BABABABABAAAM!~

"Keep it up, everyone! Don't give it s.p.a.ce to repair the energy s.h.i.+eld! Open fire! Open fire!" The voice of the elite fighter aircraft squad commander continued to ring to his subordinate's communication channel.

BOOOM!~

BABABABABABAA!~

At the same time, their barrels and weaponry are intensely smoking at their relentless attack against the glowing energy s.h.i.+eld below - it was Dash protecting Elric.

"Status of the s.h.i.+eld?" The commander asked one of his members responsible for energy monitoring.

"The energy s.h.i.+eld has thinned down to five percent!" A snappy reply came.

"Only five percent?! We have been bombarding them for more than three minutes now. My monitor could not even see what's happening below because of the blinding explosions!"

"The reason for the delay is the turtle itself. It seems it is an elemental with a shapes.h.i.+fting ability. To lessen the burden of the energy s.h.i.+eld, he chooses to fortify the whole s.h.i.+eld with his ma.s.sive sh.e.l.l as well! Although, I do not think he will last more than another minute with his acc.u.mulated injuries."

"The founder is coming in less than three. I can already see the dot from the horizon! The s.h.i.+eld must be broken before he arrives. Hurry! Focus on one spot!" The commander sternly told his men.

"Update! The s.h.i.+eld is now down to three percent! Two- wait! He's awake! He's awake!" Panicking voice 

"s.h.i.+t!"

"That dragon is awake!?"

"But the s.h.i.+eld is almost down!"

"Just get back!"

"d.a.m.n it! It is too late! Everyone full retreat now! Go full speed and activate stealth now!"

The swarming aircraft responsible for bombarding Dash's s.h.i.+eld was quite hesitant before they finally moved away. They swiftly activated their stealth abilities and left behind afterimages as they flee at bursting speed.

The commanding Arkhan pilot was holding the accelerator with a tense gaze at the monitor. 

With nervous tone, he thought,

"It should take some time before he fully wakes up. Just five seconds and he should not be able to chase us- wait,"

His bright blue eyes quickly gazed at the hologram monitors that represented significant data. His eyeb.a.l.l.s moved from one monitor and another before he finally got into realization.

"This-"

Then a hurried voice came to his communication channel,

"Mayday! Mayday! Pilot five, six, and seven are down! The Dragon is taking us down! The Dragon is- ARGGH!"

KSSSSK~

"Reporting team B here! Pilot fifteen and twelve is down! I repeat they are down and - Aghhhk!"

KSSK~

The commander heard and watched in real-time how his comrade's s.h.i.+ps suddenly dotting out of his monitor. They were like ants, being squashed at a terrifying rate!

Slowly, the grip of fear crawled down to his head like a black spider devouring his soul. He could feel it. The eminent death flag is waiving. Elric is chasing them down!

"How the heck did he find us even though we are in stealth mode? Even those Guardians can't find a single sniff of our position the moment we go full stealth mode!" large drop of sweats continued to trickle down to the commander's face as he swiftly maneuvered his aircraft over large clouds.

The speed is his currently at made the land below him looking like an extremely blurred waterfall pa.s.sing by.

Then the next thing he heard is alarm notification warning of him of an incoming enemy.

~Warning! Warning! Hostile energy signature detected. A possible pursuit on our position. Object approaching at five hundred ninety kilometers per hour. Expected contact in - fifteen seconds.~

"Activate illusion planes!"

The commander finally started to unleash his trump cards. Just like the Guardians, they too have access to illusion crafts that can expand and mimic their aircraft signature, the appearance was a perfect reflection of the original one and is very effective every time they are trying to lose their pursuers.

~Illusion planes activated. - The enemy still on track. Expected contact in ten seconds~

"What!? So those reports of him capable of seeing his enemies from incredibly long-distance and even find out the real from fakes are true?!" 

He thought in an ever-increasing panic. He watched the monitors to get an update of his other comrades only to see their location completely untraceable. 

"Calculate fastest and safest route! Now!"

~Calculating. Not possible. Reasons: s.p.a.ce too open, time, and fuel shortage."

"s.h.i.+t!" 

~Contact in seven seconds.~

"Anyone of you still alive!? Report your position now!"

But there was not a single reply that came to his communication channel. There were more than a hundred of them attacking the turtle's s.h.i.+eld a while ago but in less than twenty seconds, their numbers have swiftly dropped to only one.

"I guess I have no choice then." He mumbled as he watched the live screen showing the view upfront.

