The moment Isaac touched the border of Marie's Ultimate, every trace of exhaustion vanished from his body and mind. It was like someone had jammed a high dose of caffeine straight into his veins. Even better, the flow of his Viron sped up without getting out of control. He could feel it regenerating a bit faster already. The couple of bones he had broken during the chase had also finally snapped back into place.

Round two, lizard.

He reached for another chunk of blood and summoned one more salvo of Crimson Deaths. The wyvern, catching sight of this, abruptly cut off its torrent of flames at his teammates and snapped its molten gaze toward him. Within a second, its mouth ignited with more lava and flames.

I guess nothing can be easy.

As the spears left his side, the beast fired a familiar projectile of compressed lava. The two attacks met mid-air, detonating in a burst of blood and liquid flame. Yet, despite his failure to hit the dragon, this little distraction gave his teammates time to regroup and reposition.

James returned to his human form, looking only a little worse for wear despite taking the full brunt of the drake's flames. Elaine, on the other hand, kept running, trying to force the beast to split its attention between them all even more. Marie quickly caught on, as she joined the other woman, darting around in her Legacy form, using her whips to strike at the monster's unprotected side.

The blows didn't do much, but right now, it was the pressure that mattered.

As for Isaac?

He dived toward James and transformed, landing next to him in a roll. Root of Blood fell into his hand a second later, its surface already igniting with the beginning of Blood Draw. Better to be prepared.

"Any ideas how to kill it fast?" he asked the older man.

James snorted. "Funny, was about to ask you the same. My ultimate barely cracked a few scales."

Isaac clicked his tongue. "Then I guess we improvise. You good to go?"

The grin he received was all the answer he needed. After a quick nod, they both charged toward the distracted dragon. Not that it ignored them for long.

Like always, the beast somehow sensed every threat closing in. It whirled around, its tail meeting another salvo of Crimson Deaths head-on. They exploded upon impact, failing to do any decent damage aside from scratching a few scales.

It doesn't matter, Isaac growled, speeding up to close the remaining distance between him and the monster. On the other side, he saw Elaine doing the same, while Marie kept up with her previous task of annoying the beast. What will you do?

As if to answer his question, the dragon faced him, flames already spilling from its jaw. He was ready to dodge, to escape out of the way of another bullet. However, once again, the beast decided to pull off a new trick.

Instead of aiming at him or James, it ducked its head and let the fire pour over the ground. That shouldn't have done much. Hell, Isaac could have just transformed and hit it with Blood Draw anyway. Only that was impossible with what happened next.

The fire didn't spread over the ground like it should have. No, it rose like a wall around the massive lizard, covering it with a sizzling white cocoon. Hell, the flames were so dense that the wyvern vanished from view altogether.

Isaac skidded to a halt, about to call out to his team when his instincts screamed at him. He didn't hesitate. He threw himself to the side just as a pillar of flames erupted beneath his feet.

Still, that was far from the end.

He scrambled to his feet as his blood continued to yell warnings at him. Another pillar exploded a few feet away while more erupted across the battlefield, cutting off his view of Elaine and Marie. He barely caught a glimpse of James weaving between the blasts. Unfortunately, the older man was never known for his speed.

And that was all the dragon needed.

The cocoon of flame around it burst open, raining even more fire across the field. Like a serpent, the beast lunged, its tail slamming into James' back. The man screamed as he was sent flying through a pillar that erupted in his path. Afterward, he disappeared from view.

Shit! Isaac cursed internally, sidestepping another surge of flames. He sucked in a breath and shouted, "Marie! James is hit! Find him! Now!"

He didn't wait for an answer and transformed, pure Mana spilling into his body like a tsunami. With another tug at his Legacy and Origin, clouds of crimson filled the battlefield within seconds.

Crimson Flock.

He hadn't wanted to use his ultimate here. Really, with so many fighters and only one enemy, it could have done more harm than good. But now, with James and Marie out of commission for the time being and Elaine nowhere in sight, he couldn't hold back at all.

And so, even as he continued to dart between the continuously erupting pillars, loud cawing soon filled the battlefield. With another command, he directed all his creations toward the dragon that once more surrounded itself in a cocoon. He would have summoned the spiders, too, but he really doubted they would accomplish anything here.

But let's see how you take this.

Still in Freedom mode, Isaac pulled more blood from his core and let it combine with the Mana biting at his body. Then, with a yank, he forced it all outside, forming two black-red spears at his side. Before another pillar could consume him, he hurled them at the cocoon protecting the dragon.

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If this didn't work, they had a real problem. He had put the Mana equivalent of over half his Viron into those two Crimson Deaths.

He shouldn't have been worried.

As the spears struck home, they detonated, spilling two waves of oil-like blood over the flames. A roar filled the battlefield. Not of pain but one of pure fury. Isaac didn't care, as, at the very least, the constant eruptions of flames finally stopped. That was enough of a win for now.

Round three.

Keeping his transformation active, he shot toward the dragon, its form still covered in the remnants of its flames and his blood. As for injuries? He couldn't see anything else aside from a few more damaged scales.

Doesn't matter.

Despite the blood ravens surrounding it, the dragon fired another molten bullet, but Isaac banked to the right. The heatwave that washed over him was like an annoying mosquito at this point. Maybe he was growing resistant to fire, after all.

