Translator: AnubisTL
The night sky was torn asunder by two dragons.
Facing Garos's overwhelming assault, the cliff serpent dragon didn't meet him head-on. Instead, it soared into the air and sprang upward, twisting like a green lightning bolt. Its slender body traced complex, zigzagging patterns as it dodged and maneuvered through the air.
However, it couldn't match Garos in speed and agility.
Garos's massive, muscular frame appeared somewhat cumbersome at first glance, seemingly less agile than the serpent dragon's serpentine body. Yet his turning ability was astonishing. With a flap of his enormous wings, he whipped up howling gales and a shower of fiery sparks, executing nearly ninety-degree turns in an instant.
The two dragons danced through the night sky.
The cliff serpent dragon ascended diagonally, while Garos pursued relentlessly from behind, the distance between them rapidly closing.
Glancing back and seeing the red-iron dragon drawing closer, the cliff serpent dragon let out an enraged hiss. Frustrated by its inability to shake off Garos and the relentless pursuit, it grew increasingly agitated.
But intuition and instinct told it that Garos was extremely dangerous.
If it couldn't reduce his speed, a single hit from him could instantly inflict severe damage.
Serpent dragons don't fear death, but unless it was a last resort, or their rage and hatred reached their peak, they wouldn't resort to using the Death Curse to make a powerful enemy pay.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!
The high heat radiating from beneath the cliff serpent dragon's scales turned green, transforming into toxic mist. This mist then coalesced into fine threads between its scales, weaving into a deadly web behind its body as it twisted and turned.
The threads completely blocked Garos's pursuit path.
The serpent dragon shook its body, shedding its red-hot explosive scales, and unleashed a blast of flaming dragon breath.
Though the flaming dragon breath was powerful, its range was somewhat limited. However, when it collided with the explosive scales, a deafening explosion erupted.
The molten toxic threads rained down on the dense forest below.
The canopies of ancient trees hissed and crackled as if doused in strong acid, their resins and the toxic liquid reacting to produce thick, black-green smoke.
At the same moment, roaring flames surged outward, tearing a massive gap in the poisonous web.
Garos folded his wings.
He spun precisely through the opening, then unfurled his dragon wings and charged back toward the cliff serpent dragon. However, the web's resistance had slowed him slightly, blunting his attack.
Seizing the opportunity, the cliff serpent dragon wheeled around and charged forward.
Garos raised his right wing high, transforming it into a massive scythe as it slashed toward the serpent dragon's body.
Having tasted the power of Garos's dragon wings before, the cliff serpent dragon didn't attempt to block this time. It arched its slender body backward to evade the right wing's strike.
Just as it prepared to counterattack,
Garos spun abruptly, raising his left wing. The ring hanging from its tip glowed, and a torrent of flames erupted along the wing. It tore through the air with a piercing shriek, slashing toward the serpent dragon's head.
The wing's rotation was too swift, too sudden.
The cliff serpent dragon's dragon eyes narrowed, and it hissed as it desperately arched backward.
Screech!
The dragon wing blade grazed the serpent dragon's neck, shallowly slicing through the fine scales of its throat.
It wasn't quite enough.
If he could have killed it in one strike, the battle would have ended instantly, and he wouldn't have been splattered with so much poison blood. Unfortunately, the cliff serpent dragon's reflexes were still too quick. As dragonkind, it was far superior to other beasts and demonic creatures of its level.
Poison blood gushed from the cliff serpent dragon's throat and landed on Garos's left flank.
The searing pain instantly struck, but it was slightly more bearable than the first time.
Garos's earlier efforts to temper his resistance against the cliff serpent dragon's poison had indeed granted him a marginal improvement.
Garos's gaze turned icy as he unleashed a continuous barrage of spinning slashes. His dragon wings became two massive, terrifying blades, whipping up a storm of razor-sharp wind that swept relentlessly toward the cliff serpent dragon.
