Chapter 618: Super Evolution! SSR Form
Thick, dark clouds hung high in the sky, thunder rolling in waves, and every so often, lightning would tear through the cloud cover, illuminating the world for an instant and revealing the magnificent divine temple standing upon the earth.
Lamorein descended onto the square before the temple.
His wing membranes folded in with a gust of wind, stirring up dust from the gaps between the stone bricks, lifting it into the air before it slowly settled back down, like a gray veil gently draping down.
The Storm Dragon raised his head, gazing up at the temple spire piercing into the clouds.
Over these years, he had been constantly traveling across the western regions, personally eliminating those resistance forces, and his visits to the divine temple had been infrequent.
Most of the time, he roamed the wilderness, ruins, and mountain ranges, hunting down resisters hiding in the shadows.
Those people scurried around like rats, scattered across the vast western lands, impossible to annihilate in one fell swoop. Each cleanup required a massive amount of time, and sometimes tracking down a single remnant group could take months.
This time, however, he had no choice but to come.
He had received a summons from the Chromatic Queen, a call from the very depths of his soul that was utterly impossible to resist. So, he had no choice but to set aside everything and rush to the temple.
The Storm Dragon stood in silence for a moment.
A few seconds later, he took a deep breath and then stepped inside.
There were no priests inside, nor any attendants.
In the empty hall, only the echo of his own footsteps reverberated.
The dome hung high above, and a gradient of five-colored light seeped out from the walls on all sides.
It was like some kind of living liquid, climbing up the walls, then dripping down along the dome, finally converging entirely toward that statue, casting its fierce and malevolent posture with a faint touch of holiness.
The Storm Dragon did not look to either side. He prostrated himself before the statue.
His dragon horns touched the cold floor, his wings lay flat against his sides, and his tail rested quietly behind him. His movements were humble to the extreme.
“Great Mother, Five-Colored Dragon, Queen of All Dragons,” he intoned, low and devout. “Your Apostle answers your call. May your scales and wings shroud all realms. May your wrath consume all who oppose you.”
The light grew brighter, spinning in the air like a tangible substance.
The five colors separated, then wove together again, coating the surface of the statue.
In the statue’s eye sockets, five flames of different colors burned, each flame corresponding to a dragon head. They made the statue appear as if it had come to life, looking down at the prostrate Storm Dragon.
Then, a voice sounded from all directions simultaneously.
“Lamorein, my Apostle, you have wasted too much time in the west.”
The Chromatic Queen directly addressed Lamorein as “Apostle,” rather than “my child.” Whenever this happened, it meant she was in a bad mood, or somewhat dissatisfied with Lamorein’s performance.
The Storm Dragon pressed his head even lower.
“Great Mother, please allow me to explain.”
“I have not been wasting time, but only because the flames of resistance in the west have not yet been completely extinguished.”
“These insects who defy your glory still cling to life in dark corners.”
“You only wish to hunt us all down, to soak every inch of that land with reverence for you.”
“That is your duty...”
“The insignificant mundane beings are no longer important.”
The Chromatic Queen’s voice was neither heavy nor light, but it brooked no argument, directly cutting off the Storm Dragon’s words.
“The faith and blood tax of mundane beings are like crops. They can be harvested season after season. But crops can be cut anytime. A little earlier or a little later makes no difference.”
“Now, there is one thing more important than those ants.”
Flames surged, forming five pairs of vertical pupils.
They flickered slightly, fixing their gaze on the Storm Dragon.
“Scarlet Emperor Cangxing, the Godslayer, the Red Emperor of Aola, Garoth Ignas.”
“Sacrifice him to me.”
Lamorein’s vertical pupils contracted slightly for a moment.
But he maintained his prostrate posture, neither raising his head nor making any unnecessary reaction.
“I want this rebellious dragon to kneel in this temple as a sacrifice.”
The Chromatic Queen’s voice echoed eerily, devoid of any tenderness, filled only with naked malice.
