"Crack, crack, crack—"
A grating series of shattering sounds rang out across the arena.
At the very center of the platform, Dago stretched his body, his spine cracking like a drawn bowstring with thunderous force.
The rune-black radiance of the Flesh Imprint [Frost Element] surged and boiled through his muscles like viscous oil.
The purple triangular symbols attached to the surface of his body seemed like parasites that had encountered their natural enemy. They continuously withered, curled up, and then fell away limply.
Even more curse power was forcibly expelled from his pores by the tyrannical black radiance within him, turning into foul-smelling purple smoke that dissipated.
When the final trace of purple peeled away, boom!
An ancient, savage, utterly domineering aura burst forth from Dago's body, rising like a column of smoke and stirring the deathly still air around him.
Two enormous mysterious balls of light emerged from the fallen Gale and Vicky respectively. Like fish drawn by an invisible force, they instantly sank into Dago's body.
They were spoils of battle, and kindling for climbing to a higher tier.
In an instant, the soul phantom behind Dago swelled once more. Its vast shadow continued to spread, rising swiftly like nightfall and devouring the light, blotting out the sky above most of the platform in the blink of an eye.
Within the shadow, the dormant phantom of the Despair Winter Dragon seemed to awaken, the sound of its scales grinding together like clashing steel.
It exhaled an imperceptible void-cold current as two enormous abyssal eyes pierced through the mist, their gaze falling upon—
The noble, sacred goddess of the crown, and Michael beneath her, wearing an indifferent expression.
"Next..."
Dago felt his Soul Force surge once again, violently washing away the remnants of the curse power Vicky had inflicted