Final Vent!

As the electronic sound resounded.

Akiyama Ren leaped high into the air.

The wide, dark blue cape on his back suddenly bulged and deformed, rapidly coiling around his right leg like sentient liquid metal, instantly coalescing into a high-speed spinning, pitch-black drill!

"Hmph!"

With a roar, Night Knight, like a falling black meteor, plunged his drill-like right foot, accompanied by a destructive shriek, into the back of the heavily wounded Spider Mirror Monster below!

Pfft—Boom!!!

There was no stalemate, no resistance!

The violent power instantly pierced through the monster's body, completely shredding and exploding its hard carapace along with its internal structure!

The giant spider's body burst open with a short, shrill wail, turning into cold fragments and energy particles scattered across the sky, rapidly annihilating in the air.

Only a huge charred crater remained, and Night Knight's figure landing heavily.

He stood at the edge of the crater, his dark blue armor rising and falling in the faint light, panting.

"Hoo... hoo..."

Just then, a hurried sound of footsteps approached.

"Wait, wait!"

Kido Shinji rushed to Akiyama Ren's front.

He pointed at Akiyama Ren, his words astonishingly fast, "You... you're like me, right?! You're human, right?!"

His tone was filled with the urgency of wanting to find a fellow kind. "What exactly is going on?! What are those monsters? Why can we transform like this? And what kind of hellish place is this?!"

A barrage of questions, like a rapid-fire cannon, slammed into Akiyama Ren, who had just finished his battle.

He suddenly looked up, staring intently at this noisy newcomer, and an unknown fire instantly flared up.

He had just gone through a life-and-death struggle, utterly exhausted, and the last thing he needed was a boisterous novice yelling beside him!

"Shut up!" Night Knight growled, his voice carrying suppressed anger through his faceplate.

He unceremoniously shoved Paul hard in the chest.

"Ugh!" Paul was caught off guard, stumbled back several steps from the powerful push, and almost fell to the ground.

"Don't yell here, you idiot!" Night Knight's voice was cold and stern, like ice.

"I..." Paul was stunned by the roar but immediately reacted again, shouting loudly, "Who said I was yelling?!"

Boom—!!!

Paul's words were cut short by a fireball that fell from the sky.

Both of them looked up in terror simultaneously.

High in the sky, a colossal, terrifying figure, obscuring half the sky, was circling!

It had the body of an Eastern Dragon, covered in thick, lava-red scales, and its long tail seemed to be burning with flames.

Those crimson Dragon eyes, with an indifference to life, Lock-On to the two Knights on the ground!

The Contract Beast not yet contracted by Kido Shinji—Dragreder—made its appearance.

"Damn it!" Akiyama Ren's heart instantly sank, his face grim as he looked at the monster in front of him.

Although he wasn't clear about the monster's strength, a Mirror Monster with such an appearance was definitely not to be trifled with.

"Run!!!" He almost screamed, no longer bothering to scold Paul, grabbing the still-dazed Paul's arm and dragging him to turn and flee desperately in the opposite direction of the giant Dragon!

"Wah ah ah ah!!!" Paul was pulled so hard he almost flew, his terrified Growl drowned out by the giant Dragon's roar behind them.

Whoosh—Boom!!!

A crimson pillar of fire, several meters in diameter, erupted from Dragreder's massive mouth like a divine punishment, slamming precisely where the two had stood a second ago.

The ground instantly melted into a huge lava pit, and a scorching Qi wave swept over like a tsunami, sending the two fleeing Knights flying!

"Ugh!" "Ah!"

The two rolled on the ground in disarray, their armor scraping violently against the cold, hard ground, emitting a harsh screeching sound.

Dragreder, like a cat toying with its prey, circled high in the sky, letting out an ear-splitting roar, and once again opened its massive mouth, crimson energy rapidly converging within it!

"It's over..." Akiyama Ren struggled to get up, but his body felt pinned by an invisible giant hand, watching helplessly as the destructive light and flame gathered above his head.

Paul was even more terrified, his body rigid, his mind blank.

Just at this critical moment!

Rumble—!!!

It was not a Dragon roar, but a thunderous rumble like ocean waves crashing!

An incomparably thick, azure water pillar, carrying immense power, slammed down from even higher in the sky without warning!

This water pillar was incredibly precise, striking Dragreder, who had just swooped down and was about to spew flames, with an irresistible force!

"Roar—?!"

Dragreder was caught off guard, letting out a roar of shock, anger, and pain.

Its colossal body was violently struck by the furious water pillar, its scorching scales instantly doused over a large area, emitting billowing white smoke.

The gathered flames were forcibly suppressed, and the entire Dragon body was thrown off balance by this immense impact, spinning like a broken kite, wailing as it plummeted from mid-air!

Boom!!!

The giant Dragon body crashed through the roof of a low-rise building in the distance, sending smoke and debris soaring into the sky!

Akiyama Ren and Paul, who had narrowly escaped death, were completely stunned by this sudden and astonishing reversal.

They stared blankly upwards, following the slowly dissipating azure water pillar to its source—

At the edge of a nearby high-rise rooftop, a figure stood there, appearing at some unknown time.

The afterglow of the setting sun outlined his tall and slender figure, and a streamlined white and gold armor glowed with a soft and noble luster in the twilight.

The large cross-wheel symbol in the center of his chest armor seemed to contain stars, and his deep green compound eyes quietly overlooked the scene below, carrying an indescribable sense of divinity.

"Who... who is that?" Paul's voice trembled with the aftermath of his escape and immense confusion.

This armor... it was completely different from his own.

The moment Akiyama Ren saw that figure, his body suddenly stiffened.

"It's... it's you?!" he cried out, his voice filled with incredible astonishment.

How could it be him?!

The mysterious guy who had effortlessly dealt with the spider monster not long ago, leaving behind a phrase, "You got a second chance at life," before disappearing.

He actually appeared again?

And... that terrifying water pillar just now... was his doing?!

You Hong seemed to sense the two distinctly different gazes from below.

He stood at the edge of the rooftop, facing the slowly setting sun, and casually waved to the disheveled Akiyama Ren and Paul below.

Then, he slowly raised the white and gold disc-like summoner on his left wrist.

With a flick of his finger, a card with a deep ocean blue background was held between his fingers.

"Although I don't know if you have the Dragon attribute, if I'm not mistaken, you should have the fire attribute."

"So, to deal with you, I'll use this card!"

Click.

That mysterious blue card was precisely inserted into the summoner's card slot.

The dial at the core of the summoner instantly lit up with a deep, ocean-like azure glow!

A cold and grand electronic sound, as if heralding the activation of some vast power, suddenly resounded in the silent Mirror World:

"Summon Vent - Blastoise!"