared at Azrael in undisguised shock.

Most of them had previously assumed that the horns on Azrael's head belonged to some mixed bloodline between humans and another race.

But the truth revealed before them was entirely different.

Azrael was not half-dragon.

He did not possess a mixed bloodline.

He was a true dragon.

And that revelation drastically changed the way the major powers viewed his existence.

Dragons were among the rarest races in existence.

Their numbers were so incredibly low that even the existence of a single dragon in the Divine World would be worthy of investigation—and perhaps there were eras in which not a single dragon existed there at all.

They were supreme beings, naturally powerful, yet their reproductive rate was extraordinarily low.

And because of that...

Some of the gazes directed toward Azrael no longer contained merely shock.

Some carried pure greed.

An unimaginably valuable bloodline.

A rare lineage.

A complete draconic existence.

But that did not last long.

Because Azrael smiled.

It was not a friendly smile.

It was a terrifying smile, one that made anyone who saw it understand that attempting to exploit him would be nothing short of suicide.

Then...

He took a single step.

He vanished.

Jonathan's eyes widened.

In the next instant, Azrael appeared directly beside him.

He reached out and grabbed Jonathan by his clothes before the latter could react.

Then—

BOOOOOOM!

Azrael hurled Jonathan toward the sky with tremendous force.

Jonathan's body shot upward like a cannonball, tearing through the layers of air at terrifying speed.

Azrael spread his enormous dragon wings.

WHOOSH!

He beat his wings, causing the surrounding air to explode from the pressure, and shot after Jonathan at incredible speed, his massive black axe still in his hand.

Before leaving the arena's range, his voice thundered across the battlefield:

"Anyone who wishes to play the hero and protect the innocent, or anyone who bears a grudge against this great one... come into the sky prepared to die."

Everyone froze.

Then Azrael disappeared into the heavens.

Jonathan finally regained control of his body.

He raised his head and saw Azrael rapidly approaching.

Fury ignited in his eyes.

His aura erupted.

BOOOOM!

He charged toward Azrael.

And in the next instant...

The two collided.

The sound was unlike any collision between ordinary cultivators.

It was a tremendous explosion that shook the heavens.

A shockwave spread across the horizon, followed by flashes of black, purple, and golden light.

The earth trembled.

The stands cracked.

Parts of the protective barriers collapsed beneath the pressure.

One of the judges shouted:

"Activate all the formations!"

But it was already too late.

The power of their clashes had surpassed the formations' ability to contain everything.

In the sky, Azrael and Jonathan exchanged blows at a speed that most spectators could not even follow with their eyes.

Every collision between axe and sword unleashed another devastating shockwave.

BOOM!

A section of the ground split apart.

BOOOOM!

A long ravine tore through the arena.

BAAAM!

More sections of the stands collapsed.

The ground that had been a magnificent tournament arena only minutes earlier was gradually becoming a barren, devastated wasteland.

The destruction spread in every direction.

Amidst the catastrophe, Agnes moved swiftly.

A powerful force emerged around her, forming a barrier that protected Gaya, Rex, Sol, Lysandra, and Don from the successive shockwaves.

But Gaya was not looking at the destruction.

Her eyes remained fixed on the sky.

Watching Azrael.

And there was something different in her gaze...

Something bordering on obsession.

On the other side, Lunaria released her aura the moment the battle between the great beings began.

Her strength reached the peak of the Bronze Immortal realm, and she surrounded her family with a protective barrier, shielding them from the devastation.

The heavens above them were cracking.

Every time Azrael's and Jonathan's auras collided, new fractures appeared in space.

Alex stared upward in terror.

"The sky..."

He could not finish his sentence.

His eyes remained fixed on a scene beyond his ability to comprehend.

Selina was also staring at the heavens, and every trace of curiosity had vanished from her face.

She was no longer watching a battle.

She was watching a catastrophe.

Alex asked in a trembling voice:

"Can... can this battle end without all of us dying?"

Selina did not answer.

She did not know.

At that moment, another shockwave reached the ground.

BOOOOM!

The barrier Lunaria had created shook violently.

Lunaria increased her power and kept the barrier firmly surrounding her family.

But the destruction continued to worsen with every passing moment.

Then Leon appeared.

He rushed toward his family and quickly looked over them to make sure everyone was safe.

"Is everyone alright?"

Lunaria nodded.

"We're fine."

Leon turned toward his parents.

But his gaze stopped on Lilian.

She was staring at the sky.

Her face was pale, and her eyes were filled with obvious fear and concern.

Leon assumed that she was terrified by what was happening.

He approached her and embraced her.

"Don't worry, Mother... everything will be alright."

Lilian did not answer immediately.

Her gaze remained fixed on the sky, where Azrael and Jonathan continued clashing amid storms of destructive energy.

Then she placed a hand on Leon's back.

A few minutes later, Leon separated from his family.

The scene around him had become a disaster.

Cultivators were injured.

The stands had collapsed.

Innocent people were trapped beneath the rubble.

His expression changed.

He was a member of the Beast Protection Association.

And protecting the innocent was not merely a duty to him—it was a responsibility he genuinely believed in.

He rushed toward the wounded and began helping everyone he could reach.

But as he moved among the ruins...

He raised his eyes toward the sky.

He saw Azrael.

He saw the draconic aura covering the heavens.

And he saw the destruction caused by the battle.

Little by little...

A tiny seed began to take root deep within his heart.

A seed of hatred.

It was not strong yet.

Nor had it become outright hostility.

But it was there.

Leon was a man who believed in justice, and he despised injustice.

In his eyes, Azrael was no longer merely a man fighting Jonathan.

He had become the man whose rage had transformed what was supposed to be a celebration into a tragedy, placing countless innocent lives in danger.

Leon looked toward the sky once more.

And deep within his heart, a question formed—one he could not ignore:

Could someone possessing such immense power really disregard the lives of the innocent so easily?

Then he lowered his eyes and continued rescuing the wounded.

Meanwhile, in the heavens...

The clash between the great beings continued.

And the battle that had begun because of Gaya had already begun leaving a far deeper mark than anyone had expected.

No one knew that this moment...

Would eventually become one of the sparks that would lead to a conflict far greater than a mere tournament.

A conflict that would shake the entire Mortal World.

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