Chapter 787: The Demon's Claw
Anderson, the embodiment of Leon's soul-bound magical artifact, took the initiative. The others, seeing Leon's resolve, one by one ceased their suppressive attacks on the Black Dragon Warlord.
The strongest among them joined the Dark Elf forces below, instantly halting the unstoppable advance of the corrupted Three Great Races.
Meanwhile, the pressure on Leon surged several times over. If stress were currency, he'd be richer than the Black Dragon Warlord right now.
Black smoke billowed around the Black Dragon Warlord. Countless meteors, trailing thick plumes of black smoke, crashed toward Leon from every direction.
Leon invoked his Flame Elemental Form, instantly casting a Sea of Fire spell. In midair, he chained three Flame Flashes, narrowly dodging the barrage of molten meteors. It was almost poetic, if he ignored the part where he could be pulverized.
Then, raising his Dragon Staff, Leon unleashed over a dozen Explosive Flames. Blue-tailed fireballs detonated against the Black Dragon Warlord's black-scaled shield. Suddenly, two blue Explosive Flames collided, twisting the trajectory of the remaining spells by sheer force.
Two Explosive Flames slipped through the cracks in the black-scaled shield, erupting within the swirling black smoke around the Black Dragon Warlord. That ought to get his attention, Leon thought.
Boom! Boom!
With two deafening blasts, the Black Dragon Warlord flew into a rage. The black smoke around him exploded, coalescing into pitch-black Demon’s Claws that slammed down toward Leon. Well, at least he wasn’t being ignored.
"Damn rat! If I catch you, I'll rip out your soul and stuff it into a Kodo beast's carcass!"
Leon shot back, quick as lightning.
"You want to know where Guridan is? Catch me first! Nobody but me knows Guridan's whereabouts. If you can't find him, you can forget about ever being chieftain!"
Leon sped through the air, casting spells to block the Black Dragon Warlord at every turn. This guy was absurdly strong—stripped of his supernatural power, he could still launch relentless spell attacks mid-flight, and he was even faster than before!
Leon’s face grew pale. Not only had the Black Dragon Warlord cast Flight, he’d unleashed an abyssal spell to boost his speed. A long trail of black smoke streamed behind him, like a meteor made of molten rock tearing across the sky.
In a race, he was at least twice as fast as Leon. Leon had to keep casting spells, throwing up barriers and distractions—he couldn’t afford to let a single one of the Warlord’s spells hit him, not even once.
One hit would be all it took to bring Leon down.
Dozens of molten meteors, trailing black smoke, whipped past him at any moment. Leon darted through the meteor shower like a sparrow—touch even one and he’d be done for.
If he got hit, the Black Dragon Warlord would catch up. And then, one-on-one? Leon wouldn’t stand a chance.
But sweat started to bead on Leon’s forehead. His control over Flight was already pushed to the limit, yet the gap between him and the Black Dragon Warlord kept shrinking.
At this speed, Leon figured he had three minutes, tops, before he'd be caught.
Leon set his jaw, face grim. He stopped weaving and dodging, and in a split second, his flight path became almost a straight line.
Four or five molten meteors grazed past him in an instant, the heat singeing his hair. The stench of burning sulfur hit him like a fistful of chili peppers stuffed into his lungs—his eyes watered from the burn.
For a moment, the gap between Leon and the Black Dragon Warlord widened again. But there was no way the Black Dragon Warlord would miss that opening.
"You damn rat! You're dead, absolutely dead—wait, I've changed my mind. I won't kill you. I'll rip out your soul and stuff it into a Kodo beast's skull. And I'll keep your body alive, just so you can watch your own body get devoured by the beast you inhabit, piece by piece."
"Ha! You're dead, Guridan's dead, too. Once I find Guridan, you're both finished!"
From the swirling black smoke around the Black Dragon Warlord, forty or fifty molten meteors—each four or five meters wide—shot out at once. Trailing long plumes of black smoke, they arced from every direction toward Leon's back.
Just as they were about to hit, Leon's speed suddenly surged, and he appeared dozens of meters away in a flash. The meteors collided with each other, erupting in a terrifying explosion.
