Lucian stood in midair, his right arm raised high, as if commanding the heavens themselves.
Storm clouds blanketed the sky, within them crimson dragon lightning churned and surged, while violent winds howled without end.
The Divine Beast Dancing Lion lifted its head, calling upon the lightning within the clouds to resist Lucian's power.
Red lightning bolts struck down continuously, dealing heavy damage to its massive body.
Under Lucian's suppression, the Dancing Lion could not fully control the storm. It was forced to maneuver at low altitude, focusing on evasion.
Its fur was already scorched dark, and the cloth covering its body had been torn apart in many places, revealing the burned remains of the horned warriors beneath.
Even so, the Divine Beast did not remain passive. It summoned pale golden lightning in return, clashing against Lucian's crimson thunder in a dazzling display.
The dense lightning locked onto Lucian and struck repeatedly.
Although he avoided most of it, several strikes still hit their mark.
Electric currents spread across his body, covering him entirely.
The exposed skin beyond his armor darkened under the impact, briefly charred by the force.
But in mere moments, the damaged outer layer fell away, revealing newly restored skin beneath.
Lucian quickly lost interest in this prolonged exchange. Drawing his weapon, he suddenly dove toward the Dancing Lion below.
—
Above the Tower Settlement, dark clouds gathered thickly as fierce winds roared. Two distinct types of lightning fell in rapid succession.
The entire sky was illuminated by flashing light, and the storm pressed down on everything below.
Buildings in the settlement began to crack and collapse under the shifting weather, while the horned inhabitants scattered instinctively to avoid danger.
The Divine Beast was seen as a messenger of the heavens. Its anger brought disorder to the skies.
And the most visible sign of that was the storm.
This overwhelming force was proof of its fury.
At that moment, the old horned crone raised her head, facing the sky beyond the warehouse.
Though her eyes were obscured by tangled horns, she could still sense the immense power above.
Feeling the storm and lightning that altered the very atmosphere, a faint smile appeared on her face.
"The Divine Beast's power has never been stronger!"
"O Horn-deck'd beast... are you angry as well?"
"Carry our anger, and drive away those outsiders, those hateful invaders!"
—
The Divine Beast stage was now completely engulfed in lightning. Endless strikes had nearly reduced it to ruins.
Within this storm, the Dancing Lion looked battered, yet still fierce.
Amid the raging battlefield, Lucian had already closed in and resumed combat.
His Swordspear thrust forward, aiming directly into the beast's open jaws as it lunged.
The Dancing Lion twisted its body, its tail whipping up strong winds as it pulled away.
Lucian raised his weapon again, aiming the tip at its head.
As magic poured into it, the crystal-like weapon shone brilliantly. A deep blue beam shot forward at high speed.
Sensing the danger, the Dancing Lion turned its head to avoid the strike.
The beam grazed past, snapping off several thick Omen horns.
Lucian had already closed the distance again, his next attack following immediately.
The Dancing Lion grew more aggressive after being struck. While moving to avoid lightning, it released a surge of freezing breath.
The battlefield shifted instantly.
The golden lightning weakened, replaced by swirling snow that filled the sky, as if freezing the storm itself.
The sudden cold interrupted Lucian's momentum. Frost spread rapidly across his body, slowing him down.
In response, the residual flame within him surged, burning intensely.
Heat spread from within, quickly melting the frost.
Breaking free, Lucian stepped back, narrowly avoiding the beast's downward strike.
Seeing the icy breath, Lucian's expression grew more excited.
Wind, lightning, and ice—the Dancing Lion now displayed three powerful forces.
Each one was used with remarkable strength.
Cold winds howled, snow fell heavily, and the temperature dropped sharply, making it feel like the Consecrated Snowfield.
As the beast moved in fury, the environment shifted with it.
This was a being born of nature itself, a true Divine Beast.
Lucian stood before it, gripping his weapon, his gaze filled with interest.
"Haha… so this is what a Divine Beast is capable of?"
"Impressive."
"I thought this place was nothing but ruins. Seems I was wrong."
"An opponent like you… I won't forget this, Dancing Lion."
Defeating it using its own power, that would be the most satisfying outcome.
The Dancing Lion stepped forward, frost spreading rapidly across the ground.
The icy wave covered the broken stage, reaching Lucian in an instant.
Moments later, sharp ice spikes rose from the frozen surface.
Lucian responded with a powerful step of his own.
Magic surged underground, overturning the frozen terrain. Ice shattered and scattered into the air.
He advanced, switching to the Sword of Night and Flame.
Flames ignited along the blade as he swept it forward.
The fire cut through the falling snow, clearing everything in its path.
The Dancing Lion curled midair, then released a burst of cold energy.
Ice and snow exploded outward, blocking the attack.
As the flames faded, it opened its mouth again, releasing another wave of frost toward Lucian.
This time, Lucian did not retreat.
Instead, he intensified the flame within his body.
Heat radiated outward, distorting the air and melting the incoming frost.
With his body engulfed in heat, he pushed forward through the cold, closing the distance rapidly.
The two bodies forming the Dancing Lion overlapped again as it rose, continuing its icy assault from above.
But it quickly pulled away, avoiding close combat.
Seeing it retreat, Lucian gathered a storm around his weapon.
The raging winds formed a massive blade of air that extended skyward before crashing down.
The attack split through the clouds, pulling them downward.
It carried overwhelming force, as if it could cleave through everything.
The Dancing Lion immediately tried to escape.
But the pressure from the attack locked onto it, limiting its movement.
Unable to avoid it, the beast was engulfed by the storm.
After the strike, the sky cleared briefly, revealing distant fading light.
Lucian remained still, watching.
