The Divine Emperor's Ear Ornament had entered its cooldown time. Orson quickly glanced at the mini-map.
A vast array of green dots appeared outside Purple Thunder Fortress, but they were still several hundred kilometers away.
Given the current state of the Crimson Lizard King, there was no way to make it to the reinforcements in time.
"Run..."
The Crimson Lizard King suddenly spoke in human language. Upon hearing this, Orson's face turned green. Wasn't this beast supposed to be tough? Why was it always spouting "strategic retreat" at critical moments?
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three shots fired from a flaming stick, striking the dog's head.
"Retreat? Screw that! Get back to flying!" Orson snapped, his rage flaring up.
"I'll kill that Six-Winged Inferno Dragon sooner or later!"
A ruthless glint appeared in Orson's eyes. The Six-Winged Inferno Dragon wanted his Soul Seal upgrade item, but Orson… he wanted to wipe out this entire dragon legion!
Either way, death was certain, so why not take the chance?
Orson suddenly jerked the Crimson Lizard King into a sharp turn, heading straight toward the Fiery Demon Volcano that was in eruption mode.
The Crimson Lizard King's sudden maneuver caught Barenkas off guard, forcing him to quickly shift his form and give chase.
At the same time, the Flying Dragon Guards burrowed their way out of the earth, locking onto Orson once again.
This gave Orson an opportunity!
"Bloodthirsty EmberKnight!"
A cold smile appeared on Orson's face as he lowered his staff, causing waves of blood to surge beneath him.
"Nice!" Orson exclaimed in delight as multiple special effects triggered.
Three waves of blood surged toward the Flying Dragon Guards, disrupting their target-locking systems. Their eyes turned bright red, and they all simultaneously hurled crossbow bolts and spears at Barenkas.
-6000
-5500
Barenkas let out a low growl. He couldn't transform fast enough in the air. Even though he tried to dodge, many crossbow bolts still hit him.
Critical Hit -33000!
The Captain of the Forbidden Army threw a spear imbued with negative effects, hitting Barenkas' stomach.
Barenkas staggered violently, his body out of control, and crashed toward the ground.
Crushing Damage -60000!
A massive damage number appeared, and Barenkas entered a brief state of stun.
Orson looked down coldly and said, "Young ones think they can sleep whenever they want."
Barenkas, switching to his thief form, struggled to get up, his face full of fury. He broke the spear off from his abdomen and immediately morphed again, ready to chase Orson.
Seizing this opportunity, Orson quickly increased the distance between them and continued flying toward the Fiery Demon Volcano.
It wasn't long before Orson arrived above the Flame Dragon's Nest.
At this moment, the volcano erupted, and the sky was covered in thick smoke. It looked like an apocalyptic scene.
Huge flaming rocks rained down from the sky like meteor showers, creating an overwhelming, terrifying spectacle.
Without a doubt, this level of natural disaster could easily destroy the Crimson Lizard King, even if it only got hit a few times.
Orson's expression remained cold as he seized control of the Crimson Lizard King, weaving through the meteor storm with lightning speed.
"Destruction Breath!" Orson coldly commanded, and a massive lava boulder, over 40 meters in diameter, was shattered by the Crimson Lizard King's attack. Its wings flapped, narrowly dodging the flying debris through the gaps in the rock.
Meanwhile, Barenkas was in hot pursuit, his six wings folded, charging through the meteor storm like a bullet, breaking through boulder after boulder.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
Suddenly, a dense array of spikes shot up from below, blocking their path like a swarm of locusts.
"Speed Boost!" Orson commanded.
The Crimson Lizard King ignited its speed boost, darting through the spikes at breakneck speed.
Orson looked down, and his heart sank at the sight of the Cracked-Mouth Lizard Dragons pouring out of the nest. After enduring the meteor shower, their numbers had doubled, reaching over 10,000!
Orson paused for a moment before a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "But I have to say, you really did a good job here."
This was the terrifying aspect of "mechanical monsters." As long as the Cracked-Mouth Lizard Dragon King wasn't killed, these split creatures would endlessly divide when killed.
Before, Orson had ignored these low-level mobs because the Super God Soul Seal hadn't unlocked yet. But now, these mobs could be the key to his victory!
Dark Flame Breath!
A black laser shot toward the Crimson Lizard King, sweeping from top to bottom.
Orson was forced to lower the flight altitude of the Crimson Lizard King, causing it to slow down.
A sudden realization hit Orson as Barenkas' murderous intent surged. The dragon's eyes locked onto him as he changed to thief form mid-air, rapidly closing the gap.
