The imposing body of Falk, covered by a futuristic armor that looked like a work of engineering art, stood before the group. The gears and dynamos in his suit hummed softly, while an enormous smile, like that of a satisfied gentleman, illuminated his face.

Around him, the air was heavy with the residual energy of the electrical discharge that had momentarily immobilized Dravhark, and the dragon, gigantic and furious, was beginning to shake himself to recover. The others looked on, helpless; their skills were sealed. Only Solène, with her dragon claws and wings intact, seemed completely unaffected by the strange barrier. Falk had just informed them that they only had three minutes, and just as he was about to launch himself into combat, Adam stopped him.

"Wait a moment, Falk!"

Adam said, his voice grave.

"Dravhark used a skill to seal skill usage in the area... We have no way to follow you or give you efficient support."

Falk cocked his head, his smile unwavering.

"Well, that could be a problem... But that's not entirely true, is it?"

He gestured to Solène with a nod, clearly indicating her dragon limbs.

"It must be a different skill from Gregor's [Karmic Suppression Barrier], which suppressed all interaction with the system. This one only prevents the use of active skills if what you said is correct, so it is very likely that racial abilities are not affected... In any case, there is no time. You must do your best to keep up. I have faith in you."

Before Drake could ask anything about the armor, Falk let out a deep, genuine laugh, and suddenly, the armor came to life once again. Dynamos and engines worked at maximum power, and a storm of electricity began to envelop him, crackling constantly around the armor. To everyone's surprise, Falk's feet lifted from the ground, and he began to float.

"What? But skills are..."

Alter Drake said, his voice full of incredulity, but he couldn't finish the sentence. Falk propelled himself forward like a rocket toward the dragon, leaving the group behind in a state of confusion.

Solène was not one to be left behind. She shook herself, and an aggressive smile reappeared on her face.

"It doesn't matter if all I have are my claws."

She muttered to herself.

"I will fight as if my life depended on it."

Because it kind of did, her dragonic blood atched for battle, the more difficult and intense, the better. She was about to follow Falk when a hand grabbed her arm. She turned to see that it was Adam who had stopped her, and he was looking at her with eyes filled with a new, powerful determination.

"With our skills sealed, our offensive power has dropped considerably, but because I can still use my racial skills, I can act as a distraction."

Adam explained without wasting time.

"I can still turn into a mist and use my parasite's basic abilities, so I ask that you please help me get to the fight."

Solène's smile grew fiercer. With a rough grab of his arm, she took him by the hand and replied.

"That I can do."

And then a malevolent and more devilish smile was drawn on her face as she tightened her grip on the boy.

"But you should know that the landing is on you..."

She said, her voice filled with a mischievous glee. Before Adam could even ask what she meant by that, Solène took off with incredible speed, dragging the boy behind her like a sack of potatoes.

They left Drake and alter Drake behind, looking at each other, knowing that for them, doing anything at the moment was impossible, as both of them, for better or for worse, were just simple humans, even if their rank was high. But Drake's eyes suddenly lit up with a memory, a thought, something that could change everything.

Meanwhile, the ground trembled under the weight of an infuriated Dravhark. The dragon had completely recovered, and with a roar that made the air vibrate, he lunged at Falk, who was floating calmly.

The massive, jagged claw of Dravhark shot forward, a blur of obsidian and rage that tore through the air with a sound like thunder. It was a powerful, bone-shattering blow, but Falk's armor simply shifted to the side in a smooth, effortless motion that made the dragon's claw miss him by a hair's breadth. Dravhark roared, his face an explosion of rage, as he launched another attack.

This time, his claw was even faster and powerful, a spinning slash that aimed to cleave Falk in two. But the armor, with a torrent of sparks shooting out from its side, simply spun in the air, a small vortex of energy deflecting the attack.

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The dragon roared in frustration again and, with a powerful tail whip, he aimed directly at Falk once more. But again, the armor, with a series of mechanical clicks and whirs, simply moved out of the way, leaving the dragon to hit nothing but air. Dravhark's frustration began to grow, and he tried a pincer move, his two arms shooting forward to crush Falk, but the armor, as if it had a mind of its own, slipped through the gap between his arms with ease, glowing with a faint, electrical energy.

This time, Dravhark was not just frustrated; he was enraged. He roared more intensely than before, a powerful, guttural sound that shook the ground. But Falk, who was laughing, simply floated away, his body moving with a speed that defied the dragon's attacks.

"Who are you?!"

Dravhark roared. Falk, floating in the air, began to flex his mechanical body, as if he were showing off his musculature, and with a voice that was amplified by his armor, he said.

