Vivid blue lightning tore apart the dark storm clouds, striking the solid ground of the arena again and again without pause.
The thunderous crashing that followed rang endlessly, making the spectators feel as if they'd been struck themselves. A chill rose from the depths of their hearts.
The Storm Dragon danced through the cloud-filled sky, its hundred-meter-long body twisting as violent lightning raged across its smooth scales at will.
Carrying hurricane-like winds, it swept past, kicking up sand and dust that filled the sky.
Those deep dragon eyes, like two blazing stars, were locked firmly onto the proud man in a windbreaker standing ahead.
Behind Viktor, countless intricate formation patterns bloomed. Brilliant, otherworldly light intertwined with icy blue lightning, weaving into an extremely dazzling giant net. That terrifying power seemed to completely envelop everything within the arena.
The nobles stared at the enormous dragon silhouette revealing its true form from within the storm clouds. The heavy bell hanging in their hearts felt as if it had been struck hard. Waves of trembling fear surged forth, instantly crushing their reason.
"Is this really… a dragon…?"
"A dragon like this… it's too overwhelming…"
A noble stared blankly at the Storm Dragon towering above, his trembling finger following his unfocused gaze as it pointed toward the blue glow.
The other nobles wore expressions identical to that duke's. Shock and disbelief were written all over their faces, their bodies stiff, as if they had suffered an unprecedented impact.
Clearly, very few people present actually recognized the Storm Dragon.
Many mages had never joined the Mage Council, and even those who had entered Endymion rarely had the chance to encounter the Storm Dragon in the Mana Canyon.
Such a massive dragon was, to them, without question a terrifying existence that shattered all understanding.
And bringing such a horrifying creature into this arena, what exactly was Viktor trying to do?
Suddenly, the giant dragon raised its head and let out an explosive roar. The surrounding thunder, accompanied by the deep roar, grew even more violent.
Lightning became fiercer, turning into writhing thunder serpents dancing across the arena.
Huge cracks spread rapidly like a spiderweb.
The Storm Dragon swiftly lowered its head, its massive body whipping violently as its enormous tail, mixed with high-frequency lightning, swept horizontally toward Viktor.
It sliced through the heavy air, carrying chaotic airflow as it unleashed a lightning-fast strike.
BOOM!
Facing the incoming attack, Viktor did not panic. His figure flickered, and countless complex formations mixed with strange colors vanished from where he stood.
Bang!
The massive white-scaled tail slammed fiercely into a giant pillar of the arena. After enduring the tremendous impact, the towering brown pillar shattered with a thunderous crash, instantly turning into rock fragments and dust that fell heavily onto the vast ground.
Dust clouds that blotted out the sky burst forth beneath the endless dark clouds. A wave of dust completely swallowed the spectators' stands.
"Cough, cough…"
"What kind of terrifying power is this!?"
The crowd waved their arms to fan away the dust, barely opening their eyes as they looked at the Storm Dragon ahead, panting heavily, watching blue lightning flow across its body.
After the giant pillar was completely destroyed, countless bolts of lightning quickly branched out from it, spreading across the entire ground.
They noticed it.
Once Viktor landed on the ground, he would be struck by that terrifying electric current, possibly even electrocuted into charcoal.
Several people in the stands couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
This dragon actually possessed such intelligence!?
The Dragon King gradually lifted its body into the air, lightning still racing across the ground below.
[Tier Three Magic: Void Reversal]
A formation flashing with purple light slowly emerged from space. After Viktor released his magic, the formation gradually collapsed.
In the next second, the dragon's body, which had been suspended in midair, seemed to be drawn by something, beginning to twitch in an extremely bizarre manner.
The magic power and lightning on its body were gradually stripped away. Magic and lightning intertwined into streams, flowing toward several purple void caverns.
After receiving a sufficient amount of magic, those void caverns began to collapse, and the entire space suddenly started to spin.
A massive, pitch-black endless vortex fully appeared behind the Storm Dragon, like the gaping maw of a greedy demon, devouring everything within the dragon's body.
Sensing its power being continuously torn away, the Storm Dragon's body shuddered violently. The surrounding lightning, as if guided, swallowed that enormous black hole.
In the next moment, the brown giant pillar that had been shattered earlier began to tremble in midair after breaking free from the lightning flowing across the ground.
Dust returned, forming several reverse currents that flowed toward the base of one corner of the arena.
Broken rocks rose, sand and dust filled the air.
Then, that sky-piercing giant pillar once again returned to everyone's view.
"This… this world… actually restores itself!?"
Someone immediately recognized the fantastical nature of this world, instantly triggering a wave of shock among the surrounding nobles.
A world that can restore itself, wouldn't this place be a naturally perfect training ground?
But the battle wasn't over. Viktor was still fighting.
The Storm Dragon's enormous horns suddenly smashed toward Viktor's position.
The giant pillar shattered violently, while Viktor's body turned into a wisp of white mist, easily evading the dragon's fierce strike.
He appeared at the center of the arena, raised his head to look at the massive Storm Dragon, and casually lifted his hand.
The white formation behind him began to rotate.
[Tier Three Magic: Wind Blade Array]
A massive white formation covered the entire arena. Terrifying, high-speed blades of air turned into countless sharp flashes of cold light, slashing chaotically across the dragon's body.
