"What kind of technique... is that?" Claudia whispered, her voice filled with awe as she stared at the magnificent sight before her. Even with her deep, scholarly knowledge of draconic magic, she had never seen—or even read about—such a perfectly synchronized combination skill.
In the current understanding of magical theory, combination techniques occupied a particularly rare and special category. Their principle wasn't as simple as one plus one equaling two; it was a synergistic amplification that elevated the abilities of both users to a level previously thought unreachable.
Such powerful techniques, however, came with astronomically demanding requirements. Both users needed to possess nearly identical or highly complementary magic attributes, an almost telepathic level of mutual understanding, and typically, decades, if not centuries, of joint practice. Even then, success was never guaranteed.
The Melkvey sisters, Isabella and Rossweise, who had been bonded by blood and shared a lifetime, had still spent centuries mastering their two combination skills: the Galactic Crimson Impact and the Floral Array.
Thus, Claudia's shock didn't just stem from the unlikely partnership of a human and a dragon, but from the profound, almost impossible depth of trust and harmony they displayed.
"In just eight short years... they've cultivated a bond and trust that can unleash a technique of this scale?" Claudia murmured, the concept challenging her very understanding of magical bonds.
"They mentioned they were developing this technique to me some time ago, but no one truly believed them then," Isha said, her eyes fixed on her sister and brother-in-law. "Even I didn't think... that in just a few years, they'd actually manage to pull it off."
Odin, less sensitive to matters of emotion and more focused on practical mechanics, zeroed in on the technical impossibility. "Prince Leon's Lightning Skeleton Shadow is a high-density aggregate of volatile lightning magic. By all known laws, any other being entering that construct should be electrocuted into ash by the thunder magic, yet the Silver Dragon Queen remains completely unscathed within it. Why is that?"
"Because... of the Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale," Isha explained.
Odin blinked, his brow furrowed in confusion. "The Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale? What does that have to do with this?"
"For... complicated reasons that are their story to tell, Rossweise's own Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale was transplanted onto my brother-in-law eight years ago," Isha clarified. "Over those years, the dragon scale has completely fused with his body, becoming a part of him. However, at its most fundamental level, the scale still intrinsically belongs to Rossweise and is saturated with centuries of her unique magical signature and energy."
"In essence," she continued, "the magic Leon uses is something Rossweise's body can fully endure and naturally adapt to. That's the foundational reason they can execute this combination technique without one destroying the other."
Pausing for a moment, Isha added with a note of finality, "You could also say... they are the only two in this entire world capable of using this skill."
Eight years ago, in the depths of the Silver Dragon Dungeon, that very Heart-Guarding Dragon Scale had been the catalyst for everything that followed. And now, it remained the literal and metaphorical key to the couple's unparalleled unity in battle.
Fate, though often an intangible and fleeting concept, seemed strikingly, powerfully tangible at this moment.
The Dragon Kings marveled not only at the pinnacle of magic being demonstrated before them but at the bond of absolute trust and love that transcended species between Leon and Rossweise.
"Now's the time! Let's finish this in one go!" Leon's voice roared, amplified by the storm.
The figure clad in crackling electric armor charged forward, perfectly in sync with the majestic Silver Dragon, a single entity roaring toward the Ultimate Fear.
Each of their steps reverberated with massive waves of combined magical energy, explosions of power continuously rippling across the devastated battlefield. Leon's fierce lightning and Rossweise's serene, potent silver energy blended into a seamless, tangible force in the air—a perfect fusion of his strength and hers.
Boom!
The clash between the two colossal forces created a shockwave so violent that the very space around them seemed to distort and ripple. The explosive energy swept outwards, obliterating the last standing ruins within a radius of dozens of kilometers.
This was a true life-or-death struggle. Every single attack had to be executed with their complete and utter strength.
The eerie glow from the central tower pulsed, and the Ultimate Fear's chaotic energy continued to accumulate. Yet, gradually, under the relentless, coordinated onslaught of the Silver Dragon couple, the tide of battle began to visibly shift. The colossal entity was being pushed back.
"At this rate... we might actually win..." Morgan murmured, a fragile spark of hope igniting in his weary voice.
