Chapter 2273: Moonlight Wheel · Third Form

"Hmm?"

Xia De believed that the shock and confusion he felt at this moment were certainly not unique to him. For behind that thick, heavy arm gripping the giant sword was neither a great dragon nor a giant, but a colossal dragon egg.

Specifically, an arm covered in dragon scales protruded from a hole broken open in the eggshell, holding the 【Sacrificial Bone Sword】, while the majority of that massive dragon egg remained hidden behind the fissure in the ground.

It had only been pulled out for an instant by Xia De's Moonlight Dragon form, before a force even greater than Xia De's current state directly forced the dragon egg, the arm, and the giant sword to retract back into the ground fissure.

Voom~

The Profane Elements erupted with full force; the massive repulsive force that suddenly appeared in the sacrificial ground launched the huge dragon directly into the high sky. The subsequent barrage of thaumaturgy thrown by human Ring Mages and Witches, unleashed after the shields around the sacrificial ground vanished, was also completely annihilated by that inexplicable repulsive force.

【Outlander, you have felt the Miracle.】

【Outlander, you have felt the Profanity.】

The ancient gray stone sacrificial ground displayed three concentric rings—large, medium, and small—centered on the middle. Upon close observation, each ring perfectly encompassed the stone dragon statues within the sacrificial ground in a regular pattern, forming the central disk, the inner ring, the middle ring, and the outer ring.

They rotated at different speeds in counter-clockwise, clockwise, clockwise, and counter-clockwise directions. Xia De seemed to hear the "click" of a lock being opened.

No dragon dared to approach him at this moment. Thus, he spat out another mouthful of scarlet poison mist downward, only to be repelled again by the repulsive force. The scattering mist instead forced everyone fighting on the waters surrounding the sacrificial ground to flee rapidly.

As those rings turned, thirteen bronze doors locked by chains materialized in the void above the sacrificial ground. As the bronze doors swung open amidst the chanting of the priests within the sacrificial ground, the skeletal remains of an ancient dragon, locked in a sub-space of unknown age, extended a dragon head emitting ghostly blue soul fire outward.

It seemed as if the entire sea was frozen in that instant, followed by a shout from somewhere unknown:

"Do not let it come out!"

Various spiritual lights and thaumaturgy bombarded the dragon head attempting to break the sub-space seal. Even the Thirteen-Ring Mr. s temporarily abandoned their giant dragon opponents.

Yi Lu Na urgently summoned a skeletal horse and flew toward the sea surface, while the Witches regrouped once more, preparing to release a secret technique together.

Although this undead, sealed by the Dragon Feast Sacrificial Ground in some unknown era, was certainly not as powerful as the "Profane Creature of the Deep Sea - The Seven-Tailed Player," its release by the 【Dragon Feast Sacrificial Ground】 after the battle had turned into an overwhelming disadvantage meant it would certainly not be a weak enemy.

Miss Elise had already jumped down from Xia De's head. The blue dragon she transformed into flew past Xia De, spewing dragon breath downward at a lower altitude. Feeling his own spirit still surging with nowhere to vent—since pulling out that dragon egg earlier had only utilized the 【Red Dragon Power】—the silver giant dragon looked up at the three moons in the night sky and spread its wings to fly toward the higher heavens.

After another dragon roar that seemed transmitted from ancient times, the "Moonlight Greatsword" was once again gripped in the giant dragon's hand. The sword light slashed by the Moonlight Greatsword, together with the bombardment from the human Ring Mages, struck the bone dragon's head, but only temporarily forced it back into that bronze door. It immediately drilled out again.

The sea surface had already begun to rustle with ice; tiny snowflakes were drifting toward Moon Bay Port. The Church's Thirteen-Ring Mages were also preparing to use their respective Words of Sublimation. The silver giant dragon looked at the Moonlight Greatsword in its hand and suddenly conceived an idea:

"This Moonlight Greatsword is formed by the power of the Dragon Roar, thus possessing power that counters other dragon kinds, but its essence remains Moonlight."

【Yes.】

"She" suddenly smiled and spoke softly, though generally, she would not speak while Xia De was fighting unless he actively requested help.

"Since it is Moonlight, it is still the power of the moon. Since it is the power of the moon, cannot I control it to change its form? Moonlight Slash, Moonlight Ring—I have attempted similar things many times before. If I can control the Moonlight gathered in my hand due to the Dragon Roar to deform, then this Moonlight should still possess the special attack effect of the Ancient God's power found in the 'Sword of Light'."

【Yes.】

"She" continued to smile and speak in Xia De's ear.

Thus, the giant dragon continued to look at the great sword in its hand, then suddenly opened its mouth and bit the great sword into pieces with a "crack-crack~" sound.

A few shards of light scattered into the air, but the broken, translucent, and magnificent blade did not completely dissipate. The giant dragon's breath and the gravitational pull of its powerful soul manipulated the Moonlight. The passive thaumaturgy 【Shadow of the Moon】 was exerting an effect Xia De did not yet know.