He could sense it, the Dancing Lion was not finished.
As the storm faded, the beast reappeared, its body heavily damaged and split apart.
Yet it still moved.
Its glowing green eyes remained fixed on Lucian, filled with anger.
The separated parts began to move again, reconnecting in an unnatural way.
Soon, the Dancing Lion regained its form.
Lucian did not hesitate.
He gathered an immense amount of lightning.
Brilliant energy condensed in the sky, forming a massive crimson lightning spear.
It hovered above the beast like a looming judgment.
At the same time, Lucian released powerful gravity, pressing down over a wide area and restricting its movement.
Though the Dancing Lion resisted, it could not fully escape the field.
With a sharp motion, Lucian brought his arm down.
The lightning spear fell at incredible speed.
The Dancing Lion twisted, narrowly avoiding a direct hit.
Even so, the impact unleashed devastating energy.
A large portion of its body was destroyed in the blast.
Blinding light filled the surroundings.
More lightning followed, striking continuously and engulfing the beast.
Yet at the center of it all, the Dancing Lion roared.
The surrounding lightning scattered.
Snow began to fall once more, and dark clouds returned.
A strange glow covered its body, and its injuries began to recover.
Light gathered around its lower body, gradually forming four sturdy, beast-like limbs.
New, half-formed shapes surfaced across the cloth-draped body. A thick tail gradually took shape behind it, solidifying from that hazy outline.
The Divine Beast Dancing Lion poured more power into the corpses it wore, and its defenses and overall strength rose sharply.
Yet these newly formed parts clashed with the original lion-dance form.
The result felt unnatural, something pieced together without harmony, lacking the presence one would expect from a true divine creature.
The Dancing Lion rose into the air again. This time, it surged forward at extreme speed, closing in on Lucian almost instantly.
Lucian lifted the Starscourge Greatsword high. Gravity gathered along the blade as he brought it down with force.
A wave of gravitational pressure spread outward, enclosing the Dancing Lion.
But a flicker of light passed over its body, and it moved through the field as though unhindered.
It pushed straight through and lunged, snapping toward Lucian.
Lucian reacted at once, dismissing his weapon and bracing the lion's jaws with both hands, holding them apart in a contest of strength.
The Dancing Lion unleashed lightning at close range, striking him repeatedly.
Lucian did not retreat. Instead, he drew on the power of his Great Rune, steadily increasing his size.
As his body expanded, his strength rose to an overwhelming level, enough to make the beast hesitate.
Sensing that this force was beyond what it could withstand, the Dancing Lion abandoned the struggle.
It jerked its head upward, lifting Lucian and throwing him into the air.
Immediately after, it summoned frost once more, spreading it upward to cover the sky.
Lucian spun midair, the Sword of Night and Flame releasing a surge of fire.
The advancing frost met the flames head-on, canceling each other out.
Intense heat and cold collided, producing thick mist that was instantly dispersed—burned away or frozen again in the same moment.
With his left hand, Lucian summoned the Ornamental Straight Sword and poured magic into it.
As he activated its technique, the energy transformed, driving the blade into a rapid spin.
Under his control, the spinning sword broke through the stalemate and shot toward the Dancing Lion.
The beast quickly redirected its breath toward the incoming blade, knocking its trajectory off course.
Originally aimed at its head, the weapon instead drove deep into its body.
Spinning like a drill, it tore through the unstable form of the Dancing Lion.
This strike shifted the flow of the battle.
The frost lingering in the air lost its momentum and could no longer compete with Lucian's flames, quickly fading away.
In the next instant, fire surged across the sky.
The light of the flames illuminated the Dancing Lion's face. Its expression now carried a sense of resistance and strain.
It circled in the air, then spun sharply, gathering a violent storm.
As the storm grew, it lashed its tail forward, forming a massive tornado.
The whirlwind swept up the flames and scattered them outward.
But in that moment, the Dancing Lion realized Lucian had disappeared from view.
"Where are you looking?"
Lucian's voice came from behind it.
The Dancing Lion turned at once, snapping toward him—but a Swordspear was already flying toward it.
The weapon pierced through its body and drove into the ground far behind it.
At this point, Lucian had pushed the power of his Great Rune to its limit. His strength and vitality had risen beyond their previous bounds.
Gripping the Starscourge Greatswords in both hands, he charged forward.
The massive blades expanded, returning to the scale they once had in the hands of General Radahn.
And now, Lucian's strength surpassed even that.
The enormous greatswords moved freely in his grasp, as if weightless, sweeping through the air in fluid arcs.
He launched a continuous series of strikes, tearing through what remained of the Dancing Lion's form.
This was a technique he had not used in some time, the signature move of the Storm Knights.
The sheer weight of the twin blades and the relentless pressure of the attack left the Dancing Lion unable to respond.
Each strike forced it back, unable to hold its ground.
Even drawing upon divine power and embodying aspects of nature, it could not withstand this level of force.
With a final heavy strike, Lucian shattered the beast's body again, throwing it off balance completely.
Seizing the moment, he turned with the storm's momentum and brought both blades down in a crushing Lion's Claw, driving the Dancing Lion into the ground.
By now, its body had been broken apart by the continuous assault, barely holding its shape.
Lucian planted both greatswords into the ground, stepped forward, and pulled the beast's head free from its body.
At last, the Dancing Lion could no longer continue. The power sustaining it faded from the horned warriors' remains.
Lucian tossed the head lightly in his hand.
As expected, once you invest in strength and vitality, the most direct approach is still the most effective.
Still, the Dancing Lion had proven somewhat fragile. It couldn't endure many heavy blows.
In the end, the fight hadn't quite been satisfying.