Will was not standing idly within Hela's Dominion. He had already set a plan into motion. A plan that had proceeded smoothly so far.
'After seeing my fight with the werewolf prince he probably thinks I'm trying to goad him. He also seems familiar with Hela's Dominion since he cancelled its energy supply. The system's intel was on point.'
Will was not one to shy away from research. He had spent a lot of points trying to find information on Ulysses Rijkaard. But one piece of information had caught his eye. It was rumoured that Everlasting Willow had been trapped by a powerful cultivator. One well-versed with Hela's Dominion. Will wasn't sure of the information's veracity, but he was willing to try his luck.
Hela's Dominion was a nightmare for light attribute cultivators. Especially warriors. Will was willing to bet his last dollar that Everlasting Willow would have informed Ulysses on how to counter it even if he had not encountered such an opponent.
'Thankfully, Willow is a good teacher.'
Will was pleased to find Ulysses cut himself off from the rest of the world as that was his intention.
'Ulysses thinks that I can't harm him, and normally he is right, but I won't be fighting alone today. I've been saving this for the right moment, and now it's time to use it.'
All of a sudden, Will jumped back to the far edge of the arena, his back practically touching the wall. This odd action caught the attention of the curious crowd while Ulysses was unaware. All he could tell was that Will was now a bit further. He couldn't tell anything else.
'This should be enough space.'
Will crouched and touched the ground with his right hand. A magic circle with complex bestial runes appeared on the ground in front of Will. It was a spell of the darkness attribute, one fueled by negative and frigid energy resulting in it being boosted multiple times by Hela's Dominion.
What Will wanted from Ulysses wasn't his energy, but time. He needed time to harmonise and cast this spell within the dominion. As Will's matrix shone, the mana within him roiled with excitement as if it was sentient.
'This spell was already good, but now it's boosted by the dominion, Frozen Asgard magic and Mystic Harmony. If humans don't qualify as his peers, then what about beasts?'
Will's eyes narrowed in excitement as he looked forward to what was about to happen.
…
"That magic circle, it's-"Before the speaker in the crowd could finish his sentence, a creature appeared within the dark dominion right in front of Will.
Within the arena, a sudden gust of wind whipped past the audience, carrying with it a bone-chilling killing intent that seemed to dampen the very air. All eyes in the crowd turned to the source of the disturbance, their hearts thudding with elation and anticipation.
There, standing tall and proud, was a dark purple dragon, evidently of extreme yin nature. Its body was covered in dense purple scales that seemed to absorb the light around it. The dragon's eyes glowed with an otherworldly luminance, and its black claws shimmered with an icy cold aura.
The dragon roared, its voice echoing through the arena like thunder, and its wings unfurled like a great black cloud. The audience was awed by the sheer size and beauty of the dragon, even as they were awed by its icy killing intent.
"Colossus Criterion Thesaurus!" The hooded figure shouted as he stood. Never in all his years would he have expected a cultivator that qualified to use such a spell to appear in such a tiny Branded Dungeon.
The shout was like a maddening spark that ignited the passion in the crowd.
"Oy, oy, oy! Doesn't one need to be a peak tier Sovereign with complete mastery over Intent to use Colossus Criterion Thesaurus?"
"I can't believe I'm seeing this. An SSS tier summoning skill, someone pinch me!"
"Master, I am not seeing things. He summoned a negative energy dragon with the Criterion! Within a Frozen Asgard Hela's Dominion!"
Multiple conversations appeared all over as the crowd tried to digest what was happening. As they spoke, the dragon rose into the air, its wings beating slowly and powerfully, creating a gale that whipped through the arena once more. With every beat of its wings, the dragon's killing intent grew denser, the air growing colder and more oppressive.
Faced with such an opponent, few would dare to challenge. But those who did would find themselves at the mercy of its icy breath and razor-sharp claws. For this was a supreme dragon born of darkness and cold, a creature of utmost power and destruction.
"That dragon, it's fusing with the Dominion!"
The dragon was entering a state similar to Will's, where it seemed to become one with the World Energy around it. It was a bestial harmony between the dark and frost.
As the dragon melded with the shadows, the audience could do nothing but stare. They had just witnessed the arrival of a true creature of legend, a Criterion beast that could shake the very foundations of the mortal world.
'This fusion between the beast and the dominion, could it be the effect that comes with the Frozen Asgard Arts version?' speculated the hooded figure as he watched on.
The dragon let out a roar, and suddenly the sky became dark and ominous. A storm of yin energy began to brew, swirling around the dragon's massive form. The audience looked on in curiosity, wondering what horrors would be unleashed upon Ulysses. But what was even more pertinent in the minds of the observers was, would Ulysses even be horrified?
"Even if it's the Scion of Light, this is a bit too much."
"I can't believe Peerless had a card like this in his sleeves. Just feel the intent coming from that dragon. It's so dense it's almost tangible. Just what kind of intent did Peerless infuse into the beast?"
"Peerless hasn't even used any Intent, which means he must be under a restriction as well." said the hooded figure as he calmed himself. The others paid attention hoping he would shed some light on the situation but he'd remained silent. He could not take his eyes off the magnificent beast.
He was also a summoner of dragons, but one skill that had always eluded him was the Colossus Criterion Thesaurus. It could only be learned by natural-born Sovereigns, and unfortunately, he was not one.
The dragon's eyes glowed with an eerie light as it focused its power on one lone figure in the arena. The young knight Ulysses.
.