Chapter 22: The Dragon's Judgment
The Frost Komodo Dragon did not charge immediately.
It watched.
Its enormous chest rose and fell with slow, measured breaths.
The slit pupils of its golden eyes narrowed as they studied every human before it.
This was no ordinary beast.
The moment it had stepped into the Foundation Establishment Realm...
Its mind had awakened.
It no longer hunted through instinct alone.
It observed.
Calculated.
Adapted.
Its forked tongue slipped from between rows of jagged teeth, tasting the cold mountain air.
Fear.
It could taste it.
The trembling hearts of the trainees...
The rapid breathing of frightened mounts...
The faint scent of sweat carried by the winter wind.
The dragon almost seemed to smile.
Weak.
Its gaze lingered upon the younger warriors.
Fresh Ki.
Strong hearts.
Excellent nourishment.
Then...
Its expression changed.
It looked beyond them.
The Frost Wolf Cavalry.
They stood perfectly still.
Weapons lowered.
No panic.
No hesitation.
No fear.
The dragon's eyes narrowed.
It disliked that.
Everything that entered its mountain should fear it.
This mountain belonged to the Dragon Son.
For years it had devoured wolves.
Bears.
Ice Yetis.
Anything powerful enough to strengthen its bloodline.
Every Ki Core consumed brought it one step closer to becoming something greater.
One day...
It would shed this crude body.
Become a true dragon.
These humans...
Were merely the next meal.
Without warning...
The dragon inhaled.
The surrounding air became painfully cold.
Then...
It exhaled.
A river of pale blue frost rolled across the battlefield.
The earth froze instantly.
Trees became statues of ice.
Snow hardened into slick crystal.
Within seconds...
The entire clearing transformed into a frozen arena.
Captain Han watched silently.
"The battlefield."
Yun Che immediately understood.
It wasn't attacking.
It was preparing.
A hunter always fought where it held the advantage.
Across the frozen ground...
Tianyu leaned lower over Bingya's neck.
The Frost Wolf growled.
They moved together.
One heartbeat.
One instinct.
One purpose.
The dragon barely acknowledged them.
Too weak.
One strike will be enough.
Its enormous tail swept sideways.
The force alone shattered nearby ice formations.
Had the attack landed...
Both rider and wolf would have been crushed.
Instead—
"Bingya!"
The Frost Wolf leapt.
Higher than seemed possible.
Midair...
Tianyu twisted his body.
Wolf and rider rotated together.
Like a spinning spear.
They slammed into the side of the dragon's tail.
BOOM!
The unexpected impact made the dragon stagger half a step.
Not enough to injure it.
Enough to annoy it.
The beast growled deeply.
Its foreleg struck the frozen ground.
Ki surged.
Dozens of razor-sharp ice spikes erupted upward.
Bingya landed lightly.
Already moving.
The spikes missed by inches.
Then...
A sound unlike any other echoed through the valley.
CRACK!
Not steel.
Not Ki.
Something entirely different.
The dragon instinctively turned.
Too late.
A black projectile screamed toward its head faster than sound itself.
Its instincts reacted at the final instant.
The head shifted.
The bullet missed the ear.
Instead...
It struck the thick scales covering the skull.
BOOM!
Fire.
Fragments.
Smoke.
The explosion washed across the dragon's face.
When the smoke cleared...
Only bruising remained.
Several scales had cracked.
Nothing more.
Far away...
Behind a cluster of broken boulders...
Yun Che calmly worked the bolt.
Another round slid into the chamber.
His expression remained focused.
Too shallow.
The skull is stronger than expected.
The dragon slowly lifted its head.
One eye searched the distant cliffs.
There.
The black-armored human.
Long range.
Dangerous.
The beast made its decision immediately.
Ignore the wolf.
Kill the hunter.
It charged.
Each step shook the mountain.
Like a moving fortress, the Frost Komodo tore through shattered trees without slowing.
Its immense claws crushed stone beneath every stride.
Behind it...
"Tianyu!"
Captain Han's voice echoed.
