The moment Masked Saber cursed out loudly, Michael was pulled out of his trance-like state.
He felt weak and his head felt like it was about to burst at any moment, but he could still crane his head to look up. Even if he couldn’t move, Michael would have forced himself to move either way. Now was not the time to slack.
Michael’s view was filled with the Red Dragon’s blazing flames as they shot down the pit. He glanced at Masked Saber and Tiara for a moment before he stopped using Extraction on the ground beneath them.
Instead, he released a beam of golden light upward.
The moment Michael changed his target, blood began to trickle out of his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth. But that was the smallest problem Michael faced right now. His golden beam of extraction collided with the dragon flames a quarter of a second after Michael released it.
He tried to extract the origin energy from the dragon’s flames, knowing that these mythical flames wouldn’t extinguish immediately if he deprived the oxygen in the vicinity. It was a desperate attempt but he prayed that it would work. However, instead of being able to extract the dragon flames’ origin energy, Michael witnessed in shock the way his extraction’s golden streams were devoured by the dragon flames.
For the first time since Michael had gotten hold of Extraction, he was faced with the destruction of Extraction’s power. It was not impossible to imagine given that the dragon’s breath released mythical flames, but Michael had a hard time coping with Extraction’s uselessness while facing this type of issue.
The dragon flames continued to move downward rapidly. It wasn’t long before they collided with the perfectly sealed silver energy ceiling. Masked Saber had never stopped channeling more energy into the silver energy ceiling, strengthening it just enough to block the first impact of the dragon flames.
Despite being able to block the flames, the silver energy ceiling burned down quickly. At the same time, Masked Saber spit out blood. The impact of the dragon flames must have been much harder than expected.
Masked Saber’s perfectly sealed silver energy ceiling crumbled. The searing hot heat of the dragon flames passed through the silver energy ceiling, filling the bottom of the pit.
But that was not everything. If that was all, Michael might not feel desperation coiling around his heart in a vice-like grip.
However, Michael saw from the corner of his eyes that Masked Saber’s cloth began to catch fire. Masked Saber’s mask seemed to have been deprived of all its moisture, causing cracks to form all over the surface.
A burst of fear spread through his entire body seeing what was about to happen to Masked Saber. For the first time since he entered the Origin Expanse, death seemed closer than ever. It was hovering in the air above them and felt almost like the Grim Reader’s soul-reaping scythe was pressed tightly against their necks.𝒏𝑜𝓋𝗲𝗅𝐧𝓮xt.𝗇𝓔t
Feeling a tinge of desperation for the first time, Michael reacted instinctively. He applied seven layers of Enhancement on Extraction before he released another golden beam upward.
The golden beam was much more intense than before. It cut through the dragon flames, initiating a fierce battle between an ancient power and the mythical flames that should have burned down everything.
Michael’s golden beam of extraction began to devour the origin energy within the dragon flames all while the dragon flames destroyed the golden beam, draining it of the origin energy that had been used to create it as well.
However, Michael continued to use the energy he had just drained from the dragon flames to continue releasing the seven-layer enhanced golden beam of extraction. The golden beam immediately caught fire, slowly burning down until it would be destroyed at last.
But that was perfectly fine with Michael. He wasn’t trying to have a fierce battle with a mythical creature at this point. All he wanted to do was stall enough time until the Lord Rift would close. Once they were thrown out of the Lord Rift, Michael could cover Masked Saber with several blankets to ensure that nobody would be able to see him.
After all, the condition attached to his life allowed nobody to see his skin, forget about his face!
Yet, even though Michael was doing his best, he couldn’t block the dragon flames all by himself. He was merely a Low-stage Tier-2 Lord. His Soultrait may be powerful, especially after it had been enhanced with several layers of 50% Enhancements, but the mythical creature was not only ranked multiple Tiers higher than him, but its mythical flames were far from weak as well.
Michael could merely decrease their strength and drain some origin energy to continue utilizing enhanced Extraction all while the searing heat continued to drain Michael, Tiara, and Masked Saber’s vicinity from all moisture.
