The sky shattered, the earth quaked, as the golden dragon's terrifying aura engulfed the entire battlefield in an instant.

Even distant spectators from both sides broke into cold sweats under the crushing dragon's might, some collapsing to their knees, powerless to stand.

Yet Leon Casmod stood fearless before Stana's majestic draconic form.

Lightning crackling in his hands, he shouted his displeasure at the towering beast.

He detested how these Dragon Kings bellowed at every little thing. Transforming was one thing, but did they have to yell every time?

Did roaring make them feel powerful or what?

Seriously, this was battle, not some shouting contest.

Leon glanced at Roswitha.

Beneath his sarcasm, he knew this dragon's aura was beyond ordinary endurance.

At such close quarters with Stana, even another Dragon King like Roswitha couldn't escape his crushing aura.

All creatures instinctively fear strength, but dragons have reverence for power etched in their very blood.

Roswitha lifted her gaze, staring intently at the massive figure.

Her face showed no expression, her body didn't seem tense—on the contrary, she appeared relaxed.

Leon studied her expression and opened his mouth to ask if she was alright, but she spoke first.

"Leon."

"...Hmm?"

"That battle cry just now—damn cool."

Leon froze, staring at Roswitha in shock.

She squinted and smiled, her grin lacking any hint of forced bravery, fully genuine in her praise for Leon.

But upon closer inspection, Leon still noticed a trace of cold sweat sliding down her temple and nose.

Suddenly, Leon understood.

The breathtaking dragon aura just now had indeed affected Roswitha.

What's bred in the bone will come out in the flesh—any Dragon King would've felt the same.

Others might've fared worse. Roswitha had faced a stellar Dragon King's might point-blank without flinching, her iron will holding firm.

Until Leon's cry steadied her resolve.

She never lacked courage against formidable foes—she just needed a steadying hand at the crucial moment.

And Leon was that someone.

"If you usually praised me like this, I'd be absolutely thrilled."

After a brief surprise, Leon grinned as he spoke. "So, could you maybe say something like this again after the battle?"

Roswitha spread her dragon wings slowly, draping them over herself.

Just before those beautiful features were completely obscured by her wings, she replied, "Depends on your performance, idiot."

As the words fell, Roswitha unfurled her dragon wings once again, and instantly, a silver dragon roared into the sky.

From this moment forward, the battle reached its next phase.

Dragon Clan's humanoid form and dragon form each had their own strengths.

In humanoid form, their control over magic was finer-tuned, and their attacks more focused. However, this came at the cost of reduced explosive power and lower defensive capabilities.

On the other hand, their dragon form completely made up for those weaknesses, but sacrificed agility, and consumed more magical energy.

The Silver Dragon Clan attributes heavily favored speed, meaning that Roswitha fell short compared to Stana in both size and magical strength.

To defeat this glimmering old dragon, she and Leon had to synchronize their movements flawlessly, without a single mistake.

Luckily, the two of them had enough understanding of one another.

They didn’t even need to speak aloud; a mere glance was enough for them to know exactly what the other was planning.

You could call it "team telepathy."

With Roswitha airborne and ready, Leon adjusted his stance as well.

“Round two...fight!”

The husband and wife duo simultaneously launched their attack on Stana—one from the ground, the other from the sky.

This time, Stana did not repeat his prior use of the “Twilight Bell.”

In humanoid form, with a smaller body, his magical energy could more effectively cover the entirety of the Twilight Bell.

But in dragon form, conjuring a Twilight Bell with the same intensity would demand magical energy several times greater than what was used in humanoid form.

What’s more, the Twilight Bell had already been pierced by that human brat. Reusing it wouldn't yield much effect now.

Thus, Stana opted for a counteroffensive approach to intercept their assaults, leveraging the high explosive power of his dragon form.

"Roar!—"

With a single dragon cry, countless streaks of golden light erupted from Stana's mouth, raining downward like shards of golden rain.

His first target was, of course, Leon Casmod.

Through the exchanges earlier, Stana had begun to understand why the Empire was so eager to eliminate this man.

If allowed to roam free, the impact Leon could cause would be immeasurable.

The rulers each had their own ways of maintaining power, but one principle remained consistent:

They would never allow uncontrollable factors to exist.

And Leon—was uncontrollable.

Thus, he must be erased.

Boom—Boom—BOOM—

Countless rays of golden light swept past Leon, triggering a chain of magical detonations around his feet.

Silver armor was devoured by firelight and smoke, momentarily causing Stana to lose track of Leon.

But before he could reacquire Leon’s position, a wave of scorching heat suddenly pressed down from above.

Looking upward, three crescent-shaped flames were hurtling directly toward him.

S-rank fire magic · Flames of Pursuing Moon.

This magic combined the explosive and burning properties of fire magic with a shape transformation that turned the flames into razor-like crescents, greatly enhancing their penetration power.

The three crescents struck Stana's head precisely, leaving scorched marks evident on his golden scales.

Still, they only damaged the surface; for a Dragon King, this didn’t qualify as meaningful harm.

"How the mighty Dragon Clan has fallen, reduced to such pitiful abilities in its new generation of Dragon Kings," Stana said, sparing no sarcasm.

"If you truly possess towering strength, why have you spent the last century hiding in the shadows, even mixing with humans?" Roswitha countered without hesitation.

"My association with humans is for the long-term future of the Dragon Clan."

"The future of the Dragon Clan should be in its own hands, not reliant on others."

After a brief exchange, Roswitha thrust her dragon wings outward, generating a spiraling gust.

