Slap!
Suddenly, a crisp sound of clapping echoed in the silent night.
"Alright, it's over."
Adam clasped his hands together, a gentle smile on his face, and said, "The experience time is up."
As his voice fell, the surrounding environment abruptly changed.
The chaotic, violent elemental currents in the atmosphere, along with the earth-shattering sea of fire, suddenly collapsed like a dream, crumbling like shattered glass.
Then, the intense heat that had nearly melted everything and the mountain that had been obliterated by explosions—everything returned to its original state in the blink of an eye, as if nothing had ever happened.
Hilbert, Chu Zihang, Caesar, Gen Chisei, Kazama Ruri, Miyamoto Shio, and the others, who had just experienced the ultimate fire-type Word Soul, the Candle Dragon, at close range—being burned to ashes from the inside out—were all restored to their original forms, as if time had reversed.
From their internal organs to their bones, and finally their skin, everything returned to the way it was before.
"Did we just... die?"
Caesar, as if waking from a dream, nervously checked his body, only to breathe a sigh of relief once he confirmed that no part of him was missing.
"That felt so real, like we actually died." Chu Zihang placed his hand on his beating heart. The sensation of being engulfed by flames, with his consciousness falling into darkness, still made him shudder.
Even now, remembering it, he couldn't shake the feeling that after death... truly, nothing would exist anymore.
"Dream Tapir? No, it felt even more real than that."
Gen Chisei showed a lingering look of fear, simply because it had felt too real just moments ago.
And the only one who seemed somewhat calm was probably Hilbert. He stood in a daze for a long while, before slowly lifting his head and speaking in a low voice, "From the beginning, we've been in the dream you created, haven't we?"
"That's right, it's always been a dream."
Adam smiled faintly and gently pushed up his black glasses, his eyes shimmering with a faint golden light. "Because I'm weak. I don't have the same power as the other Dragon Kings."
Whether this statement was true or not, the group no longer cared to delve into it. A Dragon King who could pull people into a dream at any time was, in some ways, even more terrifying than the Four Great Dragon Kings!
"When did this all start?"
Caesar paused for a moment and asked.
At this time, Chu Zihang spoke up and said, "Look down at your feet, and you'll understand."
Caesar looked down, his pupils contracting. He then glanced around.
Sure enough, everything that had just happened was a dream, and they had never moved from the spot!
"Hey, hey, hey, what is this nonsense?" Gen Chisei laughed bitterly, covering his face with a helpless expression. "We've already given it our all, and they haven't even entered the second phase. Can we really win if we keep going? Isn't this just asking for death?"
"Are Dragon Kings really such terrifying beings?"
Caesar was also overwhelmed by a sense of helplessness, completely losing his will to fight.
No wonder even the Black King, Nidhogg, had to pay an incredibly heavy price to suppress the White King beneath the icy sea.
Now, they could somewhat understand the terrifying nature of the 'White King.'
"Can this be over now, Mr. Principal?"
Adam sighed helplessly and said, "Honestly, I really don't want to fight you all. After all, we share the same goal. There's no need to go to the extreme, right?"
"Adam Anglewid, I admit, you really are powerful." Hilbert took a deep breath and suddenly smiled brightly, showing no signs of frustration.
Instead, there was a hint of uncontrollable joy in his expression.
"But that doesn't mean you've won, because victory will always belong to humanity!"
"Principal Hilbert, is there... some other way?"
Looking at Hilbert's odd reaction, Gen Chisei couldn't shake the feeling that from the beginning to the end, something about this whole situation felt off.
The principal of Cassell College, renowned as the greatest dragon slayer and strongest hybrid, someone who could plan for a century just to slay a dragon, a lone avenger who wielded great power... would he really come here, unprepared, with just two students, to slay a dragon?
No, it was absolutely impossible!
"In fact, I've known from the start that with just the few of us, we could never kill you." At this moment, Hilbert spoke slowly, his anger hidden deep in his eyes, and the corner of his mouth curled into a slight smile.
"It's been about ten minutes since we first made contact, hasn't it?"
"Nine minutes, just a little off."
Adam said calmly.
"Caesar, give me a cigarette. I really need something to smoke right now." Hilbert said.
Although Caesar didn't understand, he tossed over a sealed pack of high-end cigars, the last one.
"Can I borrow a light?"
Hilbert, holding the cigar, asked Adam.
Snap!
Adam snapped his fingers, and the cigar was lit.
Hilbert skillfully placed the cigar in his mouth, took a deep puff, and slowly exhaled the smoke before speaking, "Thanks. But it's thanks to your dream that I've been able to delay until now."
Gen Chisei froze for a moment before reacting, "Principal Hilbert, you've been stalling this whole time?"
"Yes, I was waiting for this moment," Hilbert replied, flicking the ash from his cigar.
He continued nonchalantly, "Although we're in a dream, you're still in this area, Adam Anglewid."
This plan, he hadn't shared it with the others, because when the plan succeeded, everyone would die.
"Heh, so this isn't a dream?" Adam said.
Hilbert looked up at the sky with a slight smile. "Do you know about the Sky Walker? It's a satellite. At a specific time and coordinate, it will drop a tungsten rod here."
"Just like in the movies, the God's Rod!" Adam exclaimed. No longer needing to hide anything, he spread his arms wide, looking up at the sky where six beams of light tore through the atmosphere. He shouted, "With the power of ultra-high-speed kinetic energy, erase this entire mountain range!"
Six blazing meteor-like flames tore through the night sky, heading straight for the Takamagahara.
The Sky Walker in low Earth orbit circled the planet every 90 minutes, and Hilbert's actions had all been waiting for this very moment!
Heaven's punishment had arrived!
Six blazing, high-density tungsten rods, traveling at speeds of over 3,000 to 9,000 kilometers per second, descended like Damocles' sword thrown by God!
The immense wind pressure from the sky cascaded down, as though the entire heavens were collapsing.
The pressure of several mountains pressed down on everyone on the ground, pinning them helplessly.
The kinetic energy from the rods, even before hitting the ground, created an ear-piercing sonic boom in the atmosphere!
"Such a childish stunt, isn't it a bit too much?" Adam said, watching the six tungsten rods fall.
His hair whipped in the fierce wind, and the playful expression from earlier vanished, replaced by an expressionless face. "Didn't I tell you? The game is over!"
Then, to everyone's shock, Adam's body swelled up as if inflated. Fine, hard, gray-white scales quickly grew from his skin, resembling a granite armor. His limbs became huge and muscular, and wings sprouted from his back.
In an instant, Adam had transformed from a human form into a massive dragon, covered in gray-white scales with vicious horns.
Staring at the gray-white dragon, Chu Zihang's heart shook violently, sending ripples through his mind.
"Is... is that Him?!"
********
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