Chapter 42: Book 2: Chapter 13 – Tribulation Steps

As he wasn't a saint, Sartius – the armoured razorback wyrm – couldn't speak in human tongue, but he was more than capable of understanding it.

He was one of the most powerful ninth-rank magical beasts in the whole of the forest of darkness, but when he looked into Wukong's eyes, all he could see was disdain. The more he looked into those arrogant eyes, the angrier he became.

As if he could read his mind, Wukong's light but ice-cold voice rang through the battlefield. "If you take a single step in this king's direction… This king will kill you!"

The contempt was palpable, and it was pressuring Sartius' diminishing sense of reason. Luckily, its superior wasn't suffering from the same condition.

"That's enough," The black saint dragon ordered directly. He had half a mind to let Sartius test Wukong's strength, but he also understood Sartius would undoubtedly die. Sartius was one of the most powerful dragons under the saint rank. He couldn't allow him to die for no reason.

Sartius glared and snarled at the staff-wielding creature once more before turning away, scared that it'd lose control and attack Wukong right then.

Though he wasn't scared of the ape-like man, he was terrified of the black saint-level dragon in the sky. He knew better than to test his superior's patience.

The black dragon, on the other hand, didn't give Sartius another glance after issuing his command; his focus was solely on Wukong.

When Wukong moved just now, it didn't even realise until it was too late. Though it should've been impossible, he understood that Wukong was somehow even faster than him.

'If he decides to take the boy and escape, I won't be able to stop him.' He thought to himself as he glanced at Ace before his cold reptilian returned to Wukong.

Both were peerless geniuses on the side of the humans and would grow to be a major threat in the future. The humans already had two peerless existences and several saints no weaker than his boss. He couldn't afford to allow two more humans to reach that level. The only problem was that he needed to find a way to kill them before they escaped.

He was right to think like that. Wukong had already decided, though he'd do what he could to protect Silverlight City, if it really came down to it, he would take Ace and escape. It was his idea to bring Ace here; he definitely wouldn't allow Ace to die, especially after he had promised his mother to look after him.

"As it stands, it's one win and a tie each," The black dragon stated calmly, his voice gruff voice ringing in the ears of everyone present. "I could just order the war to commence, but now I'm invested in this little competition. So I've decided to allow one more round, and I'll even allow you to compete on behalf of the humans.

If you win, we'll leave your little city alone. But if we win, we will crush every one of you, including the little ants hiding behind your walls."

The fists of all the Silverlight soldiers clenched upon hearing the threat. They weren't scared for themselves but for the loved ones they were here to protect. All they could do was hope that they would be able to win the next round, but the dragon's following words doused any hope they had.

"We've had three rounds for each of the mortal stages; the final round will be for saints!" The dragon said indifferently.

"This king rejects!" Wukong stated directly as he carefully picked up what was left of Meina's body. "This king can't beat a dragon at the middle saint stage. If you really wish to fight, as soon as this king reaches the saint stage, this king will personally take a trip to the dragon's pit to find you!"

As he said that, Wukong, whilst carrying Meina, transformed into a bolt of lightning, appearing back on the city walls beside Ace and Venerin.

The black dragon was infuriated by the man's words. He knew that Wukong was letting him know that if he went through with his plans, he'd escape now and get revenge in the future, but the thing that angered him most was the fact that Wukong knew he was a middle-stage saint-level dragon, yet he said he'd be able to defeat him as a newly promoted saint.

He had half a mind to go on a rampage right there and then, but when Wukong gave him another glimpse of his shocking speed, he understood that there was no way he'd be able to keep Wukong if he really wanted to escape.

"You think I'd lift a claw to fight the likes of you? You overestimate yourself!" The dragon growled arrogantly. "The saint I had in mind wasn't me."

Hearing that, everyone's mind went blank as they understood at that moment that if it was saying that, it meant he wasn't the only saint present on the side of the beasts.

Suddenly from the back of the army of magical beasts, a colossal creature slowly floated in their direction.

It was a ten-meter-tall bear-like beast with dark red scales.

"A saint-level dragon-scaled bear…" Venerin's eyes showed all the unwillingness and helplessness he held in his heart as he watched the bear hovering over the battlefield, looking at them disdainfully. "Little Kong, take Ace and-"

"If it's just him, this king accepts your offer!" Wukong said with a fiendish grin suffusing his lips, paying no attention to the city lord beside him.

As his words left his mouth, it rendered everyone speechless. Whether it was Venerin, the remaining generals, or Ace, they all looked at him as though he were a fool. It was a saint he was agreeing to fight.

"Kong, you can't, not even you can jump two ranks to beat a genuine sa-"

"Brother-in-law, just sit back and relax. This king won't lose to a newly promoted saint like that!" Wukong declared proudly before jumping back off the wall, casually walking towards the battlefield. "Oii brat, watch closely as this king shows you the definition of a real genius!"