"Keep pressure on it!"
"I know!"
Bingya accelerated.
The Frost Wolf became a white streak across the frozen battlefield.
Tianyu raised both clawed gauntlets.
"Wind Claw!"
Invisible blades carved across the dragon's hind legs.
Bingya bit at the exposed joints.
Another slash.
Another bite.
Another retreat.
Small wounds appeared.
The dragon barely acknowledged them.
Its attention never left Yun Che.
The rifle...
Was the true threat.
Yun Che didn't wait.
The instant he fired...
He had already abandoned the firing position.
Exactly as planned.
The dragon crashed through the rocky outcrop.
Nothing remained.
Only broken stone.
No human.
The beast stopped.
Its tongue tasted the air again.
Its Ki spread outward.
Searching.
Finding.
A heartbeat later...
It located him.
Several dozen meters away.
Running.
The dragon lunged.
Its massive jaws opened.
Then—
BOOM!
The earth exploded beneath its front leg.
A buried mine erupted with tremendous force.
Another detonated.
Then another.
Hidden grenades burst apart beneath the dragon's enormous body.
Flames engulfed its underside.
Smoke swallowed everything.
Captain Han's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Good preparation."
The trainees stared in disbelief.
"He trapped the battlefield..."
"When?"
The captain answered calmly.
"Before the dragon reached him."
The Frost Komodo burst from the smoke.
Black scorch marks covered several scales.
One foreleg bled slightly.
Still...
It advanced.
Its endurance bordered on the absurd.
Above another ridge...
Yun Che had already settled behind his rifle again.
He had expected exactly this.
The moment the dragon emerged from the smoke...
He fired.
CRACK!
The bullet crossed the battlefield almost instantly.
This time...
The dragon reacted.
One massive claw rose.
The projectile struck directly against it.
BOOM!
The explosion blasted fragments of ice into the air.
The claw shook violently.
Several scales shattered.
Blood finally appeared.
Only a little.
But...
Blood nonetheless.
The dragon slowly lowered its injured claw.
For the first time since the battle had begun...
It roared.
In anger.
Its prey...
Had wounded the Dragon Son.
----------------------------------
The Frost Komodo Dragon's roar rolled across the mountains like an avalanche.
Snow fell from branches.
Loose rocks tumbled down distant cliffs.
Even the Frost Wolves shifted uneasily beneath their riders.
Captain Han remained motionless.
He did not interfere.
Not yet.
This battle belonged to the two boys.
He would only step in when death became unavoidable.
Shen Tianyu frowned.
"...This won't do."
The dragon had completely ignored him.
Its attention remained fixed upon Yun Che.
Every spell.
Every charge.
Every movement.
Everything it did revolved around eliminating the rifle first.
Tianyu clicked his tongue.
"If this keeps up..."
"...we'll end up as support."
He glanced down.
His partner looked back with equal annoyance.
Bingya snorted.
"Then stop talking."
"Catch it."
"Or I'll find another rider."
Tianyu laughed.
"So cruel."
"Less talking."
"More hunting."
The young heir's grin slowly widened.
There it was.
That familiar smile.
The one that always appeared just before he did something dangerous.
He leaned lower over Bingya's neck.
His entire body relaxed.
Not because he had become careless.
Because every unnecessary movement disappeared.
Only the hunt remained.
His eyes never left the dragon.
Far away...
Yun Che continued relocating between firing positions.
Good.
That was enough.
Tianyu trusted him completely.
Yun Che would create opportunities.
His own task...
Was simple.
Kill the monster.
The battlefield reflected itself inside his mind.
Every movement replayed.
Every exchange.
Every wound.
There.
The rear leg.
The Ice Yeti's enormous axe had managed to carve a deep cut before dying.
The wound hadn't healed yet.
And lower...
The explosions from Yun Che's mines had bruised the scales protecting its underside.
Two weaknesses.
Tiny.
But enough.
Tianyu smiled.
"The leg."
He whispered.
"We stop it from moving."
"Bingya."
The Frost Wolf answered with a deep growl.
