Cold mist and drifting frost seeped from James’ body, swirling around him like the breath of winter itself. His breathing was ragged and heavy; cold vapor spilled from his mouth with every exhausted exhale. His glassy eyes were clouded with fatigue. His shoulders rose slowly and unevenly as he struggled for air.

  Yet beyond his external turmoil, a vindictive cheer echoed in his mind.

  'It worked. My plan worked'.

  Deinofrigus recoiled, studying James with shimmering blue eyes.

  “So that’s how it is,” he murmured, realization dawning.

  “This was your plan all along, to take my blood, claim my power, and use it against me!”

  James said nothing.

  But the faint curve at the corner of his mouth was answer enough. The atmosphere around him shifted, everyone felt it.

  Behind him, Lysandra was still struggling beneath Deinofrigus’s mana zone, but a deeper unease replaced the crushing pressure.

  The air around James no longer felt like that of an ally.

  It felt like standing beside something that had been starving for a very long time.

  The mist thickened.

  And for the first time since the battle began, Deinofrigus took a step back.

  “Preposterous! You think you can wield my own power and defeat me?!”

  James did not respond.

  Suddenly, from either side of him, two eastern ice dragons erupted from the ground. Their frozen maws opened wide, baring jagged fangs as they lunged at the wyvern and clamped onto his throat.

  Deinofrigus staggered backward, the cavern shaking violently.

  With a furious roar, he swung one winged arm and shattered both dragons instantly.

  But that single moment of distraction was enough.

  James launched himself forward in an explosive leap and drove his fist into the Mystic Beast’s chin.

  The cavern trembled as Deinofrigus stumbled from the impact.

  Before James could land, however, a blast of energy struck him midair, hurling him into the cavern wall. His body left a deep imprint in the rock.

  Deinofrigus surged toward him. For a creature of his size, he moved with terrifying speed.

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  Reaching James, he brought both winged arms down repeatedly, raining blow after blow into the stone. The cavern wall crumbled into fine powdered debris under the assault.

  He clasped his hands together to deliver a final devastating strike, but stopped mid-swing, inches from impact.

  On closer look, James was holding them back.

  Despite his bloodied condition, he strained upward, using every ounce of strength to halt the crushing force. However something strange was happening around him, blue blood flowed from his wounds, but instead of falling, it streamed toward his hands, forming something that resembled massive gauntlets.

  They reinforced his already formidable strength, stabilizing his defense.

  As he strained beneath the Mystic Beast’s weight, the blood-formed gauntlets expanded until they were nearly twenty percent larger than his body.

  With a roar of effort, James forced the wyvern’s arms upward.

  Deinofrigus stumbled back.

  Refusing to yield, he immediately fired an energy beam at James. The latter narrowly avoided it by a hair’s breadth.

  James skidded across the ground before staggering to a halt, eyes locked onto the melancholy wyvern.

  He crouched and placed his hand on the snow-covered ground.

  Suddenly, a gargantuan ice golem, nearly the size of the wyvern erupted from beneath the earth. James positioned himself within a protected enclosure atop its core, piloting it from within.

  Deinofrigus growled.

  “For someone who has only just begun using my power… you are remarkably proficient,” he snarled.

  James did not reply. Instead, he commanded the golem to raise its arms to guard its face, one leg shifting forward, he took on a boxer’s stance.

  Deinofrigus roared. Two energy orbs formed at his sides and shot toward the golem.

  It dodged with surprising agility. Its footwork was fluid and disciplined like that of a seasoned fighter.

  The wyvern unleashed a torrent of ice shards, each one hurtling toward the golem with lethal force.

  James kept the golem’s arms raised, shielding himself from the barrage. Despite the relentless assault, the construct advanced steadily toward the Mystic Beast.

  Once within range, the golem delivered a swift jab to Deinofrigus’s face, followed instantly by a crushing uppercut.

  The wyvern’s teeth splintered as his jaws snapped shut violently. Blood spilled from his fractured, once-pristine face.

  Ten energy orbs materialized around him and fired in rapid succession.

  The golem’s movements were nimble and precise, weaving through the blasts with calculated efficiency. More orbs appeared, some detonating at point-blank range, yet the construct avoided most of them, guarding strategically where evasion was impossible.

  To the others, even to Deinofrigus, it appeared effortless.

  But inside, James was in turmoil.

  Every movement was calculated. He deliberately allowed certain strikes to land where structural damage would be minimal.

  The golem closed the remaining distance.

  Deinofrigus raised his arm to slice it clean off but his strike was parried and bone-crunching punch slammed into his face.

  James unleashed a relentless flurry, it was fast, precise, perfectly timed. Each attempt by the wyvern to retaliate with his claws was intercepted or deflected.

  Fear crept into Deinofrigus’s mind.

  In close combat, he knew the truth.

  He was outclassed by a huge margin, James would absolutely wreck him.

  His only option was to revert to overwhelming power.

  Yet even there, James displayed shocking adaptability. He conjured constructs with astonishing accuracy and detail, mimicking living beings flawlessly. A feat even Deinofrigus himself had never demonstrated before these intruders.

  'Can he… read memories from the blood he consumed?'

  What the wyvern did not know was that James had lived for over two centuries. He had fought countless foes wielding frost and water abilities.

  He could not read memories from blood, all he get are only power and satisfaction.

  Deinofrigus released a deafening, guttural roar that shook the cavern to its core.

  The dungeon began collapsing in on itself...