At this moment, a cunning light flashed in Caesar's dragon pupils.
Sandstorm!
He really had bet right!
He glanced at the pouring rain, then at the "crab king mecha" writhing frantically beneath him, trying to shake him off.
Raining? Did you ask for my permission?
Caesar's Earth Dragon instincts gave him an almost obsessive desire for control over the land beneath his feet.
All of you... tremble before the Sandstorm!
In the next second, he completely released the authority belonging to the earth that had just awakened within him!
In an instant, the entire world changed.
Boom—!
With Caesar as the center, an indescribable shockwave of earthy yellow magic power suddenly spread outward!
The originally wet and muddy lake shore seemed to have all its moisture sucked dry in an instant. Countless grains of sand, dust, and gravel were swept into the sky by an invisible force, forming a wall of sand that blotted out the sun!
The wall of sand swept in all directions with the force of a thunderbolt!
The heavy rain in the air first turned into turbid muddy water, and then even the raindrops were completely swallowed and evaporated by the violent flow of sand, disappearing entirely!
The sky was dyed an earthy yellow.
The ground vibrated violently.
At this moment, the world seemed to have been muted with one click, and then the volume was turned to the maximum—leaving only the eternal, eardrum-piercing whistling sound!
The sand was no longer a solid object, but a state, a solid noise that filled every inch of space and carried a scorching temperature.
Visibility dropped to zero instantly!
"What happened?!"
"It's Earth magic! Quickly, put up your shields!"
"I can't see! I can't see anything!"
The human adventure team's formation was instantly shattered. The students fought individually in a panic, using their remaining magic power to prop up tottering shields, resisting the sand flow that constantly ground against their shields like sandpaper.
Instructor Raymond used a fire shield to protect himself and several students, his expression extremely grim.
This power... it's definitely a large-scale weather-altering magic of at least the Fifth Circle!
That blue monster dragon, what exactly is its origin?
Veronica was hit by the sand so hard she could barely keep her eyes open. She did her best to maintain her basic magic barrier. Through the dancing curtain of sand, she vaguely saw those golden vertical pupils lighting up in the dusky world—
Golden vertical pupils belonging to a dragon.
At this moment, that dragon stood at the center of the storm, like a desert monarch in control of a natural disaster!
Meanwhile.
The air pressure at the center of the Sandstorm became extremely strange. Caesar felt a throbbing pain in his ears, like deep-sea diving—
He felt as if he were swimming in the ocean...!
The air was filled with the smell of ozone generated by high-speed sand friction, so strong it stung his nose.
"Roar!!!"
The Giant Crystal Crab King was clearly also very unaccustomed to this environment. It instinctively sprayed several "High-Pressure Hydro Pumps" toward Caesar's direction, but after these attacks traveled a dozen meters, they were worn down and dispersed by the violent sand flow, unable to hit the target at all.
With the help of the Sand Veil ability, Caesar's figure completely vanished into the yellow sand, like a ghost ready to launch a fatal blow at any moment.
The "crab king mecha" lost its target and could only wave its giant claws frantically on the spot, letting out impotent roars.
The Giant Crystal Crab King could feel the moisture in its body rapidly evaporating and its strength quickly draining away.
It had to regain control of the weather!
The main body at the chest of the Giant Crystal Crab King looked up, and countless blue energy threads lit up again as it attempted to forcibly cast the Fifth Circle magic, Rain Dance!
But how could Caesar possibly hand over the weather he had just obtained to someone else?
"In your dreams!"
He slammed his foot down on the crab king mecha beneath him and used Bulldoze!
The violent force instantly kicked the Giant Crystal Crab King's main body, along with the surrounding "armor plates," into the cockpit indentation on its chest!
"Crack—!"
The structure composed of countless Crystalline Rock Shell Crabs shattered and collapsed like building blocks.
"Roar!"
The Giant Crystal Crab King's spellcasting was interrupted by this sudden attack. Seeing Caesar descending from the sky, it angrily raised its giant claws, and a Hydro Pump thicker than any before began to charge!