Countless flames and magma, wrapped in shards, blasted in every direction. The fragments, shrieking through the air, smashed into the magical shield behind Leon.
The azure magical shield formed a sphere, locking Leon safely inside. When the fragments and shockwaves slammed into it, the shield flared with blinding light—draining a fifth of Leon’s mana in an instant.
The azure sphere was sent flying like a giant ball, bouncing Leon away with brutal force.
The glow of the magical shield faded rapidly, but Leon was hurled hundreds of meters away in that single instant.
Cracks split the shield’s light; blood trickled from the corner of Leon’s mouth, and his face was deathly pale.
That massive explosion hadn’t just pushed Leon further away—it slowed the Black Dragon Warlord down, too.
Leon hovered in midair. Instead of fleeing, he raised the Dragon Staff. The Book of Death in his left hand blazed with four colors, the harsh glow wrapping him in light.
In an instant, Leon’s mana surged wildly. In the blink of an eye, dozens of quad-element spells coalesced in midair.
Quad-element spells poured out in a frenzy, and in the next moment, dozens more erupted into existence.
For three whole seconds, Leon went all out—empowered by the Chapter of Elements, he unleashed at least hundreds of quad-element spells. The spells collided in the cramped space, and suddenly, every last one shattered.
The spells broke apart into raw, raging elemental force. The four elements mingled, forming a wild quad-elemental storm—a river of four colors, tangled in a tornado, roaring toward the Black Dragon Warlord behind him.
After unleashing the storm, Leon immediately cast Flight to escape. While flying, he kept layering on minor support spells—never hurts to be cautious.
Behind him, the raging quad-elemental storm kept drawing in the dense magical energy of the region, swelling into an even greater tempest. In midair, a vortex hundreds of meters wide spun with four colors.
Below, the ancient forest—thousands of years old, with trees easily a hundred meters tall—was shredded to splinters by the elemental storm.
These trees had grown for centuries, nourished by the Tree of Wisdom itself. The weakest were like ironwood—tough as refined steel.
But now, they were reduced to rotten driftwood, ripped to dust in an instant.
The Black Dragon Warlord, barreling forward without a hint of caution, plunged straight into the elemental storm. The raging energies tore at the black smoke cloaking his body, stretching and distorting his form.
Shields of black scales kept forming around him, each one shredded by the storm only to be instantly replaced by another—like dragon scales, endlessly regenerating.
He looked battered, tossed about like an animal caught in a tornado. Escaping quickly was out of the question.
Leon glanced back, his heart finally settling a little. If he’d been caught here, things would’ve gotten ugly.
"Black Dragon Warlord, let me tell you—if you catch up, you’re finished. I’m heading for the Ashen Orc chieftain’s most loyal supporter, and he’s way stronger than you. If you chase me, you’re doomed. He knows exactly where Guridan is! Too bad, if you come, you’re dead for sure..."
Leon tossed out the words, sending the Black Dragon Warlord into another fit of rage.
"Damn! Damn! Damn! You all deserve to die! You’re just a little rat, I could crush you a hundred times with one hand!"
And that so-called supporter—Guridan’s supporter must die, Guridan must die, I’m the strongest! You all have to die!"
Black smoke boiled around the Black Dragon Warlord, as if he were about to erupt. Giant Demon’s Claws seeped from the swirling darkness, tearing at the elemental storm in a frenzy.
The Demon’s Claws tore at the elemental storm, as if trying to rip something free from the chaos. The battle between abyssal rage and elemental fury raged on, neither side willing to yield.
Leon didn’t stick around to watch the spectacle. He kept flying, mind racing. If only running from eldritch monsters burned calories, he’d be in perfect shape by now.
This wasn’t over—not by a long shot. The storm, the chase, the abyssal claws—all just another day in the life of Leon Merlin.
He glanced back one last time, the elemental storm still raging, the Black Dragon Warlord still thrashing inside. Leon allowed himself a grim smile.
If the world was going to end, at least he’d make sure the Black Dragon Warlord had a bad day first.
With that thought, Leon vanished into the distance, the echoes of battle and fury trailing behind him.