Absolute Beast Dominion

While flying towards their destination, Agnivar spoke up.

"So... what will be the condition that you will impose for giving me the extra [Sunblood Pearl] you have?" he asked after a long silence, finally bringing up the topic.

Agnivar knew Leo hadn't shown the treasure right in front of his face for nothing.

Leo grinned at the question.

"I was really about to think that you had great control over your urges. Turns out you were just hesitating."

"But yes, there will be conditions."

The wyvern's gaze sharpened.

"What conditions? I am ready to go to any extreme," he said while making a 90-degree manoeuvre to dodge another breath attack from the serpent.

Now, only 10 minutes were left before the 1-hour mark, and Leo could already see the serpent's death in its dimming eyes.

"Well, you are not the only one who's ready to go to extremes. There's another Flame user in my team, and another one will join soon. So the competition will be tough. You said extreme, right? Be ready to go beyond it."

After that, the journey continued in silence as both parties quietly contemplated their own thoughts.

The wyvern was racking its head around the absurd lengths Leo had gone to in order to acquire the pearl, while Leo's mind remained on Naelith's and Shyra's condition. Lyswenna seemed to have withdrawn from the fight and was recovering.

Leo closed his eyes and tried focusing on Shyra's senses—more accurately, her eyesight.

[Primordial Beast Taming] — 10 stars

Effect: The bond formed due to... Even if the Beast and tamer are not fully bonded, it allows the tamer to share senses and strength with...

Leo's talent clearly allowed senses to be shared, though he hadn't experimented with it much before. If sense-sharing was possible with a low-level bonded beast, then with a beast bonded through blood at 83%, it should be quite easy.

And it indeed was.

The next moment, images began appearing within Leo's spiritual mind.

"Hm? What is this Ignivorax doing, fighting Shyra?" Leo saw the dragon form of Ignivorax attacking Shyra, Naelith, and a—

"Huh? That red-scaled lizardman is actually helping Naelith and Shyra," Leo realised.

In other words, Ignivorax was the one pressuring the entire group.

It was also at this time that Lyswenna contacted Leo.

'My Lord! That dragon has attacked us! Naelith and your beast are barely holding it back with that red-scaled lizardman's assistance!' Lyswenna said in an urgent tone.

'Alright, I am on my way. You can hold on for 15 more minutes, right?' Leo asked.

'Yes! We can.'

Saying that, Lyswenna immediately cut off the communication and rejoined the fight.

"Agni, how long do you think this serpent will stay alive?" Leo asked.

Agnivar looked at the beast still chasing them from 3 kilometers below.

"Lord, I would say it will die within 1 or 2 minutes."

"It would've lived longer if it hadn't started using its blood lifeforce. But now that it has, no one can prevent its death."

Leo raised a brow.

"Blood lifeforce? What's that? Some sort of skill?" Leo asked, unfamiliar with the term.

"It's when a being burns its own vitality to gain a temporary surge in strength at the cost of its own lifespan. You can call it a skill since you need to know the technique to use it, but it's not a proper skill," Agnivar explained.

"Okay..."

Leo checked the distance. There were only about 4 to 5 minutes left before they reached their destination, and since the serpent was about to die, Leo changed his roundabout course into a direct one.

---

At Salamander Water Lake...

"Sir Thalvyr! How are you able to resist the bloodline suppression of a dragon?" Naelith asked as she controlled a 20-meter-high flame tornado, within which the massive figure of a dragon could be seen trying to devour the flames.

And Ignivorax succeeded.

A vortex tore into the side of the flame tornado, through which the flames began rushing directly into the dragon's mouth.

Currently, the battle was taking place on a wide island in the middle of a large lake whose waters carried a faint reddish hue.

"That's because I have trained my mind to a great degree, but most of the credit goes to Zharissa. It's her magic and my soul bond with her that allow me to move under the dragon's pressure! Though I have to say, it's not easy. I feel like kneeling right now and begging for forgiveness at the dragon's feet!" the red-scaled lizardman said as his metallic spear filled with the fire element before igniting with fierce flames.

The lizardman had furious-red scales with a shade slightly duller than Naelith's hair, though that seemed to be due to the layer of volcanic ash covering much of his body. Thin golden lines glowed faintly between the scales around his neck and shoulders as though molten lava flowed beneath his hide. His muscular, athletic build clearly suggested years of relentless training.

Bright red horns curved backwards from his skull, while golden slit-pupilled eyes gleamed beneath them. His clawed feet ended in razor-sharp talons that looked capable of gripping jagged terrain and effortlessly tearing into an enemy's flesh.

