"ROAR!"
A dragon's cry seemed to resound between heaven and earth. From within the massive crimson cloud vortex, a scarlet dragon-shaped phantom descended with tremendous force, piercing through the Spirit Energy Bureau's building and landing upon Skyler Quinn as he absorbed the Dragon Pearl's power.
At the same time, blue-violet lightning roared across the sky.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK...
Bolts of thunder struck Skyler's body as if tearing through space itself. Blue-violet lightning engulfed his form completely.
"ROAR!"
The dragon's cry rang out once more. This time, a dragon-shaped phantom slowly materialized upon Skyler's forehead.
It seemed to be formed from crimson flames, yet it also emanated a faint purple glow.
"ROAR..."
Beneath that majestic dragon cry, Skyler discovered that the Dragon Pearl—which had still contained roughly a quarter of its energy—began frantically transferring that energy into his body. It wasn't just his total spiritual energy increasing; even his physical constitution was rapidly improving.
Beyond that, the thunder he had been unable to control ever since his secondary awakening transformed his ability into the Flame Dragon... at this moment, it had returned.
This meant that in addition to the power of fire, he once again possessed the power of thunder.
Both were forces of ultimate destruction, yet thunder's speed and piercing capability were things fire could never match.
"Whew..."
Skyler slowly exhaled. By now, he had completely absorbed all the spiritual energy.
Unfortunately, without a clear system of cultivation realms and without a cultivation technique, he couldn't determine exactly what level his strength had reached.
He only knew with confidence that if he encountered that mutant giant octopus again—or any mutant creature of equivalent strength—he could slay it far faster than when he, Chris Frost, Firewing, and that mutant orca had joined forces against it.
Of course, if it were a mutant sea beast in the ocean, someone would still need to prevent it from escaping.
"With this kind of power... I should be able to protect China now, right?"
Skyler gazed at his palm and spoke softly.
After a long moment, he shook his head.
"Still far from enough."
He had previously assumed the dragon that Nathaniel Gray encountered—the one that had successfully transcended its tribulation—was roughly equal to himself in strength. But after absorbing the Dragon Pearl, he could clearly perceive that the creature had been far more powerful than his former self.
Had it not been on the verge of death from its tribulation, and had it not happened to encounter Nathaniel Gray of the First Sequence, it wouldn't have become a natural treasure for them to enhance their strength. Once it had healed its wounds and fully assimilated its true dragon power...
In all of China, perhaps no one besides Brandon White could have matched it.
Who could guarantee that China didn't currently harbor mutant creatures of such strength?
This alone wasn't enough.
He needed to become even stronger.
"I'll go hunting in the wilds first. Get used to my current power, and to the thunder."
"Besides, after going so long without eating, I'm getting hungry."
Skyler rose to his feet and walked out of the cultivation chamber. After greeting the other members of the Spirit Energy Bureau, he mounted the Flame Dragon Steed and flew toward the wilderness.
What he didn't notice was that a flame dragon phantom had manifested around the Flame Dragon Steed, visible on its exterior. From a distance, it looked as though a fire dragon was soaring through the sky.
"Holy crap, what is that?!"
A pedestrian on the street couldn't help exclaiming at the sight.
"A dragon, obviously. What else could it be?"
"Looking at that, the Dragon Emperor must be heading out on a mission. Just finished cultivating and already has work to do—that's rough."
The person beside him spoke with some emotion.
"You sure it's a mission? I haven't heard about anything happening."
"What do you mean? What about Shanghai?"
"Ah, that's true."
"We can discuss this later. Right now, we need to take pictures!"
After their brief exchange, both of them hurriedly pulled out their phones and snapped photos of the crimson dragon streaking across the sky.
Only after the flame dragon phantom disappeared did they lower their phones with satisfaction.
Although the White Emperor was the strongest among the Four Emperors, he rarely appeared in public. The Dragon Emperor was their Imperial Capital's true guardian deity, so naturally they were fonder of him.
Once that Flame Dragon Armor transformed with all its special effects—what man could resist?
Many people who had never watched Armor Hero ended up watching the tokusatsu series after learning that Skyler had been chosen by the Flame Dragon Armor.
Their first impression after finishing it: The Emperor Warrior is eternal god!
The Flame Dragon? Not really that familiar.
But in reality, since the Emperor Warrior hadn't appeared yet, the Flame Dragon was still pretty awesome.
Unfortunately, the Flame Dragon Armor had chosen Skyler, so they'd never have that chance themselves.
Besides the Flame Dragon Armor, the only other one they knew about was the Snow Mastiff Armor. The video of the White Emperor slaying the White Serpent and handing the Snow Mastiff Armor's summoning device to a young boy was still circulating online.
According to official statements, the other three armors hadn't chosen their wielders yet—or at least, they hadn't found these people.
If anyone had been recognized by an armor, they could contact the Spirit Energy Bureau. If they joined, they would receive excellent compensation.
People were genuinely looking forward to seeing all five chosen wielders of the Five Elements Armors appear and fight together against their enemies.
If they could combine at the end like in the tokusatsu and become the Emperor Warrior, then no matter what kind of enemy appeared, no one would have anything to worry about.
"The Dragon Emperor is definitely cool, but if we're talking about favorites, I still like the Ice Emperor best."
After putting his phone in his pocket, one of them spoke slowly.
"You call that 'liking'? I'm too embarrassed to even call you out on it."
His companion looked at him with disdain.
"What? Don't tell me you don't have any thoughts about her?"
"Of course not. I simply think the Ice Emperor is very beautiful, has a cool and aloof temperament, and is incredibly powerful. That's all. I don't have any other intentions whatsoever."
He spoke with complete seriousness.
"So those comments you posted in the video chat saying 'Ice Emperor step on me' and 'I'm the Ice Emperor's dog'—those were posted by a ghost?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
It wasn't just them. In the hearts of many, Ice Emperor Chris Frost was a dream goddess—and not just for men. Many women felt the same way.
With that face, that strength, and that cold, aloof personality, who wouldn't be mesmerized?
As for Flame Emperor Firewing, though she was no less beautiful or powerful than the Ice Emperor, she couldn't match the Ice Emperor's icy aura.
Of course, discussing this seemed rather pointless. Whether it was the Ice Emperor or the Flame Emperor, both were existences ordinary people could only admire from afar.
Since his destination was the mutant creature zone on the city's outskirts, Skyler didn't travel at full speed.
Thanks to the protection of Skyler and others, as well as the Spirit Energy Bureau, China's cities weren't in great danger. Overall, they could be considered safe.
But the wilderness was an entirely different matter from the cities.
The spiritual energy resurgence had transformed the Earth completely. Before, people had lamented how few green mountains and clear waters remained and called for vigorous development. Now, there was a terrifying abundance of them.
For the vast majority of humanity, any area outside the cities was forbidden ground.
Because those places harbored countless mutant creatures.
— End of Chapter —