As the Bloodhoof Chieftain took to the sky, flapping his demon-like wings,
The Red-Iron Dragon trailed comet-like tail flames behind his wings, soaring into the clouds at an even greater speed. He then swiveled around, approaching the Bloodhoof Chieftain in a straight line from above like a falling meteor. The Stage 2 Bloodhoof Chieftain did not retreat, roaring as he met the attack head-on.
The scales on his wing membranes clattered, sparking with searing heat.
The remaining Explosive Scales looked like glowing red-hot iron.
In an instant, the incredibly majestic Young Dragon and the demon monster seemingly from the abyss collided.
Boom!
Accompanied by a deafening roar and a shockwave of air, flames exploded in the sky, bursting with blinding light and heat, like a second sun rising.
The Red-Iron Dragon was knocked back dozens of meters before stabilizing his body.
By now, all the Explosive Scales on his body had been consumed, revealing a suit of obsidian-like solid scales. Lava-like patterns glowed with a dark red light upon them. Combined with his formidable and powerful frame and body parts that looked like weapons, his ferocity far surpassed that of an abyssal demon.
At the same time.
A pitch-black figure burning with flames plummeted toward the ground in a straight line—Bahr fell even faster than he had ascended, and the cracks on his body had increased, with magma-like blood flowing within them.
Whoosh!
Bahr's demon wings suddenly flapped violently.
The fierce wind flattened the vegetation on the ground, sending earth and stones flying.
His descent slowed as he adjusted his body, ultimately avoiding a crash. Just as he was about to hit the ground, he soared back into the sky, rushing toward the Red-Iron Dragon.
"The outer layer of scales that absorbed my power is gone."
"Now that we're back to close-quarters combat, the advantage is mine."
Bahr gazed at the Red-Iron Dragon, his Battle Intent soaring.
However, facing the aggressive Bloodhoof Chieftain, Garros simply flicked his wings. His body traced a comet-like trail through the air as he bypassed Bahr, diving toward the ground and skimming across it at extreme speed.
Dragon wings like blades swept across the earth.
Minotaur warriors were sliced in half one by one.
Bathing in the flying rain of blood, he spun around, his vertical dragon pupils locking onto an elite leader.
The Minotaur warrior's great axe split an Ogre's armor, the blade embedding itself deep into the chest cavity. He then kicked the heavily wounded Ogre away with a hoof.
Just as he was about to let out a roar to vent his killing intent,
A sudden chill ran down his spine, as if he were being targeted by an irresistible predator. At the same time, a gust of foul wind came from behind him.
The leader's pupils constricted as he turned around, seeing the Red-Iron Dragon charging with an unstoppable momentum and billowing Dragon Fear.
The leader let out a low growl, his eyes blood-red and muscles bulging. In the moment of crisis, his mind focused to the extreme, channeling his life's skill into the battle-axe gripped in his hand as he swung at the Red-Iron Dragon.
However, the sharp claws fell faster than the battle-axe.
Garros swept out a claw casually.
Boom! Amidst a burst of blood mist, the leader died on the spot.
As the battle continued to this point, the Molten Iron Legion had already gained a massive advantage.
From the moment Bahr and Garros began their fight, the scales of victory gradually tilted toward the Molten Iron Clan. The Bloodhoof troops had marched without any rest, consuming a vast amount of physical energy. Meanwhile, the Molten Iron Clan's attack on the Bloodhoof Clan's base was not difficult, allowing them to strike at their leisure.
At first, the gap between the two sides wasn't obvious.
But as time passed in this meat-grinder of a battle, the Bloodhoof troops' stamina became severely overextended and began to drop. This was followed by negative states like sluggishness and weakness, and they were quickly routed.
"Don't run!"
Bahr roared, flapping his demon wings to pursue Garros, but his speed and agility could not compare to the dragon's.
Garros wanted to win the war with minimum cost. He kited the Minotaur monster, ignoring its provocations while specifically targeting the high-performing Bloodhoof leaders in the battlefield. In an instant, he secured a huge advantage for the Molten Iron Legion.
After realizing he couldn't catch Garros even at full speed,
Bahr struggled to suppress his surging rage and violent emotions.
His Stage 2 was not without cost; the boiling Demon Blood made him more irritable and prone to losing his reason.
He stopped the pointless pursuit of the Red-Iron Dragon.