*pic*

"When is your Lord coming? You said the moment he arrives, this dragon will be defeated!" Thalvyr asked.

"Not only mine, but from now on, yours too. You accepted it."

"I know! But my pride cannot allow me to bow before another man without even seeing him. Even if my wife says so, I first need to judge him with my own eyes."

Naelith nodded.

"I'll tell you this— the moment we arrived at this lake, even if your entire family resisted with all its strength, you still couldn't stop our Lord from taking you in. So be ready to bow. As for the time..."

Lyswenna appeared beside them.

"Lord is coming in 15 minutes!" she reported.

Both Naelith and Thalvyr nodded before turning their attention back to Ignivorax, who had just finished devouring every last bit of flame. Ignivorax's neck had swollen noticeably, and a fiery crimson glow shone through the scales as though molten fire surged within.

"I'll show you what a real flame tornado looks like!" Ignivorax roared.

HRRRUUUUSSSSHHHHH!!!

He unleashed a massive torrent of flames that all three narrowly dodged.

But the flames didn't simply continue in a straight line. After crossing the island and reaching the lake, they curved, circled around the entire Salamander Water Lake, and within moments formed a gigantic 50-meter-tall fire tornado.

At the same time, a glowing white magic barrier enveloped Naelith, Lyswenna, and Thalvyr, offsetting much of the scorching heat. Lyswenna immediately reinforced it with a second barrier made of water, effectively blocking most of the remaining heat and keeping them safe.

Ignivorax gritted his teeth.

"WHERE IS THAT FUCKING MAGE?!" he roared.

All of a sudden, his snout turned steel-like, and he drove it straight into the ground.

After slightly opening his jaws beneath the earth—

Grrrr—

The entire island trembled violently as deep cracks spread in every direction. A red-orange glow began leaking through them.

GRRRRRRNNNDDD—CRAAAASH!

FWOOOOSHHHHH!! HRAAAAAAAHHH!!

Flames burst through the widening fissures as the island continued splitting apart.

Suddenly, the white barrier surrounding Naelith and the others vanished.

"NO!" Thalvyr's pupils contracted as he immediately rushed in another direction.

At that very moment, Shyra appeared right beside the dragon. Her fangs, claws, and even her eyes burned with violet light.

She drove her claws deep into the dragon's scaly neck, and surprisingly, those seemingly impenetrable scales gave way beneath the force of her strike. She immediately lunged to bite down on the long snout, but upon hitting the steel-armoured surface, her fangs recoiled violently.

It was Shyra who suffered the backlash.

Blood immediately seeped from her mouth.

Thankfully, none of her canines broke.

But she had done her job.

"Fucking cat!!!" Ignivorax roared, though his voice came out muffled with half of his snout still buried underground.

The deep claw wounds on his neck, combined with the searing poison, made the dragon cry out in agony. He immediately withdrew his attack and violently flung Shyra away.

She crashed heavily onto the ground.

Though, her [Tough Hide] trait absorbed most of the impact.

Shyra's predatory eyes never left the dragon as she vanished right before his eyes.

"Fucker!" Ignivorax jerked his head in every direction, desperately trying to spot Shyra, but as always since the battle had begun, he failed.

With his concentration disrupted, the fire tornado began to waver, and even the collapsing island stabilised.

Ignivorax took the opportunity to assess the battlefield.

Lyswenna had once again been severely injured by the flames after the white barrier disappeared and had been forced to retreat.

Only Naelith remained standing.

She calmly notched another arrow and aimed it directly at Ignivorax.

"Hah! Petty arrows. Has even one of them penetrated my scales? What gives you the courage to keep fighting me?" Ignivorax said proudly.

"Don't act mighty. I remember clearly how my Lord humiliated all of you. What gives you the confidence to think his servant will bow to you?" Naelith sneered.

"Fuck your Lord! Once we get out of this realm, my aunt will teach him a lesson. Let's see how powerful his background really is if they dare go against mighty dragons for the sake of a measly human."

"My aunt will repay him 10-fold for what he did to my brothers and me!"

At that moment, the island shook once more.

Naelith immediately prepared herself for whatever attack Ignivorax was planning.

But the dragon himself looked confused.

He frantically looked around, only to realise that the waters of the lake were shaking violently.

No, this wasn't a skill.

It was a real earthquake.

Ignivorax realised.

It was now that the curtain of flame tornado completely vanished, and the sight in the distance became clear.