MY HIDDEN TALENT IS FORBIDDEN BY THE HEAVENS-Chapter 201: PART III: DRAGON’S WRATH

Chapter 201 — NINEFOLD SOVEREIGN ARRAY (PART III: DRAGON’S WRATH)

The mountains were gone.

Where once a jagged range had stretched across the horizon, now there remained only a collapsing avalanche of stone, dust, and shattered jade crystal. Entire cliffs had been sliced apart by the strike of the Ninefold Sovereign Array, their broken halves tumbling down the slopes like giants falling from grace.

Above the devastation—

The Jade Dragon rose again.

The massive wound across its chest still burned with azure light, the lingering energy from Dean Xu Canglong’s Execution Strike refusing to fade. Fractured emerald scales hung loosely along the creature’s torso, dripping crystalline blood that evaporated into green mist before touching the ground.

For the first time since the dragon had awakened—

It looked wounded.

But it did not look defeated.

If anything, the injury had awakened something deeper.

The emerald veins beneath its armor began glowing brighter. Light pulsed through them like molten rivers moving beneath crystal skin.

The dragon’s wings spread slowly.

Miles of air distorted around them.

The sky above turned darker as clouds spiraled toward the dragon like debris caught in a vortex.

"You... wounded me."

The dragon’s voice rolled across the battlefield, shaking what little terrain remained intact.

Below—

The Ninefold Sovereign Array still stood.

Nine figures.

Nine positions.

Energy still flowed between them in controlled streams.

But the formation had weakened.

Each of them had felt the cost of the strike.

General Han Dae-Woo breathed heavily, his knuckles bleeding where kinetic backlash had cracked the skin.

Commander Rafael Ibarra’s water currents had thinned, the spiraling streams weaker than before.

Dean Feng Yanrui’s phoenix flames flickered unevenly, the inferno dimmer than it had been at the start of the array.

High above, Headmaster Suryavansh Rao’s solar aura had lost its earlier brilliance.

Grandmaster Tenzin Dorje remained steady, but sweat rolled down his brow as he maintained gravitational stabilization across the formation.

Even Astra Nyx, normally composed and silent, had slowed her breathing.

And at the outer edge—

Dr. Elena Kovács struggled to remain standing.

Her drones hovered shakily around her, half of them destroyed during the previous exchange.

Still—

The formation held.

At the center—

Dean Xu Canglong remained unmoving.

His sword still pointed forward.

Azure light flickered faintly along its edge.

He watched the dragon.

Carefully.

The Jade Dragon’s chest wound began glowing.

But it did not close.

Instead—

The fractured scales hardened.

The broken sections transformed into darker jade plates, thicker and more jagged than before.

The dragon inhaled slowly.

But the energy did not gather in its throat.

It spread across its entire body.

Emerald light pulsed violently beneath every scale.

Dr. Kovács’ voice crackled through the comm channel.

"Structural shift confirmed."

General Han growled.

"Don’t tell me it’s evolving again."

Her reply came a second later.

"...It is."

The dragon lifted its head.

Its horns lengthened, curving backward like enormous emerald scythes.

New ridges erupted along its spine.

Its wings expanded wider, the edges sharpening like blades.

The emerald glow intensified until the dragon resembled a living star suspended above the battlefield.

"You forced adaptation."

The dragon’s voice had changed.

Deeper.

Older.

More violent.

"Now endure consequence."

The dragon moved.

Its wings slammed downward.

The resulting shockwave tore across the battlefield like a continent collapsing.

The Ninefold Sovereign Array trembled.

Dorje slammed both palms against the ground.

"Mountain Suppression — Absolute Lock!"

Gravity surged upward.

The formation stabilized.

Han roared.

"Titan Core Anchor!"

He drove both fists into the earth again, reinforcing the central structure of the array.

The shockwave crashed into the formation.

The barrier held.

Barely.

But the dragon was not finished.

Its claws spread wide.

Emerald energy gathered across the length of its wings.

Then—

It slashed downward.

Two massive arcs of emerald light shot toward the formation like crescent moons falling from the sky.

Astra Nyx reacted instantly.

"Void Aperture!"

Space split open above the formation.

One arc vanished into the dimensional tear.

But the second one struck.

The explosion rocked the battlefield.

The Ninefold Array flickered violently.

Feng Yanrui’s phoenix flames surged upward.

"Phoenix Ignition — Guard Form!"

Crimson fire wrapped around the formation like a burning shield.

Solar light descended.

"Solar Amplification!"

Rao poured golden energy into the barrier.

But the dragon attacked again.

Its tail swept sideways.

The air collapsed under the pressure.

The impact slammed into the formation barrier.

This time—

The barrier cracked.

A fracture of emerald light spread across the defensive shell surrounding the Nine.

Commander Ibarra clenched his fists.

"Pressure dropping!"

Water spiraled desperately toward the center.

"Leviathan Channel — Reinforce!"

But the dragon moved again.

Faster.

Its massive body dove toward the formation like a falling meteor.

The ground beneath them trembled.

Canglong’s eyes sharpened.

"Brace!"

The dragon’s claw slammed into the barrier.

The explosion shattered the surrounding terrain.

The Ninefold Array bent inward under the pressure.

Cracks spread across the shield.

Kovács’ voice came through the comm channel.

"Formation integrity dropping!"

General Han roared.

"Not yet!"

He pushed more kinetic energy into the center.

Dorje increased gravity further.

But the dragon roared.

This time—

The roar was not aimed outward.

It exploded downward.

The sound wave detonated directly against the formation.

The shield shattered.

The Nine were thrown apart.

Canglong skidded across the ground, carving a trench through shattered crystal.

Han was hurled into a broken ridge.

Ibarra crashed into a dried riverbed.

Phoenix flames scattered.

Solar light flickered out.

The formation collapsed.

Above them—

The Jade Dragon hovered again.

Its emerald aura expanded across the sky.

The dragon spoke quietly.

"Unity... insufficient."

The Nine slowly rose again from the rubble.

Bruised.

Bleeding.

Exhausted.

But still alive.

Canglong pushed himself to his feet.

His sword trembled slightly now.

The dragon’s eyes glowed brighter.

Emerald energy began building again.

This time—

Across its entire body.

The next attack would not be a roar.

It would be something worse.

The Nine had wounded the dragon.

But now—

They had broken their strongest formation.

And the Jade Dragon prepared to finish the battle.

[Chapter ENDS]