A terrifying presence descended upon the battlefield!
The instant Altair transformed into his dragon form, every participant in Megidoa felt an overwhelming pressure cascade from the sky, causing elementalists and spirits alike to tremble uncontrollably.
"What's happening? What is this dreadful power? This terrifying aura, could it be a Spirit King?" Someone gasped.
All eyes turned skyward. Against the dark red night, framed by two moons, a colossal figure loomed. Its massive wings blotted out part of the moonlight, its ferocious, pitch-black body stark against the crimson sky. Most striking were its golden eyes, blazing like stars.
"This is… a dragon spirit! Its power is unreal!" An elementalist exclaimed.
"Is it a spirit gone berserk? Or an ancient sealed spirit unleashed?" Another speculated.
"A spirit this powerful, is it even allowed? Even Bahamut, the Dragon King of the Dracunia Dragon Duchy, isn't this immense!" A third voice cried.
"I've seen Bahamut; she's not exaggerating." Someone confirmed.
Dragon spirits are a major category in this world, with Bahamut, the Dragon King of the Dracunia Dragon Duchy, at their pinnacle. Revered as a top-tier spirit, second only to the Five Great Spirit Kings, Bahamut's stature is legendary. Yet even he paled in comparison to this behemoth.
"Is a spirit of this caliber really permitted? Why isn't the Divine Ritual Institute explaining this?" Some timid elementalists shouted, voicing their panic.
Every elementalist was on edge; even the strongest competitors wore grave expressions, their instincts screaming that victory was impossible.
Hovering above, Altair's power-enhanced dragon eyes scanned the elementalists below with perfect clarity. Just as dragon eyes could perceive magical energy in the Holy Grail War world, here they detected divine power. After surveying his targets, he opened his massive jaws and roared with a voice that shook the heavens.
"I am Nidhomin! The supreme dragon spirit!"
"My contractor is Rinslet Laurenfrost!"
Instantly, Rinslet's name echoed across the battlefield, etched into every elementalist's memory.
Aboard the Somersault Cloud, Rinslet heard her name and swelled with pride, her cooking infused with newfound vigor. This proclamation would catapult her Laurenfrost family to fame; a dragon spirit of such might would draw every nation's attention. Her family's honor, her deepest desire, was now assured.
"Go, Lord Altair! I love you!" She cheered, ladle in one hand, fist raised to the sky.
"In the name of my contractor, Rinslet Laurenfrost, I, Nidhomin, declare: all who hear me shall be eliminated!"
Altair's words stunned the elementalists. "He's powerful, but to claim he'll wipe us all out? That's beyond arrogance!" They thought, reeling from his audacity.
"Are you prepared?" He bellowed, his dragon eyes locking onto each target below, gauging their resolve.
The elementalists braced themselves, torn between fear and curiosity about this enigmatic dragon spirit. They summoned their spirits in defense, none more fervently than the Dracunia Dragon Duchy's team. Each member wielded a dragon spirit, led by Captain Leola Lancaster and her high-ranking dragon, Nidhogg, just as Fenrir existed in this world, so did Nidhogg, names common among mighty spirits.
Leola summoned Nidhogg and immediately asked if it knew Nidhomin. Nidhogg was baffled, "Nidhomin? What's that?", but, gazing at the colossal black dragon, it fell silent, awestruck.
A low hum filled the air as Altair gathered power, blue light flaring along his spine, his golden eyes turning azure. The elementalists clenched their fists, praying the attack would spare them.
"Witness my power!" He roared.
His jaws parted, unleashing a blue beam that struck the ground, obliterating everything, ruins dissolved, trees vaporized, rocks melted into slag. Sweeping the beam like a giant flashlight, Altair turned the battlefield into a sea of lava, reducing any creature in its path to ashes. In mere seconds, the blue pillar scorched every corner of Megidoa under the crimson night sky.
Closing his jaws, the beam vanished, and his eyes reverted to gold. Surveying the lava-strewn ground, Altair nodded in satisfaction.
This atomic breath wasn't meant to kill; using his dragon eyes, Altair had targeted just above the participants, letting them feel its terrifying power. Every team felt the beam's heat pass inches from them.
"Now, make your choice!" He thundered, blue light glowing again from his back, his eyes scanning their reactions.
"How do we fight that? That beam was dozens of meters wide, and he can fire it repeatedly!" They thought. "We'll die if we don't surrender!"
"The Blade Dance matters, but not enough to die for. This is suicide!"
Many teams withdrew instantly, teleported away by the tournament's safeguards. Soon, only five teams remained, those confident in their strength or driven by unyielding goals.
Altair, unfamiliar with these teams from his limited knowledge of this world, resolved to show no mercy.
"Wait!" A voice called. A black figure rose, soaring to face him, a dragon spirit, Nidhogg, carrying Leola Lancaster in her beret.
"Noble dragon spirit, please hold." Leola said. "On behalf of the Dracunia Dragon Duchy, I, Leola Lancaster, captain of the Imperial Dragon Knights, and my dragon spirit Nidhogg, greet you."
