Only I Awaken The Forbidden SSS-Rank Dragons

The air split with each swing of his claws. Every strike tore through flesh and twisted bone like wet parchment, scattering chunks of malformed bodies into the churning dust.

His movements were fluid, almost too fluid for something so massive, every shift of weight carrying enough force to shatter the ground beneath him.

Aleron's tail swept sideways, the motion sending a crushing wave of force across the battlefield.

The impact pulverized a dozen tier twos who had been reckless enough to rush in from the flanks, their twisted limbs folding inward before they even hit the ground.

The very dirt rippled, molten veins of metal bleeding upward in answer to his call.

'Good,' Aleron thought, tightening his grip on the metal control ability. The more he fought, the faster the technique adapted.

The threads of metal bent to his will, responding to his thoughts without delay, wrapping around his forearms like living gauntlets.

A shadow fell over him.

A massive abomination, towering thrice his height, came crashing down, both arms fused into a single grotesque blade of bone. The air howled under its descent.

Aleron did not retreat. He stepped forward into the strike.

The impact detonated a shockwave that cracked the surrounding terrain like glass, but his claw caught the abomination's bone-blade mid-swing.

Sparks of blue and red origin energy exploded outward from the point of contact, the force digging deep furrows beneath his feet.

The abomination's snarling grin froze.

With a twist of his wrist, Aleron's claws punctured straight through the fused bone. He yanked, tearing the entire limb from its socket in one clean motion.

Before the creature could even scream, his other claw slammed through its chest, piercing all the way through its spine.

Its body convulsed once before he ripped upward, splitting it into two halves.

Blood, black and thick as tar, splattered across his scales, sizzling against the faint heat radiating from his origin energy.

"Next," Aleron muttered, his voice low.

The horde surged toward Aleron. Dozens of tier fours came in from every direction, their bodies twisting unnaturally as they accelerated.

Some ran on all fours, others bounded across the backs of their kin, using their comrades as living platforms.

Aleron did not wait for them to reach him. His wings snapped open with a metallic clang, propelling him forward with a sonic burst.

The speed was intoxicating. Veldora's breakthrough had sharpened his agility to a razor's edge, and he used it without restraint.

He was everywhere at once.

To the abominations, he was nothing but a blur of crimson and sapphire light, his claws flashing like drawn blades in the sun.

Heads rolled and limbs were severed, falling to the blood-soaked ground.

Every contact left molten grooves in the earth, his metal control ability pulling iron-rich soil into jagged spikes that erupted beneath his enemies' feet.

One spike skewered three abominations in a row, lifting them screaming into the air before they exploded in showers of gore.

But the horde did not thin. For every one he felled, three more pressed forward. The air grew heavier, thick with the stench of blood, burnt flesh, and the sharp tang of raw energy.

His Infernal Eyes pulsed again.

This time, the fire spirits were not a scattered wave. Instead, they formed in a disciplined pattern, circling outward in a burning ring.

Each spirit's form sharpened, flickering with humanoid outlines before diving at the nearest abomination.

The chain of detonations that followed was deafening, the shockwaves hammering against his scales.

The ground became a mess of craters and scorched corpses, smoke coalescing into the sky.

Aleron leapt into the air, avoiding a mass of jagged bone spears erupting from below.

The culprit was a lanky, hunchbacked tier four that stared at him briefly before lunging to follow, but he pivoted midair, folded his wings, and dropped like a meteor.

He slammed into the creature's skull with enough force to drive it several meters into the earth. The ground fractured outward in a spiderweb pattern, molten metal surging up from the cracks to swallow the corpse whole.

Just then, a flicker of movement at his flank caught his attention.

It was too fast for the ordinary tier fours nearby.

Aleron did not need to think too much about it. In his line of sight, the approaching tier fours were glowing with a vibrant red light.

Their energy was potent, and Aleron could tell that something bigger was coming.

Before he could react, the abominations had already appeared without hesitation.

The tier fours swarmed like a living tide, their shapes twisting mid-charge as if trying to adapt against him. Some sprouted extra arms ending in serrated hooks, others fused with their neighbors into multi-headed horrors.

Aleron did not slow at the sight. He stepped into them with calm precision, every motion deliberate.

His claws tore through chests and skulls, his tail crushing spines with wet cracks.

Using his metal control origin ability, he created several metal objects. Spikes, blades, and chains of liquid steel lashed out in every direction, skewering enemies before they could get within arm's reach.

One broke through.

A hulking beast with half its face missing, exposing rows of teeth embedded in muscle, barreled toward him. Its right arm was a mass of throbbing flesh sacs, each one glowing faintly.

It swung its arm at Aleron, who was still engaged with the other abominations.

Aleron crossed his arms, letting the blow slam against his forearm scales. The sacs burst instantly on contact, releasing a high-pitched scream as acidic mist hissed against his armor.

The corrosion spread quickly, far too fast for lesser origin warriors to counter, but Aleron simply willed molten metal to flood over his arms, sealing the damage.

Then he removed the problem entirely, ripping the arm from its socket and hurling it into another charging abomination.

Black ichor sprayed wide, hissing where it struck the ground.

Having killed all the abominations surrounding him, Aleron turned to look at the rest of the horde. They hesitated at the edges of the blood-soaked ring around him.

The air shimmered from the lingering heat of his fire spirits, molten metal pooled beneath his feet, and the bodies of the fallen lay in ruin.

Aleron did not give them time to regroup. He shot forward, his wings propelling him straight into their midst.

The air felt heavy as he landed among them with a thunderous bang.

To be continued…