The Blood Thunder Dragon moved.
And the battlefield exploded.
BOOOOM!!
Its wings beat downward once, generating a shockwave powerful enough to rip apart ruins and launch awakened through the air violently. Crimson-black lightning spread across the ground afterward like living snakes, hunting anything nearby.
Zael vanished instantly through Void Step.
The place he occupied half a second earlier disappeared beneath a descending dragon claw.
Not shattered.
Gone.
The sheer force erased everything there.
"…Ridiculous," he muttered.
Then the dragon's eyes locked onto him again.
A skill activated.
The storm clouds above split apart as hundreds of crimson lightning spears formed instantly overhead.
[Blood Thunder Rain]
The spears descended.
Fast.
Too fast.
Entire awakened groups vanished beneath the barrage before they could even scream. The battlefield became a rain of explosions as ruins collapsed continuously under the bombardment.
Lily distorted space frantically around their group, redirecting several lightning spears away, but even she was visibly straining now.
"It can spam skills?!" Auralis shouted while smashing apart incoming lightning currents with the crimson hammer.
Aurelia's expression remained sharp despite the chaos.
"It's using the storm itself as an energy source!"
Zael clicked his tongue.
Of course it was.
The dragon opened its jaws next.
Blood-red energy condensed instantly.
But this time it didn't fire a beam.
Instead—
The surrounding air distorted.
Then exploded outward.
[Dragon Sovereign Roar]
ROOOOOOOOAR!!!
The soundwave crashed across the battlefield like divine judgment.
Weaker awakened died instantly.
Not injured.
Dead.
Their bodies ruptured under the force while beasts exploded apart by the hundreds.
Even Zael felt his organs vibrate violently from the impact.
Blood dripped lightly from his ears before Adaptive Evolution immediately started correcting the damage.
The dragon descended afterward.
Fast enough to create sonic booms.
Zael met it head-on.
BOOOOM!!
His blade collided against the dragon's claw directly.
The impact cratered the battlefield beneath them instantly.
Zael's arms trembled slightly.
The dragon's raw physical strength had become absurd after evolving.
Then lightning exploded from the claw suddenly.
[Thunder Calamity]
Crimson-black lightning surged directly through Zael's weapon into his body.
For the first time in a long while—
Pain hit hard enough to make him grimace.
He was blasted backward through several ruins before stabilizing himself midair.
The dragon didn't let up.
Its wings folded inward as lightning gathered around its entire body.
Aurelia's eyes widened.
"Move!!"
The dragon vanished.
Not literally.
Just fast enough to appear that way.
Then it reappeared in the center of the battlefield.
And detonated.
[Blood Thunder Burst]
BOOOOOOOOOOM!!
A massive sphere of crimson lightning exploded outward in all directions, annihilating everything nearby indiscriminately.
Ruins vanished.
Beasts died instantly.
Several awakened groups disappeared completely.
Even Auralis got thrown across the battlefield despite blocking with the hammer.
Lily coughed blood while maintaining a spatial barrier around herself and Aurelia.
Zael emerged from the explosion zone moments later, clothes damaged again while fresh wounds regenerated rapidly across his body.
He stared upward at the dragon silently.
This was bad.
Actually bad.
For the first time since entering the dungeon—
Winning didn't feel guaranteed.
The Blood Thunder Dragon hovered above the battlefield like a king overlooking insects, storm clouds spiraling endlessly around its massive body.
And worse—
Its aura was stabilizing gradually.
Slowly.
But steadily.
Meaning their window was closing.
Zael wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and immediately disappeared again.
Void Step chained repeatedly across the battlefield as he shot toward the dragon from above. Abyssal energy gathered around his blade so densely that space itself distorted faintly around the edge.
The dragon noticed.
Its massive eyes followed him instantly.
Then lightning erupted again.
This time Zael didn't dodge.
Abyssal Consumption activated.
The crimson-black lightning crashing toward him twisted unnaturally before streams of energy began flowing directly into his body instead.
The dragon roared angrily.
It could feel its attack being stolen.
Zael appeared directly above its skull the next second.
"Abyss Rend."
The slash descended.
BOOOOOOM!!
Darkness exploded across the dragon's head as the attack tore through several scales and carved deep into its flesh. Blood mixed with crimson lightning poured outward violently.
The dragon screamed.
But not in fear.
In rage.
Its tail whipped upward instantly.
Too fast.
Zael barely crossed his blade in time before impact.
BOOOOM!!
He was launched across the battlefield like a cannonball, smashing through multiple ruined structures before stabilizing himself violently.
"Zael!" Lily shouted.
"I'm fine!"
Technically true.
Mostly.
His arms were numb from the impact while fractures spread through several bones before rapidly healing again.
The dragon descended lower afterward.
And the pressure increased again.
Aurelia's expression darkened.
"…Its stabilization rate is accelerating."
That was bad.
Very bad.
Because every minute they failed to kill it made the dragon stronger and more adapted to its new form.
The dragon opened its jaws again.
But this time—
The energy gathering inside was different.
Darker.
Denser.
Even the surrounding storm clouds started collapsing inward toward it.
Zael's instincts screamed immediately.
Danger.
Extreme danger.
Aurelia reacted first.
"EVERYONE MOVE!!"
The dragon fired.
[Dragon Breath: Crimson Extinction]
A massive beam of condensed blood thunder erupted across the battlefield.
Not just destructive.
Erasing.
Everything the beam touched disappeared completely.
Ruins.
Beasts.
Awakened.
Gone instantly.
Zael grabbed Lily through Void Step and threw both of them out of the beam's path while Auralis barely escaped by smashing herself sideways using the recoil from her hammer.
The beam continued for several seconds.
Carving a massive scar across the entire battlefield.
When it ended—
Half the battlefield no longer existed.
Silence followed briefly.
Then Auralis looked at the destruction with wide eyes.
"…Nope."
She pointed at the dragon.
"That thing is absolutely cheating."
Even Zael couldn't disagree this time.
The dragon lifted its head proudly afterward, crimson lightning crackling across its body as its draconic aura intensified again.
Then—
It started healing.
The wounds Zael had inflicted earlier began regenerating visibly beneath flowing blood-red energy.
Zael's eyes narrowed sharply.
"…Of course it regenerates too."
Aurelia pushed her glasses upward slightly despite the dirt and blood covering parts of her face.
"It's using absorbed life force to repair itself."
Lily frowned.
"So unless we overwhelm it completely, it'll keep healing?"
"…Yes."
That answer made the atmosphere heavier instantly.
Because overwhelming this thing completely—
Was easier said than done.
The dragon roared again and spread its wings wider across the storm-filled sky.
Its aura surged upward once more.
And Zael finally understood something clearly.
They weren't fighting a powerful monster anymore.
They were fighting a newborn calamity.