Undine's POV
For the first time, Adrian faltered — just barely. A swipe of Vorynthal's tail hit the ground beneath him, sending him tumbling into a fractured patch of rock. He rolled, staggering only for a fraction of a second, before teleporting to another ridge. One claw, striking in the same motion, caught a strand of his hair, tearing it away. He paused for half a heartbeat — tiny, almost imperceptible — and the strand regenerated as if it had never existed.
I watched, unable to blink too long, as Vorynthal's speed intensified. He combined his attacks now: fire, ice, lightning, and earth in seamless succession. Adrian twisted, dodged, and teleported, yet some strikes grazed him, leaving instant scars that vanished in moments. It was a delicate dance of survival — one wrong move, and he would have been shattered.
The hill itself groaned under the continuous assault. Craters widened, fissures expanded, and the remaining trees snapped and splintered under shockwaves. Smoke, dust, and elemental residue hung in the air, obscuring the lower slopes in a hazy cloud.
Lightning struck a boulder Adrian had been about to teleport behind, splitting it in half, shards spraying near him. A fragment nicked his arm, burning briefly before healing. A claw swipe caught the edge of his cloak, shredding it before he teleported away. A jet of fire scorched a patch of ground beneath him, throwing dirt into the air — Adrian barely reappeared in time to avoid the full impact, leaving a smoking imprint where he had stood.
Every partial hit was a demonstration of Vorynthal's overwhelming strength, and every regeneration was a testament to Adrian's miraculous endurance. He did not strike back. Not once. Not a scratch, not a retaliatory spell — purely evasion, teleportation, and survival.
And still, the hill crumbled. The slope fractured further, fissures running like lightning across the terrain. Sections of stone broke loose, sliding downwards in landslides. Smoke and dust mixed with debris from the dragon's elemental blasts, creating a haze that shimmered in the sunlight. Trees were reduced to charred stumps, and patches of grass evaporated from repeated fire strikes.
Vorynthal, furious, roared again, unleashing a combined elemental breath: fire licked the air, lightning arced violently, ice shards stabbed like daggers, and a shockwave of earth upheaval tore the hill apart. Adrian twisted mid-air, teleporting just in time, but a fragment of shattered rock nicked his side — a tiny slash that closed before it could even stain his cloak.
Minutes passed, each second filled with destruction. Partial hits rained on Adrian, leaving scars that healed before the mind could register them fully. His evasions were flawless, yet the dragon's sheer power left marks on the environment: hillsides gouged, boulders shattered, trees uprooted.
The fight was a continuous storm of chaos — the hill nearly unrecognizable now. Deep craters dotted the landscape, jagged rock formations replaced gentle slopes, and a haze of smoke and dust lingered in the air. Yet Adrian, ever-moving, remained untouched in essence, constantly evading, teleporting, and regenerating.
I hovered above, my form shimmering with mist, observing. The fury of Vorynthal clashed against the miraculous endurance of this human. Even as some attacks partially landed, Adrian never faltered. The battle would continue.
The dragon laughed,
"HAHAHAHA... I, Vorynthal, declare you a POWERHOUSE!!!!!"
Now the power behind each spell increased to the next level. The hillscape stretched before us, once peaceful and green. Now, it was a battlefield. Dozens of hills had already been torn apart by Vorynthal's relentless assault. Each attack seemed to obliterate one hill, sometimes even two, leaving only shattered rock, craters, and smoke.
Adrian Lewin moved like a ghost, teleporting and Blitzing across fractured slopes. His cloak was tattered from grazing attacks, and occasional slashes nicked his flesh, instantly healed by regeneration. He did not strike. He could not. Survival alone dictated every motion.
The dragon roared and struck first. A swipe of his massive claws cut across a nearby hill, gouging it entirely. The slope collapsed in an avalanche of stone and dirt, fragments tumbling into valleys below. The impact sent clouds of dust and debris into the air, smoke curling over adjacent ridges. Adrian twisted mid-teleport, avoiding the full force, but a shard of rock grazed his leg.
Vorynthal's tail lashed, hitting two hills simultaneously. Both crumbled under the force, soil and rock scattering in opposite directions. Trees snapped like twigs under the tail's shockwave. Adrian teleported in a blur, only a faint scorch mark from his cape revealing the near-miss.
Next, he unleashed a concentrated dragon breath of fire and lightning. The attack struck a ridge of three hills at once. Grass vaporized, trees ignited, and stone cracked into molten fragments. One of the hills partially collapsed into the valley below before the fire even touched it fully. Adrian twisted mid-air, teleporting across the ridge, narrowly avoiding the explosion, a shallow burn briefly appearing on his shoulder before vanishing.