"Hmph. Just flashy death throes," Shadow retorted, his composure unshaken, hands still folded calmly behind his back. He gazed at the Ultimate Fear, now slowly retreating under the couple's overwhelming pressure, and declared coldly, "The battle ends here. It's time to get serious."
As if hearing a whisper from the void itself, the Ultimate Fear, which had been forced into the central clearing by Leon and Rossweise's assault, suddenly ground to a halt.
Its enormous, grotesque maw opened wider than ever before, and deep within its throat, a sphere of dark, violent purple flame began to gather, swirling with unimaginable density.
Even from a great distance, every Dragon King could feel the terrifying, soul-crushing concentration of energy.
"Its power... it feels like it's jumped several levels in just seconds," Morgan remarked, his voice gravely serious. "The prince was right—the longer this fight goes on, the stronger it becomes by feeding on the conflict itself."
Isha frowned deeply, her dragon wings unfurling with a painful rustle as she prepared to force her battered body back into its dragon form. "If we let the Ultimate Fear unleash that attack, I don't know if even they can endure it. We need to assist them, now!"
Odin issued the command, his voice cutting through the tension, "Everyone, no matter how exhausted you are, contribute every last drop of power you have! This isn't over yet!"
On the battlefield, Leon and Rossweise were also acutely aware of the catastrophic danger posed by the Ultimate Fear's next attack.
"It intends to release a blast that will scour the entire Sky City from the map... That kind of indiscriminate annihilation will even affect Shadow himself," Rossweise analyzed grimly.
Leon raised an eyebrow, rapidly trying to decipher the monster's seemingly suicidal intent.
Meanwhile, Rossweise narrowed her eyes, watching the terrifying energy build, and after a moment of intense thought, she realized its horrific plan.
"Rossweise," Leon suddenly asked, his tone strangely casual amid the chaos, "do you remember that 'staring water game' we used to play with the girls?"
The Silver Dragon Queen blinked, utterly stunned. That silly, messy game actually had a name?
The rules were simple: two people would hold water in their mouths and stare into each other's eyes until one laughed, inevitably spraying water all over the other's face. But why bring it up now, of all times?
"Yes, I remember," she replied, a faint, nostalgic smile touching her lips. "The time I lost, you turned into a dragon, and when I tried to hold your mouth shut, the water shot out of your nostrils instead."
Leon grinned, a mischievous, familiar spark in his eyes. "And you complained for an hour that your head was filled with the 'lingering taste of lake water' after that."
In that moment, Rossweise's eyes lit up with sudden, perfect understanding. She saw the entire, audacious plan in his gaze.
"Alright, it's incredibly risky, but it might just work," she said, her voice firming with resolve. "Let's do it, and quickly."
"Got it."
With a shared, determined shout, the dragon-scaled figure atop the silver dragon charged directly, fearlessly, toward the Ultimate Fear as it prepared its world-ending blast.
This utterly unexpected, seemingly suicidal move shocked everyone watching—even the Dragon Kings, and Shadow himself, who frowned in profound disbelief.
"Are they insane...?" Shadow muttered, a cold sneer on his lips. "The Ultimate Fear will reduce them to atoms before they even get close."
The massive silver dragon lunged forward with impossible speed, Leon standing firm on Rossweise's head, gathering a maelstrom of violent lightning magic in his hands. Because the Lightning Skeleton Shadow was a pure energy construct of thunder elements combined with the Silver Dragon's innate speed, their coordination as dragon and rider was unnervingly, perfectly swift.
Despite its immense size and power, the Ultimate Fear, locked in the process of charging its attack, couldn't evade the couple's relentless, pinpoint pursuit.
Shadow's expression darkened from composed to alarmed as he shouted a command to the beast, "Stop charging! Attack them directly!"
But it was too late. The chaotic magic within the Ultimate Fear surged violently, the sheer, unstable power nearly causing the creature to rupture from within as it strained to unleash its full-force attack.
Shadow sneered, a cold, confident sound. "Charging straight at it? Are they begging for death?"
Claudia, however, her mind sharpened by years of strategic study, began to understand their audacious intention. She turned her gaze to Shadow, her voice deceptively calm.
"Whether a Dragon King can survive a direct hit from that attack, I do not know. But you've already stated the core principle yourself—for this attack to reach its cataclysmic potential, it needs time to accumulate enough negative energy." She paused, letting the logic hang in the air before delivering her conclusion. "So... what happens when it is interrupted? Will it still be that powerful if it hasn't fully charged?"
