Chapter 203 — THE PRICE OF A SHIELD (PART I)
The city had fallen into silence.Not because the people had stopped running.Not because the sirens had stopped screaming.But because every eye had turned toward the sky.Above the skyline—
The Jade Dragon hovered.Six kiloters of ancient destruction suspended over glass towers and highways that looked fragile beneath its shadow.The erald glow gathering inside the dragon’s throat painted the clouds green.People in the streets froze.Drivers abandoned cars.
Children clung to their parents.Phones trembled in shaking hands as the creature above them grew brighter and brighter.Across the city—Ergency broadcasts blared through every speaker system."Evacuate imdiately!"
"Take shelter!""Move away from open areas!"But there was nowhere to run.Not fast enough.The dragon’s chest expanded.
The energy building within its throat was larger than any attack it had unleashed before.Dr. Elena Kovács’ voice crackled through the comm channel."Energy density rising... exponential curve!"Above the city—The Nine hovered around the dragon.
Exhausted.Bleeding.But still standing.Dean Xu Canglong tightened his grip on his sword."We cannot let that fire."
General Han Dae-Woo cracked his neck, breathing heavily."Then we stop it."Commander Rafael Ibarra rose from the collapsed skeleton of a skyscraper, water spiraling weakly around his arms."Or we die trying."The Jade Dragon looked down at them.
Its erald eyes glowed brighter."You protect."Its voice rolled across the city like thunder between mountains."Then watch."The glow in its throat intensified.
The air around its jaws warped as massive energy pressure bent the atmosphere.Even the Nine felt it.The power of the attack building there was far greater than the previous roar.Grandmaster Tenzin Dorje whispered quietly."That will erase the city."
Dean Feng Yanrui’s phoenix flas ignited again."Then we interrupt it."The Nine moved.
The Desperate Assault
Astra Nyx vanished first.Space folded around her like silk being pulled through a needle.She appeared directly above the dragon’s skull.Her blade shimred with dinsional distortion."Void Crescent."
The curved slash tore across the dragon’s jaw.Space split.The erald glow flickered.But the energy did not dissipate.The dragon turned its head slightly.
A pulse of erald pressure exploded outward.Astra vanished just before the shockwave hit.General Han followed.He shot upward through the sky like artillery."Titan Breaker!"
His fist slamd into the dragon’s throat.The impact shook the skyline.Windows shattered across entire city blocks.For a mont—The erald glow wavered.
But it did not disappear.The dragon’s tail whipped upward.Han barely crossed his arms before the strike landed.The impact launched him across the city.He crashed through three buildings before finally stopping in a pile of twisted steel.
"Still alive..." he groanedmander Ibarra attacked next.He lifted the city harbor into the sky.Water rose like a tidal column."Leviathan Spear!"
The spiraling water drill slamd into the dragon’s chest wound.The erald scales cracked slightly.The dragon growled.The glow in its throat dimd—For half a second.
Then it surged again.The dragon flicked its wing.The water spear shattered.Ibarra was thrown across the skyline.Dean Feng Yanrui roared.
Phoenix flas exploded around him."Phoenix Sovereign Descent!"A massive phoenix avatar dove straight into the dragon’s throat.Crimson fire engulfed its head.The erald glow flickered violently.
But the dragon inhaled deeper.The flas blew apart.Feng Yanrui was blasted backward through the air.Above them—Headmaster Suryavansh Rao gathered solar light.
A miniature sun ford between his hands."Solar Cataclysm Beam!"The golden beam struck the dragon’s throat.For a mont—The erald energy destabilized.
But the dragon swallowed the beam.The solar fire vanished inside its jaws.Rao’s eyes widened."It absorbed it."Dean Xu Canglong stepped forward.
His sword flashed."Azure Heaven Severance!"The blade carved across the dragon’s throat.A crack spread across the jade scales.Erald blood spilled across the sky.
The dragon roared in anger.But the glow in its throat did not vanish.It only grew brighter.The Nine realized the truth.They could damage it.
But they could not stop the attack.The Jade Dragon opened its jaws wider.The energy inside its throat expanded into a swirling erald vortex.Dr. Kovács’ voice trembled through the channel."Impact radius... entire tropolitan zone!"
Millions of lives.Gone.The dragon prepared to fire.Then—One figure moved.
Not forward.Upward.Grandmaster Tenzin Dorje.The old monk stepped into the sky between the dragon and the city.His gray robes fluttered in the wind created by the dragon’s wings.
Dean Xu Canglong’s eyes widened."Dorje."The monk spoke calmly."I will hold it."Han’s voice erupted through the comm channel.
"Are you insane?"Dorje smiled faintly."The mountain does not move when the storm arrives."He closed his eyes.Then placed both hands together in front of him.
"Foundation Seal."The earth beneath the entire city trembled.Gravity intensified across kiloters.Buildings groaned.The dragon’s wings slowed slightly under the sudden pressure.
Dorje rose higher into the sky.Directly in front of the dragon’s open jaws.The erald vortex brightened."Dorje!" Ibarra shouted.But the monk remained calm.
"Protect the city."His voice carried through the comm channel."Even if it costs ."The Jade Dragon studied him."You place your life before theirs."
Dorje opened his eyes."Of course."The dragon’s voice rumbled."Then be erased first."The erald vortex reached critical brightness.
The attack was about to fire.Dorje inhaled slowly.And raised both hands toward the dragon.The sky trembled.And the Jade Dragon unleashed the attack.
The erald beam erupted.
It did not resemble light.
It resembled the sky itself collapsing into a single point and falling toward the earth. The air scread as the attack tore through the atmosphere, the pressure alone shattering glass across miles of the city below. Buildings trembled. Streets cracked. Sirens died beneath the roar of impossible power. And in the path of that annihilation—
Grandmaster Tenzin Dorje stood alone.
His gray robes fluttered violently in the storm of energy. His palms remained raised, unmoving, as the erald radiance rushed toward him like the end of the world.
Behind him—
Millions of lives waited. Dorje closed his eyes. And the light swallowed him.
[Chapter ENDS]
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