The roar echoed through the region for what seemed like an eternity. When it eventually quieted down, it seemed like the entire world fell silent, until the clouds above stirred into movement again. Something moved inside that sea of darkness, pushing the gloom apart as it emerged from within the vortex.

A gigantic snake like-life form emerged from the sky. Its body seemed illusory, its features standing out only by the intense blue light that displayed the contours of its frame. Scales covered its body, each one as big as an average human, with curved spikes along its spine and a segmented underside, much like that of a reptile. Its claws, however, resembled more those of a bird of prey, a pair of them at each end of its body. Its head, too, seemed more protruding than that of a snake, like a mix between a crocodile and a tiger. Two whiskers dozens of meters long grew out of its snout, curved horns crested out of its temples, and a majestic mane of hair flowed around its neck.

These strange features would each stand out on their own, and yet at this moment, they came together in harmony in a single body to give birth to a creature that seemed to emit both majesty and power out of its hundred meters long frame. The dragon flew through the air like a fish taking to water, the sky its very own lake and the wind its waves to ride upon.

Everywhere this creature’s twisting and turning body passed, traces of blue ocean-colored Spiritual Energy would be left behind, dissipating into its surroundings like morning dew. Eventually, the dragon came to rest by Hector’s side, its body coiling around the elder as it assumed a defensive posture. Its illusory but still shining reptilian pupils stared directly at Bernard, revealing its maw full of fanged teeth in a threatening manner.

The elder’s hand came to rest on the head of this dragon, which was almost as big as a house, and tenderly stroked one of its horns with a satisfied smile.

The silver knight, however, kept his arms crossed as he stared at this scene.

“A spiritual spell?” he asked.

Hector nodded, his attention returning to his opponent. “It’s the first time I tried it. It’s not the kind of thing I can do more than once.”

Bernard grunted. “It lacks a solid foundation to be used in combat, but it’s still impressive. I have never heard of anyone below the Spiritual Awakening Realm ever doing something like this. Who taught you it?”

The elder smiled. “I came up with it myself.”

“You came up with it?”

For the first time since they started talking, it seemed as if Bernard displayed genuine surprise.

Hector chuckled. “Why, you don’t believe it?”

The silver knight was silent for a while. “Flood dragons are extinct in this world. Where could you have seen such an accurate representation of one to come up with this technique?”

“I meditated for a long time at the foot of a lake where one said dragon was said to inhabit in the past.” the elder said. “When I finally opened my eyes again, I saw its ghost in all its glory. In some ways, I suppose it was worth it being crippled just for that moment.”

Bernard fell silent again for a while, as if pondering his words.

“We have a problem.” he said.

Hector frowned. “What problem?”

“You said you would show me a sword strike, but now you have no sword.”

The elder scoffed. “A true swordsman needs no sword to show his technique.”

As if to exemplify this statement, Hector made a swinging motion with his hand.

The dragon roared into movement, its body twisting and coiling as it started to fly through the air around the elder. It swam in a chaotic pattern, yet with every turn of its frame, the glow around its body started to intensify, and the traces of Spiritual Dew it left behind also started to solidify. Eventually, its motion seemed to reach a crescendo, until it stopped above Hector, its entire body pointed at Bernard like a snake ready to strike.

The dew drops froze at that exact moment, and the entire sky was filled with gleaming icicles that reflected the light emitted by the dragon. An unmatched sharpness came from each of these droplets of ice, and suddenly it seemed as if countless swords were being pointed at Bernard.

A sound that seemed to resemble laughter came from beneath the silver knight’s helmet, and for the first time, he uncrossed his arms, pointing at Hector with his right hand.

“Come then! You have already bought yourself enough time!”

Even at this point, it seemed like Bernard had no intention of drawing his sword.

Hector frowned at the sight, but it wasn’t an unexpected result. Although he flew up here with the intention of distracting the man, he was still a cultivator with his own pride, and this technique was the culmination of his life’s work. He would make the man pay for looking down on him, even if he couldn’t win this battle.

The elder took a deep breath and close his eyes, raising his right hand above his head as if wielding an invisible sword. Then, a second later, he opened his eyes and swung down.

The field of small floating icicles began to move all at once. At first, they were slow, almost crawling through the air, but in a matter of seconds, they picked up speed. Soon enough, they were like shooting stars flying through the sky, leaving behind only traces of light as they moved too quickly for the mortal eye to see.

Their target was a single individual - the silver knight that did not seem like he would present any sort of defense against this attack.

An instant later, the first icicle crashed into Bernard like a comet. A deafening boom echoed through the region as a mist of ice spread out from the point of impact, making it impossible to see the results. This was, of course, only the beginning, though.

Countless icicles started to crash against their target, creating a continuous chain of explosions that seemed to last for an eternity. Every single one of them seemed to hit their mark, if the sounds were anything to go by, meaning Bernard still hadn’t moved. Soon enough, there was an enormous sea of icy mist surrounding the man, through which one wasn’t able to see his condition.

Eventually, the explosions slowed down until they ceased. All the icicles had been used in the attack, and yet the final part was yet to come.

The dragon above Hector’s head finally moved, springing into action. The glow surrounding it intensified until it seemed as if the beast had become its own sun in the night sky as it shot towards Bernard. Its movements, however, seemed to find some unexplainable resistance against the air.

Like a mirage, an illusory ocean appeared around the dragon, slowing down its movements. Yet, instead of its power weakening, it seemed to only get stronger as a torrent of water formed around its body from its snout all the way to its tail as it broke through this ocean like a sword. Eventually, one couldn’t see the creature’s form beneath the tormentuous vortex of water around its body, and the dragon picked up speed once again.

