The Mistborn team reacted instantly the moment Alice appeared on the horizon.
But Alice was too fast.
Before Kael and Bjorn could even finish activating their skills, the black dragon had already crossed the distance between them. Her wings tore through the air with explosive force, and her shadow fell over the Mistborn squad like a collapsing mountain.
Then she opened her mouth.
A Dragon Roar exploded across the battlefield.
The sound carried a terrifying pressure mixed with mana vibration. The surrounding mana shook violently, as if the atmosphere itself had been struck. The Mistborns immediately felt their bodies stiffen.
Their mana destabilized.
For Mistborns, it was catastrophic, despite their high ranks.
Their race relied on mana to maintain physical cohesion. The moment their mana flow destabilized, parts of their bodies almost began dispersing into wind.
Thankfully, every member of the squad wore Steam Suits.
The metallic suits acted like containers. Without them, several of the Mistborns would have died the moment the Dragon Roar hit them.
Even then, their movements froze.
Alice’s eyes glowed brightly, and she activated the Voice of Seraphim skill.
A second wave of pressure descended instantly.
The debuff stacked on top of Dragon Roar perfectly. The Mistborns already struggling to stabilize their mana found their bodies locking up completely for several seconds.
An anti-debuff item hidden held by one of their member activated, but it was already too late.
Dragon Roar had disrupted not only their mana, but also the environmental mana around them. That tiny fluctuation delayed the activation of their defensive artifact by a fraction of a second.
That fraction was enough.
Dragon Flames burst out from Alice’s mouth.
The flames resembled molten gold flowing through the air in a massive torrent. The heat distorted the battlefield instantly.
The rudimentary barrier the Mistborns had prepared beforehand activated automatically.
It held for less than a second.
Cracks spread across the barrier immediately before it shattered apart under the pressure of the dragon flames.
The sea of golden fire rushed toward the team.
Kael, the Apex Overlord, roared. At the final moment, he regained control over his mana.
He grabbed the massive axe on his back and swung upward with everything he had.
The valves on his Steam Suit released high-pressure steam explosively. At the same time, he activated his racial abilities alongside multiple enhancement skills.
His strength rose sharply.
The axe tore upward.
The sea of flames split apart.
Golden fire scattered across both sides of the battlefield while the center path opened briefly from the sheer force of Kael’s attack.
"Rhetta! Gin! Use long-range attacks! Bjorn, prepare more shield skills! Falsi, I don’t want us getting debuffed again!" Kael shouted immediately.
His commands were swift and precise.
The team instantly began moving.
Kael lowered his body and crouched slightly. Steam erupted again from the valves on his suit before he launched himself upward like a cannon shell.
At the same time, Alice descended from the sky.
The dragon and the warrior collided head-on.
A devastating explosion erupted in midair.
Shockwaves spread across the battlefield while the nearby ground cracked apart under the pressure.
Kael landed first.
Despite the violent collision, he touched the ground smoothly and slid back only a short distance. Alice, meanwhile, was blasted backward through the air before crashing onto the ruined battlefield.
Purely in terms of physical strength, Kael had won the exchange.
But his voice only became heavier.
"Where did this dragon come from?" he muttered.
His first thought was Emily.
Was this one of Emily’s summons?
Kael knew dragons were divided into ranks according to the Magic Arts they could wield. Infant Dragons, Adult Dragons, and so on. The gap between each stage was enormous.
Depending on how old this black dragon truly was, the situation could become disastrous.
Alice slowly raised herself from the crater.
Then she roared again.
The mana vibration spread outward violently. Several ranged attacks flying toward her lost control instantly and exploded midair before even reaching her body.
At the same time, her aura surged.
She could not activate Solar Dominion again because of its cooldown, but she activated another skill instead.
Daybreak Incarnate.
Since she was already in full dragon form, the skill did not alter her appearance further. Instead, overwhelming buffs flooded into her body directly.
Her physical strength rose sharply. Her mana output exploded upward.
Even the surrounding mana began reacting to her presence more intensely.
At that moment, Kael received a transmission from Serisa.
"That dragon is the Saintess. Be careful. If she stacks her buffs, you’ll be in real danger."
Kael froze for a split second.
The Saintess?
His mind blanked briefly.
’How is this possible? According to the information we have, she has awakened not even two months ago.’
Alice was supposed to be an Adept-rank awakener. She did not even have a Combat Talent. Yet she was already capable of transforming into a dragon, and clashing with them head-on.