The Minotaur monster folded his wings and slammed into the ground like a cannonball, landing on his thick hooves.
War Stomp!
The ground did not shatter, and not even a single crack appeared, but an invisible force radiated outward from Bahr's landing point, shattering the surrounding Molten Iron subordinates into blood mist.
Hah!
Bahr raised his head and took a deep breath.
Wisps of blood-colored energy peeled away from the creatures he had killed, churning like living threads as they gathered onto his body. This caused his Aura to rise slightly, and the injuries from his previous collision with Garros began to heal.
If he wouldn't fight head-on,
Then they would see who could kill faster!
His dark eyes were filled with violence and bloodlust. Bahr scanned his surroundings, targeting the subordinates of the Molten Iron Legion, his gaze locking onto Gluttony Demon Karu.
The Gluttonous Ogre was tough and resilient. He had been injured by Bahr at the start, but not to the point of losing his combat capability.
Noticing the dragon-like features on the other's body, Bahr was certain this Ogre was a dragon-blooded creature and a core subordinate. Killing him would surely draw the Dragon's hatred.
His demon wings unfurled and beat the air.
The Minotaur monster took to the sky, charging straight at Karu.
At that moment, a crimson dragon shadow was faster. It slammed into the Minotaur monster from the side, pushing him toward the sky.
When Bahr wanted a head-on fight, Garros kited and circled him. Yet when he tried to slaughter the subordinates, Garros returned.
But this was exactly what Bahr wanted.
He could grow through war, but what he desired most was to kill the Red-Iron Dragon before him.
"You've finally stopped running!"
His massive bat wings fully extended. A power like a mountain-toppling tsunami surged within Bahr, allowing him to forcefully withstand Garros's impact and stop in mid-air.
His giant palms gripped the dragon's neck scales and exerted sudden force.
The Red-Iron Dragon's incredibly heavy body was swung through the air. Bahr raised his leg, his knee shrouded in a foul wind as it smashed toward the dragon's belly.
If this strike landed solidly, even steel would shatter.
Suddenly, Garros's dragon tail whipped around and coiled around Bahr's left leg, forcefully pulling the knee strike off course.
The scale-covered dragon belly grazed past the knee. The resulting sparks mixed with scale fragments showered down like rain. Bahr took the opportunity to drop his elbow, his knotted elbow bone hammering down toward the dragon's spine like a heavy mallet.
Garros's right wing suddenly stood upright like a protruding blade, slashing toward Bahr's crotch.
Bahr's eyelid twitched as he hastily dodged to the side. His offensive was interrupted, and when he looked again, the Red-Iron Dragon had already flapped his wings and retreated.
"Coward, can you only run?"
"Stop! Face me!"
Bahr's demon wings blotted out the sky, and black flames billowed around him. Hanging high over the battlefield, he looked like a demon god.
His powerful stance gave the Minotaur warriors immense confidence, allowing them to fight back bravely even when at a disadvantage, making it difficult for the Molten Iron Legion to expand its lead in the short term.
Right then.
The Red-Iron Dragon stopped and slowly raised his head.
The warm-up was over. Blood flowed through his body like a wild tide; in this state, the boost from the Frenzied State would be at its strongest.
"Then it shall be as you wish."
Looking directly into the monster's pitch-black eyes, the Red-Iron Dragon's voice was as calm as ever, but it now held a hint of danger: "Now, let us truly begin."
Hearing these somewhat familiar words—words he himself had said earlier—
Bahr felt a chill in his heart, sensing that something was wrong.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
Countless golden electric snakes erupted from the gaps in his dragon scales, shining densely and dancing across the Red-Iron Dragon's body, emitting the high-pitched sound of ten thousand lightning bolts hissing.
Garros's scales vibrated slightly, and his muscles bulged inch by inch within the lightning.
His already extremely powerful frame expanded once more, his imposing and ferocious physique reaching near-absurd proportions.
Bahr's pupils constricted.
He saw Garros's figure blur and vanish from the spot, leaving only a golden afterimage on his retina.
The next moment, the dragon claws were right before his eyes! Every hooked toe was like a blade.
In addition to the golden lightning, wisps of black-red airflow coiled around the dragon's arms—it was Garros's Dragon Qi.
Wherever the Dragon Qi flowed, the body in the Frenzied State was further strengthened.