The dragon trembled in agony from the stabbing pain, its howls filling heaven and earth.
Viktor looked at the Storm Dragon in extreme pain, calm and unhurried, his voice sounding at the same time, "That's right. This is the training ground you're most interested in."
The nobles watched in shock as Viktor calmly faced the dragon, completely frozen in the stands.
Stunned, shocked, unable to believe it… All kinds of expressions surged across the nobles' faces like a tide.
'Soloing a dragon?'
'You seriously call this practice?'
That dragon was massive enough to blot out the sky, enough to instill fear and strip away one's will to fight.
Who could possibly beat that?
Viktor continued to cast spells nimbly, skillfully evading the dragon's rainstorm-like attacks.
Watching Viktor's dancing movements, gracefully wearing down the dragon's stamina, the nobles felt a deep shock.
Even Principal Rachel felt genuine admiration for Viktor's relaxed combat style.
He still remembered Viktor's title, 'Arbiter Who Strips All Phenomena'.
When the council had discussed Viktor's title, Rachel had even cast a precious vote in favor of it.
Because the magic Viktor wielded was terrifying to the point of making one's heart race, far exceeding the magic that ordinary mages could ever come into contact with.
It was like a bombardment of magical storms.
Precisely because of this, Viktor's overwhelming magic often overshadowed the elegance he possessed.
In battle with magical beasts, Viktor seemed to be enjoying a magnificent dance.
His dazzling magic and skillful evasive movements perfectly restrained the dragon.
The mages had never imagined that, facing such a terrifying opponent, someone could remain this composed.
This fierce battle lasted for about an hour, with the audience completely immersed, as if bound by magic.
In Viktor's sharp eyes, the Storm Dragon's life value had already withered away.
He deftly avoided the fierce impact of the lightning orbs.
In an instant, he was already standing before the Storm Dragon's blazing eyes.
Viktor kept his hands in his pockets as the formation behind him lit up, gradually converging into a beam of light.
Then, shining like sunlight, it directly pierced through the dragon's already shattered body.
After this strike, the dragon's body froze stiffly in midair, the fury and killing intent in its eyes instantly extinguished.
Like a gigantic leaf, it crashed heavily onto the ground.
The thunder gradually subsided, and the electric light between its scales slowly dissipated.
Only the blue glow remained, swaying in the wind, blending into the sand and dust.
The people in the stands stared dumbfounded at the dragon before them as it gradually disappeared.
'This… this isn't right, is it?'
'That dragon just… died like that?'
Everyone present knew how strong Viktor was, strong to the point of transcending understanding.
But they had never expected the dragon before them to be defeated so easily by Viktor.
And it had been worn down to death purely through countless basic spells.
That's right. From start to finish, Viktor, a fourth-tier mage, hadn't used a single fourth-tier spell.
And that terrifying dragon, in their eyes, had never once managed to touch Viktor at all.
The crowd stood there in shock. At this moment, Viktor's calm voice sounded, "Perhaps you think this looks very easy."
Hands in his pockets, his expression steady, he walked toward the noble mages.
"But once you make a mistake, it means everything will be lost."
As his words fell, the Storm Dragon that had already dissipated was reconstructed by blue light, surging once more beneath the gloomy storm clouds.
Its powerful limbs and the lightning flowing between its scales were fully restored.
Seeing the revived Storm Dragon, the noble mages' jaws nearly dropped.
"Don't be nervous. This is just a feature of this place."
"Here, everything is safe." Viktor said calmly.
"No one will die here. Even weeds, after withering, will immediately recover."
A patch of sparse grass was incinerated by flames that appeared out of nowhere, turning into ash that drifted through the air.
Two seconds later, the ashes were drawn back, reforming into sparse but lush green grass.
"However, don't think that means you can act without restraint." Viktor explained lightly.
As his words fell, a white formation lit up beneath his feet. From the light at its center, another Viktor's clone actually appeared.
Some sharp-eyed mages recognized the spell and cried out in alarm, "This is, Void Shadow Illusion!"
This was a spell capable of creating illusionary clones. The clone created possessed the same stamina as the original caster.
A sharp glint suddenly flashed in the Storm Dragon's eyes. Lightning burst forth between its scales, forming a blue arrow that pierced straight through Viktor's clone.
The illusion was instantly heavily injured, crouching on the ground.
The Storm Dragon twisted its body, whipping up a violent gale, and slammed down hard onto the clone.
At once, "Viktor" lay completely still on the arena floor, gradually dissipating.
'This…!? What kind of power is this?'
Watching the Storm Dragon's attack, the crowd was stunned.
Even a mage like Viktor could only barely withstand two hits?
"So I said... don't make mistakes."
Countless people fell silent.
This was a completely uneven battle.
The dragon was so massive, so terrifying.
To defeat it, without charging up in advance to amplify magic power, one would probably have to fight for a very long time.
And them?
Even the strongest mage here, Viktor, could only barely endure two attacks.
Could anyone really do this?
Yes.
Viktor had just shown them.
Amid the silence of countless people, Viktor smiled faintly.
"So now."
"Is anyone planning to come up and try challenging it?"
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