"ROAAAR!"
Tearing right through the lingering purple poison mist, the Thunder-Scale Wyvern launched itself forward. It didn't care about the shallow cut on its leg or the stinging in its snout. The ground cracked under its massive claws as it accelerated, moving terrifyingly fast for something the size of a bus.
"Tanks! Block!" Arthev shouted from the backline.
The Graphite Brothers, Shi M0 and Shi Mo, stepped forward. They slammed their heavy tortoise shields into the mud, bracing their shoulders. Yellow light flared as they activated their defensive skills.
"Second Soul Skill: Shield Form!" they shouted in unison. "Third Soul Skill: Turtle Shell Burst!"
A massive, spiked energy barricade erupted outward, designed to absorb and violently repel heavy physical trauma.
The Wyvern didn't stop. It lowered its horned head and rammed them.
CLANG.
It sounded like a church bell being hit by a train.
The Graphite Brothers didn't crumble. But they did fly.
"We are flying tortoises!" the elder Shi Mo screamed as they were launched twenty meters backward, crashing through a thicket of bushes.
"Defense breached," Arthev noted calmly.
"Friction failed. Mass difference too high."
With the wall gone, the massive shockwave of the beast's charge blasted outward, violently knocking Yu Tianheng backward just as he tried to re-engage from his previous strike. He tumbled through the mud, desperately digging his claws in to stop his momentum.
"Hey! It's completely ignoring me!" Yu Feng shrieked from the air, realizing his previous barrage of wind blades hadn't even slowed it down.
On the ground, Osler scrambled away on all fours as the beast blitzed past him. "The cut on its knee didn't even hinder its speed! It's too fast!"
The Wyvern was incredibly smart. It realized the flyers and the assassins were annoying gnats, but the girl in the back who had cast that pink healing light—Lingling—was the real problem.
Predators always kill the healer first.
It turned. Its throat began to glow with blinding violet light. It wasn't charging a bite, it was charging a breath attack.
"Lightning Breath!" Qin Ming murmured from his observation branch, tense and ready to intervene.
"Move, Lingling!"
Lingling froze. The pressure of a near-10,000-year beast locked her muscles. She stared at the glowing maw of death.
"Damn it!" Yu Tianheng roared. He was too far away. He charged up his lightning, sprinting to intercept, but he was too slow.
The Wyvern fired.
A beam of concentrated violet lightning shot toward the healer.
But someone was faster than the beam.
Arthev stepped in front of Lingling. He didn't run, he used Body Flicker. One moment he was by the tree, the next he was standing directly in the path of the breath.
He didn't summon a wall of sand. Sand would turn to glass instantly against this heat.
He raised his right hand.
"Second Soul Skill."
His second purple ring lit up. But the energy wasn't purple. It was blinding, pure white.
A small sphere of energy formed around his fist. It wasn't fire. It was superheated, ionized gas. It compressed, shrinking until it coated his knuckles like a glove made of a star.
The air around his hand distorted. The raindrops evaporating instantly before they could even touch him.
"White Star Fist."
Arthev punched.
He didn't punch the Wyvern. He punched the breath attack.
BOOOOM!
White light met violet lightning.
Physics screamed.
The plasma coating Arthev's fist was hotter and denser than the Wyvern's breath. It acted like a wedge. The beam of lightning split down the middle, deflected to the left and right, carving deep trenches into the forest floor on either side of Arthev and Lingling.
Arthev stood untouched in the center of the V-shaped destruction. Smoke rose from his glove.
The Wyvern stopped breathing. Its golden eyes widened in genuine confusion. A tiny human had just... punched its lightning?
"Your breath is lukewarm," Arthev said, his voice cutting through the ringing silence.
He vanished again.
He reappeared in mid-air, right in front of the Wyvern's face.
"Open wide."
He drove the White Star Fist into the Wyvern's lower jaw.
CRACK-HISS.
The impact was wet and sizzling. The heat of the plasma instantly cauterized the wound as it shattered the scales. The force was like a pile driver.
The massive Wyvern was knocked upward. Its head snapped back, its feet lifting off the ground for a split second before it crashed onto its back with a ground-shaking thud.
It lay there, dazed, smoke pouring from its jaw.
Arthev landed gracefully. He shook his hand to cool it down.
"Captain!" Arthev shouted. "It's dizzy! The throat is exposed!"
Yu Tianheng snapped out of his shock. He saw the beast lying vulnerable. The scales on its neck were softer, lighter in color.
"Dragon Fury!"
Yu Tianheng roared. His arms swelled, turning into dragon claws. He poured every ounce of his Rank 40 soul power into his right hand. He didn't think about clans or titles. He thought about survival.
He leaped.
Landed on the Wyvern's chest.
"THUNDER CLAW!"
He drove his claw into the soft spot of the neck.
SHKRRRRRRT.
Blood sprayed. Lightning discharged directly into the beast's nervous system. The Wyvern thrashed once, a final spasm, and then went still.
Silence fell over the clearing.
Yu Tianheng stood on the corpse, panting heavily. He was covered in dragon blood.
Slowly, faint black motes of light began to rise from the body. They swirled, coalescing into a Halo.
