"Who are you?"
The Dragon King hovered in the air, watching Gustave with extreme vigilance. The aura emanating from this human gave him tremendous pressure.
"A dragon slayer," Gustave replied, flashing his bright white teeth in a confident smile.
"You're courting death!"
The Dragon King wasted no words with Gustave. After all, this human had come specifically to kill him. What was there to discuss?
The Dragon King roared, and his massive draconic body shot toward Gustave like a missile.
"Well done!" Gustave bellowed and charged directly at the Dragon King as well.
Before Gustave and the Dragon King made contact, a massive explosion echoed across the mountains. This was the sonic boom caused by both combatants breaking the sound barrier simultaneously.
BOOM!
A tremendous explosion erupted, followed by a devastating hurricane. Even from their considerable distance, the hybrids who had come to participate in this operation were blown about like leaves. As for the tents where they'd spent the previous night, several were torn from their moorings and sent tumbling away.
After the two separated, the Dragon King felt genuine shock. What kind of physical conditioning was this?! Gustave could actually compete with a complete Dragon King's body while remaining in human form!
"What manner of creature have you transformed into?" the Dragon King demanded in a deep voice.
"I'm a pure human being, you oversized lizard!"
"Impossible! How could such weak creatures as humans possess this level of physical prowess?"
"This damned reptile has never seen the real world!" Gustave cursed.
After his retort, Gustave charged toward the Dragon King again. The Dragon King refused to be outdone and also surged forward.
The colossal azure dragon and the tiny human figure competed in pure physical strength. This seemingly impossible spectacle was actually unfolding before the eyes of thousands of hybrids.
After exchanging several rounds of blows, Gustave felt the long-dormant blood in his body finally awakening. He suddenly understood why he'd been stuck at that final threshold, unable to advance. He needed battle—continuous, desperate combat—to break through that last barrier.
"Come on!" Gustave's fighting spirit blazed higher and higher, his attack speed accelerating with each exchange.
"Madman!" the Dragon King cursed, then charged forward again. The pride of dragonkind would never allow him to show weakness before a human in this regard.
As Gustave and the Dragon King continued their brutal contest, the snow covering the Kunlun Mountains beneath them began cracking layer by layer, triggering an avalanche that roared down the mountainside with devastating force.
Fortunately, Kunlun was an uninhabited region, and with the official blockade in place, the avalanche caused no casualties.
In the distance, sensing that the snow above their position was loosening dangerously due to the battle between Gustave and the Dragon King, Anjou shouted:
"Fall back! Everyone retreat!"
Anjou wasn't personally afraid of avalanches, but not all the hybrids present possessed his level of power. These people were the backbone of future dragon-slaying operations and couldn't be lost here.
Following Anjou's orders, the hybrid families and official forces also began retreating. They had believed their distance was safe enough, but they'd drastically underestimated the impact of the battle between Gustave and the Dragon King.
So, while Gustave and the Dragon King fought their titanic battle, thousands of hybrids were simultaneously retreating to safer positions.
Gustave also noticed the adverse effects his fight was having on the surrounding environment, so while continuing to battle, he deliberately led the Dragon King to higher altitudes.
"Are you planning to flee?!" the Dragon King began mocking Gustave after noticing they were ascending higher into the sky.
"Shut your mouth, you overgrown gecko! I'll show you my true power!"
Gustave hadn't expected this creature would dare provoke him. He immediately coated his fist with Conqueror's Haki and struck directly at the Dragon King's head.
ROAR!
The Dragon King howled in agony. Gustave's attack had just shattered the defenses above his skull. Scales flew in all directions, many with blood still clinging to their roots.
"You've made me truly angry now!"
The last time the Dragon King's body had suffered such damage was during battles with other Dragon Kings thousands of years ago. Now, he'd been wounded by a mere human! He would no longer waste effort competing with Gustave in physical strength alone.
"Storm!"
