Boom! Boom! Boom! There was a string of explosions.
In the forest, Osiris used his burly body to force his way through.
Oh, am I back to the original spot? Interesting! Osiris looked at the place and couldn't help but praise his opponent.
This area didn't seem too big from the outside, but once inside, it was extremely vast. He circled it many times but felt like he just couldn't get to the end.
"However, your application isn't skilled enough. You didn't completely hide the Mana structure!"
As he spoke, a gust of wind blew from Osiris' gaping mouth. He blew a gust of dragon breath to the air in this area.
Crack! Something seemed to break. The surrounding air didn't change, but one second later, something strange happened.
The dragon breath that Osiris blew out turned in the air and blasted back onto his face. It was scalding hot and strongly corrosive. One breath could basically melt a regular person. However, to a dragon, this was just a mouthful of saliva. It wouldn't cause any damage but getting covered by one's own spit was just embarrassing.
Osiris knew that he'd fallen for the other's tricks and was frustrated. "Dammit!"
Shaking his head, he got rid of the burning dragon breath. Osiris began to investigate closely. After around five seconds, he finally found the true Mana structure.
He blew out dragon breath, and there were violent Mana waves. Then, a misty ripple faded in the surrounding air, and the Spatial Closed Loop disappeared. The strangely vast space inside the forest went back to normal, but there was still no sign of his opponent.
"Little thing, where are you hiding?" Osiris paced through the tight space.
Splat! His left foot stepped on something, and there was a noise. A huge spatial ripple appeared, enveloping him.
It was the spatial restraint! Osiris instantly felt his movements slow considerably.
Roar! His body shook, and the fiery dragon power shone. He burst through the spatial restraint within one-tenth of a second.
"You're so annoying! Little thing, I don't have time to play hide and seek with you!" Osiris turned around. "Olisa…huh? Olisa, where are you?"
Olisa had been right beside him, but now she was gone. Her little Red Dragon was gone too.
On the other hand, Olisa's face was full of doubt. She had seen the duke walk into the forest in the distance and then…there was nothing else. He didn't come back. Helpless, she could only take Felina and pursue in the direction of Osiris.
However, more than ten seconds later, she'd run 300 feet, but the situation seemed even more wrong. Duke Osiris was still nowhere to be found. Even his aura had disappeared.
She looked around and found that there was nothing here except for the dense trees and vegetation. It was frighteningly quiet.
This eeriness terrified Olisa. After being hit in the back of the head, she still had a pounding headache. It greatly affected her spell casting. If she didn't have the duke's protection, she'd definitely die if the enemy acted.
Now, her only lifesaver was the gravely wounded dragon. Pressing her wand against the dragon's forehead, Olisa looked around with caution. She didn't dare make any moves.
The seconds ticked by. For some reason, the enemy still didn't act. Her action technically shouldn't be able to stop the enemy's sneak attack, right?
Olisa was suspicious, but she had a good brain. Even injured, her reaction was still fast, and she quickly understood everything. I see. The duke must be close to me, but I just can't see him. The opponent fears his power, so he doesn't dare reveal himself to attack me!
Thinking of this, she was reassured. She stayed in place rather than wandering around. Just in case, she activated a Level-7 defensive spell for herself.
In the Folded Spatial Sphere under the tree, Link was entirely focused on controlling the entire scene.
His goal wasn't to kill the Red Dragon duke because he didn't have the ability. He was just delaying him. If Link could survive until the dragons of the Holy Mountain arrived, he would be safe.
In the distorted space, the Red Dragon took advantage of his aggressive power and charged without caution. He broke through Link's traps one after another. He had fewer and fewer tricks left.
Elin didn't understand spatial magic, but she could tell that things were getting more dangerous. The Red Dragon duke was getting closer to where they were hidden.
Her small hand gripped her wand tightly, preparing for the final battle. If Link's spatial barrier was broken, she would attack. She wouldn't be able to block the enemy, but she could at least delay him for one or two seconds.
Nana took out her weapon, on guard.
Faced with the tensing atmosphere, Link's expression was still calm. He continued to pour his Mana into the magic seal, modifying the remaining spatial spells' parameters to stop the Red Dragon for a bit longer.
Time flowed slowly; sweat beaded on Link's forehead. He had to put a lot of effort into dealing with someone at the pinnacle of Level-9. He used up his Mana at the high rate of 100 points per second. It felt uncomfortable like a spoon emptying his insides.
One second, two seconds…five seconds, ten seconds…30 seconds…At one minute, Link only had two barriers left.
One was the folded space. It stopped Elemental Magician Olisa and protected Felina.
