As soon as Emery saw his friends, he dashed towards the crowd of hundreds of people.

"Klea, Chumo, Thrax! What are you all doing here?!"

Unfortunately for Emery, or rather just as expected, his somewhat rough question didn't get a great reception. Especially from a certain person.

"Hey! What's with the reaction? Aren't you happy that we are here?" Klea furrowed her brows as she spoke those words. The brawn of the team, the one known as Gladiator, however, laughed boisterously at Emery.

"Hoho! What are you talking about, my friend? It's a duel between you and that dragon guy! Of course, there's no way we're going to miss it!"

Emery threw an apologetic look at Klea, when he realized how rude his question sounded.

Turning his gaze to the only person left of the three, Chumo smiled and calmly said, "Us three got limited access to watch the duel."

Upon hearing that, a look of confusion appeared on Emery's face. "Aaa, how did that happen?"

He absolutely had no idea such a thing called limited access existed. Fortunately, it was at this moment a figure came out from the crowd.

"This is such an important fight for you, so I arranged for them to be able to come. I hope it didn't startle you too much." Emery looked and saw another familiar figure.

"Julian?" Emery was confused. "How come you are here? I thought you were on"

Julian smiled. "I jumped out of the tank right after I heard about this duel, just so you know. Hahahah..." After that, he jokingly punched Emery on the chest, "We're all already here and will be cheering for you. So, don't you dare to lose!"

The others also quickly followed suit. Thrax laughed loudly, pointing his thumb at him. "Go beat that lizard and make us proud!" Chumo beamed a smile, "Good luck, Emery."

Klea pounced and kissed him on the cheek, before hugging his body and whispering, "Good luck and please stay safe."

Before Emery could answer Klea's concerns, another familiar voice was heard. "If a kiss can make you win this fight, then I'll give you one too later."

Emery just smiled wryly at the red-haired girl, who had unknowingly arrived. He looked at Klea, then his friends, before saying, "Thank you everyone. I will definitely try my best."

Throughout all this, the Dragon bloodline protege still stood calmly on top of a large rock, waiting patiently with his eyes closed. It looked as if he didn't mind the reunion continuing, as long as it didn't go beyond today.

However, Emery did not want his opponent to wait too long. Hence, he excused himself from the group of people dear to him and jumped onto a rock that lay directly opposite where Zach stood.

As soon as Emery's feet landed on top of the rock, the spectators that surrounded the open field started to turn rowdy.

"Hey look, look! They are about to start! This is exciting!"

"How long do you think the Savage Acolyte will last? An hour? Half an hour?"

"10 minutes!"

"20 minutes at most!"

"Are you all crazy?! It will be amazing if he can still stand in 5 minutes!"

"Ten to one, ten for the Savage Acolyte! Come and bet your pills!"

Emery, who was standing on top of the rock, ignored the chatter going on around him. He was busy trying to calm himself down to prepare for the duel. He knew the upcoming fight would definitely be one of his hardest fights.

The way Zach stood calmly, with his hand holding the broadsword that pierced the rock in front of him, reminded him of the last time they fought. That time, he was so badly beaten that he promised himself the next time - this time - the end result would be different.

A few moments later, Zach opened his mouth. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," Emery answered. Upon hearing that, the Dragon bloodline protege finally revealed his closed eyes. Two golden pupils stared right into him, as if they were trying to see through his existence.

In response, Emery pulled out the Savage Sword and held it firmly. Without further ado and without the slightest hesitation, he immediately took the first step with a bang.

BOOM!

[Immortal Gate - stage 5]

In the blink of an eye, a faint layer of blazing energy appeared and engulfed Emery's entire body.

[Battle power increased by 32]

[Twilight transformation]

[Twilight Form has increased your spell power]

[Twilight Form has increased your magic resistance]

[Battle power increased by 70 points]

[Battle Power: 245 (347)]

Emery was busy reaching the peak of his strong physical and mental prowess. However, together with the increase of his battle power, his urge for fierce and intense battle had also proportionally risen.

Howl

A loud, deafening sound echoed in the air, as Emery used [Battle Howl] to further bolster his strength.

[Battle power increased by 15 points]

[Battle Power: 245 (362)]

Just like their previous encounter, the Dragon bloodline protege looked confident with a smile on his face. He just stood there, waiting without preparing any stance.

