The night sky was as dark as ink, saturating the entire firmament.
The silhouettes of Garros and the Cliff Snake Dragon darted through the dim clouds like two bolts of lightning tearing through the night.
Once the distance between them closed, the Cliff Snake Dragon was the first to strike. Its slender body lashed out like a whip, and its bifurcated tail tip burned with emerald-green toxic flames.
Garros's body stalled, and his wings rose high.
The fine scales on his wing membranes rubbed against each other, showering dense sparks. The sharp edges of his wings glowed crimson. Then, pivoting on the tip of his left wing, his body suddenly spun in a massive arc, shifting his angle. His wings, acting like a guillotine, surged out and cleaved toward the Cliff Snake Dragon.
Faced with this Great Wing Whirlwind, the Cliff Snake Dragon was not to be outdone.
It also turned, its thick tail lashing toward Garros's wing.
Clang! Rip!
First came a metallic collision, a crisp sound like clashing blades, followed immediately by the sound of a Sharp Weapon tearing through tough dragon scales and flesh.
After feeling a slight resistance, Garros's Whirlwind Wing Slash tore through and severed one of the Cliff Snake Dragon's three bifurcated tails. His wings were stained with the Cliff Snake Dragon's viscous blood.
"I'm going to eat you!"
The Cliff Snake Dragon, stung by the pain, muttered in slurred dragon language. Its front claws suddenly lunged out, swiping at Garros.
Garros tilted his body slightly, meeting the attack directly with the dense Explosive Scales on his back.
Boom! This heavy claw strike slammed into the scales on Garros's back. As the scales shattered, they absorbed the kinetic energy of the blow and converted it into thermal energy, erupting in a brilliant burst of flame.
Caught off guard, the Cliff Snake Dragon was sent flying back by the shockwave.
"This guy isn't much in a direct fight."
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his wing.
It felt as if countless small files were grinding his flesh, as if innumerable venomous snakes were burrowing into his body. The pain was intense beyond comparison.
"But this venom is just as powerful as the Legacy records."
Even with Garros's high tolerance for pain, he couldn't help but frown.
The Cliff Snake Dragon's blood on his wing was sticky; it hadn't been shaken off by the high winds. Instead, it clung to his wing, staining the point of contact dark green.
The Snake Dragon's fangs, claws, and blood were all highly toxic.
Its blood, in particular, contained the highest concentration of toxins.
Garros's poison resistance was not high, and his wing began to feel paralyzed after being poisoned.
The Cliff Snake Dragon charged again.
By comparison, its injuries were heavier than Garros's, but its blood-red eyes flashed with madness and excitement. It looked completely deranged, as if it were determined to drag Garros down with it even if it meant death.
A crazed dragon cannot be dealt with using common logic.
There was no benefit in fighting it to the death.
On the contrary, engaging it in appropriate skirmishes was beneficial for Garros.
"I'll keep it alive. As long as it stays in Crescent Moon Valley and comes to provoke me occasionally, I can use its venom to gradually increase my poison resistance. Let's end it here for tonight. My current poison resistance is low, and there's a risk in getting covered in too much toxic blood at once."
Garros thought to himself.
With a flap of his wings, he pushed his speed to the limit and pulled away.
Hissing sounds continuously erupted from beneath the Cliff Snake Dragon's scales as high-temperature gases steamed off. It accelerated to chase Garros, but as Garros began to sprint at full speed, each beat of his massive wings kicked up a freezing gale. Even in its explosive state, the Snake Dragon found it difficult to keep up, and the distance between them gradually widened.
It couldn't catch him, and its severed tail was still bleeding continuously.
The burst of speed consumed a massive amount of stamina, and it was over.
The Cliff Snake Dragon stopped helplessly, only able to see the faint sparks generated by Garros's flapping wings. After a few blinks, even those sparks vanished.
It let out a howl and turned back toward the Grey-mane Werewolf tribe.
"Food! I want live food!"
