"Second stage? Interesting... No wonder you can be ranked as a map king alongside me; you truly aren't an ordinary character."
A flicker of heat flashed in the Red-Iron Dragon's eyes.
The Amethyst Lion King's powerful form didn't intimidate him; instead, it made him even more excited.
Soon, the Red-Iron Dragon's wings flapped violently, and he dove toward the transforming Amethyst Lion King.
The moment dragon claws collided with lion claws in mid-air, the Red-Iron Dragon clearly felt the surging power within his opponent.
At this moment, the Amethyst Lion King's power level vaguely surpassed his in his normal state.
"In that case..."
Garros's thoughts raced; he would no longer hold back.
Frenzied State, activate!
Crackle! Brilliant golden lightning burst from the gaps in his scales, swirling and dancing like living things.
The Red-Iron Dragon's body expanded again at a visible rate, his knotted muscles bulging further, the power coursing through him rising step by step, and his physical attributes skyrocketed in all aspects at this moment.
Zzt!
His speed exploded, making him more agile. He nimbly avoided the Amethyst Lion King's pounce, which was wrapped in purple flames, with a backward leap while simultaneously twisting his waist.
His dragon tail tore through the air, whipping fiercely against the Amethyst Lion King's ribs at an unavoidable speed.
Boom!
The Amethyst Lion King had no time to react. Its massive body was instantly sent flying by an irresistible force, drawing a graceful arc as it plummeted rapidly toward the depths of Echo Canyon.
Only then did the sharp whistle of the air torn by that terrifying tail strike finally spread.
The Red-Iron Dragon didn't pause for a second. With his wings fully extended, his massive body soared into the sky, tracing a chilling arc as he dived into the canyon, closely pursuing the falling Lion King.
At the bottom of the canyon.
In the deep crater formed by the impact, the Amethyst Lion King shook its dazed head and struggled to its feet.
Seeing the charging Red-Iron Dragon.
It suddenly opened its massive maw, a purple light flaring deep in its throat.
Next, a highly condensed energy breath, seemingly composed of countless purple crystals, erupted forth.
This was an Amethyst Dragon's breath skill; upon contact with a target, it would trigger a violent explosion, causing devastating physical and mental energy damage.
Almost at the same time, the Red-Iron Dragon inhaled.
Crimson flames and leaping golden lightning churned and gathered in his throat, turning into a blazing, violent Flame-Thunder Dragon Breath that met the Lion King's Amethyst Breath head-on without retreating.
Rumble—!
The two torrents of energy collided violently in mid-air, triggering a deafening, earth-shattering explosion.
The shockwave suddenly expanded in a ring, shaking the canyon walls on both sides violently and causing them to groan incessantly. Countless boulders, unable to bear the load, peeled off and tumbled down like a rain of stones.
The next second.
The Red-Iron Dragon, with golden lightning and Dragon Qi intertwining and bursting from his body, tore through the area where the flames, lightning, and psionic energy were still crushing each other. Like a meteor from beyond the heavens, he smashed down toward the Amethyst Lion King at the bottom of the pit with unstoppable momentum.
Boom!
Just as the Amethyst Lion King recovered from the violent energy clash, its vision was shrouded by a massive shadow.
Its neck was already firmly gripped by a burning dragon claw, and its entire body was slammed into the ground by brute force. Accompanied by an ear-grating grinding sound, it plowed a deep trench dozens of meters long into the earth before finally slamming into the rock wall behind it, becoming embedded within.
The Red-Iron Dragon's four incredibly thick arms were raised high.
In the next moment, attacks wrapped in lightning, fire, and pure physical strength poured down like a torrential rain.
In its haste, the Amethyst Lion King condensed a layer of crystal-clear yet exceptionally tough amethyst armor on its body to try and defend itself.
However, with every heavy blow that fell, the rock wall vibrated violently under the unbearable weight, constantly caving inward as earth and stone splattered.
The figures of the dragon and the lion gradually sank deep into the pit they were creating.
A few seconds later, the Amethyst Lion King, enduring the heavy blows, managed to steady its shaken mind.
—Psionic Step!
Its body instantly became blurred, turning into a dissipating afterimage as it broke free from the Red-Iron Dragon's death grip. Its true form had already appeared on the open ground at the bottom of the valley a hundred meters away.
The amethyst armor it had previously condensed had completely shattered and vanished.
Even with the layers of mitigation from defensive skills and damage transfer, its body still bore countless new scars. The originally surging purple flames had also become dim and thin, and its aura was severely weakened.
