Chapter 96: Battle Against Sognar

Staring at Sognar with gritted teeth, Rod felt an urge to go mad. That damned woman truly was no good—any slight positive impression he had of her had vanished in an instant. Clutching his Dark Dragon tightly, Rod began retreating step by step, cursing inwardly at himself for following her foolishly despite sensing something was wrong earlier. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be in such trouble now.
Fen Tian roared softly. Watching what was happening, it understood quite a bit. It protected Rod closely, retreating alongside him. Everyone in the world might abandon Rod, but it would never betray him—it was the only one that could stay by his side through life and death.
“Wretched human! I, Sognar, swear by the great God of Darkness that I will tear you to pieces this time!” A fierce roar echoed, followed by Sognar, the black dragon, opening its maw wide. A dark magic spell was instantly fired, covering everything in front of Rod with darkness—like a giant hand descending from the sky, rushing toward his head!
Seeing this, Rod’s heart skipped a beat. Finally, it had begun. Fen Tian already took action first, unleashing several massive fire spells at that hand. At the same time, Rod also moved—his feet moving like wind, as if he were a fierce beast charging forward. His Dark Dragon was drawn, and with a clear ringing sound, he executed his sword strike effortlessly.
Boom… A violent collision produced a thunderous roar, and an invisible wave spread outward! Pushed back two steps by the magical energy, Rod turned and fled deep into the woods behind him.
He wasn’t stupid enough to think he could truly fight against that damned dragon now! Fleeing was the wisest choice—otherwise, once trapped by it, he would really be unable to escape.
“Damn woman! If you don’t want to leave, there’s no need to go this far!” He cursed fiercely in his heart. At this moment, Rod hated Lilith to the core! If not for that damned woman, he wouldn’t have ended up in such a miserable situation.

“Want to run?” Seeing Rod’s move, the black dragon grew cold, then let out a cold snort. Its massive body flashed like lightning, disappearing from one place to reappearing right in front of Rod in an instant. The forest, devastated by the previous two attacks, was now in ruins, leaving no trees to block this damned creature’s path. That’s why Sognar’s speed was at its peak at this moment, instantly blocking Rod’s way.

Immediately afterward, its tail swept forward like a huge stick, with a howling sound that made one’s scalp tingle.

With no other choice, Rod had to launch a frontal attack, defending while counterattacking, while also looking for an opportunity to escape this damned place!

Standing aside, Lilith watched with interest as Rod and Sognar engaged in a fierce battle. She showed no concern for Rod’s danger, as if she didn’t even recognize him. With a faint smile on her lips, she gave off an eerie, devilish aura.

“This guy has improved a lot!” Lilith murmured after a while. After fighting for some time, thanks to the cooperation between Fen Tian and Rod, Sognar hadn’t gained much of an advantage. Although it held a one-sided offensive stance, it couldn’t deal with Rod in the short term.

“Damn you! I’ll tear you apart!” Frustrated from failing to conquer Rod, Sognar was filled with rage. Months ago, he could easily harm this humble human, seeing him as nothing but an insect. Yet now, this human could even match him in strength, especially with that damned strange combat energy—the fusion of fire and dark energy that seemed to absorb his own energy during combat. As a controller of dark energy, suffering such absorption was an unforgivable shame, a complete insult to the Dark God!

Furious, he roared louder and cast spells of darkness repeatedly, leaving Fen Tian in a desperate situation under such attacks!

Continuing to defend while the number of counterattacks dwindled, Rod grew increasingly anxious. If things continued like this, he would eventually be exhausted to death here. Attack is the best defense—this is an eternal truth. No matter how thorough or strong one’s defense is, there will always be a moment of weakness. Moreover, his own defense hadn’t reached that level yet.

“Dragon Roar!” Cornered and forced to retreat, Rod also grew angry. Continuing to defend would only lead to disaster; it was better to take a risk!

