An Understated Dominance Novel (Dahlia & Dustin) by Marina Vittori updated 2025-26 - An Understated Dominance Chapter 2686

Chapter 2686

The dark red lake, which had only been lightly rippling moments ago, suddenly exploded into chaos—as if something colossal had awoken beneath its depths.

Without warning, the surface split apart. From the blood-soaked waters surged massive tentacles, each as thick as a water tank, formed from congealed blood and foul energy.

They lashed out with a shrill, grinding sound—like metal scraping bone—and a reeking wind swept across the narrow jade path. The monstrous limbs whipped toward the group from every direction, like countless giant serpents rising to devour them alive.

“Careful!” Aaron shouted, swinging his sword toward the tentacle aiming for Grace.

Steel met the fleshy appendage with a deafening clang. Sparks flew.

The tentacle’s surface was so tough it rang like forged iron. A wave of corrosive energy burst from it, numbing Aaron’s arm. A film of dark red slime spread over his blade, dimming its spiritual light in an instant.

The two other guards attacked as well, but their strikes only carved shallow gashes that quickly sealed over. Instead of pushing the enemy back, they were being overwhelmed.

Grace slashed with her green bamboo dagger again and again, but the weapon barely left dents on the tentacles’ surface.

“Get behind me!” Logan’s voice cut through the chaos.

His eyes sharpened, steady as ever. He didn’t draw his sword—instead, his hands blurred through a series of seals. Spiritual energy surged through his body, condensing into a massive, rotating emerald Tai Chi diagram that spread outward and enveloped the group.

“Mystical energy protects the body—no evil shall invade!”

The tentacles struck the spinning Tai Chi phantom with thunderous blows. Bang! Bang! The air vibrated with each impact.

Pure mystical energy clashed violently with the filthy evil power, sizzling and smoking as black vapor hissed upward from every collision.

The Tai Chi shield wavered but held. The first brutal onslaught had been stopped.

Yet the assault didn’t relent.

More tentacles burst from the lake, coiling around the edges of the glowing Tai Chi barrier instead of striking it directly. Their blood-red slime sizzled as it ate away at the shield’s energy, trying to corrode and unravel it from within.

At the same time, the lake released a dense, blood-colored mist. It rolled toward them in choking waves, heavy with spiritual corruption. The fog seeped through the barrier, whispering in their ears—showing twisted illusions and dark visions, trying to drag their minds into madness.

“Hold your hearts steady!” Logan’s voice rang like a clear bell, slicing through the fog of illusion.

His hands never stopped moving, maintaining the Tai Chi formation. But his eyes—cold and razor-sharp—fixed on something deep within the blood mist.

“Enough hiding,” he said flatly. “Show yourself.”

A voice, cold and full of resentment, echoed back:

“Heh… perceptive as always, Logan.”

The lake suddenly parted, water churning and surging to the sides. From the depths, a figure cloaked in white light slowly rose—hovering above the blood-red surface.

Emmitt.

But this was no longer the weakened man they’d fought before.

He still wore his pristine white robe, untouched by the filth around him. His once-pale face now glowed with vitality, his skin almost luminous, as though carved from jade. A terrifying new power pulsed through him—far stronger than before.

The indifference in his eyes had been replaced by burning hatred, and a twisted thrill of vengeance.

Suspended above the lake, wreathed in blinding white light that clashed violently with the dark red below, Emmitt looked like a fallen god rising from the depths of hell.

“Dragon Blood Regeneration Pill…” Logan muttered, eyes narrowing.

He could sense it—the violent, rejuvenating energy inside Emmitt’s body. The dragon blood’s aura was nearly identical to that of the lake and the blood altar, but far more concentrated.

So that was it. Emmitt had taken the elixir from the burly man. Not only had his injuries healed—his strength had multiplied.

“You didn’t see this coming, did you, Logan?”

Emmitt’s lips curved into a cruel smile. “Thanks to you, I’ve not only rebuilt my body—but my brother rewarded me with the Dragon Blood Elixir. Now, my power has transcended what it once was! Today, you die here. You and all these worthless insects who disturbed my rest!”

Before his words even faded, he raised one hand—and pointed.

A spear of white light, so dense it seemed solid, shot from his fingertip. Its edges were traced with dark red threads of blood energy, writhing like veins. The beam tore through the air, crossing the distance in an instant and slamming toward Logan’s Tai Chi barrier.

BOOM!

The beam struck the center of the spinning diagram. The shield shuddered violently, spiderweb cracks spreading across its surface.

Logan’s body trembled from the impact, his face tightening.

Emmitt laughed, his voice echoing across the lake. “Do you see it, Logan? This—this is true power!”

He raised both hands now, and a storm of blinding white beams rained down from the sky, each one laced with crimson threads that pulsed like living veins.

The air howled. Energy exploded in every direction.

Each strike slammed into the Tai Chi shield like a hammer from heaven, shaking it to its core. The tentacles below joined in, pounding and coiling around the weakened barrier.

Under the relentless dual assault—inside and out—the Tai Chi phantom’s light began to dim.

Cracks spread faster, multiplying like lightning through glass.

Then, with a sharp, resonant crack—

The shield was on the verge of collapse.