Following this, she conjured flames from her mouth, releasing them in a blast.

The fire met the spiral gust ahead of it, forming an undulating 'fire serpent' that shot toward Stana at high velocity.

S-rank fire magic · Scorching Flame Dance.

Stana's massive size granted him unmatched defense and magical explosiveness.

But being so enormous also made him an easier target.

Especially against a fire attack accelerated by a gust—there was no evasion possible for Stana.

The fire serpent slammed into Stana’s neck; his scales deflected much of the impact force but couldn't shield him from the intense heat.

Stana let out a low growl, energy brewing in his dragon maw, aiming at the hovering Roswitha.

But before he could release this attack, down below, a silver figure darted out from the fiery dust and rubble left by the recent explosions.

Gripping lightning in his hand, Leon charged straight at Stana.

Stana had been keeping an eye on Leon all along; there was no way this brat would successfully pull off a sneak attack.

While continuing to condense energy for his attack, he swung his massive tail toward Leon.

The young man didn’t dodge; instead, he charged headlong toward Stana.

Stana smirked coldly, thinking, "Reckless fool, meet your end!"

The golden tail lifted high, blocking out the sunlight above Leon as a shadow enveloped him.

By the time he looked up, the tail was already descending heavily.

BOOM!!—

This strike wasn’t a simple free fall of the tail—it was practically a full-force attack from Stana.

By exploiting the sheer bulk of his dragon form, the power behind this attack was enough to overwhelm even Dragon Kings of equal stature.

Let alone this mere human.

As the tail smashed down, Stana unleashed the energy he'd been condensing, directing it toward Roswitha in the air.

Known for her speed, the silver dragon queen naturally dodged such a cumbersome, charged-up attack with ease.

"Heh... one reckless brute and one queen who only knows how to dodge—this old dragon doesn't even know how to evaluate you two properly."

The queen hovered mid-air, her piercing dragon eyes fixed beneath the shadow of Stana's colossal tail.

She had faith that Leon had a plan. There was no way he’d recklessly charge forward and end up pinned beneath the tail.

"If you're unsure of how to evaluate us, perhaps... you'd consider listening to me?"

Suddenly, the man's voice echoed from behind Stana's neck.

The massive dragon shuddered violently.

Stana’s pupils contracted. "Wh-what—when did you—"

"In that case, here’s my evaluation... An ancient relic like you should’ve been buried long ago!"

Stana tried to turn around, intending to swat the pesky “flea” off his back.

But just as a crisp snap of fingers rang out, blue light illuminated the area near his tail.

Following that, paralysis rippled up from his tail, coursing through his lower limbs entirely.

A-rank lightning magic · Phantom Lightning Mirage.

When Stana's previous attacks had blanketed the battlefield in smoke and flame, Leon had used it as cover to deftly position himself. Utilizing Phantom Lightning Mirage, he'd created temporarily existing clones, diverting Stana’s attention away from his own silent movement to the dragon king’s neck.

This technique only worked on massive Dragon Kings; in close combat, it would be far too easy to distinguish clone from reality.

Of course, Roswitha’s assistance was crucial.

Without her two S-rank magical attacks distracting Stana, the old dragon would’ve undoubtedly caught on to Leon’s maneuver.

"I’m sure someone must’ve told you before: when fighting me... never transform into your dragon form. It’s clear you didn’t listen."

Leon gripped the lightning sword in his hand. "But it's not too late. You can review this with Constantine in the underworld. The title of your review could be: 'How Transforming Into Dragon Form to Fight Cosmod Was the Stupidest Decision Ever Made.'"

The lightning sword struck down, piercing through the golden scales at the back of Stha's neck.

Stha's dragon eyes shook violently.

This was an even more shocking moment than being successfully ambushed by Leon.

"He... He actually used a sword formed of lightning to pierce Stha's scales?!"

Even from a distance, Ravi was shaken by the terrifying power of that human.

Stha's dragon aura still oppressed him when Cosmod's terror struck anew.

However, these two instances of fear were fundamentally different.

The suppression from the dragon aura came from the Dragon Clan's innate bloodline.

But the oppressive presence that Leon exuded was rooted in his disturbingly overwhelming strength, far surpassing that of a Dragon King—a strength bordering on monstrous.

At this moment, Nacho had lost all thoughts of gloating or schadenfreude. His expression was grave. "Does Stha have any other last-ditch moves? If not, call Bly and Jagus. The three of you may be our only hope."

Ravi swallowed hard. This time, he didn't refute Nacho's words. "Alright, I'll prepare. That monster... we absolutely, absolutely cannot let him live. He's too terrifying..."

He gazed at Leon and muttered to himself again, "Too terrifying."

Ravi used every ounce of strength he had to tear his eyes away from Leon. Turning around, he prepared to deploy their final move.

But before he could even step down from the general's podium, Nacho called out, "Wait, look! Look at what Stha is doing!"

Hearing this, Ravi turned back, glancing over his shoulder.

The golden dragon let out a long, resounding roar toward the heavens, entirely ignoring the blood that gushed from the wound at the back of his neck.

His body radiated an intense, dazzling glow, and an overwhelming surge of energy began to gather in the air around him.

The sheer strength of that energy caused the skies to change color and the elements to spiral into chaos.

Ravi immediately understood Stha's intention.

"He's... He's trying to turn his self-destruction energy into an attack!"

"What... what do you mean?" Nacho asked in confusion.

"The ancient Dragon Clan would, when they reached a dead end, choose to destroy everything."

Ravi was drenched in cold sweat, his voice trembling.

"And that includes themselves."