[Flash Fire], this ability can absorb Fire-type Moves in games and increase Special Attack by 2 stages.
(Absorbing flames to strengthen its own Fire-type skills...)
Caesar understood.
Even though it was just a wisp of a remnant Soul, it was torn from a Legendary Red Dragon, so its rank was right there.
But right now, this bubble was not just a "hand cannon," but the "tactical core" that would overturn the battle.
Caesar looked at the dragon bubble on his shoulder, which was sticking out its tongue with an innocent face, then looked at the ashen-faced Fafnir in the distance. An incredibly clear tactic formed in his mind... using the dragon bubble as an absolute firepower pivot to build a position, forcing the opponent to give up the flames they were best at and enter his pre-set rhythm of close-quarters combat.
"What is that thing..."
Fafnir descended from the air, clutching his grazed shoulder, his expression extremely ugly.
Although he wasn't seriously injured, a large portion of his gorgeous clothes had been scorched, revealing the charred dragon scales underneath.
What made him even more alarmed was the sense of suppression at the energy level—the "quality" of that counter-cannon blast just now was terrifyingly pure, even... containing a trace of a high-level aura that made his Bloodline tremble. As a Red Dragon, falling into a disadvantage in a duel of flames was a disgrace.
"A dragon Soul summon that can absorb and counter-attack fire elements?" Fafnir forced himself to analyze calmly, his dragon pupils locked onto the dragon bubble. "A very troublesome characteristic. But, that's all it is."
He saw through Caesar's intention: wanting to use this strange creature to neutralize his strongest flames and force him into close combat.
"Do you think that by sealing my flames, you can limit me?" Fafnir's voice was cold, and the air around him began to hum due to high-speed vibrating magic. "Naive!"
[Dragon Language Secret Art: Boiling Blood Speed]!
From the gaps between the dark Red Dragon scales on his body, scalding blood steam suddenly erupted! This wasn't a simple acceleration, but a price paid by briefly burning part of his dragon blood and magic in exchange for neural reactions and limb speed that surpassed his limits. The price was huge, but the effect was terrifying—his figure left a slowly dissipating lava afterimage in place, while his true body had already turned into dozens of red streams of light, indistinguishable from reality and pulling out ear-piercing sonic booms, launching a lethal assault on Caesar from every possible angle in three-dimensional space!
Is this... Dragon-type Agility?
Caesar's pupils shrank slightly. The opponent's choice was decisive; he wanted to use absolute speed to kill him before the dragon bubble's "firing range" could be formed!
"Bubble, auto-interception mode!" Caesar roared, tossing the dragon bubble in front of him.
The dragon bubble seemed to understand his intention. Its round body flipped lightly in the air, and its beady eyes instantly locked onto the red streams of light attacking from all over the sky. It no longer needed Caesar's aiming command, and its small mouth opened—
Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!!
It was no longer a thick, charged beam, but countless thin heat rays as swift as red lightning! These heat rays were not scattered blindly; each one accurately predicted and met the path of a red stream of light, weaving a lethal firepower net in the air!
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Most of the streams of light were detonated in mid-air by the heat rays, turning into scattered sparks. However, Fafnir's main body, relying on the terrifying mobility brought by [Boiling Blood Speed], made various strange turns in the heat ray net that defied the Laws of physics, actually forcing its way through the firepower coverage. His claws, carrying a scream that tore through space, were already thrust before Caesar's chest!
"Die!!" Fafnir's roar was close at hand.
But Caesar was waiting for this exact moment—the opponent had penetrated the firepower net, his old strength was exhausted while new strength had yet to be generated, and all his attention was focused on the Breakthrough and attack!
[Dragon Tail]!
It wasn't an attack, but rather utilizing the body's rotational force. Caesar's body leaned back by a hair's breadth, letting those lethal Dragon Claws graze past his cloak. At the same time, his left claw, hidden under his cloak, was already poised and ready—
[Mud Shot]!
A large mass of viscous mud mixed with ground elements was accurately smeared onto Fafnir's face!
With his vision stolen, Fafnir's movements inevitably stalled.
Now is the time!
"Bubble, maximum power—zero-distance shot!!" Caesar bellowed.
The dragon bubble, which had been floating to the side as if on "standby," instantly aimed its small mouth at the close-at-hand Fafnir. The gold-white light compressed to the extreme inside erupted like a supernova—
BOOM——————!!!
This strike hit squarely, blasting Fafnir's chest at zero distance!
