The arena was surrounded by tiers of circular steps rising upward, with a blood-colored barrier at the very top, about a hundred meters above the ground.
"To be able to manifest such an independent space and forcibly pull me in..."
"It truly is a powerful Alchemical Item."
Within the blood-colored barrier, a stone slab was faintly visible; it was the core of the gladiator array disk itself.
Garros suddenly raised his head and opened his draconic maw, breathing out a lava-like Flame Dragon Breath straight at the core of the blood-colored barrier, attempting to break the Formation Plate and shatter this space.
However, although the blood-colored barrier visibly dented and rippled under the impact of the Flame Dragon Breath...
...it was like cotton struck by a heavy fist, showing no signs of tearing or breaking.
Garros had a feeling that if he continued to use his Dragon Breath, he could eventually melt the barrier, damage the Formation Plate, and break out of this space after some time.
But the problem now was that he wasn't the only Dragon in the gladiator space; there were Dragon Hunters watching him like hawks from the opposite side.
The Dragon Hunters did not attack Garros directly, even allowing him to try and destroy the barrier.
Garros only tried for a moment before stopping.
It couldn't be destroyed in a short time, and it would only waste his physical and Demonic Energy. This would only give the hunters more opportunities; they were watching coldly without interfering, hoping Garros would exhaust himself.
This is troublesome.
Garros thought to himself.
He knew that Planet Bernardo's Alchemy was highly advanced, so no type of Alchemical Item would be surprising, but this gladiator array disk still exceeded his expectations.
"You are quite clever, knowing to try and break the Formation Plate first."
"But unfortunately, you do not possess the power to destroy it—no one present does."
The Conjurer said eerily, "This Formation Plate was custom-made by us at a high cost. It is an exquisite replica of a Legendary item, even more precious than an entire adult dragon. Using it on you is actually a bit of an overkill."
Any ordinary hunter knows to sharpen their spear and prepare their tools before a hunt.
The gladiator array disk was an item this Dragon Hunting Group had spent nearly most of their savings to acquire. Its effect was powerful, but it could only be used three times. The first time was to hunt an adult black dragon, and this was the second use.
If the Viscount hadn't given them a massive reward, they would never have used this opportunity to hunt a Young Dragon.
As for the Legendary original it was modeled after...
...besides the basic functions of this replica, it could continuously drain the attributes of a selected target to buff itself, creating an ebb-and-flow effect. Furthermore, after killing the target, it could permanently gain one point of the opponent's attributes. It was a truly worthy Legendary item.
"Evil Dragon! This shall be your grave!"
Someone who looked familiar to Garros stepped out from the Dragon Hunting Group.
He wore armor engraved with thorn patterns and held a greatsword. His face was cold and hard, and his eyes were filled with deep-seated hatred.
Garros looked at the man and immediately deduced his identity through the familiar facial features he shared with Edmond, the patterns on his armor, and his venomous, hateful gaze.
—Viscount Ironthorn.
Instead of staying within the territory of the Southern Federation, he had sold his family assets to recruit a Dragon Hunting Group and personally pursued him into the wilderness.
This surprised Garros slightly, and then his heart swelled with killing intent.
When you don't pull up the weeds by the roots, the current situation is the consequence.
No one can predict what price a man consumed by deep hatred will pay for revenge. However, given the situation at the time, it was indeed difficult to eliminate Viscount Ironthorn while he was far away in the Federation.
As for now...
He had personally come before Garros, giving Garros the chance to pull up the weeds by the roots.
"I have underestimated your determination."
"To dare to pursue me into the wilderness, you are quite the character."
Garros's gaze was deep. Suddenly, he grinned and changed the subject, saying, "However, the way your son fawned and begged for mercy was just like a Kobold. He once knelt before me, begging me to forgive his stupidity and offense, but I ruthlessly refused and killed him as if crushing a bug."
Verbal sparring is sometimes necessary.
It can provoke the enemy's anger, causing them to lose control of their emotions and gaining an advantage for oneself.
The Viscount's face turned ashen. He took deep breaths repeatedly but still couldn't suppress his surging anger and hatred. He couldn't help but want to charge at Garros, but he was held back by a large hand.
