--
As Cedric kept the Thunder Prince's attention to himself, the rest of his team weren't idle.
There's no way they'd let this opportunity go, especially since the biggest threat to them had been lured away. Moss Lady took after the control of the island since Eunuch Wei was incapacitated.
As she controlled the island away, both her, Morning Wood's, and Backpack Fatty's domains appeared once more; this time, they completely descended on the enemy team, and without the Thunder Prince to deter them, the island was easily ensnared, unable to leave.
They saw only two people on the island. They didn't know why, and it didn't matter either. They only thought that they had the advantage in number, so they pressed on.
But of course, this doesn't mean that this is going to be an easy fight.
The Thunder Prince took the spotlight for the most part while his teammates just chilled in the background, letting him do his thing, but this doesn't mean that they're pushovers.
One of Thunder Prince's teammates was an Infernal, a lifeform that's born from the depths of an active spiritual volcano. They had innate talent over the domain of fire and had durable physiques as well. The other came from the Shaman Tribe—people who are innately spiritual and could perform all sorts of magic, rituals, witchcraft, and so on.
It's this shaman that protected the island while the Thunder Prince was away. Cedric's team had sensed the presence of talismans all over the island, and none of them knew what they do, so they had to tread carefully. Additionally, the shaman also inflicted them with a weakening curse and performed a ritual that isolated the space from the effects of the stacked domains.
Meanwhile, the Infernal summoned an active volcano in the middle of the island. He seemingly turned himself into a turret that hurled flaming boulders at the enemy island without any pause in between. Wherever the boulders land, they'd leave a pool of magma with scalding temperatures that melted the surface of the enemy team's island.
Well, that would've been the case if Backpack Fatty wasn't there to intercept them. His gigantic body served as a shield to protect their island. The frightening temperatures as well as the explosive strength of each attack were but a tiny prick to him. The craggly surface of his skin was so tough that even these couldn't do any real damage to him.
His tough defenses caused the infernal to scowl in displeasure. He thought that, at the very least, he could harass the giant and do some damage to the enemy island through this, but unfortunately, he wasn't the Thunder Prince. He couldn't replicate the ease with which his teammate penetrated the defenses of the Mountain Giant, so they're going to have to find a different approach if they want to win this.
As for the protective talismans of the shaman and the mysteries they held, all of it was being explored by Morning Wood and Moss Lady, but not personally. Morning Wood has been testing the durability of the protection using his plant life forms as means to attack while Moss Lady sent her fake kindred to trigger any possible traps around.
They were systematically breaking down the defenses of the enemies while remaining safe, which was a wise move. That said, they're going to have to hurry because they can't tell how long Cedric could keep the monster occupied alone.
**
The Thunder Prince had no doubts that if the two of them grew up in the same environment, this guy would've been way stronger than him. Because even with the scarcity of resources and lack of guidance, he was able to come this far. Hence why he thinks that Cedric was the real prodigy between them.
That said, that doesn't mean that he'd let him win just like that.
Boom! Clang! Pshew!
They clashed once more, pushing each other back evenly before staring into each other's eyes. There was a brief lull in between their battle before the Thunder Prince let out a chuckle.
"You're good." He says, "Really good. I have no doubts that you'd be able to defeat me someday."
Tzzt! Boom!!
"But that day isn't today."
Lightning and thunder roared around his body before the Thunder Prince stabbed himself with his spear, much to Cedric's horror. And terifying might exploded out of him, accompanied by a wild transformation.
Previously, he already shared draconic features, but after this transformation, he looked no different than an actual dragon.
From seven feet tall, he turned into a 20-meter-tall monstrosity. His scales crept up all over his body and manifested completely. His shape changed into a quadropedal entity with a massive pair of wings and a long horn in the middle of his head.
Cedric felt the concept laws around them prostrating in worship to his new form; he also felt a primal fear creep up his heart as if he just met a natural predator of his kind.
A dragon, a creature that stood at the peak of the food chain. Its predatory eyes shone with wisdom beyond its years, and its huge body was bursting with might and power. It is a blessed creature, loved and cared for by the fundamental laws themselves.
Honestly, this transformation isn't complete. The Thunder Prince isn't a real dragon; he only shares their bloodline. However, the fact that he could tap into this bloodline intimately to the point that he could almost assume their form shows just how compatible he was with them. And if he was given enough time, who could say that he wouldn't become one eventually?
But that's not important right now. What matters is that the Thunder Prince was determined to end this battle here, and if Cedric didn't respond in kind, he'd die here sooner than he wants.
"Alright, let's see how I measure up against a dragon." Cedric's eyes gleamed as he accepted the challenge.