Naturally, Emery, whose primal urge had already been enhanced, couldn't lie low after seeing such a condescending attitude. It just roused the savagery within him, so his body shot forth.

Swish!

With his opponent clearly waiting for his initiative, Emery had no plan to do any kind of attack other than a direct one from the front. His figure flickered across the field of rocks and appeared in front of Zach in no time.

The sword in his hand had already been brought high in the sky. Emery launched the first blow of their duel - a powerful slash from above. Its sharp blade glowed as it was laced with [Heroic Slash]. A burst of wind was generated as the sword descended towards the Dragon bloodline protege.

Swissshhh!

Zach could feel the power of the slash that came for him, so he grabbed his sword with both of his hands and countered Emery's attack with the polar opposite, an upward smash. Time seemed to slow down as the two swords gradually drew closer to each other, until finally there was an explosion.

BOOM!

An ear-splitting bang resounded in the air, as the two attacks crashed into each other. It was such a powerful clash the rock that Zach's foot stepped on shattered and threw the Dragon protege back a few feet, where his body proceeded to hit a rock in the back smashing it to pieces.

The first exchange: Emery one, Zach nil.

Everyone in the audience cheered, when they saw the short yet intense clash between the two, but of course everyone, including Emery himself, knew it was far from over. In fact, it was only just getting started.

From the rubble and smoke blocking the view, Zach's figure walked out with a calm expression on his face, stretching his limbs as if nothing had happened. The Dragon bloodline protector's gaze was fixed on his opponent, no signs of pain being seen.

"Very good. The current you is worthy to fight me." Zach said, before Emery suddenly felt a powerful rush of energy washing over him, originating from the former's Dragon bloodline. Gradually, Emery watched his opponent's two hands and feet started to transform and be covered by red scales.

Afterward, Zach picked up his sword with one hand and swung the huge 2 meter long sword around as if it was a feather. Immediately after, he took a fighting stance and brandished his sword towards Emery.

"My turn."

Before his own voice faded, Zach had disappeared from where he was standing. His figure shot across the field at a speed Emery could barely follow and swung his sword horizontally. Seeing this, Emery quickly positioned his sword and attempted to block or parry the attack.

CLANK!!!

Emery was thrown back two feet when they made contact, but he quickly recovered and readied himself for a retaliatory strike. Faint rhymes and mysterious runes as well as symbols appeared and circled around Emery's body.

[36 Dao Divine Sword Technique]

Clankk! clankkk! Clankk! CLANKK!

Successive metallic sounds resounded through the air, as the two men danced their respective swordsmanship. In the midst of this melodious yet deadly rhythm, a loud laugh was suddenly heard.

"HAHA! Impressive!" A wide grin could be seen on Zach's face. "Even my Executioner is impressed by you!" His words were quickly drowned, as the exchanges of swords grew fiercer.

Swish! Swish!

Clank! Clank! Clank! Clannkk!

Dozens of clashes had taken place between the two. At this point, Emery's display of [36 Dao Divine Sword Technique] had passed the stage 5 and reached the stage 6 variations.

Zach was successfully caught off guard by the abrupt change. So Emery managed to get into the opening and land a slash on his opponent's waist. It cut deep into his flesh. causing him to bleed profusely.

Emery was happy when he saw his success. Alas, that happiness was short-lived, as the next moment, Zach maneuvered his sword in such a way to strike Emery's head from a blind spot on the side.

BAM!

A dull sound resounded, as Emery lost his balance due to the unexpected attack.

Zach was bleeding from his wound, but he didn't seem to be in pain at all as he immediately chased after Emery. With a situation where he hadn't recovered his ground, the latter could only save himself by using [Blink] to escape.

The second round ended with a draw.

However, this fact was of great concern to Emery, as he knew Zach was currently only undergoing a partial transformation. The young man still hadn't brought out his full strength. Somewhat incensed by his opponent's attitude, Emery glared and shouted.

"Stop playing around and show me your true strength!"

Hearing that, Zach turned to Emery and gave a small smile. In the next second, the former suddenly let out a thunderous roar and his entire body began to undergo a transformation.

[Crimson Bahamut Transformation]

There were tremors all around the area, as Zach the dragon bloodline showed his true power.