The hulking figure had finally been revealed to them, which Laia identified as a Rot-Breath Drake. Its body was over fifty yards tall, and over one hundred yards long. It had grayish brown scales covering its entire body, which appeared similar to that of a dragons, only it had no wings. It had a tinge of dragon blood in its lineage, giving it incredible strength.
A thick aura of rot and death surrounded the drake, who's cultivation was in the Early Dao Transformation Realm. Before the drake was the corpse of another creature, one that had mostly been consumed. The remaining flesh on the massive corpse had started to rot from being near the drake, whose gaping maw crunched down on the flesh of the corpse once more.
"Can you handle it? Or should we go around it?" Laia asked softly.
The Rot-Breath Drake's head rose from the corpse before it, and its gaze shifted towards Laia and John. Its mouth opened wide as it unleashed another thunderous roar, as it had noticed their presence.
"I don't think going around it is an option anymore," John replied calmly. A battle axe appeared in his hands, while Kirii suddenly appeared beside him after leaving his soul space.
"Can you keep yourself safe?" John asked Laia.
"I can," she replied. "I might not be as strong as you, but I can still take care of myself."
"Good," John replied with a head nod. "In this battle, don't heal me. I need to test my combat prowess!"
Laia stared at John for a moment before nodding her head. John's gaze shifted towards the hulking drake, and his body flashed forward as he sped towards it, with Kirii following closely behind. John's body aura skyrocketed as he unleashed his Supreme Battle Art, using the Heaven Tribulation form to its full extent for the first time. He also unleashed his Limiter of Speed and Power, pushing his combat state to the next level.
He appeared before the drake, appearing like no more than an ant before it. The Rot-Breath Drake opened its mouth wide, unleashing a powerful beam of rot and death that destroyed anything in its path. A confident smile appeared on John's face as he sped towards the beam, while his battle axe slashed out with incredible power.
Advent of Annihilation!
…
"Haha, we're finally here!" A boisterous laughter sounded out, causing many to gaze towards the source of the laughter. A large group of youths had gathered before the entrance barrier of the Jade Dragon Empire trial lands, several thousand in total.
The youths belonged to the human racer, Faerie Race, and a few from the Beast Race, and all exuded strong and powerful aura's.
Miko's laughter was heard by all the youths, who could only look at him with mixed gazes. Some looked at him with curiosity, as he seemed quite a bit younger than anyone else gathered. Others looked at him with dismissive expressions, as the land they were about to enter was filled with danger, and yet the human youth was laughing as if he were about to enter a playground.
"Miko, stop making a scene," the Faerie Palace Master chastised him, causing him to quiet down.
The Seraphic Soul Palace was just one of the Faerie powers that had responded to the call for aid, and the Palace Master did not want Miko to cause a scene.
An elderly man appeared before the gathered youths and Elder's, and his gaze scanned over all them before a nod of approval and appreciation appeared on his face.
"Thank you all for heeding our call for aid," the man said. "As we relayed previously, we do not know what dangers will occur within this realm, only that a terrifying danger will occur. With your help, that danger just might be prevented, and so I express my deepest thanks to all you brave youths who charge in fearlessly.
In the interest of time, I will provide what we know of the realm, to hasten your progress through the realm," the man continued. He quickly explained the divisions of the realm, from the starting area, to the ancient cities, and lands between. As the youths summoned were all skilled in combat, they would be marked with the warrior mark.
"The trials at the start may be tempting, but do not do any more than is necessary to proceed forward," the man explained. "The rewards at the end of the realm are beyond your imaginations, and also where the danger is most likely to occur. Feel free to take any and all treasures you can find there, as a payment of our thanks!"
The man explained a few more things about the realm to the youths, before he signaled for them to enter. The youths quickly filed into the formation barrier, entering the mythical Jade Dragon Empire trial lands.
"Hahahaha! I, Miko Varis, have arrived!" Miko's boisterous voice boomed out once more, as he could no longer be chastised by the Palace Master. The nearby Faeries rolled their eyes, but said nothing as they were used to his antics by now. "Wait for me John. Soon we will be reunited, and I'm sure your power will not disappoint me!"
…
Boom!
The ground shook violently as the Rot-Breath Drake's body collapsed to the ground. A torrent of blood gushed out of many wounds that had been created on its body, as its life finally faded away. Its back was charred black, as if it had withstood the strongest tribulation attack.
John's aura faded away as he undid his Supreme Battle Art and Limiters, while his axe disappeared as he stored it as well. His body was bloodied and wounded, but he ignored the wounds as he studied the dead drake before him. Its body was like a small mountain, and their battle had been beyond intense.
Him and Kirii had unleashed their full arsenal at the beast as the might of their battle ravaged the nearby land. The land had rotted away from the drakes' breath, and had been fractured from the powerful attacks of all three fighters. As expected, using his Supreme Battle Art alone was not enough to overwhelm an Early Dao Transformation Drake.
However, in the end, John and Kirii had managed to kill the beast eventually thanks to their teamwork. Without using his Asura Transformation or Bloodline Ability, the battle had been incredibly dangerous and arduous. John had nearly lost his life several times in the process, but his sharp instincts and quick reaction had managed to get him through it.
After inflicting enough wounds and slowing the drake down enough, Kirii had managed to stall it long enough for John to unleash his ultimate attack…one that he had not used in quite some time. The attack had dealt the finishing blow to the wounded beast, killing it once and for all.
"What battle art was that?" Laia asked as she walked up to John, and placed her hands on his back. A thick healing energy flooded into his body, healing the many wounds on his body at a visible pace.
"Dragontail Decimation!" John replied, revealing the name of the channeled battle art he had acquired in Mystic City. The battle art was incredibly powerful, but also took a long time to use. With Kirii acting as a vanguard though, it was the perfect time to test its might with his new cultivation level.
It did not let him down, as it had done significant damage to the durable drake, and had been able to finish it off with one blow.
"It's quite an incredible battle art, even for my Astral Empire," Laia replied, praising the battle art. "I didn't know you were also a War Mage," she continued after a short pause.
"I'm not," John replied as he felt the wondrous healing energy revitalize his injured and fatigued body.
"Then how…forget it," Laia replied, giving up on finding out the truth. It was one surprising secret after another with John, and she had come to expect the unexpected from him by now.
After being fully healed, John walked over to the felled drake. He inspected the body, and an amused smile appeared on his face as he walked over towards its back left. Embedded into the leg was an ancient sword. The flesh around the sword was still tender, as if it did not allow the creature to heal at all.
"You were right!" John called out to Laia as he pulled out the sword, which took quite a bit of strength to do so. "It did have a splinter!"