However, while in mid-air, Caesar also opened his dragons maw toward the water cannon that was about to take shape.
Tera Blast!
A brilliant stream of red crystal flames erupted!
"Boom—!!!"
Water and fire, two completely opposite elemental powers, collided violently in the Sandstorm, instantly exploding into a cloud of white steam that blotted out the sun, making the already chaotic battlefield even more of a mess.
The instantaneous high temperature and high pressure made the nearby human mages feel as if they were about to be boiled alive.
"...Hiss!!!"
Feeling the threat of that scorching energy, the Giant Crystal Crab King finally realized the severity of the problem.
It actually used one of its huge claws to reach into the indentation on its chest and, from a pile of shattered crystals, pulled out a small fragment of a crystal that was also fiery red!
That was another fragment of an elemental resonance crystal it had collected!
Although it was far from as complete as the one in Caesar's hand, it was enough!
"Roar!!!"
With a roar, the Giant Crystal Crab King unhesitatingly crushed the crystal!
Dazzling red light erupted from its body—Terastalization: Fire!
It also wanted to use the same attribute to counter Caesar!
"Heh, you only thought of it now?"
Caesar sneered in his heart.
Too late!
"Your Terastalization is far too slow!"
Caesar roared, and the z-crystal in his System's held item slot began to emit an incredibly intense light!
The fire element power brought by Terastalization, as if finding an outlet, converged frantically toward the z-crystal!
In Caesar's mouth, an orange-red fireball grew larger and larger, and the energy fluctuations it emitted were a hundred times more terrifying than the Tera Blast just now!
This wasn't the wind-up for a Tera Blast, but—
Z-Power! Full power release!!
fire z-crystal × Fire Tera Blast—!!
Caesar poured all of his body's strength, all of his will, his desire for victory, and his obsession with delicious food into it!
Z-Move—Inferno Overdrive!!!
"Boom—!"
A true, concentrated sun that seemed like it would burn through the sky was suddenly formed!
With an aura that could incinerate all things and purify everything, it met the Hydro Pump that had just finished charging and was almost large enough to drown him!
Boom—!!!!
A loud explosion that defied description erupted!
The water cannon was evaporated into nothingness the moment it touched the fireball. Then, that concentrated "sun" ignored the elemental disadvantage and slammed squarely into the Giant Crystal Crab King, which had just finished its Terastalization!
Even though it was also Fire Terastalized, the defense the Crab King had hastily formed failed to withstand that extreme, terrifying heat.
Amidst the firelight filling the sky, its massive body first turned bright red like a hot iron, then began to crack inch by inch from the core, and finally exploded with a resentful wail!
The crystalline light of Terastalization dissipated; a generation's Guardian of the Lake Heart had fallen—
...The Sandstorm ceased.
The sound of the wind vanished, and the world returned to silence.
A thick layer of sand covered the entire lakeshore, and everywhere were Crystalline Rock Shell Crabs that had been blown away by the explosion and roasted until they were fragrant and crispy.
The entire Rock Submerge Lake was a mess. More than half of the lake water had been filled with sand, turning it into a turbid mud pit... Everyone was still in shock, scrambling out of the sand in a disheveled state and looking into the distance.
In the center of that purgatory-like battlefield, on the massive, still-smoking remains of the Giant Crystal Crab King, stood a blue monster dragon quietly.
The red crystal shell on its dragon body and the chandelier crown on its head were slowly dissipating.
Its size wasn't particularly large; by dragon standards, it might even still be in its Young Dragon stage.
However, the faint aura it emitted had already firmly stepped into the Silver Tier.
It was such a Young Dragon that had frontally defeated—no, crushed—an Amethyst Tier Guardian of the Lake Heart!
Including Veronica, everyone's mind was a complete blank, leaving only deep shock.
What was that power?
The magic that raised a Sandstorm and changed the weather... why was it comparable to a Forbidden Spell?
And that crown, and that final world-destroying strike... what were they?
The human adventure team was still unable to extricate themselves from their shock.
On the other side, Cecilia's Terastal energy had also been exhausted, and she deactivated her Terastalization amidst the dissipating crystal light.
