"Damn you, you Adakrys bastard! I give up! I don't care about that sanctuary anymore, just stop chasing me! I said stop, but you're still coming—"
In the skies above the Hotlands, a massive black dragon pierced through the thick rain clouds, flying forward at an incredible speed.
The black dragon didn't even know where it was headed. As long as it could shake off the Adakrys behind it, it didn't care. Escaping the Hotlands entirely would be fine by it.
If its wings were in perfect condition, the black dragon believed it could have lost the crocodile man long ago. But one of its wings had been damaged during the fight with Garde, so it wasn't flying as fast as it normally could.
What's worse...
"That damn Adakrys—is he faster than before? He couldn't keep up with me before!"
The black dragon's flight wasn't entirely reliant on its wings. It resonated with some kind of dust particles in the air—though it had no idea what they were. It had been able to use them since birth. But with its wing damaged and letting air through, its speed had dropped by at least a third.
Looking back at Garde, who was chasing it relentlessly, the black dragon wondered if the sanctuary's blast had somehow triggered a second form in him.
Or was this his third form?
The dragon had severely injured Garde once, triggering his transformation. Then the sanctuary's attack had gravely wounded him again.
Now, seeing the crocodile man—whose body was half destroyed—still chasing it, the black dragon's mind was flooded with chaotic thoughts, many inherited from its mother, who in turn had inherited them from its grandmother.
The black dragon wasn't stupid. It knew better than to fight Garde to the death when it couldn't win. Of the three ancient civilization sanctuaries in the Hotlands, staying and fighting here would doom both itself and the sanctuary of the Nightzmora Khagan.
If it died, who would protect the other two sanctuaries?
"Nasus!"
A deep growl echoed from behind, but the black dragon shouted back in frustration, "I'm called Aletog, not Nasus, you stupid Adakrys!"
Suddenly, Garde, who was chasing on the ground, looked up with blood-red eyes and hurled his greataxe with all his might.
"You'll never hit me!"
The black dragon easily dodged Garde's attack. Even with its injured wing, it remained agile and was certain Garde couldn't land a hit.
But what the dragon never expected was this: the moment Garde threw the greataxe, his body seemed to dissolve into golden particles that clung to the axe, transforming into a golden streak of light soaring into the sky.
Dodging Garde's axe, the dragon knew it would return on its arc. But when it turned its head to check, what it saw was beyond belief.
"Are you kidding me?!"
The golden streak trailing the axe began to coalesce into the outline of a crocodile man. By sheer instinct, the unconscious Garde had used the Ascension Power to reconstruct his body.
Though smaller than before—now only half the dragon's size—Garde's reconstructed form was complete.
And the black dragon, flying straight ahead, was about to crash directly into him.
In a panic, the dragon tried to twist away, but Garde wasn't about to let this golden opportunity slip away.
Dropping from slightly above the dragon, Garde's large hands wrapped tightly around its neck. The sheer weight pressing down on the dragon caused it to falter mid-air.
"Roar!"
The black dragon let out a guttural roar.
"Get off me!"
The dragon twisted and rolled in the air, trying to shake him off, but Garde clung to its neck with an unrelenting grip.
"You're asking for it!"
The black dragon's fiery breath began to build—not in its mouth, but within its chest. Instead of spewing from its jaws, flames erupted from the gaps in its scales.
In an instant, the black dragon's body ignited into flames, transforming it into a fire dragon.
The black dragon inherently possessed great resistance to fire; it could endure the flames without succumbing to harm. Garde, however, was not so fortunate.
The flames surging from the black dragon's body burned fiercely against Garde, drawing a pained roar from him. After the prolonged battle and his earlier injuries, Garde's strength was beginning to wane.
Even during their fight four years ago, the injuries Garde sustained weren't nearly as severe as this time.
He was on the brink of being completely destroyed.
Yet Garde's innate ferocity ignored such concerns. If strength was failing him, he would find a way to replenish it.
And the best way to regain strength?
Eating.
Clinging tightly to the fire dragon beneath him, Garde opened his jaws and bit down without hesitation.
Scorching flames surged into his throat and windpipe. No matter how resilient his exterior, his internal tissues were undoubtedly weaker. But Garde didn't care. His sharp teeth sank into the dragon's neck, ripping out a large chunk of flesh.
Black dragon blood rained from the sky.
"Ow! That hurts!"
The black dragon was on the verge of tears, feeling both wronged and aggrieved. It was just a gatekeeper for the sanctuary—did it really deserve such treatment?
"Crazy! Crazy! CRAZY!"
It cursed loudly, but Garde ignored it completely. He chewed on the blood-soaked flesh, swallowed, and bit down again for a second helping.
Now the black dragon was genuinely panicking.
This insane crocodile man wasn't really planning to eat it alive, was he?
"Wait, wait! I don't think we need to go this far! Think about it—we don't really have any deep grudges, do we? Imagine you're sleeping peacefully at home, and someone suddenly shows up demanding your blood. Wouldn't you be mad?"
Garde tore off a third chunk of flesh.
"Please, stop! I'm just a gatekeeper! Killing me doesn't solve anything. Look, we can just go our separate ways from now on. You can even destroy the other two sanctuaries—I won't stop you."
Garde ripped off a fourth chunk. By now, the dragon's neck was nearly shredded.
"Alright, alright! I admit I was wrong! Isn't that enough? I don't want to die—I haven't even seen the outside world yet. I wanted to be like my grandmother's grandmother, singing and dancing with humans and rapping!"
But Garde's actions didn't pause for even a moment. It was as if he had already decided the dragon was nothing more than a feast laid out before him.
The black dragon's heart hardened with resolve.
"Die! DIE! DIE!"
From over a thousand meters in the air, the dragon plunged straight downward, trying to shake Garde off.
But no matter how hard it slammed or crashed, Garde held on tightly, refusing to let go.
Tears of humiliation streaked down the dragon's face.
"Adakrys... I can be useful! I'm more than just food!"
"I'm a female... and I'm very rideable."
"I can even transform into a cute girl!"
Desperate, the black dragon searched its inherited memories for anything that might catch the crocodile man's attention.
If Garde still had his consciousness, perhaps these words might have piqued his interest, even if only briefly.
But now?
The crocodile man atop the dragon calmly picked his teeth with a claw.
And spat.
<+>
If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1]
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Volume 2 Chapter 56: Faith and Truth[2]
Link to the Latest Chapter: https://www.patreon.com/posts/butcher-of-126110418[3]
https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/butcher-of-126110418
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/butcher-of-126110418
[4] https://www.patreon.com/Thatsnakegirl