“I want his soul to burn for eternity in my divine realm, day and night, without rest, becoming my servant. He rejected my grace, defiled my majesty. This humiliation must be repaid with everything he has.”
The Storm Dragon was silent for a few breaths, carefully choosing his words, then slowly spoke.
“Great Mother, you have granted me unprecedented power.”
“The bloodline of the Storm Dragon and the power of Mandate surge through my veins. The very sky has become an extension of my will. I am grateful for your grace and have never doubted the power you have bestowed upon me.”
He lifted his head, the five-colored flames reflected in his vision.
“But Scarlet Emperor Cangxing... he is different. I must be honest with you.”
“He once killed a divine incarnation on the Arotala Continent in front of Saints and Immortals.”
“This is not a feat to be taken lightly.”
“Although the process was complicated, and he did not kill the god avatar alone, the result cannot be denied. Even though I have received your grace and am more powerful than ever, facing him, I do not have a one hundred percent certainty.”
He paused, his gaze meeting those five flames directly.
“He... is not an ordinary crown-level. So, I wanted to wait for a more opportune moment before offering him to you as a gift.”
“Lamorein, my child, what are you afraid of?”
The Chromatic Queen’s voice became gentle again, as if soothing an anxious hatchling.
“Behind you, there is me.”
“You are not fighting alone. You never have been.”
“The power of the Storm Dragon is far more than what you have felt now. Its upper limit is much higher than you imagine. When you truly clash with him, I will personally guide your claws and fangs. My will will be with your breath.”
“He will fall under your wings. This is a foregone conclusion, as unchangeable as the rising and setting of the sun.”
Her voice carried an absolute certainty.
Hearing these words, Lamorein’s eyes showed hesitation.
Besides the strength of Scarlet Emperor Cangxing himself, he had another layer of concern.
“Great Mother, there is another matter for you to consider.”
His voice dropped even lower as he said, “The Bronze Dragon King, Sheffield, has returned from the deep sea. His obsession with justice has not diminished in the slightest. He will inevitably see all your followers as thorns in his side.”
“Given his nature, he will not stand idly by.”
“If I defeat Scarlet Emperor Cangxing, then I will have to face the Bronze Dragon King alone next. We are both at the Mandate level, but his strength and experience are beyond my reach.”
“Being singled out by him is not a good thing for us.”
The five-colored flames leaped, gently swaying in the statue’s eye sockets.
The Chromatic Queen spoke calmly: “Sheffield is not something you need to worry about.”
“Right now, he is busy playing with the demons. He won’t be back anytime soon. By the time he returns, you will have completed everything for me.”
“Sacrifice Scarlet Emperor Cangxing to me.”
“I will grant you a new grace. Then, you will be no weaker than him.”
Lamorein opened his mouth again, wanting to say something.
“Mother, I...”
Driven by some deep-seated instinct, he really was unwilling to make an enemy of Scarlet Emperor Cangxing.
“Enough!”
Hearing this, the Chromatic Queen’s voice turned harsh, full of impatience, directly cutting him off.
At the same time, the flames expanded, nearly overflowing from the eye sockets, making the statue look extremely ferocious. All five faces twisted into angry expressions simultaneously.
“I can tolerate you having free will, tolerate your occasional small stubbornness. That is my allowance. But the prerequisite for exercising free will is to execute my will.”
“This, you should understand better than any dragon.”
Her voice suddenly dropped, sharp and sinister.
“And besides, my Apostle, do you think I cannot see that you are stalling?”
Lamorein’s expression stiffened slightly.
“Great Mother...”
“Every time, you negotiate terms. Every time, you have a new reason. Every time, you honestly tell me your concerns.”
The Chromatic Queen let out a cold laugh. “Heh. Lamorein, I can perceive every single thought of yours. Do you truly believe that a dragon who has blasphemed divine glory and has not yet become an immortal can lead the dragon race back to glory?”
“How foolish.”
Her voice was as harsh as a whip striking scales. The five-colored flames almost licked Lamorein’s snout, and a scorching heat rushed towards him.
The Storm Dragon was silent, neither confirming nor denying.
