Chapter 410: Domain

[...89%...90%...91%...]

The Nightmare Spell had been meant to force Astfall to confront his greatest fear, a memory painful enough to shatter his composure and leave his mind vulnerable. Luke had been counting on that opening, hoping to exploit it before the battle reached its final stage.

Instead, the spell had done the exact opposite.

It had pushed Astfall beyond his limits.

The human figure disappeared beneath a surge of black scales as his body expanded, bones shifting and cracking beneath the transformation.

His arms stretched into enormous limbs, his back split as two massive wings tore outward, and his neck lengthened until a monstrous head emerged through the darkness.

A ferocious black dragon now stood before Luke.

Its scales were dark enough to swallow the light around them, each one reflecting only the faintest glimmer from the battlefield.

Two enormous horns curved backward from its skull, framing a face twisted with barely restrained fury. Its pupils had narrowed into thin slits, burning with a rage that seemed almost alive.

The dragon opened its jaws.

Rows of enormous fangs were revealed, while smoke poured between them with every breath. A low growl rumbled from deep within its throat, vibrating through the ground and making the air itself feel heavy.

Its wings spread wide.

The sheer span of them cast a shadow across the battlefield, covering Luke beneath its darkness.

This was not the same Astfall Luke had been fighting.

The creature before him was a monster built for destruction, a Dragon stripped of restraint and consumed by fury.

And Luke realized with a sinking feeling that the Nightmare Spell he had used to create an opening had instead forced Astfall to reveal his true form.

"This is fun!"

Astaroth roared, finally witnessing his brother tear away every last bit of restraint and fight with the intent to kill.

Astfall did not waste a second.

Violet energy began gathering inside his maw, condensing into a dense mass that distorted the air around it.

Luke’s eyes narrowed.

That is not flames... at all.

He realized it a moment too late.

The dragon released the violet energy.

The beam tore across the battlefield and struck Luke head-on.

"GAAAH!"

Luke roared in pain as the energy phased straight through him.

His armor reacted instantly. It came alive across his body, reinforcing itself and shielding him from most of the attack’s effect.

But even with its protection, the pain was unbearable.

It felt as though something was reaching past his flesh and tearing into something far deeper.

[Host, that attack is targeting your very soul. Please be careful.]

The notification rang inside his head.

Luke’s expression changed.

Without hesitation, he whipped his remaining sickle forward.

The effect was instantaneous.

Space seemed to shift around him as he was pulled away from the beam, but the movement came with its own price. Pain ripped through his body, and the arm he had used to swing the sickle felt as though the muscles were on the verge of tearing apart.

Still, it worked.

Luke reappeared behind the dragon, safely outside the path of the violet beam.

He immediately glanced at his armor.

I need to avoid that attack.

His armor would not be able to withstand many more hits like that.

And the kinetic effect he had relied on earlier would be useless against this monster.

His eyes shifted toward the dragon.

The system displayed its physical parameters.

[Str: 290]

[Spd: 190]

[End: 340]

[Int: 150]

Luke’s expression tightened.

Ridiculous.

Every single stat was monstrous.

Before he could think any further, Astfall’s head shifted.

He had sensed him.

Luke immediately moved.

A massive hammer appeared in his hand as he charged straight toward the dragon.

Astfall turned.

The violet beam was still pouring from his maw, sweeping across the battlefield.

Luke didn’t slow down.

He planted his foot and jumped with everything he had.

His body shot upward, soaring over the dragon’s head before gravity pulled him back down.

For a brief moment, he was completely exposed.

Astfall could have attacked.

He could have turned the beam upward and caught Luke while he was still in the air.

But he didn’t.

The dragon suddenly stopped the energy volley.

Luke’s eyes narrowed.

He noticed the decision but refused to dwell on it.

Whatever the reason, he would deal with it later.

For now, he had an opening.

Luke tightened his grip around the hammer and swung with all his strength, aiming directly for the dragon’s skull.

TNGG!

The impact reverberated across the arena.

The sound of metal meeting scale echoed through the battlefield, followed by a shockwave that sent dust and debris rolling across the ground.

However, just as Luke feared...his attack did no damage at all.

As Luke landed against the dragon’s neck, Astfall suddenly spread his enormous wings.

With one powerful flap, the dragon shot into the air.

Luke felt his footing disappear beneath him and immediately jumped away, refusing to be carried along by the dragon’s sudden ascent.

