Chapter 242 (1): Clap and Get Whatever You Want

“Stop fighting, all of you...”

Wayne stood in the ruined estate, shouting. He couldn’t quite make sense of Veronica’s nightmare. All he saw was that after the men of the Lando family died, the women had lost their minds collectively.

To put it nicely, they were sentimental, passionate, and emotionally honest people who both loved and hated deeply. To put it bluntly, they were volatile, impulsive, experienced extreme emotional swings, and had a serious violent tendency.

Their problems were proven time and time again. Setting Veronica aside for now, Silvia had decided to get married on a whim and run away from home just as impulsively. When she saw a photo of Wayne appearing intimate with her archenemy’s student, she instantly lost her composure and demanded an explanation.

The men of the Lando family might have been black-hearted—both certified trash—but they were truly indispensable. Without them, there would be nothing to keep the Dragonbloods under control.

Wayne’s shouts were ineffective. The three dragons fought each other and ignored him completely. He tried to establish a connection with Veronica’s thoughts, but their disturbed mental states made it impossible to differentiate between the three dragons.

Since reasoning wouldn’t work, he would have to make them sit down and talk properly.

He would let his fist calm them!

“It’s my turn.”

Gazing at the three white dragons, Wayne chose to play a field spell card first—Nature Domain[1].

He narrowed his eyes. The three magical gems in his chest converged, drawing his pure mana. He channeled it into the formula for the divine art to transform into a perfect elf. His height rose to two meters, and he became radiantly beautiful.

His black suit, which he had transformed from his combat suit, adjusted to fit his current physique, accentuating his tall, slender figure. Aside from the two rings feeling a little tight around his fingers, it was perfect.

His thoughts spread out, achieving unity with every conscious being throughout the Lando Estate, bringing about a perfectly balanced and harmonious coexistence. Every blade of grass and every tree resonated with Wayne.

An indescribable energy blanketed the estate, awakening from slumber. It was tranquil yet brimming with vitality, at the same time majestic enough to make one shudder.

It permeated every patch of land, every blade of grass, and every tree, uniformly and indiscriminately. Nothing stuck out. Every component came together to form a balanced ecosystem. Wayne played the role of a mediator within it. Because of him, a collective consciousness had awakened from this patch of nature.

High in the sky, the three great dragons stopped grappling, forced to unite against a common enemy.

This was Veronica’s dreamscape, projected and distorted by the Corridor of Nightmares. She wasn’t the master of the dream, but a part of the dream, trapped and unable to escape.

The dream had no master, and no one had the final say about its manifestation. Wayne’s thoughts and power were thus able to influence this space. Although he wasn’t buffed by virtue of having an overactive imagination, he wasn’t suppressed to the point of only having access to a quarter of his strength, either.

Roar—

The three great dragons spread their wings and dove down, surrounding him from three sides to block all possible escape routes. As fierce wind howled, the three massive forms blocked out the sun.

The great dragons opened their large maws and breathed scorching flames down at Wayne. The blazingly red and suffocatingly hot fire evaporated the moisture in the air instantly, its destructive power spreading in all directions and turning everything in its path to ash.

The cries of flames, the crackling of trees burning, and the deafening roars wove into a symphony that devoured everything. Wayne’s field spell card was burned to cinders. Nature failed to withstand the fire, and the Lando Estate was covered in a sea of flames with no single plant spared.

However, the indescribable energy didn’t dissipate. On the contrary, it seemed like a sword being sheathed, hanging above the dragons’ heads and biding time. It made the dragons anxious and even more frantic.

Boom!

At the center of the inferno, gentle wind began to swirl and grow in power and scale, until it became an unstoppable storm. A tornado of fire rose and soared toward the sky, distorting the air and creating a haze. The scorching atmosphere rapidly contracted, and above the cooling estate, black rain clouds formed, finally resulting in a drizzle.

On the scorched earth, the charred remains of the trees were everywhere. Wayne stood in the blackened ruins with one hand raised, compressing the vortex of flames in his palm. His ridiculous affinity with fire elements made the dragons’ breath willingly serve him instead.

Pop!

With the soft sound of a soap bubble bursting, the flames in Wayne’s hand became a wisp of fire before dissipating, reverting to an elemental state and returning to nature.

He looked up at the sky, his eyes glinting with a pale green light. Carefully examining the three white dragons, he identified the smallest one, raised his clenched fist, and... flipped the target off.

