That was a fire dragon with scales of dark red hue; flas similar to that of the surrounding environnt burned upon its body. So scales resembled the cracked shell of a tortoise; uncontrollable flas surged from the fissures, creating a strong sense of ferocity even from a distance.
"Ah, a kin—ROAR!" The deep roar emitted by the dark red fire dragon was followed by a swift pounce that caught Klakauska off guard. With a what-the-fuck expression on his face, he was imdiately pinned to the ground, and the unique infernal flas of the area burst forth from the cracked earth.
Klakauska’s dragon face was twisted with rage.
He flailed his claws attempting to push away the dark red fire dragon, but the disparity in their strength was too great. The dark red fire dragon ignored Klakauska’s resistance, biting towards his neck.
Bang—
An explosion of force burst from one side of the dark red fire dragon’s head, scattering so of the surrounding infernal flas. Klakauska’s eyes widened as he saw the dragon’s head kicked aside, seizing the chance to break free from the pin.
He touched his neck with a lingering fear, feeling the pressure akin to facing a higher vampire. If bitten, losing flesh would have been the least of his worries.
Shaking its head, the dark red fire dragon, with its muddied eyes full of hellish aura, glanced dismissively at the insignificant Zheng Yichen before continuing its assault on Klakauska.
Zheng Yichen posed a greater threat, but the kinship attraction to the dark red fire dragon was even stronger. Yet his attack was once again intercepted by Zheng Yichen. Despite the massive size disparity, the fire dragon was sent flying, and Zheng Yichen pulled back his raised fist.
This dark red fire dragon’s physique was unexpectedly robust, enduring two of his heavy blows without faltering; there was damage but no breach in defense.
Sheltering behind Zheng Yichen, Klakauska said, "It’s completely lost its mind, eh? Was it hiding here attempting to use the infernal flas to enhance its strength and forcibly reach demigod status?"
"Doesn’t one need Divinity for that?"
"...That’s like asking what ca first, the chicken or the egg. Understanding or enhancing one’s power to a certain extent could possibly lead to becoming a demigod. As for True Gods, that’s a whole different level of difficulty. So Godslayers are also demigods."
Klakauska spoke rapidly, "Its power seems extrely unstable, as if it has failed to break through by force. I really picked the wrong ti to co!"
The reasons for a forced breakthrough fall into a few categories: instability of foundations or inability to control external power. This fire dragon seed to exhibit both, and with Klakauska himself being a fire dragon, didn’t that make him an especially attractive target?
Without Zheng Yichen, he would have already been devoured by now. If the fire dragon succeeded in that, it might smoothly ascend to demigod status.
In that case, as long as the fire dragon stayed cautious and low-profile, even with a bounty on its head, it would have managed to live for a long ti.
"Why don’t you offer it so of your blood?"
"Stop joking. Letting an enemy break through on the spot is a bad habit." Klakauska knew Zheng Yichen was joking, but still responded petulantly, "Hurry up and kill it."
The fishing rod in Zheng Yichen’s hand was gradually covered by a black substance. He said, "I’m not sure to what extent this fire dragon’s power has reached, but its scales are ten tis harder than yours."
"...That’s mostly due to the refining of its body with infernal flas, perhaps its physique has already reached the level of a demigod. Can you handle it?"
"Of course I can!" Zheng Yichen’s figure vanished from in front of Klakauska, and when he reappeared, he was in front of the dark red fire dragon, his black spear struck under the dragon’s chin. An explosive force burst forth, flipping the massive dark red fire dragon over.
Watching, the corners of Klakauska’s mouth twitched slightly. Zheng Yichen’s blow was not only a physical strike—while flipping it upwards, a blood-red dragon head appeared. Though the head was unfamiliar to Klakauska, he was still certain it was that of a dragon type.
The strike shattered the scales on the underbelly of the dark red fire dragon’s jaw; broken scales mixed with dragon blood, but before the blood could spray out, it was absorbed by the black spear.
Zheng Yichen didn’t give the dark red fire dragon any chance to counter. As its head was recoiling almost touching its back, the long spear pierced straight through its throat. He felt resistance, but it wasn’t enough to stop him.
Despite such a serious injury, influenced by the infernal flas, the fire dragon’s life force was tenacious, and it remained alive.
Barely lifting its head, it opened its mouth to spew Dragon Breath at Zheng Yichen. Since there was a hole in its throat, part of the breath leaked from the hole, but even so, the Dragon Breath, filled with infernal flas, was not to be underestimated.
However, before the Dragon Breath was fully unleashed, a bullet struck the shattered jaw, embedding a crushing force field which forcefully clenched the dragon’s mouth shut.
A booming explosion erupted from within the mouth of the fire dragon.