He knew that nothing he said now would make a difference.
The Chromatic Queen’s will was as clear as an iron law. Any defense would only make things worse.
“Your original intentions might have had some merit,” the Chromatic Queen’s voice returned to calm. “But to me, that has never mattered. You exist to execute my will, not to play games with me, to be evasive and deceitful, to show off your cleverness to your mother.”
Lamorein bowed his head low, his dragon horns touching the ground.
He knew he had touched an insurmountable bottom line.
Now, his situation was dire.
“Great Mother, you misunderstand.”
“Everything I do is for the glory of your honor. I...”
Lamorein’s explanation came to an abrupt halt.
He found that his throat seemed to be seized by something, unable to make any sound.
His mind struggled, like a beast trapped in a spider web, desperately trying to break free, but the web tightened with every struggle, entangling him more deeply, sinking him further in.
Willpower surged in like a tangible tide from all directions.
No escape. No place to hide.
“I have given you chances, Lamorein.”
The Chromatic Queen’s voice echoed eerily. “Time and time again, I appreciated your principles, respected your choices, gave you enough time, enough patience.”
“But now, my patience has run out.”
The last trace of warmth in her voice disappeared.
In a daze, Lamorein felt as if the statue before him had completely come to life.
The five-headed evil god was reflected in his vision, its body infinitely majestic, its gaze cold and cruel, looking down upon him from on high, as if looking at an ant.
Flames descended, sinking into the Storm Dragon’s body.
The intangible Apostle mark became scorching hot, like a red-hot branding iron pressed against his soul, burning away, one by one, the thoughts in his consciousness that opposed the Chromatic Queen’s will.
Those hesitations, concerns, deep-seated ideas, gradually turned to ashes in the flames.
Lamorein let out a low roar.
His entire body trembled violently as he struggled against the Chromatic Queen’s will.
Meanwhile, within the Small World.
The dark sky was as usual, covering every corner of the entire world.
The red iron dragon crushed the spatial crystal, releasing the meteorite. Before it could even hit the ground, he smashed it to pieces with his claw. The formless, surging frenzied flame burst forth, all of it being absorbed by the red iron dragon.
Heh!
The red iron dragon raised his head, letting out rapid gasps, his chest heaving violently.
Going through two mutations in such a short time, he felt as if every single cell in his body was burning and melting. Even his nerves were enduring the pain of being scorched. From the tips of his claws to the top of his head, from his scales to his bone marrow, there was no place that didn’t ache, no place that wasn’t burning.
Without the threat of external danger, Garoth would not have been in such a hurry to do this.
The previous One-Armed Overlord form, although a bit deformed and too unorthodox, was still...
But without a doubt, as long as he retrained, those weakened and atrophied parts of his body would gain several times the training efficiency compared to their normal state, and might even break through their original limits.
Unfortunately, this form had too many overall shortcomings.
If a powerful enemy attacked while he was still not adapted or trained back to his normal state, he would even risk death, and even escape would be difficult.
After weighing all the factors.
Garoth weighed the pros and cons and finally decided on a continuous mutation, giving up the opportunity to use this mutation for training.
Safety first. You only get to output if you’re alive.
Crack! Crack!
A series of crisp sounds came from both inside and outside his body, like the sound of metal breaking and being recast.
Garoth’s wings were the first to respond to the change.
His wingspan had always been large, and although the previous mutation had caused some atrophy, the overall proportion was still larger than that of a normal dragon.
Now, the wings further contracted inward. The wing membranes gradually became denser. The wing bones shortened, thickened, and curved. Bone density skyrocketed. The strength of both wings increased accordingly. Every wing bone became like a support structure cast from refined steel.
Next, Garoth’s bones underwent drastic changes.
His ribs tightened inward. The bone walls thickened. The marrow cavity was filled with dense trabeculae. The entire ribcage became like a close-fitting inner armor. The vertebrae re-articulated one by one. The entire spine was like a tightened steel cable, yet extremely flexible, capable of large twists and bends without affecting the execution of any movements.
