"Manifest—Heaven-and-Earth Dharma Body!"
Now that Idris had mastered Geo and donned the Golden Desert Divine Armor, the Dharma Body forming behind him had changed once again.
Towering sky-high, the colossal Profound Wood Avatar was now clad in a layer of radiant golden armor. Its presence was heavier, denser, and far more imposing than before—every inch of it radiating divine authority.
Compared to his previous manifestations, this Dharma Body was not only larger in scale but also far more solid, as if it were a true incarnation of heaven and earth.
The Apep, hovering opposite him, studied the avatar for a moment before speaking with faint astonishment.
"I remember you defeated the Scarlet King only a few months ago," she said.
"And yet now, you've already refined Geo to this extent."
"With such talent… you truly deserve the title of human sage."
Nearby, Nahida puffed up proudly.
That's right—this is my Sage. My King.
Idris, however, paid the praise no mind. His tone remained flat.
"So—are you coming quietly to be my mount?"
"At the very least, I won't strip you of your title or dignity."
Apep let out a disdainful snort, emerald pupils blazing.
"If you want me as your mount, then defeat me first!"
"Elemental Life—Manifest All Things!"
Brilliant pillars of verdant Dendro energy erupted from Apep's maw, slamming into the desert sands.
Where they struck, life bloomed unnaturally fast.
From barren sand rose countless green lifeforms—small at first, then rapidly multiplying—until an entire army of Dendro constructs stood before Idris.
This was no simple summoning.
It was closer to creating soldiers from existence itself.
Only a Dragon Sovereign with absolute control over Dendro—and a body vast enough to contain a miniature world—could use such a technique.
Idris's gaze sharpened.
In the original canon, battles involving Apep took place inside her body. What challengers fought were her internal guardians—not the Dragon Sovereign herself.
And yet even those guardians were weekly-boss–level threats.
Which meant Apep's true power was far greater.
Now that her internal corruption and poison had been fully purged, her strength easily surpassed that of Neuvillette.
Still—
Trying to defeat Idris with expendable Dendro constructs was nothing more than wishful thinking.
More importantly, Idris knew something crucial.
These Dendro lifeforms, once destroyed, would dissolve back into pure energy—energy that Apep could reclaim.
A built-in second phase.
Knowing this trap, Idris had no intention of stepping into it.
His hand seals shifted.
Massive pits instantly opened in the ground around him, swallowing the green constructs whole.
Before they could escape, thick emerald webbing spread across the pits, sealing them completely.
Apep froze.
"You know how to counter that technique?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Hmph. You truly are no ordinary human."
"But don't get ahead of yourself."
"Even without elemental power, your fragile body won't withstand me!"
The desert exploded.
A sandstorm surged skyward as Apep finally revealed her full form—an immense azure dragon, her body coiling like a living mountain range.
Graceful yet terrifying, she resembled a true divine dragon, ancient and absolute.
Then—
She charged.
Not at the Dharma Body—
But at Idris himself.
Idris reacted instantly.
Frostmourne roared with power as he swung forward, blocking the dragon's colossal head head-on.
The impact sent shockwaves through the desert.
Even so, Idris felt his entire skeleton shudder.
Without the Golden Desert Armor, that single collision would've shattered him.
But there were no ifs.
Grabbing onto Apep's massive scales, Idris counterattacked, swinging Frostmourne straight toward her eye.
Apep shut her eye in an instant, layers of Dendro defense forming over it—
But she forgot one thing.
The Dharma Body.
The golden-armored avatar slammed its fist down like a falling star.
Boom!
The blow landed squarely on Apep's body.
She let out a low grunt of pain, then used the force to retreat, pulling distance between them and glaring warily.
Idris stood calmly, idly twirling Frostmourne like a true final boss.
"Apep," he said with interest,
"an ancient Dragon Sovereign like you must still have trump cards."
"If you don't use them now…"
"You won't get another chance."
Apep did not refute him.
Instead, she began to chant.
"Life does not only give birth—
It also brings ruin."
"Pranasankh's Withering!"
A massive emerald storm erupted across the desert.
Yet this Dendro tempest carried no vitality—
only decay.
Plants caught within it withered instantly, collapsing as if overnourished to death.
This was the power of life pushed to its breaking point.
From within the storm, a concentrated beam of destructive energy fired toward Idris.
Instinctively, he raised a Dendro shield—
And watched it rot away like a dead leaf.
Pure Dendro was meaningless before its progenitor.
"Human king," Apep declared coldly,
"your strongest element is useless before me."
"I am the origin of Dendro itself."
Her massive form emerged from the storm, eyes gleaming with triumph.
Then—
She noticed something wrong.
Idris's Dendro energy…
was changing.
It carried not decay from excess—
But pure, corrupted death.
"Sorry," Idris said calmly.
"My element mutated long ago."
"And judging by my equipment—"
"Did you really think I only mastered one power?"
He raised Frostmourne high.
"This so-called withering storm—"
"I'll cleave it apart in one strike."
Energy surged.
This was the same charged slash he once used against Apep's corrupted avatar—
but now, far stronger.
Apep roared, forcing the storm forward, desperate to interrupt him.
Yet a colossal stone barrier rose before Idris.
"A Sumeru sand wall," Idris said evenly.
"But with Geo, I can make it far stronger."
"It won't last forever—
but it doesn't need to."
The barrier cracked.
Collapsed.
And at that moment—
A blade infused with absolute death descended.
"Domain of Death—Sever!"
Twelvefold charge.
The sky itself tore open as the slash fell.
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