Supreme Magus novel Chapter 3659

"What?" Both Orpal and Erion said in surprise.

"We need this bastard, Dead King." The Storm Griffon sounded almost polite, which creeped Orpal to the bone. "Yet we can't let him keep this attitude. He must be taught a lesson in discipline and respect."

"And you are the one who's going to teach me?" The Jormungandr spat every word out, releasing his acidic spit that sizzled upon contact with the ground. "What if I don't want to listen? What if I just call for help?"

"Then your nest will have something interesting to watch." Jorl activated his communication amulet, replaying the bits where Erion expressed his disgust for Fenagar, the Awakened Councils, and his desire to dominate the continent of Jiera.

"You aren't the only one who's been recording this conversation, bastard." The Griffon's beak somehow curled in a smile. "The only difference is that yours will hinder our plans if you are dead, mine will destroy your reputation if you're alive."

Until that moment, Orpal had believed a serpentine snout couldn't express as much rage and hatred as a human face, but Erion proved him wrong.

"I underestimated you." He admitted bitterly once he realized how deep the grave he had dug for himself was. "We are at an impasse, now."

"No, not quiet." Jorl handed his communication amulet to Orpal. "I can still beat the shit out of you. I can still teach you a lesson. It's you who can only squirm like the worm you are. You're alone, bastard."

"We'll see about that!" Erion had kept his full size the whole time, so he only had to jump at Jorl to commence his onslaught.

The Storm Griffon, instead, had kept his humanoid form, yet even reverting to a Griffon didn't change much. Jorl was at the deep violet, which gave him no size advantage over a bright violet Lesser Leviathan.

Jorl was still 20 meters (66') tall while his opponent reached over 30 meters (100') in length. The Jormungandr easily wrapped himself around the Griffon and had enough tail left to bind his left leg and clip his wings.

Jorl couldn't fly, and from so up close he could barely gather any strength. Erion's mouth, instead, was free to move and attack with its acidic bite whenever he spotted an opening.

"Who's the bastard now?" The Lesser Leviathan hissed as his fangs dug deeply into the Divine Beast's shoulder.

"Always you." Jorl managed to grunt with pain without sounding any less confident. "I just gave you the advantage you needed to understand how pathetic you are!"

The Storm Griffon pumped the Vurdalak's blood stored in his mana core and his body swelled. The soft, golden lion fur was replaced by a thick, black hide. His eyes turned from silvery to burning red, and a set of membranous wings formed right below the feathered ones.

A Griffon's beak couldn't grow fangs, but its edges became jagged like a saw's blade, achieving the next best thing. Darkness element painted Jorl's claws and talons black and made his Vampiric Touch painful to bear.

"Come on!" A bolt of silver lightning boosted his abilities tenfold, making it easy for him to break free. "Is this all you can do after the Dead King gave you all the time to prepare your best tricks?"

Griffons were the mightiest among the Divine Beasts, and Life Maelstrom made them ten times stronger. To make matters worse, it also empowered the Vampiric Touch that now absorbed the Jormungandr's vitality ten times faster.

Jorl's muscles were now strong enough to break Erion's hold, but Vampiric Touch stopped Erion's every attempt to struggle. The Jormungandr had to unfold his coils and jump away before it was too late.

"I can do much worse." Erion tapped into the arrays that collected the surrounding world energy, making the activation of his Doom Tide bloodline ability instant.

"Stupid move, even for a bastard." Jorl activated the blue flame orbiting over his head and with it the Frost Soul bloodline ability.