Draco was like a ferocious beast, slashing with such speed and power that his every move created a shockwave of force. Shangtian was quickly shocked then overwhelmed at how much power his opponent had acquired since they last fought.
After all, while he had barely made any progress due to his action of wasting time here, Draco had killed all his teammates once more and destroyed pretty much the entirety of the Scourge's building.
Of course, he had leveled up!
｢Name: Draco
Class: Level 10 --> 15 Abyssal Prime
Exp: 1298/1500
Health: 10,980/10,980 --> 17,630/17,630
Mana: 5,460/5,460 --> 9,035/9,035
Damage: 1,710 - 1,720 --> 4,600 - 4,620 (+1,380)(Destruction Sword)
Armor: 186 --> 505 (Medium)
Strength: 560 --> 910 (Primary)
Agility: 435 --> 710
Intelligence: 435 --> 710
Skills: Draconic Regeneration (IV), Demonic Might (IV), Devil's Guile (IV), Demon Form (II).
Inventory: Angel's Kiss Vial (3), Seal of Camelot, Dragorugio Sword.｣
｢Name: Demonic Might - Level 2 --> 4
Type: Passive
Description: With the strength of Demons, your current damage and armor are tripled --> quintupled. Strength and Agility are boosted by 200 --> 400 points.
Duration: None
Cooldown: None.｣
｢Name: Devil's Guile - Level 2 --> 4
Type: Passive
Description: With the guile of Devils, your skill duration(s) are tripled --> quintupled and their cooldowns are lowered by 75% --> 95%.
Intelligence is boosted by 200 --> 400 points.
Duration: None
Cooldown: None.｣
｢Name: Demon Form - Level 1 --> 2
Type: Active
Cost: 1000 --> 1500 mana
Description: Assume your true demon form. All stats are quintupled and you gain 99% physical as well as magical resistance.
Duration: 20 seconds --> 30 seconds.
Cooldown: 10 minutes --> 7 minutes.｣
Almost 6,000 damage!
It was no wonder Shangtian was forced to bring out every ounce of his bloodline power in order to fend off Draco, because the fellow had practically nothing to guarantee his dog life apart from that.
"Draco, you bastard, how did you become so strong?!" Shangtian questioned with indignation as he took a step back to catch his breath.
Draco simply smirked and flourished his blade. "I trained all day yesterday."
"Oh, you must think you're cute!" Shangtian bellowed as he stomped the ground, causing the earth to crack.
"Bitch, I'm adorable!" Draco responded snarkily as he dodged the upheaved earth and landed behind Shangtian.
"Grrr… die!" Shangtian couldn't take it anymore and thrust a full powered punch towards Draco, which the fellow casually parried away, forcing Shangtian back by three steps. Shangtian himself was shocked that even a full power strike imbued with 10% of his Bloodline Energy failed to so much as faze Draco.
Feeling an unprecedented crisis like never before, Shangtian suddenly became calm. He gazed to the heavens as his eyes flashed, and his Bloodline Energy erupted like a beam, heading towards the sky. He released so much pressure and shockwaves that almost everything was blown apart.
Draco was unmoved by this, and simply watched Shangtian's futile struggle in 4k UHD, with his sword slung over his shoulder.
"Since I cannot beat you with brute force, I shall beat you using the power of the world!" Shangtian declared grandly as his energy spiked once more before halting.
Draco made an 'oh?' expression as he watched Shangtian smile brazenly.
"You won't be so smug soon! HEAVEN'S FALL!!" Shangtian roared as his Bloodline Energy exploded, and the brown aura left him. He became dispirited and weak immediately, falling to his bum as he gazed at Draco with mocking.
Draco, who had been waiting, suddenly felt a crisis envelop him like never before. He looked up and saw that - to his abject horror and fear - a meteor surpassing the size of an average city in Boundless was currently breaking through the heavens towards him.
It tore through the atmosphere like a blade, cleaving the winds on either side of its spherical body and pushing the clouds aside. No matter what species in the world, anything would feel small and tiny before this behemoth.
Shangtian wasn't just aiming at his life, he was about to wipe out the whole map!
Draco looked behind him to see the cowering Sentinel forces and Medusa who had fallen unconscious at the sight of the incoming projectile. Qiong Qi, Zhulong and Clarent would have probably done the same, after some comedy skit, yet they were still out cold and laying around like dead dogs.
Seeing this, Draco felt as if he had aged 20 years. He sighed deeply as it was clear that he was on his own, so he turned to face the incoming meteor with a resolute expression, exploding with his full power.
"If I don't, who will?!?"
Draco leapt up into the sky and met the meteor head on, slashing it with his full power. Unfortunately, he could only destroy around 1/10th of it with this desperate full powered strike.
"Hahaha! It's useless! That meteor isn't just a lump of rock, it's condensed with the purest elemental energies from my bloodline!" Shangtian laughed crazily.
"In order to dispel it, you would need to use your bloodline as well! However, you can't, can you? Unless you want to fail this floor's challenge, you have to obediently be crushed like a dog for me, hahaha!"
Draco ignored the crazed Shangtian who was like a dessicated husk and breathed out. He landed on the ground and noticed that he had barely 3 seconds until impact. He sheathed his sword and stretched out his arms on either side, channeling as much physical power as he was allowed.
BAAAM!!!
The meteor crashed into Draco's embrace, immediately causing the earth beneath his feet to crack and sunder, becoming a mini crater. Draco himself looked like a bodybuilder who had a 50kg weight thrown upon him, and that wasn't a good thing.
