Vorynthal came down and said,
" But the fight won't take place here."
Is it because of the garden?
Me and all the lords looked at the garden. The gardener was sighing.
Vorynthal said,
" We will go to a hill."
I nodded and teleported quite a number of times. Other lords also reached soon. However, Vorynthal came in his dragon form.
Vorynthal asked to make sure,
" You are sure that you want me as your opponent?"
I nodded.
He smiled and complimented,
" At least you have a spine."
All lords gave us the distance. We were now in the limelight. Undine increased the height at which she was floating. Mist now surrounded her.
I sighed. No use thinking. This is what I decided. I muttered silently,
" Sixth Sense, activate.
Omniscient, activate.
The Devourer's Gift, activate.
Blitz, activate."
Before the fight began, I had activated all passive abilities.
.....
Undine's POV
The sun had barely crossed the horizon, spilling light across the hill. Already, I sensed a surge — immense, raw, predatory. The air trembled.
Vorynthal, the Fifth Lord, had arrived. His form was that of a massive dragon, scales shifting between sapphire and obsidian, wings tucked yet radiating latent energy. His eyes, golden and precise, locked onto the human below: Adrian Lewin.
Vorynthal asked to make sure,
" You are sure that you want me as your opponent?"
The human nodded.
Vorynthal smiled and complimented,
" At least you have a spine."
He did not move forward immediately. Instead, the dragon's claws scraped the hill, leaving shallow gouges in the earth — a warning more than a gesture. I hovered in the sky, feeling the vibration of power in waves, each one pressing against my senses.
Adrian appeared almost serene, standing on the gentle slope of the hill, small compared to the dragon's massive frame. Yet there was a calm confidence. His presence was quiet, deliberate, and oddly… controlled.
Then, without warning, Vorynthal lunged.
The ground quaked as massive claws tore through soil and stone. His speed was unnatural — faster than sight could track, yet Adrian did not panic. A flicker, a displacement in the air, and Adrian vanished. The dragon's claws hit nothing but air, slicing shallow grooves in the hill as if attempting to strike wind.
Adrian reappeared several meters behind, small but precise, and immediately rolled across the slope, kicking up dirt. He moved faster than the eye could follow. Every motion, every footstep, blurred into a streak of barely perceivable light.
Vorynthal did not hesitate. A growl, low and thunderous, escaped his throat. His wings snapped open, massive membranes stretching, as he unleashed a torrent of elemental fire. The hill ignited in brilliant orange tongues that danced across the grass. Adrian vanished again, appearing above the ridge, the flames searing nothing but air where he had stood moments before.
He did not fight back. Why? It's like he had no need — no offense capable of harming the dragon. Considering the scales covering the body of the giant dragon, it looked plausible.
Vorynthal adjusted instantly. Lightning arced along his scales, coiling toward Adrian like a living net. Adrian shifted again, faster than the dragon could follow, teleporting across the hill with impossible precision. The air vibrated with the intensity of the dragon's elemental magic. Each strike — fire, lightning, ice, earth — reshaped the terrain, carving craters and tearing fissures into the slope.
I watched, transfixed. The human moved like a shadow, a ripple in the torrent of destruction. The dragon struck repeatedly, a symphony of power and speed, yet Adrian avoided every attack.
The hill beneath them began to fracture. Tiny cracks at first, then larger chunks of earth lifted and fell. Grass and stone tore apart under the sheer force of Vorynthal's assaults, and still Adrian moved, unscathed. Every teleport, every burst of speed, left faint afterimages in the air — distortions of where he had been, a trail of impossible motion.
Vorynthal roared, releasing his dragon breath — a concentrated stream of fire and acid, boiling the soil instantly. Adrian vanished in a blink, appearing on the far slope. He moved as if the hill itself were irrelevant, teleporting over rocks, across sudden fissures, through bursts of elemental magic. His regeneration left no mark on him; the occasional nick or cut he sustained healed as though the land itself had never touched him.
Is that a Nature Force? Is that the reason he felt so... it's hard to explain. The only thing I could say is that it was a positive feeling.
