Chapter 29: A Bloody Euphoria
[Calculation Affinity]
In that split second, as the illusory dragon faded into sparks high above the battlefield, Harlan immediately activated his Calculation Affinity.
Threads of cause and effect bloomed abruptly across his vision — every movement, every explosion, every hidden intention laid bare in cold mathematical precision.
However, as the information became clear to him...
His sharp intelligent eyes narrowed as the full sequence of events clicked into place with ruthless clarity.
"So that’s what’s happening..." he muttered, voice low and tense. "A diversion. The real target was never the main Academy... they’re going straight for the Ruins in the Silent Peak."
What really caught him off guard was the fact that someone knew about the ruin hidden within Silent Peak.
He couldn’t comprehend how this was possible, especially since not even the Academy of Veils knew its exact location.
All they had were vague rumors, whispered from one Headmaster to the next over generations.
Occasionally, his Ancestors would also push for the Ruins to be found, but nothing ever came of it.
Over time, Silent Peak had become the most unremarkable and forgotten peak in the entire Academy, a place where every so-called useless talent or person deemed worthless was sent.
They were dumped there deliberately, as a way to draw attention away from what truly lay hidden.
He kept calculating at a rapid pace, strings of cause and effect unraveling in his mind like clockwork.
"Good... Amber’s already moving the surviving disciples to safety. Liliana’s currently holding her own against that... Dragon Princess?"
His brow furrowed as he realized the opponent Liliana faced was none other than the Princess of the Nova Dragons.
"Who in the hell sent Kristen to the Silent Peak?!"
The pieces started to fall into place—if Kristen had been on Silent Peak for a while, she might have caught wind of the whispers and rumors that surrounded it.
Still, he couldn’t help but shake his head at the sheer inattentiveness of his instructors.
Suddenly, his eyes shot toward the direction Akasha was flying, widening in genuine shock as exact numbers flooded his mind in an instant.
"...He’s heading straight for... 120,000 invaders."
Harlan’s jaw clenched, stunned by the sheer magnitude.
However, he couldn’t help but notice that, apart from the ones Akasha had already taken out, there were hardly any Academy of Revelations troops in sight.
The only figures he saw were dragons and their immediate vassals.
With a sharp intake of breath and his jaw clenched, Harlan surged ahead, chasing after Akasha at breakneck speed, his white hair streaming wildly in the fierce wind.
----
"Prince... what should we do?"
Outside the Academy walls, thousands of Flame Dragons hovered in formation, their massive bodies blotting out the sky as they stared toward the fading illusory dragon symbol above Silent Peak.
This was the sign they had been waiting for, marking the start of phase two. But it was clearly far too soon for it to appear.
Not only that... they had just witnessed the impossible — the entire sky flashing a deep, ominous purple before the initial wave of invaders simply dropped unconscious.
And... the silence that followed was unnerving.
Kaleb Nova, mounted atop a massive Tier 15 Flame Dragon, gritted his teeth, his crimson eyes burning with fury.
"I’ll go reinforce Kristen," he snarled. "The rest of you — tear this pathetic Academy apart until we uncover those damn Ruins!"
ROOAARRRRR!!!
The dragons roared in unison, wings beating like thunder as they began to move.
At that very instant, Akasha materialized before them.
He floated mid-air, stopping so suddenly it seemed the world itself paused with him.
His crimson-streaked white hair and loose black garments were drenched in fresh dragon blood, the thick crimson rivulets sliding down from his chin, over his hands, and across his torso.
The heavy, metallic tang of dragon scent hung around him like an oppressive shroud, impossible to ignore.
Seeing the endless sea of dragons before him, Akasha tilted his head slowly, licking the blood from his lips with a lazy swipe of his tongue.
His bloody eyes gleamed with drunken euphoria.
"So many..." he murmured, voice thick with satisfaction, almost like a man drunk on the finest wine.
His gaze swept across the horde, scanning each one with predatory interest, before locking onto Kaleb Nova and the Tier 15 dragon he rode.
----
[Kaleb Nova
Age: 29 Years Old
Race: Flame Dragon (Primordial Ranked Bloodline) +4 BP
Rank: Divine Seed (Tier 8)
Star: Constellation Star of Unyielding Domination (Primordial)
Divinity: 3,700
Affinity: Fire, Domination
Innate Powers:
Equal Standing (Primordial) -
When triggered, any opponent whose strength is within his Battle Power range is pulled down to match his current level exactly.