His eyes were bloodshot and his bones in his arms were creaking like an old swinging chair. His entire body was trembling and vibrating like a ship about to collapse, and blood leaked out of his seven orifices.
At this moment, Draco had incomparable respect for Frieza and Kid Buu who had both held off Spirit Bombs the size of this meteor. Initially, Draco had sneered at them for being too weak to resist a mere thing like that given all their power and what they had done before, but now he understood that things were a lot more complicated when one wasn't the onlooker.
Draco was slowly being pushed back, and he felt his HP begin to plummet. If it wasn't for his absurdly high armor value and his level 4 Draconic Regeneration keeping him afloat, he would have long since perished.
As it was, though, he was reaching his limit. As such, Draco knew he could no longer postpone this as his eye became redder than blood. He roared to the world his defiance as his skin began to redden, and two horns grew from his forehead.
"DEMON FORMM!!!"
BANG!
A shockwave exploded from Draco's body as he changed into his True Demon Form, his handsome visage becoming demonic and his musculature expanding significantly. Immediately, the meteor that was suppressing him became light like a feather, and Draco was stunned.
"Hahaha, die, die, dieee!!" Shangtian screeched with glee. From where he was, all he could see was the meteor pushing Draco deeper into a pit, but he couldn't see his hated enemy himself.
Soon, he heard a bang as a shockwave rolled out, and his expression became euphoric. In his opinion, that sound should have been Draco's arms being crushed and the meteor finally breaking through his last defense.
"This feels too good! That useless dog Draco has been flattened by me, which is sufficient revenge for-… hmm???!!"
Shangtian was initially gloating with joy, but he noticed that the meteor had frozen in place almost weirdly and the explosion that should occur when it fully connected with the ground was not occurring. Then, his expression warped into horror as he saw the meteor slowly being pushed back.
He heard the sound of powerful footsteps, and from the pit, a red-skinned arm first appeared, then, a smirking face, a bare chested upper body and two powerful legs that looked as if they had been carved from stone.
Draco casually walked out of the pit while carrying the meteor with one arm!
"B-but how?! HOW CAN THIS BE?!?" Shangtian roared with fear and dismay, not understanding how his most powerful attack failed.
"Tsk, tsk. Shangy boy, don't you understand? No matter the situation, not matter the skil slet, power set or limitations placed on me, you will never be my match." Draco answered with a shake of his head.
"Once it occurs within this timeline, or from this point in time onward, it will always be to my benefit. You'll always only be remembered as nothing more than a stepping stone on my path, not even qualified to be a recurring archenemy."
Shangtian's eyes became bloodshot as he growled. "That's only because you relied on time travel to win! Without this fucking regression, you lost to me like a dog! I won! I won everything, you cheater!!"
Draco was silent and then nodded. "In a way, you're right. However, is that really something you should be proud of? From my point of view - and likely anyone who knows the inside story - the regression only really evened the playing field. The me in that timeline you won against, not only lacked access to the powers from the Lucifer Lineage, but he was also COMPLETELY IGNORANT OF EVERYTHING!"
"Me knowing the truth and having my bloodline is how things should have been the first time. Heck, in this timeline, although I discovered you way earlier, I didn't make a move on you until you became too audacious and sought death yourself by striking first. I was fully prepared to let you grow to your former height before beating you down."
"But now, you've become a retarded idiot who can only maintain your sanity once connected to the AI. Your mind and will was easily broken using only physical torture. Such weak trash." Draco spat with disdain.
Shangtian was shocked. "What the hell?! Do you have any idea of the pain I underwent? You fed me fucking potions that enhanced everything to beyond human limits? I dare you to keep sane in the face of such torture for just have the length I did!!!"
The disdain in Draco's eyes became thicker. "And yet you claim to be the reincarnation of Pangu, an original human, who calls normal humans sub-humans because you feel they are below you. Yet when put against something of your standard, you bring out something of their standard to discredit it? What else should I call you, but trash?!"
Shangtian's face became red as he wanted to refute, but couldn't.
"Let's not even talk about me, look at the sheer weight of mental, emotional and psychological torture Eva went through over the course of 8 fucking years and slightly more. Yet, she never broke down and became useless like you!" Draco roared with anger, making Shangtian pale.
After knowing the truth of the future from Draco and Eva before being tortured, he had always found this point to be terrifying, which was why his lust for Eva had died away. Most of the time, he only referred to Eva rudely to provoke Draco, but he himself feared her deeply for the exact reason Draco mentioned.
"Well, you did your best, but as usual, it was not enough. Now, you can die in peace. May we never meet again!" Draco declared as he disappeared from under the meteor and kicked Shangtian in the chest, sending him flying into the air.
Draco reappeared beneath the meteor so fast it didn't have time to move. With one hand carrying it, he cocked the other back and punched the meteor with full force, sending it hurtling back upwards like a bullet.
Shangtian, who was endlessly coughing blood while flying in the air from the strike, saw the incoming meteor which was flying so fast that he could barely react.
"NO, PLEASE WAI- ARRGHHH!!" Shangtian screamed with fear until he was smashed by the meteor, carried along with its crazy momentum as it reached the atmosphere level.
Draco then raised his right hand which glowed with a red aura, then clenched his open fist into a close while muttering calmly: "Shatter."
The demonic energy he had imbued into the meteor when he punched it charged up and exploded, causing the entire meteor to explode and light up the atmosphere with a red, demonic color.
｢Battle Arena Announcement
Draco has pwned Ao Shangtian's head for 250 gold!｣
｢Battle Arena Announcement
The Sentinel are OWNING!｣
Draco simply gazed at his handiwork, and sneered.
"Tch, dirty fireworks."
