Skybound Throne

In the Battle Royal, Skyler and Zack stared at the towering Inferno Lizard before them, its twelve furious eyes fixed on them. Both wore grim expressions as they glanced at the empty stage far behind the creature.

Zack muttered bitterly.

"The powerful Epic-tier Fire Element skill book on the award stage is gone as well."

Behind the duo, Austin, Yuris Yu, Charles, and Isaac—who had been running around for hours because of them, yet still had no idea at all what they were searching for—stood frozen at the sight of the lizard. The sheer pressure radiating from it made them feel suffocated. Now, they could only glare at the two before them, the ones who had entered this place and provoked the lizard!

What on earth were they even doing?!

Skyler stepped back as the lizard hissed and advanced toward them. Its massive, scaled form rippling with each movement, and the ground trembled under its weight.

Now, his suspicion was fully confirmed.

Max Hales hadn't read the book like him and Zack; he remembered his past life.

That's why, unlike them, who had to take time to accurately pinpoint the important things mentioned in the book, he already knew their exact locations in this place.

After all, he had found them once before!

So, naturally, those who were relying solely on written knowledge would be slower than someone who had already lived through it.

Now, the question was whether Max had recalled just one life or more than one. But it was something only Max Hales knew.

Skyler and Zack both jumped back as the lizard slammed its tail toward them. They dodged the attack and prepared to fight.

The entire dimly lit cave shook from the impact, and Skyler shouted to the others.

"Prepare to fight!"

Austin drew his javelin, grumbling. Damn, he hadn't signed up for this! The lizard was at least a 15 or 16 star threat! He had only tagged along for fun—and to find out why Skyler claimed their planet was in danger.

He was about to ask Yuris to attack from the other side, but he noticed no one was around him. He blinked, then snapped his head back, only to see Yuris, Charles, and Isaac quietly tiptoeing out of the cave.

Austin's brow twitched in utter disbelief. Wow—this was a new kind of experience.

His teammates were running off, leaving him behind. He'd been on Max's team for years, but he had never faced anything like this. Obviously, he didn't care that the trio was abandoning Zack and Skyler—the two deserved it for awakening the lizard—but why were they even leaving him behind?!

Wasn't he on their side? What about their strong brotherhood?! The nerve of them!

Taking a deep breath, he bellowed.

"Guys, where are you all going?!"

Immediately, Charles, Isaac, and Yuris Yu stiffened. They cursed under their breaths, but Skyler and Zack's attention was already on them. Seeing the smirk on Austin's face, they wanted to beat him up! But in the end, all they could do was smile back and laugh.

Yuris rushed toward him.

"Of course, nowhere. Let's fight!"

He wielded his Space Element skills and struck the lizard immediately. Following him, Charles unleashed a series of wind attacks. Isaac didn't stay behind either.

Even though he was the weakest and his attacks barely left a scratch on the lizard, he hurled multiple fire spells at its eyes.

Zack watched Skyler with amusement.

"When did you notice they were running?"

With a clap of his hands, lightning strikes rained down on the lizard's body. It howled in fury and pain, thrashing. Soon, clouds of dust and debris erupted in all directions.

Skyler and Austin both attacked with their weapons—a scythe and a javelin—directly aiming for the lizard's limbs joints. As they jumped back, Skyler flashed Zack a smirk.

"From the start."

He waved his hand to summon an earth wall to block the lizard's tail, laughing.

"One should keep an eye on everything!"

He failed to notice how everyone, except Isaac, froze at the sight of him suddenly wielding a powerful Earth Element skill.

Austin was the first to stammer.

"I thought you only had five elements? If I remember what you said at the Annual Gala correctly, Earth wasn't included in them!"

Skyler's smirk faltered.

'Oh, crap! I forgot!'

For a moment, his mind raced, then he abruptly turned to Charles with a smile.

"Thank you for helping me just now."

However, his attempt to feign innocence and make it seem like Charles had utilized the Earth skill to help him backfired when the gray-haired youth shouted in protest.

"But I have only formed Wind and Fire elemental crystals! I haven't formed my Earth elemental crystal yet!"

Skyler instantly facepalmed. Couldn't this guy read the situation and help him out?

But there was no time to glare at Charles, because the lizard, enraged at seeing them casually chatting, let out a furious roar. The deafening roar was followed by flames that shook the space, hurling everyone around it and slamming them into the cave's walls.

Skyler let out a groan. Unlike the others, he was actually unscathed—not even a single burn mark. Ever since he awakened as 40% dragon, his body had become resilient. But his clothes were singed a bit, and the hard impact had rattled his internal organs.

'Damn, that was brutal!'

He clenched his jaw and quickly dashed to the side, narrowly avoiding the flames that surged across the cavern. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Isaac coughing up blood. Without hesitation, he summoned an Earth Wall to shield him from the roaring blaze.

'Whatever! We're moving together anyway. Sooner or later, they will realize I can wield more than five elements… so let them.'

He shrugged inwardly and shouted.

"Let's attack together! Austin and Charles, you two with me for close combat! Yuris, Zack, and Isaac—attack from the rear!"

Right now, they didn't have time to think. Despite the unanswered question of how Skyler could use the Earth Element, Austin and Charles rushed forward to join him.

At the same time, Yuris, Zack, and Isaac quickly positioned themselves at the rear.

With their combined power, they eventually managed to subdue the lizard. Naturally, as it neared death, everyone became eager to land the finishing blow, since the one who struck the final hit would claim the points.

But just as the lizard was about to finally breathe its last, a small fireball shot into one of its eyes—and it died immediately.

Everyone froze. Skyler turned back.

"Who was it?"

Zack and Yuris turned to the man standing between them, their brows twitching as he gasped at the notification flashing before him, declaring that he had earned points.

Isaac instantly cried out in disbelief.

"That wasn't intentional! I swear!"

Everyone stared at him, their faces dark with grievance. It wasn't as if they could do anything except accept the fact that, in the end, the weakest among them had taken the reward for all their effort. How unfair.

Yuris sighed and patted Isaac's shoulder reassuringly before looking at the others.

"Let it go. It was just a coincidence."

Everyone nodded and moved on—unaware that this was the beginning of such strange coincidences that would keep repeating.

Of course, they didn't realize it then.