"The third option: shatter that so-called 'impenetrable defense' of yours.'"

Nacho stood with hands in pockets, surveying the battlefield with detached indifference.

Good news: his guess was correct—General Ley's face radiated invincibility.

Bad news: this invincible Ley was now his foe.

He shot a glance at the grim-faced Ravi beside him. "Now you see why the Empire would go so far—even deploy ancient monsters like Star—to eliminate Leon?”

Ravi's face darkened, remaining silent.

Emboldened by Ravi's silence, Nacho pressed on: "Leon Casmod just destroyed that accursed bell. With Star neutralized—as you put it—it's only 'a matter of time.' So—”

“Prepare our final trump card.”

Ravi exhaled slowly, shaking his head. "Not yet.”

“Not yet? Shall we wait until Star's corpse turns cold? Until his severed head keeps Constantine company in the trophy room—is that your definition of 'time'?”

Between Star's breached defenses and Nacho's taunts, Ravi barely contained his fury. "You think Star became a Dragon Clan legend through mere defense?" he hissed”

“He's got more tricks up his sleeve?”

“Naturally. You'll see.”

Though spoken with conviction, Ravi's confidence had waned. Having witnessed Leon's power firsthand, he knew better than to make grandiose claims now.

Truth be told, that man could humiliate them all in an instant—himself included.

And it wouldn't be mere humiliation—the impact would rival Leon's "Chidori," reverberating through flesh and soul.

On the battlefield, the bell-less Star faced another onslaught—Roswitha's searing heatwave that sent him crashing backward.

Star's colossal frame plowed into a hillside, embedding deep within the bedrock.

The royal couple regrouped.

Folding her draconic wings, Roswitha planted a hand on her hip, eyeing the "tunnel explorer" Star. "Aren't we magnificent?" she grinned.

General Ley knew immediately she was poking fun at herself.

From an outsider’s perspective—or even her own as a participant—it was clear that during their recent skirmish she was merely providing supplementary damage.

If it weren’t for Leon’s "Chidori" breaking Star’s defense, the two of them wouldn’t even have had a chance to act.

But Leon, ever lucid, didn’t indulge even a sliver of arrogance. Calmly analyzing, he said, “After piercing through that damn bell, I left myself open. If you hadn’t followed up in time, he might’ve counterattacked and taken advantage of the opening. So yeah, you’re right—we’re amazing.”

Roswitha glanced at him, unsure if he genuinely meant those words or if he was just trying to make her feel good amidst the chaos of battle.

Either way, she was genuinely pleased.

She suppressed the corners of her lips from curling upward and teased, “You do know how to talk, I’ll give you that.”

“What do you mean ‘know how’? I’ve always been eloquent, persuasive—my silver tongue unstoppable.”

“‘Silver tongue’ is a phrase with a connotation that leans toward flattery or smooth-talking, not necessarily positive.”

“Quite true. But the key point is: tongue. And silver.”

Roswitha’s graceful brows furrowed slightly, and with an audible “tsk,” she jabbed an elbow into Leon’s chest plate. “We’re in a battle here—be serious.”

The queen’s command to be serious brought an end to their casual banter, a brief reprieve amidst the tense atmosphere of the battlefield.

The pair once more snapped into combat readiness.

Meanwhile, Star, embedded deeply within the mountain, did not launch an immediate counterattack. Leon’s devastating "Chidori," which had shattered his centuries-old “absolute defense,” forced him to take pause and reflect.

“No wonder the Empire is so desperate to kill him. Letting a monster of this caliber continue living, Dragon Clan’s presence on the surface would merely be a matter of time before it’s completely obliterated.”

Slowly, Star extended an arm from the cracks between stone and rubble. With great effort, he pushed himself upright amidst the chaos of broken rock and gravel.

“If possible, I’d love to see how powerful someone like you would become as a ‘Vessel.’”

He gazed at the brilliant speck of light in the distance, his golden armor beginning to shimmer as it sought a new, overwhelming radiance.

“But, Leon Casmod, since you’ve chosen to stand against the Empire, it also means you’ll never see the day when the ‘Ultimate Power’ is unleashed.”