He landed hard on the ground and coughed once, quickly looking up at the creature now hovering high above him.

Those scales are practically unbreakable... I need to create an opening. And now...

His thoughts abruptly came to a halt.

Something appeared in the sky.

Then another.

And another.

Within seconds, hundreds of fire lances had materialized above the battlefield.

They stretched across the sky in an enormous formation, each one pointed directly downward.

Straight at Luke.

The arena fell completely silent.

Even the spectators who had been screaming moments ago could only stare upward at the sheer scale of the sorcery unfolding above them.

This was not ordinary dragon magic.

It was the kind of power that only a royal dragon carrying a legendary bloodline could display.

Hundreds of burning lances hovered overhead, their tips glowing with concentrated heat as they waited for a single command.

Astfall’s enormous form remained suspended above the battlefield, his wings spread wide as he looked down at Luke.

"Witness..."

His voice rolled across the arena, heavy enough to make the ground tremble.

"...and despair at the difference between you and me."

Luke’s eyes narrowed.

Then Astfall made his move.

Every single lance shot downward at once.

The sky seemed to collapse.

Hundreds of fiery projectiles descended toward Luke, tearing through the air with enough force to make the entire battlefield scream beneath their passage.

Luke took a deep breath.

His heartbeat slowed.

The hundreds of fire lances descending from the sky should have been enough to overwhelm his senses, yet something inside him settled instead. The roar of the battlefield faded into the background. The heat, the wind, even the sound of the approaching projectiles became distant.

His senses sharpened.

Then Luke closed his eyes.

The moment he did, the world changed.

He could no longer see the hundreds of lances, but he could feel them.

Every movement in the air registered against his skin. Every shift in pressure, every tremor caused by the descending projectiles, every change in the flow of mana around him became clear.

And somewhere within that heightened awareness, his domain began to expand.

The moon above them seemed to grow brighter.

Its radiance descended upon the battlefield, bathing Luke in a silvery brilliance that seemed to separate him from everything around him.

The first lance reached him.

Luke moved.

His body twisted sideways before his mind had even finished registering the danger.

BOOM!

The lance struck the ground where he had been standing.

Another came from behind.

Luke ducked.

A third descended toward his chest.

He stepped to the side.

A fourth swept toward his shoulder.

He leaned backward, allowing the blazing projectile to pass inches above his face.

Then the sky erupted.

Hundreds of fire lances descended in rapid succession, turning the battlefield into a storm of destruction.

Yet Luke moved through it.

He did not open his eyes.

He simply walked.

Then sprinted.

Then jumped.

His body reacted to every threat before his thoughts could catch up.

A lance pierced the ground beside his foot.

He twisted.

Another tore past his waist.

He spun beneath it.

Three descended together.

Luke stepped between them, his movements flowing from one dodge into another without a moment of hesitation.

BOOOOM!

Explosions erupted all around him.

The ground shattered beneath the bombardment, flames spreading across the arena as dust and debris filled the air.

But within that chaos, Luke remained untouched.

A lance came directly toward his head.

His body tilted.

It passed over his hair.

Another came from his blind side.

Luke’s hand suddenly shot upward.

CLANG!

He knocked it aside with the flat of his palm before continuing forward without ever opening his eyes.

A murmur spread through the audience.

Then it became silence.

Astaroth had risen from his seat.

His eyes were wide.

"What..."

He stared at Luke moving through the storm.

There was no way.

Hundreds of attacks were descending from every direction. Even someone with incredible eyesight would struggle to follow them, yet Luke had deliberately closed his eyes.

And he was dodging them all.

As if he was predicting the future

Astaroth’s expression slowly changed from disbelief to something far more serious.

His body is moving before his mind can react.

Another barrage descended.

Luke slipped through it.

Every movement was perfectly timed.

His body seemed to have abandoned conscious thought entirely, responding to the slightest disturbance in the air and mana around him.

Astaroth’s fingers tightened around the edge of his seat.

"This is impossible..."

Even Astfall’s eyes narrowed.

He watched him with disbelief.

The hundreds of fire lances continued to fall.

And beneath them, surrounded by destruction, Luke continued to move with his eyes closed.

The silver radiance of the moon followed him like a veil.

Not a single projectile touched him.

....

[95%...96%...97%...]

~~~

A/N:- About to end the arc soon.