As the distance between him and the dragon shrank, he drew on half of the remaining Mana in his body and forced the transformation. He touched the ground just in time to duck below another lava bullet.

Only a couple of feet remained.

Isaac grinned.

The dragon opened its maw, flames already licking its razor-sharp teeth.

Just try it.

Though he had reverted to his human form, the Mana he had grabbed earlier remained with him. It hurt as hell to hold it, but he pushed past the pain, summoned the Root to his hand, and swung it just as the flames rushed out of the dragon's mouth.

Sacrificial Blood Draw.

Fueled by raw Mana, blood, and the Root's power, the crimson wave that followed his swing was unlike any other. It tore through the sand beneath his feet and continued onward, meeting the dragon's breath in an unfair clash.

Got you.

The Blood Draw carved clean through the torrent of fire—but not fast enough. The flames reached him before he could move. They weren't on the level of the Minotaur, but as his skin crisped and his flesh cooked, Isaac hated it anyway. Even more so when he felt the little hair he had left turn to dust.

At the very least, he wasn't the only one suffering.

In the end, before the flames could have reached his muscles and burned them, too, the fire breath stopped as a pained wail cut through the air. Isaac blinked, past the pain, past the flames still covering his body, hoping to see the damage he caused.

Only nothing was ever that easy.

A second before his vision could clear out, something slammed into his side, sending him tumbling across the ground. Good news? It snuffed out the last of the flames still clinging to him. Bad news? He was pretty sure at least half his ribs were broken. Again.

One day… I swear it, one day… he groaned, quickly sending another command to his remaining flock to distract the dragon. He needed a second to collect himself.

A chorus of caws and another furious roar answered his call.

Isaac let out a ragged breath, forcing his battered body upright. At least the sight that greeted him on the battlefield was more than worth the pain.

His overcharged Blood Draw must have hit the dragon head-on. A good chunk of the dragon's maw was torn in half, painting it with blood. One of its eyes was also gone, sliced clean by his skill. What was more, a good part of the scales along its neck lay shattered and raw.

Still, these weren't the only good news.

Aside from the remnants of his flock, Elaine had also reappeared on the battlefield. She was far from unharmed. Her limp, charred left hand and bloodied right leg showed that well enough. Not that any of this stopped her from using his ravens to strike the dragon, who obviously could no longer spew fire.

The beast still tried to swat away the annoying woman with its tail and wings, but she was faster. The white glow around her body was almost blinding now. Potential skill evolution, maybe?

He could ask later.

Let's end this.

Further off, near a cluster of rocks, Isaac caught sight of the Legacy forms of his other teammates also approaching. Evidently, James wasn't hit as hard as he had feared. Good.

Isaac tore his gaze away and broke into a run, Symphony of Blood already doing its best to dull the pain in his chest. It still hurt, but he didn't even wince. Pain was like an old friend at this point.

Within seconds, he reached the main battle, sharing a silent nod with Elaine. Together with his fading flock, they struck from opposite sides.

The dragon's tail lashed out at him, meeting the Root in a shower of sparks as the blade clashed against the red-black scales. He shoved the limb aside and swung again, Blood Draw at the ready.

This time, the tail didn't come to defend as the dragon suddenly roared in pain again. His skill slicing clean through a few of its cracked scales turned it into a high-pitched wail. Then, a small explosion of light came from the beast's front, cutting the sound off altogether.

It wasn't dead, though, so Isaac struck at the damaged scales again.

But before his blade could fall, James finally arrived and slammed into the dragon's side. This time, it crumbled to the ground without almost any resistance. It even tumbled across the sand a few feet before coming to a stop, its form barely twitching.

End of the road, pal.

Isaac drew on half of what remained of his Viron—which wasn't all that much—ready to close the short distance and finish the beast. And that was exactly what he did… or at least tried to.

The moment he took a step toward the downed monster, the lava between its scales flared to life. Knowing what was coming, he began to turn, hoping to let his back take the brunt of the blast.

Only, the flames never reached him.

A wall of clear water surged up between him and his team, snuffing out the weak eruption of fire. A sharp, high-pitched chirp from an eel overhead told them exactly who they had to thank for the save.

Now, if only someone could get rid of this steam, Isaac thought, waving a hand through the thick fog. It did nothing to clear it. Whatever…

With no other choice, he charged toward where the dragon should be. A sudden gust of wind was his only warning before a tail whipped past, missing his head by inches as he ducked. Thankfully, this sequence also scattered some of the steam blocking his vision.

What he saw next was quite unexpected.

The dragon was trying to escape, but not on foot. No, somehow, it had used its fire to crudely reconstruct a portion of the wing Elaine's ultimate had destroyed. From the looks of it, though, the patch job was less than perfect. The beast barely managed to gain altitude, wobbling as it went.

Isaac snorted and forced his transformation all the way into Freedom mode. Mana-powered Blood Draw ignited around his body as he shot toward the fleeing creature. His eyes locked onto a few shattered, bleeding scales on its back.

Farewell.

Like a bullet, Isaac punched through the weakened scales and into the dragon's body, obliterating flesh and bone in his path. A moment later, he burst out on the other side, just in time to hear its final dying wail. The fire around its damaged wing flickered out, its golden eyes closing.

[Inferior Lava Wyvern (LVL. 22) slain.]

The beast plummeted from the sky.

Dead.

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