Beyond the Bloodline-Chapter 63: Water Rune Magic vs. Authority of Dragons

"Spatial Destruction Shot."

The unleashed projectile possessing the dual nature of distorting space and dismantling matter, rippled through the air with an otherworldly blue glow.

Upon impacting the dragon, it released its potent payload, triggering a localized explosion of spatial and destructive energies, resulting in the generation of a miniature singularity that warped the surrounding area for a second.

"ARRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"

Pirantu’s agonized scream rang out, making Jamie chuckle lightly as he spoke.

"I’m just getting started and you’re already screaming?"

He watched the dragon’s body tumbling towards the ground, spurting blood everywhere, while thanking the Dragon Progenitor for having a race with very resilient and sturdy bodies.

Whilst a certain red-haired Progenitor was sneezing in his sleep, our resident Hybrid kicked off the ground and dashed forward, reaching Pirantu within seconds with his hands encased in flames and lightning.

She tried to move her wounded body to retaliate in some way, but Jamie’s attack speed was too high for that to happen.

**BZZT! **BOOOMMM!!

An explosive clash of flames and lightning ignited on her chest, triggering a spatial distortion and an energy shockwave that fractured some of her ribs, while the surrounding greenery instantly became scorched earth.

As she tumbled along the unforgiving ground, Pirantu gritted her teeth and released an energy burst, sending shockwaves with it that knocked Jamie’s form back momentarily and afforded her a brief respite to regain her balance.

’I need distance!’

Pirantu was at a loss on how to gain this distance, as her opponent was one with teleportation capabilities, a fact that he promptly decided to demonstrate by materializing right in front of her and driving another punch towards her chest.

In desperation, she crossed her arms in front of her body to block, resulting in her gauntlets being shattered to pieces, dissolving into fragments of light right after

The Hybrid chained another attack, this one infused with double the magic power, but shockingly, Pirantu was able to block it with relative ease, and much to Jamie’s momentary confusion, he felt his fingerbones crack, despite being the one on attack.

A second glance at Pirantu’s arms cleared up that confusion.

Though she hid it with the same method she had used when she masqueraded as an old woman, Jamie saw through it with ease.

Covering her both arms were an array of sturdy overlapping plates, bearing a bright red hue whilst exuding a light aura of resilience.

’The law of fortification? So that’s why the Spatial Destruction Shot didn’t deal as much damage as it was meant to.’

Even though she had blocked the attack successfully, the sheer force behind it still had her feet digging deep into the ground, along with the formation of a new crater around them.

As her cover had been blown, she dispersed the energy of the law of trickery that she had gathered and switched it out for that of flames.

Her fingertips morphed into razor-sharp claws and she grabbed onto Jamie’s hand, her talons digging into the arm for a firmer grip.

In a swift motion, she pivoted on her feet around and threw the man over her shoulder, brutally slamming his body into the ground.

Bright red flames surged from her hands and towards Jamie’s body, but before they could make contact with him, the Hybrid’s form glitched out of her grip and rematerialized behind her.

’Shi-.’

Not even letting her finish her internal cursing, Jamie grabbed the back of Pirantu’s head and forcefully drove it onto the ground, before dashing forward whilst hauling her across the terrain.

The man made sure to put his newly achieved top speed of over 550+ metres per second to use, dragging Pirantu through diverse landscapes: a forest, a rocky terrain, smashed her through some hills and eventually tossed her in the worst possible place for a fire element main like her—a body of water.

As the dragon felt her body sink towards the tranquil depths of the lake, her eyes began to droop, mirroring the serene descent into unconsciousness. The weight of the water pressed against her, creating an eerie stillness.

Then, in an instant, her eyes abruptly snapped open wide. Her body twitched as if she was filled with newfound vigour, contrary to its beaten and battered state.

More segments of her body underwent a transformation, with crimson scales forming along the sides of her face, their texture smooth and gleaming.

Her already sharp claws were enhanced, taking on an even more sinister edge.

’I need a bit more time to draw more power...’

Pirantu’s thoughts echoed in the depths of her consciousness as she harnessed her magical power and channelled it to propel herself upwards from the lake’s depths.

Upon her emergence at the surface, she glanced upwards, her yellow eyes locking onto Jamie who floated effortlessly in the air above, his arms casually crossed.

"I was waiting for you."

As he spoke his magic power surged from his body, filling the area and sending shivers down the spines of any living beings nearby.

Existences below the Epic realm could barely breathe due to the pressure of this dense energy, and Jamie directed this energy towards forming a magic circle in the air.

