The thick dust and debris gradually began to clear. The Red-Eyed Black Dragon still lay cratered there, having just absorbed Yun Tian's devastating, high-powered punch from moments ago. Standing at a distance, Yun Tian's gaze remained relentlessly locked onto his opponent. The necklace around his neck continued to flutter against the radiant aura of his own blue light. Slowly lowering his hand, he let out a faint whisper.
"So... it's finally over."
But before he could even catch his breath—
"Ha."
"Ha ha."
A low laughter began to echo from the Red-Eyed Black Dragon. Despite the heavy injuries sustained from the previous strike, he forced his body up, slowly gritting his way back to his feet.
"To think..."
His frame gradually straightened up, completely upright.
"The chains that I have always taken absolute pride in."
He raised a hand, casually wiping away the streak of blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"Were actually shattered by you just like that."
He snapped his head up, his eyes pinning Yun Tian right where he stood.
"It seems..."
He reached deep into his clothes.
"I have no choice but to use it."
As the words left his mouth, he drew a dagger from his robes. However, even though it was shaped like a dagger, it possessed no actual blade. Instead, the edge was replaced by the long, deep, and shallow jagged ridges of a lock-key. A bizarre, ominous black miasma began to exude around it, rapidly coiling around the key before gradually weaving its way down his arm, and then throughout his entire body. The moment this black aura touched the surface of the water, the once-normal current instantly turned pitch black, the darkness expanding outward to form a perfect circle around him.
Witnessing this horrific spectacle, Yun Tian's brows furrowed instantly, his voice cutting through the air with stern gravity.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The Red-Eyed Black Dragon looked back at him, a faint yet deeply mysterious smirk playing on his lips.
"You'll find out soon enough."
The moment the words fell, he slammed his hand against his chest, gripping his own garment.
Rip!
The fabric was torn violently open, exposing a pitch-black, heavily muscular torso carved with glowing red lines running all across his body. In the dead center of his chest lay a bizarre markings—looking closely, it perfectly resembled a keyhole, with narrow, fragile ridges cutting deeply inside. The Red-Eyed Black Dragon hoisted the key-sword high.
"I never imagined you would actually force me to resort to this a second time."
He stared intently at the key-sword in his hand, the corners of his mouth curving upward into a sharp sneer.
"You should be thoroughly grateful for this."
His eyes darted back to Yun Tian. Holding the key-sword directly in front of his chest, his arms flexed violently, thick veins surging and bulging in overlapping cords. Then, with a massive burst of strength, he drove the blade hard into the keyhole-shaped ridge right in the middle of his chest.
Click, click, click.
The crisp, brittle echo of metal grinding against metal rang out. Placing his other hand over the key, he channeled every ounce of his raw might and twisted it hard.
Crack! Crack!
A series of dry, bone-chilling cracks snapped with every turn of the key. And then, from deep within that inner ridge, a dense, dark purple-black energy erupted outward, completely enveloping the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's body. The very space around him began to warp and distort violently. The winds shifted, howling with sudden fury as thick, black storm clouds rolled in, completely swallowing the moonlight and the stars from the night sky. The tempest raged harder and harder, as if an apocalyptic storm was closing in. At this exact moment, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's eyes shifted from their original crimson hue into a terrifying, deep purple-black. He clenched his two fists tight as the blood vessels on his forehead and neck throbbed furiously. The ground beneath his feet began to splinter and tear apart. He threw his face toward the heavens, letting out a roar that literally tore through the atmosphere.
Instantly, the dark purple aura around him exploded, blasting away absolutely everything in its path, scooping the water beneath his feet into a massive, hollowed-out crater.
The violent shockwave surged straight toward Yun Tian. Throwing his arms up to brace against the dark purple blast, the sheer force of the impact was so overwhelming that it skidded him backward. Not stopping there, the shockwave continued to ripple outward, tearing all the way across the battlefield where the Red-Eyed Black Dragon's forces and the Tran Army were locked in combat. The blast sent the Black Dragon's soldiers flying into the air, and even several soldiers of the Tran Army were blown off their feet. Seeing this, General Tran Quoc Bao immediately roared his orders:
"All units, heed my command! Raise the iron shields, form defensive phalanx!"
