The battlefield had long since stopped resembling a battlefield.
It looked more like the end of the world.
Storm clouds churned endlessly overhead while crimson-black lightning rained down randomly across the ruins. Explosions erupted constantly as awakened, beasts, and shattered structures disappeared beneath the dragon's attacks.
And amidst all of it—
Zael kept fighting.
Even when the situation looked hopeless.
Even when the Blood Thunder Dragon kept growing stronger.
Even when every instinct told him this thing should be unbeatable.
Because something else was happening too.
[Adaptive Evolution Activated]
The familiar notification flashed briefly again as another wave of blood thunder crashed across his body.
The pain dulled slightly afterward.
Not immunity.
Not complete resistance.
But adaptation.
Little by little.
The dragon's lightning stopped affecting him as heavily as before.
His body was changing mid-battle.
Evolving.
Again.
Zael grinned faintly despite the destruction around him.
"…Now that's more like it."
The dragon descended again with overwhelming force.
This time Zael met it head-on willingly.
BOOOOM!!
Its claw smashed into his blade hard enough to crack the battlefield apart.
But unlike before—
Zael held his ground.
Barely.
The dragon's eyes narrowed slightly.
Then lightning erupted through the claw again.
[Thunder Calamity]
Crimson-black electricity surged directly into Zael's body violently.
[Adaptive Evolution Activated]
[Lightning Resistance Increased]
Zael coughed blood.
But he smiled afterward.
Because he could feel it.
The attacks still hurt.
Still damaged him.
But less.
Every exchange made him stronger against the dragon specifically.
And that—
Was exactly why he kept going.
The dragon roared angrily and attacked again.
Zael dodged the first claw swipe, blocked the second, absorbed part of the third attack through Abyssal Consumption, then countered immediately with Resonance Strike.
The vibrations exploded across the dragon's injured chest.
BOOOOM!!
Several scales shattered apart.
The dragon recoiled slightly.
Not much.
But enough for Zael to notice.
"It's working," he muttered.
Meanwhile nearby, Auralis smashed apart incoming beasts while glancing toward him repeatedly.
"That monster's actually adapting to the dragon…"
Lily exhaled slowly.
"No."
Her eyes remained fixed on Zael.
"He's adapting faster than the dragon."
Another notification flashed briefly across Zael's vision.
[Adaptive Evolution Activated]
[Dragon Pressure Resistance Increased]
The suffocating aura weighing on the battlefield lessened slightly around him afterward.
Then another.
[Adaptive Evolution Activated]
[Blood Thunder Affinity Acquired — Minor]
Zael blinked once.
Then laughed softly.
The dragon probably didn't understand it yet.
But every second this battle dragged on—
The advantage shifted more toward him.
Because unlike the dragon—
His adaptation had no limit.
The Blood Thunder Dragon seemed to sense it instinctively.
Its attacks became more violent afterward.
More savage.
Almost desperate.
It no longer attacked the battlefield randomly.
Now—
Every skill.
Every movement.
Every roar.
Was focused entirely on killing Zael before he adapted further.
And ironically—
That only gave Zael more confidence.
Because for the first time since the evolution—
The dragon looked threatened too.
The Blood Thunder Dragon roared furiously.
Not an ordinary roar.
A command.
The sound spread across the entire dungeon like a king issuing judgment.
Then—
The beasts responded.
Zael's expression darkened as countless roars echoed back from every direction. The ground started shaking again shortly afterward.
More beasts.
Thousands.
Maybe tens of thousands.
They poured into the battlefield endlessly from ruined valleys, broken temples, underground tunnels, and distant cliffs.
A tide.
No—
An army.
The dragon's crimson eyes remained locked on Zael the entire time.
It had realized something dangerous.
Killing him quickly was no longer easy.
So instead—
It decided to drown him.
"That thing seriously called reinforcements…" Auralis muttered blankly.
Lily looked around at the incoming horde and sighed.
"…I hate this dungeon."
The first wave arrived moments later.
Massive wolf-type beasts lunged forward while armored creatures crashed through the ruins behind them. Flying beasts filled the skies, surrounding the battlefield almost completely.
Zael clicked his tongue.
Then moved.
His blade tore through the first several beasts instantly.
Abyss Rend carved apart another group.
Void Collapse crushed several more into themselves violently.
But it wasn't enough.
There were simply too many.
