Before the words left its mouth, the mountain-like pressure fully descended, pressing its last words back into the depths of its throat, preventing even a whimper from escaping.
"Paimon, now!" Lumine cried out, her longsword already in hand, her gaze sharply fixed on the creature, ready to provide aid at any moment.
Paimon looked at the completely suppressed and immobile creature before her, and the fear in her heart seemed to be somewhat diluted by the sight.
She felt Lumine right behind her, and that silent support made her feel much more at ease.
She nodded, indicating that she understood.
Then, slowly, with a hint of nervousness yet extreme determination, she flew towards the enormous dragon head.
Lumine followed closely behind Paimon, ready to provide support at any moment.
Finally, she hovered in front of the creature's massive head, which was covered in scars and an expression of rage.
Facing this ancient Dragon King at such close proximity, the oppressive feeling was still intensely suffocating.
Paimon looked back once more at Zhongli and Lumine, as well as the Adepti maintaining the formation, and received their affirmative gazes.
She took a deep breath and extended her small hand.
Light converged, and the silver wrench, symbolizing Paimon's ability, appeared in her hand.
However, looking at the tiny wrench in her hand, and then at the creature's mountain-sized head, Paimon suddenly felt a bit comical and powerless.
"This… this is completely out of proportion! Such a small wrench, will it really work if I hit it?" She couldn't help but complain inwardly.
No! This won't do! Paimon's eyes narrowed, her small face tensing.
This time, she had to use all her strength! As this thought strongly arose, a strange energy surged from within her body, flowing into the wrench.
Hum! The silver wrench seemed to come alive, rapidly growing larger at a visible rate!
One foot, two feet… ten feet… finally transforming into a giant wrench a full thirty feet long!
Although it became so massive, Paimon held it and felt that its weight hadn't increased much; she could still control it with ease.
The thirty-foot-long giant wrench, though still appearing small in front of the creature, at least wasn't as comical as its previous miniature appearance.
"Roar?!" The creature, pinned to the ground, stared intently with its crimson dragon eyes at the small thing holding a "ridiculous" weapon.
The humiliation and anger in its heart almost broke through the suppression. 'Morax! How dare you humiliate me like this!'
It roared madly in its heart, yet its body was completely unable to react.
Paimon no longer hesitated, gripping the giant wrench with both hands, her eyes firm, and with all her might, she "struck" down hard on the center of the creature's forehead!
"Be— healed!!"
Just like when she healed Xiao and Atea before, the moment the giant wrench touched the creature's forehead, it seemed to sink into water, directly merging and disappearing!
Seeing this, Lumine reacted extremely quickly, pulling Paimon and rapidly retreating, while simultaneously gripping her longsword in her other hand, holding it across her body, vigilantly watching the creature, in case of any sudden changes.
The instant the wrench completely merged into the creature's forehead—
Boom!!!
A golden formation, even larger, more brilliant, and more complex than any before, suddenly erupted from beneath the creature!
Its scope was so vast that it instantly enveloped the entire massive underground cavern!
The patterns of the formation were ancient and profound, exuding a solemn, sacred, and inviolable aura, while also radiating a gentle, inclusive warmth that nourished all things.
Immediately after, above the creature's head, an equally enormous phantom wrench slowly emerged and began to rotate slowly.
This phantom was several times larger than the thirty-foot-long physical wrench in Paimon's hand!
However, this "optimization" process was clearly much more difficult than any previous one!
The giant phantom wrench rotated exceptionally slowly and sluggishly, as if pushing a massive weight.
With each rotation, the phantom rubbed against the air (or rather, against the stubborn erosion power within the creature's body), erupting in dazzling, enormous sparks!
These sparks were not real flames, but rather anomalies generated by intense energy collisions, exploding like fireworks on the cave ceiling!
Although there was no real sound, the sight of the intense collisions made everyone present feel as if they were hearing deafening "clangs! clangs! clangs!" of metal grinding and colliding!
"Ugh ah ah—!!!" The creature, which had been completely suppressed, seemed to feel an indescribable pain under the impact of this violent "optimization," and its massive body actually began to struggle violently again!
The resistance and rage stemming from its erosion instinct were reignited!
"Not good! Suppress it!" Zhongli's expression darkened, and he cried out.
He pressed his arms down sharply, and the vast Geo power was poured unreservedly into the Stone Pillars!
The golden light on the eight Stone Pillars instantly surged, like red-hot branding irons!
"Ley Lines, suppress!" Mountain Shaper stomped his four hooves on the ground, and amber light poured into the formation like a waterfall.
"Rock Peaks, solidify!" Cloud Retainer folded her wings, transforming into two illusory mountains pressing down.
"Spiritual Core, stabilize!" Xianyun's fingers flew, and the mechanism compass spun rapidly to its limit, forcefully stabilizing the surrounding elements.
"Dust Heart, calm!" The spout of Madame Ping's teapot sprayed soft but incredibly tenacious light bands, coiling around the creature's struggling body.
The four Adepti also simultaneously increased their Adeptal energy output, holding nothing back!
The creature was once their comrade-in-arms, and everyone still hoped as much as possible that it could regain its sanity, which was far more difficult than a battle.
After all, being able to defeat it didn't mean they could stably suppress it, and it was said that the process of clearing erosion also required the subject's own energy participation, so they absolutely couldn't let the creature resist excessively.
If the creature's energy were to be depleted due to excessive resistance, the situation would become even more difficult.
It took the combined strength of the five to barely suppress the creature's final frantic struggle again!
Even so, the violent energy collisions and the lingering effects of the creature's struggles still caused the entire cavern to shake violently, with rubble and dust falling from the ceiling.
Even the giant Dragon-Quelling Tree outside shook its branches and leaves, dropping many leaves!
"Is everything alright outside?" Paimon, under Lumine's protection, nervously looked at the cave ceiling.
"Don't worry, Xiao is there," Lumine said in a deep voice, her gaze fixed on the movements ahead.
This difficult "optimization" lasted for nearly half an hour!
During this half hour, the giant phantom wrench rotated with difficulty, each rotation accompanied by intense sparks and energy roars.
The creature's body struggled several more times amidst immense pain and instinctive resistance, each time prompting Zhongli and the four Adepti to suppress it with all their might, causing the entire cavern to tremble.
But as time passed, the creature's struggles noticeably became weaker and weaker.
The most obvious change was that the blood-red color in its dragon eyes, which had been filled with madness and destructive urges, was slowly fading, and the violent aura was gradually dissipating.
Gradually revealing a sense of fatigue, bewilderment, and finally… a gradually returning clarity!