“Huh!!”Sir Ivory and Talo suddenly froze midair, their cloaks fluttering violently as if caught in a gust of invisible force.They were soaring back toward Black Magma City, the sky above Dark yet touched by the crimson blanket from rex.But now, both men hovered motionless, wide-eyed.A ripple of magic—dense, ancient, and suffocating—had just brushed past them like a whisper from death itself.It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t violent. It was subtle. And that subtlety made it even more terrifying.Talo, who was helding his wound, gasped. “W-What was that…?”Sir Ivory narrowed his eyes reflecting the crimson glow, his gaze searching the vast western horizon.“Something’s happening. Something big.” His voice was low, guarded. “Back then, I hoped the boy would survive... but now I’m certain he might not.""That magical energy—there’s no mistaking it. It belongs to someone far beyond me. Someone who could’ve crushed that beast like an insect.”He exhaled sharply, pulling Talo by the shoulder. “

“Speaking of which,” Rex muttered, his tone calmer now, almost thoughtful.The bark-like armor that had encased his body cracked down the middle, loud splinters echoing through the scorched battlefield as flakes of wood tumbled from his arms, chest, and shoulders.His once Dark elf like-appearance—gnarled, overgrown with bark and pulsing veins of crimson mana—peeled away in a steady cascade.The wooden fragments landed around his feet like shards of brittle bone, revealing the man beneath: lean, cut, and still dangerous despite the scratches bleeding faintly on his cheeks and neck.Wisps of steam curled from his skin where Oasis’s earlier spell had grazed him, and the fresh air hitting his bare skin stirred his long, disheveled hair as he remained upright.“The magic you used to deflect my attack while countering with your own,” Rex continued, his gaze locking on Oasis. “That was a third-circle spell.""And the one you used to erase that Solarclaw Tiger like it was a fish on a board—t

THUD!!!His knee met Rex’s skull with a crack like stone split by lightning.Crack!Bark armor grew hastily over Rex’s forehead—a last-second defense—but it fractured on impact, splintering like old wood.Rex was sent hurtling back, his boots dragging deep furrows into the ground as he skidded, then staggered into a half-crouch, hand pressed to the earth for balance.A small thread of blood trailed from his nostril, slow at first, then dripping freely—black-red under the cyan and crimson glow.Across from him, Oasis landed with eerie grace, knees bent, one hand grazing the earth like a hunting beast mid-stalk.His glowing eyes never left Rex.His lips curled into a predator’s smirk.Rex exhaled slowly, the copper taste of blood on his tongue.“What was that spell that just pulled me…? No mana fluctuation. Not even a tremor. Dangerous…”He wiped the blood away with the back of his wrist, smearing it across his cheek, eyes narrowed in amusement and alarm.“He’s locked in. And just aroun

“Dragon Ascension – First Form.”Oasis’s voice rang like the toll of a divine bell, and in the next instant, the world around him shifted.A wave of oppressive mana erupted from his body like a breaking dam, rippling through the battlefield with devastating pressure. The very air trembled. Gravity twisted unnaturally, and the battlefield sank under the invisible weight. Rocks cracked and the atmosphere became denser, as if the heavens themselves were bending toward Oasis in acknowledgment—or fear.His pupils contracted into vertical slits, glowing brighter, icy azure becoming molten light. Slowly, his dark hair began to shimmer, the strands shifting from shadowy black to deep emerald, each one edged in glowing cyan that pulsed with life. Energy arced from his body in sharp, controlled bursts like wild lightning trying to escape.Then came the horns.Two elegant, cyan-colored horns curled forward from his forehead, not brutish or jagged, but regal—divine. His fingers twisted into

In the dead of night—A night that, for an instant, had turned to day beneath Oasis’s radiance.Across a hundred-kilometer radius, mystic beasts howled.Cultivators seated in deep meditation stirred, their eyes snapping open in stunned silence.They felt it—the martial aura in the sky—vast, ancient, and consuming.Even those mid-breakthrough faltered, distracted by the sudden shift in the heavens.From the fortress garrisons of Ignis Vale to the guarded walls of cities, towns, and distant border villages under the Black Magma City territories, soldiers stopped.Patrolling guards froze where they stood. Their eyes tilted skyward as a light—emerald and cyan—bathed the earth.A hot breeze brushed past, paradoxically calming despite its fire-born origin.An elder pouring night tea paused, teapot tilted.The cup below overflowed unnoticed.The tranquil breeze had become sacred, the stars forgotten under Oasis’s conjured dawn.In roadside inns, candle-lit and brimming with laughter, mid-con