Void Evolution System
Chapter 1740: Battle [2]

"Kahak…!"

August coughed out a mouthful of blood. In that moment, he felt more than just a few of his bones break.

The blood splattered against the shattered rock made it obvious just how much August's body had been impacted. Even with a draconic physique, he couldn't avoid it.

His mind was woozy for a second, but he bit his tongue and used the pain to force himself awake.

He was in the middle of a battle that he had to win. An injury like this couldn't be the reason he failed at everything he had been trying to do.

Those people in front of him were enemies of his bloodline, people who could not be allowed to live in this world.

Even if there were two of them, he wasn't going to let them walk all over him.

VOOM!

Before he even got to his feet, August was summoning water through the cracks in the earth.

It was impossible for him to do anything with the water that he summoned, but there was a reason why Azure Dragons could rule the sea.

The second their bodies came in contact with the water…

It was just a trickle at first, but even that felt like the healing touch of a divine. August's legs were healed first, and when the water flow became more pronounced, his body healed further.

But, that had not happened yet. August left the water spewing into the cavern so that it could fill the place and naturally heal him over and over again, but for the current moment, he was forced to dash the second he had the ability to move.

BOOM!

Another fist slammed into the wall where August was once plastered. The entire area of the cavern crumbled, dropping some of the ongoing battles to a lower level.

August didn't focus on Estavian.

From what he could tell, the puppet's sentience was nonexistent in this form. It could only carry out orders given to it by its master, which made Wilhelm the more important target.

August made space between himself and Estavian specifically so he could focus on the other genius.

'I don't have to defeat him.'

When August felt Wilhelm's power for the first time, he learned that he wasn't an opponent who could be defeated as easily as Raphael.

If August wanted to win thoroughly, then he needed to take time and fight the man in their true dragon forms.

If not, he could try his aura again. Wilhelm was from a descendant clan and technically had a lower status than him. If he used his bloodline, he'd be able to properly suppress the other genius, but that still wasn't enough.

At most, that would put them on a similar level.

'First, I need to get to the crown.'

August had to remember that his grudge wasn't the only thing that existed. He was fighting for the crown not only for his sake but for the safety of the kingdom as well.

Even at this moment, thousands of commoners were dying from the onslaught of the forsaken dragon clans. August didn't want to use his aura because he didn't want to leave Wilhelm with a way to object to his loss.

He didn't want to leave his opponent undefeated because he wanted to stomp this man to the ground and make him feel pain.

However, his main goal had to be the crown.

Once he had it, he could get all the revenge he wanted while also dealing with the kingdom's problems.

At the end of the day, August's path was that of an Emperor. He didn't live only for himself. Rather, he always put his own goals to the side for the sake of others.

In order to do what he needed to do before entertaining this battle, August once again had to focus on speed.

'But, I guess if I can defeat him without killing him and throw him out of here, then it'll be a different kind of humiliation.'

August looked at the bright side as he started to formulate a plan.

Of course, the first thing he did was let his blood lineage loose.

The pressure struck both Wilhelm and Estavian. Their movements were slowed, which was particularly impactful on Estavian, and their mana rolled in a strange manner in response to the superior bloodline, which made it harder for Wilhelm to use his skills.

"So you want to use tricks!"

Wilhelm spoke with a bit of excitement in his voice, but it was also a false emotion.

It was scorn, spite, and something darker swirling within the depths of his soul as he felt his bloodline undergo suppression.

As someone who had grown up being told that the Azure Dragon was nothing, that it was an ancestor unworthy of being connected to the Liqua Clan, he absolutely couldn't accept that his bloodline was inferior.

The facts were hard to deny when he quite literally could not escape suppression regardless of his efforts, but he could make up any excuse in his mind to change the narrative.

His brain was a world of fantasy where nothing had happened in a way that he didn't allow. It was a horrifying mindset when it was born in someone with the power to ruin the world.

The water of the Liqua Clan had a property that best mirrored termites from Earth. It would chew through its target and leave holes in them like a plague, breaking them down until they were nothing but ash.

It was an incredibly painful way to die, which made their particular Holy Clan an enemy that nobody wanted to have.

But, as August was born their enemy, he was forced to face that mana head-on.

Nevertheless, he had an easier time after using his aura to suppress his enemies.

Estavian's slowed attack speed made his blows more manageable. August was able to dodge more easily, and when Wilhelm finally got his mana in order to attack, August was able to move around Estavian and use him as a shield.

As such, he wasn't hit nearly as much as before.

He couldn't avoid everything, obviously. The snake-like movements of Wilhelm's attack patterns and openings made it difficult for him to predict where everything was coming from, but he was somewhat able to read the other genius, which helped.

August was different from other Azure Dragons in that way. He respected their fighting method and did use it as his primary technique, however, he was not averse to using smaller amounts of mana to achieve the goals he aimed for.

At the same time, he wasn't averse to expanding the range of his imagination into non-draconic territories to improve his attacks.

That was the only thing he could use to catch Wilhelm off guard and expressly take him out.

The end goal was his expulsion from the cavern, not his death.

And if it was just that much, then August could already see the path forward.

The cavern was starting to fill up with water. The previously nonexistent water level was already covering the soles of their feet and would soon reach their ankles.

With it enhancing his abilities, August swerved around Estavian once more and pushed his mana towards Wilhelm.

He must have been expecting some kind of wave pattern because he put up a wide shield that would divert its flow, but that wasn't what struck him at all.

Instead, it was a concept that dragons often looked down on and the strength of humanity.

Visualization.

The very essence of a human's ability to turn mana into anything and everything they could ever dream of...

What would it look like in the hands of a dragon?