BOOM!
The collision shook the floating islands. A shockwave of golden light and dust erupted, swallowing the figures of the Dragon Prince and the Divine Son.
The Golden Palace fell into a suffocating silence.
"Divine Son!" Ryuzaki Yukino (Sequence 7) cried out, her face draining of color.
She watched the cloud of debris with trembling eyes. If Haruto was injured trying to protect her... she would never forgive herself. The [Dragon-Slaying Hand] was a technique that had claimed the lives of countless human prodigies. Even a cultivator in the Divine Palace Realm wearing Royal Armor would be crushed into paste.
"Brother Haruto!" Minamoto Ruri clutched her chest, her knuckles turning white.
Ryuzaki Kenshin and Lady Shizuka stood up, their Mana flaring, ready to rush in. If the sequence of events turned into a tragedy, the Ryuzaki Clan would wash the Ancestral Dragon Nest in blood today.
"Is the legend ending before it begins?" a guest whispered fearfully.
Minutes seemed to pass in seconds. The dust slowly began to settle.
A figure in white emerged from the haze.
He stood perfectly still. His robes were unruffled. His breathing was steady.
And on his chest—right where the massive golden dragon claw was still pressing—there wasn't even a scratch.
Ryuzaki Haruto looked down at the claw on his chest, then up at the Dragon Prince. His eyes were deep pools of indifference, like an ancient well that had seen empires rise and fall.
"Is that it?" Haruto asked.
His voice was calm, but in the silent hall, it sounded like thunder.
Ryuu Haotian froze.
His golden pupils dilated in shock. The sensation coming from his claw wasn't the feeling of tearing through flesh. It felt like he had struck a wall of Immortal Adamantite.
"How...?" Haotian gasped. "My claw can tear through mountains! Your physical body... how can it be harder than a Dragon's?!"
His own hand was throbbing from the recoil.
"You must be faking it!" Haotian roared, his face flushing red with denial. "You are suppressing your internal injuries to save face! There is no way you are unharmed!"
"Faking it?" Haruto tilted his head. A cold, predatory glint flashed in his eyes. "You overestimate yourself, mudfish."
Haruto raised his hand.
He casually gripped the wrist of the dragon claw that was still pressed against his chest.
GRIP.
"What are you—" Haotian tried to pull back, but he found his arm was immovable. It was clamped by an iron vice.
Inside Haruto's body, 40,000 Giant Elephant Particles roared.
400 Million Kin of Force.
"Let go!" Haotian panicked.
"As you wish," Haruto said.
He didn't let go. instead, he twisted his waist and pulled.
RIIIIIIIP!
A sickening, wet tearing sound echoed through the hall.
"ARGHHHHHHH!"
Ryuu Haotian shrieked.
In one brutal motion, Haruto had ripped the Dragon Prince's entire right arm out of its socket.
Golden dragon blood sprayed like a fountain, painting the white floor crimson. Haotian stumbled back, clutching the jagged, bleeding stump of his shoulder.
Haruto stood there, holding the massive, severed dragon arm by the wrist. He looked at it critically, then tossed it aside like trash.
"Too bony," Haruto commented.
The guests were petrified.
They looked at the unharmed Divine Son, then at the maimed Dragon Prince. The reversal was so sudden, so violent, that their brains couldn't process it.
"He... he tore off a dragon's arm with his bare hands?" "And he didn't take a single step backward." "Monster. He is a monster in human skin."
Ryuzaki Yukino let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. Her eyes filled with gratitude and awe. "He protected me... and he crushed the enemy."
Haruto wiped a speck of blood from his finger.
Truthfully, he hadn't even used his full defense. Beneath his skin, a layer of Blue Dragon Scale Armor had absorbed the impact. This was the ability he had gained from refining the Dragon Essence of Prince Seiryu (Xiao Chen) in the lower realm.
Combined with the Ancient Sacred Body, Haotian's attack was nothing more than a tickle. He hadn't even needed to activate the [Armor of the Underworld God].
"You..." Haotian gasped, his face pale and sweaty. "You dare humiliate me?!"
"Humiliate?" Haruto sneered. "I am teaching you your place."
Haotian gritted his teeth. His golden eyes burned with humiliation and hatred.
"Do not think you have won, Ryuzaki Haruto!"
BOOM!
A surge of vitality exploded from Haotian's body. A blinding light shone from his chest.
To the horror of the crowd, the flesh around his severed shoulder began to wriggle. Muscles knit together, bones reformed, and scales grew back.
Within seconds, a new arm had burst forth, dripping with slime but fully functional.
"Regeneration?!" "Impossible! Even Dragons can't regenerate limbs that fast!" "It's the Dragon Pearl! He must have fused with a Supreme Dragon Essence!"
The guests realized the source of Haotian's confidence.
"Oh?" Haruto's eyes lit up. He looked at Haotian not as an enemy, but as a treasure chest.
"A Supreme Dragon Pearl... excellent loot."
"You want my Pearl?!" Haotian roared. "Come and take it! [Ancestral Art: Dragon King's Fist]!"
Haotian punched.
This time, the energy was different. A phantom of a Primordial Azure Dragon manifested around his fist, roaring at the heavens. The void cracked under the pressure. This was a technique on par with the Dragon-Slaying Hand, focused purely on destructive power.
"Die!"
The Dragon Fist soared across the hall, aiming to obliterate Haruto.
Haruto stood his ground. He raised his hand, his fingers forming a strange, ancient seal.
Golden Mana surged, forming a terrifying silhouette behind him.
It was a phantom of a Supreme Emperor, sitting on a throne, ruling over the mortal world.
[Grand Seal of the Human King].