Claudia calmly questioned Shadow, raising a single, elegant eyebrow.
"Even if the energy isn't fully accumulated, it's more than enough to blow those two into pieces!" Shadow retorted with unwavering conviction.
"Oh? Is that so?" Claudia allowed a slight, knowing smirk to touch her lips. "If it's truly that powerful, then... what happens if that unstable orb is forced back upon itself? What happens if it backfires?"
Shadow froze for a moment, utterly stunned. "Backfire...?"
After a brief, paralyzing pause, realization struck him with the force of a physical blow. His head snapped upward as he screamed for the Ultimate Fear to abort, to change its strategy.
But... it was already too late.
The enormous silver dragon roared, leaping high into the air with impossible grace and pouncing directly onto the Ultimate Fear's upper body. The massive, swirling violet flame orb it had been charging now hovered mere meters away from the Dragon Rider's head.
"ROARRR!!"
The Ultimate Fear bellowed in fury and panic, and attempted to fire the half-charged Final Flame point-blank at its attackers.
But Leon was faster.
A blinding, concentrated beam of pure lightning erupted from the Dragon Rider's maw—a technique refined and amplified by their union. It slammed directly into the violet flame orb, forcibly driving it back down into the monster's own throat.
Super S-Class Lightning Magic: Dragon Rider Reformed - Thunder Wolf Overrun!
The thunder-charged attack, strengthened to its absolute limits by their combined power, was unstoppable. While the Ultimate Fear could normally deflect or absorb energy attacks, Leon's assault was perfectly timed. Its power had not diminished in the slightest, while the Ultimate Fear's own flame orb wavered, unstable and volatile from the interrupted charging process.
BOOM!!!
The violet flames exploded catastrophically inside the Ultimate Fear's own gaping maw. Thick, acrid black smoke spewed from its mouth and eye sockets as the monstrous creature unleashed a deafening wail of pure agony. Its enormous form convulsed violently, then crashed onto its knees, the earth shaking with the impact, clearly devastated by its own power turned against it.
"Now's the chance, Prince!" Rossweise's voice echoed in their shared link.
Leon seized the moment. He leaped from the Dragon Rider's forehead, his hands gripping the hilt of the Thundercloud Blade, channeling a torrent of his and Rossweise's combined magic into its core. In an instant, a gigantic sword of solidified lightning materialized around the blade, its brilliant, dawn-like radiance illuminating the entire battlefield, banishing the shadows.
Super S-Class Lightning Magic: Thunder Sword Reformed - Blade of Dawn!
Simultaneously, the scar on Leon's cheek began to glow with a pulsating, vibrant blue light, its brightness intensifying to a blinding degree... until it suddenly dispersed like a shower of stardust. The old scar morphed, transforming into the distinct, elegant shape of a lightning bolt—a permanent mark of his destiny fully awakened.
"Go for it, brother-in-law! Slice that giant beast in half!!" Isha screamed, her voice raw with hope.
"Dad..." Noah's weak voice came from the distance, filled with faith. "You've never lied to us. Not once. This time is no different."
"Captain! Charge! Show them who the strongest on the Samuel Continent truly is!" Rebecca yelled, her belief unwavering.
"The prophesied Child of Thunder shall descend in humanity's darkest hour, standing undefeated to deliver salvation," Odin recited, the ancient words feeling more real than ever.
At that moment, Morgan gazed at the figure diving toward the beast, his voice filled with uncharacteristic reverence. "You were right, Prince. It was never destiny that chose you... it was you who chose destiny."
Leon carried the hope, faith, and lives of countless people on his shoulders. He could not afford to lose.
The gigantic lightning blade swung down in a perfect, devastating arc, aimed squarely at the monster's exposed throat. Thunder roared as arcs of electricity rippled outwards, scorching the air.
The Ultimate Fear let out one last, pained, guttural groan. But the sound was quickly swallowed by the deafening, final crash of thunder.
"Shadow!" Leon roared, his voice cutting through the din. "Look closely... This is what a human is capable of!"
The massive lightning sword cleaved cleanly through the monster's neck. There was a moment of surreal silence, followed by the colossal thud of its head hitting the ground, its body following soon after.
