Chapter 4025: Five Minutes (Part 2) That split second of hesitation was enough for the Storm Griffon to reach Ufyl and punch the Dragon with all his strength. The Seven Headed Dragon blocked, but Thunder Soul shattered his arms and then carried the blow right to his chest. Ufyl’s knees gave out, and he coughed up blood from his seven mouths. The second punch cracked one of his heads, and its corresponding neck went limp. The remaining jolt of Thunder Soul reached Ufyl’s heart, sending his body into a seizure. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚 The third punch would have caved Ufyl’s chest and punctured his lungs if not for a river of emerald energy hitting Jorl like a maglev train before wrapping itself around Ufyl and carrying him outside Frost Soul’s area of effect. "Breathe, kid. Breathe!" Ajatar the Drake used his Spirit Fusion to bolt inside and outside the battlefield to rescue the wounded before it was too late. "Thanks for the advice, lizard!" Jorl had followed Ajatar to kill two enemies with one blow and recover his dwindling strength. "Too bad you didn’t have Life Maelstrom or-" A massive punch as black as the night itself cut the Storm Griffon short and sent him crashing against Orpal, shooting the Dead King out of the sky. "He doesn’t need it, boy." Zoreth the Shadow Dragon roared her challenge, drawing all eyes on her. "I have more than enough Life Maelstrom for the both of us!" Nelia’s silver lightning crackled from one of Zoreth’s scales to another like angry snakes of light. Unlike the other Eldritch hybrids, the Shadow Dragon had no need to delay her intervention. Her friendly relationship with Lith was no secret, allowing her to rush to Lutia at Dragonspeed the moment the Royals had lost contact with the local branch of the Association. Zoreth had come to the fight prepared, wearing her full battle equipment, amassing every extra drop of elemental power she could in her limbs, and surrounding herself with a thick layer of world energy conjured by the elemental crystals studded on her battle claw, Sky Piercer. The plan, or rather, her hope, was to delay Frost Soul long enough to draw a full breath of Origin Flames and conjure at least one spell tailored to the crisis at hand. The Shadow Dragon knew the Upyr’s bloodline abilities and how they worked, but had no idea who she would face in battle aside from Orpal himself. Different bloodline abilities required different spells, and strategies suited to fighting in the sky would cause massive casualties when employed in the middle of a populous city like Lutia. Much to her surprise, the Hands-like effect of Sky Piercer synergized with her elemental limbs, creating a stable layer of world energy around her that kept the corrupted life force of Frost Soul away. ’I don’t know what’s happening, but I can feel the water element stored in my wing dripping away.’ She thought, unaware that activating Swirling Wind would have further stabilized the world energy. ’I’m on a clock, so I must make every second count!’ The Shadow Dragon rushed at the Dead King, who promptly intercepted her with a volley of Wailing Winds. Life Maelstrom amplified Orpal’s abilities tenfold as well, but he imbued another extra jolt into Thorn just to be safe. Xenagrosh tried to dodge the roaring pillars of darkness, but they relentlessly chased her with a speed superior to her own. ’Maybe whatever effect is protecting me also applies to my dimensional magic. Here goes nothing.’ She tried to Blink, but due to her lack of Life Vision, she aimed her exit point in an area affected by the Frost Soul of a passing Upyr. The dimensional passage froze without opening, and so did its twin, leaving the Shadow Dragon exposed to the volley of Wailing Winds but far from defenseless. She conjured the tier five Chaos spell, Hollow Mist, wrapping herself in a sphere that destroyed everything that touched. Chaos and darkness magic battled for supremacy, and even though Xenagrosh still had the upper hand, the conflicting energies blinded her completely. She stopped her charge, afraid to crash into an ally and kill them. When the hail of spells ended and the Shadow Dragon could afford the risk to lower Hollow Mist, Orpal was long gone. Jorl, however, was not. The Storm Griffon had used the respite to regain his strength with Invigoration and repair his hard-light constructs. He came at Zoreth with his twin maces, Dusk Wraith, aiming for her neck and head. ’There’s no time to dodge, and if I block, Sky Piercer’s claws would shatter and fall in the Frost Soul below. At that point, the self-repair enchantment wouldn’t activate, and I would be disarmed until the end of the fight.’ She thought. The Shadow Dragon’s hands closed into fist,s and the Yggdrasill wood of Sky Piercer rearranged itself into thick combat gloves, sacrificing range for durability. A couple of quick jabs intercepted Dusk Wraith without suffering more than two small dents in the wood that started to repair immediately. The Storm Griffon, instead, was knocked back by the impact. Griffons were the mightiest among Divine Beasts, and Zoreth’s cloaking rings hid her strength. Jorl’s plan to quickly overpower her had failed, and he had no idea why. He needed time to formulate a new strategy, but the Shadow Dragon gave him none. Jorl barely managed to stop the flurry of armored fists, the whipping tail, and the snapping maw that came for his vitals. ’How in my mother’s name is this possible?’ He thought as the Shadow Dragon effortlessly blocked his counteroffensive. Jorl was older than Xenagrosh, but their battle experience was nowhere near similar. He had been raised and trained by Griffons, whereas she had only recently regained her Dragon form. He had spent centuries honing his skills in search of the secret of the violet core, while she had relied on her Eldritch powers for fighting since Chaos would destroy her equipment. Yet Zoreth’s open palms intercepted every one of his blows, and her jagged knuckles came a hair’s breadth away from his vitals, no matter what kind of footwork or defensive flight maneuver he employed. Even worse, she shot down his constructs with bursts of Chaos the moment he moved them. The Cursed Element fed on light, leaving nothing behind that Jorl could reassemble and use. A construct’s main advantage was versatility and duration. While all other spells had a fixed form and an instant effect, a construct could change shape according to the situation and last until the mana that comprised it was exhausted. Chaos stripped the Light Master of all his advantages for no drawback, dragging him down to her level. ’There can’t be body casting without a violet core. How can she keep up with my spells even when we clash? Also, she ignores all my feints and focuses solely on the real attack. Is this some Dragon bloodline ability I’m unaware of?’ Jorl wondered. The Shadow Dragon had no such bloodline ability, but the Skull of Bytra allowed her to read the flow of Jorl’s mana and anticipate the movement of his body and spells alike. The Maw of Bytra, instead, made up for her faulty core and cast spells for her while Zoreth focused on the physical aspect of the fight.