Chapter 273: The Copper Dragon's Failed Sneak Attack (20,000-Coin Tip Bonus Chapter)

The White Dragon Lord and the Ocean Titan remained wary of each other as they walked side by side toward the city gates.

Behind them, the crowd of onlookers grew by the minute. No matter the world, a love for a good spectacle was a common flaw among all intelligent beings.

Seeing the hostile expressions on the titan and the dragon, the city guards did not dare intercept them.

The conflict between dragons and titans had long been common knowledge. Both sides were powerful factions within the multiverse, and even The Gods were unwilling to interfere in their feud.

The Dragon Race possessed two dragon gods and one Dragon King: the God of Good Dragons, Bahamut; the Mother of Evil Dragons, Tiamat; and the Gem Dragon King, Sardior. All of them were renowned super powerhouses in the multiverse.

Although there was an unspeakable enmity between the dragon gods and the Dragon King, the three Dragon Race giants remained absolutely united in their attitude toward the Titan Race. Their stance could be summed up in a single word—kill!

The situation with the Titan Race was remarkably similar. They also had three giants: the Luminous Titan, Augustine; the Dark Titan, Astraeus; and the Star Titan, Sinzela. These three titan leaders shared the exact same "kill" directive regarding the Dragon Race.

Just as they stepped out of the gates of Willis City, the White Dragon Lord and the Ocean Titan turned their heads in unison. Sparks seemed to fly as their gazes collided.

The White Dragon Lord mobilized a portion of his internal magic, disguising himself as someone who had only recently entered the Legendary Rank—acting like a reckless fool who could not wait to fight the moment he left the city.

Sensing the boiling Magical Energy fluctuations inside the White Dragon Lord, the Ocean Titan's expression shifted slightly. With such strong Magical Energy fluctuations, it was no wonder this dragon had the confidence to challenge a prime-aged titan like him to a duel.

Then, the Ocean Titan relaxed. By his estimation, this white dragon's strength was roughly equal to his own. As long as his reinforcements arrived, he had an eighty percent chance of surrounding and killing him.

'Hmph! Truly a low-intelligence disgrace to the Dragon Race, eagerly exposing his own depths before the battle has even begun.'

"Hold on!"

The Ocean Titan quickly stopped the white dragon, who was "about to" erupt, and pointed at the surrounding crowd.

"If you have the guts, let's go a bit further away. We wouldn't want innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire!"

Thinking he had "figured out" the White Dragon Lord's true strength, the titan tried to lure him further out. If the white dragon realized the situation was going south and simply fled back into Willis City, it would put them in a very difficult position.

"Hmph! Exactly what I had in mind!"

The White Dragon Lord, having willingly "exposed" his depths to put the Ocean Titan at ease, replied without showing any weakness.

The dragon and the titan flew off into the distance.

On the ground, an archon in the guise of a white-bearded old man watched them depart.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. This reckless white dragon is finished. Parima is a Level 23 veteran legendary powerhouse, and he has a brother in the city."

Beside him, an Orc Warrior clad in leather armor agreed.

"Indeed. Once the fight breaks out, Paridel definitely won't just stand by and watch. Another Dragon Race genius is about to fall. What a pity."

The crowd generally wasn't optimistic about the white dragon. Parima had resided in Willis City for many years, so many people were aware of his immense strength and cautious nature. Moreover, besides his brother, Parima had several friends at the Legendary Rank Level.

In the crowd, a handsome man listened to the discussion, his face turning pale and then green.

Although he didn't particularly care about the life or death of a white dragon, he absolutely didn't want a white dragon to die at the hands of a titan.

Dragons were never allowed to lose to titans!

The man gritted his teeth, buffed himself with Flight, and followed the crowd of onlookers.

Among the spectators, only a tiny minority could fly, and they trailed far behind the dragon and the titan.

On one hand, the legendary powerhouses flew too fast for them to keep up. On the other hand, even if they could keep up, they would still stay a safe distance behind to avoid being innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire if the two suddenly started fighting.

Seeing the crowd trailing behind them, the dragon and the titan tacitly increased their speed. The spectators gradually lost sight of them and turned back, cursing under their breath.

