Chapter 342: Stall for Me!

Jax’s golden eyes remained fixed on the creature’s chest. The blackened scorch mark left behind by Astra’s breath attack continued shrinking like a river returning to its natural course.

The damaged armor plate shimmered once as countless threads of distorted space converged upon it. The surrounding water folded inward and the fracture finally sealed.

Within seconds, there was no evidence the attack had ever landed.

"..."

Astra saw it too, "So it’s not healing..."

Jax nodded, "No."

His gaze remained analytical rather than frustrated, "The damage itself still exists, but this dimension is its personal domain, so it is is rewriting reality so the damage never happened."

Astra’s enormous dragon eyes narrowed, "That’s unfair."

"A little, you can get a domain like this if you grow strong enough," Jax said with a smile.

Golden mana flickered around his fingertips as he continued observing every fluctuation surrounding the creature.

Another roar interrupted their conversation as the colossal creature’s thousands of eyes brightened simultaneously, blue light pulsed beneath its armor, the surrounding ocean trembled.

Then, its six limbs moved together, beginning to draw mana from the environment. Entire rivers of mana surged toward it from every direction. The silver waterways that had flowed peacefully throughout the hidden dimension suddenly accelerated.

They emptied directly into the creature’s body.

Jax watched it all happen carefully, "It’s feeding."

"On what?" Astra asked.

"The dimension,"

As soon as he spoke,

~CRAAAAACK!~

The creature disappeared.

"...!"

Astra’s instincts exploded into motion as she saw that disappearance, and she twisted violently away from her original location.

An instant later...

~BOOOOOOOOOM!~

One enormous claw slammed into where she’d been less than a heartbeat earlier. The impact alone erased half a mountain floating nearby.

Space folded and the mountain vanished, Astra’s eyes widened, "It teleported?!"

"No," Jax looked over his shoulder, "It’s just moving super fast, your eyes could barely track it,"

The creature was already behind them again, which seemed impossible. Its size should have made such speed inconceivable.

Instead, it moved like light. Its rotating jaws opened. Dozens of blue spheres began forming simultaneously.

"...Multiple attacks."

Astra didn’t hesitate, her wings exploded with storm mana. She rolled and twisted.

The first sphere expanded into frozen space. The second became a collapsing gravitational vortex. The third erupted into thousands of crystalline needles. The fourth simply disappeared, and reappeared beside them.

"...Behind us!"

Jax spun and his golden mana burst outward causing a translucent barrier to materialize.

~BOOOOOOOOM!~

The sphere detonated against it and the barrier held for half a second and then shattered, causing Jax to frown.

"Interesting," He muttered.

Meanwhile, the explosion launched Astra across the city, but she stabilized almost immediately, lightning spreading across her wings.

"You okay?" Jax asked.

"I’m fine," Astra responded with a laugh, "I’ve definitely had softer landings. Growing up as a Dragon isn’t for the weak y’know, especially a Dragon under Orianna’s watch,"

Jax smiled faintly, "Good."

Before another exchange could begin, the surrounding monsters attacked again, thousands at once. The dimensional tears reopened and black fissures spread throughout the city, every fracture birthed another nightmare.

From Serpents to Leviathans and Living coral. Creatures composed entirely of liquid darkness.

All of them surged toward Jax and Astra simultaneously.

Astra growled, "I was wondering when they’d remember we existed."

"They’ve got their courage back," Golden mana erupted around Jax, "Let’s fix that."

He disappeared, and the next several seconds became impossible for ordinary eyes to follow.Golden flashes erupted throughout the battlefield. Every appearance coincided with another explosion.

One leviathan lost its head while a crystalline beast imploded. Three serpents collided after invisible force redirected their momentum. A floating jellyfish folded inward until it became a single glowing point before disappearing entirely.

Jax moved continuously, never stopping or wasting a motion. Each strike was perfectly economical and each gesture eliminated another threat.

Meanwhile, Astra embraced the sky, or what passed for sky inside the hidden ocean. She accelerated between floating islands.

Storm clouds of mana formed around her, electricity danced across every scale. She inhaled deeply and the surrounding currents answered.

An enormous spiral formed around her body and the water itself became a vortex, "Storm Dragon Art."

Lightning gathered as she chanted her spell, the spiral accelerating, "Heavenfall Current."

Her wings slammed downward.

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!~

A cyclone descended onto the environment. An entire rotating ocean crashed through the battlefield.

Various monsters were swept away instantly. Some slammed into buildings while others collided with floating islands. Several simply disappeared beneath crushing pressure.

Blue-white lightning coursed throughout the vortex continuously. Any creature caught within it convulsed before disintegrating.

Jax glanced upward at her flying, "Nice."

