Chapter 276 The Battle of the Strongest (2)
Ezra's Magnimorph Snake—having missed its target—let out a low, rumbling hiss. It quickly coiled back, its massive form undulating and twisting, readying itself for a second strike.
But its targeted Dragon, in its ghostly state, was already moving again, fading from view only to reappear in the blink of an eye. It darted across the sky, moving with uncanny grace as though it were an extension of the wind itself.
Unlike Cassian's contracts that could all fly, only Ezra's Distortdjinn and Voidrake have the ability to fly, which would normally make them extremely susceptible and passive against aerial enemies…but those restrictions don't apply to many of Ezra's space-attribute contracts.
At ground level, Ezra's Void Lynx sprang into action, its form vanishing before repairing on the back of the flying Voidrake as a stepping stone, and then appearing above the head of the flying Dream dragon in the blink of an eye. The Lynx was quick, far too quick for most to follow.
However, seeing that it had approached so close to an enemy spiritual creature, most of those who knew Ezra's contracts were confused. After all, the Lynx wasn't exactly known for its offensive abilities and a blow from one of its paws would likely not hurt the dragon. In fact, it is more likely that it'd actually end up breaking its paw against the dragon's tough head.
Usually, it just focused on supporting and redirecting the flow of battle from afar by causing attacks from both enemies and allies to disappear and reappear in unpredictable locations.
None of its actions usually require close proximity.
However, when the air above the Dream Dragon began to shimmer and waver like heatwaves.
Then a rift of dark, shifting energy hole torn into the space widened into existence, its edges crackling with distortion.
Through this portal, the Gravitoise's head emerged, its colossal, stone-like features looming in the sky. The sheer size of the head alone seemed to present a great strain on the Void Lynx's portal, likely why it needed to appear so close to its desired target.
It was a disorienting sight. It was as if the head had been severed from its massive body, now drifting in the sky, alone and detached.
Looking below was a scene with a sickening sense of disconnection, the creature's head had vanished. The Gravitoise's gargantuan form, already imposing on the battlefield, suddenly seemed incomplete.
Its colossal body remained a large and steady presence firmly rooted to the arena, but now, a large, empty space gaped where its head should have been. Its neck appeared abruptly severed at the portal's edge and covered in an almost mirror-like rippling substance—the portal.
Everyone watching was confused. What use would transferring a head have? However, their questions were solved in the next moment when a gravitational force dozens of times greater than normal suddenly bore down on the flying dragon's body.
At the moment the gravity suddenly increased, the Void Lynx quickly flashed away, forcing the edges of the portal to begin closing around the head of the Gravitoise.
However, the gravity increase was enough to cause the Dream dragon to suddenly begin freefalling towards the stage. And before the Dream dragon could steady itself and lift its body higher once again,
The Gravitoise had already retracted its head from the portal and began to pull on it from below since it was now within range.
Unable to resist despite attempting to shapeshift into a variety of other forms, the Dream dragon was forcefully brought to the stage, and to prevent it from taking flight again the Gravitoise focused the majority of its attention and energy on keeping it earthbound.
Unfortunately, while the plan to lower the Dream dragon worked according to plan, the Void Lynx caught the undesirable attention of the Nightmare dragon while it was in the middle of its second space jump back in the direction of the stage.
The Nightmare Dragon's eyes burned with a malevolent crimson glow, its gaze sweeping across the battlefield. As its eyes locked onto Ezra's Void Lynx, the surrounding air seemed to tremble with an oppressive force, a wave of dread radiating outward in ripples. The Lynx—normally elusive and untouchable—paused mid-stride, its form flickering as if unsure of itself.
And since it does not have the passive ability of flight, since its form had been forced to pause in midair, it began to freefall to the stage like a comet.
However, the taotie waiting below seemed prepared. As it opened its mouth an invisible force seemed to wrap around its rapidly descending body, slowing down its fall, while also shrinking its body—all in preparation of being "eaten" by the taotie.
Thankfully, since they were allies, at the direction of its master, the taotie reluctantly spat out its "food" and the lynx reappeared on the stage, but now covered in a disgusting amount of partially digested substances and a strange-smelling liquid.
Perhaps it's a blessing that it still seems to have its thoughts impaired by the Nightmare dragon, otherwise it'd probably be freaking out due to the stench and filth covering it.
Meanwhile, Ezra's Voidrake darted across the field, similar to the other flying dragons but much smaller in size. yet deadly form an explosive burst of energy, its claws extending to tear through the Nightmare's scale and make it release its control of its ally.
However, the Nightmare Dragon retaliated by unleashed a devastating blast of shadowy flames in its direction. The flames spread outward, consuming the air with a sickening black mist. The Voidrake created a black hole in front of it to consume the flames, but for the first time in its existence, the black hole it created actually seemed to be reaching some kind of limit on what was being absorbed, forcing the Voidrake to close the hole and begin fleeing from the Nightmare.
However, its efforts were not useless and its distraction of the dragon served to alleviate some of its control on the Void Lynx and its eyes could be seen opening and closing repeatedly as it fought the mental invasion of the Nightmare dragon.