The silver-gray Kushala Daora roared. It looked at Asterion, who was watching it with full vigilance, and then stared at its own kin for a moment. Then, to Asterion's astonishment, the Kushala Daora directly flapped its wings and flew up?!
Asterion retreated half a step, alert, but the silver-gray Elder Dragon didn't fly back down.
Gentle winds enveloped its body, lifting it into the sky and carrying it towards the depths of the New World. It quickly vanished between the dark clouds, leaving no trace.
It... ran away??!!
Asterion stared blankly in the direction the silver-gray Kushala Daora had disappeared. Why did things suddenly turn out this way?
To be honest, he had prepared himself for the other Kushala Daora to join the fight after he had destroyed the Rusted Kushala Daora's horn... which would signal his immediate retreat after one roar.
But until it left, the Kushala Daora, which had been fighting the Rusted Kushala Daora to the death and battled all the way from the sky to the ground, only watched—Why were you just watching?!
If that silver-gray Kushala Daora had shown the slightest intention of joining the battle earlier, Asterion would have unhesitatingly fled to the nearest underground cave entrance. He was already satisfied with how far this fight had gone.
He had vented his frustration, and he had also figured out exactly how powerful Elder Dragons were in the real world. Escaping alive was a good enough ending.
Asterion's great sword was already severely notched and dulled, curled beyond recognition. Even though he could sharpen it using his mouth, the wear and tear on the blade still existed. If he sharpened it any more, he might actually cut into the tailbone hidden within his Great Sword tail.
Fleeing is not shameful. Truly, it is not shameful for a dragon. After all, most native dragons living in this world would probably flee before even starting a fight. And the few that dared to challenge an Elder Dragon as a common wyvern would also look for an opportunity to escape when the battle turned against them, they got injured, or the situation became unfavorable.
Survival is always the most fundamental logic for the vast majority of life forms.
With the way things had developed, Asterion felt that his attempt to prey on an Elder Dragon had largely failed... An Elder Dragon is an Elder Dragon. He simply couldn't inflict fatal damage on this Rusted Kushala Daora—in fact, if the other dragon wanted to fly away right now, he couldn't stop it.
Only after experiencing it himself did Asterion understand the immense, world-apart gap between common wyverns and Elder Dragons.
In any case, the battle so far had served to rough up the Rusted Kushala Daora, and he had even bitten off and eaten its horn. It wasn't a total loss.
It was like a Hunter... repelling an Elder Dragon.
Even if he couldn't win, he had to try, because he would have to hunt Elder Dragons sooner or later.
Now it seemed he needed to prepare more and look for more opportunities.
The intense exhaustion from the fight had made Asterion hungry. Since he was no match and had no hope of winning, it was better to cut his losses promptly. It was time to eat—that's what Asterion thought, but he didn't expect that when he roared and prepared to leave, the Rusted Kushala Daora would pounce at him again!
"Roar, roar, roar!!" (You want to die that badly, don't you!)
Dodging the Rusted Kushala Daora's... sluggish pounce, Asterion roared in frustration. Anyone could talk tough.
"ROAR!!!" (Come on, you want to kill me, don't you?)
It wasn't a mistake. Asterion clearly heard this meaning in the Rusted Kushala Daora's roar, and this was the first time he had so clearly received a message shouted by another wyvern.
This was... asking for death??!
Baffled, Asterion even suspected he had misheard. But seeing the Rusted Kushala Daora turn back, panting heavily, and looking at him with aged and weary eyes, Asterion knew he hadn't misheard.
This Rusted Kushala Daora was asking to die.
Aged...
A jolt of lightning shot through Asterion's mind, and he suddenly recalled all the strange anomalies during this entire fight—Why would a proud and peaceful Elder Dragon like a Kushala Daora engage in kin-slaying?
Why was the Rusted Kushala Daora so much larger than the silver-gray Kushala Daora?
Why were the Rusted Kushala Daora's movements so slow during the fight?
Why was the Rusted Kushala Daora, despite being an Elder Dragon, so physically weak and panting even harder than he was?
Because it was dying.
Dying of old age; its life was drawing to a close.
