Lin Jie transformed into a ma.s.sive aged dragon, whose scrawny body resembled that of a withered, ancient tree. 'His' four claws landed on the ground, causing the entire void realm to quake. 'He' roared and the black mist that expelled from 'His' mouth had an aura of calamity.
The dragon's hide was like hardened rock with dry cracks running all over its body. Vessels with steaming magma-like blood could even be seen flowing through these creva.s.ses.
"Calamity Dragon Bakak?!!!" Zaphkiel's mind was reeling from fright that he fell backward onto the ground. "Boss... Boss Lin's true form is actually..."
"No," Michael immediately refuted. He took a hard, long look at 'Bakak' and said, "It's the ancient dragon heart from before. This evil G.o.d has absorbed the ancient dragon's blood and reformed its body."
Michael originally thought that 'He' could only possess a human body, but it turned out that the human body wasn't a vessel but had always been a part of this evil G.o.d.
As for where it came from, and who it really was, Michael had no clue.
Zaphkiel glanced around and gulped. "Michael, you've angered Boss Lin! You fool, do you really think you can defeat Him?"
Michael glanced at him in surprise as Zaphkiel continued his rant, "If it wasn't for your arrogance and hasty a.n.a.lysis, 'He' wouldn't have transformed into a dragon. If this continues, even my Void Kingdom won't be safe."
"So what about your void domain?!" Michael grabbed Zaphkiel by the collar. "You cowardly little man who only cares about his own life."
Lin Jie never thought that these two would suddenly start arguing... Hey, there are only three people left in the Path of the Flaming Sword.
While they were arguing, Lin Jie's body had already turned into a giant dragon. He lowered his head and looked at himself, feeling that this was somewhat miraculous.
Memories of the past, future, and all living things in the world had returned to his mind, and Lin Jie now thoroughly understood his ident.i.ty and meaning in this world.
But even so, the twenty years of human experience were invaluable to him. Lin Jie couldn't help feeling somewhat angry seeing the ashes on the ground. His feelings toward that body were rather complex.
After adapting to his dragon body, Lin Jie looked up and stared at the arguing pair.
As someone who had become a black magician that stood atop the food chain via cultivation, Zaphkiel was still human at heart and had the animalistic nature and cowardice of a human. Thus, in order to survive, he immediately gave up, and his void kingdom collapsed in an instant.
Zaphkiel didn't maintain his void world out of fear, but in a certain sense, he had still 'heavily wounded' Lin Jie.
Just like a shattered mirror, cracks slowly spread all over before everything shattered.
In the real world, Lin Jie's ancient dragon body appeared under the sunlight, and his ma.s.sive body instantly caused destruction to the entire 23rd Avenue.
The earth shook, but it only lasted for a moment.
This was Lin Jie's first time transforming into a dragon, and he had underestimated the size of his own body. People screamed, and the previously calm street descended into chaos as a mythical creature that existed during the First Era appeared before their very eyes. Just witnessing such a powerful mythical creature was more than enough to drive normal humans close to insanity.
The golden vertical dragon pupils of Lin Jie dilated as he stared at the fleeing ma.s.ses. He instinctively wanted to withdraw his body, knowing that just the mere presence of this ancient dragon could kill humans.
Humans are too weak, Lin Jie realized at that moment. Although he was no longer considered a human in the traditional sense, maintaining human consciousness and morality was necessary... He turned to Joseph and said, "Protect the people."
Next, he turned his head to the idle Fitch, who had been posing as Haniel all this time. "Don't just stand there."
Having been called out on the spot, Fitch immediately nodded.
Joseph couldn't help looking surprised upon hearing Boss Lin's words, but overwhelming joy came soon after. "Yes, Boss Lin!" Boss Lin is indeed just, and that has never changed. My choice is the right one; Boss Lin will become a true guardian of humanity.
Joseph solemnly clenched his fist and ignited himself. A bright light instantly filled the entire battlefield. Due to that brilliant glare, ordinary folk temporarily lost their vision and could no longer see the evil G.o.d.
