Chapter 549: Some Stray Dogs Sure Are Cocky When I'm Not Around

Dimensional Rift.

The Great Red stared at the mechanical lifeform in the distance, completely unscathed, his enormous eyes filled with gloom.

It was only after truly clashing that he realized the opponent was deliberately restraining his own abilities.

After all, as the Dragon Sovereign of Dreams, his most powerful ability was the power to see through the dreams buried deep within a creature's heart.

The problem was that mechanical lifeforms had no heart—only cold, unfeeling databases.

Their specialties simply didn't match!

'Tch, this is troublesome now.'

As this thought rose in his mind, the Great Red instinctively glanced at the massive fleet behind his opponent.

For some unknown reason, that fleet had yet to provide support, instead letting him fight one-on-one with the other party.

Just as the great dragon was puzzling over this, Lugartim tore off the ragged robe on his body, and a pair of electronic eyes lit up faintly: "You couldn't even manage to wound me?"

"How disappointing."

Hearing this, the Great Red forced himself to ignore the other's taunt, secretly waiting for the right moment to strike.

However, as if sensing the intent of this Scarlet Dragon God-Emperor, Lugartim couldn't help but shake his head: "Futile effort. It's a pity Lord Regalzeva will likely be disappointed again this time."

In this 【Heavenly King's】 view, if even the strongest being on the opposing side was only at this level, then this world was clearly not as interesting as his own lord had imagined.

With a somewhat regretful mood, he slightly raised his palm, and arcs of electricity immediately sprang up around him: "But don't worry, you're still useful to us, so I won't kill you."

"Arrogance!"

Facing Lugartim's lofty attitude, a flash of anger immediately appeared in the Great Red's eyes.

Even though his attributes were countered, that didn't mean the other party could simply toy with him!

Moreover, without his ability he still had claws; without claws he still had fangs.

Even if he died, he would bite off a chunk of flesh from the other party!

Sensing the dragon's resolve, Lugartim couldn't help but let out a laugh: "Hehe. Now that's more like it."

Saying so, he prepared to show his opponent why he was one of the Ketu Heavenly Seas, and even held the second-highest position among them.

Just as this mechanical lifeform was about to make his move, an extremely cold voice suddenly came from behind him.

"When I'm not around, you stray dog sure are cocky, aren't you?"

As the words fell, an inexplicable sense of crisis suddenly rose in Lugartim's heart.

Without time to think, a burst of electric light immediately erupted around his body, intending to use it to escape his original position, but he was ultimately a step too slow.

In that split second, in Lugartim's observation through his electronic eyes that slowed the image countless times over, a pale hand ignored the surrounding electric current and landed directly on his shoulder.

Immediately after, the metal components across his entire body let out an extremely shrill wail.

"What!?"

Fortunately, Lugartim had no sense of pain; otherwise, this single strike alone would have been enough to make him scream out loud.

Feeling an extremely terrifying force attempting to twist his body, Lugartim was finally no longer in that previously lofty manner: "Hatz!? What are you still watching?!"

"How pathetic, Lugartim."

And in the very instant his voice rang out, the fleet that had been in silent mode immediately opened fire in unison.

Boom boom boom—!

Terrifying energy surged through the Dimensional Rift, and space twisted and deformed as if torn by an invisible giant hand.

Seeing this scene, the Great Red couldn't help but widen his eyes, his mind momentarily unable to process what was happening.

What happened??

After a moment, the bombardment gradually subsided.

However, as the energy gradually dissipated, an unexpected scene immediately appeared before everyone's eyes.

At this moment, the machine face of 【Heavenly King】 Lugartim was pitch-black, his left arm was completely gone, leaving only a pile of wiring that crackled with sparks, and upon closer inspection one could even notice that a destructive energy and frost still clung to his severed arm.

And opposite him, a young man was calmly stepping on the head of a red great dragon, as if nothing had happened just now.

After a moment of silence, Lugartim spoke: "So you're the strongest being in this world. I was careless."

He had said that a being capable of tearing a subordinate plane from the world couldn't possibly be that weak; it turned out to be nothing but a smokescreen.

Paying no heed to his words, Li Ang glanced at the Great Red beneath his feet and couldn't help but complain: "Were you really planning to let me collect your corpse?"

"..." Knowing he was in the wrong, the Great Red couldn't retort, and could only stubbornly mutter, "It's all because that guy over there counters my abilities. Otherwise, how could I possibly have lost to him."

"Loser."

Hearing this, Lugartim was just about to say something when he discovered an inexplicable force beginning to contest his control over his vocal apparatus.

Li Ang looked at the mechanical lifeform in the distance whose electronic eyes were flashing wildly, his expression utterly indifferent: "Did I give you permission to speak?"

Just as the other party countered the Great Red, he too possessed an ability that countered the other party.

【Word Spirit: Sword Command】, its effect was the manipulation of metallic objects.

Although the ability was quite unremarkable, it was extremely useful against those unsophisticated country-bumpkin mechanical lifeforms on the opposing side.

Unfortunately, it could only slightly affect their movements; complete control was impossible.

Even so, however, it was already enough to be fatal.

Just then, a figure over two meters tall flew out from the fleet.

Hatz looked at the figure in the distance that had never appeared in any intelligence reports and said in a low voice: "Lugartim, what's the situation?"

Hearing this, Lugartim, who had barely regained the right to speak, revealed a hint of wariness in his tone: "Very bad. That guy's abilities counter us, and I have a feeling something's off."

"That guy"

"Makes me very uncomfortable."

Actually, at first he hadn't taken the other party to heart, until that inexplicable force began to contest control of his body with him—this was also the main reason he had lost an arm.

However, although Lugartim was currently very angry, he still maintained his most basic rationality: "Right, have you notified our lord of what's happening here?"

Facing his inquiry, Hatz said in a steady voice, "Communications have been jammed. There's no way to transmit any intelligence out now."

Hearing this, Lu Jia felt his heart sink. "Let's pull back first. No need to keep wasting time on him."

"Alright."

After a quick exchange of information, the two mechanical lifeforms jointly made the decision to retreat.

But just as they were preparing to return to the fleet and flee this region of space, a voice suddenly rang out across the field: "It's a little too late to run now."

Li Ang stared expressionlessly at the massive fleet in the distance as an alchemical matrix unfolded in an instant.

【Word Spirit · Heaven and Earth as the Furnace】.