This was clearly an elderly Kushala Daora that had crossed over from the Old World in the Elder Crossing!
Asterion suddenly saw through everything. If viewed from this perspective, every mysterious point that had confused him before made perfect sense.
This Rusted Kushala Daora wasn't actually brown because it was in a molting phase; it was because it was too old, a dragon on the verge of death.
The life energy stored in its body was becoming sluggish, no longer as vigorous as it once was. Its nerve endings were no longer sensitive, and it was gradually losing control over its body. Even the hardened metal body it once took pride in seemed like a foreign object, forcing it to bear a heavy steel shell every day.
In the end, while waiting for the final moment of its life, it watched day after day as its body aged and rusted—starting from the outermost metal shell, the rust seeped deeper and deeper.
But this time, there would be no new steel shell beneath the rust.
Asterion's gaze fell upon the extremities of the Rusted Kushala Daora's body: the bones on the sides and tips of its wings, and its tail.
In these areas, he saw that the metallic outer skin could no longer be called metal, but rather a substance whose color and texture were closer to bone.
A Kushala Daora's life is a constant cycle of molting and growing, and a Rusted Kushala Daora is just one stage in its lifecycle. In this cycle, their age also continually increases, but this does not mean the steel hide of a Kushala Daora can regenerate infinitely.
As they age, the parts of the Kushala Daora's body with less supporting tissue will slowly begin to ossify. At this point, the steel hide will no longer regenerate, and when this ossification covers the entire body's outer layer, the Kushala Daora's lifespan has completely ended.
Ossification, and the rusting of its former shell. When a Kushala Daora dies, only a steel skeleton will be left behind, and the life energy it accumulated over its lifetime will dissipate, returning to nature.
In the fierce battle earlier, Asterion hadn't noticed these subtle marks, and these signs of ossification had also been hidden by the rust on the Rusted Kushala Daora's body; they honestly weren't very noticeable.
Asterion completely understood now. The younger, silver-gray Kushala Daora wasn't truly fighting this Rusted Kushala Daora but trying to help its elder find a less painful end.
It was preserving the dignity of the dying, elderly Kushala Daora.
The pain and torment caused by the rusted body were enough to make a Kushala Daora particularly irritable and aggressive, not to mention that the rust on this Rusted Kushala Daora's body was exceptionally deep because it lacked the barrier of a new hide.
It was a pain like having every cell in the body sliced with a knife, and the most terrifying part was that this pain was extending inward from the surface of the body, a tremendous torment both physically and mentally.
For the Rusted Kushala Daora, it was as if some monster was slowly consuming it, from the surface to the inner body. The whole process was long and full of suffering, enough to drive a dragon mad.
No wonder he had been able to slice off such a thick layer of rust when he had struck earlier, and no wonder the Rusted Kushala Daora had looked so relaxed and comfortable at the time.
In a sense, Asterion's attack had genuinely helped the Rusted Kushala Daora, at least temporarily freeing it from some of the torment of the rust.
The reason the silver-gray Kushala Daora left at that moment was likely because it couldn't bear to see the elder of its kind meet such a tragic end here.
This was the Rusted Kushala Daora's own choice.
As expected of an Elder Dragon—highly intelligent. Compared to common wyverns, they clearly possessed higher emotions like sympathy and unwillingness.
Feeling a surge of emotion, Asterion gazed at the Rusted Kushala Daora. The pain and anger from its horn being shattered seemed to have settled down, leaving only exhaustion.
"Roar..." (So, you've chosen me to send you on your way?) Asterion asked in a low growl.
"ROAR!" (Send me on my way? Don't be ridiculous!)
Despite its movements clearly betraying its fatigue, the Rusted Kushala Daora proudly raised its neck.
"ROAR, ROAR!!" (I will only die in battle! Young one, you understand, don't you?!)
The Elder Dragon replied to the common wyvern's words. In the past, given the pride of the Elder Dragons, they would never have responded to a common wyvern's roar.
Asterion could understand the Kushala Daora's words and clearly grasped what it wanted to express—Yes, die in battle!
