Lord Warren woke up to a slight headache and pains all over his body. He blinked away the dust in his eyes, stifling a curse as he got to his feet.

’I was knocked out?’ From what he could tell it was not long, at least it wasn’t night...

He trusted his body, he had trained for so long to avoid that kind of situation. If he was unconscious, then it would not be more than a few seconds.

But even if it was a few seconds... How was he still alive?

He took a glance around the place, trying to ascertain the situation, when a thick wave of dread suddenly washed over him.

’This feeling...’ he recognized the mana. As though to confirm his suspicions, his eyes landed on the source a few seconds later.

Lord Eliron.

He was standing in front of the dragon, exuding such a thick, murderous aura that even he felt shivers run down his spine.

’Does he want to face the dragon alone?!’

It was sheer madness. Although the prince boasted of his talents, he would need some degree of backup at the very least.

But the battlements were destroyed, and so was their artillery. And even Warren was not even a hundred percent.

"Tch! How useless."

He took off his shirt and tossed it to the side. He still had some fight left in him, he did not want the death of the young man to be in his hands.

"Stand down, Warren."

Lord Warren immediately glanced over his shoulder, only to see the king, prince, and a few members of the council walking towards him.

"My King. Forgive this paltry display." He bowed respectfully.

The king chuckled. "I can not be offended by your efforts Warren. After all, even I am not sure how I would fare against such a fiend."

’What? Is the dragon really so strong that the king would doubt his own abilities?’

"Then we need to retreat, we should recall the seven oracles at once!"

The seven oracles were the most powerful warriors in their nation, each one of them said to be as powerful as the king himself.

Surely, with them, the dragon would be taken care of—

"No need for that." Prince Alexander said calmly. "Lord Eliron will handle it."

He spoke with such a foolish degree of confidence, that Warren wondered if he was truly sane.

"My Prince. This is no time to prove a point. The fate of the nation weighs on a balance!" Warren argued.

The king raised a hand to silence him, his silver eyes gleaming with interest as he stared at the battlefield.

"Calm yourself Warren. Let us see what this elven lord can do."

Warren’s gaze darkened. "And if he fails?"

The king smirked. "Then I will use this, he said, pulling out a crimson orb."

The moment Warren saw it, all arguments ceased as he focused back on the battle.

He enhanced his hearing with magic, hoping to pick out every slight detail, anxiously twiddling his thumbs, his heartbeat arrhythmic.

When the dragon locked eyes on Eliron, it took a step back, but it was not to retreat. Instead, it sucked in a huge gust of wind, so much that its chest swelled like a balloon.

Warren knew what was coming next, he had seen it first hand after all.

VWOOOOSH!

A large gust of molten magma, mixed up with flames spewed out of its mouth with explosive fury.

’What is he doing?!’

Warren’s eyes widened as he saw Eliron stand still, not moving an inch.

’Gods! Is he paralyzed with fear?!’ If he was scared, why did he challenge the beast in the first place?!

But just as the fire came, the spirit beside him suddenly jumped right in front of the fire, its maw wide open.

Warren’s eyes widened as he watched the spirit swallowing the fire. It ate up every single ounce of magma, and then her many tails glowed brightly.

The next time she opened her maw—

BANG! 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

The fire that she had swallowed spewed out of her mouth, only this time, it was black, as though corrupted by demonic influence.

The dragon seemed shocked out of its mind. It tried to flee, but it was a second too late. The fire pounded right into it, the beast screeching as its body was bathed in black fire.

’When? How?? When did he acquire such a powerful companion?’ Warren thought, taken aback by what he was seeing.

Eliron then charged right at the dragon, his spirit racing after him. "Was that a little too hot for you? Then let me cool you off..."

[Tsunami!]

A large wave of water, large enough to drown the walls suddenly rose from behind him, pushing him atop it.

He slid across the surface, waving his hands at the dragon. Following his will, the water went up, curved into the air like a large ball, and then came down with a deafening force.

"That spell... isn’t it SSSR?!" One of the lords asked out loud.

For the first time since Warren laid eyes on the dragon, it went on the defensive. It curdled into a ball, using its wings to protect its body as the spell came.

But even that wasn’t enough. The blast of water flung the dragon away, crashing it into the nearby wall, the large wave washing over it.

The dragon got up, shaking its head and unleashing a loud screech.

Eliron was riding his spirit in the air, descending towards it, when the dragon slashed its claws into plain air.

Swish!

The winds contracted as five fiery distortions appeared in space, cutting towards him.

It was too fast to dodge, far too accurately placed, and much too wide. It was finished.

Warren was already charging up his mana. He would have to use the elven lord’s distraction as an opportunity to strike!

But just as the fire came, suddenly, the elven lord vanished.

"What??"

In an instant, he and his spirit appeared right next to the dragon, Eliron leaning his back on its volcanic hide.

"So, did you get him?" He asked the dragon, a malicious smirk on his face.

Warren was confused.

The king was confused.

Even the Dragon took a moment to let what had happened settle in its mind.

It was not just the teleportation that shocked them, or the fact that this was the second SSSR Skill in two minutes... that was light magic, one of the rarest of affinities.

The dragon’s roar sounded like thunder, obviously irritated by the insult.

But it was soon silenced, as the skies above parted, and then lightning came down from above, crashing down with a terrible force.

Tzzzzz!

A shockwave cut past Warren, there was an electric tingle in the air that caused his skin to sting.

Eliron levitated into the sky, the winds blowing fiercely around him, howling like a fiend.

Lightning danced around his skin, water swirled around him in a ring-like form, ice spikes tore through the floor, rising so high that they resembled mountains, and then black fire surged between his fingers.

"One... two... three... four..." Warren heaved a breath, feeling his knees shake underneath his weight.

Just how many elements did he command? How many SSSR skills did he know?

It was then that he realized, Prince Alexander had not been exaggerating about his abilities, no, he had grossly underestimated them.

The figure up in the sky could not be characterized as an elf or mage.

He was inhuman.

And as if that wasn’t enough, the clouds turned ashen, the winds around them picked up...

Shaaaa—!

And then rain began to fall.

Weather manipulation.

Warren fell backward, sitting down on the stone floor, his eyes never leaving the sky.

"You have something precious to me." He heard Eliron say coldly, his voice almost thunderous. "Give her back!"

Vwooosh!

The sheer intensity of mana that surged out of his skin was terrifying.

And right before Warren’s eyes...

The dragon turned tail, and ran.