In an instant, the most powerful Dragon Roar he had ever used was unleashed. In a flash, fire and dark elements throughout the forest rushed toward Rod. A radiant glow enveloped Rod, with red and black lights surrounding him as his combat energy, condensed like liquid, swiftly flowed into the Dark Dragon within his hand. Driven by this combat energy and the external elements, the Dark Dragon emitted continuous buzzing sounds, seemingly extremely excited. The black light surged, leaving behind a light trail several meters long in an instant. Using the remaining combat energy in his body, he pushed his speed to its limit, his figure flashing rapidly, while the combined Dragon Roar emitted a terrifying aura. Seeing this, Sognar’s eyes showed a hint of fear and tremor. He remembered this move vividly—it had been used by this human during their last encounter, an experience he would never forget. The first person to harm him in a thousand years was this guy, and it was also at his hands that Sognar had suffered such humiliation for the first time. Since this was the move he used, how could Sognar not be aware of it? Thus, upon seeing it again, Sognar couldn’t help but feel fear and shock; the Dragon Roar had already left a shadow in his heart once. “What a powerful move! Is this really this guy’s true strength? This move…” Although Lilith was seeing Rod use this move for the first time, her eyes narrowed instantly upon witnessing it, as she too felt the terrifying power contained within. “This move must be on par with a full-power strike at the intermediate divine level!” she murmured, swallowing hard. The shock in her eyes couldn’t be concealed, and the next moment, her gaze toward Sognar carried a hint of sympathy. She now understood why Sognar had been in such a sorry state the last time she saw him—likely due to this very move.

This move is incredibly bizarre. In terms of sheer power, it is indeed a full-force strike at the intermediate godly level. It can indeed reach such a level, but it’s still somewhat difficult to make Sognar suffer so badly with it. What makes this move strange is the fusion of energies. When using it, Lilith could sense that Rod had effortlessly combined fire and dark elements into a balanced state—not only unleashing the ferocity and eerie devouring nature of dark elements but also the volatility and brutality of fire elements. Their fusion created a completely new type of energy! She could clearly feel that vortex-like force, which acted like a whirlpool capable of tearing apart someone’s defensive energy and easily breaking through it—this was why Sognar’s defenses were so easily breached that time.

“It seems I really underestimated you!” After analyzing everything, her gaze toward Rod changed once again. The smile on her lips grew wider, while her look at Sognar turned pitiful. That poor guy would probably get hurt again this time; it might be good to knock some of his arrogance off him.

“I’ll fight you to the death!” The tearing sensation hit her once more. Sognar could feel his scales being damaged and roared in frustration.

Immediately afterward, he spread his wings and unleashed “Dragon’s Fury”—his strongest and ultimate move. Its power was terrifying, capable of defeating even stronger opponents despite being outside their rank. Forced to this extreme against humans, Sognar regretted not fighting with all his might earlier; otherwise, this situation wouldn’t have arisen. Although “Dragon’s Fury” was powerful, it also caused significant damage to him.

A phantom image identical to Sognar appeared behind him, formed entirely of energy. With the emergence of this phantom, Sognar’s true body seemed to fall into extreme weakness. His body slowly sank downward until he lay there, powerless, staring at the sky. Meanwhile, the energy-based phantom grew rapidly and solidified as if it had a life of its own.

“Roar…” A long howl sounded as it rushed toward Rod like a dragon’s roar, sending Fen Tian flying dozens of meters away in its path.

“Damn it! These two are willing to die!” Seeing everything clearly, Lilith lost her smile, replaced by tension, seriousness, and gravity. She cursed violently and rushed toward Rod at full speed.

“Boom…” A massive explosion sound came. Rod felt as if his Dark Dragon had been seized by something; its speed slowed down when encountering that energy. Continuous waves of immense energy struck, weakening the Dragon’s power, while the opposing energy gradually approached him.
“Break!” In a critical moment, without hesitation, he let out a loud roar, unleashing the Dragon’s full power.
The two energies collided, producing thunderous noises. Invisible shockwaves spread like tsunamis, destroying everything in their path—leaving no plants or grass standing, reducing everything to nothingness.
After the collision of the two massive energies, Rod was flung backward like a sword leaving its sheath. As for that shadowy figure, after the terrifying impact, it became increasingly translucent, covered in countless holes, seemingly ready to be scattered by the slightest wind.
“Ugh…” A weak roar was heard. Its crumbling form rushed at him again, giving him no chance at all. Although its strength had diminished greatly, Rod believed that if hit by that attack once more, he would surely suffer severe injuries. He continued to fly backward, too exhausted to resist after using the Dragon’s power once again. The intense collision had caused him serious internal injuries, leaving him with no choice but to wait for the inevitable outcome.
“Damn you, woman! I’ll remember you!” Rod cursed Lilith fiercely in his heart.