By then, only eight people could keep up with the dragon and the titan's pace, and the handsome man was one of them.

The White Dragon Lord glanced back at the eight followers. Two of them were legendary powerhouses, four of the remaining six had wings and decent strength, and the last two were Mages.

Seeing those two Mages, the corners of the White Dragon Lord's mouth curled up slightly. He had spotted a kin disguised as a human. As a fellow member of the Dragon Race, the dragon language magical disguise on the man could fool others, but it couldn't fool the White Dragon Lord.

The rest of the journey was silent.

Beneath the starry sky of Silver Heaven, the dragon and the titan flashed quickly across the heavens. Below them lay an endless wetland, with more than half the land covered by crystal-clear water. Every so often, a small mound protruded from the surface. The shallows were overgrown with unknown aquatic plants, and stalk-like flora within them emitted a hazy glow that gently swayed with the ripples—a scene of sheer peace and beauty.

After flying for about ten minutes, the White Dragon Lord felt it was far enough. The scenery here was quite nice, making it a very fitting burial ground for this blind titan.

Oh, wait, he only handled the killing of titans, not the burying!

The White Dragon Lord stopped, and the Ocean Titan followed suit.

The Ocean Titan looked around and also found this a suitable battlefield. It was a fair distance from Willis City, but not too far. Once the battle began, his helpers would arrive quickly.

To avoid raising the white dragon's suspicions, he had told his brother and two friends to hang far back and only approach when the fighting started.

Now, he just needed to stall the white dragon and keep him from running away.

That was what the Ocean Titan thought.

"White Dragon! My name is Parima. Remember it! When the Mother of Evil Dragons asks who killed you, give her my name!"

The Ocean Titan, Parima, laughed wildly. He grabbed at the empty air with one hand. Energy surged around his twenty-meter-tall body as moisture gathered in his palm, condensing into a pale blue spear.

The pale blue spear was crystal clear. Silk-like threads of blue energy flowed through the transparent shaft. The energy's path looked chaotic, but it actually aligned perfectly with the laws of the world.

This was the Spear of the Titans, a power just as famous as the Dragon Breath!

Before Parima could throw the Spear of the Titans, the White Dragon Lord struck first.

Driven by magic, the moisture in the air instantly froze, locking the Ocean Titan in ice.

Master Tier magic—Ice Coffin!

Ice Coffin condensed a thick layer of ice around a target, freezing them solid. Weaker individuals would be frozen to death instantly, looking just like corpses lying in a casket.

But an Ocean Titan with a Creature Level of Level 23 was hardly weak. The White Dragon Lord was stronger, but he couldn't kill him in one hit either. If the Ocean Titan fought desperately, burning his soul to stimulate his potential, he could cause a lot of trouble for the White Dragon Lord. If he wasn't careful, there was even a chance of capsizing in a ditch.

The White Dragon Lord formed a plan in his mind and rapidly retreated.

Bull's Strength!

Eagle's Eye!

Cat's Grace!

...

A continuous series of mid-tier buffing spells reinforced the White Dragon Lord. It wasn't that he lacked higher-tier buffs, but rather that he worried unleashing high-tier magic would scare the Ocean Titan off.

Just as the White Dragon Lord pulled back to widen the gap, the ice encasing Parima suddenly exploded, blasting into a sky full of icy debris.

The moment Parima detected the abnormal energy fluctuations around him, he had enveloped his entire body in ocean power, isolating himself from the direct damage of the Ice Coffin.

As a result, the Master Tier magic—Ice Coffin—had dealt very limited damage.

However, due to the extreme low-temperature traits of the ice magic, the silky, seaweed-like hair on the Ocean Titan's head was frozen solid.

"Ah! Damn White Dragon! I'll twist your head off!"

The Ocean Titan, Parima, struck out in a rage. He leaned back slightly, gripping the Spear of the Titans with one hand, and hurled it violently toward the white dragon.

The incredibly fast Spear of the Titans created a vacuum at its tail end. Its sharp tip tore through the air, leaving a white slipstream in its wake.

