"My name is Charles Hines, and some also call me the Flower Knight."
"Respected Lord of Molten Iron, I hope to have a proper talk with you."
Beneath the deep night sky, atop the rugged hill, the Red-Iron Dragon's massive head, covered in cold, hard scales, tilted slightly. His vertical pupils silently stared at the Flower Knight who had walked up before him.
He had heard the other party's proposal to talk.
There was no fluctuation of expression on his hideous, terrifying face, and his gaze remained calm and unchanged.
When the tax collectors of the Albert Family pounced on the Molten Iron Tribe like jackals, wanting to forcibly extract exorbitant taxes through force, had even a single knight who claimed to be an Incarnation of order and justice stood up to represent the people of the Molten Iron Tribe—those viewed as monsters—and gone to talk to the high-and-mighty Albert Family?
At that time, there were only cold blades and greedy demands.
He could indeed sense a kind of goodwill from this human.
This was not a disguise.
One could tell from the fact that he had voluntarily walked into his absolute attack range without drawing his sword, and the Demonic Energy around him was stable and restrained rather than poised for battle.
This courage and sincerity were worthy of a sliver of respect.
However, this absolutely did not mean that the Albert Family, which the Flower Knight represented, harbored even the slightest bit of friendliness.
If there were truly even half a shred of goodwill, what appeared beneath these wild hills at this moment would not be the murderous private army of the Albert Family, but peace envoys holding olive branches.
As an orderly Dragon that respected order, Garros did not, deep down, actually reject resolving disputes through the negotiation table rather than the battlefield.
But, definitely not now.
Hum—!
There was no warning.
A sharp, intense sizzling sound that seemed capable of tearing the eardrums suddenly exploded.
Countless violent, leaping golden lightning bolts burst forth from the Red-Iron Dragon's imposing body. His already formidable and fierce physique expanded further amidst the electric light, emitting a suffocating sense of oppression.
And at the very instant the first wisp of golden electric snake darted out.
His originally standing figure had already vanished from the spot, leaving behind only distorted afterimages and scorched electric arcs in the air.
That highly oppressive dragon body rushed toward the Flower Knight at a speed that surpassed visual capture, closing in before his eyes in an instant. Carrying destructive energy and black-Red Dragon Qi, his terrifying claws tore through the air and struck down with peerless speed.
Bang!!!
The ground collapsed and shattered in response, and countless rock fragments shot out in all directions like buckshot.
A massive claw-shaped crater appeared beneath the Red-Iron Dragon's claws, and dust filled the air... However, there was no scene of flesh and blood flying as expected.
The Flower Knight had disappeared at the critical moment.
He appeared ten meters away from the dragon's claws, his figure looking slightly rushed, but he was unharmed.
Flash Strike.
It traveled through space in an instant, teleporting to any visible and unoccupied location within a ten-meter range before an attack landed.
The essence of this skill lay in following up the flash with a fierce counterattack.
However.
Before the Flower Knight could steady himself or prepare a counterattack, even at the very moment he appeared, the massive dragon wings, sharp as guillotines, had already torn through the air, slashing horizontally with a scalp-numbing whistle.
The human's figure blurred once again.
Only an afterimage, instantly shredded by the violent air currents kicked up by the dragon wings, remained in place.
He appeared again at another spot ten meters away, but before his feet had even fully touched the ground, the Red-Iron Dragon's fierce tail strike, resembling a steel whip, followed right behind.
The speed at which the Dragon launched attacks from different body parts was inconceivably fast.
It was as if there were no intervals at all; the storm-like offensive did not give the opponent any time to breathe or think.
The strength of the Red-Iron Dragon far exceeded that of dragons of the same size, and far exceeded the Flower Knight's expectations.
Having seized the initiative, Garros's attacks were like a violent storm, airtight, directly forcing this renowned Flower Knight to constantly dodge and flee, unable to find even the slightest opportunity to fight back.
Bang!
Garros's claws swept past the Flower Knight's afterimage again by a hair's breadth.
This time, the Flower Knight did not simply flash; he disappeared abruptly and completely, as if he had been directly erased from this spatial region, leaving no trace to follow.
"Ranger?"
Garros's thoughts raced, and through the knowledge of the Dragon Clan's Legacy, he determined the core of the other party's profession.
This was a Ranger, but by no means an ordinary forest hunter.
He was following the extremely rare and scarce [Border Walker] branch path, which had a very high threshold, requiring outstanding talent in space and mastery of powerful and troublesome skills like flashing, banishment, and even space walking.
If it were in the past.
Dealing with such an agile Border Walker, especially when the opponent was intent on hit-and-run tactics, Garros, lacking effective perception and locking methods, might have found it somewhat tricky.
However, he had never stopped compensating for his own flaws and shortcomings.
Today was no longer the same as the past!
The Red-Iron Dragon's gaze was sharp as a blade, and the black-Red Dragon Qi around him churned and rose like boiling magma.
In an instant, the massive Dragon Qi rapidly condensed and shaped itself on his already thick and huge head, finally transforming into a Dragon Qi helmet with sharp angles, covered in jet-black spines, yet perfectly fitting the contours of his head.
