Cao Cao, well done!!!
He drained the red wine in one gulp, casually tossed the empty glass aside, and bent his knees slightly.
The black figure shot into the air as a violent surge of blue-violet Magical Power erupted, tearing through the dreamlike red mist and spreading outward like a swarm.
Cid had not expected Cao Cao to hand him such a perfect setup, drawing out the three giant dragons he had been searching for right in front of him.
Yes, he recognized all three, and had fought two of them before.
Back when the worlds were still in the process of merging, he had just been left slightly dizzy by the collision between worlds when he sensed waves of attacks erupting from somewhere, each carrying enough Magical Power to destroy a world, striking across the globe.
Following the trail of that power all the way to the edge of the Dimensional Gap, he saw a Red Dragon and a rotten dragon locked in battle. The Magical Power spreading across the world was simply the aftermath of their fight.
Thinking that stepping in at that moment perfectly fit the style of an Eminence in Shadow, Cid decided to go in and reason with the two dragons, telling them to be more careful and not destroy the world.
But the moment he entered, before he could even begin to talk things out, a Bone Dragon appeared out of nowhere and attacked him. With no choice, he had to deal with the Bone Dragon first.
Everything had been going fine, but after several dozen exchanges with the Bone Dragon, he was ambushed by the rotten dragon.
By the time he came to his senses, the Red Dragon that had been fighting the rotten dragon had somehow withdrawn and was pushing something like a separate space out of the Dimensional Gap.
The impact from that sneak attack was no less than being hit by a world again, but he quickly adjusted and happily took on both dragons at once. After all, they were just two opponents with "IQs lower than Delta's."
But just as he was toying with the two Evil Dragons, the Red Dragon completely pushed that separate space out of the Dimensional Gap, and then… the two dragons ran.
When the Red Dragon returned, it did not even glance at him. It immediately turned to chase those two dragons, leaving him standing there with no one left to fight.
The black coat behind him billowed violently under the shockwave of his Magical Power.
Standing in this sea of power, he stretched his limbs, feeling his body in perfect condition after a rare break from Magical Power tempering. He grinned and looked arrogantly at the three dragons.
"It's been over a year since we last met, but you're a bit too enthusiastic. Don't worry, we'll settle both old and new scores today."
With a casual motion, he knocked aside the Magical Power attacks released by the two otherworldly dragons and spoke as if greeting old acquaintances.
"Roar!"
The two otherworldly dragons responded with nothing but hatred and fury, charging straight at him. The Great Red, meanwhile, simply widened its eyes and watched them rush toward Cid.
Shifting his body and slipping through the narrow gap between the two massive forms, Cid delivered a heavy kick to the rotten dragon.
To an outside observer, that kick looked like nothing more than an ant trying to shake a tree.
Yet the moment his foot landed, the rotten dragon's body bent sharply at the point of impact.
Violent Magical Power burst out wildly through the Dimensional Gap as the rotten dragon was sent flying in the direction of that kick.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosions erupted from within its body as it flew.
Its flesh split open into countless dry cracks, releasing large amounts of purple Magical Power. The insects crawling across its body were wiped out, and chunks of rotting flesh fell away in large pieces.
Seizing the opening, Cid grabbed the Bone Dragon's massive skeleton at his side and clenched his hand.
Five deep dents appeared on its previously smooth surface, each the size of a handprint.
Cid's body began spinning in place, and the Bone Dragon, firmly caught in his grip, was dragged into the rotation.
"Roar!?"
Even the Bone Dragon, reduced to pure instinct and nearly devoid of intelligence, let out a roar of confusion and fear at the sheer absurdity of the situation.
After several full rotations, Cid finally released it. The Bone Dragon was flung away, crashing heavily as it was thrown off.
"Dragon of Dreams, this one's for you. I always finish what I start."
Hearing this, the Great Red spread its wings and dodged the incoming rotten dragon.
"Roar!"
Taking that roar as a response, Cid turned his attention back to the Bone Dragon in front of him.
The Bone Dragon opened its massive jaws as gray-white light gathered within. A thick beam of gray-white Magical Power burst out.
From that gray power, Cid could feel a chilling stillness, a deathly force that opposed all life and could extinguish even the soul.
Facing an attack that could drain vitality and erase souls, Cid did not dodge.
He charged straight into it.
Compared to the massive beam of Magical Power, his figure looked insignificant.
Yet within that raging gray torrent, he stood out clearly.
Because the beam had been split apart.
The straight gray beam of Magical Power split in two the moment it struck a certain point.
Once divided, the gray Magical Power lost its stability and surged wildly, still stirring up spatial tremors in the empty Dimensional Gap and slamming into the venue drifting within it.
But the point that had split the gray attack in half did not stay there. It rushed forward against the flow at a speed even faster than the Bone Dragon's attack.
"Tak!"
The gray Magical Power pouring from the Bone Dragon's mouth suddenly stopped. A sharp cracking sound rang out from the top of its skull, and a hole large enough for a person to pass through opened there. Cid stood above it.
"A bit hot."
Muttering that, he stepped onto the Bone Dragon's head as casually as if he were out for a walk, and blue-violet Magical Power spread from that point of contact through the dragon's entire body.
"Roar…"
A dragon's cry filled with pain deep enough to reach the soul burst from the Bone Dragon's mouth. Its massive skeletal body began trembling violently as it twisted and thrashed, trying to throw Cid off.
Crack. Crack...
As the first fracture appeared on the spotless white bones, cracks spread across the entire body of the Bone Dragon, now covered in Cid's Magical Power.
"Warm-up's over, so..."
Driven mad by the agony of its body breaking apart, the Bone Dragon, which had been charging wildly through the Dimensional Gap, gradually came to a stop. The purple soul flames in its eye sockets began to shrink.
"I won't play with you anymore. May you be reincarnated soon."
Without paying any attention to the dragon tail that had swung down at him only to stop midway, Cid withdrew the Magical Power covering the Bone Dragon's body. Leaving behind that final blessing, he leaped away from its head.
The moment it lost the support of Cid's Magical Power, the Bone Dragon's already shattered skeletal body began falling apart piece by piece. The purple soul flames in its eyes dimmed further and further.
At last, when the Bone Dragon's head split completely apart, the soul flame that symbolized its spirit went out for good.
As if he had not heard the dragon's roar of gratitude and release beside him, Cid turned to look the other way.
"Same place, same dragon. Good. Then let me finish the attempt to break up this fight that ended before it even began last time."