His speed was almost unbelievable, stepping on chunks of lava boulders, changing positions in the blink of an eye, and in no time, he was behind the Crimson Lizard King.
"Eternal Silence!"
Black magical patterns appeared on Barenkas' face as six crimson blades erupted with a terrifying dark glow, resembling six dim and lifeless stars.
"Warning: Six-Winged Inferno Dragon enters a three-second [Eternal Silence] state, capable of executing low-health targets!"
"Warning..."
"Execution Skill!"
Orson's face turned pale. The execution skill was an S-class assassin's most powerful boss-killing move.
Once a boss's health drops below a certain threshold, the assassin can execute a target, ignoring both physical resistance and the remaining health. Whether the boss has 10 million or 100 million HP, once they fall below the critical value, it's an instant kill!
Of course, most assassins couldn't execute bosses at such a high level—usually, they can only execute targets with 1-10% health remaining.
But Barenkas, with a quarter of his health gone, was ready to kill him immediately!
Orson quickly opened the Battle Space, and in the nick of time, he stored the Crimson Lizard King inside, causing Barenkas' fatal strike to miss.
Barenkas let out a furious roar and quickly morphed, once again charging toward Orson.
"Playing games with me?" Orson sneered, unshaken. He swung his staff mid-air, casting Chaos Magic Balls at Barenkas.
Although the damage wasn't significant, it was highly insulting.
A black glow erupted around Barenkas' neck as he tilted his head, preparing to smash Orson into the ground mid-air.
"Stop playing tough and give me the real deal!" Orson snorted, bringing his palms together: "Earthquake!"
Two massive stone rods appeared from thin air, crashing toward Barenkas in an attempt to force him into the dragon's breath backlash.
But Barenkas was more cunning than Orson expected. At the moment the stone dragons hit him, he halted the accumulation of his dragon breath.
Using his six wings, he shattered the stone dragons, rendering Orson's attack useless.
"...Boss tricked me with his skills?" Orson's mind was boggled. This Holy Lord-level boss was only level 50, but he had such an exceptional battle IQ.
If this guy leveled up, wouldn't he be invincible?
"Pitiful ants, I, the Dragon King, shall end everything in this world!"
Barenkas boasted arrogantly, his eyes burning with rage.
Orson narrowed his eyes and suddenly smiled lightly. "The villain always dies from talking too much. Haven't you heard?"
As Barenkas was tricking him with his skills, Orson was doing the same, tricking him into using his most powerful attack!
When the Three-Second Execution expired, that was exactly what Orson wanted.
"Crimson Lizard King!"
Orson, just about to be crushed, opened the Battle Space again. The Crimson Lizard King swooped in to save him once more.
Dark Flame Dragon Breath followed immediately after.
Critical Hit -30000!
Critical Hit -35000!
Dark Flame Burning...
This hit left the Crimson Lizard King severely damaged, dealing over 600,000 damage. Its wings were burned to tatters.
Orson knew that at this rate, the Crimson Lizard King would be burned to death soon. He calculated the perfect timing and, with less than a hundred meters to the ground, once again stored the Crimson Lizard King in Battle Space, cutting off the negative buffs.
"Rapid Fireballs!"
Orson aimed
downward, unleashing a weak low-level skill.
Though the skill was weak and looked insignificant to other fire mages, in Orson's hands, it was a divine technique.
The resulting backfire slowed him down, but he used Sun Shield as a stepping stone, leaping toward the ground.
"Die!"
Barenkas sneered, his body shooting toward him like a deadly arrow, intent on crushing Orson into the ground.
Orson, barely clinging to life, continued attacking with Chaos Magic Balls.
Meanwhile, the almost-dead Crimson Lizard King appeared again, its head hanging weakly. It barely had the strength to continue fighting.
Simultaneously, countless Cracked-Mouth Lizard Dragons rushed in, sealing Orson's fate!
Orson looked up at Barenkas, his eyes filled with pride as he snorted, "War—Roar!"
In an instant, the sound of impending doom echoed across the battlefield.
Allied units: Double critical damage, double HP recovery, and 5% life-steal for 10 minutes.
"Chaos Chain." Orson whispered. Finally, the eerie chain of magic triggered!
Barenkas's face twisted in disbelief as the shadowy figure of Chaos Mother appeared, pulling him toward the lotus platform.
The Crimson Lizard King bared its fangs and released a triumphant roar.
"Dragon Curse Magic—Meteor Firestorm!"