Roar—

𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

He had meant to provoke Veronica specifically, hoping to awaken her in close combat.

Stop dreaming. Vera’s in your fiancé’s bed!

It was a nice plan; Veronica definitely couldn’t resist the taunt. However, the three female dragons weren’t going to follow reason. They all saw the middle finger, and Wayne succeeded in an incredible group taunt without meaning to.

The three massive dragons dove down, breathing out intersecting torrents of flames that burned the land, casting dappled lights and shadows. Wayne stood unharmed at the center of the inferno. Any flames that got close reverted to fire elements and returned to nature. Facing the white dragons’ gaping maw, he clenched his fist and made a swing.

Boom!

The tremendous impact made one of the diving dragons roar in pain. The punch had—well, it had cracked the scales on her snout in several places, making her gums bleed. What a terrible injury.

The attack was an effective taunt, further fueling the white dragon’s fury. She folded her wings and crawled on all fours, charging at Wayne like a small white mountain.

Opening his fist, Wayne pushed the great dragon and was pushed backward by her indescribably terrifying force in return. Their size difference led to a gap in raw power that could not be bridged. He could only use precise strikes to break the dragon’s scales, but the unreasonable bulldozer left him overwhelmed.

The next second, both his arms broke. The dragon pressed him to the ground with her snout, grinding against his chest.

Good news, this white dragon was Veronica, and it was her first time taking the initiative in kissing Wayne. Bad news, she was so enthusiastic that Wayne’s elf form couldn’t handle it.

Boom!

Four thick veins burst out of the ground, glowing with surging green vitality. They grappled the dragon’s neck and tightened their grip, all the while growing from the vitality and transforming into thick, powerful forearms. Nature’s giant hand emerged to restrain the white dragon and make her whimper.

Wayne knelt on one knee, having healed his arms instantly with vitality. He clapped his hands before his chest.

Rumble—

More and more vines shot out from underground, forming thick, powerful forearms first, then the entire arms. Vine after vine weaved into muscles, writhing and contracting to smash the hundred-meter-long dragon forward in an arc.

Dragon head knocked against dragon head, and dragon back smashed against dragon back. The three white dragons crashed hard into the ground, stacking up like a pyramid.

Boom!!

The land caved in, trembling and rumbling. Amid rising dust and ash, scattered fire soared. The shockwaves manifested as rippling white waves. All three dragons cried out simultaneously. Wayne keenly noticed the one in his grasp regaining some rationality, the madness in her eyes fading with a flicker.

The physical calming method was effective.

Wayne attempted to communicate with her through his thoughts, but got rejected. He slammed her down once more. After a few more wails and a continuous tremor of the land, Veronica’s gaze finally cleared.

“Wayne, you’re alive again?”

“What do you think? When did I even die? I told you that you would be seeing illusions. Where’s your brain?”

It’s in your head! Otherwise, why would you be so smart?

Sensing his anger, Veronica swallowed her retort and changed the subject, wanting to get back at him for smashing her around.

“This isn’t the time. You’re free to retaliate after this. Let’s deal with them first.”

Wayne took a deep breath and manipulated the giant hand of nature to toss Veronica into the air. Then he leaped up and landed steadily on the white dragon’s back.

Behind him, surging fire elements gathered, transforming into various cold weapons. Since Veronica had copied Megan’s dragon form, Wayne copied his master’s dragon knight getup.

It wasn’t easy to tame a Dragonblood. Having a piece of trash on her back unsettled Veronica both physically and psychologically. She rolled midair, trying to pin Wayne beneath her.

“Don’t be stubborn. This is a rare opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with a dragon’s body. It’s crucial to your evolution.” Wayne attached himself firmly to Veronica’s back by channeling mana through his feet. Dragonbloods responded to persuasion better than force. The harder one pushed, the harder they pushed back. Wayne had to speak nicely at times like this.

He had gotten better at dragon-taming. Stating that it was for her own good, he managed to barely reach an agreement with Veronica, allowing him to enjoy the thrill of riding a dragon.

He had wanted to do this for a long time!

Hiding his enjoyment, he rode Veronica into a one-on-two battle. With his powerful fire affinity rendering the two white dragons’ attacks obsolete, he commanded nature within his domain.

The horn of total assault sounded. The land rumbled and surged like tidal waves as countless vines and roots burst out from underground.

1. A Yu-Gi-Oh reference, an anime/manga where people fight by playing cards. Field spell cards are cards that change the environment for buffs and debuffs. ☜