ROAR!!!!!
A roar erupted from the depths of my soul.
The crimson tiger phantom surrounding my body threw its head back and roared with me.
CRACKLE!!!
Crimson lightning exploded across my skin.
Then—
BOOM!!!
My body vanished.
Not moved.
Not dashed.
Vanished.
I became a streak of crimson lightning, tearing through the wasteland faster than before.
My eyes narrowed.
Prime Form II.
For a pure-blooded beast, there was only one true Prime Form.
Everything before it was merely a half-transformed state.
Humans and those with diluted bloodlines were different. They had created countless transformation stages, each designed to force their bloodlines beyond their natural limits.
But ultimately, they were all doing the same thing.
Burning more energy.
Forcing the bloodline to produce temporary power.
I could do the same.
But I refused.
Not yet.
I didn't want to win this battle through overwhelming power.
If I crushed him simply by revealing my true Prime Form, what would I gain?
Nothing.
Power without experience was useless.
This dragon had already taught me more in this battle than countless books ever could.
His movement.
His control.
His instincts.
His ability to turn every part of his body into a weapon.
I had learned from all of it.
So if this battle was going to end—
It would end properly.
Every warrior deserved respect.
Even those weaker than me.
They had not reached where they stood by accident.
They had fought for it.
And I would respect that.
BAAAM!!!!!!
My fist slammed into his chest.
CRACK!!!
His scales fractured.
BOOM!!!
The air behind him detonated as my sudden burst of speed caught him completely off guard.
Crimson lightning wrapped around my fist.
Abyssal flames clung to it like a burning battle gauntlet.
The force of my punch spread through his entire body.
His scales cracked further.
Pressure surged outward.
The air itself exploded behind him like a miniature nuclear detonation.
BOOM!!!
His body was launched backward.
The sonic boom that followed ripped across the wasteland.
Even reality seemed to groan.
Thin cracks appeared in space around us.
Like an invisible glass wall was beginning to shatter.
I didn't give him time to recover.
BOOOOOOM!!!
My body split into five distinct streaks of crimson lightning.
Five figures chased after him.
BAM!!!
BAM!!!
BAM!!!
A storm of attacks descended.
Each strike carried enough force to destroy mountains.
His body was driven farther and farther backward.
Within seconds, we had crossed more than half of his territory.
The battlefield itself was changing.
We were approaching another territory.
Then—
ROAR!!!!
The dragon phantom around him suddenly re-formed.
His bloodline energy erupted.
Brighter.
Denser.
More violent.
The phantom opened its enormous jaws.
ROAR!!!!
A sonic attack erupted from its mouth.
BOOM!!!
A massive energy beam followed immediately behind it.
I and my four clones shifted simultaneously.
SWISH!!!
We dodged.
The beam tore through the wasteland behind us, erasing everything in its path.
Then the dragon roared again.
A heaven-shaking roar.
One that came directly from the depths of his soul.
BOOM!!!
Draconic wings erupted from his back.
His aura exploded.
His scales multiplied.
His muscles became denser without losing their balance.
His entire body now looked as though a giant had been compressed into a humanoid frame.
Sharp scales emerged along his arms and hands.
Weapons.
Armor.
Both at once.
Then—
CRACK!!!
His body stopped.
Completely.
He bent forward like a spring pulled to its absolute limit.
His wings stretched wide.
Behind him—
Reality cracked.
He had stepped directly on space itself.
BOOM!!!
His body disappeared.
A sonic wave erupted from where he had stood, ripping through the sky and ground.
I barely had time to react.
My four clones were destroyed by the shockwave alone.
Then—
BAM!!!
His fist struck my chest.
I didn't even see him move.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
My body became a streak of crimson lightning.
I shot backward.
Spit and stomach fluid escaped my mouth, mixed with a thin trace of blood.
Pain exploded through my body.
Every nerve screamed.
But beneath that pain—
Something else awakened.
Excitement.
My body began devouring energy at an even greater rate.
A grin slowly formed on my face.
So this was what he had been hiding.
In Neraphyx, transformation wasn't restricted by some fixed number of stages.
As long as the body, mind, and energy reserves could withstand it—
You could keep transforming.
BOOM!!!
The crimson phantom around me expanded.
Its massive paws stretched outward, as though grabbing reality itself to help bring my body to a stop.
I finally stopped.
My eyes narrowed.
Danger.
Danger.
Danger.
Something flashed before me.
His hand.
Straight toward my throat.
SWISH!!!!!
I disappeared.
BOOM!!!!
The dragon spread his wings.
His body twisted.
His leg kicked against empty space.
Reality cracked beneath his foot.
BOOM!!!
He vanished.
Then—
He appeared exactly where I was going to reappear.
SWISH!!!!!
I returned to reality.
A blurred fist was already waiting for me.
Death flashed before my eyes.
BOOM!!!!
I barely dodged.
My fist slammed into his chest.
A sonic explosion erupted between us.
Dragons possessed monstrous defenses.
But defenses were not everything.
What about the inside?
BOOOOOOM!!!!
The force exploded through his body.
Yet the recoil nearly broke my own arm.
Pain vibrated through my bones.
We separated.
Then—
BOOM!!!