And still, he did not retaliate. He could not harm the dragon. But a fight can't be won without offense. Every move, every dash, was a measured avoidance. Vorynthal's attacks shredded the hill further, each strike collapsing sections of earth into dust. I could hear the faint crackle of energy against stone, the roar of wind and fire combining as the dragon tested the limits of his own power.
Adrian's pattern emerged — fast, unpredictable, completely defensive. He moved in arcs, bursts, sudden shifts in direction, teleporting just enough to avoid the claws, the teeth, the elemental onslaught. His body in constant motion. He was fast, but the dragon wasn't slow either.
The dragon adapted instantly, hitting harder, faster, but the human always escaped.
And yet, the hill began to fail. Small stones tumbled down the slope, then larger chunks of earth, leaving jagged trenches. Smoke rose from scorched grass. Trees near the summit bent under invisible shockwaves, their leaves crisping and curling. The environment itself became both weapon and casualty.
The fight had only begun, and already the hill was unrecognizable. Craters and fissures spread like veins across the slope. Vorynthal's tail smashed against the ground, sending boulders rolling. Adrian vanished and reappeared midair above a collapsing ridge, landing precisely where solid ground remained, as if reading the fractures before they happened.
Minutes passed. The human continued his dance of evasion, teleportation, and regeneration. The dragon's attacks became more furious, elemental magic combining in violent arcs, creating storms of fire, ice, and lightning across the hill. Dust, smoke, and debris filled the air. Every step of Vorynthal sent tremors through the earth.
And yet, Adrian remained intact.
I hovered above the chaos, my body reflecting the sunlight and water mist forming from the scorched, evaporating dew. The scene below was both mesmerizing and terrifying. The hill, once gentle and green, was now a battlefield of molten soil, scorched grass, fractured stone, and splintered rock. Vorynthal's breath, claws, and elemental onslaught tore at the terrain with relentless fury, while the human darted and teleported with precision, surviving without a single offensive strike.
Soon a claw landed, and blood spilled. But...
Regeneration??
!!
The dragon's speed increased again, faster than even I could comfortably track. He blurred across the hill, a force of destruction incarnate. Adrian shifted with him, teleporting in a desperate, elegant rhythm, narrowly avoiding claws, teeth, and torrents of magical energy.
And still, the hill continued to crumble. Every fissure widened. Rocks tumbled in slow-motion chaos, small landslides forming as the ground itself struggled to support the ongoing onslaught. The fight had begun an irreversible transformation — nothing of the hill would remain intact if this continued.
The battle had only begun… and yet, the hill was already near ruin.
The hill trembled with every strike. Vorynthal's fury escalated, wings snapping open, creating gusts that shredded the air. He launched a flurry of elemental attacks — fire, ice, lightning, earth — a barrage that would have obliterated any ordinary being.
Adrian moved like a living shadow, teleporting and dashing with superhuman speed. Still, this time, a searing streak of fire grazed his arm, scorching his sleeve and leaving a faint burn on his skin before it healed instantly. A shard of jagged ice sliced through the air, nicking his shoulder as he twisted mid-teleport. He winced for the briefest moment, a flicker of pain that passed as his body regenerated faster than the eye could follow.
Vorynthal roared in frustration.
"Pathetic human!"
His tail lashed across a crumbling ridge, smashing into the ground where Adrian had been seconds before. The impact sent shards of stone and earth flying. Adrian appeared just beyond the strike — but a fragment of stone grazed his leg. He stumbled, a blur of speed correcting his balance, and the wound sealed immediately.
The dragon's claws struck again, sharper and faster. One swipe caught Adrian's side, tearing through his cloak and nicking flesh. Blood appeared for a split second, only to vanish as his regeneration smoothed the wound. Adrian did not pause, did not retaliate. Every move was survival, precise, fluid, unbroken.
Vorynthal unleashed a torrent of fire and lightning simultaneously, scorching the hill, sending smoke curling into the air. Adrian blinked into existence behind a fractured boulder, but another lightning strike arced across the slope, grazing his back and singeing hair. He twisted midair, regenerating instantly, as the dragon's roar shook the environment with bone-rattling force.
The hill was beginning to pay the price. Large chunks of soil erupted under dragon claws, elemental blasts gouged craters across the slope, and trees snapped in splintered bursts. Small landslides rolled down the hill as debris from near-misses collided with the earth.