Absolute Beast Dominion

By now, even Naelith noticed that an earthquake of such magnitude wasn't possible because of Ignivorax, so her eyes naturally drifted toward the anomaly in the distance.

"W-what is that?" she muttered after seeing the 200-meter-long serpent frantically charging towards them. And there was still quite a distance, around 3 to 4 kilometres.

She immediately looked toward Igni, and seeing him distracted, retreated toward Lyswenna. Naelith picked up Lyswenna on her back and headed in the direction Thalvyr had run.

But Shyra wasn't as panicked as the others. She steadied herself within the shadows, preparing to lunge at the distracted dragon once again.

She already knew that, along with the huge beast, Leo had also arrived somewhere nearby, and he wouldn't allow her to come to any harm, so she focused entirely on the task at hand.

Shyra tried her skill—[Mist Shroud]—once again, but as usual, the mist couldn't be sustained for even a second in such a scorching environment.

She once again charged her claws and fangs with [Violet Hellbrand], then used [Critical Strike] on her jaws and legs to make her impact more powerful before directly appearing beside the oblivious Ignivorax.

Before he could even react, Shyra had already clamped her natural weapons around his long neck, and Ignivorax was once again subjected to intense pain. This time, he even had trouble breathing, with his windpipe having been punctured and burned with poison.

"Fuck this cat!"

Ignivorax raised his forelegs, and they became steel-like the very next moment before crashing down onto Shyra. She noticed the attack in time and tried to dodge.

But she couldn't get out of the way in time, and a shallow gash was torn across her abdomen by the sharp steel claws, from which blood continuously poured.

MASTERRRR!!! IT HURTS!

Shyra cried out in Leo's mind as she vanished into the shadows.

Give me that red-haired doll! I need the healing!!

Ignivorax's gaze sharpened as he spotted the blood trail Shyra left behind while running around in stealth. He immediately released a breath attack along the path and struck Shyra directly.

Thankfully, her tough hide seemed to have absorbed most of the burn, but the gash across her abdomen was cauterised.

MASTER!!

Shyra cried once more.

Leo looked toward Shyra's position and immediately commanded her to retreat toward Naelith and Lyswenna in the opposite direction. He couldn't allow Shyra to face mortal danger because she didn't have any life-saving talisman on her, and she might actually die.

"Wait..."

Leo suddenly realised that many beast masters might already have lost their beasts because of this. Not all beasts were as strong as his and capable of contending in this realm, and if a beast master wasn't smart enough to unsummon their beast in time, it might actually die.

Leo shook his head. Other people's concerns weren't his concern. He needed to focus on keeping his people safe, which now even included the Red-Scaled Lizardman and his family.

"Agni, descend to that island. By then, this serpent will be dead."

Agnivar nodded and started descending from his 3-kilometre altitude.

But Ignivorax's eyes had already widened after analysing the huge serpent when Shyra retreated.

"An Infernal Serpent!" he hissed.

He knew these beasts possessed the prized [Sunblood Pearl] within their neck sac, so he was immediately elated when he realised what beast it was.

"How could I forget that Aunt said she had a secret treasure for us! So this was it! A [Sunblood Pearl]!"

But then he noticed the serpent's condition.

"This... why does it look like it's about to die?" Ignivorax muttered.

His brain immediately got to work, and he figured out what might have transpired with the serpent.

He also noticed that, despite its dying condition, the serpent looked extremely feral, which meant it was chasing the potential thief of its pearl, forcing it to leave its natural habitat in the Magma Chamber.

"Where—!"

Ignivorax's pupils sharply contracted when he spotted Leo descending toward him at high speed.

"Shit! Why him of all people?!"

Ignivorax cursed and immediately spun around to fly away and call for backup. But before he could flap his wings even once, a tremendous force of wind suddenly slammed into his body, pinning him to the ground.

Ignivorax had come here after sensing a potent dragon bloodline in a Lizardman on this island, one that was many times better than the weak wyverns. But when he arrived, he even spotted Leo's servant talking with another Lizardman who also possessed a potent bloodline. Seeing the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone—getting back at Leo by harming his servants while also consuming the potent bloodlines of the Lizardmen—he attacked.

But he never expected to be held back by these people. Even Leo's servants were not to be trifled with. Especially Shyra. Though Naelith's flames were very ineffective against him, Shyra was a pain in the ass.

She alone managed to keep the waters at bay by balancing the power.

As for why the Low 4-star Red-Flame Dragon was able to contend with Shyra—a Low 4-star—Naelith—another Low 4-star—and the equally, if not stronger, Red-Scaled Lizardman, along with the mysterious mage, it was because he had actually advanced to Mid 4-star. Combined with his superior traits, he was almost on equal footing against them.

Currently, Leo was looking down at Ignivorax from 50 meters in the sky while still standing on Agnivar's back.

Red-Flame Dragon [Ignivorax] (Mid 4-star) - Super Bloodline

Hmm, only an increase in strength... The bloodline seemed to have purified by 10%, Leo noted.

He couldn't help but wonder whether this level of progress was too low for his talent. Even if Ignivorax had consumed around 50 wyverns by now, with most possessing super bloodlines, Leo's talent might have boosted the purification by close to 40% or even 60% in some cases, taking into account that an inferior bloodline was being used to refine a superior bloodline.

"Well, I guess using wyvern blood to purify a dragon's blood has its side effects."

Saying that, Leo jumped down from Agnivar's back and landed right in front of Ignivorax's kowtowed form.

Behind them, the serpent was still around a kilometre away. But its sluggish movements made it clear that it would die before it even reached the lake.

"H-human! Damn you!"

Ignivorax cursed and tried to stand up under the immense wind pressure, but fell back onto the ground. He could only roll his eyes upward to glare at Leo venomously.