Kael quickly suppressed his shock.
Panic would only get them eliminated.
He immediately began reevaluating the situation.
The good news was that dragon transformation consumed tremendous amounts of mana. Alice could not maintain this state forever.
Normally, the best and safest strategy would be simple. They just had to stall her, and buy time until her transformation ended, then overwhelm her afterward.
But that strategy could not work here. The Mistborns themselves were on a timer. They needed to support their captain, who was currently fighting Emily and Averon.
Kael clenched his fist.
’What kind of ridiculous city is this?’
He almost laughed from frustration.
’I have to rush and help Captain because she’s fighting Emily, who is only Adept rank. Meanwhile I’m getting stopped by the Saintess, who is also only Adept rank and doesn’t even have a Combat Talent.’
Lord Isaac was already absurdly strong for his rank. But his subordinates were not normal either.
Honestly, Kael felt Emily might actually be even more dangerous than Lord Isaac himself due to the sheer number of powerful summons under her control.
Kael ordered, "We will break through together and—"
He suddenly stopped. Something had changed. The mana around him had shifted abruptly. It was subtle, but his instincts screamed danger immediately.
Kael’s gaze snapped toward Falsi.
"Falsi, what was that? Was it another debuff?"
"I don’t know. But it’s definitely not a debuff." The High Overlord Mistborn shook her head.
"It’s a False Mana Zone Magic Art," Bjorn spoke from the side in a heavy tone.
Mana Zone was one of the most overpowered skills in existence. A true Mana Zone allowed the user to launch magic-type attacks from any point within a designated area.
Even the weakest version of the skill would easily qualify as an S-rank Magic Art, or S-rank Magic-type skill.
Alice obviously could not use a real Mana Zone yet.
Still, under Avery’s guidance, she had learned a False Mana Zone—an A-rank Magic Art.
Unlike the true version, it only allowed her to launch magic skills up to B-rank within the area. Normally, that limitation would make it useless in the current battle.
After all, B-rank Magic Arts could barely threaten fully equipped Mistborn Ovelrords wearing powerful Steam Suits.
Yet Kael’s instincts were still screaming at him.
"Shit! Get back—"
Before he could finish speaking, a beam of mana suddenly appeared beside Bjorn’s shoulder.
D-rank Mana Beam.
Bjorn blocked it casually with his shield.
The attack had been completely harmless.
Then another Mana Beam appeared.
Then two more.
Four.
Eight.
Sixteen.
Thirty-two.
The number doubled continuously.
Within moments, mana beams were appearing from every direction.
Alice began firing one hundred and twenty-eight D-rank Mana Beams every second. The battlefield descended into chaos instantly.
The beams themselves were weak. But the sheer quantity was horrifying.
And worse, the attack locations were completely random due to the False Mana Zone.
One beam appeared directly in front of someone’s face. Another emerged behind their neck. One shot upward from beneath their feet. Others materialized beside knees, elbows, shoulders, and blind spots.
The Mistborn formation immediately collapsed into disorder.
Bjorn desperately activated shield skills while Rhetta and Gin tried intercepting attacks, but the assault was simply too overwhelming.
The scene itself was terrifying.
Only Alice could create something this absurd.
Her SSS+ rank Mana Manipulation skill gave her monstrous precision. Her dragon heritage granted her an enormous mana reserve, and as a dragon, mana naturally favored her existence.
All of those factors combined into a single overwhelming reality.
Countless explosions erupted across the battlefield.
The False Mana Zone finally disappeared.
Alice’s breathing had become heavy by the time she stopped the barrage. Her massive dragon body hovered in the air, exhausted.
Dust and smoke spread everywhere.
When the dust finally cleared, the Mistborn team was in terrible condition.
Two members had visible cracks in their Steam Suits. Small portions of their armor had completely broken apart, and their mist-like bodies were slowly leaking out from the openings.
One of the Mistborns had been blasted far away and was still struggling to stand back up.
Only Bjorn remained in relatively stable condition.
The massive shield user stood in front of the group, knowing Alice would resume attacking soon. Even his shield was covered in dents and cracks after blocking such an absurd amount of attacks.
Kael slowly stood up. For a brief moment earlier, he had completely blacked out.
His head was spinning violently.
Alice had clearly focused the majority of the attacks on him during the barrage. His armor was still intact, but the damage was severe enough that warning signals were flashing throughout the inside of his Steam Suit.