Boom!
Rocks exploded as the Red-Iron Dragon burst out from the collapsed mountain wall pit in a domineering stance. He stood tall once again in the Amethyst Lion King's sight, surrounded by golden lightning and Dragon Qi, his power even greater than before.
"Do you have any other trump cards? Use them all."
The Red-Iron Dragon spoke calmly, but he received no verbal response.
"Possessing such high intelligence yet unable to speak? Perhaps it has never learned the languages of other races."
The thought flashed through his mind as his gaze grew increasingly sharp, locking onto his opponent.
Opposite him, the clearly weakened Amethyst Lion King still let out a defiant roar.
A purple crystal floating among its mane suddenly fell and then disintegrated, turning into a burst of pure psionic light that quickly merged into the Amethyst Lion King's body.
Its external injuries didn't show much improvement, but its weak psionic fluctuations became vigorous once again.
Crack!
The ground beneath it collapsed and shattered from the dragon's impact, but the Amethyst Lion King's figure had already vanished from its original spot.
The Red-Iron Dragon looked up, his gaze piercing through the drifting dust, and locked onto the Amethyst Lion King, who was once again overflowing with surging psionic light and attempting to pull away.
With a flap of his dragon wings, creating a deafening sonic boom, he pursued once more with terrifying speed.
After suffering a great loss in close-quarters combat, the Amethyst Lion King changed its tactics and no longer went head-to-head with the Red-Iron Dragon.
It began to cast various mental skills at a very high frequency—Mind Blast, Psionic Lash, Mental Shackle... performing long-range interference and strikes while relying on Psionic Step to continuously blink short distances, kiting to the extreme.
Whenever its own psionic energy decreased due to frequent casting.
It would unhesitatingly consume one of the floating amethysts on its body to replenish its psionic energy, then repeat the process.
"This guy, is it trying to fight a war of attrition?"
After a few minutes of high-intensity pursuit and confrontation, Garros roughly understood the Amethyst Lion King's intention.
It perhaps believed that his current explosive Frenzied State could not be maintained for long, so it relied on those companion amethysts that could quickly restore psionic energy to fight a prolonged battle, betting that he would fall into a weakened state after his form ended, at which point it would strike for the win.
The idea itself was good, and the choice was sound.
Unfortunately, its opponent was Garros, and its judgment was completely wrong.
"These amethysts on its body seem to be some kind of treasure condensed from highly pure psionic energy... but I remember that pure-blooded Amethyst Dragons don't seem to possess this skill. Could it be a special talent born from crossbreeding?"
Garros's gaze swept over the remaining amethysts on the Lion King's body, his mind pondering.
For him, the once-effective Faerie Dragon Scale Powder had gradually developed resistance due to long-term use, and its effect on improving his mental strength had become minimal, causing his mental growth rate to lag behind his physical body.
This Amethyst Lion King might be able to bring him a surprise.
Boom!
The flapping wings brought a sonic boom cloud as the Red-Iron Dragon once again charged directly at the constantly blinking Amethyst Lion King with suffocating pressure, forcing it to continue consuming psionic energy and amethysts for evasion and counterattacks.
Then, as time passed minute by minute, the amethysts floating on the Lion King's body decreased and were consumed one by one.
Its eyes also changed from their initial steadiness to gradual anxiety and unease.
Until only the last two or three amethysts remained on its body.
It looked at the distant Red-Iron Dragon, whose muscles were knotted and whose golden lightning and Dragon Qi were still blazing and boiling without any sign of weakness, and began to deeply doubt the combat experience and knowledge it had accumulated over countless years, doubting its very life as a lion.
This explosive state... how could it possibly last this long?!
It must be fake!
However, the cruel reality gave it the most truthful answer.
It tried to run, tried to get completely away from the dragon monster that seemed to not know the meaning of fatigue.
The problem was that the short-distance Psionic Step gave it the capital to engage in a kiting battle, but it couldn't allow it to compete with the Red-Iron Dragon in terms of absolute flight speed.
Shortly after.
Accompanied by another invisible, light cracking sound, the mental barrier the Lion King had hastily constructed was torn apart by the Red-Iron Dragon's pure strength, and its psionic energy once again plummeted to rock bottom.
And now, on its body, only a single, lonely amethyst remained floating, emitting a faint light.
In contrast, the Red-Iron Dragon still had lightning crackling all over him, and his Dragon Qi was surging powerfully without any sign of weakness, as if maintaining his current state was as simple and natural as breathing.