BOOM!!!
BOOM!!!
A one-sided exchange began.
He attacked.
I dodged.
He attacked again.
I slipped past the claws.
Again.
Again.
Again.
Every mistake meant death.
My body accumulated cuts.
My instincts screamed constantly.
But I kept surviving.
Then—
An opening.
A tiny one.
That was enough.
The crimson tiger roared around my hand.
Crimson lightning compressed.
Abyssal flames condensed.
The two forces became a brilliant point of destructive energy.
BOOM!!!!
My fist struck his chest.
His body flew backward.
BOOM!!!
Blood erupted from his mouth.
His scales cracked.
Steam escaped through the fractures as the pressure inside his body began to surge uncontrollably.
That was the weakness of overwhelming physical power.
A dragon's body could withstand several times its natural limit.
But the power still had to be contained.
If the body could no longer contain it—
The dragon itself became the container of its own destruction.
BOOOOOOM!!!!
A blur appeared before me.
I concentrated energy into my eyes, sharpening my vision.
Pain immediately followed.
Blood leaked from the corners of my eyes.
My energy was being drained rapidly just to repair them.
Neraphyx.
Even the energy here required greater control.
BAM!!!
A deep cut appeared across my neck.
I narrowly avoided the attack.
BOOM!!!
My fist slammed into his chest again.
The recoil traveled through my arm and shook my entire body.
BOOM!!!
We were blasted apart.
I steadied myself in midair.
Then I attacked.
The crimson tiger phantom roared.
My hand thrust forward.
Sonic energy vibrated through my entire body.
Every cell trembled.
BOOM!!!
We fired at each other.
His claws pointed toward me.
My fist pointed toward him.
The dragon phantom opened its enormous jaws.
ROAR!!!!!
Its sonic attack erupted.
The phantom expanded as we closed the distance.
Its jaws opened wider—
As though it intended to swallow me whole.
Then—
BOOOOOOM!!!!
Chaotic laws swept across the wasteland.
Everything they touched vanished.
The ground.
The mountains.
The remaining beasts.
All of it was erased.
BAM!!!!!
We collided.
Prime Instinct moved my body before thought could.
I dodged while attacking.
My body flashed crimson.
My hair sparkled with red light, like an entire galaxy had been trapped inside every strand.
A faint smile touched my face.
Another sign.
My mastery of Prime Instinct was growing.
But mastery wasn't enough.
I didn't want to merely master someone else's technique.
I wanted to make it mine.
Create something that belonged only to me.
I hadn't made visible progress yet.
But that was a problem for another day.
Right now—
This battle mattered more.
BOOM!!!!
My free hand slammed into his chest.
The force didn't simply strike his body.
It erupted inside him.
His own energy and pressure detonated from within.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!
Blood burst from his body.
His scales shattered.
The consequences of forcing himself beyond his limits finally arrived.
Blood poured from countless wounds.
His body trembled violently.
And for the first time—
His madness broke.
Pain dragged him back to consciousness.
His rationality returned.
Only for a moment.
But that moment was enough.
I struck again.
Full force.
BOOM!!!!!
The impact sent both of us flying in opposite directions.
The fabric of reality cracked.
Chaotic laws poured through the fractures before the world desperately sealed itself.
But this time—
I didn't merely absorb the energy.
I devoured the laws themselves.
Devour!!!!
Devour!!!!
DEVOUR!!!!!
The laws entered my body.
BOOM!!!!
My entire body erupted with energy.
A massive crater formed beneath me.
I floated silently above it.
My breathing gradually slowed.
The laws I had devoured were different from ordinary demonic energy.
They were far more profound.
And the effect on my physique was equally greater.
My body had been strengthened by an enormous degree.
Far beyond what ordinary demonic energy could accomplish.
I was bruised.
Battered.
Covered in the remnants of battle.
But there were no serious injuries left.
My body had already healed them.
Crimson lightning crawled lazily across my skin.
The blazing winds swept across my exposed chest.
For the first time since the battle began—
My mind became calm.
But I didn't lower my guard.
Something was wrong.
I could sense it.
A faint presence.
Watching.
An aura that seemed to belong to an Elder God.
It was distant.
Very distant.
Too distant for me to identify its source.
But it was there.
Someone had been watching this entire battle.
I also kept my senses locked onto the dragon.
I wasn't stupid enough to relax completely.
Caelion's words echoed inside my mind.
Never become careless.
THUD.
THUD.
THUD.
My left heart beat faster.
Excitement.
Anticipation.
The hunt had finally reached its conclusion.
A worthy battle.
A worthy opponent.
And now—
The reward.
My instinct screamed for the feast.
Devour him.
Devour him.
But I ignored it.
The laws I had already devoured were enough for now.
The dragon was too talented to simply become food.
His bloodline.
His physique.
His techniques.
His battle instincts.
All of them were worth far more than a simple burst of energy.
My gaze settled on the wounded dragon in the distance.
A faint smile appeared on my face.
The battle was over.
But the real harvest—
Was only beginning.
I slowly descended.
My crimson lightning faded.
The tiger phantom disappeared.
Yet somewhere deep within my soul—
The beast was still smiling.
First things first.