'Why's he so confident? There's no way he can beat a saint-rank magical beast at the eighth rank.' The dragon thought to himself as he saw the confidence on Wukong's face.

Though he knew a feat like that was all but impossible, a bad feeling was starting to well up inside of him. Unfortunately, it was too late to back out now, especially as it was he who proposed this final round. "Zarconix, make sure you kill him!"

"Don't worry, I may have only just broken through today, but there's no way I'll lose to some trash in the eighth rank," Zarconix, the dragon-scaled bear, confidently declared with a sadistic sneer suffusing his lips as he watched his prey near. "I won't let you down, Yasha!"

"I've never met anyone as arrogant as you in all my life," Zarconix said, glaring at Wukong as he calmly made his way through the Silverlight Army. "The power of even a newly ascended saint-level beast isn't something a trivial eighth-rank warrior can imagine, let alone compare to."

As he said that, his body suddenly erupted in a terrifying crimson fire. The heat of which was too much for the army to bear. The armours of the soldiers suddenly began to melt, and the skin of the weaker warriors began to blister, but they forcibly withstood it as they glared at the terrifying beast without making a sound.

As proud as Venerin was of his soldiers for their resolve, he refused to let them suffer for no reason!

"RETREAT TO THE WALLS!" He bellowed, using his qi to make sure he was heard by each and every one of his subordinates, knowing that just watching a battle of this magnitude wasn't something ordinairy mortals could withstand.

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"ROOAARRRR!"

Yasha's roar left everyone's ears ringing. Still, it seemed to have the same effect as Venerin's orders as the army of magical beasts also retreated several hundred meters back to give added room for these two powerhouses to battle.

"No witty response? What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Zarconix said with an arrogant sneer when he noticed the slight frown on his opponent's face, believing he had put the fear of god in him after showing him the difference between them.

Though it was true Wukong was frowning, it wasn't for the reason the dragon-scaled bear believed. As he came to a stop and looked up at the beast flying above him, his frown deepened.

"[Tribulation Steps – First Step]," Wukong said indifferently as he took another step towards his crimson-scaled opponent.

Suddenly the sky above Zarconix darkened, and before he could understand what was happening, a bolt of lightning descended, striking him on the crown of his head.

"Haha, is that it? I didn't even feel-"

"[Second Step!]" Wukong continued, indifferent as ever.

"Are you trying to tickle me to de-"

"[Third Step…]"

With each step Wukong took, another lightning bolt descended from the sky. Each one doubling in size and power.

At first, Zarconix could easily withstand each strike, most of them getting burnt by the blazing flames coating his colossal body. By the fourth strike, though, the flames could do nothing to stop them.

Fortunately for him, his dragon scales weren't just for show. The lightning did next to no actual damage, but that all changed after the sixth step.

The sixth bolt of lightning descended like that of a roaring flood dragon.

"FUCK OFF!" Zarconix roared as he swung one of his flame-coated paws towards the sky, unable to control his wrath.

As the two attacks met, the bolt of lightning was instantly destroyed, and even the sky opened up under his might.

It was a shocking display for Ace and the others who didn't get to see a battle on this level very often.

"[Seventh Step]!"

Even as his attack was completely eviscerated, Wukong's voice couldn't have sounded any less impressed.

Zarconix, who'd had enough of this game, was about to deal with this attack and then focus on the caster of the spells when the lightning bolt descended far faster than he could've expected, once again doubling in size and power.

He didn't have enough time to attack, or even dodge it. Ultimately, all he could do was bend his neck, so the strike didn't land on his head again.

BANG!

"ARGH!" As the strike landed on the top of his back, Zarconix roared in pain as several of the scales at the point of impact were completely shattered, and the surrounding ones were seared.

Looking down, Zarconix saw Wukong's face was still indifferent. After actually hurting a saint rank magical beast, Wukong was wholly unmoved. It was as though it wasn't much of an achievement, as though it was to be expected.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" The bear roared as he flew like a rocket towards Wukong, who acted as though he hadn't heard him.

"[Eighth Step!]"

As Wukong took his next step, another bolt of lightning fell, but this one couldn't be compared to the others; this one appeared as if it descended from heaven itself.

Be it Ace, Venerin, his generals, or even Yasha; It was a sight no one present would ever forget.

It was almost as though Wukong was the proud son of heaven, and heaven smited Zarconix for daring to oppose him.

As the dust cleared, everyone was instantly rendered speechless by the scene before them.

Zarconix's whole body was burnt to a crisp. If that wasn't shocking enough, he was also on his knees, panting heavily, not even a meter away from Wukong, who casually held his staff over his shoulder, looking down at the beast before him.

"That's much better," Wukong stated, the frown from before having disappeared, only to be replaced by a teasing grin. "I don't like looking up at my opponents!"

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P.atreon.com/AceInCoilingDragon: Book 2 - Chapter 23

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