Then, came the dragon scales.
The scales proliferated. The original gap structure closed up. The surface showed a forge-red luster after repeated quenching, like wearing a seamless suit of armor, but with scale-like patterns inscribed on it, making it look both like scales and plate armor.
At the same time, all the muscles proliferated wildly, but not in the deformed, piled-up manner as before.
Each muscle fiber was immediately compressed after growth, like a spring being tightened.
The limb structure also changed with the changes in bones and muscles, becoming more coordinated.
Then, Garoth naturally entered a semi-upright state.
The original prostrate quadrupedal posture was broken. His forelimbs left the ground, suspended in front of him. His upper body leaned forward slightly. His center of gravity fell between his two legs. His entire body presented a state of coiled tension, like a bowstring pulled to its limit, ready to spring at any moment.
His muscles were no longer bulky and bulging, but every single muscle was perfected to the extreme.
The lines were smooth, the contours were distinct. There wasn’t a single ounce of excess fat, nor a single unnecessary bulge. The direction of each muscle bundle was clearly visible. The size and position of each muscle were just right.
Garoth’s head was also being reshaped.
The snout bones shortened and widened. The upper and lower jaws thickened simultaneously. The tooth sockets expanded, somewhat similar to the Ember-Annihilating Form, but also completely different.
The number of teeth was halved, but each one increased several times in size.
His entire biting structure changed from a tearing type to a crushing type. When biting, the upper and lower teeth interlocked seamlessly, able to pulverize anything caught in between.
“This mutation should have good results.”
The red iron dragon gritted his teeth, already faintly feeling his body changing in a positive direction. He could feel power coalescing within him, surging up like a tide, filling every cell.
Time passed unhurriedly.
After an unknown amount of time, the mutation was complete.
Huff! Huff! Huff!
The red iron dragon breathed heavily, standing half-upright on the earth, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.
After recovering a bit from the intense mutation process, he focused his mind and began to observe himself.
The first thing Garoth noticed was that blades had grown at his elbows and knees. They could be folded and retracted or deployed directly. Their hardness and sharpness were comparable to his fangs.
In addition, his body structure had become more suited to a semi-upright state.
He could swing his claws more effectively, his center of gravity shifted more smoothly, his forelimbs had increased in length, and his shoulder and elbow joints had been reconstructed, becoming more flexible, with a greatly expanded range of motion.
Most importantly, his muscles and bones had undergone a cycle of expansion and contraction.
Density had increased. The structures of each limb were balanced. His size had not shrunk, but his weight had significantly increased.
“The dragon scales have turned forge-red.”
Garoth touched his own scales.
The structure of his scales had changed dramatically, completely different from any known dragon type. It was as if all his scales had been fused together into a single whole. There were no gaps, no weaknesses.
His defense had become much stronger.
“It’s not just defense. It feels like all attributes have skyrocketed?”
Garoth flexed his dragon claws, feeling the powerful energy flowing within him. The feeling of fullness made him want to test it immediately.
Then, he slightly bent his knees and spread his wings.
Boom!
The earth and stone beneath his feet shattered. The great dragon shot straight into the sky, soaring and swooping at incredible speed in the high altitude. Its agility and speed were only slightly inferior to the Rift Form from before, but it far surpassed the normal state. The air under his wings let out a sharp scream.
He then crashed directly into the earth, or lifted an entire mountain peak, feeling the weight his muscles and bones were bearing.
Garoth tested the changes in his attributes through various methods.
Again and again, until the data was clear.
Several hours later, he stopped, revealing an excited expression.
As he had intuitively felt earlier, his defense, speed, strength, and even health regeneration, all attributes had been greatly increased across the board. Some had even doubled.
But then, his excitement turned into doubt.
“The problem is, the power gained from mutation doesn’t come from nothing. I’ve had a massive boost to almost all my attributes now. So, what is the cost?”
Garoth furrowed the scales between his brows, his gaze sharpening.
Just a few seconds later, he was stunned, realizing the other changes.
Whoosh!
