Drayven closed his eyes for less than a millisecond... and when he opened them again, his slits changed to fully dark scarlet.
Accompanying the eyes’ change was an instantaneous release of a boiling scarlet steam, hiding him within a thick cloud!
The moment the cloud emerged, the bullet pierced right through it and then... the combat room went deathly silent for an illusory second before the billions of stacked pupils reflected an illuminating projection into the arena.
But no one was blinded or felt any tint of pain... they just stared with an awed expression as the wall was absolutely blown to smithereens by a tiny bullet... a tiny bullet releasing a golden flash of light before it was devoured by a sudden rush of darkness!
Jasmine and Ni’bby stared at this sight in utter daze, feeling like they were staring at a genuine celestial entity joining the platform for fun instead of the gentle and serene Levi.
Sure, they saw his Void Form and what he did to Alzhukar, but still... what Levi was demonstrating before them was his genuine prowess without abusing his divine mutations!
This left Jasmine with a single thought born the instant the darkness faded away: ’he is pulling away from me...’
Jasmine felt her heart skip a beat at the thought, not knowing why, but the idea seemed dreadful... the idea of Levi leaving her behind... Levi, who made her hear twice... Levi, who saved her at the risk of losing himself... Levi, who shared with her his deepest secrets... Levi, the only person she felt normal next to, even when he knew of her true origins.
Just as these feelings were starting to build within her, it reminded her of the horrible feeling she wished no one upon... the feeling of being abandoned by one’s own parents as a newborn.
Jasmine dreaded this feeling more than anything else... as it always made her feel unwanted, cast away, a child, unworthy of love.
If it wasn’t for her foster father Hicham, she would have been dead...
That’s why she preferred spending her time alone in the corners, in silence... she would rather keep everyone away than have them cast her aside after opening up to them.
Levi and his friends were her first step toward healing this part in her heart... this pain she carried within all the time.
’I can’t... I can’t be left behind again... I can’t.’
Her inner voice spoke for the deepest emotions in her heart. But, before these negative thoughts could fester into something deeper and unwind all the healing she had done, her pupils suddenly thinned in dread at the unimaginable sight before her after the dust cloud settled a little.
Drayven wasn’t dead... not even close after eating such a powerful nuke directly. Instead, he stood up as a towering thirty-meter bestial scarlet dragon, his silhouette enlarged on the fading dusty cloud.
His injuries, scales, wings, everything was healed, enlarged, and enhanced... it was like Drayven was taken away and was replaced by a genuine gigantic scarlet dragon with fangs bearing down his jaws!
’Nope!’
Whoosh!!
The instant Levi witnessed this sight, he pulled the brakes on his Sun Jets and swiftly retreated into the opposite end like he had seen the boogeyman!
"A...Dragon... AN ANCESTRAL SCARLET DRAGON HAS DESCENDED INTO OUR GAME!" Gamemaster Gamble announced with a thrilled tone, spit flying everywhere.
Following his announcement, the watchers absolutely lost their minds, their roars consuming the entire combat room, akin to a tidal wave!
-Holy shit!!! Celestial is f*cking done for!! It’s an actual Ancestral Dragon!-
-Slow your horses now, I admit Drayven’s Ancestral Manifestation is a significant power up, but it is still temporary... as long as the Celestial survives until it ends, he will win instantly!-
-Keep dreaming! Ancestral Manifestation is accessible only to Trueborns with an Ancestor that has achieved the Glorious Evolution, and the offspring possess above 90% Solarity Access for a reason! Drayven is no longer the same... he is now in possession of his Ancestor’s library of techniques!!-
-This game, man!! What the f*ck is going on!! This is beyond the Abnormal rank, it should be called the Monsters rank!-
When even Levi was freaked out and immediately pulled back to safety, the watchers’ reaction was more than understandable... Ancestral Manifestation was no joke; it was one of the infamous power-ups granted to Trueborn Lineages with a Glorious Ascendant .
One of the few beings across the timeline being able to achieve the Glorious Evolution and become an acknowledged Ascendant!
One of the final rewards the Shadowlife seed left behind at the end of its cycle was passing a conditioned and limited access to the Ancestor’s library of techniques based on one’s Solarity Access... the minimum was 90%.
It was like a gift to the offspring the closest in talent and genetics to the Lineage’s Founder... however, with such great power came with it some grave consequences.
As Levi and everyone knew... this power-up was temporary and drained immense life force from the user, as it was considered... under the laws of the universe... an abuse of techniques the user had no business wielding at their level.
In simpler terms... it was a lesser version of Levi or Jasmine abusing their Origin Seeds powers they weren’t strong enough to use.
"Why are you running?"
Drayven let out a long steamy huff from his nose as he gazed at the burning dot in the distance... his voice carried a grouchy echo behind it like a mountain speaking.
"Don’t you like playing with bullets and nukes?"
Seeing that Levi had no plans to turn around, Drayven’s bloodthirsty scarlet slits zoomed at his back until Levi’s burning form appeared a mere inch away from him.
"I raise you..."
Then, he opened his mouth widely while tilting his head to the back... next, scarlet particles seemed to rush from the surrounding atmosphere, and into the depth of his mouth.
This process lasted no more than a second... the moment a tiny concentrated scarlet living marble appeared in the back of his throat, Drayven whipped his head in Levi’s direction!
The marble was fired like a rail gun bullet, appearing instantaneously behind Levi’s back with an insane accuracy!!
And yet... Levi managed to displace only his torso with Sun Jets, making the scarlet bullet graze his clothes and speed in the direction of the roof above him!
Alas, Levi’s 360 degree vision and echolocation might help him avoid the bullet, but it wasn’t enough to save him from the aftermath.
The instant the bullet made contact with the roof, the explosion was catastrophic... a mini-bright scarlet sun was born, arriving at Levi’s direction in an instant.
The only thing he could do under the dreadful massive scarlet sun was use the first survivalist technique that came to his mind.
Before anyone could see it, Levi was fully engulfed... disappearing within the scarlet flash like a defiant ant daring to stand against a beam fired from a magnifying glass.
The flash lasted for a second before it faded away, but in Jasmine and the viewers’ eyes... it felt like time was slowed down immensely within their own minds allowing them to appreciate such harrowing level of destruction.
It wasn’t a metaphor as Gamemaster Gamble used his omnipotence to enhance their experience to the fullest... while they were watching for entertainment, the battle was nothing but an absolute film of horror after another.
Now... it was Levi’s turn to be on the receiving end.
Thud! Thud! Thud...
Jasmine watched in stunned silence as Levi’s body was sent rolling across the floor countless times before finally smashing against the wall.
His clothes were ripped out, but not enough to expose his identity... his head was lowered, facing his shattered laid out arms on the floor.
Whatever condition he put Drayven at... Drayven repaid it back, in double.
"The Celestial... The Celestial is heavily injured for the first time!!!" Gamemaster Gamble’s voice boomed across the combat room, "Have we just witnessed the descent of the Celestial?!"