The colossal drake pursued him instantly, refusing to grant him even a single moment to recover his bearings... It opened its cavernous maw once again unleashing a rapid-fire succession of highly concentrated fire breaths.

Three...four until it turned into five spheres of compressed magma rained down directly on his position.

Quinn dodged seamlessly through the devastating bombardment. He pivoted sharply on his left foot, evaded a molten blast to the right, slid underneath a second exploding projectile, and executed a diagonal leap to completely escape the concussive splash damage of the remaining spheres.

The arena was rapidly transforming into a chaotic molten craters and choking black smoke.

’I have to keep my wits entirely intact.’ Quinn cautioned himself, his sharp eyes constantly scanning the shifting mass of the beast for any subtle variations in its mana flow.

’Fang possessed the Call of the Ancestors...a completely broken, exclusive skill that allowed him to effortlessly surpass his natural limits. A high noble race like this particular drake... it absolutely must have a devastating hidden trump card of its own.’

The drake suddenly reared back on its hind legs, its massive chest expanding to nearly twice its normal size as the intense crimson glow beneath its scales shifted into a terrifying, blinding gold color.

The ambient temperature in the entire colosseum spiked drastically once again, clearly signaling a devastating breath attack that would likely consume the entirety of the battlefield. Sensing the massive, unstable buildup of energy, Quinn immediately desisted from his offensive line. He planted both feet firmly, bent his knees, and exploded backward.

He sprinted away with blinding, supernatural velocity, putting dozens of meters of distance between himself and the beast in the blink of an eye, clearing the immediate blast zone just as the drake’s throat began to violently ignite.

’Hmm... using only half of my strength will absolutely not work against a carapace this thick..’ Quinn thought and then decided to pace things up

’Let’s test something a bit more potent. Let’s try seventy...five percent of my total physical strength!’

Srikkkk...

Quinn’s body left an afterimage behind as he sprinted forward like a supersonic bullet, rocketing straight toward the creature’s exposed chin. For some completely unknown reason, the drake stubbornly refused to take flight up to this point.

Boom!!

The entire world seemed to shake violently as the devastating impact landed squarely. A massive cloud of sand and pulverized dust instantly covered the point of impact, completely obscuring the view from the stands.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD JUST HAPPENED?! THE DEFIER JUST BLITZED HIS WAY STRAIGHT THROUGH THE FLAMES WITH HIS MONSTROUS SPEED!" the host shouted with all his might, his voice echoing across the colosseum.

"Woah!!! Woah!!! Woah!!!"

The shadowy silhouettes in the audience chanted like a collection of mindless beasts. However, their excitement was short-lived as a deafening, agonizing roar suddenly reverberated through every single corner of the colosseum.

ROAR!!!

The swirling mass of sand and dust was violently dispersed as the acoustic force of the creature’s voice sent visible shockwaves traveling through the arena, making a low vibrating sound resonate through the air.

But... Quinn was already completely gone from that spot. He had already stepped back immediately after the strike, sprinting away while simultaneously activating his Invisibility skill to mask his presence from the beast.

’Even seventy-five percent is still not quite enough to completely puncture its thick carapace and inner skin... This being is definitely a true champion in its own league.’ Quinn looked at the drake.

What was revealed next, however, left the thousands of silhouettes above completely shocked. The entire lower jaw and the upper part of the drake’s snout were visibly broken! Shards of reinforced scale fell away, crumbling down onto the blood-stained arena floor.

The physical blow from earlier had been so devastating that even its heavily armored skin had cracked open.

"HERE WE GO, GUYS AND GALS! THIS JAW-DROPPING PLAY REALLY SHOWS THAT NO MATTER WHAT ODDS ARE STACKED AGAINST HIM, THE DEFIER WILL ALWAYS DEFY!"

Quinn didn’t care in the slightest about what the host was screaming or the stupid chants of the crowd..he remained entirely focused on the threat in front of him. The drake finally flapped its massive wings with immense force, sending waves of sand and blinding dust everywhere.

’Hmm... taking this fight seriously now? Hehe, that punch must have really hurt your pride!’

As the massive body unfolded in the air, Quinn reflected on the fact that he had only used his physical prowess...just the raw strength derived from his own base stats without any extra buffs. Yet, the drake was forced to take flight. It clearly showed just how seriously the beast wanted to treat the matter now.

Although it was a controlled entity, that didn’t mean its cognitive thinking or battle instincts were completely gone. If anything, its tactical reasoning seemed to get elevated when it came to a high-stakes battle.

Those bastards from above surely didn’t want their expensive combat toys to just die miserably without putting up a spectacular fight. Failing to obliterate the enemy into pulp would cause immense shame to their faces and titles.

Fwoshhh!

A massive fireball emerged yet again. The drake bloated its throat significantly as an enormous ball made entirely of compressed fire emerged from its maw.

"BLAZE HAS UNLEASHED ITS SIGNATURE FIREBALL ONCE AGAIN! WILL IT SUCCESSFULLY HIT THE DEFIER THIS TIME, OR NOT?!"

’Heh, you are getting truly desperate now, aren’t you, drake?* Quinn mocked the creature internally. Quinn simply refused to get hit, no matter what tricks it pulled. Furthermore, the drake’s enormous body made it remarkably hard for the beast to maneuver effectively and land a hit on Quinn, simply because Quinn was moving far too fast for its reptilian eyes to track.

BOOM!!!

A massive mushroom-like cloud of thick smoke emerged from the epicenter of the blast, instantly incinerating the surrounding sand into a bubbling pool of molten lava. The ambient air turned heavily wavy from the sheer intensity of the radiant heat it emitted.

ROAR!!!

The Fire Drake roared proudly into the sky, confidently indicating its perceived win. The drake still possessed the absolute, unyielding pride that all true dragons inherently have.

"I DON’T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT JUST HAPPENED IN THAT EXPLOSION! BUT I THINK WE ALL NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE DEFIER!!"