The Sandstorm just now didn't have much of an effect on her. Her thick-skinned Dragon Clan Physique meant she had only choked on a few mouthfuls of sand.
She flapped her wings like a puppy seeking credit and flew triumphantly to Caesar's side, landing on the crystal remains of the Crab King's corpse.
[Ding! You participated in killing the "Guardian of the Lake Heart" (LV. 40), gained +8000 EXP!]
[You killed a large number of Crystalline Rock Shell Crabs, gained +4800 EXP!]
[Rank Up! LV. 29 > LV. 30!]
[Current EXP: 3530/18800]
While listening to the System's pleasant notification sounds, Caesar reached his claws, condensed with shadow energy, into the charred corpse of the Giant Crystal Crab King and rummaged around.
Unfortunately, no new z-crystal dropped.
Fortunately, however, that "elemental resonance crystal" was dug out by him intact.
Caesar stuffed the two fiery red crystal chunks, which were larger than his head, back into his System's held item slots. Then he extended a Shadow Claw, patted Cecilia's dragon head, and proceeded to scratch her chin.
The free-loading Cecilia had finally carried her weight this time. She narrowed her eyes as she was scratched, feeling quite comfortable and waiting for praise.
"Good job," Caesar praised simply.
"Hmph! When this young lady takes action, it's naturally extraordinary!"
The little Silver Dragon's tail instantly pointed to the sky.
Caesar finished coaxing this troublemaker, then turned his dragon head, his deep blue dragon pupils looking toward the group of humans on the shore.
Instructor Raymond was now completely dumbfounded.
He looked at those two creatures that looked like Young Dragons no matter how he viewed them, feeling that the worldview he had built over decades was collapsing.
What now?
Run?
Don't be ridiculous. The opponent could raise a Sandstorm and insta-kill an Overlord; could they even escape?
Not run?
Stay here and wait for death?
Although the other party did indeed save the students, it didn't mean they could let their guard down. Those of a different race will always have a different heart.
Instructor Raymond was caught in a dilemma.
But Veronica on the other side didn't think so.
A Silver Dragon! That's a dragon species legendary for being naturally good and lawful! Although this one is a bit fat and round, it's definitely... no, most likely a Silver Dragon!
To be able to hang out with a Silver Dragon, that blue fish-tailed monster dragon must also be a good dragon, right?
Veronica's heart rate began to accelerate.
Because she noticed that the blue monster dragon had jumped down from the Giant Crystal Crab King's corpse and was walking toward them, swishing its shark-like tail!
No, to be precise, Veronica had an extremely strong intuition.
The other party was walking toward her!
This development... could it be... he sensed my talent?
Yes, it must be so! My magic affinity far exceeds that of ordinary people. This mysterious wild dragon must have felt that unique power within me during the battle!
Is it going to sign a magic contract with me, just like in the legendary stories?
To become a dragon mage and ride a giant dragon through the skies—what an honor! The Hurst Family will become famous throughout the Empire because of me!
"Hoo... hoo...!"
Veronica's cheeks flushed, her breathing became rapid, and her hands unconsciously gripped the hem of her mage robe. Her eyes sparkled with a mixture of admiration, excitement, and anticipation... Caesar completely ignored the girl beside him whose gaze was becoming increasingly strange.
What is this woman freaking out about now? Why is her face so red?
He walked straight up to this group of humans.
To be honest, Caesar quite hoped to have some contact with the humans of this world.
After all, humans were the most widely distributed intelligent race in this world and had great potential. Most importantly, they could communicate and trade.
He was currently in the wilderness and knew almost nothing about this world.
This group of young men and women didn't look like ordinary adventurers by their dress; they surely knew a lot of things.
Caesar cleared his throat and had the System switch to the Continent's Common Tongue—
Must remain polite later, keep a gentle attitude, and strive to leave a good impression. It would be best to do some trade and exchange for some of this world's currency or information.
Yes, let's do that!
Caesar suddenly opened his eyes and, facing the group of nervous, battle-ready humans, put forward his trade request.
"Nobody move, this is a robbery!!!"