If an enemy far surpasses him, the power kicks into overdrive, boosting Kaleb’s raw output to their level for a full thirty seconds.]
Dominant Momentum (Passive) (Greater) -
As the battle prolongs, Kaleb’s presence grows ever more suffocating; his flames burn brighter, his movements sharper, and his domineering aura thickens.
With each passing moment, his opponents find their focus fracturing—lapses in judgment creep in, muscles hesitate a fraction too long, instincts dull under the mounting pressure of his unyielding dominance.
Hidden Information - Second Prince of the Nova Dragon Clan. Part of a secret plot within the larger invasion.
While the Academy of Revelations seeks to weaken the Academy of Veils, the Dragons are using the carnage as cover to locate and claim the ancient ruins hidden within the Silent Peak.]
----
Seeing this, a slow, dangerous smile crept across his face.
"You two... yes, you two are perfect," Akasha muttered.
While Kaleb’s rank wasn’t impressive, but the fact he carried a Primordial Bloodline caught his attention.
No other dragon here even possessed a Greater Bloodline; the one he’d slain earlier had only a Lesser Bloodline.
So, he figured—the higher the bloodline rank, the better the taste.
In the moment he appeared, every dragon in the army froze.
It wasn’t just the terrifying sight of the blood-drenched figure before them—it was something deeper: their own Dragon Blood recoiling in primal fear from Akasha’s draconic lineage.
They just stood there, staring at him in fear, their massive slitted eyes visibly trembling.
Akasha lifted his head, his smile growing wider as he activated several of his affinities at once.
HUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!
[Dream Affinity]
[Battle Affinity]
[Fire Affinity]
[Pride Affinity]
Then he unleashed a pure, devastating roar.
RRRRROOOOAARRRRRR!!!!!
The sound ripped through the sky like a cataclysm.
As much as he felt the urge to bow his head to Akasha in that moment, Kaleb and his mount instead roared back in defiance, straining against the crushing weight pressing down on them.
But no matter how fiercely they resisted, Akasha’s thunderous roar drowned them out completely, smothering their defiance in an overwhelming wave of power.
FWWOOOOMMMM!!!
With a mere thought, he commanded the flames to erupt. A colossal ring of fire exploded outward in a roaring, superheated wave, swiftly encircling thousands of dragons in a blazing, inescapable embrace.
Screams of pure agony tore through the sky.
"PRINCEEE HELP!!! IT’S MELTING MY SCALES!!"
"WHAT IS THIS FIRE?!!!!"
Hundreds of dragons thrashed wildly in the air, their proud scales bubbling and sloughing off like molten wax as the divine flames consumed them from the inside out.
Charred bodies plummeted like falling meteors, trailing smoke and the sickening stench of burnt flesh and dragon blood.
Then, with another thought, Akasha’s Pride soared even higher, feeding the frenzy like fuel on an inferno.
HUMMMMMM!!!!!!
In the same moment, his Dream Affinity erupted violently.
Above more than 50,000 dragons, a colossal illusory figure materialized — a towering, dark-robed entity of pure death, its face hidden deep within an endless black hood.
Tattered robes billowed as if stirred by an invisible wind from another realm. In its skeletal hands, it gripped a massive, ethereal scythe that seemed to drink in all light around it.
The figure swung once.
SHHHKKKKKKK!!!!!
The sound was sickening — like space itself being torn apart.
Thousands of dragons were sliced clean through in a single, invisible arc.
Heads, wings, and torsos separated in perfect, gruesome cuts. And immediately a torrential downpour of hot dragon blood cascaded from the sky like a crimson waterfall.
Before the blood could touch the ground, a massive swirling pool of liquid dream essence formed on the ground under Akasha’s command, eagerly catching every drop like a ravenous maw.
Akasha laughed wildly, the sound raw, unhinged, and filled with pure blood-drunk ecstasy.
His bloody eyes blazed as he shot forward head-first like a crimson-white comet, charging straight toward Kaleb Nova and the Tier 15 dragon.
"BRING IT ON!!!" he screamed, voice booming across the sky with manic delight. "COME HERE AND DIE FOR ME!!"
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