Speed Is King

Black immediately focused on weaving and casting dark energy based defensive spells as well.

As their powerful spells shimmered into being and blocked the godlike fire breath attack, the pressure they were experiencing finally lifted slightly.

"It's working!" Black shouted with no small measure of relief. Their initial success in blocking the fire attack spurred them on and they madly casted all the dark energy defensive spells they knew.

After a minute or so, they were finally able to catch their breath as the dragon's fire breath slowly faded away.

"Oh my god. That red dragon awakening is ridiculous!" White gasped and panted for air.

The last few minutes were the most intense of her entire life!

"It is very strong. But if it's weak against dark energy, then we have a chance! We are both-"

However, before Black could finish his words, a powerful wave of light energy smashed into their dark energy barriers and caused huge cracks to appear everywhere!

In a split second, the structural integrity of their shields and barriers were immediately compromised.

CRACK!! WHOOSH!

Black and White stared at their disappearing barriers in disbelief.

As one, they turned to look at Elliot who had finally made a move after watching his red dragon do all the work in attacking the trio.

Elliot's golden tinged dragon scales which covered half his body shone brightly as a deeply majestic aura billowed from him. His right hand was pointing at them and remnants of what seemed to be a brilliant light energy attack was just disappearing from his fingers.

"Gold dragon? Light energy? Ha… Hahahaha… Hahahahaha!" White couldn't help but cackle incredulously.

She couldn't believe that their one lifeline, the one thing that could protect them from the red dragon, was an elemental type that was vulnerable against Elliot's "second" element!

With the dark energy barriers gone, the red dragon unleashed another fire breath attack which landed on the two Hegemons.

The effect of the fire breath on their external body was no less catastrophic than that of Yellow's who experienced it internally within her body's energy pathways.

The overbearing fire energy instantly caused the two Hegemons to burst into flames!

The Combined Energy Manifestation disappeared without a trace as the two surviving Hegemons collapsed to the ground.

Dead as dead can be.

Of course they were dead. Only blackened skeletons remained of what used to be two mighty Hegemons. The red dragon's fire breath attack had completely burned their flesh to ashes!

Elliot Musk, the King level warrior of Planet Earth, had defeated three Hegemons in just two moves, his Red Dragon Energy Awakening and his Light Energy attack.

As before, several hunting parties immediately aborted their missions.

"Forget it, even with Hegemon Saratoga, you guys are still too weak. Go back to base. Again."

"That Elliot is stupidly strong. He is something our Vipaza Clan cannot afford to have. Abort mission!"

However, not all of the hunting parties were from small to medium sized powers. Some were from the biggest and most fearsome powers who had no lack of Ancients or even Primals!

The incredible strength Elliot had showcased actually only piqued their interest even more.

"Good! I did not waste my time in coming here. Increase speed! I want to reach his position within fifteen minutes!"

"One King killed three Hegemons with ease? Hahahaha! Our Pirturo Star System will have another top tier combatant candidate soon! Go! Full speed ahead! The Dominus will be pissed if some other power gets their hands on him!"

Somewhere near the gulf of Mexico, Hegemon Hani frowned deeply when she heard the news.

"He killed three full-fledged Hegemons with extreme ease, to the point where the Hegemons could only unleash their Combined Energy Manifestations for a few minutes before succumbing to his… Energy Awakened Red Dragon?! What nonsense is this? How can a mere King level warrior who had not formed his River of Runes do such a thing?!"

She was travelling at extremely high speeds towards Elliot's last known position with Ancient Gartod leading the way.

Ancient Gartod could have travelled much faster, of course, but he was in a great mood and wanted to relax a little bit, so he matched Hegemon Hani's flying speed and merely cruised along.

"The formation of the River of Runes is the fastest and most highly regarded way of gaining power. But it is not the only way." Ancient Gartod said lazily with no surprise at all in his voice.

"Is that so? How come I have never heard of such a thing?" Hegemon Hani asked curiously.

"It is classified information. Plus, it is a rather useless piece of information. The River of Runes is by far the most efficient method to power up. The sheer amount of benefits we get by infusing the Runes into our energy pathways are just too good to give up for other methods. The quantity boost, the qualitative upgrade, and even the utility and unique functions certain runes give us empower us way too much. Anyone choosing to focus their energy and time to power up using a different method is a complete fool.

The River of Runes truly is the best method to power up… which is available to the known universe." Ancient Gartod replied.

Hegemon Hani immediately understood.

"So he came across something that comes from outside our known universe? A brand new method to power up?" Hegemon Hani asked again with excitement.

"Definitely. And if I am not mistaken, the power up method he found isn't a case of "either or" with the River of Runes method. And that means…"

"We can use that method and gain additional strength for ourselves." Hegemon Hani finished Ancient Gartod's sentence for him.

"Exactly. And if a King with this new method can kill three Hegemons with ease, imagine what you and I can become if we gained that secret…" Ancient Gartod smiled widely.

Hegemon Hani's breath immediately became slightly irregular as she grappled with the idea of gaining the strength to fight a few power levels above her.

It was an exhilarating and intoxicating thought.