Chapter 1078 - 881: Treasure Seizure (2)

His face had returned to its original appearance, no longer the rosy-cheeked noble youth from the banquet last night.

The Adventurer’s Badge hanging at his waist shimmered with a faint copper hue in the sunlight as he stood in the center of the square enveloped by the dark gold barrier. Facing the pale gold vertical pupils staring fixedly at him not far away, his lips curled slightly, his tone as casual as one would use when encountering an old acquaintance on the street.

"Long time no see, Audric."

The Duke juggled the three Crystal Treasure Boxes in his hand, slowly placed them into his Space Ring.

The Divine Revelation Mark on the back of his hand trembled slightly, and a semi-transparent light screen, visible only to him, flashed before his eyes.

His points surged again, jumping directly by 150,000.

He slightly raised an eyebrow, looking up at the face across from him, which had become completely twisted. His tone was as calm as if chatting with an old friend: "Thank you, Audric. I’ll be taking these three items."

Audric’s expression changed several times in a brief moment, from the initial rage of seeing the treasures stolen, to astonishment upon recognizing the face, and finally to pure, undisguised killing intent after suppressing all other emotions.

His pale golden vertical pupils suddenly contracted into two extremely fine lines as a deep and violent roar erupted from his throat, a roar more like a great dragon’s war cry than a human’s: "It’s you—Duke!"

The aftershock of the dragon’s roar reverberated over the square, causing several ceremonial guards standing nearby to stagger backward several steps.

As the roar faded, Audric’s body shot toward the Duke at a breakneck speed, his right fist, covered in pale gold dragon scales, tracing a blazing golden line through the air. The surrounding air erupted into a sharp burst under Dragon Might’s pressure.

He had no desire for any flashy techniques, no need for tactical probing; he just wanted to smash the face he’d loathed for years with the fist Duke had once severed.

Dark golden sand silently seeped from the Duke’s sleeves, and just as Audric’s fist was about to reach his face, a wall of sand, formed from countless metal grains, abruptly rose in front of him.

The sand wall wasn’t thick—appearing only as a thin layer—but each grain sizzled with a four-color radiance of intertwined hues, silently streaming between the sand particles, making the whole wall glow like a barrier formed by frozen aurora.

Audric’s fist slammed into the sand wall, the dragon-scaled knuckles colliding with the four-color divine light enshrouded metal sand, detonating a wave of dark golden and four-color shockwaves.

The shockwaves spread along the square’s stone joints, shattering a dozen marble tiles, with cracks extending from Audric’s feet to the platform’s edge.

Audric felt his punch’s force dissipate like a clay ox into the sea, with an extremely slight tremor emanating from the dragon scales upon contact with the four-color divine light.

His pupils slightly contracted; the last time he had seen such light was before entering the Path of Divine Revelation, at the tavern entrance on the Central Islands. It was an elusive aura emitted by Duke.

Now, that aura had manifested into a tangible form, obliterating his pure physical force punch without a trace.

Below the high platform, the King and a group of noblemen were dumbfounded by the scene.

A white-haired old Earl opened his mouth, almost dropping his cane.

The face of Earl Ashton, who led the donation of Dragon Flame Crystal last night, was ashen. He subconsciously stepped back two steps, then turned to observe the King’s reaction.

The King stood frozen, his face written with bewilderment and indecision.

He realized it was an internal conflict between Wizards but knew nothing of Duke’s background.

From the King’s perspective, to confront Audric face to face, one must have a considerable background too.

Neither of these Wizards could he afford to offend; aiding either would lead to a dead-end.

"Today, you won’t escape," Audric coldly declared, scanning the barrier surrounding them.

The semi-transparent barrier glinted with the eerie, cold sheen of Dragon Might in the sunlight, each light ripple potent enough to knock an ordinary Level 3 Mage flying.

Duke stood now within his barrier. Unless he was defeated, escaping was impossible.

However, Duke seemed entirely unconcerned with running away.

He transformed the sand wall back into grains, retracting them into his sleeve, slowly clenched his right fist. Dark red, earthy yellow, bluish-white, and deep blue lights streamed from between his fingers, coiling around each knuckle layer by layer, wrapping his entire fist in burning four-color flames. Stepping forward, his waist and hips suddenly exerted force, delivering a punch.

The four-color flame-encased fist struck precisely upon a single spot of the dark gold barrier. The barrier’s surface shimmered with a violent tremor, and then Audric heard the fracturing sound of his own barrier.

From the point of contact with Duke’s fist, cracks spread madly in a spiderweb pattern outward, Dragon Might’s aftershocks being crushed, disintegrated, and devoured inch by inch by the four-color divine light.

In the next moment, the entire dark gold barrier exploded, with its fragmented light shards spraying outward like a torrential downpour.

Duke’s figure transformed into a streak of four-color brilliance, darting out through the yet-to-dissipate fractured gap, speeding towards the direction outside of Crown City.

Almost simultaneously, Audric took to the air, the virtual image of pale gold dragon wings roaring open behind him, as he followed like an arrow released from a bowstring.

Duke abruptly halted in the rocky ridge valley, lightly tipping his toe against a sharply eroded granite, elegantly turning around.

The serpentine mountain path behind them had long been left far below. The golden dome of Crown City had shrunk to a fingernail-sized speck on the horizon, completely silent, with not even birds around.

Overhead, the lead-gray clouds loomed low, while steep gray limestone walls flanked each side. A few crooked, root-exposed old pines clung sparsely to the cliffs, their needles emitting a thin moaning in the wind.

The slope was covered with variously sized rubble and weathered flaky shale from the rock walls. Clusters of resilient shrubs squeezed from the crevices, blooming with unknown dark purple flowers.

Duke turned back toward the swiftly approaching pale golden streak from the distant horizon, his lips curling slightly, revealing a row of neat white teeth. Then he spoke aloud, his voice echoing in the empty valley with unmistakable mirth: "Here we go, Audric. I picked this valley just for your burial ground. It’s got excellent Feng Shui, backed by mountains and facing the valley, with wide views, befitting the presence your Golden Dragon Bloodline deserves."

Audric’s figure approached rapidly from the horizon, initially a tiny speck of pale golden light, swelling to a suffocating magnitude in a moment.

During his descent, he unleashed his bloodline.

Dazzling dark golden light erupted from his body, igniting the ground with a golden sun. Under the glow, the gray limestone walls of the valley appeared as though coated in flowing molten gold.

Audric’s body rapidly expanded in the light, limbs transforming into sturdy dragon claws, with unfolded wings capable of shrouding half the sky, scales layered over his body like plates of dark golden metal armor, each edge shimmering with sharp glints.

Upon fully transforming into a giant dragon, his massive form nearly filled the entire sky of the valley, wings spread to obscure the leaden clouds, casting a moving shadow over the ground.

The dragon claw suddenly clawed down from the sky, the whistling air being torn resonated throughout the canyon.

Audric had no interest in idle talk or hearing any taunting words from Duke; he had only one thought—to crush this bug.

Crush it along with the humiliation from years ago in the Illusion Tower.