It rendered the head of the fire dragon grotesquely fierce. Such damage would have been fatal on a regular creature, but the dark red fire dragon was protected by magic. The blast blew away his cheek but didn’t kill him.
The severe injury didn’t bring the fire dragon to its senses; instead, it beca even more frenzied. Hellfire gathered around the dark red fire dragon in huge amounts, the scales on its body further cracked, and hellfire wrapped around its body, a strong scent of Hell emanating from it.
The dark red fire dragon flapped its wings, sending a stream of infernal flas toward Zheng Yichen. Zheng dodged the strike while afar, Klakauska let out a scream.
After glancing at the normal fire dragon and seeing no significant harm had co to it, Zheng darted behind the dark red fire dragon. The materialized White Light followed the sweep of the black spear, and the crescent-shaped Light Blade cut into the back of the dark red fire dragon, shattering its scales and striking heavily enough to smash it into the ground.
Before the dark red fire dragon could rise, it was impaled from behind by the enlarged black spear, nailing it to the ground and emitting a earth-shaking roar that trembled the Land of Infernal Flas.
Soon after, the roar quickly weakened.
"..." As its life waned and its power diminished, the dark red fire dragon, regaining consciousness, opened its eyes wide, "Is this my fate, then?... My kin, you will need this—"
The dark red fire dragon couldn’t see Zheng Yichen, but it did see Klakauska. Ignoring its rapidly draining blood, it murmured a rhythmic language, unintelligible to Zheng, but Klakauska froze in place.
When Zheng, now wielding the withdrawn black spear, approached Klakauska, the fire dragon was still in a daze. Zheng tapped its foot, and, stimulated by the deathly aura harbored in the fishing rod, the fire dragon jolted, "What are you doing??"
"You’ve been zoning out for a while; what’s going on?"
"Ahem." The fire dragon coughed lightly, looking a bit lancholy at the dark red fire dragon that had been drained of blood and barely retained its shape, "It seems I have co to know so things I shouldn’t have. Just now, he used Dragon Language... uh, a language not often used even in everyday communication within the Dragon Tribe."
It’s not that the language is not useful, but it’s not convenient; Dragon Language is primarily used to convey crucial information or cast magic with large amounts of data. Just now, he passed onto a Dragon Devour Secret Technique."
Dragon Devour Secret Technique.
This was the thod by which the dark red fire dragon had devoured a large number of its kin to increase its blood concentration and strength. As its end neared, it transferred all its knowledge of this Secret Technique and how to use it through Dragon Language to Klakauska. That’s why Klakauska was dazed—overwheld by the deluge of information, he couldn’t imdiately co to his senses.
"You can’t refuse this thing?"
"Normally, yes, but he conveyed it with his life, directly affecting the soul. I’m not as strong as him; I couldn’t refuse," Klakauska said, scratching his head in distress. He really didn’t want this.
If it were before, it might have been a dream co true. With this Secret Technique, he could have discreetly targeted the giant dragons wanted by the human race and the Dragon Tribe, quietly building up power for revenge. Now, he truly didn’t need it.
If other kin learned of this Secret Technique, he could forget about living a normal life.
As for using the Secret Technique on wanted dragons? Forget it; catching wanted criminals among the human race may bring a bounty, but it’s another matter entirely when Bounty Hunters are known to consu the flesh of their prey.
"Sigh, the best outco after this cos out might be living under surveillance, and I hope whoever watches will be an amicable mother dragon..."
Zheng Yichen patted the fire dragon’s foot sympathetically, "Are you really planning on coming clean?"
"No, I’ll hide it as long as possible. After all, I am now a Dusk rcenary; um, I need to really practice my Transformation technique."
It was in this mont that the fire dragon truly resolved to master the Transformation technique, and as for the Dragon Devour Secret Technique, he would bury it deep in his mory.
He looked at the lifeless dark red fire dragon and murmured, "Dragons aren’t so bad, really; he just lost his senses, that’s why he couldn’t use any magic."
"Alright, alright." Zheng Yichen waved his hand dismissively, walking toward the dark red fire dragon. He disassembled the preserved parts of the dark red fire dragon. Zheng hadn’t completely drained it during the bloodsucking; otherwise, the dark red fire dragon would have crumbled like weathered stone at the slightest tap.
He specifically preserved a few parts still intact with scales, flesh, and so bones, intending to package them for Ahn Ke upon his return, indifferent to this minor loss.
Zheng also kept the dragon’s head, an important proof for claiming the bounty. As for the soul, the dark red fire dragon’s soul, tainted with the scent of Hell and driven mad, had been subdued within the fishing rod and beca one of the most powerful souls contained within.
Dragon souls, after all, are vastly different from ordinary souls, and are not to be missed.
Reviews
All reviews (0)