Tiberius stood rooted to the spot, his eyes wide with awe as he watched Canna's subordinates unleash their fury. The raw power radiating from them was beyond anything he had ever encountered. When he first met Grimruk and Mortem, he had sensed their strength, but this—this was a different level entirely. The ability to overpower a true-calamity rank being was something he hadn't thought possible.
Meanwhile, Kael's mind was racing. He had feared this from the moment Flora's fist had connected with Canna's gut. But his worry wasn't for Canna; it was for the leader of the Verdant Wardens. Canna's subordinates were fiercely loyal, and their overprotectiveness bordered on the obsessive.
Kael knew very well what they were capable of, and the potential destruction they could unleash terrified even him. The thought of what could happen if Mortem's "collection" of undead creatures were set loose, or if Canna lost control and truly embraced his destructive nature, sent chills down his spine. He had to do something, and fast.
Kael sprinted towards Canna, his heart pounding in his chest. "Canna!" he yelled, trying to get through to him. "This is an important meeting! We can't let it end like this!" Stay connected with m-v l|e'-novelhall.net
Back on the battlefield, the air crackled with tension as Canna slowly got to his feet, his anger boiling over. He clenched his fists, feeling the remnants of Flora's spores still weakening him, but it was the rage burning inside him that fueled his recovery.
The humiliation of being beaten and tossed around like a ragdoll, the audacity of Flora to think she could overpower him—it all festered in his mind, feeding his fury.
Canna's eyes, now glowing with a dangerous intensity, locked onto Flora. He could feel the mana within him surging, desperate for release. Without hesitation, he raised a hand to the sky, summoning a bolt of lightning that was almost blinding in its brilliance. The air hummed with power as the bolt crackled downwards, striking Flora's position with a thunderous roar.
The sheer force of the lightning left a deep crater in the ground, and for a moment, the battlefield was consumed by smoke and debris.
Flora emerged from the chaos, her face set in a grim expression. She had managed to dodge the full force of the attack, but she could feel the lingering energy in the air. This was no ordinary lightning; the mana behind it was immense, and it made her skin tingle with unease. Flora knew that Canna was powerful in his own right, but this—this was beyond anything she had anticipated.
Her heart pounded in her chest as she braced herself for what was coming next.
Canna's expression was cold and calculating as he began to summon a storm. Dark clouds gathered overhead with unnatural speed, swirling and churning as the wind picked up, whipping through the trees with a ferocious howl. The sky darkened until it was almost night, and the first drops of rain began to fall, quickly turning into a torrential downpour.
Canna's voice was a deep, guttural growl as he spoke. "You wanted to know who I am, Flora? Let me show you."
With a roar, Canna unleashed a massive wave of fire, the flames licking the air as they surged towards Flora. She barely managed to dodge, the heat singeing her vines as she desperately tried to regain her footing. But Canna was relentless, closing the distance between them with terrifying speed. His claws slashed through the air, leaving deep gashes in the ground as he advanced.
Flora could only defend herself, her once-confident stance now one of desperation. She conjured barriers of vines and roots, but they crumbled under the sheer force of Canna's fire attacks. His tail whipped around, smashing through her defenses with ease. Flora's mind raced as she searched for a way out, but every option seemed to close as Canna's fury bore down on her.
Just as it seemed that Flora would be overwhelmed, Canna paused, his dragon-like eyes narrowing as he considered his next move. The battlefield was a chaotic mess of destruction, the ground scorched and torn apart by their clash. But through the haze of battle, Canna's gaze found Kael, who had been desperately trying to reach him.
Kael's voice cut through the chaos, steady and firm. "Canna, don't let this end in destruction. We need her—we need this alliance. Please, don't lose yourself to the rage."
For a moment, the air was thick with tension, the outcome of the battle hanging in the balance. Canna's breathing was heavy, his dragonkin form a terrifying sight, but Kael's words reached him. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down, to think rationally. Kael was right—if he lost control now, everything they had worked for would be for nothing.
Flora, battered and exhausted, watched as Canna slowly began to reign in his power. She could see the struggle in his eyes, the battle between his rage and his reason. As she prepared to defend herself once more, Canna made his decision.
With a deep, rumbling growl, Canna released the flames that had been building in his throat, but this time, they were directed into the air, a warning rather than an attack. The fire roared skyward, dissipating into the dark clouds above, and with it, the intensity of the battle began to wane.
Canna's form slowly returned to its normal state, the red scales retreating as his human appearance reasserted itself. His breathing was still heavy, his anger not fully extinguished, but he had made his choice. The battle was over, for now.
Flora, her body trembling from the strain of the fight, watched in silence as Canna turned his back on her. The power he had unleashed was unlike anything she had ever seen, and for the first time in her life, she understood why he had been so cautious about revealing his true identity.
As the storm clouds began to disperse and the battlefield settled into an uneasy calm, Flora could only wonder what kind of being she had just faced—and what the future held now that she had seen the true power of the Harbinge