Joseph pushed Franca into the already reconstructed bookstore.
From a certain perspective, this bookstore hadn't been destroyed by the Path of the Flaming Sword. Rather, Boss Lin had foreseen the attack and had excused himself, saying that there was somewhere he needed to go.
When Boss Lin said he roughly knew where he needed to go, Joseph had a realization deep down. Even though he didn't know where exactly that was.... this bookstore might not exist in the future.
——
Having seen that the poor folk wouldn't have to suffer from harm for the time being, Lin Jie's dragon eyes locked on to those two once more. Or, more precisely, the remaining one.
As a black magician and, at the same time, having human blood in him, Zaphkiel was rather adept at judging the situation at hand. He had really wanted to achieve the dream of becoming a G.o.d alongside Michael, but only the living produced output. He had survived for thousands of years, relying on this mantra of self-preservation.
Michael didn't notice that Zaphkiel had already slipped away. But for Lin Jie, regardless of how far Zaphkiel ran, the latter was within reach.
Lin Jie raised a dragon claw, and a blue flame formed a ball in his palm. The image of the fleeing Zaphkiel appeared in the center of the blue flame.
Lin Jie clenched his dragon claw, and the blue ball of fire instantly shattered. Zaphkiel's fleeing figure immediately stopped, and his heart beat rapidly in that moment, as if time had accelerated within him.
Thump!
Zaphkiel abruptly fell to the ground, stiff and utterly dead.
Michael watched in shock as Lin Jie easily took care of Zaphkiel... It seems escaping from Lin Jie's grasp this time was impossible.
Michael shut both his eyes. He controlled everything through light, and as a ma.s.s of elemental light, his power came with time, and now he was about to release all the power he had ever acc.u.mulated.
"Even Azir cannot escape the light of the sun. Did you wish to descend on Azir? Then I'll just destroy Azir and no one will be able to claim it!" Michael raved like a madman.
——
Joseph and Fitch headed amongst the ma.s.ses, deployed defensive techniques and helped evacuate the people. A familiar figure drifted past Joseph's eyes, and he instinctively wanted to avoid that person.
—Claire? Joseph recognized his old comrade at once. However, Joseph was plainly dressed and hadn't trimmed his beard in months, so he a.s.sumed Claire wouldn't recognize him.
Joseph rushed into an alley along 23rd Avenue with an orphaned boy in his arms. "Ruud, hurry, take your grandmother and leave," Joseph said gently to the child, who was scared stiff and crying nonstop.
"Joseph?" A familiar voice was directed at him. He frowned and turned around... I've been found out. It's really Claire.
One of Secret Rite Tower's Great Radiant Knights. Though she was the least reputable among the ten, she was sincere and just toward the people and had impressive strength.
"Secret Rite Tower's personnel have also come," Joseph grimaced. After all, Secret Rite Tower was an organization that protected the common folk. Even if the upper echelon was corrupt, there were still many knights like Claire, Greg, and Winston that fought to protect.
It was ironic that Joseph had once been one too.
"It's really you. You aren't dead!" Claire walked over excitedly and grabbed Joseph's shoulders, her eyes clearly reddening.
Joseph couldn't be indifferent for such an old comrade-in-arms. He sighed resignedly. "Claire, I had reasons to fake my death. Given our long years of friendship, I beg you not to report my situation to Secret Rite Tower, and more importantly... don't let Melissa know."
Claire's face twitched slightly upon hearing Melissa's name. "Melissa... she..."
"What happened to her?!" Joseph became anxious and instinctively grabbed Claire by her armor.
"She's been sent to Central District Court after attacking Elder Valace. She said, she was avenging you," Claire said, frowning.
"What?!" Joseph felt as if he had been struck by a bolt from the blue. Although he had indeed provided hints to Melissa about the evils of Secret Rite Tower, he hadn't expected her to be so extreme as to directly take action.
Joseph suddenly felt difficulty breathing.