"Plunder! Slaughter!"
"Evil Dragon! You have committed unpardonable sins!"
A deep and solemn voice, like thunder, rang out from the Paladin.
Garros recalled the descriptions of Paladins in his Legacy; they would always stand on the side of 'justice,' and when their resolve to strike down evil wavered, their strength would also decline.
"You are wrong."
He stared at the Paladin and said, "This Viscount plundered in the name of taxation. As for you, in the name of hunting, you slaughter creatures living peacefully in the wilderness and view intelligent beings as mere beasts."
"Plunder, slaughter... Heh, if I am guilty, then your sins are equally profound."
The Paladin fell silent for a moment.
Then, sweeping his gaze over Garros's fierce and menacing face, he shouted, "Naturally evil Hybrid Dragon, do not quibble. Go talk to my Smite Evil!"
He stepped forward and swung his Dragon-Slaying Greatsword through the air.
Smite Evil!
A fifteen-meter-wide half-moon sword light erupted, whistling as it tore through the air, flying straight toward Garros's neck.
Garros crouched low on all fours, his muscles tensing and twisting. His body shifted laterally, coming to a stop on the spectator stands at a slight angle. His sharp claws gripped the steps, shattering them as stones fell in a shower.
The spot where he had been was struck by the Smite Evil, creating a deep fissure.
"As expected, upon meeting such people, they view me as an Evil Dragon that must be subjugated at a single glance."
"I no longer need to hold back either."
The Red-Iron Dragon stared at the Dragon Hunters, his eyes narrowing into vertical slits, cold, emotionless, and filled with murderous intent.
This space left him with no way to retreat or withdraw; he had to face this battle.
Since things had come to this, then let there be battle.
No need to consider the consequences, no need to consider the risks, no need to be cautious anymore.
He had only one thought now.
—Kill all these enemies!
Garros spread his dragon wings, dark red Qi surging behind them. As the Conjurer chanted in a low voice, over a dozen Shadow Chains stabbed out simultaneously from the Void Realm in all directions, coiling toward his body.
Whoosh!
His wings flapped.
The Red-Iron Dragon leaped into the air, wanting to gain altitude first and weave through the Shadow Chains.
The Shadow Chains were extremely fast, and several managed to wrap around Garros's hind legs. Although they were snapped by his strength in an instant, they successfully caused his body to stall.
That single stall.
More attacks followed in quick succession.
"O King of Ten Thousand Prayers for Battle!"
"The invincible Tempus!"
"Great God of War, please grant us the sharpness to defeat our enemies!"
The burly War Priest, with a shiny bald head and a sword-and-shield holy symbol tattooed directly on his face, raised his sword high. A beam of radiance ignored the blood-colored barrier of the gladiator space, passed through it, and descended from the sky, coating the weapons of all his teammates.
"O King of Ten Thousand Prayers for Battle!"
"The ever-victorious Tempus!"
"Great God of War, please grant us the sturdiness to protect our bodies!"
He raised his silver heavy shield, and another beam of light descended, directly covering the surfaces of all his teammates' bodies.
Beside the War Priest.
The Vicious Beast Hunter, who specialized in destroying the weak points of large creatures, was a lean man.
He was the first to strike, drawing a greatbow nearly as tall as himself. His fingers rested on the bowstring, and as the runes on the bow's body glowed, a radiant arrow naturally condensed.
His arms pulled into afterimages, as if he had grown over a dozen arms at once, rapidly tugging the bowstring and unleashing a dense rain of arrows.
The rain of arrows was dense, and every arrow was aimed at an extremely tricky angle—targeting the Young Dragon's eyes, the gaps in his scales, the joints where his wings met his torso, and many other arrows used for predictive blocking.
Garros didn't make any large movements.
He simply raised his claws and slightly flapped his dragon wings to deflect or shatter the arrows aimed at his weak points.
As for the other arrows, they landed directly on his robust and broad body.
The clanging sound of metal clashing rang out incessantly. Sparks flew from the Red-Iron Dragon's body, and in his normal state, the black-gray Explosive Scales quickly turned red, like glowing coals.