Weakest Beast Tamer Gets All SSS Dragons

Chapter 1199 - Taming the Old World - Exiguous… Not! Just Enough - 2

Seconds prior...

High above the courtyard, the ethereal energy transfer was not executed perfectly. Ren received the synchronized influx of primordial ether from the four Vanguard elites, feeling his half depleted core expand as his reserves shot back up to nearly two hundred percent.

But the energy flowing directly from Liu was laced with that purple poison.

The terrifying volume of corruption that Liu had forcefully ordered his Wendigos to absorb was exacting a brutal physical toll. The burden was suffocating on its own, but when also mixed with the divine, hyper-accelerated euphoria of the primordial dragon energy, it created a lethal biological paradox. The two completely contradictory yet equally exhilarating energies were actively tearing Liu's mana system in many directions. The quiet commander was hyperventilating, his skin deathly pale, visibly shaking as he desperately tried to cage a nightmare that was threatening to overflow and shatter his sanity.

For Ren, however, carrying that specific brand of agonizing, soul-crushing weight was an acquired second nature.

He had spent some hectic years intimately coexisting with the corruption inside his own system veins. He had ripped open and stitched shut his own scar in almost every single major engagement and the wars.

So Ren was an absolute master at feigning a perfect invulnerability…

He flawlessly absorbed Liu's toxic, corrupted ether, seamlessly shunting the rot into the dark, calloused corners of his system where he knew how to contain it, never allowing a single wince of pain to cross his face.

But Sirius still noticed.

Sirius had experienced it first hand and still possessed a profound, razor-sharp empathy that allowed him to effortlessly read the true emotional currents flowing beneath a soldier's facade. He instantly saw right through Ren's stoic mask, as he had easily seen the agonizing limits of what Liu was failing to hide.

Without breaking his concentration, the veteran utilized the four-way ethereal tether Ren had established to execute a completely unexpected maneuver.

Sirius forcefully injected a vastly larger fraction of his own pure dragon energy directly into Ren's core than originally agreed upon. Simultaneously, he reached out through the tether and aggressively siphoned a good chunk of the toxic corruption directly out of Liu. Sirius absorbed the rot into his own system, deliberately dispersing the poison across his own aura to alleviate the crushing weight Ren was silently bearing.

It was a quiet, seamless exchange. A silent sacrifice made in the dark, executed entirely so Ren wouldn't have to ask for help.

Ren felt the shift instantly.

"No..." Ren started, his eyes widening as he snapped his head toward his future in-law. "That isn't necessary. It's too dangerous for you. Your internal fracture is…"

Sirius simply raised a hand and clamped it firmly onto Ren's shoulder.

The Starweaver nodded. His weathered face was set in a mask of absolute, unyielding determination. It was the calm, immovable expression of a man who had made a conscious decision to share the burden of his savior and greatest benefactor, and he absolutely refused to debate the logistics.

Sirius didn't speak a single word; he didn't need to. His eyes carried all the messages: Let me help you carry this. I can endure it. You are not fighting alone.

Ren held the veteran's gaze for a long, heavy second.

He swallowed his pride and decided to let himself be helped… Just this once.

Within seconds, color began to return to Liu's pale face.

With the suffocating excess of corruption successfully redistributed across three biological systems, primarily anchored by Ren's unnatural resilience, the crushing pressure threatening to snap Liu's mind evaporated. His erratic breathing stabilized, and the terrifying, hollow shadow bleeding into his eyes slowly receded.

"Do not push yourself past your limits," Ren told him, his voice laced with genuine concern. "I understand the mechanics of that energy better than anyone here. It is a heavy burden so you do not have to…"

"I don't have to... But I want to help you carry it," Liu interrupted.

His voice was incredibly low, barely above a whisper. But the unshakeable resolve anchoring his words rang louder than a thunderclap.

"It is profoundly unfair that you are always forced to carry the heaviest weight alone." Liu looked up, meeting Ren's gaze and holding it with a fierce intensity he rarely displayed. "Besides... I am the oldest of the four of us. It is my fundamental duty to support my non-blood little brother."

A brief, heavy pause hung in the ash-choked air.

"If I don't do this," Liu finished quietly, "I am going to feel completely useless."

Ren let out a long, slow breath.

And then, he smiled. It was a genuine, blinding smile that momentarily banished the darkness of the burning apocalypse.

"You held the line flawlessly," Ren told him. "You are an incredibly reliable older brother, Liu."

Liu didn't respond with words, but his entire posture visibly straightened. That signature, fleeting half-smile ghosted across his lips. Down in the ground below, the other blood-soaked Wendigo let out a deafening, revitalized roar that conveyed vastly more emotion than a thousand words ever could.

"It is time to unleash absolutely everything," Ren declared, instantly shattering the sentimental lull before it could anchor them. "We cannot afford to waste this window."

Without a microsecond of hesitation, he issued a telepathic command to the colossal Diamond Hydra currently dominating the sky.

The three jade heads reared back and fired a catastrophic, unified beam of absolute zero light directly downward.

But the mechanical dragon, despite being scorched and battered by the previous nuclear-like strike, had absolutely not surrendered. Operating with terrifying, hyper-stubborn energy, Selthia crossed four of her indestructible, ancient metallic arms over her chassis. She absorbed the insane kinetic and freezing impact directly against her diamond-tier mutant flesh, successfully weathering the combined frontal assault of the Hydra.

Yet in that exact millisecond, Ren vanished from the sky.

He executed a massive, pinpoint spatial jump folding the fabric of light. He materialized instantly on the ground, appearing in the absolute blind spot near the colossal base of the artifact. Before Selthia's sprawling consciousness could even begin to recalibrate her defensive geometry, Ren unleashed a point-blank, hyper-condensed lightning bolt.

The strike tore through the mechanical joints, incinerating a massive chunk of the corrupted flesh anchoring the construct.

Selthia unleashed a deafening, metallic scream of pure fury.