An Ice Shield materialized at a clever angle right in the spear's path. The Ice Shield shattered upon impact, but the White Dragon Lord's goal was achieved—the deflected shield threw the Spear of the Titans off its trajectory.

The Spear of the Titans missed the white dragon's side by a hairsbreadth.

Having his hair frozen made the Ocean Titan, Parima, furious, but he also heightened his vigilance to the absolute limit. Magical Energy couldn't be faked, and the temperature of that Ice Coffin was vastly colder than regular ice magic.

This white dragon's ice magic was no small matter. The cautious Ocean Titan rapidly chanted an incantation.

Flawless, transparent water droplets appeared around him, gradually enveloping the Ocean Titan's entire body. With an influx of ocean power, the water transformed into a pale blue armor.

"White Dragon! I'm going to pickle your head as a decoration for my living room!"

His face twisted, the Ocean Titan charged toward the White Dragon Lord like a mad demon. Just as the White Dragon Lord was trying to paint himself as a Mage weak in close combat, the Ocean Titan was also trying to present himself as a brainless brute to lower the White Dragon Lord's guard.

Ice Arrows coalesced around the White Dragon Lord, shooting toward the Ocean Titan one after another in an attempt to block his charge. Naturally, a Mage dragon who was "weak" at close combat had to keep his enemy at bay.

The White Dragon Lord's goal was achieved.

The Ocean Titan stopped and swung a newly formed Spear of the Titans. A wave of ocean water surged out of nowhere, sweeping up the Ice Arrows and crashing toward the White Dragon Lord. The Ocean Titan followed closely behind.

Just like dragons, the Titan Race also inherited magical traditions, but they preferred using the Spear of the Titans for melee combat. Magic acted more as an auxiliary tool.

Standing atop the summoned waves, the Ocean Titan, Parima, cast a chain of buffs on himself.

Blessing of the Sea!

Bull's Strength!

Unyielding Will!

...

Riding the waves, the Ocean Titan rapidly closed the distance with the White Dragon Lord, whose brow furrowed.

'What a meddlesome guy!'

While fighting, Parima constantly monitored his surroundings. Caution was the most important reason he had survived hundreds of life-and-death battles.

He suddenly sensed something was wrong. There had been eight spectators, but now there were only seven. That handsome human Mage had vanished.

Parima hastily slowed down, maintaining a wary watch over his surroundings. Under the cover of his armor, his stomach rose and fell, emitting a low, imperceptible, strange sound.

Rippling Wave Spell!

Concentric waves of pale blue energy rippled outward from Parima at lightning speed.

When the waves reached two hundred meters away, an invisible red dragon, attempting a sneak attack, was forced out of stealth.

The Copper Dragon, Vernosi, felt incredibly frustrated. Not long ago, he had officially ended his Young Dragon phase and become an adult Copper Dragon at the Legendary Rank Level, earning the right to travel the world.

Having stayed home for too long, Vernosi felt like a bird freed from its cage. He planned to roam all over the universe, and his first stop was Silver Heaven, right below Golden Heaven.

He disguised himself in human form and came to Willis City, only to unexpectedly stumble upon an impulsive white dragon falling for a titan's trick and being lured out of the city.

With Vernosi's usual temperament, he wouldn't care much whether a Chromatic Dragon lived or died. If it was convenient, he might lend a hand and save him for the sake of their shared kin. But if it was too troublesome or risked his life, he would simply pretend he hadn't seen a thing.

However, the white dragon was fighting a titan, and that changed everything. All dragons stood united against titans—this was an unwritten rule of the Dragon Race.

Vernosi also abided by this rule, which was why he had followed them. He had planned to launch a sneak attack while the Ocean Titan and the white dragon were busy fighting, but he never expected to be exposed by a Rippling Wave Spell.

Even after being forced out, Vernosi couldn't figure out how this titan had managed to cast a Master Tier spell so silently.

'A magical item? Or some kind of metamagic technique?!'

But he had no time to ponder that, because the Spear of the Titans was already flying toward him.

