MY HIDDEN TALENT IS FORBIDDEN BY THE HEAVENS-Chapter 195: THE FALLING EDGE

Chapter 195 — THE FALLING EDGE

The roar had passed. But the silence afterward was worse. Smoke rolled across the battlefield like a living fog. Cracked earth smoldered beneath the fading remnants of Headmaster Suryavansh Rao’s shattered solar barrier. Entire hillsides had collapsed under the pressure wave. The ground itself had sunk in several places, forming jagged pits where the dragon’s roar had compressed the earth.

Behind the Nine the sixth city still stood. Damaged. Shaken. But standing. That alone meant Headmaster Rao’s shield had worked. Barely.

Headmaster Suryavansh Rao remained kneeling, breathing heavily, blood dripping slowly from the corner of his mouth. His once brilliant solar aura flickered weakly around his shoulders like a dying star.

Dean Xu Canglong glanced at him. "You still standing?"

Rao gave a faint smile. "Unfortunately."

The Jade Dragon lowered its massive head slowly. Its emerald eyes studied them with something that almost resembled curiosity. "You resisted." Its voice carried across the battlefield like distant thunder rolling through mountains. "But resistance does not change inevitability."

The dragon stepped forward. The ground shattered beneath its claws. Entire ridges cracked open as its weight shifted across the battlefield. Emerald crystal spread outward from each step like frost crawling across stone.

The Nine felt it immediately. The dragon’s aura had grown stronger. The roar had not exhausted it. It had only warmed it up. Dr. Elena Kovács’ voice broke through the channel. "Energy output increasing."

"How?" Commander Rafael Ibarra demanded. "It’s adapting to pressure." She responded. Dean Feng Yanrui’s crimson aura flared again, phoenix flames rising behind him. "Then we push harder."

Dean Xu Canglong lifted his blade. The thin sword hummed quietly with restrained power. "We strike again." General Han Dae-Woo cracked his neck. "Good." Grandmaster Tenzin Dorje remained calm. But his eyes had sharpened. "This time... we will feel its strength."

The Jade Dragon moved faster than something that size should move. Its massive tail swept sideways. The air exploded. A wall of pressure surged across the battlefield.

The Nine scattered instantly. The tail slammed into the ground where they had stood moments earlier. The impact split the earth for hundreds of meters. Boulders the size of buildings launched into the sky.

General Han moved first. He leapt directly toward the dragon’s chest. Every muscle in his body ignited with kinetic reinforcement.

"Breaker!"

His fist slammed into the dragon’s scales with enough force to shatter reinforced armor. The impact produced a shockwave that flattened nearby crystal formations. But the jade scale beneath his fist did not crack. Instead the scale pushed back. A surge of emerald energy rippled outward.

General Han was thrown backward through the air like a missile. He smashed through three rock formations before finally stopping. He stood again, but slower.

"Harder than before," he muttered.

Commander Rafael Ibarra attacked next. He raised both arms. Every remaining river and underground aquifer within kilometers surged upward. Water spiraled through the air like living serpents before converging into massive tidal columns.

"Ocean Break!"

The water slammed into the dragon’s side with crushing pressure. For a moment the dragon’s wing shifted slightly. Hope flickered. Then the dragon exhaled softly.

The water turned emerald. Commander Ibarra’s tidal columns crystallized instantly. Thousands of tons of water froze into jade mid-air. The massive crystal pillars shattered.

Ibarra was thrown backward by the resulting shockwave. Astra Nyx appeared above the dragon’s head. Her blade glowed with dimensional distortion. She swung downward.

"Void Cleave."

Space split open again. The blade struck the dragon’s neck joint and stopped. The dimensional cut flickered, then sealed.

The dragon turned its eye toward her. The air bent violently. Astra vanished instantly, reappearing two hundred meters away. Even she looked unsettled. "That... shouldn’t be possible."

Headmaster Rao rose slowly. Solar light gathered around him again. Not as strong as before, but still deadly. He lifted both arms. The clouds ignited again.

"Solar Spear."

A concentrated beam of stellar fire shot downward toward the dragon’s head. The dragon opened its jaws. The solar beam entered its mouth. For half a second nothing happened. Then the dragon swallowed. The solar beam vanished. Headmaster Rao’s eyes widened. "That..."

The dragon exhaled. A thin emerald beam shot toward him. Dean Xu Canglong moved instantly. His sword flashed. Azure light sliced the beam in half. The divided energy carved two massive trenches across the battlefield behind them.

Dean Xu Canglong stood calmly with blade raised. "Focus." Dr. Kovács’ drones repositioned again. "Harmonic destabilization!" Hundreds of resonance waves struck the dragon simultaneously. The jade scales vibrated violently. Grandmaster Dorje raised both hands. Gravity intensified. The dragon’s massive body sank slightly into the earth.

For a moment the dragon’s movement slowed. Dean Feng Yanrui saw the opening. Phoenix flames exploded behind him. A massive flaming phoenix formed above the battlefield.

"Phoenix Sovereign Descent!"

The flaming avatar dived directly at the dragon’s head. Crimson fire engulfed the dragon’s face.

The battlefield disappeared under the inferno. General Han surged forward again. This time with both fists. He leapt through the flames.

"Breaker Storm!"

His punches landed in rapid succession across the dragon’s jaw. Each blow detonated like artillery.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

The dragon’s head tilted slightly. The Nine pressed the attack. Commander Ibarra lifted another wave of water. Astra Nyx opened spatial fractures across the dragon’s wing joints. Dean Xu Canglong’s blade flashed repeatedly, carving lines of azure light across its scales.

Dr. Kovács’ drones flooded the battlefield with destabilizing frequencies. Grandmaster Dorje anchored the earth. Phoenix flames burned. Solar fire raged. Kinetic strikes detonated.

The battlefield became a storm of unimaginable power. For thirty seconds the Nine attacked without pause. The sky burned. The earth shook. The dragon disappeared beneath the avalanche of attacks. Then the flames parted.

The Jade Dragon stepped forward. Unharmed. Its scales glowed brighter now. Emerald veins pulsed across its body like rivers of light. The dragon shook its wings once. The resulting shockwave threw all nine fighters backward simultaneously. The ground exploded beneath them.

Dean Feng Yanrui slammed into a cliff face. Commander Ibarra crashed through a riverbank. General Han skidded across the battlefield for two hundred meters. The dragon looked down at them. "You are powerful." Its voice rolled like grinding mountains. "But power without foundation... is wind."

The dragon lifted its head. Its emerald aura expanded outward again. The pressure alone forced the Nine to their knees. Dr. Kovács whispered over the channel. "It’s increasing output again..."

Dean Xu Canglong slowly stood. His sword trembled slightly now. For the first time the Nine looked tired. Their strongest attacks had landed. Their coordination had been perfect. But the dragon had not weakened. Not even slightly.

The Jade Dragon spread its wings. The sky darkened again. The emerald glow in its throat began building once more. And this time the Nine knew the truth.

They were losing.

[Chapter ENDS]