His most formidable weapons were undoubtedly these wings, forged through countless battles.
Faced with such a ferocious assault, the cliff serpent dragon couldn't retaliate.
It concentrated all its mental will, but could only dodge and weave beneath Garos's onslaught, unable to avoid every strike.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The ferocious wing slashes repeatedly swept across the cliff serpent dragon's body, occasionally accompanied by claw strikes and tail whips. The metallic clang of collision tore through its scales and flesh, leaving behind a dense network of bloody wounds.
Its body sustained continuous damage.
Yet, the cliff serpent dragon showed no fear, continuing to engage Garos as if driven mad.
This was not the case. Dragonkind possessed exceptional combat instincts, and this cliff serpent dragon, a seasoned veteran of countless battles, was a master at exploiting its strengths—cunning and treacherous, unlike the inexperienced fledgling of the red copper dragon.
In direct combat, it was far inferior to Garos.
Its true advantage lay in its poison blood and the toxic fog emanating from its steaming blood.
As the cliff serpent dragon's wounds multiplied, Garos became increasingly stained with its poison blood. The green toxic fog, continuously released from the creature's body, inevitably enveloped him at close range, its insidious tendrils seeping into every pore.
This fog differed from its direct poison blood.
Its seemingly harmless nature was deceptive. It accumulated gradually, and only when it reached a critical threshold would it erupt like a mountain flood.
By the time the target realized the danger, it was often too late. The potent venom would relentlessly crush their resistance, stripping them of their combat capabilities.
The cliff serpent dragon had once used this venom to slay ferocious beasts far stronger than itself.
Next came the feigned weakness. It would let the red-iron dragon believe it could strike first, secretly accumulating venom until it erupted in a sudden burst. A cruel smile curved the cliff serpent dragon's lips as it planned: when Garos was weakened by the poison, it would slowly tear through his dragon scales, savoring his screams as it devoured his flesh and blood bit by bit.
Riiip!
Garos's claws slashed across the cliff serpent dragon's abdomen, leaving several bloody gashes.
The cliff serpent dragon bled profusely, but the poison blood Garos had shed evaporated into a toxic mist swirling around it. The muscles beneath its scales tensed, ready to evade and circle, accumulating venom until it could counter-attack.
However, what the cliff serpent dragon didn't anticipate was this:
Despite appearing to hold the upper hand, Garos suddenly spread his dragon wings, soaring upward and retreating without pursuing.
Higher in the sky, Garos's gaze remained calm as he silently watched the cliff serpent dragon below.
He hadn't let the heat of battle cloud his judgment, recklessly clashing with the serpent dragon. Though confident he could kill it first, the risk was too great. Winning would come at a devastating cost of being poisoned too deeply.
Compared to this, Garos sought to eliminate the serpent dragon at a lower cost.
Even when seemingly at a decisive advantage, he chose to withdraw, unlike most young dragonkind who fight like wild beasts, blinded by hot-blooded fury and forgetting they are intelligent beings.
In this deadly game of combat, Garos employed a strategy of using wisdom to control power and retreating to advance.
To harness power with wisdom—a feat typically achieved only by elder dragonkind.
"Are you afraid of me? Afraid of death?!" the cliff serpent dragon roared, its body riddled with wounds as it charged toward Garos. The dragon, however, calmly flapped his wings, steadily increasing the distance and refusing to engage in close combat.
The cliff serpent dragon, severely injured, was too slow to keep pace with Garos.
It continued to taunt and provoke, but could never draw Garos's ire.
Having constantly battled his own negative desires and emotions, Garos had forged a resilient and composed mental will. The taunts proved ineffective, failing to disturb his composure.
Seeing Garos retreating and realizing he couldn't catch up, the cliff serpent dragon turned back toward Crescent Moon Valley in a rage, intending to vent its frustration on the werewolves as it had before.
However, unlike last time, Garos didn't leave.
(End of the Chapter)
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