Retreat!
With one utterance—words that carried heavenly authority, words that became law—the raging sandstorm that had been tearing through the sky vanished in an instant, even dulling the oppressive majesty radiating from Apep by several degrees.
[Blessing of the Elements]: As the ruler of elements, the natural elements submit to you and obey your command.
Koji spoke a single word, and the howling yellow sand disappeared without a trace. The air turned calm, the world suddenly tranquil.
Apep was different from what he'd imagined a Dendro Dragon King would look like. Her skin was a sandy yellow, and there was no sign of vitality—she gave off a withered, decaying impression.
That said… she really was enormous. The bigger the body, the stronger the power—an "applicable to most living things" kind of rule.
"Directly controlling the elements… how did you do it?"
Apep said in shock. As an ancient Elemental Dragon King, she understood better than anyone what this meant.
At first, the elements here were all under her influence. But in that single moment, there was only one ruler of the elements in this place—and that was Koji.
As an Elemental Dragon King, ownerless elements would naturally submit to her. Yet now they had defected to a new master. She could even feel the elements rejecting her.
"Looks like you understand."
Koji smiled slightly. That was exactly the change he wanted.
"Elements… stripped away."
The instant his words fell, it was as if the air itself went silent. The elements vanished, and everything in this area seemed to freeze.
Whether it was Apep or Buer and the others, none of them could sense elemental power anymore—which also meant they could no longer draw on elemental energy.
Silk and K'sirk rubbed her chin. With elemental power stripped out of this range, unless someone cultivated other forces—or trained their body—inside this domain they would be subjected to an extremely terrifying level of restriction.
She even suspected Koji could strip the elemental power out of living bodies as well.
"Back off. Next up is me."
"Man——!"
Koji opened with a Mamba elbow strike.
A body that huge was impossible to miss. The Dendro Dragon King's eyes went wide. Koji was clearly just a tiny human, yet the power he erupted with was like a Geo Elemental Dragon King who specialized in brute force—unstoppable, overwhelming. In an instant, the massive dragon body was sent flying.
Bang—bang—
Koji grabbed Apep's tail in one hand and started swinging her like a giant windmill, slamming her down into the ground again and again.
Sand blasted up into the sky like a nuclear detonation, billowing outward in every direction.
"Cough, cough…"
Nabu coughed. This fighting style was really simple and brutal—pure output through raw strength.
But… would Apep really not resist?
Apep had苦 to speak but nowhere to say it. Her elemental power had just been sealed, and the strength the dragon race prided itself on… still couldn't compare to Koji's.
[Blessing of Strength]: Enhances output ability; incomparable power.
The Dendro Dragon King wasn't the Dragon King best at strength to begin with. And after so many years of being eroded by Abyssal power, she'd be lucky to have even half of her peak condition.
"Can you listen to reason for once?"
Up until now, Koji hadn't even broken a sweat. His stamina stayed at peak the entire time.
"Wasn't I listening just now?"
"I already said it. I won't form an alliance with Buer."
Apep was speechless. She hadn't even attacked—aren't you the ones being unreasonable?
As a Dragon King, her hide and flesh were naturally thick. This level of attack only made her feel a bit dizzy, that was all.
"I'll help you purge the Abyssal power, Apep. You join the Sumeru side. Deal?"
"After all, you used to be Sumeru's master."
Apep replied flatly, "I was indeed Sumeru's master… but that was in the past."
Clearly, she was still furious about what happened to the ancient dragons.
Buer sighed helplessly. Hand Sumeru back to Apep? Who knew what Apep would do after rallying the dragon race.
Apep: Sumeru—your emperor is back!
"Yare yare… looks like you're still not taking the hint."
Koji hadn't expected Apep to be this stubborn. In that case, he'd have to use a little more force.
Pegasus Meteor Fist!
"RRAAAOOOHHHH—!"
Special thanks to Teacher Tom for the voice acting.
As Koji increased his power, Apep let out a heaven-shaking scream. His fists fell like raindrops, stamping one fist-print after another across Apep's body.
Buer closed her eyes. This was just too brutal. If Apep had softened earlier, she probably wouldn't have had to suffer like this.
Koji's attacks didn't injure Apep—but the pain was intense. Apep couldn't even pass out; she had to feel every hit clearly.
Even though he was attacking, each strike carried purifying power mixed into it.
In other words, every punch was basically a "make-you-pretty" punch, purging a portion of the Abyssal force.
With the Abyssal influence fading, Apep grew clearer and clearer.
"Stop. I agree."
Koji stopped. He was exhausted—this was the first time he'd ever seen an opponent this unyielding.
"What's so bad about sharing land with humans? The Hydro Dragon King of Fontaine even holds an important post in Fontaine," Koji said.
"Hydro Dragon King?"
"It's the second generation, right?"
Apep thought about it. Among the first generation of Dragon Kings, she should be the only one still alive. Dragon Kings might fall, but one day, they would return to Teyvat in a reborn form.
"The Hydro Dragon King has already regained the complete authority of the ancient dragons, and he manages Fontaine together with the Hydro Archon."
When Koji said this, his expression turned a little strange. He called it "managing together," but most things were handled by Neuvillette—Fontaine's overworked dragon.
If Fontaine didn't have Neuvillette, it would be hard to find anyone suitable to sit in that position.
"…"
Apep fell silent. Ancient dragons governing a nation together with a god… it was hard for a dragon to even imagine.
"Complete ancient dragon authority… how did he do it?"
Back then, the ancient dragons lost the war, and their authority was no longer whole. Could it be that Hydro Dragon King had killed a Hydro Archon?
"The missing portion of ancient dragon authority is on a god's throne. As long as you can strip it out from there, I can restore an ancient dragon's authority to completeness," Koji explained.
"You make it sound easy, but the loss of ancient dragon authority has to do with the usurper of Celestia."
Koji shrugged and laid out Focalors's original plan.
Everyone present fell into silence, each of them shocked to different degrees.
"This Hydro Archon has guts," Nabu praised. "That's basically going head-to-head with Celestia."
The importance of the Hydro Archon's throne went without saying. If it was to be destroyed, Celestia would definitely know.
And on top of that, financing an ancient dragon to regain complete authority—Celestia would most likely not tolerate it.
"It is a feasible method… but the sacrifice is simply too great," Buer said.
Hearing that, Koji shot Buer a look. Like your plan involves a small sacrifice?
"Crazy. That Hydro Archon was gambling—gambling that my kin would step in," Apep said. Of course she could see it.
If Neuvillette chose not to act in the end, Focalors would have had no way out. She'd have just… played herself into a dead end.
But if she won the bet, only she would die—and Fontaine would be saved.
(End of Chapter)
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