Bond Move.
Hala had never heard of such a thing—
Yet from the way Tapu Koko watched with expectant eyes,
He could already feel it.
That overwhelming, primal force stirring in the air.
He lifted his Z-Ring high.
"Then come—show me! I've been waiting for this!"
Behind Bai Chen, Nergigante let out a deep rumble.
Bai Chen rarely called himself a hunter.
To others—and to himself—he was something else.
"A knight," he had once said, the first time he introduced himself to Hala.
"A dragon knight."
And now, at last, he proved it.
In a single motion, Bai Chen vaulted onto Nergigante's back.
The moment his hands met her scales,
the Bond Stone blazed to life.
Azure light burst forth, flowing like a living current
from Bai Chen's wrist into Nergigante's heart.
Nature's power surged—
wounds sealed, scales mended, vitality roared back to life.
And Bai Chen, too, felt warmth flood his body,
a tranquil yet unstoppable strength coursing through every vein.
"Take to the skies, Nergigante."
The dragon unfurled her wings—
a hurricane in motion—
and the pair soared upward, fifty meters high.
She hovered there, suspended in the air like a storm given form.
Below, Hala and Hariyama stood at the eye of a rising vortex.
Natural energy poured toward them,
drawn by the Z-Crystal's glow.
Hala crossed his arms.
The Z-Ring pulsed.
A brilliant fist symbol manifested before Hariyama.
Light enveloped them both.
"I, the island king of Melemele,
fused with the will of this land and its guardian deity Tapu Koko—"
His eyes flared open, his voice echoing across the arena.
"Now is the time to unite all our strength!"
Nature's energy rushed from Hala,
from the Z-Crystal,
from the air itself—
streams of power merging into Hariyama's body.
Above, Bai Chen activated the Bond Stone.
No gestures.
No ritualistic chant.
Just a shared heartbeat.
Blue light intertwined—the will of knight and dragon fused as one.
The sky shimmered.
Pressure rippled through the air.
Clouds warped beneath the weight of unleashed energy.
The two shone like a rising blue sun,
burning through the heavens.
Bai Chen drew a long breath, his voice cutting through the storm.
"This… is our full power!
Bond Ultimate Art—Nergigante Breaker!"
"Full-Force Z-Move—All-Out Pummeling!" Hala roared in reply.
All of Nergigante's gathered power ignited,
turning her body into a comet of roaring flame.
She dove—
a burning spear aimed straight for Hariyama's charging fists.
Hariyama met her blow for blow.
The world stilled.
BOOM—!
Sound vanished for an instant—
then returned as a deafening thunderclap.
A mushroom cloud of pure energy rose from the battlefield.
The shockwave tore the clouds apart,
leaving a yawning hole in the sky above Melemele Island.
Lillie shielded her face, heart hammering.
If not for Tapu Koko's barrier around them,
They'd have been swept away by the blast.
The storm of natural energy raged,
colliding, twisting, devouring itself—
until, slowly, silence returned.
When the light faded,
Bai Chen and Nergigante lay sprawled upon the ground.
Across from them—
Hariyama still stood.
"They lost…?" Lillie whispered, her voice trembling.
"Even after using the Bond Skill…?"
It wasn't fair.
They had given everything.
She clenched her fists in frustration.
Lusamine sighed softly beside her.
"He used Endure at the last moment.
That Z-Move should have defeated him,
but he refused to fall."
Lillie's heart sank.
But then—
Bai Chen moved.
Slowly, painfully, he rose to his feet,
leaning on his blade for support.
His body trembled violently—every cell screaming in agony.
The Bond Stone's power, amplified by Tapu Koko,
had detonated inside them like countless small explosions.
Only their sheer durability kept them alive.
Lusamine's calm cracked into awe.
"He's still… fighting?"
Bai Chen could barely breathe—
But victory was still within reach.
If I can still stand, he thought, then I haven't lost.
Across the field, Hariyama staggered forward—
and then froze mid-step.
With a heavy thud,
the giant collapsed face-first into the dirt.
Spirals swirled in its eyes.
"Ka-woo!!"
Tapu Koko's triumphant cry echoed from above,
declaring the result of the grand trial.
Bai Chen—
the hunter-knight from another world—
had defeated the island king of Melemele.
Lillie's eyes sparkled with tears of joy.
"Wait… his face—it's purple! He's poisoned!"
Indeed, a faint violet tint marred Hariyama's skin.
In the instant he used Endure,
the venom energy stored within Bai Chen's black blade had reached its limit—
Finally triggering a toxic state.
Venom-Eater didn't just lower defense;
Its toxin was its hidden blade.
As the poison took hold, victory passed to Bai Chen.
The arena fell quiet.
Lillie smiled through her tears.
"He did it… he really won."
Even Lusamine's lips curved in pride.
In the center of the shattered field,
Bai Chen staggered toward Hariyama's fallen form.
"Still… one last thing… must copy skill…"
He collapsed beside it,
his hand pressing against the fighter's chest—
and in that last flicker of consciousness,
the system's light shimmered:
Skill acquired: [Endure].
Then—darkness.
When Bai Chen awoke, the room was dim.
It was already 7 p.m.
Lillie's voice came at once, soft and relieved.
"Mr. Bai! You're awake! How do you feel?"
She had never left his side, not for a moment.
Bai Chen tried to sit up.
She rushed to place a pillow behind him.
"How long was I out?"
"Almost eight hours. Do you still hurt anywhere?"
He took a moment to feel.
The ache was still there—sharp, deep, raw.
"Hurts all over… Where's Nergigante?"
"She's already recovered—with the help of a Full Restore.
She's resting on the roof right now."
Bai Chen sighed.
"Figures. Species advantage, huh?
One Full Restore for her—eight hours of coma for me."
His stomach growled loudly.
"...Any dinner left? Food helps me heal faster."
"Of course! One moment."
Moments later, Lillie returned—Hariyama helping her carry a mountain of food.
The big fighter even set a table over Bai Chen's bed.
Starving, Bai Chen grabbed a loaf of bread—
But his hands trembled,
and the bread squished straight into his nose.
Lillie sighed, a smile tugging her lips.
"Maybe… let me feed you?"
"N-no, no need, I can manage—"
She poked his bicep gently with one finger.
"Tss—!" Bai Chen hissed in pain.
Their eyes met.
Hers gleamed with mischief.
"So this is the 'I can eat by myself' you were talking about?"
Defeated, Bai Chen sighed.
"...Then I'll trouble you, Miss Lillie."
Lillie smiled, cheeks faintly pink.
"No trouble at all~ (^^*)"
And under the warm lamplight, the dragon knight finally smiled again—
His battle won, His bond is stronger than ever.
f you want to read more, join my Patreon/kazama677
60+ advanced chapters available.
I will drop 1 bonus chapter for every 40 Power Stones.
Bonus chapter for every 10 reviews/comments
Daily chapter Updates