Chapter 176: Destruction Beam...

The dragon’s teeth and claws met no discerning resistance; they breached skin with horrifying velocity, ripping through muscle tissue in a display of primal savagery. Bone structure collapsed under the crushing weight of those talons, and internal organs were reduced to little more than a shredded slurry, utterly incapable of enduring such overwhelming force.

When Amelia bore witness to this monstrous, feral evolution of Albert, she couldn’t suppress a profound jolt of shock.

Never had she envisioned a young hybrid of his tender age pulling off a feat so utterly gruesome.

It wasn’t merely the complete metamorphosis into his draconic form—it was the ruthless, merciless slaughter executed with a viciousness that belied his childish frame. In that moment, he appeared not as a young boy, but as an ancient beast unleashed from the violent depths of nature itself.

Amelia was intimately familiar with a critical truth regarding Hybrid Celestial Dragons.

The draconic genes embedded within their lineage constantly fought to dominate the host’s consciousness whenever they assumed their beast form, an instinctual tide attempting to consume and subjugate their human half entirely.

For this exact reason, a full metamorphosis posed a catastrophic risk to their sanity.

The physical and psychological agony required to suppress that overwhelming dominance was brutal. Thus, the optimal method to maintain mental equilibrium and minimize internal backlash was to remain in a semi-hybrid state—balancing their Celestial Dragon heritage with their secondary race, particularly humans.

Humans were a structurally fragile race; consequently, the internal conflict raging within a human-dragon hybrid was exponentially more volatile, rendering the agony of a complete transformation infinitely more excruciating.

Yet for a child like Albert to endure such agonizing mental and physical torment to achieve this state...

It was perilous beyond measure.

Should this transformation proceed unchecked, Albert would plunge into a lethal rampage, forfeiting whatever thread of consciousness he had left.

"Albert... stop this right now!"

Yet her voice failed to reach him.

Or perhaps it hit his ears, but his mind could no longer register the words.

Having shredded Manner’s body to remnants, the young dragon hovered suspended in the mid-air, wings beating rhythmically while fresh blood dripped continuously from his talons.

"GROOOOOAAAR!"

A deafening roar erupted from the dragon’s maw.

By then, drawn by the sound of the previous massive detonation, a crowd had already begun converging on the perimeter.

Initially, thick plumes of smoke had obscured their vision, forcing them to wait outside, listening in sheer horror to the terrifying sounds echoing from within the mist.

As the smoke finally dissipated, the scene stood laid bare before them.

Everyone froze in absolute horror.

Young and old alike stood paralyzed.

They stared at the dragon looming before a young girl, the surrounding area transformed into a horrific slaughterhouse, while Manner’s mutilated remains lay scattered under the beast’s claws.

No one could process what their eyes were witnessing.

Instinctively, involuntary whispers broke from the crowd, laced with visceral terror and shock.

"A monster..."

"It’s a monster!"

Manner, despite his reputation as a belligerent drunk, had been the single strongest human in this territory.

This region was a remote suburb distant from the heart of the capital, bounded by dense forests and wilderness; consequently, powerful cultivators were scarce.

Yet Manner had been different.

He had attained the 3-Star Level—a presence that most inhabitants of this backwater region wouldn’t dare cross.

Seeing the confrontation between him and this beast end in such a grisly manner...

Not a single soul present could conceive how anyone here—even another 3-Star cultivator—could stand against this dragon without suffering the exact same violent fate.

In that fleeting second...

Albert was entirely untethered from his conscious mind.

He could no longer see.

He could no longer hear.

Nothing remained within his mental expanse except pure, unadulterated rage.

Yet amidst that overwhelming storm of fury, a single word pierced through with terrifying clarity:

"Monster."

That specific word.

He had heard it before.

Time and time again.

It was the foul label stamped onto him and his little sister the moment humans discovered their true lineage.

Hearing it now echoing from the mouths of these onlookers, accompanied by the raw panic lacing their voices, something deep within Albert’s soul shattered completely.

"GROOOOOOAAAAAAAR!"

He roared once more, throwing his jaws wide open.

Suddenly...

Intense, blinding blue energy began accumulating between his fangs.

A small sphere of light formed, expanding rapidly as its density and radiant heat surged to a catastrophic degree.

Amelia’s eyes widened.

Her expression darkened instantly.

Destruction Beam...

She recognized the technique instantly.

And she knew precisely what unleashing it here entailed.

That single attack possessed enough destructive capacity to incinerate the entire area, wiping out the throngs of innocent bystanders who had gathered around them.

"Albert, I told you to stop!"

Yet her command evaporated before his unbridled fury.

The Destruction Beam was on the absolute verge of discharge.

Faced with this impending catastrophe, Amelia—barely able to move her limbs due to severe mana exhaustion—was left with only one choice.

She gritted her teeth.

Having drained a massive portion of her power, her legs felt entirely numb, her entire body bowing under the sheer weight of fatigue.

Nevertheless...

She stepped forward.

One step.

Then another.

Until she planted herself directly in front of Albert.

It mattered not to her if the beam hit her frame.

She wore a protective artifact of the Imperial Tier—Albert’s attack could not inflict a single scratch upon her.

Yet Albert was completely unaware of this...

In those chaotic seconds, his clouded vision registered only Amelia.

The very Amelia he had sworn to protect.

The Amelia upon whom he was about to unleash his most lethal attack.

Then...

FWOOOOOOSH!

The Destruction Beam erupted.

Everything transpired in a blinding instant.

Albert watched the trajectory of his beam, but the exact second he registered Amelia standing directly in its path, his expression went completely pale.

He tried to recall his power instantly.

He desperately sought to halt the attack.

He wanted to kill the beam by any means necessary.

Yet time had run out.

The beam had already reached her.

In that horrifying instant...

Albert felt every living sensation within his body die.

His eyes remained locked on Amelia, watching his annihilative beam close the distance, completely powerless to alter its course.

Yet...

A fraction of a second before impact, a radiant protective barrier manifested, enveloping her entirely.

In the very next instant...

The Destruction Beam slammed into the barrier.

BZZZZZZT...

A faint hum resonated through the air.

And then...

The beam dissipated entirely.

The blinding blue light vanished in a flash, as though it had never existed in the first place.

And Amelia remained standing where she was, completely unscathed.