This helmet almost completely covered his face, revealing only a pair of increasingly deep and cold black eyes.
This was a key skill Garros had grasped when he reached Level 6 in the way of Dragon Qi.
Visage of the Astral Self.
—Manipulating Dragon Qi to condense a specialized helmet or mask, with an appearance born from the heart, it not only possessed powerful defensive capabilities but also granted the wearer extraordinary insight and perception.
The moment he put on the Dragon Qi helmet, the world before Garros's eyes changed drastically.
All colors became extremely vivid: red was blinding, black was deep, yellow was dazzling... Countless color patches intertwined yet were distinct, and the surrounding world seemed to have transformed into an abstract oil painting with heavy colors and clear lines.
And within this vividly eerie field of vision.
Without needing to turn that massive head, or even open those physical dragon eyes, Garros could "see" everything in a 360-degree radius around himself.
Omnidirectional vision; this was one of the basic effects brought by Visage of the Astral Self.
"Little thing, what are you expecting?"
The Red-Iron Dragon's gaze was deep, instantly locking onto a translucent, constantly twisting and fluctuating color patch area.
Inside it, a clear human silhouette was trying to hide.
Just at the moment the opponent had finished spatial teleportation and their figure was about to solidify, Garros had already turned abruptly. Four giant arms covered in Frenzied State Dragon Qi kicked up a sky full of afterimages, attacking in a covering manner.
Level 6 Dragon Qi Rotation!
Astral Ego Arms! Claw Strike Mastery!
In an instant, the Red-Iron Dragon entered a fierce combat stance with almost no reservations.
Strength, speed, and precision soared once again, and the attacks of the four dragon arms transformed into a storm of destruction, completely enveloping all space where the Flower Knight could possibly dodge!
In Charles Hines's perception.
He had just used Spatial Stroll, a higher-order skill than Flash Strike, attempting to hide in the gap between the Ethereal Plane and the Material Plane to temporarily avoid that desperate, continuous onslaught.
However, a chilling, creepy sensation gripped his heart.
It was as if a pair of indifferent, ruthless eyes that saw through everything had pierced through layers of spatial barriers and locked him firmly in place.
Boom!
The Dragon Qi arms, condensing terrifying power, viciously smashed into the spatial node where he was hiding. Although they failed to tear the space directly, that immensely vigorous and solid energy caused violent compression and shock to the relatively fragile and easily affected spatial gap.
If he continued to linger, he would suffer terrible backlash from spatial energy.
Having no other choice, the Flower Knight had to forcibly interrupt the skill, and was forced out of the spatial gap.
The only thing to be thankful for was that this risky move had ultimately bought him an extremely short, yet incredibly precious, sliver of a chance to breathe.
He had just appeared when he immediately raised his hand and pointed at the Red-Iron Dragon.
Banishment—forcibly sending a target back to its original plane; if the target was already in its home plane, it would be randomly banished to an area it frequented.
In an instant.
An extremely strong repulsive force and feeling of distortion came from the space around Garros, attempting to erase him from this time and place and throw him into an unknown location.
Although this banishment ultimately failed because the Red-Iron Dragon's existence itself was too massive and powerful, the strong spatial disturbance still forcibly delayed his movements for an instant.
It was precisely this precious instant that allowed the Flower Knight to avoid the doom of being killed in seconds just after coming out of the spatial gap.
At the same time.
The cross-sword in the Flower Knight's hand suddenly rose, the blade emitting an energy edge nearly ten meters long, condensed like substance! He swung this massive light sword, fiercely meeting the looming, hideous dragon arms.
Clang!
The cross-sword and the dragon arms collided fiercely, and a harsh clashing sound accompanied a large burst of dazzling sparks.
The sword blade, which possessed an extremely sharp characteristic capable of slicing through refined steel blocks, let alone cutting off the dragon arm, could not even leave a wound deep enough to see bone. After barely breaking through the Red-Iron Dragon's unbelievably hard scale defense, it seemed to sink into viscous, tough colloid; the vast majority of its power was forcibly offset and absorbed, and it was finally stuck tightly in the tough muscles.
Garros's training results were demonstrated here.
The countless fierce slashes from the Snake-Man Sword Saint in the past had long since adapted his body and honed an astonishing resistance to sharp weapon hacking.
The Flower Knight's vitality might not be higher than General Evil Wolf Rhode, but the condensation of his Demonic Energy far exceeded the ordinary, and the instant explosive power contained in his attacks even surpassed the Level 16 Snake-Man Sword Saint. Combined with his extremely fast reaction speed and agile movement, this was why he could barely support himself until now in the storm of destruction turned from the four dragon arms; he was indeed extraordinary.
However, as the Red-Iron Dragon's giant arm shook and vibrated violently.
An overwhelming, peerless, and terrifying brute force, pure to the extreme, was transmitted along the sword blade like a mountain-toppling sea.
Zing!
The cross-sword emitted a violent tremor and humming of being unable to bear the load, instantly flying out of the Flower Knight's hand.