"I am the brilliant scientist Isaac Volta, and you will be the first test subject for mine and Sebastian's magnum opus. Glad to have you!"

Instantly later, Dravhark roared and launched a concentrated torrent of black fire at Falk, who, in response, began to glow more and more as his armor accumulated energy. He then clapped his hands together, and a wave of sparks shot out from his palms like a beautiful, deadly display of power.

When the fireball reached his position, Falk simply moved his arms, as if he were holding a fishing net, and the torrent of fire changed its direction, curving toward the sky and disappearing into the clouds.

"WHAT?!"

Dravhark screamed, unable to believe what he was seeing.

At that very moment, Solène and Adam arrived, but Dravhark did not notice them, as he was too focused on Falk. The red-haired woman, who was flying with frightening speed, simply released Adam from the air, a mischievous grin on her face. The boy, who was falling from a great height, had no other choice but to improvise to avoid being crushed by the dragon's body. He transformed a part of his body into mist, which made him lose a lot of speed, but still, he had to roll a couple of times before he landed safely on the dragon's back.

Once there, the Empress's voice resonated through Adam's own lips.

"What do you have in mind now?"

She asked in an urgent tone.

"I'm going to call his attention."

Adam responded, clearly calmer than her.

"How will you do that!?"

The Empress said, finally. Adam smiled, showing his teeth; his vampiric fangs had grown significantly, along with a series of organic, jagged spikes and saws emerging from his throat, a result of his parasite's passive mutation.

"In the same way that a small mosquito gets the attention of infinitely larger beings… with a bite."

And with that, he opened his mouth widely and delivered a massive bite to the scales of the dragon.

Immediately after, Dravhark felt the sting. It was not painful, and it did no damage, but it was irritating, just like a mosquito bite, which surprised and angered him. That was the moment Solène had been waiting for. She appeared flying from his blind spot and delivered two powerful claw strikes to one of his eyes.

Dravhark roared and shook, cursing with his thunderous voice.

"Aaarrggh! … You are nothing but vermin! No matter what you try to do, you are just simple insects for me to crush!"

Then, a flash from the other side made Dravhark turn his head again, his eyes now on Falk. The scientist had used the seconds of distraction to activate his armor's pistons to their maximum. His right arm coils, now glowing red-hot with full charge, were releasing a storm of electricity into the surrounding area.

Without losing any more time, Falk launched himself at the dragon with the intention of delivering a punch with his charged arm. Dravhark reacted instantly, extending his own claw to intercept the armor's attack, but this time, the claw was wrapped in a black fire, a skill very similar to the one Solène had used, but with a cursed fire.

"DIE!"

Dravhark roared as his ferocious claw made contact with Falk's electrically charged punch.

However, to the dragon's utter surprise, the clash held for a few seconds without a clear winner, like two immovable forces meeting head-on. Dravhark, pushing more and more, could not understand how Falk was matching his strength. He roared, his voice a mix of fury and confusion.

"How is this possible!? No skill can be used under my divine decree of restriction, unless you are a god!"

The dragon's eyes widened, and he stared at Falk, his face filled with an unyielding anger.

"Are you using divinity?!"

Falk, whose laughter was now a continuous, joyous sound, heard everything Dravhark said.

"Divinity?! Hahahaha! No, no, no! This is not a miracle!"

And with that, several of the reserve pistons of his armor, which had been accumulating energy, activated instantly, giving a second boost to his punch.

"It's science!"

Falk said, as the second boost broke the deadlock, piercing the dragon's arm, crushing his claw, and causing a massive wound. The corrupted blood of Dravhark spilled all over the place as the dragon screamed louder than ever in pain. Falk, still floating, raised his arms, laughing with satisfaction, amazed that the armor's first real test had started as perfectly as it possibly could.

On the ground, Drake and alter Drake were watching in disbelief. Alter Drake, in particular, was seeing his entire understanding of the System crumbling before his eyes... How was it possible that they were standing up to a Rank S being? It was impossible, unthinkable, and yet, it was happening.

It was as if they didn't care about the odds and were just… breaking the logic. How? He could half-expect it from Solène, if this one was even a bit similar to the Solène he knew; she was always extremely rekkles as always, but who the hell was this man in armor and the long-haired boy?

But while alter Drake was lost in thought, Drake moved. He stretched out his arms and concentrated with all his might. If he couldn't act as a human, then he was more than willing to stop being one. He had to join the fight, even if it meant leaving it all to chance... A system panel appeared in front of him.

[Notice: Item "Random A/S-Rank Race Change Ticket" has been used] [The user Drake Shaw will receive a random race change among all the available races of a rank between A and S]

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