The second was a spatial trap. There was a powerful force field created by the highly distorted space. The Red Dragon duke would definitely be trapped if he stepped into it. How long it would last was all up to luck.
Five more seconds passed. The duke seemed to sense Link's presence. His gaze fell onto the spot more and more frequently. After three more seconds, he laughed. "Aha, little mouse, you've hidden so well, but sadly, you're against me."
Boom, boom, boom. He strode to Link's hiding spot. The ground shook with his every step; even the Earth feared this dragon's power.
Thirty feet…15 feet…three feet. Then there was a whoosh, and the Red Dragon shrunk. He'd stepped into the spatial trap!
This trap wasn't a hole—it was a huge force field that caved in from all directions. Once inside it, every part of the Red Dragon's body would be squeezed as if wanting to press him into the size of a sesame seed.
Boom! This trap came too suddenly. With one misstep, he lost his balance and crashed onto the ground. Then he started roaring, "A rat's tricks. Get away from me!"
Terrible dragon power burst from the duke, piercing straight through the spatial trap!
Link gritted his teeth. He added another huge amount of Mana. Within a second, 1000 Mana points had been used up! In order to not empty his reserves, he drank a bottle of the Perfect Mana Potion and recovered 2000 points. Simultaneously, he ordered in his mind, Omni Points, raise my maximum Mana points!
He only had 160 Mana points left. This gave him 1600 more while the max limit became a monstrous 13600 points.
By sparing all costs, the Red Dragon's burst of dragon power was forced back!
Osiris, who'd straightened halfway, suddenly felt his legs give out. He smashed onto the ground again, creating another huge boom.
The Red Dragon was furious and a bit shocked. "Oh? Not bad but how much longer can your Mana last? Take this!"
The dragon power exploded again. This time, Osiris used all his might. The storm of red dragon power swept out of him, ready to destroy everything.
Boom! The thick soil was upended, and the surrounding trees all cracked. All the trees within a 300-foot-radius fell over in a radial formation. This was the terrifying power of the pinnacle of Level-9. It was unstoppable!
Did Link block it?
No, of course not. He followed the flow and released the control on the spatial trap. This meant that the Red Dragon's full force only hit air.
The attack was very strong and used up an immense amount of dragon power. Even the duke couldn't withstand it and felt a wave of weakness. He had almost bottomless strength, but faced with spatial magic, he could only use a huge amount of strength to collapse the spells.
Using all his power could create miracles, but it was like using a cannon to hit mosquitoes. The cost from both parties was unequal.
Link only used up 100 Mana points to maintain this spatial spell, but the Red Dragon had to use ten times that in dragon power to break through it. After this entire path, it was getting harder to take the consumption.
However, the last barrier was gone after this trap collapsed. Link's position was revealed too.
Osiris strode towards Link, sneering. "Little thing, I'm going to squash you!"
Just as he spoke, there was a burst of air beside Link. Nana rushed out at full speed.
"Get away!" The Red Dragon's reaction to high-speed opponents was very crude. His front claw hit the ground and poured dragon power into the earth. The next moment, the earth exploded, and a fan-shaped attack wave rushed out from Osiris.
Nana had nowhere to hide. Her only solution was to jump into the air, but then the dragon power arrived. In the air, Nana used her metallic power to take the hit directly. With a muffled boom, she flew out like a cannonball and crashed through three trees before stopping.
"Nana is injured," her crisp voice said. She was plastered onto the trunk of a tree. She struggled to get up but her body was highly distorted, and her movements were slow.
"Doomsday's Illusion!" Elin yelled as she released the spell she'd prepared.
Doomsday's Illusion
Level-7 Spell
Description: This spell tricks the target's spirit into seeing the scene of their doomsday. The illusion is extremely realistic and is a great blow to the target's spirit.
A beam of watery light rushed at the Red Dragon duke. It was just about to hit the target, but then a red crystal barrier appeared around him. The watery light crashed into it and was easily blocked.
Osiris laughed loudly. "Little thing, don't you know that all high-level dragons have spirit barriers?"
Elin paled considerably; she was out of tricks. In reality, no Level-7 Magician would be able to fight against a strong fighter at the pinnacle of Level-9, especially a dragon who was impossibly strong and undefeatable.
No matter how she fought, it was just like an annoying itch to the dragon.
Dragons could fight a demon without a disadvantage. Their reputation was supported by truth. In Firuman, they were known as the "legendary race."
"Your turn, spatial Magician!" The Red Dragon looked at Link.
Almost two minutes had passed, but no dragon appeared in the direction of the Holy Mountain. Link was in panic, but he knew clearly that all he could do now was still to drag things out!
But how should he do it?