Chapter 316: The Wind Spear That Pierced a Shadow Dragon Must Face a Mountain!

"You did great, Lady Karon."

Nolan and Kira tried to cheer her up when she appeared, but Karon merely nodded before returning to her seat.

Then, almost without meaning to, her gaze shifted toward Luke and Selene.

The two were sitting unusually close to one another again, and judging by the subtle movement of Luke’s hand between Selene’s legs, beneath their line of sight, they were clearly doing some shady things, while everyone else was focused on the battle.

’Seems like he still isn’t able to control himself.’

The thought made a faint smile appear on Karon’s face, and strangely enough, the sight of them helped ease some of the disappointment she had felt after losing.

"I’ll be done with this." Zeyr pushed himself up from his seat.

After seeing that the battle had reached this point, he decided it was finally his turn to enter the arena.

He stepped forward and jumped down.

Meanwhile, beside him, but far a quiet moan escaped Selene.

"Mhm..."

Luke had been trying to tease her by rubbing her gently between her legs, and although she had been trying to push his hand away, he had shown no intention of stopping.

"Luke, we can’t. I have a match coming."

Selene kept her voice low as she attempted to move his hand away again, but Luke’s lust had already increased, making her effort less effective than she wanted.

Hearing her words, Luke smiled playfully.

"Do you want me to beat her?"

Selene immediately shook her head.

"Nah, I can do that."

Luke was a monster when it came to his strange ways, but Selene was hardly any different in that regard.

More importantly, she and Brynessa were both B-rank beings, meaning that the difference between them wouldn’t be decided simply through Essence.

She possessed Emperor blood and it was flowing through her veins, and Selene believed she could raise her raw power enough to overwhelm Brynessa’s own.

Of course, she conveniently ignored one important detail.

Emperor blood also flowed through Brynessa’s veins.

Selene simply had too much confidence in her own Origin Skills, Vampire Innate Ability, and arts to let that concern her.

She possessed both.

One ultimate ability came from her racial ability, while the other originated from her Origin Skill.

That combination wasn’t unique among extremely powerful bloodlines, but it was especially common among the children of Emperors, which was one of the reasons such descendants were so formidable.

There was, however, one important difference in how those abilities awakened.

For an Emperor’s child, the Innate Ability would generally remain locked until reaching B-rank, while the Origin Skill was available from the beginning.

On Brynessa’s side, Marrec was still looking toward the arena with a somewhat surprised expression.

"She won."

He hadn’t expected Mella to defeat Karon with that ultimate ability, and even he had been caught off guard by the strength of Storm Pierce.

"Yeah." Brynessa answered calmly.

She didn’t seem surprised.

She had apparently expected Mella to achieve that result.

Down in the arena, the next battle began.

Zeyr transformed immediately.

His body shifted into the form of an Earth Dragon, and his already powerful frame expanded until a one-hundred-foot-long dragon stood in the arena.

He possessed four sturdy limbs supporting his body, but unlike many dragons of his kind, he had no wings.

Yet the first thing anyone noticed about him had nothing to do with his lack of wings.

"So muscular!"

His entire body was heavily built.

From his limbs to his neck and head, every section of his body was covered in dense muscle, giving him the appearance of something that would be extremely difficult to injure through physical attacks alone.

And there was another layer protecting those muscles.

Earth-like scales covered his entire body.

Mella standing in front of him, already aware that she was facing a difficult opponent.

Zeyr’s voice echoed through the arena.

"Miss, your spear’s piercing power is impressive, but against my defense, it will be futile."

His confidence wasn’t without reason.

He had already analyzed her ultimate ability, and while he acknowledged its penetration, he trusted the natural defensive capabilities of his Earth Dragon body even more.

"Rather than wasting time with smaller attacks, let’s use our ultimates."

The suggestion wasn’t simply a matter of pride.

Zeyr knew exactly where the battle stood.

He was still in perfect condition, while Mella had already spent a considerable amount of her energy fighting Karon.

If both of them used their strongest abilities immediately, the advantage naturally belonged to him.

"Okay."

Mella accepted.

Her body changed once again, transforming back into the one-hundred-foot-long Wind Serpent.

Zeyr also understood that there was another reason to use his ultimate instead of simply relying upon his defense.

Although he trusted that he could survive Storm Pierce, surviving didn’t mean he would come out unharmed.

He had no desire to take unnecessary injuries.

Both of them gathered their energy.

Then they activated their ultimate abilities at the same time.

"ULTIMATE INNATE ABILITY: STORM PIERCE!"

"ULTIMATE ABILITY: MOUNTAINFORGED!"

Mella gathered the surrounding wind into another gigantic rotating spear.

The air around the weapon spiraled violently inward as layers of compressed wind formed around its body, concentrating almost all of its destructive force toward the tip.

The spear rotated continuously, and the pressure produced by its movement caused the surrounding air to twist and distort.

Across from her, Zeyr’s ultimate ability began taking shape.

His claws dug into the arena floor.

Then the surrounding earth responded.

Stone began rising around his body.

Minerals embedded within the ground were pulled upward, breaking free from the arena and flowing toward his dragon form.

The surrounding terrain didn’t simply surround him. It merged with him.

Layer after layer of earth, stone, and minerals fused with his scales, limbs, and tail, creating additional protection over his already powerful body.

The transformation continued as more of the surrounding terrain was incorporated into his form.

His body kept expanding.

The increase in size was gradual at first, then accelerated as more material joined the transformation.

Once it was complete, Zeyr was roughly five times larger than his original dragon form.

His draconic features remained recognizable beneath the layers of fused terrain, but his body had now become something far closer to a living mountain shaped into the form of a dragon.

He had become a five-hundred-foot-tall Earth Dragon.

Or, more accurately, a five-hundred-foot-tall mountain shaped like one.

If the system were present and examined his current condition, the result would have been:

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[ MOUNTAINFORGED EFFECTS ]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Size: ×5

Strength: ×5

The enormous increase in mass, combined with the Earth energy fused into his body, increased Zeyr’s physical strength by five times.

Defense: ×50

The layers of fused earth, stone, and minerals dramatically increased Zeyr’s defensive power.

His physical defense became fifty times greater than his normal state, making his transformed body extraordinarily difficult to damage.

Speed: Significantly Reduced

The immense increase in size and weight severely affected Zeyr’s mobility.

His acceleration, turning speed, and ability to rapidly change direction were greatly reduced.