The battlefield descended into complete chaos.
The Dragon Blood Serpent no longer cared about anything around it.
Only Zael.
Every attack chased him relentlessly, but the scale of those attacks was simply too massive. Entire sections of the battlefield were caught in the crossfire constantly.
A crimson-black beam swept across the ruins again.
This time several awakened groups failed to escape in time.
The moment the attack touched them—
They disappeared.
No screams.
No bodies.
Just vaporized instantly alongside the ruins around them.
Elsewhere, the serpent's tail smashed downward with enough force to flatten the battlefield itself.
BOOOOM!!
Stone exploded upward.
Several awakened caught beneath the impact were crushed instantly into bloody paste before they could even react.
Panic spread rapidly afterward.
"RUN!"
"It's gone insane!"
"We can't fight this thing!"
Groups started scattering desperately while beasts and humans alike died around the battlefield.
But escaping wasn't easy anymore.
The pressure from the serpent had become overwhelming.
Some weaker awakened couldn't even move properly beneath it.
Zael appeared above the battlefield again through Void Step, blood dripping lightly from his side while his regeneration continued healing the earlier injuries.
His expression darkened further as he watched another group get wiped out by a stray attack aimed at him.
"…Damn it."
The serpent roared again the moment it found him.
Then charged.
Like a living catastrophe.
Auralis smashed a charging beast aside before looking toward Zael.
"It's locked onto you!"
"I noticed!"
Zael vanished again just before another claw strike obliterated the area he had occupied.
The ground collapsed entirely afterward.
The Dragon Blood Serpent twisted violently through the sky, unstable dragon wings beating against the storm clouds as lightning erupted around its body continuously.
And every second—
More people died.
Some from the serpent directly.
Others from the endless beasts still swarming the battlefield.
The situation was spiraling out of control rapidly.
Aurelia appeared beside Lily briefly, her normally calm expression visibly tense now.
"At this rate everyone here dies."
Lily clenched her fists slightly.
"…I know."
Then suddenly—
Another roar erupted from the serpent.
Louder than before.
And this time—
Its body began changing even faster.
Zael surged forward again.
This time there was no restraint left in his movements.
Abyssal energy erupted around him violently as Void Step carried him directly toward the serpent's head. Behind him, Lily twisted entire sections of space apart while Aurelia unleashed compressed mana rounds toward weak points they had already exposed earlier.
Auralis laughed despite the madness around them and slammed the crimson hammer downward with enough force to crater the battlefield repeatedly.
The surviving awakened joined too.
Some attacked from range.
Some charged directly.
Some simply fought because there was no longer any path to retreat.
The battlefield became a frenzy of explosions, lightning, collapsing ruins, and desperate attacks.
Zael's blade tore another massive wound across the serpent's neck.
Night Sever detonated against its scales.
Void Collapse twisted part of its body inward violently.
For a brief second—
The Dragon Blood Serpent actually screamed in pain.
Then the storm above changed.
The thunderclouds spun faster.
Crimson lightning gathered together unnaturally, converging into one massive pillar above the serpent.
Aurelia's expression changed instantly.
"…No."
Zael looked up.
Too late.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The lightning descended.
Not ordinary lightning.
It looked like the sky itself had collapsed downward.
The entire battlefield drowned in crimson-black light as the pillar engulfed the serpent completely.
The pressure that exploded outward afterward flattened ruins for kilometers.
Awakened were thrown backward like leaves in a hurricane while countless beasts exploded instantly from the sheer force alone.
Zael crossed his arms in front of himself as abyssal energy reinforced his body, but even then he was still forced backward across the shattered ground.
Then—
Silence.
The storm calmed slightly.
And something massive slowly emerged from within the lightning.
Wings.
Real wings now.
Massive black draconic wings unfolded fully across the sky, crackling with blood-red thunder. Jagged horns curved backward from its skull while claws larger than buildings tore into the ground beneath it.
The body that once resembled a serpent had changed completely.
Longer.
Broader.
Far more terrifying.
Its scales no longer looked like flesh but like living black metal infused with flowing crimson lightning.
Then its eyes opened.
Ancient.
Cold.
Draconic.
System notifications exploded rapidly.
[Dragon Evolution Successful]
[Blood Thunder Dragon — Level ???]
Nobody spoke.
Nobody moved.
Because the pressure pouring from the creature now was overwhelming.
It no longer felt like a powerful beast.
It felt like a natural disaster.
The Blood Thunder Dragon slowly lifted its head and roared.
BOOOOOOM!!
Thunder exploded throughout the sky as crimson lightning rained randomly across the battlefield, vaporizing beasts and awakened alike indiscriminately.
Several surviving groups disappeared instantly.
Others screamed as the shockwaves crushed them into the ruined ground.
Auralis steadied herself with the hammer and stared upward blankly.
"…That thing actually became a dragon."
Lily's face was pale now despite trying to stay calm.
Zael remained silent for several seconds.
Then he noticed something.
The dragon's aura.
It was enormous.
Unbelievably enormous.
But—
Unstable.
The energy flowing through its body fluctuated constantly, like the transformation hadn't fully settled yet.
Aurelia noticed too.
"It just evolved," she said quickly. "Its body hasn't fully synchronized with the dragon bloodline yet."
Zael's eyes sharpened.
Aurelia continued immediately.
"This is the weakest it'll ever be again."
That got everyone's attention.
Because they all understood the implication instantly.
If they failed now—
Nobody here would survive once the evolution stabilized completely.
Zael exhaled slowly.
Then abyssal energy surged around him again, darker and heavier than before.
A grin spread across his face.
Dangerous.
Excited.
"…Then we kill it before it finishes adapting."