"Captain! Sister-in-law! We won!" Rebecca shouted, waving energetically as she ran toward them from afar, tears streaking through the grime on her face.
Leon turned around, exhaustion etched deeply into his features, but he still managed a wide, triumphant, and relieved smile. "Yeah... We won."
Rossweise stood beside him, her dragon form dissolving back into her human shape. Their hands found each other, fingers intertwining and locking tightly, a silent testament to their shared victory.
"Wow, so the Prince really is the Child of Thunder. What a pity," Morgan sighed dramatically, slumping against a piece of rubble in mock despair.
Odin shot him a weary but amused glance. "What are you pitying now?"
"That it wasn't me."
"...Fortunately for the world, it wasn't you."
"Dad! Mom!"
Noah, who had regained consciousness, wriggled free from Isha's protective arms and sprinted toward her parents. Leon knelt down, arms outstretched, and scooped her up into a fierce hug, his face lighting up with sheer, unadulterated joy.
"Is your dad cool or what?" Leon asked proudly, pressing his forehead to hers as he grinned like the luckiest man alive.
"Super cool! Dad's the coolest!" Noah giggled, the sound like music amid the ruins, earning an affectionate kiss on her cheek from her mother.
But then... a hoarse, chillingly familiar voice sliced through their celebration.
"What are you all doing? Celebrating already?"
The crowd turned as one toward the sound, their joy freezing in their veins.
Shadow was standing beside the Ultimate Fear's massive corpse, his hand brushing lightly, almost reverently, over its blackened scales.
"Shadow," Leon called out, his voice steady but wary. "Your oversized pet is dead. Do you honestly think you alone can take on all of us now?"
Shadow snorted, a cold, dismissive sound. "Killing an immature 'infant' gave you the illusion of victory, did it?"
The words sent a cold wave of dread through everyone present.
"Immature…. Infant?" Isha repeated, her voice barely a whisper.
"That's right." Shadow's tone was one of utter contempt. "What you killed was nothing more than a mindless beast. It possessed endless potential power, yes, but it lacked the wisdom and consciousness to wield it. It was so foolish it even blew up its own head—utterly laughable."
As Shadow spoke, he reached into the creature's scorched scales and retrieved a single dragon scale—but not a black one. This scale gleamed with an inner, milky white light, its crystalline, primordial luster dazzling everyone who saw it.
Rossweise, Isha, Constantine, and Noah instantly recognized its nature.
"The Primordial Power," Constantine muttered, his voice gravely serious. "He turned it into a dragon scale... the power he stole from me during the Ignition Plan."
"Exactly." Shadow turned slowly, holding the glowing Primordial Dragon Scale against his own chest. "Did you think the revival plan was simply about causing you to lose control at the academy? You were all gravely mistaken."
He spread his arms wide, his expression one of serene triumph as the residual violet energy from the Ultimate Fear's severed head began to swirl, then stream directly into him.
In an instant, an overwhelming, terrifying surge of power radiated from Shadow, a pressure that eclipsed everything they had felt from the Ultimate Fear. It was a deep, ancient, and utterly dominant force.
"The Darkfire Plan has proven my theory correct... A being that possesses both the Chaos Power of the Ultimate Fear and the purified Primordial Power gains… the strength of the progenitor."
He looked directly at Odin, his eyes glowing with violet and white energy.
"Tiamat's strength."
"T-Tiamat?!" Odin clenched his fists, the ancient legends crashing into his mind with horrifying clarity. His voice trembled with a mix of fury and dread. "Your goal was never just the Ultimate Fear. It was... you were always planning to steal Tiamat's power for yourself!"
"Hahaha... That's right, Odin. You finally understand."
Shadow's body slowly began to rise into the air, his form starting to shift and distort. Draconic features—scales, wings, a lengthening muzzle—emerged one by one, transforming him from a man into something else entirely.
Behind him, an enormous, spectral dragon's shadow loomed, its presence so oppressively vast and godlike it seemed to darken the sky itself.
The divine, world-shaping power of the most ancient era—the force that had once shaped the heavens and the earth—had returned, and it was concentrated in a single, malevolent will.
From his elevated position, Shadow gazed down upon Leon and the others as though he were a true deity looking down on insignificant mortals.
"I am the second Dragon God... the only supreme existence in the present world."