Reinforced by the rotation of Dragon Qi, the claw strike was as fast as lightning.
Crack!
Before Bahr could even raise his arms,
His chest and abdomen were struck by the dragon claws.
His black-iron-hard skin was instantly torn open, and his sternum and ribs snapped with a crunch.
He didn't even have time to roar in pain.
Garros performed a spinning wing slash, the wing blade sweeping toward Bahr's neck.
Under the threat of death, Bahr instinctively ducked his head.
Clang!
With a flash of blinding sparks, the wing blade severed half of Bahr's left horn at the cost of a small notch.
"My horn!"
Horns were a Minotaur's weapon and an important aesthetic feature; they were held in extremely high regard.
The demon bull counterattacked frantically, swinging a heavy fist at the dragon's head, only for Garros to headbutt him back with even greater speed.
Thud!!!
The dragon horns pierced into Bahr's abdomen, and blood poured out like a fountain.
A touch of crimson appeared in Bahr's pitch-black eyes.
He let out a mad roar. The blood flowing from his body did not spill onto the earth; instead, it all began to burn. The lava-like cracks on his skin became exceptionally bright red.
If the Demon Blood was merely boiling before,
It was now completely ignited.
At this moment, Bahr could be said to have entered Stage 3, fighting with everything he had and leaving no room for retreat.
Black demon flames and golden lightning crushed against each other.
The demon bull's hands clasped together into a hammer, smashing toward the Red-Iron Dragon's wide-open back of the head, carrying a terrifying concussive force.
Before being hit, the Red-Iron Dragon had already withdrawn his horns and met the attack head-on with his right claw.
Level 1 Dragon Qi Rotation!
Enhanced Claw Strike!
Boom—!!!
A circular shockwave swept through the sky, tearing the clouds to shreds.
Bahr's finger bones shattered bit by bit, and Garros's claw scales were also shaken into fine powder. Two lines of blood sprayed from high above, only to be steamed into a red mist in the clash between golden lightning and demon flames.
The true battle of attrition began now.
Bahr's shattered finger bones were wrapped in demon flames, sprouting sharp bone spurs.
He grabbed Garros's right claw with his other hand and drove his burning knee toward the dragon's cloacal region.
There were dragon scales here, but their strength was far weaker than other scales, making it a major weakness for Dragonkin. However, the Red-Iron Dragon did not dodge. Instead, he raised his hind leg and slammed it viciously into the demon bull's crotch.
Both were ruthless characters. Their gazes locked like electric sparks, neither yielding, both revealing a look of absolute determination.
Thud!
Thud!
With two muffled sounds, the bull's member and testicles were instantly smashed into pulp, and his pelvic bone cracked. Even though the burning Demon Blood dulled the pain, Bahr could not help but let out a shrill cry of agony.
What made it even harder for him was that
The dragon scales his knee had struck were not fragile; on the contrary, they were harder than imagined. Having endured the vicious knee strike, they only cracked and dented without completely collapsing.
The Red-Iron Dragon trembled all over and sucked in a breath of cold air.
But that was it.
His day-and-night tempering of his own weaknesses showed its due effect at this moment.
Because of the unbearable pain, Bahr's body hunched and curved, and his vision went dark for a moment.
Garros naturally would not pass up such a good opportunity.
His left claw surged out, taking the chance to tear open the tough skin under Bahr's ribs.
The dragon claws dug into the gaps between Bahr's ribs, his knuckles exerting force like steel pincers twisting together.
The demon bull let out a muffled roar of pain. The crisp sound of ribs snapping mixed with the sound of tearing muscle. He swung his right fist, surging with black flames, at his enemy's head.
Garros suddenly flapped his wings and retreated.
While avoiding the heavy punch, he forcefully ripped three of Bahr's ribs, along with skin and flesh, out of his body.
Blood fell like rain, and it all turned into flames.
Bahr's Aura rose another notch. His originally pitch-black eyes had turned completely blood-red, filled with violent madness, seemingly oblivious to pain.
He reached out his arm like lightning, his giant palm tightly gripping the dragon's tail, using brute force to swing the Red-Iron Dragon toward the ground.
Boom! The dragon's body smashed through the rock layers, kicking up waves of earth, blowing away or burying combat units from both the Bloodhoof and Molten Iron sides.