The great dragon opened his upper and lower jaws, took a deep breath, expanded his chest to the limit, and then forcefully exhaled.
The result was that, besides blowing out a stream of hot air, not even a tiny spark appeared.
He had lost a powerful ability that all great dragons possessed.
Dragon Breath.
The great dragon then raised his claw, concentrating his mind.
Hum!
Dragon Qi began to surge within his body, but it also stopped there, completely unable to be released from his fused, armor-like scales. Garoth tried to tear a hole in his scales to give the Dragon Qi an exit, but the Dragon Qi still struggled to ignite outside his body.
Garoth’s gaze flickered, vaguely realizing what the cost was.
He began to try again, and the results were as he had thought.
It wasn’t just Dragon Breath and Dragon Qi.
Even Dragon Might, all of his innate quasi-spell skills, and the convenient spell-like abilities he had learned, such as the Cleaning Spell, were all completely unusable.
Even the Spell-Extinguishing Claws had developed problems.
They could still tear space, but their precision had dropped drastically. They required long anchoring and careful tearing. Grasping energy and such were also affected. It was no longer as effortless as before.
He was gradually understanding his own state.
This mutation was an ultimate specialization for close combat, sacrificing all other means and skills.
Abandoning all ranged combat, energy projection, and spellcasting abilities, collapsing all power back into the physical body, transferring all energy into the reinforcement of the internal structure, bones, scales, claws, and fangs, allowing the physical body to gain a massive, leapfrog improvement.
This was an extreme gamble.
“Is its strength comparable to the Ember-Annihilating Form?”
Garoth pondered, assessing his current state, comparing them in his mind.
First of all, this was a powerful form, no doubt about it.
But, his proficient ranged methods had all disappeared, and he could no longer shape Dragon Qi. Overall, it might not necessarily be stronger than the Detonation Form. It was at best comparable, with each having its own strengths and weaknesses.
“There’s another serious problem.”
“If Dragon Qi can’t be externalized, then I can’t use Explosive Qi either, can I? I probably can’t activate the Radiant State, right?”
Thinking of this, the red iron dragon’s heart tightened.
If he couldn’t activate the Radiant State, this form would be a failed evolution. No matter how strong his close combat abilities were, they couldn’t make up for the loss of his trump card.
In this world, stat values were certainly important, and they were a major reason for Garoth’s strength.
But if it was only about stats, it definitely wouldn’t work.
Garoth took a deep breath and began to use Explosive Qi.
A massive amount of energy surged out from the Dragon Pearl, like a burst dam, flooding into his limbs and bones.
The great dragon’s scales bulged outward, being pried open into numerous cracks, forming a dense network of fractures.
Shimmering golden flames appeared, but unlike before, they didn’t burn fiercely like adding fuel to the fire. Instead, it was as if they skipped the first stage of Explosive Qi and directly activated the Radiant State.
The golden flames were highly condensed on the body’s surface, shining brilliantly, plating the great dragon in a layer of gold.
Garoth’s horns also began to grow in a winding manner, becoming thicker and sharper.
But unlike before...
Garoth’s eyes flickered, and then he directly stopped the Radiant State. The golden light on his body completely retracted inward, and the color of his scales returned to forge-red, only now with many fine cracks on them.
His first-stage Explosive Qi had become a controllable Radiant State.
So, the question was.
Could his original second-stage Explosive Qi, the original Radiant State, be activated again on top of this, a second Radiant State?
Garoth’s breathing gradually became heavier.
He suppressed his emotions and began to use Explosive Qi again, directly entering the Radiant State. All his scales turned gold, as if covered by a layer of molten gold.
Garoth could feel the powerful energy surging within him.
Like a roaring river, crashing through his blood vessels, his muscles, his bones, almost tearing him apart.
But he knew this was not the end.
He took a deep breath and continued to use Explosive Qi, squeezing out every remaining bit of energy from the Dragon Pearl.
Rumble!
A roaring sound like an engine’s roar came from within the great dragon, as if some great beast was awakening inside.