The moment he threw the Spear of the Titans, the Ocean Titan, Parima, rapidly retreated.

At that moment, his expression was incredibly grim.

'A conspiracy?!'

'These two dragons planned to lure me out of the city to ambush and kill me from the start!'

'Do they have more companions?!'

'How many?!'

The Ocean Titan, Parima, had too many doubts and concerns in his heart.

Fortunately, he had the trump card of ventriloquism; otherwise, he truly might have been in danger this time.

In truth, the White Dragon Lord hadn't noticed how the Ocean Titan cast the spell either. The armor on the titan's body concealed his moving abdomen, but the dragon knew it definitely wasn't a magical item or a metamagic technique.

The magical fluctuations from triggering an item wouldn't escape the White Dragon Lord's notice, and metamagic techniques emitted their own strange magical fluctuations. Neither of those had happened.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he simply stopped thinking about it.

After all, who didn't have an unknown trump card up their sleeve!

Blink!

With a flash of white light, the White Dragon Lord appeared by the Ocean Titan's side, his jaws opened wide.

Roar!

A terrifying soundwave spread through the air in concentric rings, completely enveloping the Ocean Titan.

Shattering Roar!

The sudden appearance of the White Dragon Lord scared the Ocean Titan out of his wits, leaving him no time to mount any effective resistance.

The soundwaves of the Shattering Roar contained a peculiar soul energy that bypassed the Ocean Titan's defensive magic, striking directly at his soul.

Ignoring the vast majority of magical defenses—Soul Magic was just that unreasonable.

Blood trickled from Parima's eyes, ears, nose, and mouth. His brain felt as if it had been stirred into mush by an iron rod. His entire body went limp, and he plummeted downward.

The White Dragon Lord rapidly chanted an incantation, completing a Master Tier spell in a single second.

Soul-Seizing Hand!

Ripples surged through the void, and a giant transparent hand extended from their center, grasping at the free-falling titan.

Sensing the approaching danger, the Ocean Titan's body twitched slightly. It was his final struggle, but his will couldn't overcome the powerlessness of his body.

The transparent hand seized him and ripped out a transparent soul!

Watching its body fall away, the soul grabbed frantically at the air in terror, desperately trying to break free from the large hand's control.

The soulless body was nothing but an empty shell. Like a fallen leaf drifting in the wind, it smashed into the water below, sending a massive spray into the air.

The Copper Dragon, Vernosi, hadn't managed to fully dodge the Spear of the Titans, and a large chunk of flesh was torn from his outer thigh.

But right now, he forgot the pain. He stared blankly as the Ocean Titan's soul was crushed by the transparent giant hand, slowly fading away into the air.

This was erasure. Total erasure. Not even a chance to enter a Divine Kingdom!

The onlookers were equally dumbfounded. The moment the handsome man vanished, they knew the battlefield was about to undergo a massive shift.

When the Copper Dragon appeared, they had assumed the Ocean Titan would either flee in panic or be besieged by two dragons. But they never expected an outcome like this.

"An instant kill?!!!"

The spectators felt their throats go dry.

"Soul Magic?!"

The White Dragon Lord had originally planned to stall until the Ocean Titan's reinforcements arrived. Once they thought victory was assured and their guard was at its lowest, he would suddenly unleash the Shattering Roar, sweep them with Dragon Breath, and follow up with the Soul-Seizing Hand, burying the Ocean Titan and his backup here entirely.

He never expected this Copper Dragon to ruin everything. An instant-cast Master Tier Soul Magic spell like the Shattering Roar placed an unusually heavy burden on the soul. Even the White Dragon Lord wouldn't be able to use it again anytime soon.

Displeased, the White Dragon Lord glared at the Copper Dragon who had disrupted his plan, but he didn't voice any blame. After all, the guy was a reinforcement who came to help.

Even if he had caused more harm than good, his intentions were pure.

The White Dragon Lord sensed three legendary auras rapidly approaching from the horizon.

'Forget it! Since I can't ambush them, I'll just fight them head-on!'

Thinking this, the White Dragon Lord turned toward the dumbfounded Copper Dragon beside him.

"Can you still fight?"