"Nonsense," Minos muttered as he felt a level 98 Demigod acting without restraint against him, a clear sign of respect from his opponent, who knew that Emperor Stuart was not to be taken lightly.
Even before stealing Ayla's cultivation to reach level 93, Minos was strong enough to escape the level 98 elder's attack. He quickly dodged the many trees that tried to reach him with their branches and roots.
He flew at high speed and quickly arrived where Ayla was.
Standing behind her without giving her a chance to react, he grabbed her neck, making her weaker as he became more powerful.
"I would have fought you differently, fairly. But since your elder is interfering, I'm afraid I'll have to be a little rough with you." He muttered before throwing her to the ground, giving her no chance to react, defend, or prepare.
"Aaaaagh!"
After Ayla's long, high-pitched cry of pain, Minos pushed her aside to take care of the level 98 elder.
"You're not bad. Your powers seem quite dangerous, elder." Minos said as he dodged the roots that were trying to reach him.
He could feel that if he was touched by one of those roots, not only his spiritual energy but also his vitality would be sucked away to the point of exhaustion or even death.
The level 98 elder used what he had to confront Minos, knowing he couldn't do it any other way.
Even if his original goal had been to protect Ayla, since he had already failed, he now had to protect himself. There was no way that Minos could ignore an attack. After attacking him, it was certain that the old elf would have to deal with his opponent's counterattacks.
So he concentrated on showing Minos his best while he couldn't help but acknowledge the remarkable skills of Emperor Stuart.
"Minos Stuart is truly an abomination." One of the elves, watching the battle, muttered to his colleagues as he saw Emperor Stuart escape from the many branches controlled by the level 98 elder.
Another said. "But his strength is borrowed. He'll lose much of that power in a few moments and be vulnerable to the elder."
"But before that, he might win..."
"Yes, he looks stronger than a level 98 elder..."
Comments spread around, and these 10th-stage elves saw a rare high-level battle taking place right in front of them.
"I'm going to get you, Minos! You can run all you want, but I'll get you sooner or later!"
Hearing the level 98 elder's cry, Minos provocatively smiled as he stopped moving. "Is that so?"
Nullification!
Just as he was about to be hit by a bunch of branches and roots, Minos activated his most advanced technique, causing everything around him to instantly vanish into thin air.
"Damn it!" The old elf saw this and realized that Minos was not only able to fight him but also beat him!
Dragon's gaze!
Minos' eyes flashed, and the level 98 elf immediately felt an overwhelming pressure fall upon him as if a level 98 dragon was looking down on him.
Ayla lay where Minos had thrown her, but even as she howled in pain, she felt Emperor Stuart's power and watched as a golden dragon figure formed around the brown-haired fellow.
"Old elf, I'll show you my most advanced shared skill!" Minos said as he focused his spiritual energy on unleashing the second phase of the Dragon's Eye, something he had gained in his previous qualitative breakthrough.
After completing the formation of the Spiritual Dragon, Minos showed the elves something very similar to a real dragon while an apocalyptic aura emanated from it, making the weaker Demigods tremble.
The old elf looked at the creature, which also looked like a real dragon, and immediately realized that he was fucked.
'Shit. It's going to take me a few months to recover!' He realized he wouldn't be able to defend himself and immediately started to retreat as the golden dragon around Minos prepared to attack him.
Suddenly, the golden dragon used one of its claws to slash through the air, opening a spatial rift.
It then made a quick movement with one of its paws, and a paw with razor-sharp claws instantly pierced through space and appeared in front of where the level 98 elf was flying away.
Aside from fusions and techniques based on immortal energy, this was Minos' most powerful move, capable of seriously injuring even a level 98 demigod.
Feeling how much this could threaten his life, the old elf regretted having protected Ayla as he quickly felt the golden paw approaching him.
In the blink of an eye, he was struck, sliced in several places, and hurled toward Ayla as fast as a falling meteor.
BOOM!
When his back hit the ground, the ground shook for several kilometers as dust rose into the sky.
Not a sound came out of the old Demigod's mouth, his consciousness already gone, while only his body showed signs of pain, with his facial muscles contorted and a terrible look in his eyes.
Ayla saw her master fall beside her while Minos floated majestically in the air, not far from them.
The golden dragon was still close to Minos, emitting a powerful sensation that could make even level 99 Demigods stare in awe.
Minos looked into Ayla's frightened eyes and said. "You got away with it today because of your elder. Thank him for that. But be careful in the future. Don't be so selfish in your dealings."
Minos had already sensed the presence of level 99 Demigods in the area, so he wouldn't pursue the matter any further. His demonstration of power had been enough to warn the elves but also to show his value to the Spiritual World and the Elves Tribe.
"This is a compelling ability, Your Majesty. The dragons will be jealous of you when they find out you can do something so supreme." A level 99 elf said to Minos as he hovered high above the area.
He and another level 99 elf had watched the entire fight without intervening, as Minos had shown no intention of killing.
The level 98 elder was injured but would be fine with some rest and cultivation, so the two weren't angry with him.
"Are you here to take me to the Tree of Life?" Minos asked, imagining that this was the case.
"Yes. Are you ready? Do you have anything else to do?" The other elf, a young-looking man, asked.
"I am ready. I've taken care of everything here."
"Then come with us. We'll take you to Her Excellency Aurae, and then you'll have access to what you want." So the three of them left the area, leaving behind many Demigods talking about what had just happened.