Bahr pursued him down, his hooves joined together like a battering ram as he stomped toward the dragon's chest.
Clang!
Garros's dragon arms crossed in a block.
The black-red scales buckled with spiderweb cracks under the heavy stomp of the demon hooves, and the ground beneath them collapsed further down.
Having finally regained the upper hand, the demon bull turned and slammed his elbow down like a battle-axe toward the dragon's face.
The Red-Iron Dragon tilted his head to dodge and adjusted his angle. His dragon horns collided with the demon bull's elbow bone. Sparks poured out like a rainstorm. Cracks appeared on the dragon horns, but Bahr's elbow directly shattered and was pierced through by a horn.
At the same time.
Garros's right claw lunged toward his heart.
Rip!
Bahr forcefully tore his own arm away. His bull hoof stepped on the Red-Iron Dragon's chest, and using the recoil force while simultaneously flapping his demon wings, he soared into the sky, narrowly avoiding the heart-gouging claw strike.
"Coward, why are you running?"
The Red-Iron Dragon's cold sneer whispered in Bahr's ear.
At this moment, just like that previous moment, the situation had completely reversed.
However, the difference was that even in Stage 3, Bahr's speed still could not match Garros in his Frenzied State.
He only had time to ascend over two hundred meters before a foul wind came from behind.
Bahr took a deep breath. His Demon Blood had burned to the limit as he turned to face the enemy.
The Red-Iron Dragon curled his body into an iron ball, shrouded in golden lightning as he slammed into the demon bull's embrace.
His long, thick dragon horns pierced Bahr's chest and abdomen. Using his momentum, the dragon's body pushed him in a violent charge, finally falling together onto a hill.
Crack!
The rock walls collapsed layer by layer, countless stones flew in all directions, and dust filled the air.
Garros pinned Bahr into the core of the mountain, his dragon claw pressing the bull's head, grinding it deep into the rock layers.
Bahr's burning demon wings closed like a guillotine, slashing at Garros's back, but they were instead torn apart by the dragon wings. Demon Blood splashed onto the searing rock walls, steaming into a red mist.
Roar!
The demon bull roared and bellowed, coiling his legs around the dragon's body. His remaining fist hammered at the dragon again and again, but he increasingly seemed to lack the strength.
Bahr had already passed his Peak state.
Now, his Aura was declining every second, and the healing and regeneration speed of the wounds all over his body had become sluggish.
A few seconds later, two figures burst through the rock from the other side of the hill.
The Red-Iron Dragon pressed the demon bull down, skimming across the ground and plowing a thousand-meter trench through the battlefield along the way.
When he finally stopped and the golden lightning on his body retracted and dissipated, Bahr's body was already a horrific sight, unrecognizable from his previous majestic form.
His horns were broken, his wings torn to shreds with only a few bone stumps hanging with scraps of meat. His right leg below the knee had long since been turned to powder, and his chest and abdomen were torn open.
He was already half-dead.
"In the Borderlands—"
The Red-Iron Dragon stood upright, his dragon claw gripping Bahr's neck like a steel pincer as he lifted the mangled body.
"—the Molten Iron Clan is the future hegemon, and I shall be the sole Dominator here."
The intense battle had left the Red-Iron Dragon's mind churning, causing him to drop his long-held disguise and suppression, revealing a corner of his ambition.
He threw the mangled body onto the ground, looking down at him and saying indifferently and coldly: "Scum, grovel before me and beg for my forgiveness. I will give you a chance to pledge your loyalty."
By now, Bahr had almost burned through all the Demon Blood in his body.
But he was exceptionally gifted; as long as he survived this brush with death, he could still recover later.
His mangled body moved. Under the Red-Iron Dragon's cold gaze, Bahr slowly prostrated himself toward the ground, but at the last moment, he suddenly lunged.
"Death is but a new birth! Glory is with me!"
Bahr let out a hoarse roar, the last of his strength gathering in his remaining arm as his fist smashed toward the Red-Iron Dragon's lower jaw.
Thud!
The dragon tail coiled in front of him rose up and then slammed down heavily, smashing Bahr into the ground.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
After several consecutive slaps and the trembling of the ground, the mangled body that had barely been clinging to life was now completely turned into a radial pattern of meat pulp, mixed with crushed stones and soil, devoid of any life.
PS: Requesting Power Stones.