Thankfully, the armor had not fully broken open.
Otherwise, things could have become dangerous even for him.
Kael slowly looked around the battlefield.
His team looked miserable.
The problem was not simply Alice’s strength. The lack of information had played a huge role. Nobody expected an Adept-rank Saintess to possess abilities so ridiculous that even Overlords were being pushed back.
Kael suddenly remembered something.
’This is being livestreamed right now, isn’t it?’
His heart fell.
’Big sis is definitely going to kill me.’
The Lord of Mists valued public image greatly. Watching her younger brother get beaten up by an Adept-rank awakener on a public broadcast would absolutely infuriate her.
Honestly, even Kael himself should have felt embarrassed.
But instead of shame, his shoulders began shaking.
Then laughter burst out from his mouth uncontrollably.
"HAHAHAHA!"
The loud laughter echoed throughout the battlefield.
Bjorn stared at him like he had lost his mind. Kael held his forehead while laughing harder.
’This is good.’
’No, this is the best.’
’I thought this mission would be boring since we were just crushing a newbie Lord, but this is actually exciting!’
The more he thought about it, the more exhilarated he became.
Kael slowly stood back up while rolling his shoulders.
"If you have time to laugh, help me! She’s trying to finish us off while we’re down!" Bjorn shouted while blocking the Dragon Flames Alice was using now.
"Fine, fine," Kael replied casually.
Then he looked toward Alice and raised his voice.
"Mistborns! Starting from now, we will be treating Saintess Alice as a Boss Monster! If any of you pull your punches, I’m throwing you into a blender myself!"
His voice exploded across the battlefield like a lion’s roar.
It carried excitement, pressure, and battle intent powerful enough to make the surrounding Mistborns tense up.
Bjorn looked genuinely stunned. Then, he shouted, "You crazy bastard! What do you mean Boss Monster? This is a competition! We aren’t allowed to kill anyone—"
His words were cut short when Kael’s feet landed directly on his shoulder.
Kael used him as a foothold and launched himself upward explosively.
Steam burst from the valves of his armor as he shot toward the sky.
Alice immediately moved as well.
She was exhausted after unleashing the previous barrage. Her breathing had become rough, and her mana control had weakened.
Yet she still charged forward without hesitation.
The dragon and the Mistborn rapidly closed the distance.
Kael pulled his axe backward. The motion made it look like he was preparing a devastating slash.
Alice instinctively prepared herself for the collision. But at the final moment, Kael changed his movement completely.
His left hand shot forward instead. He grabbed—hit—Alice directly by the snout for a split second.
Alice’s eyes widened slightly.
Kael twisted his body violently and forced her trajectory downward. Instead of colliding head-on, Alice missed him by mere inches.
At the same time, Kael continued flying upward due to the momentum from his original leap.
Then he activated another skill.
His body began spinning at terrifying speed.
The spinning force created a shrill sound in the air as Kael transformed into a violent rotating blade.
Alice had been moving too quickly to dodge properly after being redirected.
Kael tore across her body.
Black scales were cleaved apart.
A long wound opened from near her head all the way toward her tail as sparks and blood scattered through the air.
Kael finally stopped spinning and floated briefly in the sky using foothold skills.
He looked down at the damage and grinned widely.
"That didn’t kill you? Dragons really are tough!"
Alice roared angrily.
The wound across her body looked brutal, but it was not deep enough to critically injure her. Her durability as a dragon was simply too absurd.
Before she could heal herself, Kael spun his axe once before shifting his stance again, then he kicked against the air itself. Another foothold formed beneath his feet.
He crouched slightly and shot toward Alice once more.
Despite his wild laughter and battle-crazed words, Kael’s eyes remained sharp.
He was analyzing her carefully.
Every movement. Every scale. Every weakness.
He was searching for the Reverse Scale.
Every dragon possessed one. A special scale with abnormal sensitivity. Striking it correctly could inflict devastating damage even on creatures as durable as dragons.
Bjorn immediately realized what Kael was trying to do. The brows on his Steam Suit furrowed.
The problem was not Kael searching for a weak point.
The problem was that Kael genuinely looked excited enough to actually try putting Alice down completely, instead of trying to end the battle early to help Serisa, their captain.
...
Author’s Note:
Check this paragraph’s comment to see the images of Steam Suits.
PS: Send Golden Tickets and PowerStones if you are enjoying the novel.