In unison, the entire Tran Army locked their massive shields upward, holding the line against the encroaching dark mist. High above, Hung Dao Dai Vuong's face remained perfectly calm, severe, and majestic, showing absolutely no sign of fear. In stark contrast, Bao Uyen, who was standing right beside him, had a face tight with extreme tension. Her eyes filled with non-stop anxiety for Yun Tian out in the distance. She desperately wanted to sprint to his side right this second, but the crushing weight of the dark purple shockwave anchored her legs, making it impossible to take even a single step forward.
After a long moment, the swirling black mist finally began to subside, and the howling winds gradually died down. Yun Tian stood his ground, slowly lowering his arms to look at the figure ahead. Though the explosive shockwave had receded, the dark purple aura still coiled tightly around the Red-Eyed Black Dragon. He stared back at Yun Tian, his eyes glowing with a sinister, haunting purple-black light, his mouth stretched into an eerie, demonic grin. Before Yun Tian could even process what was happening—
Whoosh!
The Red-Eyed Black Dragon vanished, instantly materializing right in front of Yun Tian's face. Before the young man could react—
Thud!
A brutal knee strike buried itself dead center into Yun Tian's stomach.
"Ack!"
He was sent flying, skidding violently across the dirt as a massive cloud of dust erupted around him. Yun Tian desperately tried to push himself up, but the Red-Eyed Black Dragon was already hovering over him and—
Bam!
A heavy, sledgehammer-like kick slammed directly into the side of his head. His skull was pinned violently into the dirt, and his consciousness immediately began to fray. The direct impact caused his mind to fracture into a vast, blank void; the roaring sounds of the battlefield suddenly receded, shrinking into a sharp, agonizing, prolonged ringing in his ears. His vision blurred, overlapping in double images before turning completely dark for a few terrifying seconds. The world around him abruptly lost all gravity, spinning out of control. He tried blinking frantically to regain his sight, but giving him zero window, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon grabbed Yun Tian by the hair and, once more, slammed his head brutally against the earth.
Thump!
A heavy, muffled explosion echoed out. The ground beneath cracked into a massive spiderweb pattern, sending pebbles and shards of rock flying in every direction. His head collided violently against the steel-hard ground; the sheer shockwave made his skull feel as though it was splitting completely in two. The creature ruthlessly slammed his head into the dirt over and over again. The relentless, consecutive blows caused his mind to burst into a blinding white sheet of nothingness as fresh blood began to ooze from beneath his hair line. Seeing that he no longer offered any resistance, the Red-Eyed Black Dragon finally stopped, releasing his grip on his hair. Yun Tian's head flopped back onto the dirt, his body entirely stiff, completely motionless.
The Red-Eyed Black Dragon knelt down, lightly patting Yun Tian's cheek with a rhythmic tap, tap.
"What's wrong? I've only just finished warming up."
But Yun Tian gave him no response.
The monster sighed, standing back up to his full height.
"Sigh."
"And here I thought you could actually endure a few hits."
"What a waste of my trump card."
As he spoke, he began condensing a dense mass of purple-black energy into his palm, shaping it into a swirling orb.
"Oh well."
"To think you could force me to use my trump card like this... I suppose you can be considered a strong foe."
He channeled the orb into his fist, priming the strike.
"So, as a reward for your efforts... I will personally send you off."
The moment the words left his lips, he drove his fist down with full force, plunging the purple-black orb straight toward Yun Tian's face.
"Farewell."
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted, the raw kinetic shockwave sending a towering pillar of dust screaming into the sky.
Watching from afar, Bao Uyen let out a desperate, piercing shriek:
"Mr. Thien ...!!!"