She grinned, "I’ve been practicing."

"I can tell." Jax said, when another roar interrupted them. The colossal creature finally entered the battle itself.

Its enormous claw descended.

Jax met it head-on, his golden mana condensing around one fist. The surrounding water compressed until it resembled solid crystal.

"Let’s test something."

He punched upward.

~BOOM!~

The impact shook the entire dimension and the claw actually stopped.

For the first time. The creature’s arm trembled. Then, it pushed harder. The ocean beneath Jax exploded downward.

Stone vaporized and entire districts collapsed.

Jax’s golden mana surged and his boots carved enormous trenches across the marble streets.

Yet, he continued holding it back.

"Heavy," He smiled as he spoke, and with another burst of strength, he twisted and the claw shifted.

Its own momentum betrayed it and the enormous limb smashed sideways through three floating mountains instead.

Astra’s eyes widened.

"He threw it."

The creature roared in irritation and its countless eyes brightened. Then, every eye fired. Thousands of thin blue beams crossed the battlefield simultaneously.

"Jax!"

"I see them just fine Astra," Jax muttered.

Golden mana expanded outward into countless threads. Each beam that approached was redirected.

Several struck incoming monsters instead while others carved enormous trenches through abandoned buildings.

Still, there were simply too many. One beam clipped Astra’s wing and her electricity scattered.

She rolled unexpectedly when nother beam grazed her shoulder. A shallow wound opened across her sapphire scales. Blood dispersed into the surrounding water.

Jax noticed immediately and his expression cooled, "You hurt my Dragon."

His golden mana erupted and the atmosphere itself changed to the point that even Astra noticed.

"Jax?"

His smile disappeared and the calm amusement he’d displayed throughout the battle faded. In its place was pure focus.

He looked upward beyond the creature towards the dimension itself. His senses expanded farther than ever before.

They passed through buildings, through rivers and all the various mountains, into the floating forests. Everything and everything, the hidden dimension unfolded inside his perception.

Mana flowed everywhere and every single current all flowed towards one singular location, which was the creature.

"There," Jax’s eyes opened, "I found it."

Astra blinked, "Found what?"

"The heart," Jax muttered.

She dodged another enormous claw, "The creature’s heart?"

"The dimension," Jax said.

She froze for half a heartbeat, "There’s a difference?"

"A massive one."

He pointed upward and golden mana illuminated invisible pathways stretching across reality itself.

Astra looked. Now she could see them, all the countless luminous veins hidden beneath space itself. They connected everything that was in the dimension.

Everything fed energy toward a single central network. Like roots beneath an enormous tree.

"This is it’s domain, so destroying it is our goal, but we’ve never been able to find the core. Now we’ve found it, meaning as long as we destroy the core..."

"We’ll be able to destroy this place, and the creature will lose all of its advantages battling in neutral open space," Astra said, her eyes widening as she understood what Jax meant by how important finding the dimension’s core was.

Then Astra smiled, "You have an idea."

"I do," Jax said, and Astra laughed.

"I knew that look," Another enormous shockwave forced her sideways, but she recovered immediately, "So?"

Jax inhaled slowly, "There’s a spell I recently learned," Jax said, not telling her about the system of course.

Her grin widened, "Of course there is."

"It’ll work, just trust me," Jax said.

"Of course I trust you," Astra said.

Jax looked around one final time, "This dimension exists because countless spatial anchors are maintaining it."

Golden mana began swirling around him, more, and more. The surrounding ocean reacted instantly.

Silver rivers changed direction while mana crystals illuminated and began moving towards him.

Astra felt the pressure around her increasing, "That’s,"

She stared, "How much mana are you gathering?"

"A lot." Jax said, golden light continuing to expand as reality distorted around him.

The water itself began orbiting him. Tiny fractures appeared throughout the surrounding sea. His aura continued growing, then growing again.

The creature finally sensed the growing danger, every eye focused on Jax. Its rotating jaws opened simultaneously. The surrounding monsters immediately changed direction.

Not toward Astra, it completely ignored her and focused entirely on Jax. Thousands surged forward.

Every available creature, every dimensional tear, everything.

The monster understood that although it might not comprehend the spell, its instinct screamed that Jax could threaten the dimension itself.

Astra looked from the incoming tide to Jax, "You’ll need time."

"I will," Jax said.

She nodded once without any sort of hesitation, just full trust in Jax, "Leave it to me."

Lightning erupted across her body brighter than ever before. Storm mana exploded throughout the hidden sea.

She spread her enormous wings. Thunder echoed across the abandoned city. Then lowered herself slightly.

Putting her body between Jax and the advancing army. Her draconic eyes gleamed. A confident smile spread across her enormous muzzle.

"It’s showtime,"