Without the armor-like skeletons covering its entire build, the previously Bone Dragon looked much smaller. It now looked like a skinned creature with some of its flesh torn and parts of its internal bones exposed.

However, despite its stature reduction and really unbecoming appearance, the dragon actually emitted a much stronger aura than what it displayed before. This naturally made the faces of all surviving acolytes turn awful.

Emery's eyes quickly checked around him, to see who else was actually still in the fight. He instantly became pale when he saw Chumo, who was currently lying not far from where he was with a huge bone shard embedded through his chest.

"No! No, Chumo! Please hang on!" Emery said, quickly approaching him.

Sliding his way toward Chumo, he quickly cast [Nature Blessing] on the latter. Exuberant green lights appeared in his hand, as they turned root-like and spreaded throughout Chumo's injured body, doing their best in healing the damage done.

Emery could clearly see Chumo's body trembling violently, struggling between the thin line of death and life. Hence, he immediately pumped more spirit energy onto the spell in hope of saving and clutching him out of the death's grasp.

While he was busy putting his attention on Chumo's critical condition, a figure came approaching Emery in hurried steps.

"Emery! You're still alive... This is good."

It was Roran, who was already wearing his new tier 4 armor. Emery recalled how the man was seen, as if he could no longer fight without the accompaniment of armor. Now, it was clear all that was just a mere pretense.

But knowing Roran's characteristics, it was to be expected.

The Harlight protege quickly told Emery that his subordinate, Amara, didn't make it through the Bone now Undead Dragon's flurry of sharp bone shards. The same fate also befell the half blood acolyte, Igor.

Not far on his left, Gerri focused his attention on healing the wounds he received, that luckily weren't that serious.

Meanwhile, Orion could be seen kneeling, trying his best to heal his twin brother Orycon, who was currently leaning weakly on the wall. Blood basically covered every inch of his body, telling others that his condition was far from good.

Alas, Orian's efforts were destined to be in vain, as a second later, Emery saw Orycon's body gradually fade and turn into motes of light like everyone else who was eliminated.

[Total number of acolytes : 8/692]

Another one had been eliminated and was sent out of the game. The bad news for Emery was, Chumo might join those people soon enough.

Realizing this, Roran quickly signaled to Orian to help Emery heal Chumo. After all, they really couldn't afford to lose another person.

Fortunately, Orycon's elimination didn't have too much of an impact on Orian. The young man quickly made his way over and did what he was asked to do.

"You have to prepare yourself to fight, Emery. I really have no idea what creature this is. It seems the headmaster has prepared this as a surprise for all of us."

The Harlight protege wasn't just known as someone who was well informed, he also somehow gained insider information about the Magus Games. Even so, this creature named Undead Dragon was not included in the information he collected.

To make matters difficult, what the Bone Dragon had just done was something purely from fantasy, something no normal Bone Dragon could do. However as they were in the virtual arena, everything evidently became possible.

The dragon unleashed a powerful roar, as if declaring to the world that it was ready to fight.

It quickly shot forward, charging toward the two figures that were standing on the far end of the cave-like room. The long-haired beauty Annara and her teammate, a privileged acolyte specialized in spear called Yunxiao.

The Undead Dragon rushed at the two. Emery could tell it was much faster than before. However, the two, as talented individuals chosen to be enrolled in privileged class, were prepared to such matters as they moved out of the trajectory perfectly.

Emery watched as Annara used a skill that made her entire complexion turn much paler, while her eyes went red, as if there were blazing flames inside of them. It looked like the Bat bloodline Transformation he had seen from the attacker that night in Terra kingdom, but more subtle.

The skill improved Annara's overall stats, increasing the value of everything across the board. Thanks to this, Annara gained the necessary speed she needed, while her whip attacks became stronger and fiercer.

Her partner, Yunxiao, was also not to be scorned. The young man was a formidable spear master and an acolyte with lightning affinity, an element that boasted great destructive power.

He swung the spear in his hand as he cast a lightning-based battle art technique. The tip of his spear vehemently crackled with numerous lightning currents, as the illusory shape of a dragon materialized upon it.

The collaboration between the two individuals fiercely bombarded the Undead Dragon with attacks from two different directions and was able to take down some of its health.

[93/100]

Seeing how the dragon wasn't as ferocious as they initially thought, Roran quickly called Emery and Gerri, who had somewhat recovered to join the fray and fight together. The three of them quickly rushed over, charging from the other side opposite Annara and Yunxiao.

Gerri immediately discharged his powerful spell [Pyroblast]. A massive, purplish ball of flame swiftly materialized and rapidly headed toward the Undead Dragon, creating a loud sound and explosion upon impact.

On the other hand, Emery attacked relentlessly with tier 4 sword tightly, while occasionally unleashing [Shadow Edge] when he got the opportunity. In the meantime, Roran increased his vigilance, as he was tasked with protecting the two people who were busy attacking from the vicious retaliation of the dragon's tails and claws.

"Die! Die! Die!" Gerri screamed madly, as he threw his [Pyroblast] like candies.

Each of his purplish fireball managed to take one point off the dragon's health, while Emery's [Shadow Edge], though not as frequent as the former, could shave off a staggering 4 points.

Within minutes, the Undead Dragon had lost 50 points of its health. Seeing this, the group started to feel elated.

"This is nothing much!" Gerri said smugly.

Roran, however, was still quiet and maintained his caution. The same could be said to Emery, who believed there was definitely something else about the dragon. And as expected, it indeed still has something in store.

The dragon suddenly unleashed a roar again. But this time, there was something different about it. It was able to shake their minds for a second. In that split window of opportunity, the dragon charged towards Gerri, who was the closest to it.

"Gerri!!"

Shaking off the awful sensation, Emery quickly cast [Blink] and helped his friend. He was barely able to, as when he reappeared, Gerri had already lost one of his arms and part of his shoulder. Luckily, the two of them managed to get away with their life intact.

"Urgh...", groaned Gerri weakly, while blood kept pouring out the wound like a gushing river.

"Hold on there, Gerri. I will try to heal you." Emery said, as he roused the greenish spirit energy in his body.

Emery was about to cast [Nature Blessing] on Gerri, when he was distracted by Roran's loud voice. He turned his head over and saw the dumbfounded look on the latter's face. Confusion only overtook him for a moment, before he quickly realized the reason.

The health of the Undead Dragon that they had painstakingly reduced had returned to its original state.

[100/100]