Every syllable of the Dragon Language carried a natural magical resonance. The surrounding air vibrated violently, and loose pebbles and grass clippings on the ground were lifted by an invisible magical force, floating and slowly rotating in the air.
The light spilling from the gaps in her scales gradually turned from dark red to a blinding, brilliant white.
Sensing mortal danger, the giant lizard kicked off violently with its hind legs, charging at Lola at full speed.
Lola did not interrupt her chant. This was a high-tier magic from her heritage, requiring absolute concentration to channel. With her current capabilities, she couldn't perform any other actions while doing so, but at this moment, she had no other choice.
The giant lizard closed in rapidly, the tremors of the ground growing more intense. Lola's Dragon Language chant continued without pause, the floating pebbles forming a sharp, spinning ring around her, radiating a chilling intent to kill.
She closed her eyes, casting aside all stray thoughts, pouring her entire mind into channeling the spell.
Just as the final syllable was about to form, the giant lizard's thick tail swept out abruptly, slamming heavily against Lola's forelimb.
The immense impact made her sway, forcibly interrupting her Dragon Language chant and instantly dispersing the half-formed spell. The floating pebbles rained down, and the violent force of the magical backlash surged directly into her chest.
Lola staggered back several steps before steadying herself, the burning pain deep in her chest making it difficult to breathe.
The backlash of a forcibly interrupted spell was far more agonizing than taking a physical blow, with wild mana rampaging through her blood vessels. Gritting her teeth, she suppressed the surging pain within her body and tensed her muscles once more, assuming a combat stance.
Behind the wooden fence of the distant village, Chas, who had been watching the battle anxiously, could no longer contain himself.
“Is she... getting overpowered?” He tugged at the sleeve of the archer beside him, his voice filled with anxiety. “Is the situation looking bad?”
The archer didn't answer, merely gripping his longbow tightly, his knuckles turning white as his entire body tensed.
Carson stood by the broken fence, his fingers mindlessly digging into the cracks of a wooden post. The Dragon Breath had little effect on the giant lizard, her attempt to gather power had just been forcibly interrupted, and Lola was being entirely suppressed in close-quarters combat.
He did not voice his thoughts, because once he did, everyone would have to face that despairing end.
On the grassy wasteland, Lola's left wing hung limply, the torn holes in her wing membrane fluttering slightly in the wind. Her injuries were already severe.
She blamed herself bitterly in her heart. She should have used a feint to deceive her opponent and opened up a safe distance before casting, rather than rashly engaging in close-quarters combat.
Now that her magic had been interrupted, the giant lizard gave her no opportunity to create distance. The moment she showed any intention of retreating, it would immediately close in with a fierce attack.
She was filled with regret, realizing she shouldn't have rashly engaged in close combat just to show off.
The giant lizard, sensing a threat to its life, became even more frenzied and violent in its assault. Having figured out Lola's tactical intent, it would not allow her to gather power for a spell again.
Claw swipes, tail sweeps, and body slams—the relentless attacks piled on, leaving Lola without even a moment to catch her breath or readjust.
This beast's combat instincts far exceeded her expectations. Every time she tried to retreat and open up some distance, its long tail would precisely block her escape route, keeping her suppressed at close range.
It wasn't that she had no chance to spread her wings and flee, but she had boasted proudly before the village behind her.
She couldn't keep letting herself be worn down passively like this. If this dragged on, she would completely lose the strength to fight back.
She had to create an opportunity.
When the Dragon-Armored Lizard gathered its strength to charge at full speed once more, Lola did not assume a defensive posture. Though the giant lizard felt a pang of doubt, it couldn't halt its momentum and crashed straight into her.
Lola took the heavy blow head-on, ignoring the cracking pain in her bones. Using the momentum of the impact, she kicked off the giant lizard's body with all her might to leap backward, finally crashing into the distant woods.
She couldn't help but let out a low hiss, yet she still supported herself on all fours and stood up.
This time, she had finally opened up enough distance. Slowly, she closed her eyes.
Ignoring the rapidly approaching giant lizard and the steadily closing distance, she emptied her mind of all thoughts, concentrating her entire focus on the magical chant.
The ancient Dragon Language echoed through the wilderness once more.
The frequency of the air's vibration suddenly spiked, and all the grass clippings and pebbles on the ground were lifted by the magic, floating in midair.
A blinding light erupted from her entire body, a searing and dazzling white-gold, as if the most intense sunlight of midday had been captured and stored between her scales.
The edge of every scale was gilded with a brilliant border of light. The entire dragon looked like a crystal ignited from within, light pouring out from every single gap between her scales, so dazzling that it was impossible to look at directly.
The giant lizard charged before her at full speed, opening its fanged maw, its foul saliva nearly dripping onto Lola.
At that exact moment, Lola snapped her eyes open.
A blinding white light exploded from her body. With her as the center, the ground within a hundred-meter radius suddenly sank. The soil and stones were violently crushed and compacted by a terrifying downward magical force, forming a neat, circular crater.
The soil at the edge of the crater was scorched black by the intense heat, with ripples of heat waves expanding outward like marks branded by a red-hot iron ring.
The speed of light was the speed of absolute death. The giant lizard didn't even have time to close its eyes to defend itself before the hard rock armor on its chest shattered, turned to dust, and was completely annihilated the instant it touched the white light.
The flesh beneath the shell was exposed to the light for only a fraction of a second before being shredded by the invisible, violent force. Scales peeled back and tore, muscle fibers snapped inch by inch, and the dark green blood was completely evaporated by the extreme heat before it could even gush out.
The giant lizard let out the most agonizing shriek of its life.
Its massive body was forcibly pushed backward by the pillar of light. The heavy rock armor it was so proud of was as thin as paper before this ultimate spell, shattering and peeling away layer by layer.
The violent shockwave of magic swept outward, carrying shattered stones and broken grass. Shrubs on the wasteland were uprooted, and a half-withered old tree was snapped in half by the shockwave, its upper trunk flying through the air like a light piece of paper.
The distant village was also affected. The blinding white light made all the villagers instinctively raise their hands to shield their eyes. Even through their eyelids, they could clearly feel the scorching heat washing over them.
Children buried their faces in the adults' clothes, while Chas shielded his eyes with one hand and gripped the fence tightly with the other.
After a moment, the dazzling pillar of light slowly faded, turning from brilliant white to warm yellow, and finally dispersing into tiny sparks in the air. The light around Lola faded, and her scales returned to a dull, dark crimson.
Overexertion and backlash instantly swept through her body. Her forelegs gave out, her upper body collapsing heavily as her chin struck the stony ground. The burning sensation deep in her chest continued to spread, and the agonizing pain of the magical backlash lingered.
Yet she did not collapse. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself up with her front claws, digging her claws into the scorched earth as she slowly straightened her body. Then, she looked at the giant lizard not far away.
The giant lizard's chest and ribs had almost completely vanished, with small dark-red flames still flickering at the edges of the wound, faintly revealing charred bones.
The rock armor on its body was completely destroyed, and dark green blood continuously seeped from the wound, dripping onto the scorched ground.
It was still alive, but already on the verge of death, only able to freeze in place and let out weak, low whimpers.
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