Vorynthal's claws streaked the ground again, each swipe targeting separate hills. The first hill split from peak to base, the second exploded in jagged rocks that rained down the slopes. Adrian blinked out of existence just in time to avoid being buried beneath the debris, appearing atop a fractured ridge where the next strike would land.
Ice shards erupted from the dragon's maw, striking another cluster of two hills. The icy spears pierced the slopes, splitting rock and soil, triggering mini landslides. Adrian twisted mid-teleport as a shard nicked his arm, instantly healed, leaving no lasting mark.
Lightning crackled from Vorynthal's scales, striking a solitary hill at the edge of the battlefield. The hill's core split instantly, boulders exploding outward. The shockwave hurled smaller hills' debris into the air, colliding with ridges Adrian was about to traverse. He teleported again, narrowly evading the flying stones.
Vorynthal, frustrated but relentless, unleashed a combined elemental storm. Fire, ice, lightning, and earth converged on three more hills. Flames melted grass and soil, ice spears pierced peaks, lightning split rocks, and tremors tore the slopes into craters. Adrian teleported across the battlefield, grazing partial strikes here and there — a claw cut his side, fire singed his sleeve — but each wound healed instantly.
The landscape became unrecognizable. Each dragon attack left one or more hills destroyed. Some hills partially collapsed under shockwaves before elemental magic finished them. Landslides cascaded into valleys, boulders flew, trees shattered, and smoke and dust filled the air. The horizon was dotted with craters where hills once stood, jagged remnants of rock protruding like broken teeth.
Even as he struck multiple hills in rapid succession — claw, tail, dragon breath, elemental storm — Adrian survived, dodging, teleporting, and regenerating. His movements were precise, fluid, and unbroken, leaving only traces of where the dragon's attacks had grazed him.
Vorynthal roared again, striking five more hills simultaneously with a combination of tail, claw, and breath. Molten soil poured down their slopes, ice shards shattered peaks, and lightning arcs split the stone. Dust clouds enveloped the battlefield. Adrian teleported mid-air, a shallow cut on his arm vanishing before the eye could register it.
By the time the dragon paused for a breath, every surrounding hill — more than four dozen — lay in ruin. Craters, jagged rocks, shattered trees, and landslides replaced the gentle slopes. Smoke curled into the sky, and molten soil ran like rivers down fractured valleys. The battlefield was now a wasteland.
Adrian hovered atop a fractured ridge, movements continuous, evading invisible attacks. Each hit that grazed him was trivial, instantly healed. Vorynthal's fury had reshaped the landscape entirely, leaving nothing but ruin. And yet, the fight continued.
Suddenly, Adrian moved a few meters away from Vorynthal.
This puzzled me.
He extended his hand, as if trying to pet Vorynthal.
Then a claw destroyed the lower half of Adrian Lewin.
I sighed.
The battle was over.
---
Adrian's POV
When the battle started, Vorynthal looked like a blur, even with Omniscient activated. It was a good thing that Sixth Sense was also active.
The spells were relentless. I dodged many with a combination of Teleportation and Blitz. Then Vorynthal declared to me,
"HAHAHAHA.... I, Vorynthal, declare you a POWERHOUSE!!!!!"
As I told, only a Powerhouse can make someone a Powerhouse. But depending on who declares it, you might already be stronger than many Powerhouses. I was declared a Powerhouse by Vorynthal, a very strong dragon.
But this also meant he would now use all his strength and treat me like a Powerhouse. And that's exactly what happened — each attack started flattening one or more hills.
You must be wondering what I was even doing. I was absorbing Nature Mana. The defense of Vorynthal was extremely strong, so I needed to stall for an hour.
You might also ask why I didn't start absorbing before. Well, I wasn't sure I would need to prove my strength today. I wasn't even sure how they would ask me to demonstrate it. Now, if I gathered Nature Mana unnecessarily and didn't need to use Apocalypse, it would have been disastrous.
So I began absorbing when I was certain there was no avoiding it. And just like that, Vorynthal continued his attacks. After one hour, I had collected enough Nature Mana. I teleported to Vorynthal, extending my hand toward him.
He destroyed forty percent of my lower half. I could have dodged, but I needed to attack. I raised my hand. Dragons can sense danger, so Vorynthal activated the strongest defenses he could:
"Space Barrier."
"Fate Barrier."
"Water Barrier."
"Wind Barrier."
"Earth Barrier."
Other lords, though a little far, also sensed something was wrong and raised their strongest barriers.
Then I muttered,
"Apocalypse."