“For you, the world—everything—ends today.”

As the final word left his lips, golden light erupted from the cracks within the mountainside.

In an instant, the earth quaked violently, stones tumbled from the peaks, and thunderous roars echoed across the battlefield.

Even spectators on the distant sidelines could feel the tremors.

“What’s—what’s happening? Is Star preparing to shift into dragon form?” Nacho asked anxiously. “But hasn’t ‘His Excellency’ already warned us? Against someone like Casmod, shifting into dragon form only increases your vulnerabilities. He’s more skilled at killing dragons than fighting humans—Constantine’s end was proof of that!”

“Then your ‘His Excellency’ must have excluded Star from that reasoning. His dragon form—it’s unlike ours.”

“Unlike? How unlike?”

“Why are you asking? You’ll soon see for yourself.”

“You! …”

Nacho snorted derisively, turning back toward the battlefield. What he beheld left even him speechless.

The small mountain began to split and collapse, revealing a titanic figure bathed in golden radiance.

With a deafening roar that pierced the heavens, the golden dragon emerged, scattering rubble and debris from the mountain in every direction.

The beast towered so massively that the mountain itself could not contain its form. From more than ten kilometers away, Nacho could see it as clearly as day.

The aura Star emitted—the overwhelming presence of a dragon—intensified exponentially.

Thud—

Nacho immediately buckled to his knees under the sheer weight of the dragon’s aura. His entire body trembled uncontrollably as tears, snot, and sweat poured down into the dust below.

The terror had penetrated him to his very marrow, twisting his insides.

For the first time in his life, Nacho, a human, felt an instinct to commit *suicide.*

Behind him, the Dragon Clan warriors were faring no better. Each one writhed and shivered under the immense pressure bearing down on them.

Among them, only Ravi stood tall. Yet his face, too, was drenched with cold sweat.

The ominous dragon aura consumed everything, proving suffocating even for another Dragon King like Ravi.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Ravi said blandly. “Star’s power does not fall within His Excellency’s concerns.”

Nacho stared up at the colossal golden dragon. Swallowing hard, he muttered under his breath, “I shouldn’t have come here...”

Perhaps, I shouldn’t even have been born.

Simultaneously, at the borders of the Silver Dragon territories, Anna’s heart pounded erratically. Star’s terrifying aura was driving her to the edge of madness. She clenched her fists tightly, nails digging into her palms until blood seeped between her fingers. The pain was her last tether to consciousness.

Beside her, Sherry’s face and neck had begun to sprout faint scales. Her tail swayed unconsciously behind her, and her normally beautiful eyes were fixated on Star’s form in the far distance.

This unintentional draconic transformation was a primal, involuntary reaction to intense pressure—one almost exclusively triggered by someone of the same Clan. Yet Star’s pressure reached beyond inter-tribal barriers, affecting all Dragonkin indiscriminately. Anna had never seen anything of its kind.

She placed a hand gently on Sherry’s shoulder and called her name softly.

The spell broke. Sherry gasped and snapped out of her trance, breathing heavily as if she had just woken from a nightmare.

“Chief maid… I-I just now—”

“It’s Star. His aura is too strong. Stay sharp, Sherry.”

“Understood... I’m sorry.”

Regaining composure, she glanced back at the battlefield, worry etched into her eyes.

“His Majesty and the Prince are even closer to him... Are they really able to withstand such pressure? Should we go and assist?”

“Trust them,” Anna said with a heavy sigh. “In a battle of this magnitude, the last thing we should do is throw ourselves in the line of fire. Staying away and staying alive is help enough.”

“Roar!!—”

Star’s deafening draconic bellow reverberated across the skies, his overwhelming presence suffocating every living soul on the battlefield. The crashing echoes of destruction were endless, yet somehow, there hung an eerie sense of quiet—a stillness born of hopelessness.

Nobody knew what those two closest to Star felt in that moment. Were they afraid? Broken? Or had they resigned themselves entirely to surrender?

The answer—

“You bastard—!!!”

Leon Casmod raised his right hand high. Thunder roared, lightning erupted wildly, and sparks of wrath crackled through the air.

“WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING SO DAMN LOUD?!”