Consequently, not only did the silver Moonlight drifting from the shattered blade gradually wrap around the giant dragon's two claws, but even the runes originally hidden within the blade were deeply engraved onto the glowing scales of the "Moonlight Dragon's" injured arm.

With both claws wrapped in Moonlight, Xia De looked downward:

"Last time I asked Miss Isabella about the next evolution of the 'Moonlight Wheel,' she suggested that if I wanted to continue increasing the attack power without changing the size of the Moonlight Wheel, I could consider changing from single-handed charging to two-handed charging... charging..."

Looking up, he consumed spirit to spit out energy, dispersing the dark clouds so the moonlight could shine upon him. He spread his wings and soared high until the dragon appeared to stop in front of the moon.

Bathed in the moonlight of the night sky, the silver giant dragon with spread wings extended its wings and claws. Thus, the silver Moonlight wrapped around its two claws gradually expanded, forming a huge, circular, transparent light screen in front of the giant dragon large enough to cover its own body.

This light screen came not only from the light of the broken "Dragon Roar - Moonlight Greatsword" but also gathered real moonlight. As the giant dragon brought its two claws, extended to the sides, together in front of its body without touching, that circular transparent light screen covering its front gradually converged inward.

Until the light screen vanished from before it, and a rotating, huge silver light wheel appeared between the dragon claws.

The ancient runes on the glowing scales stabilized the flow of spirit. The special divine art of "Shadow of the Moon" gathered moonlight above Xia De's head at all times. When the Moonlight Wheel grew to a volume larger than the dragon's head, the giant dragon raised it high with its right claw, then threw it downward:

"Moonlight Wheel · Third Form! (Note)"

The light wheel, spinning faster and with more spikes, emitted a strange "Voom~" sound in the air. It then bypassed the attacks of the other falling Ring Mages, passed straight through the huge bone dragon's head without obstruction, and entered the darkness behind the bronze door.

Under everyone's gaze, the light of the silver moon erupted inside the bronze door. The bone dragon's head silently split into left and right halves, then retreated back into the interior of the bronze door.

The sacrificial ground suddenly trembled on the sea surface. The sub-space sealing door vanished, and then at least one-third of the black-robed priests within the sacrificial ground vomited blood, severely injured, and collapsed. Just before a new round of attacks hit the sacrificial ground, it vanished from the sea surface again like a phantom on the water.

The silver giant dragon flying at high altitude let out a long breath. He knew this was not because the single strike of the "Moonlight Wheel" was powerful enough, but because the "Dragon Language Zhou Fa · Sword of Light" was powerful enough.

However, when the glowing silver eyes of the Moonlight Dragon looked around, whether dragon or human, everyone still avoided its gaze.

Feeling his spirit within his body become scarce once more, he roared at the blue dragon below, leaving the task of cleaning up the remaining battlefield to others. Then, under the night sky, he flew toward the deeper ocean along with that blue dragon and the four Witches.

Half an hour later.

Normally, at this time of 7:30 PM, Belinda Manor would still be lit, but it would absolutely not be this lively. At this moment, there were people on almost every corridor.

Misses darted back and forth searching for the recently returned wounded or delivering intelligence. Intelligence gathered from all parts of the city finally appeared on the huge city sand table temporarily created by Miss Bernice on the third-floor study.

The Grand Witches, along with Xia De and Miss Elise, had all returned. Yet, from the study window, one could still see scattered flocks of bats flying under the night sky and the sky dyed red by flames.

After the "Dragon Feast Sacrificial Ground" vanished from the sea surface, the main force of the 【Dragon Feast Cult】 also retreated from the dock. Thus, under Miss Aphrodite's cautious orders, the Witch Council's team secretly withdrew to the manor, leaving the task of cleaning the city and the battlefield to the Church.

About ten minutes ago, the professors from the three major academies who had gone out of the city to search for Angel-class relics had also returned. Tonight's turmoil was considered suppressed.

Miss Miss Difa and Hilis were still at Margaret Manor, and Miss Matilda had just set off there to inquire about the situation.

Currently, the only Witch apprentice in the manor was Miss Swift. This flaxen-haired Miss, after leaving Grandmother Cassandra, had demonstrated extremely astonishing execution and leadership.

The Witches returning from battle needed to do nothing; she herself could coordinate the many affairs within the manor very well.

Xia De was not standing before the sand table at this moment. Instead, he was half-naked from the waist up, pulling his right arm out of his sleeve. That arm was wrapped in blood-stained bandages.

He sat on the sofa in the study. Amelia was biting her lip, covering her hands over his wound to heal him. The little unicorn stood aside watching them with worry. After the 【Sacrificial Bone Sword】 injured the Moonlight Dragon, the liquid flowing from the giant dragon form was similar to moon dew. However, after reverting to human form, the wounds that should exist did not disappear immediately.

Relics of Sage level do not create ordinary wounds; even with Xia De's special constitution, they could not heal instantly. Therefore, Amelia was using her amulet to help him heal. Furthermore, after using the Giant Dragon Transformation Art tonight, the Elf Transformation Recovery Potion had only one bottle left.