Awakening The Only SSS-Rank Class! Now Even Dragons Obey Me Chapter 726: Strategic Retreat

Like a raging black tempest, Jason surged at Daniel.

Blood-red fury blazed in his eyes, yet it went beyond mere anger—a searing, profound hatred demanding one of their deaths to quench it.

James had become like a younger brother to him. Though their acquaintance wasn't long, from the moment the youth entered the guild, Jason stayed constantly at his side.

Under Jason's watchful guidance came all of James's training. He imparted every tactic, every technique for clearing tower levels, every path to progress in the Celestial Domain.

Jason had guided James to harness his exceptional genius and talent fully.

This scum had now destroyed all those efforts and slain the guild's promising future. How could Jason hold back his wrath?

"You... you killed him... now it’s your turn to die!"

Without allowing his foe even a word, Jason showed no tolerance for pleas or chatter. One goal consumed him alone.

Revenge. To claim it, he must sever this worthless scum's head.

Jason lifted his hands high. Fire, water, wind, and earth elements whirled around him simultaneously. As a four-element mage, he ranked among the nation's elite in his class.

[Inferno Vortex]

A colossal tornado of flames erupted encircling Daniel. The inferno lashed at him like serpents alive, searing the atmosphere.

Daniel swiftly triggered [Demonic Twilight Shield]. A shield of demonic energy enveloped him, devouring some flames, yet the blistering heat caused it to fracture right away.

The skill languished in its feeblest form. Managing to deploy it was nothing short of miraculous.

All his powers lay utterly paralyzed by the poison.

He leaped away, yet Jason offered no respite. Far too cunning to permit a retaliation, his plan boiled down to one thing:

Assault without mercy until the foe lay in ruins.

[Tidal Prison]

Water materialized from thin air, vast quantities—hundreds of thousands of liters—coalescing instantly to encase Daniel in a crystalline enclosure.

The torrent squeezed inward, seeking to pulverize his frame.

Daniel hammered a mighty punch against the watery barrier, but overwhelming force snapped his arm clear to the elbow.

Pain surged through him, yet no cry escaped. Teeth gritted, he bore it.

Jason burst into laughter.

"You really thought you could fight me? You can’t even think straight anymore!"

His words rang true.

Daniel sensed his thoughts growing sluggish.

Each choice, each motion felt mired in dense mist.

This fog wasn't natural. Some force tampered with his mind—perhaps the array, residual toxin, or a secret ability of Jason's.

[Storm Requiem]

Wind and lightning assaulted together.

Azure bolts plummeted from the hall's simulated heavens, battering Daniel.

Every strike hammered like a colossal mallet against his flesh.

He sank to one knee. Crimson streamed from ears and nostrils.

This wretch wielding thunder—a domain Daniel mastered—while he remained powerless to wield it himself ignited his rage.

Yet what recourse did he have? Only to withstand until the venom ebbed or an exit presented itself.

The toxin showed no sign of fading; instead, it surged back fiercer than before.

Advancing, Jason drove an [Earthshatter Fist] straight into Daniel’s torso.

Ribs shattered. Breath hitched.

"How can it be fair for James to die while you live? Just like you cut off his head, I’ll cut off yours!"

"And then I’ll tear you to pieces and throw your body to the animals!" Jason struck once more.

[Elemental Collapse]

All four elements fused in unison: fire with wind birthed a scorching gale, water and earth churned into a gigantic sludge surge.

The dual onslaughts pummeled Daniel at once.

In the final instant, he invoked [Eternal Deny], rendering the blows meaningless briefly as they dissolved into the void—but merely for a split second.

Pain then flooded back savagely.

Slammed against the wall, his form bristled with breaks and scorches.

Such grievous wounds hadn't afflicted him in ages. Worse still, countering demanded strength he lacked.

The poison sapped his attack prowess anew. He expended vast life force merely to sustain basic defenses.

Otherwise, death awaited here. Resurrection would expose his near-immortality to the world. More alarmingly, the supplier of this poison and array to the Goblin Guild might have armed them with a permanent end to him.

Paranoia perhaps, but today's shocks had piled high enough.

"You definitely cheated. Otherwise how could trash like you kill James? Tell me! What power did you borrow to kill him unfairly?" Jason gasped, a sneer curling his mouth.

As though he'd erased from memory that his side waged this fight with foul play.

[Cataclysm Judgment]

The hall's ceiling flushed crimson.

Myriad elemental razors—flame, frost, rock, gale—cascaded upon Daniel.

Defense eluded Daniel now. Blocking this onslaught lay beyond his power.

Blades pierced his flesh, blood erupting in sprays.

He crumpled to both knees. Lids half-lidded his eyes. Ragged, blood-laced gasps escaped him.

"This is for James." Jason loomed above. His hand rose for the killing stroke.

Yet Daniel grinned slyly. That grin creased Jason's brow.

"What...?"

An odd feeling stirred in him inexplicably. Not peril—he knew this weakling posed no threat.

"This isn’t the end of this. We’ll meet again," Daniel uttered icily.

And then...

[Fallen Step]

Space warped briefly.

In the blink of an eye, he materialized beside Varnos.

"How did you get here?" Shock widened Varnos's eyes as Daniel popped up next to him.

Varnos reeled in astonishment too. How had Daniel teleported here? And why bore such horrific wounds? Daniel's pulse and breaths felt wildly unstable.

This young man's state appeared graver than Varnos's own. But how? A superior fighter faring worse versus an inferior foe?

Did the poison function that way?

Alaric halted upon the youth's arrival, brow furrowing. Jason had failed? Impossible.

Abruptly, a Fallen slithered from Varnos’s shadow into Daniel’s inner realm.

All along, he'd concealed one Fallen by the guild master covertly.

Aware peril loomed, he'd prepared this getaway.

"Time to go," he declared curtly, seizing Varnos.

[Fallen Step]

They two, plus every Fallen, vanished anew.

"No... no... no!!!"

Alaric, the observer, unleashed a bellow of rage quaking the chamber's walls.

Daniel and Varnos had fled.

Battered and teetering on death's edge, both withdrew.

Naturally, it wasn't flight—it was a calculated withdrawal.