Finally.
The Amethyst Lion King stopped its meaningless flight and landed on the messy ground at the bottom of the valley.
Facing the Red-Iron Dragon, who was once again charging at high speed, it no longer dodged. Instead, its limbs went weak, and its massive body prostrated itself, deeply lowering its head, while simultaneously speaking clear and fluent dragon language, its voice full of exhaustion and fear.
"I surrender, noble and powerful dragon. Please put away your wrath."
"I am willing to submit to you and offer my loyalty."
Thud!
The Red-Iron Dragon landed heavily, his weighted steps kicking up a circle of dust.
A giant claw covered in burning scales pressed onto the Amethyst Lion King's head. The latter didn't resist at all, as docile as a house cat, completely losing its previous arrogance and ferocity.
"So you can speak."
Garros lifted the Amethyst Lion King's massive head, his dragon pupils scrutinizing it as he asked, "Why did you pretend not to understand language before? Playing dumb?"
The Amethyst Lion King lowered its head in shame, its voice as thin as a mosquito's:
"Because I thought that being taciturn and only communicating with roars would add... add some majestic and fierce style."
Garros: "..."
Silence enveloped the place for two seconds; the Lion King's reason was hard for him to refute.
"Recover yourself."
The Red-Iron Dragon released his claw, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable air: "I still prefer your previous arrogant and unyielding look."
The Amethyst Lion King's expression turned solemn, and it immediately raised its head, letting out a low, majestic roar, regaining its dominance as a map king.
[As you wish]
It no longer used dragon language but instead used a mental skill to directly transmit the general meaning contained in its roar into the minds of the surrounding creatures.
With the Amethyst Lion King's surrender, this battle of map kings also came to an end.
Shortly after, the lion pride, which was already retreating and on the verge of collapse under the Molten Iron Legion's offensive, stopped their resistance and prostrated themselves on the ground upon learning of their king's defeat and will.
Patter—!
At the same time, the first drop of rain that had been brewing in the sky for a long time finally fell, followed by a torrential downpour.
The water strands filling the sky wove into a thick curtain of rain, hurriedly washing away the dried blood on the warriors' armor, cold weapons, and sharp teeth and claws, forming countless winding red streams on the ground.
The dragons circled in the overcast sky, letting out long cries of victory.
The lions all prostrated in the mud, showing their submission.
The war between the two map kings finally ended with the King of Molten Iron's victory.
Meanwhile.
In the central region of the Serel Wilderness, also covered by thick clouds and torrential rain.
An exceptionally large Red Dragon with scales as bright as blood glanced loathingly at the gloomy sky.
The rain falling on him was instantly evaporated by the extreme heat emanating from his body, forming a rising cloud of white steam that made him look as if he were inside a furnace.
Around him were massive corpses torn apart and charred, the smell of blood unable to completely dissipate even in the heavy rain.
"map king? To think such weaklings dare call themselves kings?"
The Red Dragon Gorthax let out a disdainful snort and extended his sharp claws, easily twisting off the charred head of a certain monster leader still twitching beneath his feet and tossing it casually into his mouth, his teeth making a terrifying crunching sound as they opened and closed.
"Only I, Gorthax, am qualified to be the sole Dominator of the wilderness, the only king."
Slowly, with the end of the battle and the washing of the cold rain, a rare look of contemplation appeared in the Red Dragon's eyes.
Recently, his minions had brought some fragmented and vague news.
It seemed to mention the Frenzied Flame.
"Frenzied Flame. If a new Frenzied Flame has truly appeared in this wilderness, it must belong to me! It can only belong to me!"
A violent light flashed in the Red Dragon's eyes.
He never believed that his power originated entirely from the Frenzied Flame.
But it was his distinct feature, his unique characteristic; therefore, he viewed the Frenzied Flame as a forbidden fruit that could not be coveted, and he did not want to see it appear on any other creature.
Because the news he heard was too one-sided and vague, Gorthax still didn't know exactly where the suspected Frenzied Flame was.
But he was too lazy to distinguish the truth of the news, let alone spend the effort to think deeply about it; his chaotic mind couldn't come up with a good line of thought anyway.
Thus.
This powerful Red Dragon flicked his tail, which was covered in bone spikes, with increasing irritability, and the desire for destruction surged in his heart once more.
He decided to go destroy something else, to please himself with wails and flames.
Finally, he suddenly flapped his massive wings, the terrifying heat instantly drying the rain curtain around him, and with endless violence, he charged toward a certain kingdom base in his memory.