"Cough—!!" Fafnir groaned as he was blown away. The magnificent bone armor on his chest was completely shattered, and his dragon scales were charred and curled, revealing the mangled flesh and blood underneath. The terrifying impact caused him to crash into the distant ruins like a meteorite, with dust and smoke billowing into the sky.
Caesar did not hesitate for a second, rushing into the dust like a shadow following its object. A shark's hunting style was that once it bit down, it would never let go!
[Dragon Claw]! [Metal Claw]! [Shadow Claw]!
Three claws in one!
Different colors entwined on his claws as Caesar rushed into the dust, unleashing a series of combos on the struggling figure.
Left Slash, right Poison Jab, then an uppercut.
—Ora ora ora ora! Every punch hitting the flesh! Every punch hitting the flesh!!
Although Fafnir had dragon scales protecting his body, that energy blast just now had already shattered the defense on his chest.
At this moment, facing Caesar's storm-like attacks, he could only defend passively.
"Aren't you very noble?"
Bang! Caesar smashed a fist into his face.
"Didn't you want to play a game?"
Bang! Another punch to his abdomen.
"Don't you look down on Short-lived Species?"
Bang!
Caesar was fighting with gusto. Finally, he spun his body violently, and that thick Dragon Tail swung over with the sound of whistling wind.
[Dragon Tail]!
This strike still didn't use the tail to whip directly; instead, he used the centrifugal force of the rotation to kick Fafnir hard in the abdomen.
Boom!
Fafnir crashed into the ruins like a cannonball, dust soaring into the sky. When he struggled to climb up, the resonance light on his body finally extinguished completely, and he was forced back into the form of a red-haired youth, covered in blood and in a wretched state.
Only now, he didn't look anything like a Young Master anymore.
Lost?
He had actually lost?
Lost to a human who couldn't even use magic?
How was this possible... Caesar walked over slowly. That red dragon bubble was still floating on his shoulder, sticking its tongue out at Fafnir as if mocking him.
Fafnir stared fixedly at that bubble.
The fight had been too intense for him to notice earlier, but now that he was close, that familiar feeling became stronger and stronger.
In a daze, he seemed to see a giant phantom behind that bubble.
It was a Red Dragon that blotted out the sky, looking at him with a gaze that seemed to observe the mortal world.
That's... that's... Teacher?!
Fafnir's whole body shook, and a chill rushed from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
Why?
Why would this human's summoned beast have Teacher's aura?
And it was that kind of... that kind of pressure as if Teacher himself were present?
Caesar walked in front of Fafnir and looked down at him.
"Nice fight."
Caesar reached out, took the dragon bubble off his shoulder, and squeezed it in his hand; it felt bouncy.
"Next time, remember not to play with fire in front of the [Flash Fire] ability."
Fafnir opened his mouth, wanting to switch back to his giant dragon form, but he suddenly spat out a large mouthful of blood because he was Poisoned.
A final dark red light had already condensed in the dragon bubble's mouth, aimed at his head.
"Any last words?"
Caesar's voice was very cold.
Fafnir looked at that light representing death, the arrogance in his eyes finally collapsing, replaced by deep self-mockery.
"None? Then..."
"Buzz————!!"
Just as Caesar was prepared to end it all, a sudden change occurred!
It didn't come from Fafnir, but from the entire [Endless Nights Temptation] Domain itself! The sky, that "dome" constructed of shadows, began to emit an overburdened wail!
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Countless huge cracks burning with red-gold flames appeared out of thin air on the firmament! It was as if an invisible, burning giant claw was roughly tearing at this shadow world from the outside!
A terrifying Dragon Might, like a moving natural disaster that Caesar would never forget in his life, mixed with a fury that could incinerate all things, poured in arrogantly from the cracks like a tsunami! The entire Domain began to shake, and large patches of shadow matter disintegrated and evaporated!
Caesar's heart instantly sank to the bottom. The Domain was being forcibly dismantled from the outside by brute force!
And Fafnir, in the ruins, the moment he felt that Dragon Might, an inexplicably complex light flashed in his eyes—it seemed like guilt, yet also like... relief?
"Teacher..."
He murmured, finally unable to hold on, and fell unconscious.
In the next second, a giant Dragon Claw phantom that blotted out the sky, composed entirely of boiling lava and brilliant Law runes, brazenly tore open the largest spatial crack and slowly reached toward Caesar inside the Domain!
Before the claw even arrived, the killing intent sufficient to freeze the Soul and the heat that incinerated rules already enveloped the entire field!
—Without mourning for even a moment for the crushing defeat of her student, the next to arrive on the battlefield was... the enraged Legendary Red Dragon, Ilena!