They accelerated.
Snow exploded beneath powerful paws.
The dragon immediately noticed.
It slammed one enormous claw into the frozen earth.
Ki erupted.
Hundreds of ice spikes burst upward.
Some rose taller than houses.
Others erupted beneath charging wolves.
The entire battlefield transformed into a deadly forest of crystal spears.
Several trainees gasped.
Even watching felt dangerous.
Captain Han quietly nodded.
"A wise response."
"It seeks to deny Yun Che a clear shot."
The towering ice formations blocked nearly every line of sight.
Dense frost spread rapidly between them.
Within moments...
A thick icy mist swallowed the battlefield.
Yun Che lowered his rifle.
"Damn."
He could barely see ten meters ahead.
The dragon had changed the terrain completely.
Tianyu didn't slow.
If anything...
He became faster.
"Bingya!"
The Frost Wolf leapt.
Instead of weaving around the towering ice spikes...
They landed atop one.
Balanced effortlessly.
Then sprang toward another.
Another.
Another.
Wolf and rider danced across the frozen battlefield like shadows beneath the moon.
Each landing lasted less than a heartbeat.
They never remained where the dragon expected.
Captain Han watched silently.
"The Frozen Mountain Style..."
"...has matured."
The dragon finally tracked them.
Its enormous chest expanded.
Then—
A torrent of freezing breath erupted forward.
Everything before it vanished beneath white frost.
Entire ice pillars shattered.
The air itself seemed to freeze.
"Tianyu!"
One trainee cried out.
The dragon's attack consumed both wolf and rider.
Or so it appeared.
Within the frozen storm...
Bingya suddenly twisted.
Instead of continuing forward...
The Frost Wolf collided sideways into Tianyu himself.
The impact changed both their trajectories.
They separated.
Only for an instant.
The icy breath passed harmlessly between them.
Before gravity could reclaim them...
Each landed upon different crystal spikes.
Without exchanging a single word...
They pushed off once again.
Perfect synchronization.
Perfect trust.
The cavalry riders couldn't help smiling.
"They've practiced that countless times."
Far away...
Yun Che saw only flashes.
White.
Blue.
Brief silhouettes disappearing into mist.
He couldn't distinguish friend from foe.
Then...
An opening.
The dragon's tail shifted.
Just enough.
Yun Che immediately adjusted his aim.
He wasn't targeting anything vital.
Only something impossible to ignore.
He squeezed the trigger.
CRACK!
The bullet disappeared.
Half a heartbeat later—
BOOM!
The dragon's rear erupted in fire.
The projectile struck squarely against one massive hip.
It wasn't elegant.
It wasn't glorious.
It was...
Remarkably insulting.
The dragon lurched forward.
Its furious roar shook the mountain.
For one crucial moment...
Its attention left Tianyu.
That moment...
Was all the young hunter needed.
"There!"
Tianyu shouted.
Wolf and rider converged from opposite directions.
Wind Ki erupted around both bodies.
Invisible currents wrapped around them.
Their rotation accelerated.
Faster.
Faster.
Faster still.
Together...
They resembled a gigantic spinning drill descending from the heavens.
The dragon tried to turn.
Too late.
The attack struck the wounded rear leg.
BOOOOM!
The existing gash exploded wider.
Blood sprayed across the snow.
Scales shattered.
Muscle tore.
The impact drove the dragon several steps sideways.
Even Captain Han's eyes sharpened.
"Excellent."
The attack would have torn the leg completely from the body of an ordinary First Stage Foundation Establishment beast.
Only the Frost Komodo's draconic bloodline prevented such a result.
Even so...
For the first time...
The mighty predator stumbled.
Just once.
But that single faltering step changed the rhythm of the entire battle.
High upon a rocky ledge...
Yun Che worked the rifle's bolt.
A fresh round slid into place.
His breathing remained steady.
His eyes never left the limping rear leg.
A moving target...
Had just become much easier to predict.
Far below...
The Dragon Son slowly turned its furious golden gaze toward both boys.
It recognized them as genuine threats.