Every time he killed ten—
Twenty more arrived.
The dragon hovered above the battlefield silently now, clearly intending to let the beasts wear Zael down while its own stabilization continued.
"…Coward," Zael muttered.
A gigantic rhino-like beast charged him next.
He sidestepped and punched straight through its skull before spinning immediately into another slash that bisected three more creatures.
EXP notifications flooded endlessly across his vision.
All pouring directly into his pool.
Still—
The situation remained irritating.
Very irritating.
Zael blasted apart another wave of beasts before exhaling heavily.
"…You know," he said while dodging a venom blast, "this would be way easier if I had proper area attacks."
Auralis smashed apart several beasts nearby and snorted.
"You're complaining now?"
"Yes."
Zael casually decapitated another creature mid-sentence.
"Single-target destruction is great and all…"
Night Sever split apart a massive section of the battlefield.
"But apparently the universe thinks throwing armies at me every other day is funny."
Lily almost laughed despite the situation.
Aurelia adjusted her glasses while firing compressed mana shots into incoming flying beasts.
"To be fair," she said calmly, "your definition of 'single-target' already destroys entire sections of terrain."
"That's not the point."
Zael vanished through Void Step and reappeared inside the center of another beast cluster before detonating abyssal energy outward violently.
BOOOOM!!
Dozens died instantly.
Hundreds more kept coming.
Zael stared at the endless tide for a second afterward.
Then sighed dramatically.
"…Yeah no."
His eyes lifted toward the dragon.
"As soon as I leave this dungeon, I'm getting actual large-scale annihilation skills."
A crimson lightning bolt descended toward him immediately afterward.
Zael dodged instantly.
"…See? Exactly my point."
The battlefield continued descending deeper into madness.
Beasts flooded the ruins endlessly while crimson lightning kept tearing apart the sky above. Explosions echoed constantly as awakened struggled desperately just to survive the aftermath of the dragon's existence.
And through all of it—
Zael's irritation finally reached its limit.
Another massive beast lunged at him.
He killed it.
Another replaced it instantly.
Then another.
Then ten more.
Zael stood still for half a second afterward while surrounded from every direction.
Silence.
Then he sighed.
A long, tired sigh.
"…I'm actually getting annoyed now."
The abyssal energy around him changed instantly.
It became quieter.
Denser.
More dangerous.
Nearby beasts suddenly froze instinctively, their survival instincts screaming at them to run.
Even Auralis noticed the shift immediately.
"…Uh oh."
The Blood Thunder Dragon sensed it too.
Its massive eyes locked onto Zael sharply while crimson lightning intensified around its body.
But before it could react—
Zael disappeared.
Not Void Step.
Pure speed.
BOOOOOM!!
The ground beneath him exploded apart as he launched himself upward like a black comet straight toward the sky.
Fast.
Too fast.
The dragon's pupils contracted.
It instinctively tried pulling backward while gathering lightning around its claws—
But Zael was already there.
His fist slammed directly into the dragon's face.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The impact distorted the air itself.
For a brief moment—
Everything froze.
Then the Blood Thunder Dragon was blasted downward violently.
The colossal body crashed into the battlefield like a falling meteor.
The earth shattered.
Entire sections of ruins collapsed inward instantly while beasts and awakened alike were thrown into the air from the impact.
A massive crater formed beneath the dragon's body.
Silence followed for one second.
Then Zael descended afterward.
Slowly.
Abyssal energy flowed around him like black flames while his void-like eyes remained fixed on the crater below.
His voice carried calmly across the battlefield.
"…Stay down."
The crater exploded.
ROOOOOOOAR!!
The dragon burst back out violently, blood dripping from part of its shattered jaw while rage exploded from its body almost tangibly now.
But before it could attack—
Zael appeared in front of it again.
Fast enough that even the dragon reacted late.
Abyssal Empowerment surged fully through his body.
Then—
Resonance Strike.
One punch.
Then another.
Then dozens.
The impacts blurred together completely as Zael hammered the dragon through the sky relentlessly, each strike detonating stacked vibrations deeper into its body.
BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!! BOOM!!
The dragon roared continuously while being driven backward through the storm clouds themselves.
The battlefield below went silent briefly.
Because nobody had expected it.
Not the awakened.
Not the beasts.
Not even the dragon.
Zael—
Was overpowering it physically.