Chapter 280: Time Reversal, the Dragonlord in the Temporal Rift
After parting with Melina, Arthur descended to the lowest reaches of Farum Azula—closest to the heart of the storm.
Among the broken ruins, he sensed a temporal node.
He extended his authority over time and touched it.
In the next instant—
The raging storm that had consumed half the city froze.
The world began to lose its color.
Time had stopped.
And then—
It began to flow backward.
Shattered stones reassembled.
Collapsed walls restored themselves.
The massive tornado at the city’s center reversed its rotation, expanding outward in a retrograde spiral.
It swept toward Arthur.
He instinctively raised an arm against the gale.
When he lowered it—
The world had changed.
He now stood at the edge of a colossal colosseum.
The largest he had ever seen.
From his vantage point, the opposite side was invisible beyond the horizon of pillars.
Ancient columns towered in solemn rows across an endless arena.
And at the very center—
A being hundreds of meters tall hovered in the air.
Former Elden Lord.
Master of Farum Azula.
Dragonlord Placidusax.
Arthur’s arrival did not disturb its slumber.
That gave him time to observe.
Placidusax lay curled, vast wings enveloping its body.
Two colossal heads rose proudly toward the heavens.
Even in sleep, it refused to bow.
Through gaps in its wings, Arthur saw two massive circular scars upon its neck—
Where two additional heads had once grown.
From those wounds emanated a faint scent of decay.
The aura of something nearing death.
Long wars and endless ages had not left the dragonlord unscathed.
Even curled, it spanned hundreds of meters.
Fully extended, it would likely reach nearly a kilometer in scale.
Arthur was grateful he did not suffer from megalophobia.
He was also grateful Placidusax was no longer at full strength.
Otherwise—
This confrontation would not have been chosen so lightly.
Out of habit, Arthur summoned his Mimic Tear.
Then stepped fully into the arena.
The moment he crossed the boundary—
Placidusax awakened.
Its wings unfurled.
A tempest erupted.
Arthur now noticed something else:
Behind the two vast primary wings lay a smaller secondary pair.
Ancient dragons in the Lands Between bore two sets of wings.
Even Ifrit did.
But now was not the time for anatomical observations.
Placidusax did not speak.
It attacked.
Crimson lightning filled the sky.
Unlike the lesser dragons Arthur had fought before—
This red lightning blanketed the entire colosseum.
There was no room to evade.
Arthur did not bother.
His resistance to crimson lightning was already maximized.
He could bathe in it without harm.
Bolts rained down in overwhelming numbers.
Arthur vanished beneath a sea of scarlet light.
When the glow faded—
He still stood there.
Unharmed.
Sparks danced across his body.
The Mimic Tear, however—
Had been obliterated completely.
Not even ash remained.
Placidusax narrowed its gaze.
Its claws ignited with condensed crimson lightning.
It lunged.
Physical force and magical devastation combined.
Arthur smiled faintly.
If the dragonlord wanted to test strength—
He would indulge it.
Arthur drew the Dark Moon Greatsword.
He layered it with Adula’s Moonblade.
A crescent of lunar energy stretched over ten meters long.
To Placidusax, it was scarcely larger than a toothpick.
Confident in draconic resistance to magic, the dragonlord did not evade.
That was a mistake.
The Dark Moon Greatsword was no ordinary blade.
It had been refined and empowered repeatedly.
Even a god-being would bleed if struck unguarded.
The moonblade clashed with the dragon’s claw.
As expected—
The lunar arc alone failed to pierce its scales.
But hidden beneath it—
The true edge struck.
A blade of dark radiance flashed outward.
One massive talon severed cleanly.
Arthur was blasted backward by the dragon’s immense force.
Blood—ancient and brilliant—fell from the sky.
Placidusax roared in fury.
Wounded at the opening exchange—
Intolerable.
It surged forward again.
This time, it condensed the crimson lightning into solid talon-constructs—forming hardened energy claws as both weapon and shield.
Arthur advanced to meet it.
Moonblade arcs flashed repeatedly.
Sword beams hammered against the lightning constructs.
Each strike carved deep rents into the energy claws.
Some shattered entirely.
But the constructs were formed of pure power.
Each time they broke—
Placidusax simply reconstituted them with fresh lightning.
The battle escalated rapidly.
Swordlight against thunder.
Temporal authority against primordial storm.
And above them—
Time itself trembled.
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