In Crescent Moon Valley, the Cliff Snake Dragon landed in the werewolf territory and demanded that the tribe present food again.
"All the live prey for today has already been given to you."
A hint of nervousness appeared on the Werewolf Priest's face as he forced himself to stay calm. "Now there is only dead or dried meat left, but the quantity is large and will surely fill you up."
The Cliff Snake Dragon roared: "I want living things! Living things!"
It wanted to satisfy its boiling bloodlust by cruelly tearing apart living creatures, venting the anger of being wounded by Garros and failing to keep him there.
"If you won't give them to me, I'll help myself!"
The Cliff Snake Dragon lunged forward and bit down on an adult werewolf.
But that wasn't enough; it wanted more.
"Enough! Rogus! Return to your lair!"
The Old Shaman's eyes widened in anger. Standing before the Cliff Snake Dragon, he gripped his oak staff with both hands. Behind him, the phantom spirit of a massive wolf emerged.
The Cliff Snake Dragon circled the Old Shaman once but did not attack.
Clutching the still-screaming adult werewolf in its mouth, it flew in a winding path back to its cave on the cliffside.
The Old Shaman's Aura dissipated, and his figure seemed to become even more hunched.
"I should never have brought back that dragon egg, I shouldn't have hatched it, and I shouldn't have raised it."
His heart was filled with regret.
This Cliff Snake Dragon was a sixteen-year-old juvenile dragon, and a Vicious Beast monster that the Old Shaman had raised himself.
During an exploration years ago, the Old Shaman had found an egg in a cave filled with skeletons. After bringing it back to the territory, it hatched into the Cliff Snake Dragon.
For a tribe living in the wilderness, their knowledge of Dragonkin was limited.
He didn't know that this was a Cliff Snake Dragon, naturally cruel, violent, and extremely bloodthirsty. He had only treated it as a strange snake. Because he felt it had great potential, he thought to train it from a young age and tame it to become the tribe's guardian beast.
However.
Dragonkin like the Cliff Snake Dragon were violent and cruel, yet possessed intelligence.
When it was weak, it did its best to restrain its hostility, gradually growing strong through the werewolf tribe's care and even slaughtering some external enemies for them.
However.
As it grew, it no longer restrained itself. When enraged, it would even eat werewolves. Only the Old Shaman who had raised it by hand could barely make it behave, relying on the sense of closeness rooted by his Shaman skills when it was young—but even that influence was weakening by the day.
"Elder, it's becoming more and more uncontrollable. The cost of feeding it is too high."
"It was injured fighting that unknown dragon. Why not take this opportunity to gather the tribe's warriors and kill it?"
The current Werewolf Chieftain walked to the Shaman's side, looking up at the dark cliffside cave as he spoke in a low voice.
The Shaman was the oldest and most respected Elder in the tribe, possessing the highest authority.
"Surrounding and killing Rogus is too dangerous. The losses would surely be devastating, perhaps causing the tribe to never recover and vanish into the wilderness," the Old Shaman said after some thought.
The Werewolf Chieftain said: "Elder, make a decision soon."
"If the cost of killing it is too high, we can only abandon Crescent Moon Valley and move elsewhere."
"Regardless, we cannot continue to share the same territory with it. Otherwise, who knows when it might go mad and eat us all."
The Old Shaman nodded, his voice sounding weary: "I know. Trust me, I will never let our people reach a dead end, no matter what."
The Werewolf Chieftain nodded and said no more. He glanced at the cave a few more times before turning to comfort the frightened tribespeople.
Their emotions could not fluctuate too much.
Otherwise, they would turn into giant wolf beasts, and there was a chance they wouldn't be able to turn back.
Meanwhile, the Old Shaman looked up at the quiet night sky, and the dragon shadow that had recently streaked across the sky suddenly flashed through his mind.
The Cliff Snake Dragon had chased after it excitedly but returned in a fit of rage.
It even lost a tail.
It must have suffered a defeat.
Perhaps he could borrow the power of that dragon? The Old Shaman thought to himself.