-889- Battle of No Retreat

During this period, while Rozen engaged in daily training, he never interrupted the development of Hokuto.

Despite the tedious process, Rozen dedicated time every day to refine spiritual energy suitable for Hokuto's growth, continuously injecting it into Hokuto's body.

Thus, Hokuto had transformed into a nearly thousand-meter divine dragon, aptly named to "obscure the sky," showcasing considerable persuasiveness.

The power of Hokuto continued to be reinforced, and today, it stood at the pinnacle of tactical level, just a step away from reaching the strategic level. Once Hokuto reached a true length of a thousand meters, stepping into the strategic level, it would be on par with top-tier Servants.

If Rozen continued to support Hokuto tirelessly, strengthening its power without hesitation, Hokuto could fully unleash strategic-level strength.

Now, Rozen called forth Hokuto, infusing his own magical energy into Hokuto through their incredibly strong contract connection. Then, Rozen chanted an incantation.

"——At the end of the mountain, there is a god, a humanoid snake with a red body, upright eyes, and bright vision in darkness, clear vision in light, neither eating nor sleeping, unceasing in the face of wind and rain; this is called a dragon——"

At this moment, Rozen chanted the scripture from the "Classic of the Great Wilderness: North," (One of the Volumes from the Classic of Mountains and Seas) which treated dragons as spiritual god-like beings. It could enhance dragon energy, explosively boosting the dragon's spiritual power.

"Boom!"

In the clouds, Hokuto's noble dragon energy suddenly swelled, causing its eyes to widen as it emitted an earth-shattering dragon roar.

At this moment, with Rozen's blessing, Hokuto's power directly ascended to the strategic level, reaching a level comparable to top-tier Servants.

"Roar!"

Hokuto roared suddenly, descending from the clouds, fiercely colliding with a colossal dragon that appeared small compared to it.

"Dong!"

Resembling the explosion of thunder, a shockwave expanded from the mid-air, forming a ring-shaped radiation that instantly blew away numerous water vapor.

"Roar!"

The colossal dragon emitted a painful roar, falling from the high altitude and crashing into the ground, raising a dust storm.

This dragon was none other than the one ridden by Cu Chulainn.

However, when Hokuto descended, Cu Chulainn had already leaped off the dragon, avoiding Hokuto's collision.

"I didn't expect you could also summon dragonkind."

Cu Chulainn, who had landed on the ground, looked at the dragon being knocked into the ground by Hokuto, his expression somewhat unpleasant.

Who would have thought that a mere human could summon true dragonkind?

Even Medb had successfully created dragonkind with the help of the Holy Grail's power and her own characteristics.

Similarly, the previous dark Jeanne d'Arc could summon Fafnir because of the Holy Grail.

Otherwise, as the strongest existence among Phantasmal Species, dragonkind was not something anyone could casually summon.

At least, as far as Rozen was concerned, he had only seen one person capable of summoning dragonkind.

That person was the Holy Maiden—Martha—who had appeared in the first singularity in France.

In other words, unless it was a Holy Maiden or a saintly figure, it was nearly impossible to summon dragonkind. Even for Heroic Spirits, summoning dragonkind was more challenging than slaying a dragon.

This surprised even Scáthach.

"Hiding such a trump card? You're truly an impressive disciple!"

Scáthach shouted loudly while evading the oncoming dragon breath.

"How is this possible...!"

However, Medb, who had been proudly riding on the colossal dragon, gnashed her teeth in frustration.

Unfortunately, no matter how unwilling Medb was, the fact that Rozen could command dragonkind remained.

"Medb." Cu Chulainn's gaze focused on Rozen as he addressed Medb. "Heal the injuries on me."

"Ah, sure, Cú." Medb finally realized and summoned the golden cup in her hand.

"Holy Grail...!"

Seeing this scene, even Mash couldn't help but exclaim.

Not just Mash, but all the Servants on the battlefield were captivated by the radiance of the Holy Grail in Medb's hands. The Holy Grail that caused the appearance of this singularity was right in front of them. It made the Celtic side invincible, and who wouldn't be attracted by it?

However, Medb paid no attention to the gazes of others. She simply made a wish to the Holy Grail.

"Heal Cú's injuries!"

The Holy Grail in Medb's hand suddenly radiated a dazzling light, converging on Cu Chulainn. Under this light, the injuries on Cu Chulainn's body rapidly healed at a visible rate, even the curse at the heart was eliminated, gradually recovering.

Seeing this, without any hesitation, Rozen released several talismans.

"Order!"

With a short incantation, the talismans were released one by one.

The released talismans were standard elemental symbols.

First, the awakened water symbol formed a torrent, then absorbed by the wood symbol, growing into a towering tree in the sky. The tree was then covered with the fire symbol, erupting into a blazing flame, which descended into the earth. The earth symbol's power surged, lifting sand and soil, and finally, absorbed by the metal symbol, forming a gigantic steel spear.

The entire generative process unfolded like flowing water, demonstrating incredible fluency and proficiency. Even a national-level Onmyouji like the "Twelve Divine Generals" would be astonished at the sight.

The enormous steel spear broke through the sound barrier, carrying a piercing sonic boom, and thundered toward the direction where Cu Chulainn was.

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

"Roar!"

Three colossal dragons immediately lunged forward, ready to intercept the massive steel spear.

"Roarrr!"

However, Hokuto swiftly twisted his massive and slender body, turning it around to send all three dragons flying, creating a resounding roar and a trembling atmosphere.

The steel spear proceeded unhindered toward Cu Chulainn.

Until...

"Don't think you can harm Cú!"

Medb, riding atop the dragon, descended in a whirlwind.

"Clang!"

The enormous steel spear clashed heavily with the dragon's extended claws, resonating with the clash of steel, the splattering sparks, and the explosive sound of air currents.

This impact caused the dragon Medb was riding to recoil as if struck by lightning.

Yet, the steel spear was also stopped in its tracks, rebounding into the air. After a spin, it thunderously pierced into the earth.

Rozen didn't relent.

"Hokuto!"

Upon Rozen's call, Hokuto angrily let out a dragon roar and, directed towards Cu Chulainn, spewed forth dragon breath.

It wasn't fire but an icy dragon breath.

The frosty air, condensed into a surging and dazzling white light, covered the direction of Cu Chulainn.

In this critical moment, including the dragon Medb was riding, all four dragons on the battlefield simultaneously opened their flaming dragon mouths, releasing scorching dragon breath toward the high sky.

The icy and fiery dragon breaths collided in mid-air.

"Boom!"

Resembling an exploding thunder, it once again stirred a resounding roar.