The Dragon King released a low roar, and clouds immediately gathered in the sky. Dark thunderclouds formed, with muffled thunder rumbling within, emanating a destructive aura.
The Dragon King decided to use Word Spirits to deal with Gustave. Storm was one of the ultimate Word Spirits of the Sky and Wind King series. Once fully released, it possessed enough destructive power to level an entire city.
However, using this technique against Gustave was pure fantasy. Gustave simply snapped his fingers, and the thunder brewing in the clouds was instantly neutralized.
"Damn it!"
The Dragon King suddenly realized that Gustave possessed the ability to control thunder. Using the Storm Word Spirit against him was like delivering a meal to a starving man.
However, as a Dragon King, he could wield not only his own elemental Word Spirits but also those of other Dragon King bloodlines. The Dragon King's privilege allowed him to cancel any Sky and Wind series Word Spirits used by others in his domain.
So the Dragon King switched tactics:
"Candle Dragon!"
Fire elements between heaven and earth began gathering toward the Dragon King. The temperature of Kunlun, which had been well below zero, suddenly spiked upward.
Although Gustave wasn't afraid of the Candle Dragon Word Spirit itself, if the Dragon King successfully unleashed it at full power, it would cause catastrophic damage to everything in the surrounding area. So Gustave spread his hand wide, and a massive electromagnetic shield surrounded the Dragon King, blocking fire elements from the entire region from gathering toward him.
Because Gustave interrupted the process, Candle Dragon suddenly exploded halfway through its activation, blasting the Dragon King inside the electromagnetic shield and leaving him severely injured. The electromagnetic shield itself was also shattered by the backlash.
"Cough! Cough!"
The Dragon King spewed two puffs of black smoke from his mouth. When had he ever been so thoroughly humiliated?
"Damn it! Damn it all!"
The Dragon King was absolutely furious. As the sovereign of sky and wind, he'd been made to look utterly foolish by a mere human. He had lost all face!
"Judgment! Return to Ruins!"
The Dragon King activated two ultimate Word Spirits in rapid succession, and Gustave felt enormous pressure bearing down on him.
Judgment was a Word Spirit of the White King, possessing cutting attributes that could sever anything. Return to Ruins was a Word Spirit of the King of Ocean and Water, capable of reorganizing all matter within its domain.
These two Word Spirits couldn't be easily isolated and interrupted like Candle Dragon, so after sensing the immense pressure building, Gustave immediately layered multiple protective shields around himself. Jet-black Armament Haki flowed across the surface of his body like living armor.
BANG!
One protective shield exploded.
BANG!
Another protective shield shattered.
After using two consecutive ultimate Word Spirits to trap Gustave, the Dragon King began employing the ultimate Word Spirit of the King of Earth and Mountain: Shiva Karma Dance!
This Word Spirit was released through ritualistic movement. Once initiated, even the caster couldn't stop it. Moreover, during the release, the caster's entire body was in a completely unguarded state. Therefore, the Dragon King had to use the other two Word Spirits to restrain Gustave while he performed the dance.
Although the details were no longer visible from such a great distance, Xia Mi—retreating with the main force—still felt the elemental fluctuations between heaven and earth. She immediately recognized that the Dragon King was using Shiva Karma Dance.
"He's insane! That fool is absolutely insane!" Xia Mi cursed inwardly.
Suddenly, a muffled sound resonated between heaven and earth. Gustave, who had just been trapped by the Dragon King's two ultimate Word Spirits, had somehow broken free. He now held a spear of pure light in his hand—a weapon forged entirely from concentrated lightning. Around the spear, space itself was continuously torn apart and reorganized.
Gustave's face was deathly pale at this moment. This was his final attack, which had directly drained every ounce of his physical strength and stamina.
"Goodbye," Gustave said quietly.
"Gungnir!"
As the word fell, the lightning spear tore through space at an unimaginable speed and pierced directly through the heart of the Dragon King who was still performing Shiva Karma Dance...