Dustin paid no attention to the stone dragon lunging to devour him or the stone spear thrusting toward his back.
Instead, he channeled every last ounce of mystical pure energy remaining in his body, burning a portion of his life essence, and condensed the last trace of his inner energy into his right index and middle fingers. Forming a sword finger, he leveled it at Valindra on the platform.
This strike didn’t have any earth-shaking momentum or dazzling radiance. It possessed only an invisible force, refined to the absolute limit, that seemed to transcend space and defense itself, striking directly at the source.
“Mystical… Mindseal!”
This was neither a sword technique meant to strike the body nor a forbidden art to seal the soul. It was Dustin’s trump card, a secret interference technique targeting the connection between a cultivator’s mind and internal energy.
However, this technique would have minimal effect against Valindra when she was completely focused. But in this fleeting moment, as she fully committed to her ultimate attack, the slightest lapse in her concentration made the balance tip.
She felt as though an invisible needle had pierced her consciousness. Her energy connection with the two stone dragons and the surging earth beneath her suddenly froze for a brief moment.
At that instant, the two lunging dragons halted mid-motion, and the stone spear erupting from the ground stopped mere inches from Dustin’s back.
The moment he’d thrust out that finger strike, he had already planned his escape. Using the rebound force from the rock wall behind him, combined with a momentary fluctuation in the gravity field, his body became weightless.
He moved in a trajectory that defied all logic, slipping through the gap between the dragons’ gaping jaws by the most dangerous of margins.
Simultaneously, he flung the last of his high-grade Armor-Breaking Golden Edge talismans, ones he had salvaged from the cave Ysolde had left behind. They streaked forward as razor-sharp golden streams of light.
Dustin didn’t aim them at Valindra.
Instead, he targeted the two stone dragons that had temporarily lost control when their energy connection froze. Specifically, their eyes, the cores where their power flowed.
Two sharp cracks split the air. Golden streams of light hit the stone dragons’ crimson eyes with deadly precision. The talisman carrying the destructive power to pierce any defences exploded instantly.
The two stone dragons released silent cries of anguish. Their massive bodies shuddered violently as the crimson glow vanished from their eyes in an instant.
A heartbeat later, the yellow spiritual light covering them faded rapidly and disintegrated. They soon turned to lifeless rubble, crashing to the ground in clouds of dust.
With the stone dragons destroyed, the earth’s surging veins calmed due to Valindra’s momentary lapse in focus.
The backlash from her technique hit her hard. She let out a muffled grunt, her face draining of color. Shock, fury, and disbelief flooded her eyes.
Still, she’d never imagined that in such a desperate situation, he could find such a minuscule flaw in her technique and exploit it with such a bizarre technique.
While Valindra’s mind reeled from the shock and backlash, Dustin had already moved. He burst through the settling dust and scattered rubble like a phantom, appearing directly in front of her.
He looked deathly pale, and his energy was so weak it seemed on the verge of snuffing out. However, his eyes blazed with terrifying intensity, as if fueled by the last sparks of life itself.
Instead of drawing his sword, he made a sword finger again. The tip of her fingers was wreathed in the last faint trace of pale-gold sealing runes, designed to lock down the opponent’s energy cores. In a flash, they drove straight toward her forehead.
Seeing that, Valindra’s eyes widened. She tried to dodge and conjure an earth shield. However, his strike contained every ounce of his remaining will and calculation. It was executed with blinding speed, deadly precision, and absolute ruthlessness.
“No…”
Amidst her desperate scream, Dustin’s fingertip lightly touched her brow.
“Mystical… Core Seal!” he roared. The pale gold rune instantly entered her forehead. The majestic, weighty yellow spiritual light surrounding her body collapsed abruptly like a punctured balloon.
Her body convulsed violently, and the light in her eyes rapidly dimmed. Like someone drained of all strength, she collapsed limply to the ground. She was wrapped in a pale golden cocoon that locked her completely in place.
With three straight victories, Dustin had taken down Talmor, Lysander, and Valindra one after another.
However, he could no longer hold on and coughed a mouthful of blood. His body swayed, and only by stabbing his longsword into the ground did he manage to stay upright.
He raised his head, looking toward the platform at the only figure still standing-Malthor, whose killing intent had reached overwhelming heights.