Crack!
More fine cracks appeared on the surface of his scales. The cracks spread, and golden flames squeezed out from the gaps, but instead of burning, they seeped out slowly and heavily like lava, gradually spreading across his entire body.
The great dragon’s body could not fully contain this power.
Blood, carried by the Dragon Qi, surged out from the cracks. As soon as it ignited, it mixed with the golden flames, infusing the golden plating with a crimson color, also spreading across his entire body.
In this way, the original golden plating began to change color due to the mixing of blood.
It shifted from shining gold to a reddish-gold, finally settling on a color similar to rose gold.
Bright, shining, dazzling, dangerous.
The horns that had grown due to the first Radiant State began to proliferate again.
They started to curve backward, going around the top of the skull, winding down the back of the head like vines, continuing until they reached the shoulder blades before stopping. From the front, they looked like hair draped over the shoulders. From the side, they looked like a war crown growing from the skull.
Power.
Unprecedented power surged wildly within the great dragon, like an endless tsunami crashing against the shore.
The red iron dragon couldn’t help himself. He raised his head and let out a roar at the dark sky.
Roar!
Just one roar. The sound wave shot straight into the sky, directly dispersing the clouds, blasting a huge hole. The clouds rolled outward, revealing the pitch-black sky behind.
Then, the great dragon landed on the ground.
His body stood upright. He retracted his right claw, then swung it forward violently.
The air didn’t have time to escape.
Before the claw tip even arrived, the air in front was compressed into a visible semi-transparent barrier of air pressure. It existed for an instant, then exploded, letting out a deafening boom.
Rip!
A shockwave swept across the earth.
With Garoth as the center, the earth in a fan-shaped area in front of him was turned upside down as if by an invisible giant plow.
The entire surface layer of rock was lifted up, shattering into slabs of various sizes in the shockwave. They tumbled and rolled into the distance. Slabs crashed into slabs, breaking into smaller pieces. The smaller pieces crashed into other pieces, grinding against each other into dust as they tumbled.
This strike carried no technique.
It was merely the aftermath of pure power that caused such destruction. No energy projection, no technique enhancement. Just pure brute force.
“Could praying to the Goddess of Fortune actually work?”
Garoth muttered to himself, then shook his head.
“No, it has nothing to do with prayer. I killed a favored one of the Goddess of Fortune.”
This form, completely specialized for close combat, with its massively increased stats and the special mechanism to perform a second Radiant State, was still stronger than all previous mutation forms overall, even if the cost was also great.
Pulling a double was a miracle.
At the cost of a vast and diverse array of skills, he had achieved the pinnacle of mutation enhancement in terms of physical body.
Crucially, he had also obtained the ultimate trump card of the second Radiant State, allowing him to unleash power beyond his limits at a critical moment.
Garoth held back his excitement, forcing himself to calm down.
He didn’t have time to think of a name for this new form now.
The second Radiant State could not be casually interrupted, and the aftermath would be severe. So, while it was still active, he quickly familiarized himself with all the powers of this new form.
Time passed as Garoth trained and recovered.
Thus, several months went by.
In the west, the silent temple.
Lamorein’s resistance was completely dismantled.
Those hesitations, fears, and calculations all vanished before the Chromatic Queen’s will. The constantly struggling and shifting light in his eyes finally settled into calm.
When he raised his head, his expression had become cold.
It was as if he was wearing an invisible mask, all emotions sealed behind it, showing no ripples.
“This time, you will fully execute my will.”
A voice sounded, unhurried.
At the same time, Lamorein slowly rose from his prostrate position. His wing membranes re-furled against his sides. His tail lifted from the ground.
“I understand, Great Mother.”
“I will fully execute your will. Scarlet Emperor Cangxing will become your sacrifice. The Aola Kingdom will be reduced to ashes in the storm. I will personally bring that rebellious dragon before you, make him kneel, make him repent.”
He replied.
“Good.”
“My Apostle, let the storm descend upon the earth, let thunder proclaim my return. This time, do not disappoint me again.”