An Understated Dominance Novel (Dahlia & Dustin) by Marina Vittori updated 2025-26 - An Understated Dominance Chapter 2698

Chapter 2698

Logan suddenly felt an overwhelming heaviness crash down upon him, as if a thousand-foot mountain had been strapped to his back. Even raising his arms became a struggle.

The ground beneath him churned violently, making it impossible to stand firm. From every direction, razor-sharp stalagmites and crushing rock walls surged upward, sealing off all routes of escape.

Summoning the last of his True Energy, he raised his sword. A final burst of light erupted from the blade—brilliant, defiant. The sword aura spread out in a spinning wheel of light, forming a fragile shield around him.

“Clang! Clang! Boom!”

The sword’s radiance clashed with the encroaching stone, scattering debris into a chaotic storm. Each swing of his sword shattered vast swathes of rock, but for every barrier he broke, another rose instantly from the ground.

The gravitational field pressing down on him made every motion torturous. Sweat and blood mingled on his hands as cracks split open between his fingers, staining the sword hilt red. His face was ashen, his breath ragged, yet his eyes burned with fierce determination.

From above came a mocking laugh.

“Heh… how pitiful. Even your death throes are impressive.”

Houtu’s delicate hands danced through the air, forming a complex seal. Her finger pointed toward the two enormous stone dragons coiled atop the palace pillars.

“Awaken, my protectors!”

The dragons’ carved eyes flared crimson, and with a thunderous roar of grinding stone, their immense bodies came alive. The outer crusts of rock fell away, revealing scales that glowed with earthen light.

Like twin mountains given wings, they broke free from the palace roof and dove toward Logan, their claws slicing through the air with the force to rend steel.

Grace, watching from afar, cried out in horror. “Logan!” She tried to rush forward but was stopped cold by the crushing gravity and swirling storm of stone.

Surrounded on all sides—earth closing in below, the two dragons descending from above—Logan stood at the very edge of death. Yet his gaze remained calm.

Amidst the chaos, his divine sense stretched outward, tracing every pulse of energy. He realized that the dragons’ movements mirrored Houtu’s hand seals—each twitch of her fingers echoed in their motion. The surging earth’s power all originated from her.

To catch the thief, first strike down the leader.

He had to go for Houtu herself.

But how could he possibly reach her through this hell of rock and gravity?

A cold glint flickered in Logan’s eyes. He made his decision.

Deliberately, he slowed his defense for a single heartbeat. A dragon’s claw smashed through his sword aura, tearing into his shoulder and hurling him backward. Blood sprayed through the air as his body crashed into a jagged wall of stone. He coughed violently, his aura plummeting until it seemed he would collapse at any moment.

Houtu’s lips curved in triumph. “It’s over.”

She commanded the two dragons to finish it. Their jaws opened wide as they swooped down to devour him, while the ground itself surged with stone spears aimed at his back.

But just as death closed in, a light flared in Logan’s eyes—brighter than the stars themselves.

This was the opening he had been waiting for.

Ignoring the pain, ignoring the danger, he burned his very life essence to gather the last of his True Energy. Channeling it into his index and middle fingers, he pointed toward Houtu.

There was no blinding explosion or majestic glow—only a quiet, invisible pulse of power, refined to its purest form. It transcended distance and defense, aimed straight at Houtu’s spirit.

“Mystical Pure Energy—Still the Mind.”

It wasn’t a physical strike nor a soul-sealing technique, but a secret art—one that disrupted the balance between a cultivator’s spirit and their pure energy.

Against a fully alert Houtu, it would have been useless. But now—when her focus was entirely on controlling the dragons and manipulating the earth—it was devastating.

A sharp pain pierced her consciousness, like a needle stabbing through her mind. The flow of energy between her and the dragons faltered for just an instant.

That single heartbeat of stillness was all Logan needed.

The two dragons froze mid-bite, their enormous jaws suspended in the air. The deadly stone spears halted mere inches from his back.

Using the wall behind him and the sudden shift in gravity, Logan twisted his body in an impossible arc, sliding between the dragons’ gaping maws.

In the same motion, he threw out several Armor-Piercing Golden Edge Talismans—precious relics from the ancient cave of Iker.

Golden streaks of light cut through the air like meteors, piercing straight into the glowing eyes of the frozen dragons.

“Pfft! Pfft!”

The runes detonated, unleashing a wave of destructive sharpness.

The dragons let out silent howls as their eyes dimmed and their bodies convulsed. The earthen glow flickered, faded, and then shattered entirely. Both dragons crumbled into heaps of lifeless rubble that crashed heavily to the ground.

The palace shook, dust rising like a funeral veil.

Houtu staggered backward, blood dripping from her lips. The backlash from her broken spell tore through her body.

“How… how could he—?” Her eyes widened in disbelief.

Before she could recover, Logan was already upon her—his figure ghostlike, his movements fueled by sheer willpower. His face was deathly pale, his breathing weak, but his eyes blazed with indomitable fire.

He pressed his fingers together once more, forming a sealing rune of pale gold, and thrust forward with lightning speed.

“Don’t—!” Houtu screamed, trying to form an earthen shield, but she was too late.

Logan’s fingers touched her forehead.

The rune flared once, then sank into her body. The earthen energy surrounding her dispersed instantly, unraveling like smoke in the wind.

Her body trembled violently. The light in her eyes dimmed as she fell to the floor, bathed in a soft golden glow, unable to move.

Three battles. Three victories.

Logan had defeated Aoki, Dark Murky, and now Houtu.

But his body could no longer endure. A gush of blood spilled from his lips. He gripped his sword, using it to keep himself upright, his knees trembling.

Slowly, he raised his gaze toward the high platform—where only one figure remained.

Aukon.

The final adversary.

And the killing intent radiating from him was colder than death itself.