Chapter 198 — THE SECOND AWAKENING
The battlefield was no longer a battlefield.
It was a graveyard of broken mountains.
Miles of shattered terrain stretched beneath the burning sky. Erald crystal veins had spread across the land like frozen lightning, turning rivers, hills, and even entire forests into jagged jade sculptures.
Smoke rolled across the horizon.
The sixth city still stood in the distance.
Barely.
And between that fragile line of civilization—
And total annihilation—
Stood The Nine.
But they were no longer untouched.
Dr. Elena Kovács lay in a crater half a kiloter away, blood staining the fractured ground beneath her. Several of her harmonic drones lay scattered around the crater like broken stars.
Her voice still echoed faintly in the comm channel.
"Still... operational..."
But even she knew the truth.
She was barely able to stand.
The Jade Dragon hovered above them.
Uninjured was no longer the right word.
It had been damaged.
The left wing joint still bore fractures where molten jade dripped slowly down its scales. Several plates had been shattered by Titan Breaker and Azure Heaven Severance.
But the creature’s erald veins were glowing brighter than ever.
Its power had not diminished.
It had grown.
Dean Xu Canglong steadied his breathing, sword held low at his side.
"Everyone... status."
General Han Dae-Woo spat blood and rolled his shoulders.
"Still punching."
Commander Rafael Ibarra leaned against a ridge of crystal.
"Water reserves dropping."
Dean Feng Yanrui hovered in the sky, phoenix flas flickering around him like dying embers.
"Still breathing."
Grandmaster Tenzin Dorje stood unmoving, though faint tremors ran through his arms.
"Gravity fields weakening."
Astra Nyx stepped out of folded space nearby.
Her breathing was quiet.
But faster than before.
"Still here."
High above—
Headmaster Suryavansh Rao remained floating in the sky, the golden light around him dimr now.
"Then we continue."
The Jade Dragon watched them.
Its massive head lowered slowly.
"You continue."
Its voice echoed like thunder beneath the earth.
"Even after understanding the difference."
The dragon’s erald eyes flared brighter.
"Very well."
The air changed.
Dr. Kovács’ voice sharpened.
"Energy surge detected!"
Dean Xu Canglong’s gaze rose instantly.
"What kind?"
Her answer ca a second later.
"...Unknown."
The dragon spread its wings wider than before.
The sky darkened.
Clouds spiraled toward the dragon like water draining down a massive vortex.
Erald light surged beneath every scale on its body.
The veins glowed brighter.
Then brighter still.
Until the entire dragon looked like a living erald sun suspended in the sky.
Grandmaster Dorje whispered quietly.
"It is shedding restraint."
The dragon inhaled.
Its chest expanded slowly.
But this ti—
The energy did not gather only in its throat.
It spread.
Across its wings.
Across its spine.
Across every scale.
The erald light pulsed violently.
Then—
The dragon roared.
Not forward.
Upward.
A pillar of erald energy erupted into the sky like a spear piercing heaven itself.
The planetary ring above flickered faintly.
The battlefield trembled.
Dr. Kovács’ voice broke through the comm channel.
"I’m reading a structural shift!"
"What kind of shift?" Han demanded.
Her voice trembled slightly.
"It’s... evolving."
The erald pillar collapsed back into the dragon’s body.
The light faded.
And the Jade Dragon changed.
Its wings expanded further.
The crystal scales along its spine sharpened into longer, jagged ridges. The fractures across its left wing did not disappear.
Instead—
They hardened.
The damaged sections transford into darker jade armor.
Stronger.
Denser.
Its body elongated slightly, the neck stretching longer like a serpent erging from a cocoon.
Its horns grew.
Curving backward like twin erald scythes.
The dragon’s aura expanded across kiloters.
The pressure alone forced the Nine backward.
The Jade Dragon had entered a second form.
Dr. Kovács whispered.
"Phase... two."
The dragon lowered its head again.
This ti—
Its voice sounded deeper.
Older.
"Correction complete."
Its erald eyes burned like twin stars.
"You forced adaptation."
Its wings moved.
The air collapsed.
A single wingbeat produced a shockwave that shattered three mountains.
The Nine barely stabilized themselves.
General Han grinned despite the blood on his face.
"Well."
He cracked his knuckles.
"That looks worse."
Commander Ibarra exhaled slowly.
"Much worse."
Dean Xu Canglong raised his sword again.
"Focus."
The dragon attacked.
Its speed had doubled.
A claw descended toward Astra Nyx.
She barely folded space in ti to avoid it.
The impact crater left behind was half a kiloter wide.
The dragon’s tail whipped sideways.
The air itself exploded.
Commander Ibarra raised a water barrier—
The barrier shattered instantly.
He was thrown into the ground again.
Dean Feng Yanrui launched upward.
"Phoenix Sovereign Descent!"
The flaming phoenix avatar crashed into the dragon’s neck again.
But this ti—
The dragon simply shook its head.
The phoenix shattered.
Feng Yanrui was blasted backward through the sky.
General Han roared and charged forward again.
"Titan Breaker!"
His fist struck the dragon’s chest.
The impact detonated across the battlefield.
But the scale barely cracked.
Han stared at his fist.
"...That got tougher."
Grandmaster Dorje increased gravity again.
"Mountain Suppression!"
The ground sank.
The dragon slowed—
For half a second.
Then it lifted its wing.
The gravity field collapsed completely.
Dorje staggered backward.
Dean Xu Canglong moved again.
His blade flashed across the dragon’s neck.
"Azure Heaven Severance!"
The strike landed perfectly.
A thin crack appeared across one scale.
But far smaller than before.
Headmaster Rao fired another solar beam.
"Solar Cataclysm!"
The beam struck the dragon’s chest.
The dragon inhaled.
And swallowed it again.
The beam vanished into erald light.
The Nine paused.
For the first ti—
True doubt appeared across the battlefield.
The dragon spoke again.
"You escalate."
Its erald aura expanded further.
"I escalate."
The glow in its throat began building again.
Larger than before.
Much larger.
Dr. Kovács’ voice ca through the channel.
Weak.
But urgent.
"Energy density... triple previous roar."
The Nine stared at the dragon.
And realized the truth.
The Jade Dragon had not simply adapted.
It had evolved.
And the next attack might erase not just the battlefield—
But the entire city behind them.
Dean Xu Canglong lifted his sword once more.
His voice remained calm.
"Prepare."
The dragon’s erald glow reached critical brightness.
The sky turned green.
And the second roar began forming.
[Chapter ENDS]
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