The group thought the dragon's attack would surely be the end of Aren as the flames slammed into him and engulfed him completely.

But when they looked toward Aren's teammates at the back, none of them wore worried expressions. That alone was unsettling.

The reason became clear the next moment.

A silhouette walked through the flames.

Step by step, Aren emerged from the inferno, completely unharmed and untouched. As he stepped out, his shadow armor dissipated.

"Damn," he said casually. "That was pretty hot."

They stared at him in shock.

He had tanked not just a normal dragon breath, but one modified by another teammate's ability. It was completely absurd.

The man wielding the exploding sword gritted his teeth in rage. He hated that Aren had just endured one of their most destructive attacks.

"Ahhh!" he roared as he launched forward, slashing downward.

Aren dodged to the side and landed a clean punch into his ribs.

Crack.

Bones shattered, but the man gritted his teeth, planted his feet, and ignored the pain. He slashed again. This time, the blade grazed Aren's hair, and that was all it needed.

Boom!

An explosion detonated right above Aren's head, throwing him backward.

But Aren flipped midair and landed cleanly. His hair was slightly singed, still smoking, but beyond that, he was unharmed.

The more the man saw this, the more infuriated he became.

He charged straight at Aren, while the other swordsman flanked from the side, his blade crackling with lightning.

The lightning user struck first, slashing and releasing a massive arc meant to distract Aren from the main attacker.

But instead of dodging fully, Aren leaned back at the perfect angle. The lightning blade passed inches above him and slammed into the wall behind, exploding and sending debris raining down.

Aren snapped upright just in time for the thrust from the first attacker.

He stepped aside, cleanly evading the blade, grabbed the man by both hands, flipped him over, and hurled him into the ground. The impact made the earth shake.

The man bounced up slightly, and Aren launched forward to finish him with another punch.

But the lightning swordsman came from above, stabbing down with his blade crackling at full power.

Aren released the first man and stepped back. The blade pierced the ground, lightning erupting in every direction, but missing its target.

The dragon took that moment as its chance.

It unleashed another powerful breath straight at Aren.

Aren raised his wolf guard and threw a fully powered punch, his fist coated in shadow armor as his final line of defense.

His fist slammed into the flames.

Aren was pushed back, skidding several meters, but the attack dissipated completely under his strike.

Seeing the dragon as too much of a disturbance, Aren acted instantly.

Shadowy tentacles erupted from the ground, shooting upward and wrapping around the dragon. It tried to pull away, but more tendrils emerged, latching onto its body and dragging it down.

The other two attackers saw Aren focusing on restraining the dragon and moved in together.

The swordsman with the exploding blade charged first, slashing at Aren, thinking he was distracted.

But Aren moved nimbly, dodged to the side, grabbed the man's arm, flipped him, and slammed him into the ground while locking his arm behind his back.

With one sharp motion, Aren twisted and snapped the man's elbow.

He rose just in time to see the lightning swordsman lunging forward.

Aren dodged, kicked the sword clean out of his hand, then drove a kick into his gut, lifting him off the ground. He spun and followed with another kick to the back, slamming him hard into the floor.

Both were down, cleanly and decisively.

Aren turned his gaze back to the dragon, which was still struggling violently against the shadow tendrils.

And standing right behind it was the girl in the hoodie, the only one who hadn't moved since the fight began.

The dragon, in its peril, decided to try to take out the source of the tendrils. It twisted its head as much as it could and unleashed another blast at Aren, but he moved out of the way fast, avoiding it entirely, then bolted toward the dragon.

The third man, seeing that staying on the dragon wasn't helping, leaped off, and immediately his ability stopped working, and the dragon returned to normal.

He, on the other hand, pulled out something, and it looked like a bow. He used his ability on it, and the same circuits as before spread all over it, changing the bow.

He pulled on the string without hesitation, and a powerful arrow made of soul energy formed. He fired right at Aren, the arrow whirling through the air straight for Aren's chest.

Aren crossed his arms. The arrow slammed in and exploded, but Aren still rushed through the flames unharmed.

Seeing this, the man began firing more and more in rapid succession, but Aren dodged, blocked, and deflected with ease as explosions constantly rang out.

He kept moving until he closed the distance, dodged the last arrow, and punched the man right in the gut. The pain was so intense that he couldn't scream, only collapsing to his knees.

Aren made the tendrils on the dragon tighten even more, forcing the dragon to revert back to his human form, and he was immediately bound by the tendrils again.

Now all four were down, and the only person left standing was the girl. She just stood there, not even moving.

Aren didn't approach. He stood there watching her, and then suddenly,

Her head snapped up.

Her glowing red eyes showed.

A massive crack formed.

Traveling toward Aren at crazy speed.

He moved out of the way fast, the crack making a sharp turn to face him.

"What?" Aren exclaimed.

The crack reached him, and what followed was a massive force slamming into him so hard he flew through the wall, slammed into the ground, and rolled for a few meters.

This scene instantly stunned Aren's group. They looked at the woman in the distance, all with a new sense of worry in their eyes.

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