Five circles, each one gleaming with bright azure hue materialised under him, spinning in opposing directions as the strange runes were etched onto each of them.

From afar, Miranda who was watching this narrowed her eyes lightly as she recognized what Jamie was using.

’That Rune Technique, it’s Olivia’s...’

As someone who was close friends with the being famed as the ’Rune Archon’, it wasn’t too strange for Jamie to be knowledgeable about some of her strongest Rune Techniques.

Using the Runes, Jamie crafted one of the most dangerous Water Magic Circles that existed, reforging the spell for the lower tier he was using.

The spell circles stopped rotating and from within them, a colossal spear of crystalline water emerged, its surface glistening in the light of the sun.

Surrounding it was a swirling horizontal tornado of water, an ethereal maelstrom spinning at supersonic speed while crackling with universal law energy.

Completing the spectacle, was an array of razor-sharp icicles encircling the spear and tornado combination, each one like a glinting blade of ice.

In the face of this, Pirantu had no choice but to pool together as much of her remaining energy as she could, condensing it in her energy core before sending it in a stream up her throat.

Her eyes glowed with light as she faced Jamie who snapped his fingers and activated the spell.

"Water Rune Magic: Shredding Cyclone Lance."

The spell was unleashed, becoming a projectile of destruction as it streaked through the air at transonic speed, leaving a trail of cascading water droplets in its wake.

Responding, Pirantu opened her mouth, revealing her sharp shark-like teeth as her energy once again condensed in front of her mouth, this time, with streams of ambient universal law energy being pulled in.

Within a second, it was a streak of bright red flaming light shooting into the sky.

’Authority of Dragons: Dragon Breath!’

The collision between the two was near instant, a tumultuous clash of titanic forces that made the world around them quiver.

From that initial impact, shockwaves were sent rippling outward, flattening everything within kilometres of the collision.

The once peaceful and thriving lakeside forest landscape was instantly torn asunder, reduced to splinters and ash by the surging energies, whilst all the unfortunate monsters that lurked within it died without even knowing why.

The two attacks pressed against each other, engaged in a timeless tug of war for supremacy. What felt like hours transpired in mere seconds.

Also suffering the cruel fate of destruction was the lake beneath Pirantu’s feet. The heat from her breath was so intense that it evaporated the entire body of water, leaving nothing but a desolate crater. The aquatic life within it perished, their existence snuffed out in an instant.

Pirantu staggered backwards, dropping to the bottom of the lakebed, causing a new smaller crater to form around her feet while the ground around her slowly scorched over from the heat and flames.

’Guh...Dammnit!

Going after him without completely adapting to my avatar was a mistake...’

She cursed internally as the Shredding Cyclone Lance was gaining the upper hand on her, with Jamie’s higher concentration and universal law energy purity, along with the elemental advantage forcing her feet to dig deeper into the ground.

Her body’s transformation continued, spurred on by the instinct to survive the threat Jamie’s spell posed. More of her draconic futures manifested, and a long, spoked tail emerged from her lower back, bursting through the remnants of her ragged clothes.

With a deafening roar, she charged more power into her breath, matching Jamie’s spell with newfound strength.

But In the face of all this, Jamie’s eyes remained calm as if her regaining more and more of her draconic powers wasn’t anything he needed to worry about.

The energies of both attacks surged to an unprecedented zenith, creating an overwhelming crescendo of power.

And then, in a blinding explosion that seemed to consume the very sky itself, the two forces cancelled each other out, leaving behind a shattered landscape with nature torn asunder.

"Gah!"

Pirantu dropped onto one knee, breathing heavily as the amount of power she had used took a great toll on her in her injured state.

However, she quickly forced herself back to her feet, since her opponent was not one she could dare take her eyes off for too long.

Unfortunately, she had already done just that.

Jamie teleported right behind her and delivered a low kick with his right foot to the back of her legs, sweeping her off her feet and into the air.

At that same moment, he jumped up lightly and reversed his movement arc, dropping an axe kick into the pit of Pirantu’s stomach.

***BAAAAAMMMMMM!!!

Her body hit the ground with so much force that it bounced back up—exactly what Jamie had been aiming for.

The man spun his body around clockwise to generate momentum, before kicking her in the back with his other leg, volleying her entire body into the air with so much force she left sound behind.

Continuing the attack chain, he warped behind her airborne body, with his arm coated in blue flames and lightning, delivering a strike that had the energies flashing back and distorting the space at the point of impact.