Zael moved first.
The ground beneath him exploded apart as he shot forward at full speed, abyssal energy tearing through the battlefield behind him like a black storm.
The others followed immediately.
Lily warped space ahead of them repeatedly, shortening distances while Aurelia fired compressed bursts of energy toward incoming beasts.
Auralis simply smashed through anything in their path.
But even now—
The beasts kept coming.
A gigantic reptilian creature lunged toward Zael from above.
He didn't even slow down.
Void Collapse activated instantly.
Space twisted violently and crushed the creature into itself before he passed through the remains.
Another wave charged from the front.
Abyss Rend.
A massive crescent of darkness tore through the battlefield, carving a path directly toward the serpent.
For a brief moment—
Nothing stood between them.
Zael accelerated immediately.
The Dragon Blood Serpent noticed.
Its massive golden eyes locked onto him fully for the first time.
Then—
The pressure changed again.
The unstable dragon-like apparitions around its body solidified further. The wings stretched wider while jagged black horns fully emerged from its skull with a sickening cracking sound.
Lightning exploded across the clouds above.
BOOOOM!!
A bolt of crimson-black thunder crashed down onto the serpent's body.
Instead of harming it—
The creature absorbed it.
Its aura skyrocketed instantly.
Auralis' expression changed.
"That's cheating."
Zael ignored her.
He was already close enough now to feel the heat pouring off the serpent's body directly.
And it was enormous.
Far bigger than before.
The serpent opened its jaws.
Molten crimson energy gathered within its throat.
Zael's eyes sharpened immediately.
"Move!"
The beam fired.
A massive torrent of destructive energy tore across the battlefield, vaporizing everything in its path—beasts, ruins, awakened, all erased instantly.
Lily reacted first.
Space distorted violently around the group as she redirected the attack's trajectory just enough for them to survive.
Even then—
The shockwave still threw everyone backward.
Zael landed roughly but immediately forced himself forward again.
No hesitation.
No pause.
Because he could feel it.
The evolution was almost complete.
The wings behind the serpent became more stable now, massive shadowy structures unfolding wider through the storm clouds.
The dragon pressure leaking from the creature intensified exponentially.
Several awakened nearby started collapsing unconscious outright.
Then—
System notifications exploded across Zael's vision.
[Warning!]
[High-Level Bloodline Mutation Detected]
[Origin Bloodline reacting…]
Zael froze for half a second.
Inside him—
Something responded.
The Origin bloodline pulsed violently.
Not fear.
Not danger.
Authority.
Hunger.
The feeling was strange.
Like something within him refused to acknowledge the serpent as superior but wanted to devour it.
The Dragon Blood Serpent suddenly paused too.
Its enormous eyes narrowed directly toward Zael.
Then—
For the first time since this began—
The serpent showed hesitation.
The hesitation lasted less than a second.
Then—
The Dragon Blood Serpent went mad.
A deafening roar erupted from its jaws, so loud the surrounding ruins cracked apart from the sound alone. The unstable dragon wings behind it flared outward violently while crimson-black lightning exploded through the storm clouds above.
The pressure skyrocketed instantly.
No longer controlled.
No longer restrained.
Berserk.
The serpent's golden eyes locked onto Zael with naked fury, the bloodline suppression it instinctively felt from him only driving it further into rage.
BOOOOM!!
Its tail slammed across the battlefield.
Entire sections of the ruins vanished instantly.
Awakened and beasts alike were launched into the air from the sheer force of the impact. Auralis barely managed to block with the crimson hammer before getting thrown backward anyway.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS THING?!"
Lily appeared beside her immediately through spatial movement, grabbing her before she crashed through another ruin.
Zael didn't answer.
Because the serpent was already attacking again.
This time—
Directly at him.
The massive creature descended from the sky with horrifying speed despite its size, claws tearing through the air while molten energy gathered around its jaws again.
Zael's instincts screamed.
Void Step activated repeatedly as he disappeared from one position after another while the battlefield exploded behind him.
The serpent chased relentlessly.
Every missed strike devastated the environment completely.
A claw tore through a mountain-sized ruin like paper.
Its breath attack melted the ground into glowing magma.
And with every passing second—
Its aura kept rising.
The incomplete dragon transformation was stabilizing through rage.
"That's bad," Aurelia muttered, dodging falling debris while watching the serpent's wings solidify further. "Very bad."
Zael reappeared high above the battlefield briefly.
His eyes narrowed.
Then he raised his hand.
Abyssal energy surged massively around him.
Night Sever.
A gigantic void slash descended directly toward the serpent's head.
The attack landed.
BOOOOM!!
For a moment the serpent's body tilted sideways from the force.
Then—
It roared again.
Angrier.
The wound regenerated visibly as blood-red energy surged across its scales.
Zael clicked his tongue.
"…Of course."
The serpent lunged upward instantly afterward.
Fast enough to shatter the sound barrier.
Its jaws snapped shut around where Zael had been moments earlier, but Void Step carried him away again just in time.
Even so—
One claw clipped his side.
Blood sprayed outward.
Zael was sent flying through multiple ruins before crashing hard into the ground.
The serpent didn't stop.
Didn't pause.
Didn't think.
It simply attacked again and again like a disaster given life.
Above the battlefield, the storm intensified further.
And deep within the serpent's body—
The dragon bloodline kept evolving rapidly.