The flame breath, which nearly covered the entire sky, surged toward Ethan's outstretched finger as if drawn by some unseen force, then rushed to 'drill' in.
This scene greatly surprised those below who had been sweating nervously for Ethan. Jaina carefully observed the situation and realized that Ethan had used a spell similar to banishment, redirecting Onyxia's flame breath to another location.
Ethan's finger didn't appear to change, but the tip had essentially opened a spatial rift, which seemed to generate a powerful suction force. Otherwise, there was no way it could gather that massive torrent of flames and banish it elsewhere. Jaina could already sense that his fingertip was connected to another space, but she couldn't tell where it led.
Seeing her breath attack rendered useless, a complete waste of energy, Onyxia stopped. Her massive dragon eyes stared fixedly at Ethan, who was still hovering in mid-air.
At that moment, Ethan had just stabilized his posture. The fiery wings behind him finally allowed him to maintain balance. His outstretched left hand remained in place. Although Onyxia had ceased her flame breath, the flames didn't vanish immediately just because she closed her mouth. There was still a large area of lingering flames in front of him that hadn't yet been sent to another space.
The spell of dimensional rift was one Ethan had only recently developed. Its prototype came from a certain fake pope, but the original version could throw any object or creature into another space—or rather, some remote corner of the universe. Given that most creatures couldn't survive in space, it was an extremely lethal ability.
Ethan didn't know whether the black dragon in front of him could survive in outer space. What he did know was that his spell had yet to reach that level. He still couldn't throw a creature as powerful as Onyxia into dimensional space.
Let alone a powerful black dragon, even a human like Varian was beyond the current limit of the spell. Furthermore, since this spell was developed in the relatively 'porous' world of Azeroth, Ethan wasn't sure if he could still open spatial rifts with sufficient strength in other worlds.
As it stood, the spell was still just a prototype. It could only absorb energy-based attacks. Fortunately, that was enough to counter Onyxia's flame breath, disabling one of her most powerful offensive abilities. That alone was an unexpected advantage.
Just as Ethan received Onyxia's attack and left the black dragon momentarily unsure how to respond to this human mage, Bolvar and Varian on the ground rushed forward once more, launching desperate attacks against the massive black dragon.
Compared to a black dragon, humans were truly insignificant. Even though Varian and Bolvar were tall and robust by human standards, they were nothing before such a colossal creature. Although Varian's weapon was powerful and sharp enough to pierce the black dragon's scales, even at full strength, they could only leave shallow wounds. These did little beyond irritating Onyxia further.
Perhaps annoyed by the constant cuts, Onyxia finally lowered her head to glare at Varian, then raised a massive claw and swatted at him.
At that moment, Varian had just inflicted a shallow wound on the black dragon's body with the sharp blade in his hand. The sudden counterattack gave him no time to dodge properly. In a panic, he could only brace himself and block with his weapon.
"Your Majesty!"
The weapon in Bolvar's hand was just an ordinary longsword. After hacking away for so long, it hadn't even left a scratch on the black dragon. Apart from striking sparks from her scales, it hadn't produced a single wound.
So, after some time, Bolvar stopped expecting to kill the black dragon himself. His focus shifted to distracting her. He now pinned his hopes on Jaina, praying she could unleash a more effective and destructive magical attack.
At the same time, he kept a close eye on King Varian Wrynn's situation. He had already made one grave mistake and absolutely could not afford another.
Varian had finally returned to Stormwind after many hardships. Bolvar would not allow His Majesty to be harmed by the black dragon before him.
When he noticed the sharp claw swiping toward Varian, he reacted faster than the king. He charged forward and shoved Varian aside.
Boom!
When she raised her claw again, Onyxia discovered that Bolvar, who should have been flattened into a pulp by her strike, was completely unharmed under the protection of the Holy Light.
"Damn paladin!"
This battle was pushing her past the limits of her patience. Onyxia, so enraged that she couldn't even describe her mood, suddenly let out a strange roar.