It was the ma.s.sive one-kilometer size Arkhan mothers.h.i.+p that is growing closer in his view. With a sigh in his face, he immediately pressed the communication b.u.t.ton to connect to the founder's communication channel to report.

"Reporting to my lord! I need back up! The Alpha Dragon is tailing me. Requesting immediate backup!"

Before he gave the command to flee away from Elric, he made sure the direction he have chosen will be towards the Arkhan mother s.h.i.+p. At the very least he would have a chance to maybe survive.

~Warning! Warning! Hostile contact in one second!"~

Instinctively, the commander's eye gazed at the rear monitor only to see Elric in his human form. 

Soaring the sky with his magnificent wings at his back, a flaring blue and red sword on both arms and a pair of cold dragon eyes are watching him back!

At that instant, the moment their eyes met, the commander felt like his soul just leapt out of his body. 

However, the attack that he was expecting from Elric did not come.

Rather, his entire view suddenly turned red. The sky, the land, the sea, and even the air, was suddenly embraced by a reddish hue.

The next thing he knew, his body and the s.h.i.+p he was piloting was instantly crushed like a mountain of sand fading to bits because of a sudden destructive wind.

From outer s.p.a.ce, one could see a bright red line suddenly blotting in contrast to the bluish earth.

The sheer color of this red line spelled death along its way. Erasing everything in its path, may it be cities, mountains, or even the seas. They were all crushed and melted to nothingness the moment the red line contacts them.

It was the Red Line of Destruction from the Arkhan mothers.h.i.+p!

The sheer force of this destructive beam was able to create a trench in the middle of the sea, a long and ma.s.sive scorching gap between mountain ranges while creating vibrations that were strong enough to incite a man-made earthquake.

Without hesitation and remorse to their comrade, they fired the Arkhan's most powerful weapon against Elric in hopes of taking him down.

***

"Report." Khan's cold voice asked his monitoring personnel through the communication channel.

"As you have predicted my Lord. The Alpha Dragon managed to avoid the full attack. We only grazed him, successfully eliminating his right hand as you mentioned." A quick reply with an obvious tone of respect came from the other line.

"Switch to pattern two and proceed as planned." 

"Yes."

***

SWOOOOOM!~

CRAAAs.h.!.+~

Elric's body crash landed on the ground due to his severe injuries. It was thanks to his protective instinct that he managed to avoid a full hit from the last lazer attack from the Arkhan s.h.i.+p far away.

It was an outrageously dangerous weapon with a speed reaching the speed of light. Thank's to his extremely Quick reaction, he only lost his right arm instead of his head.

"Those Arkhans again..." Elric grumbled as he swiftly stood up the moment he recovered his senses in less than two seconds.

The small Arkhan battles.h.i.+p he was chasing a while ago had lost a single ounce of its material trace. Before him, he could see the distant mountain range that was supposed to be covering his view is now gone. The ocean was raging in madness as a huge amount of its body had just been evaporated. 

Elric could even feel the earth's vibration intensifying just from the sheer sound and power of the last attack.

From the distance, Elric could hear the countless moaning and cry of innocent people, including animals, from death and shock. 

Hearing them, Elric felt his anger finally boiling to its peak.

"So this is their strongest weapon."

Elric mumbled as his right hand swiftly recovered at an unbelievable rate. In less than four seconds, a fresh new right arm is now fully functional as if he never lost them in the first place!

Elric's eyes glared back to the approaching ma.s.sive Arkhan s.h.i.+p that was leaving behind an incredibly wide shadow under it. 

His eyes, sharp as it was, zoomed in to a certain spot in the Arkhan s.h.i.+p.

WOOOOM~

And using his soul's perspective, he scanned the entire s.h.i.+p of all the living souls like a 3D scanner. 

There in the middle, kept safe inside a black sphere, he saw a certain individual with an abnormal soul presence. 

"This..." Shocked eyes followed through Elric as he finally realized the full extinct of the certain individual's power.

What he saw was not an ordinary soul. Inside the man's body was an incredibly weird and dangerous aura.

"The crying essence of ten thousands of Dragons, and..."

Elric's soul eyes looked even more shock the moment he completely focused on the person.

"an Ancestral Dragon's essence!?"

Back on the Arkhan's s.h.i.+p, Khan, the Lord, and founder of the Arkhan race looked back at Elric's direction as if he could see the latter despite the obstructions.

The black circuit tattoos in the sides of his head had been connected to meet up in the center while leaving a pitch-black gap in the middle - it was a third eye created using the technology!

"Surprised?" Khan proudly asked while he looked back at Elric at the soul dimension.