Most dragons were capable of speech.
They were not mindless beasts, but highly intelligent beings, creatures that could think, analyze, and strategize far better than most players.
Their combat instincts were refined, their experience vast, and their pride imnse.
But as had been stated countless tis before, there wasn’t a single dragon roaming freely in the [Lower Domains].
Even in the [Higher Domain], the few dragons that existed were treated as walking disasters. Just one of them had managed to slaughter tens of thousands of players by itself before finally being driven away.
So the fact that there was one here, inside an S-Rank assessnt, ant only one thing.
This place was guarding sothing that dragons absolutely did not want anyone to find.
"You should have just left the assessnt and taken your reward," the elental dragon said coldly as it expanded its massive wings. The chamber trembled under the pressure of its presence. "Now you die."
Leon listened calmly. Much like the first assessnt, failing here wouldn’t truly kill him.
It would simply count as a failure and force him to proceed to the A-Rank assessnt instead.
But even knowing that, this was not sothing Leon could shrug off lightly.
Failing here would be a devastating loss.
He had fully expected to clear this assessnt. More than that, he had expected to gain sothing incredible from it.
Still... Leon wasn’t shaken by the dragon’s power.
He had entered this place willingly. And if he was being honest with himself, he should have expected a challenge like this. Sothing far beyond the norm. Sothing that pushed him to the edge.
And more than anything else, Leon still had [Celestial Might].
On the other hand, the dragon noticed his lack of fear.
"It seems to that you aren’t bothered by this," the elental dragon said, its lips curling upward into a cruel grin. "Then I shall show you the difference between our powers."
Dragon Glare!
The dragon opened its eyes fully.
The vertical slits of its pupils glowed intensely, radiating an overwhelming pressure that flooded the entire chamber.
If anyone else had been here, soone around level 30, or even level 40, they would have instantly been struck by [Fear].
Their bodies would freeze, their minds would scream, and their instincts would force them to kneel or flee.
That was the true terror of dragons. Their re presence was enough to crush the unprepared.
But unfortunately for the dragon—
Unshaken!
Leon’s title passive activated instantly. The oppressive fear vanished as if it had never existed.
"This is..." the dragon muttered, genuine surprise flashing across its expression.
But it didn’t get the ti to react. Leon had already raised his staff.
Powerful Fireball! Storm of Lightning!
A massive fireball ford at the tip of Leon’s staff, compressing heat and mana before shooting forward at incredible speed.
At the sa ti, a violent storm of lightning erupted around the dragon, bolts crashing down relentlessly from every direction.
Boom! Zap!
The attacks collided with the elental dragon, and did absolutely nothing. Not even a scratch.
"My talent protects from elental attacks," the elental dragon said calmly, a mocking grin spreading across its face. "How unfortunate."
"...Damn."
Leon could feel it. His spells had truly done no damage whatsoever.
Even lightning, an elent beyond the four basic ones, was sohow being negated. The dragon’s exclusive talent was far more complete than Leon had initially expected.
Still... That wasn’t all Leon had.
Blood Beam!
Leon focused his power again, mana surging violently through his staff. Using the brief instant while the dragon was mocking him—
BOOM!
A massive beam of crimson energy shot forward, tearing through the air and slamming into the dragon’s body.
This ti, it worked. The elental dragon recoiled slightly as the attack tore into its scales, drawing blood.
[Blood] was an advanced elent after all. And that made all the difference.
Still, the damage wasn’t enough to be fatal.
The dragon roared, its voice echoing violently throughout the chamber.
"You insignificant being..."
Elental Ball!
"...You shall join all the ones who ever stood in our way."
The four elents surged violently around the dragon, converging together. Fire, water, wind, and earth twisted and compressed, forming a massive orb of condensed elental energy.
Leon stared at the orb, his expression growing serious.
But more than the attack itself, sothing else bothered him.
’Why the hell didn’t [Celestial Might] activate?’
It always activated against overwhelming foes. Always.
It was ant to give him a fighting chance when facing sothing far stronger than himself.
And yet, it hadn’t triggered. There was no way such an ability had a random limit.
Which ant, he hadn’t t all the activation conditions.
’I’m clearly facing an overwhelming enemy,’ Leon thought. ’So that’s one condition...’
His eyes narrowed.
’Which ans there must be another.’
Leon replayed past fights in his mind. Every ti [Celestial Might] had activated. Every detail.
And then—
"Oh," Leon muttered quietly. "I get it."
"DIE!" the dragon roared.
The [Elental Ball] launched forward, tearing through the chamber with terrifying force. The aura alone was enough to warp the air around it.
If Leon was hit directly, he would be obliterated.
Even Emilia would suffer severe injuries if sothing like this struck her head-on.
And so—
Shadow Slash!
Leon activated his upgraded ability instantly, his body lting into the shadows.
Thanks to [Shadow Slash] being at level 2, and because of his [Embodint of Darkness] sub-talent, the concealnt effect was vastly stronger than before.
Leon didn’t just disappear. He beca one with the darkness.
BOOM!
The elental ball detonated exactly where Leon had been standing less than half a second earlier, sending shockwaves rippling across the chamber.
"You are not strong enough to face the might of a dragon," the elental dragon laughed. "But at least I got to test my new ability thanks to you."
The dragon truly believed Leon had died.
As a monster, it didn’t receive notifications when players failed or died. And from its perspective, there was no way soone like Leon could have dodged, or survived, that attack.
And yet—
"You missed."
The voice ca from behind it.
Before the dragon could react, Leon appeared directly at its back, his blade already mid-swing and charged with dense darkness.
SLASH!
The strike landed. Ripples of dark energy exploded outward as Leon’s blade carved into the dragon’s neck.
A dragon’s body was terrifyingly durable. Their scales alone could shrug off most attacks. Even level 35 or 40 players would struggle to deal real damage to one.
But Leon’s attack was different.
A deep, black wound opened across the dragon’s neck, darkness seeping into the flesh.
ROOOAR!
The dragon roared in pain and fury, violently swinging its neck and forcing Leon away. Leon slid across the ground, boots carving lines into the stone floor before he stabilized himself.
"YOU INSOLENT BEING," the dragon bellowed. "TODAY... YOU DIE!"
The elental dragon opened its mouth, elental energy swirling violently inside. The pressure skyrocketed.
But Leon didn’t move. He didn’t dodge.
Because he knew exactly what would happen next.
His eyes turned silvery-white.
A massive pressure erupted from his body, clashing violently with the dragon’s presence and forcing the air itself to tremble.
Ding!
[Celestial Might has activated.]
"Knew it," Leon said, a confident grin spreading across his face. "I understand how this thing works now."
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