It felt as if the violent sound of the ocean muffled every sound in the world, and the entire region only seemed to darken at this bright blue light that cut through the night sky. An unimaginable sight, majestic and dangerous beyond belief, the culmination of the sacrifice of the energy of a divine weapon, all directed towards one target.

The icy mist dissipated against this torrent of water, and a glimpse of the knight underneath it all was revealed before the dragon struck against him.

An explosion happened, and for a moment nothing else seemed to exist but the bright light in the sky. Waves of energy and water spread from the clashing point, reaching even the forest far away as a lot of trees were uprooted from the impact. The dark clouds in the sky dissipated from the shockwave, and an aurora of blue Spiritual Energy spread through the region.

The formation of the town below visibly shimmered from the impact, barely able to hold on against the blow. It was hard to imagine the destruction this would have caused to the settlement if it didn’t have this formation to protect it.

Almost a full ten seconds later, the light from the explosion seemed to dim and the shock waves from the impact died off. What happened next, though, was a sudden rain that started to fall down for kilometers around as the outcome of the attack became clear.

Bernard stood there, in the same position he had been in before receiving the strike, a raised palm in front of him. His armor gleamed like always, not a scratch on its surface, and the man didn’t seem to have moved an inch from a blow that could have leveled a town to the ground.

He was completely unaffected.

The silver knight lowered his hand as he stared at the figure across from him. “Impressive.”

Hector, on the other hand, looked as if he was the one on the receiving end of the attack. He seemed to have aged 10 years in less than a minute, his features sallow and almost skeletic. The light behind his eyes was quickly fading, and without the support of the Spiritual Energy, he started to fall down from the air.

Bernard did nothing to stop this from happening, though.

“If anything, your presence here made this entire trip worth it, cultivator Hector.” he said. “Take pride in the fact that you managed to impress me, Bernard, and go rest in peace.”

The silver knight waved his hand, and a beam of light shot from his fingers, striking the elder’s falling figure before it could hit the ground. Upon impact, a small explosion of light happened, and when the glow disappeared, Hector’s body was nowhere to be seen.

Just like that, the elder disappeared from this world, not a trace of his corpse left behind.

“My lord!”

The imperial knights rushed over to meet their commander. It was clear that none of them expected that dying old man to be able to muster such strength, and they regretted their decision to step aside as soon as that dragon appeared.

Thankfully, though, their general was the one left standing at the end of the day.

The female knight flew over to him atop her winged horse. “My lord, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Bernard shook his head. “Just go deal with that formation already. We shouldn’t waste any more time here.”

The woman nodded, turning to look at the rest of her companions. “Knights, prepare to charge!”

As she said that, she drew her sword from her waist and raised it above her head. The others followed suit, and the air surrounding them glowed with their flaring energies.

Before they could even move, though, the formation beneath them seemed to change.

The translucent shield surrounding the town suddenly disappeared, and a bright beam of light rose from the castle atop the hill. This pillar of white light shot into the sky above, remaining there for a brief few seconds before it disappeared, as if it wasn’t there in the first place.

“This…” The female knight seemed shocked as she looked at the sight.

“Teleportation.” Bernard said. “I wasn’t informed the formation was capable of such a thing.”

“It shouldn’t be.” she shook her head. “Our agents examined it for years and confirmed its main utility. If it was capable of teleportation, we would have seen it.”

“Yet, we can’t deny the sight in front of us.” the silver knight said. “I suppose this must be the work of the Crystal Sky Sect. No wonder the old man seemed so keen on buying himself time.”

There was a silence amidst the knights, as if they were unsure of whether to continue their attack now that the protective formation was gone.

Bernard looked over at one of the knights near him. “I assume they must have sent that young man away. You have taken a good look at his appearance, right?”

“I have, my lord.” the knight said. “Do you want me to divine his location?”

“Do so. From the energy of the teleportation, he shouldn’t have been sent very far. We can send some people after him while the rest deal with the town.”

His subordinate nodded before taking out a medallion from his waist. The man made a few hand signs while holding this object and then held his hands together in prayer as he started to chant in an angelic voice.

The medallion started to glow, and large, illusory golden eyes started to appear at the knight’s back. This continued for almost half a minute before the man’s chants died down. He lowered his hand and looked over at his commander with some hesitation.

“What is it?” Bernard asked.

“I can’t sense him.”

The silver knight seemed surprised. “You can’t sense him?”

“No.” the man shook his head. “I feel as if there is an obstacle barring my divinations…”

“How is that possible?” the female knight asked. “You are the strongest oracle in our army. How can a mere mortal escape your holy divination?”

The oracle seemed unsure of how to respond, but his silence was enough confirmation for the rest of his companions. There was a solemn atmosphere as the rest of the knights tried to digest this information.

Even as Bernard knew the old man was trying to buy time earlier, he wasn’t too worried about the matter. In the worst-case scenario that some people in the town managed to escape, they still had their oracle to search for them, and divination was one of the methods in which the imperials could claim absolute superiority to any sect in the world. The majority of protection methods against their divination were completely useless, and the only place they had a hard time peering into was the sects’ holy lands.

It was why he allowed himself the opportunity to test Hector’s technique, because of his trust in this ability of his army. Yet, only now did the silver knight notice how overconfident he had been.

This was the first time in his life that Bernard’s own ego had been played against him like so. In some ways, this was one of the few tastes of defeat he had ever felt in his life. His attitude had finally come back to bite him, and now he was unsure of what to think.

“Half of you will go with me and spread out through the region to search for him.” Bernard looked over at his subordinates. “He hasn’t gone far, so we may still be able to find him. The rest of you deal with the situation here. Do you understand?”

His subordinates shouted in agreement, quickly spreading out as they prepared to go about their task.

What Bernard knew, though, was that he wouldn’t take this lying down.