The temperature in the pit easily crossed 400 degrees Celsius at this point. Not even the layers of origin energy were enough to shield them from the searing heat and scorching flames.
They were sweating profusely, their breathing grew ragged, and their bodies’ condition was deteriorating rapidly. It was only a matter of time before they would collapse due to the terrifying heat.
If they weren’t at the 2nd Tier, they would already be dead.
However, the situation continued to worsen. The temperature was already unbearable, and they were stuck in a pit with nowhere to go, but the worst was that Masked Saber’s clothes had caught fire.
They ought to be resistant to all elements, but a small spark of the dragon flames must have passed through the silver energy ceiling, slowly paving the way toward Masked Saber to burn all of his clothes slowly.
Michael grit his teeth and threw a short glance at the Lord Rift’s countdown. It showed that the Lord Rift would close in less than ten seconds, which was much more time than they had left.
Michael’s origin energy storage was drained, and even Tiara’s support from the sideline was of little to no help.
She was trying to energize Masked Saber and Michael with potions to ensure that they could continue giving their best. After all, Tiara didn’t have a Soultrait or power that allowed her to extinguish, or weaken the flames of a pureblood dragon. That was not her expertise and it left her filled with regret and anger. She had never felt that useless in her life… not even when their home was taken, and they were forced to flee.
At that time, Tiara had been filled with regret, embarrassment, and humiliation. However, she knew that there was still something she could do to help her people, and to protect them. There had been a way out of misery, and a task only she could accomplish.
But what about now? Right now, Tiara couldn’t do anything.
She couldn’t even help Masked Saber, who continued to focus solely on the silver energy ceiling to protect them rather than worrying about his burning clothes and cracking mask.
The temperature at the bottom of the hole began to increase rapidly, Michael’s golden beam of extraction was devoured by the dragon’s sizzling flames, and the full impact of the deadly mythical flames crushed down on Masked Saber’s silver energy ceiling at last.
It was already a wonder that Masked Saber had been able to maintain the silver energy ceiling that long. Yet, even after the mythical flames crashed down on it, the ceiling didn’t crumble down completely.
Some more sparks of flames reached the bottom of the pit, but they were incomparable to the tremendous force of flames that had yet to reach them.
Weirdly enough, Michael’s mind went astray when he stared at the silver energy ceiling, and something his brother said a long time ago resurfaced in his mind.
–” You may not understand me right now, but there will be a time when all your strength won’t be enough to protect yourselves and those around you. That’s why some people practice forbidden techniques that use your life force as a replacement of origin energy to draw out more strength than you ought to possess. That way, you can use your life to defeat a stronger opponent, or protect someone from a terrific attack you could never block otherwise. These Life Reversal techniques are dangerous, and I hope you will never learn them.” –
At that time, Michael didn’t understand what his brother meant. Using a Life Reversal technique seemed stupid in his eyes, and that was what he told his brother.
–”Who the hell would be stupid enough to use such a technique?”–
His brother had been smiling knowingly, patting Michael’s head with a vibrant smile on his lips.
–”I hope you will never have to use it, but you should know…some people would rather sacrifice themselves than seeing their beloved dying.”–
Recalling the scene as if it happened the day before, Michael’s eyes widened. He momentarily forgot about the desperation filling his entire being and looked over to Masked Saber.
Everything seemed to make sense now. The silver energy, the familiarity he felt when talking to Masked Saber. His familiar fighting style. The True Link of Loyalty.
All of it started to make sense…but it couldn’t be. How could Masked Saber be…
“Danny…” Michael cried out weakly.
Masked Saber’s clothes were burning at this point, and his mask cracked down, burning into ashes as the mythical flames devoured everything.
“It took you long enough, little fool,” A familiar voice reached his ears, causing a teardrop to trickle down Michael’s cheek.
Masked Saber’s clothes were now reduced to shreds and his mask cracked down, burning into ashes as the mythical flames were devoured, revealing his brother’s face in front of him.
The next moment everything in front of Michael was devoured by the dragon’s flames.