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"Lord Conglong (Chrono)… he lost…" Zhu Yue and the other Dragon Essences stared at the distant battlefield in a daze. It felt like they'd been struck by lightning—completely frozen.
The result was just too shocking.
Riku, a human, had just defeated the leader of the Dragon Essence Species in a fair, head-on battle—Conglong, the last remaining Dragon King.
"Guh…" The giant black dragon bodies of Wade and the other four trembled uncontrollably. They'd actually dared to provoke this human earlier? How dumb could they have been? If he'd wanted to, they'd be corpses by now.
"Master… you're making me more and more curious," Jibril murmured dreamily, still obsessed.
"Riku…!" Zhu Bi didn't hesitate—she flew straight toward him.
Both Riku and Conglong were falling toward the ground, but Riku's condition was slightly better—because he had done it on purpose.
Conglong, on the other hand, was completely drained. He barely managed to slow time and heal a bit, but the aftereffects of Collapse Roar weren't something he could shake off. On top of that, Riku's final blow had pushed him to the brink of death. Right now, Conglong wasn't much stronger than a normal Dragon Essence. Even with time control, he couldn't return to peak strength—only hold back his injuries.
"You're a surprising guy. This is the first time I've actually tasted defeat," Conglong said weakly to Riku. This was a real loss—if Riku had wanted, he could've killed him. But he didn't.
"Heh. Got a bit too serious there. I'm not doing so great either," Riku replied, shaking his head. His skin had cracked, and he could feel his life slipping away. The Eight Gates Formation wasn't something you could use casually—the cost was your life.
"I can feel your life force fading. Don't you have a way to recover?" Conglong asked, voice low.
"Of course I do. I wouldn't throw my life away over one fight," Riku said calmly, as if the pain didn't even exist.
"What an interesting human. As for the alliance and all that profit stuff—do whatever you want. We're willing to serve as your vanguard and fight against the War God," Conglong said with admiration. He understood the words Riku hadn't said.
If it had been a fight to the death… the outcome might've been different.
"Pleasure working with you," Riku said with a satisfied smirk.
Then he pulled out a Life-and-Death Rebirth Pill from his system's storage space and swallowed it.
In the next second, under Conglong's stunned gaze, Riku's deadly wounds began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. Dead skin peeled off and new skin formed. Vitality surged inside him, stronger than ever. His aura, too, grew explosively—like a rebirth after death, a butterfly emerging from its cocoon.
It wasn't just Conglong who was shocked—even Riku himself was a little stunned. He could feel his physical abilities had increased at least tenfold. Even his control over chaotic energy had grown several times stronger.
"Coming back from the brink really does make a difference," Riku said with satisfaction. Every pore on his body felt like it was celebrating.
Now, he could use the seventh gate—Shock Gate—with no side effects. Even if he didn't use the final Death Gate, he could activate the full Eight Gates Formation and still hold his own against Conglong without looking as beat-up as before.
For a while, he wouldn't lose to anyone. This upgrade was huge.
"Hahaha! Interesting! Way too interesting! Your potential… I finally get it now. I have a feeling you'll be the one to end this war. Altshul… what kind of face will you make then, huh? I can't wait to see it." After witnessing Riku's transformation, Conglong couldn't hold back anymore. He burst into loud laughter.
His voice echoed across the land—his words, even more shocking.
"Riku, you're okay! Thank god!" Zhu Bi flew into Riku's arms, hugging him tightly. She scanned his whole body before sighing in relief like a human would.
"Whoa! Master looks even stronger than before!" Jibril rushed over too, scanning him up and down like he was the world's most precious treasure, her eyes full of fiery obsession.
"Master, can I study you? Just a little, pleeease? As payment, once I've recovered, you can do whatever you want with my body!" Jibril drooled slightly, wearing a dreamy smile.
"You perv, knock it off." Riku rolled his eyes.
"Riku… I knew you were hiding something, but I didn't think it was this crazy," Zhu Yue said as she flew over, her eyes full of shock and complicated emotions.
She felt this the most. Just a week ago, Riku had to scheme just to barely beat her. But now? She didn't stand a chance. After he went all-out, he even defeated Conglong.
"You humans… you're just too damn powerful."
"So this is how you got so strong, huh? Now I'm really curious."
In an instant, the entire group of white dragons looked shocked, their faces full of curiosity as they all started speaking at once.
Normally so proud and fierce, the Dragonkin were suddenly acting like a bunch of gossiping fanatics, all chattering non-stop—completely because of Riku.
"Uh, sorry about before. That was our bad. Can you forgive our ignorance?"Power is respected everywhere. Now, the four black dragons led by Vard had lowered their heads and were speaking humbly. All their arrogance had completely shattered the moment Riku beat Chrono.
Riku just nodded calmly at the four black dragons in response.
Seeing how cold and distant Riku was acting, the four could only sigh bitterly inside. One wrong move led to another, and now there was a gap between them that wouldn't be easy to fix.
"Riku, you got any plans? When do we move?" Chrono asked, clearly curious.
All the Dragonkin turned their eyes to Riku, fully acknowledging him as the leader now. Riku had completely won them over with his strength.
"Oh, I've got plans. Just need to pull off three more things, and that so-called God of War will be knocked right off his throne."Riku grinned, held up three fingers, and spoke with confidence.
Hearing that, all the Dragonkin widened their eyes and listened closely, like they were about to witness history being made.
While Riku and the Dragonkin were deep in discussion about the alliance, far away in the skies above, deep inside the main hall of the Skywing race's headquarters centered around Abant Heim, a figure slowly opened his golden eyes...
"....."