Altair eyed Nidhogg, noting its size, forty meters long, ten meters tall, akin to a Danmachi cannon dragon from floor 58. But compared to him, it was a mere speck, a lesser sibling. Nidhogg, sensing his gaze, bowed in submission, knowing it could be crushed in one bite.
Amused by its deference but maintaining his fierce demeanor, Altair asked, "Have you come to fight me?"
"No, no, no!" Leola cried. "Our power is no match for yours."
"Then to surrender?"
"Well… you could say that."
"Withdraw, and I'll spare you."
"Withdrawal is fine, but first, I extend an invitation from the Dracunia Dragon Duchy, homeland of dragon spirits under Dragon King Bahamut. Please visit us after the Blade Dance; Bahamut wishes to meet you."
Nidhogg, awed by Altair's might, had contacted Bahamut, prompting this invitation. "Dragon King Bahamut? Another dares claim that title before me? Intriguing." Altair said, feigning disdain. "I accept. Now leave."
"Thank you, noble dragon spirit." Leola said, saluting before descending with Nidhogg to withdraw her team.
Four teams remained: the Rossvale Duchy's Raging Break Division, the Quina Empire's Four Gods, the Alfast Holy State's Purgatory Apostles, and the Holy Lucia Kingdom's Holy Spirit Knights, already crippled by Rinslet's earlier ambush.
The Purgatory Apostles, led by Claire's sister, Rubia Elstein, were the strongest. A former Fire Elemental Princess and reincarnation of the saint who defeated the previous Demon Lord, Rubia wielded Levatin, the Deicide Flame. Knowing the Five Great Spirit Kings were corrupted, she aimed to use the Demon Lord to destroy them, even implanting a cursed armament seal in her heart, draining her life to boost her power. Win or lose, she faced death, so she chose to fight, for her wish and her sister.
Facing Altair, Rubia knew probing was futile; he was a demon god-level spirit, a contender for Spirit King in the ancient Spirit War. Her Levatin, also demon god-level, had lost to the Fire Spirit King and been sealed. She summoned it instantly.
"Deicide Flame!" Flames erupted, melting everything but the ground beneath her into lava, showcasing Levatin's might.
Altair's attention snapped to the blaze. "Someone dares resist?" He mused, diving toward the flames.
"Est, merge with me and lend me your power." He communicated mentally.
"Yes." Est replied, already within him since his transformation. "I am your sword; your will is my command."
Est's power fused with Altair's, granting his dragon form her magic-absorbing ability. A white aura cloaked him as he plunged into the flames.
"Levatin!" Rubia commanded, raising her hand. A fiery dragon surged upward, clashing with Altair.
But Altair's claw shattered the flames, splitting them as he dove to the ground, his body a weapon.
Boom! He landed like a meteor, cracking the earth. A tsunami of earth and fire surged two kilometers, shaking the entire arena. The other three teams were swept away, while the Purgatory Apostles, at the epicenter, faced annihilation.
Only Rubia, with her immense divine power and spirit magic, endured, though battered and torn.
Altair slammed his fist into the ground, glaring at Rubia amidst the rubble. His focus shifted to the flaming giant behind her.
"Deicide Flame? The trash too cowardly to face me back then? Pathetic. You lacked the courage then, what gives you confidence now? That laughable title?" He taunted, playing the ancient supreme spirit.
Rubia was stunned. Did Levatin fear him during the Spirit War? It rivaled the Fire Spirit King, yet dared not challenge this dragon, could he surpass the Spirit Kings?
Levatin, enraged by the slander, attacked without Rubia's command. Fiercer flames surged, aiming to engulf Altair.
"Trash dares to rage?" Altair mocked, surprised but scornful. "Trash should hide to survive! Since you choose death, I'll oblige!"
His wings unleashed a gale, scattering the flames. His Est-enhanced claws, imbued with the strongest steel and magic absorption, smashed Levatin into the ground, cracking the earth. Rubia was flung upward.
After pounding Levatin repeatedly, Altair tossed it into his jaws. "Die!" His deicidal bite snapped Levatin into three pieces, one in his mouth, two falling to the ground. Spitting out the fragment, he clawed Levatin's remains into the earth, melting them into a lava pool spanning hundreds of meters.
The mightiest fire spirit, Levatin the Deicide Flame, was slain.
Altair's bite, empowered by Est's deicidal strength, proved devastating. A surge of fiery energy flowed into him, into Est, absorbing part of Levatin's power. In the original story, Est gained Restia's dark lightning, becoming the Holy Demonic Sword. Now, with Levatin's flames, she could become the Holy Flame Sword.
"Excellent! Est is stronger than ever!" Altair thought.
"Now, only you remain, elementalist." He said, fixing his gaze on Rubia, slumped in the rubble.
Battered by two cataclysmic strikes, Rubia was drained, barely able to move, her clothes in tatters.
She gazed up at the dragon eclipsing the moonlight, despair washing over her. Why would such a spirit contract with a human? Levatin, too proud for contracts, demanded her life as payment, yet it was crushed like nothing. Though its death spared her from its claim, this unstoppable power crushed her hopes.
"Claire, I'm sorry." She whispered, closing her eyes.
With that, all Blade Dance teams were eliminated, leaving only Rinslet's team.
The Blade Dance was over!
***
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