But at the very moment the sword was about to fly out of his hand, it turned into a phantom, and in an instant, it returned, firmly grasped in Charles's hand.
Weapon Link.
—Establishing a deep link with a weapon; as long as the weapon and the user are in the same space, it will never be disarmed or knocked away, and it can be recalled instantly with a thought.
At the same time.
As the Flower Knight swung his sword again, several sharp ice swords made entirely of ice energy condensed out of thin air, coordinating with the cross-sword body to slash at the Red-Iron Dragon's attacks.
A transparent shield shimmering with arcane radiance also appeared instantly, clinging close to his body.
He did not chant any incantations, but both the ice swords and the shield were instantly formed in the form of magic.
This was a combat style that perfectly combined the Spell power of the Evocation School and Abjuration School with a warrior's combat techniques.
—The signature combat style of [Arcane Knight], an advanced branch of the warrior path.
Clearly, this Flower Knight was simultaneously cultivating both the [Border Walker] and [Arcane Knight] rare and powerful professional paths.
Whichever one it was, both had extremely harsh requirements for talent.
Once achieved, one could often hold a huge advantage at the same level.
However, the cross-sword that returned to his hand instantly could not change the absolute disadvantage of the battle situation.
The glory of cultivating two major rare paths could not reverse his difficult situation before the Red-Iron Dragon's absolute power at this moment.
Crack! Crack-crack!
The ice energy swords collided with the dragon arms like glass hitting an iron mountain, shattering into pieces one after another, at most leaving a few insignificant white scratches on Garros's dull dragon scales.
Facing the terrifying giant claws grabbing over again, the Flower Knight had to activate Flash Strike for the fourth time, and with a flash of silver light, he appeared ten meters away.
However, forcibly driving spatial skills so frequently in a short period of time was a huge burden on his body and mind.
This time, before his real body had fully solidified, a trace of extremely subtle, almost imperceptible spatial fluctuation ripple appeared at the landing point of the flash.
The Red-Iron Dragon's gaze was deep. Under the blessing of extraordinary insight and perception brought by Visage of the Astral Self, this tiny flaw was instantly magnified infinitely and clearly captured.
Caught you!
His dragon tail suddenly erupted at this moment, tearing through the air at a speed exceeding sound, 0.1 seconds in advance, and struck with absolute precision at the predetermined location where the fluctuation originated.
The Flower Knight's figure had just solidified when his vision was completely filled by a terrifying dragon tail covered in hard scales and incomparably thick.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Layers of arcane shields and defensive seals that had just appeared were like eggshells hit by a heavy hammer in front of this absolute power, shattering one after another in an instant.
Clang!!!
The cross-sword attempting to intercept the attack was fiercely knocked away again, flying out of his hand.
"Pfft—!"
A large mouthful of hot blood mixed with fragments of internal organs sprayed wildly from Charles's mouth. He felt as if he had been hit head-on by a high-speed moving mountain range. His whole body's bones were groaning under the unbearable load, and his whole person was like a kite with a broken string, uncontrollably whipped into the high sky.
Only then did the sonic boom caused by the dragon tail tearing through the air roll in dully, like a late funeral bell.
Admittedly, the Flower Knight's Flash and spatial skills gave him extreme agility, and the Arcane Knight path made his attacks and defenses quite comprehensive.
But under the huge gap between the two sides in race, size, absolute power, and defense, if he had even one mistake or revealed one flaw, the battle would end in an instant.
The Red-Iron Dragon calmly raised a giant claw and gripped the air.
He firmly grasped that small, blood-stained human in his palm.
Subsequently, the Dragon Qi helmet dissipated, his huge, formidable dragon head lowered slightly, and his indifferent gaze quietly scrutinized the weak-breathed prey in his claws.
To be honest, this human's performance exceeded Garros's initial expectations.
He struck first, directly activating Frenzied State to launch a surprise attack, originally thinking he could end the battle neatly in two or three seconds, but this human had relied on his own advantages to forcibly support himself for much longer.
If it were other dragons of the same level as Garros.
As long as there was any deficiency in perception, defense, or absolute power, and they were not as powerful in all aspects without shortcomings as he was, they would probably find it difficult to do anything to this extraordinary human, and there was even a high probability of being suppressed and defeated by him in turn.
Being able to simultaneously cultivate the two high-difficulty paths of [Arcane Knight] and [Border Walker] was in itself enough to prove his high talent.
Being able to achieve this level in a human body, and at such a young age, he was definitely a rare human Genius with the potential of a Legendary figure.
Unfortunately, he met Garros today.
"Human, as you wish."
"Now, we can talk calmly."
Looking at the blood-covered, weak-breathed Flower Knight in his claws, the Red-Iron Dragon then spoke slowly, giving the Flower Knight a chance to talk.
"Cough… Please, please stop the war first."
The Flower Knight seemed not to realize that his life and death were only in a single thought of the Red-Iron Dragon. He did not beg humbly, but instead tilted his head slightly, looked at the almost one-sided battlefield outside the hill, and requested in a low voice.
After saying this sentence.
He could no longer bear the heavy injuries, his vision went black, his head tilted, and he fainted cleanly and neatly.