A Black Soul Ring.
"It... it's really black," Osler whispered, peeking out from behind a rock. "It looks heavy."
-------
Tree Top
Spark nearly dropped his binoculars.
"Whisper," Spark whispered, his voice trembling. "Did you see that?"
"He punched a lightning beam," Spark hissed. "With his fist. It wasn't normal fire. It was white. It looked like... like a welding torch mixed with a sun. It cut the lightning in half."
"Also," Spark added, "the Captain just killed a Wyvern. A big one. The black ring is floating there. Are they really going to try it?"
"If Arthev allows it, he believes it is possible. Keep watching. If the Captain explodes, we have one less noble to worry about."
------
Back on the ground, the mood was heavy.
Qin Ming walked up to the corpse. He looked at the black ring. He could feel the terrifying pressure radiating from it. The resentment of the Wyvern was palpable.
"Tianheng," Qin Ming said softly.
"This is your last chance to back out. There is no shame. A Purple ring is standard. A Black ring... is a gamble with your life."
Yu Tianheng looked at the ring. It called to him. The dragon blood inside him was boiling, demanding the power.
"I'll do it," Yu Tianheng said.
He sat down next to the Wyvern's head. He crossed his legs.
Arthev walked over. He placed a hand on Yu Tianheng's shoulder.
"Listen to me," Arthev said, his voice serious.
"When the energy enters, it will try to tear your meridians. Do not fight it with force. Guide it. Your body is tough now. Trust the iron vest training."
He handed Yu Tianheng a small vial of clear liquid.
"What is this?" Yu Tianheng asked.
"Distilled mint and concentrated sugar,"
Arthev said. "It does absolutely nothing for soul power. But it tastes good. Placebo effect. Drink it and believe it makes you invincible."
Yu Tianheng chuckled nervously. He downed the vial. "Tastes like toothpaste."
"Invincible toothpaste," Arthev corrected.
Yu Tianheng closed his eyes. He reached out with his soul power and pulled the black ring toward him.
The ring shrank, hovering over his head like a crown of doom. Then, it slammed down.
"GRAAAAH!"
Yu Tianheng screamed. His body arched backward. His skin turned red instantly.
Blue lightning and violet lightning warred across his skin. Blood started to leak from his nose.
"Captain!" Dugu Yan cried out, rushing forward.
"Stay back!" Arthev ordered, holding her back with one arm. "If you touch him, the energy will ground through you and injure you both."
"He's bleeding!"
"Bleeding is fine," Arthev said, he watched the energy flow inside Yu Tianheng.
"His meridians are stretching, but they aren't breaking."
Yu Tianheng's body convulsed. Bones cracked and reformed. Scales began to sprout on his neck.
Ten minutes passed.
Twenty.
An hour.
Yu Tianheng stopped screaming. His breathing became shallow, ragged. He was covered in sweat and blood grime.
The black ring slowly stabilized, rotating rhythmically around his body.
Yellow. Yellow. Purple. Black.
The impossible configuration.
Yu Tianheng opened his eyes. A flash of violet lightning arced through his pupils.
He stood up. He felt... heavy. Powerful.
"How do you feel?" Qin Ming asked, his voice tight.
Yu Tianheng looked at his hand. He clenched it. The air popped.
"I feel," Yu Tianheng said, a grin spreading across his bloody face, "like I could punch a mountain."
"Don't punch mountains," Arthev said, sitting on a log and eating a ration bar.
"Punch enemies. Mountains don't care."
The team cheered. They rushed Yu Tianheng, hugging him and immediately regretting it because of the static shock.
"You did it!" Dugu Yan hugged him tight, ignoring the zap. "You crazy idiot!"
"We have a Soul Ancestor!" Shi Mo yelled. "We are invincible!"
Arthev watched them celebrate. He felt a rare sense of satisfaction. Not because he had gained power, but because his hypothesis was proven correct.
The human body could adapt. The rules were just guidelines for the weak.
'Not bad,' Shukaku grunted. 'The lizard-boy has some grit. Maybe I won't eat him.'
'He has evolved,' Matatabi noted. 'His dragon spirit has mutated slightly. It is now a Thunder-Scale Tyrant Dragon. More physical.'
Arthev stood up.
"Celebrate later," he announced.
"We still have to walk back. And Dugu Yan, you still owe me money for the tea eggs."
Dugu Yan laughed. "I'll buy you a thousand tea eggs, you miser!"
High in the tree, Spark deactivated his binoculars.
"He did it," Spark whispered. "The Captain absorbed a 10,000-year ring. He didn't die."
"Arthev," Whisper said, his voice filled with a cold respect. "He is not just an Anomaly. He is a Catalyst. He makes everyone around him break the rules."
"So... dangerous?"
"Very. We need to accelerate the plan. The Vault heist needs to happen before that team grows any stronger."
"Finally," Spark grinned, clicking his metal balls. "Can I blow something up now?"
"Soon, Spark. Soon."
In the clearing, under the setting sun, the Royal Team packed up their camp. They were dirty, bloody, and exhausted. But they walked with the swagger of kings.
They had hunted a calamity. And they had won.
To be continued....