Unlike her previous roars that were purely to vent, Ethan, who was floating mid-air with fiery wings, felt powerful magical ripples spreading from the black dragon's body. As soon as the waves touched him, they disrupted the flow of his magic. The fiery wings behind him were scattered by the magic-infused roar, causing him to lose the ability to fly and plummet rapidly toward the ground.
Fortunately, Ethan's control over magic was exceptional. He quickly recovered. With his right hand, he lightly pointed downward, bringing his index and middle fingers together. A blue circular portal appeared beneath his feet.
Adjusting his posture in mid-air, Ethan dove headfirst into the blue portal. When he emerged from another blue circular gate, he appeared beside Onyxia's neck, changing from a downward fall to a horizontal charge.
His Battle Cross was powered to its maximum output. In this state, it could barely pierce the black dragon's tough scales and inflict meaningful damage. But if he wanted to truly hurt her, slashing wasn't enough. He had to stab directly. Only then would the wound be deep enough to threaten such a massive creature.
Unfortunately, a dragon's field of vision was much wider than a human's. A human's blind spots were not the same as a black dragon's. Onyxia saw Ethan's movements clearly. She flapped her wings and swatted him away again.
This time, there were no fiery wings to stabilize his posture. Swatted solidly, Ethan crashed into the ground and slid a long distance before stopping.
"How is it?"
"It's nothing."
Ethan happened to land not far from Jaina. Concerned, she asked about his condition.
They were allies now, and Ethan was tied to the stability of the Mirror Dimension. If Ethan were seriously injured, fell unconscious, or died, the dimension would collapse. Once Onyxia escaped the cage, she would surely bring destruction to Stormwind. No one could say how many lives would be lost.
From every angle, Ethan could not afford to be harmed. What Jaina hadn't expected was that, despite being swatted directly by a black dragon's wing, Ethan stood up again as if nothing had happened. Judging by his appearance, he truly seemed unscathed.
"That gear you're wearing won't protect you anymore."
Loki saw more clearly. Ethan had just taken a direct hit from Onyxia. The reason he didn't sustain injuries was that his magic armor had absorbed the impact. But that layer of protection was now completely gone.
What Loki didn't know was that Ethan's gear hadn't just failed. It had been destroyed. The magic suit he wore originally had a built-in energy shield near the body. He had always believed it offered sufficient protection, but now, after just one direct hit from the black dragon, it had been shattered completely.
"Weren't you the one so eager to take revenge on the black dragon? Why haven't you attacked yet?"
"If you want me to go all out, then reinforce this space first."
If Ethan hadn't noticed it before, Loki's words now made him fully aware of that subtle yet terrifying trace of frost energy.
Loki had been silently mobilizing this power, waiting for a chance to deliver a killing blow. However, the current state of the Mirror Dimension wasn't good. If Loki acted now, the black dragon might not die, but the space would collapse.
Ethan looked up. At some point, the Mirror Dimension had developed countless cracks. Now, looking around felt like peering through a spiderweb of fractured glass. It was riddled with gaps, falling apart, as though it could shatter into pieces at any moment.
"He's right. This independent space you created is on the verge of collapse."
Jaina wasn't idle either. She was preparing a powerful spell. Like Bolvar, she understood that it was completely unrealistic to expect Varian and Bolvar to deal serious damage to a creature like a black dragon. Only spellcasters with strong offensive capabilities could make a decisive difference.
Ethan glanced at Jaina, then at Loki. Both had prepared their ultimate attacks. As long as he reinforced the Mirror Dimension, they were ready to unleash devastating blows on Onyxia.
"This is easy."
Ethan clenched his fist. The plain-looking ring on his right hand suddenly glowed with dazzling blue light. He had already activated all the magic power stored inside, preparing to use it entirely to reinforce the space.
As all the energy in the ring surged forth, Ethan crouched and pressed his glowing palm to the ground. A wave of blue ripples spread outward from his position.
(To be continued.)
***
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