This was why the younger Kushala Daora had fought the Rusted Kushala Daora so fiercely. Even though the Rusted Kushala Daora knew its kin had good intentions and that it was indeed suffering, it would still not choose to passively submit to death merely to escape the pain.
This was the pride of the Elder Dragons! No! It should be called the pride of dragons!!
Because Asterion felt the same way. If he were in the same situation, he would rather fight to the death!
Upon hearing the Rusted Kushala Daora's roar, Asterion's heart momentarily swelled with emotion—Oh, my stars! That's exactly how I feel!!
"ROAR!!" (Then come on!!)
No need for more words. After a brief rest, Asterion's stamina had quickly recovered a portion. He roared, then bit his Great Sword tail into his mouth.
Out of respect, he would meet the Rusted Kushala Daora with his strongest technique.
Sinking low, twisting his hips, and gathering strength, Asterion's entire body was coiled and taut like a shrimp. Such was the force that even though he was biting his Great Sword tail with all his might, the tail was still slowly being pulled outward through his teeth.
On the other side, the Rusted Kushala Daora saw Asterion clearly preparing a major attack but did not dodge or take the opportunity to attack. Instead, it raised its front body with a look of relief. It opened its mouth, and the intense wind pressure generated by its internal organs began to condense into a wind blast inside its mouth. It was also charging up.
It would counter, not with its body, but with the power of an Elder Dragon.
The accumulated rain clouds had somehow spread back, and the few rays of sunlight that had pierced the clouds were gone. When the first drop of rain fell once more, Asterion suddenly moved.
Heaven and Earth—Unrivaled Great Spin!!!
Releasing all the power he had gathered at this moment, Asterion instantly vanished from his spot like a crimson-azure streak, leaving behind only a crushed stone on the ground.
Tearing through the air, the hundred-meter distance was crossed in a single instant!!
BOOM!!
The moment Asterion moved, the Rusted Kushala Daora also released the pressurized wind blast accumulated in its mouth. The air in front of it even appeared to fracture at that moment. No, it should be said that for a short time, that space was no longer air that could be freely passed through, but a transparent wall.
It was an impact force capable of shattering and crushing rock. The condensed mass of wind even took on a twisted, translucent shape in the real world, but Asterion could no longer see any of this.
He only knew he was aiming forward. He only knew that in that instant, he straightened his body like a shrimp, releasing all the accumulated kinetic energy—This was the strike that would decide the outcome of the battle!!
Everything happened in an instant, swifter than the thunder rumbling through the clouds and more rapid than the lightning streaking across the sky.
The crimson-azure streak tore through the pale, bluish-white wind mass. The violent whirlwind exploded the moment it was cleaved, like the blast of a massive cannon. But immediately following was a resounding clash, a metal-on-metal sound far clearer than any previous noise!!
"ROAR!!!"
The Rusted Kushala Daora roared in pain. This was the inevitable result of its choice not to dodge and to meet Asterion's attack head-on—the blade cut deeply into its chest!
And unlike all previous injuries, this strike, which contained the entirety of Asterion's strength, carved a deep wound into the Rusted Kushala Daora's chest.
It was no longer just a deep gash, because a stream of deep crimson Elder Dragon blood was flowing out from the wound.
"ROAR!!!" (You made me bleed!!)
But this was far from over. The pain and the wound stimulated the Rusted Kushala Daora, driving it into a frenzy. It roared loudly, and using its weight and strength, it forcibly wrapped its arms around Asterion, who was attempting to leap back to a safe distance after delivering the blow.
When the Rusted Kushala Daora's immensely heavy body pressed down, Asterion felt as if a collapsing mountain had fallen on him. He struggled desperately, but was horrified to find that as the Rusted Kushala Daora pinned him with its body, it used its forearms to grab his tail, even allowing the struggling Great Sword tail to carve several sparks-flying wounds into its neck and head.
"Roar, roar! ROAR!!" (This one's a repayment!!)
"ROAR!!!" (What are you doing!!)
Roaring and struggling, Asterion only needed a few more seconds to break free from the Rusted Kushala Daora's restraint. It only felt like a mountain; it wasn't a real one. But it seemed already too late.
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