Chapter 526: Nothing Special and Blood Explosion

"Hahahaha!!!!"

Rod laughed wildly.

Blood foam, shredded flesh, and broken scales dyed his entire outfit deep red.

He perfectly executed the flexible strategy of rapid dodging using 【Reflective Evasion】 and 【Spider Sense】.

It is true that the dragon's strength is immense.

However, the slowed nerve conduction caused by its massive body inevitably resulted in relatively clumsy movements.

Rod relied on the combination of Flight Technique and 【Repulsion Technique】.

For nearly the next five minutes, he danced atop the body of the Red Dragon Nars.

Frantically flipping and tumbling across the dragon's spine like a gale.

As the boom of explosions erupted.

Every leap precisely tore away a large chunk of flesh and blood.

Contrary to his wild laughter,

the dragon's roar of shock and rage shook the heavens.

As a specialized treasure possessing the 'Dragon-Slaying' trait, the Dragon-Slaying Great Sword's power was beyond what the word 'terrifying' could describe.

No need to enhance it with spiritual energy, no need to increase its strength with skills, and even the force required was minimal.

Rod only needed to let the great sword fall upon the dragon's body in accordance with gravity.

The high-speed rotating canine chain-saw could tear off chunks of flesh and blood, ripping apart vast swathes of dragon scales.

This overwhelming power

even made Rod feel a sense of 'what did my previous restraint amount to?'

As long as the strategy was sound, rather than relying on brute physical strength,

the dragon's threat might not have been so great at all.

"Get down here! Lowly monkey!! Roar!!!"

"Hahahaha—so this is a giant dragon?! It's nothing special!"

Rod felt incredibly exhilarated, his wild laughter becoming exceptionally unrestrained.

In mid-air, he twisted his body using the Repulsion Technique, precisely dodging the sharp fangs that grazed past him.

Raising his hand, he used the 【Bonding】 ability to pull back the large pruning shears embedded in the Red Dragon Nars's thick, long neck.

Utilizing the force of the large shears spinning rapidly upward,

Rod leaped up again, gaining more than half a body length, and nimbly dodged the incoming dragon claw strike by passing through the space.

Screech-screech—

Blood mist splashed!

The Dragon-Slaying Great Sword swept through.

Leaving a wave of flesh and blood between the dragon claw's fingers.

The large shears were flung out again, still charging straight for the eyes.

Taking advantage of the opponent being forced to block their eyes and retreat to defend,

Rod whipped out the spiritual whip from his left hand's 【Pain Lashing】, wrapped it around the dragon claw, and yanked his own body forward with great force.

He stuck to the dragon's body once more.

Gripping the Dragon-Slaying Great Sword in reverse, he smashed it onto the dragon scales.

Relying on the 【Spider Walk】 ability, Rod dragged the great sword and ran across the vertical dragon body as if walking on flat ground!

Rip-rip-rip!!!

"Nothing special! Nothing special! Nothing special!!! Hahahaha!!!!"

"Roar!!!!"

The Red Dragon Nars let out a heaven-shaking roar of pain.

In the distance,

Jeroen the Crocodile Man of the Blizzard Mercenary Group, hearing the screams and wild laughter, couldn't help but turn to look.

What he saw was that patron, the Forest Warden, single-handedly flaying the Red Dragon until it was a bloody mess.

An expression of shock and helplessness naturally appeared on his face.

A question arose in his mind—does this Forest Warden really need to commission us to slay the dragon?

Leaving aside the Resentment Cannon,

simply by himself, he wields two weapons capable of easily piercing dragon scales.

Team Captain Lyer wiped the dragon blood from his face and came over here to catch his breath.

He too looked at the scene in the distance with a bewildered expression:

"What is going on with this Mr. Rod? Is this still a Rank 7? Could he be one of those era heroes born of fate? Is the Half-Deer's prophecy garbage? Even someone like this isn't a 【Hero】??"

Deputy Captain Blanche Jones, who was also the traitor within the group having an affair with Jeroen the Crocodile Man's son, also walked over.

Because the Black Dragon Mikhail had been brutally beaten by the Red Dragon Nars,

and more than half of its dragon scales had been burned away by fierce flame dragon breath, leaving it severely injured.

Under the command of the experienced Jeroen the Crocodile Man, the Blizzard Mercenary Group found dealing with it much easier than any previous dragon slaying.

After a round of attrition following the start of the battle,

the Black Dragon's most threatening corrosive acid breath was countered by another treasure of Mr. Rod's, the 【Binding Silk Ball】.

Currently, they have reached the final stage of using wolf riders to exhaust its stamina.

Therefore, the three strongest fighters in the group had the time to chat here.

Blanche Jones licked her lips.

Looking at Rod, the lust in her eyes nearly burst forth.

"Captain, honestly, if you could help me get in touch with this Mr. Rod — I don't need to do anything, just let him sleep with me one night, I'd be willing to shorten my life by ten years."

"."

The crocodilian Jeroen snorted coldly. "We had an agreement. After this commission, stay away from my son."

"Relax, big sis here is no longer interested in that little boy. I'll personally write him a breakup letter. If you're going to play, you have to play with a man like Rod."

"Heh. You really think a man like him would take a fancy to you?"

Blanche Jones let out a flirtatious giggle: "Then I won't trouble you with the worry. This forest warden is surrounded entirely by non-human races — he's surely never tasted a human. Just once, and I'll let him experience my wonder ~~"

On the other side.

The red dragon Nass, who had been continuously letting out agonized roars.

Could no longer endure the flaying-like agony; the resentment and hatred filled his pupils.

His blood-soaked body drove the fire bladder within him.

This time, however, he did not spew it out directly.

Nass endured the searing pain while holding it in.

Lava-like orange-red heat flowed around his body, and within seconds the deep-red dragon scales radiated an abnormally dazzling light.

The magical power produced by the fire was visible to the naked eye, tracing magical lines in midair that formed a spherical force field around him.

Nass rose on his hind legs and roared furiously at the sky!

Boom!!!

Like a sun in full bloom.

The violent dragon breath erupted from him as the center, blasting a ring of scorching flame outward.

The ground exploded with a roar, scorched black; the air twisted, as if a sun had burst upon the dragon's body.

Rod was happily cutting away on the dragon's body.

Suddenly he was blasted away by the violent shockwave.

All sixteen defensive spells shattered, then in an instant were reinforced by 【Guardian Domain】 onto 【Dragon Scale Art】.

Its power was not as strong as a direct breath.

So apart from his upper garments being blasted apart again and being flung into the air, Rod took no real injury.

"A Yan Sheng Yong Fa of dragon breath, huh."

Rod yielded to gravity, spreading his limbs as he free-fell toward the red dragon.

The gale and heat slammed into his face.

He began to feel that all the wariness and worry he had harbored toward the giant dragon had been swept away.

As long as he didn't clash with it physically.

It wasn't nearly as strong as he'd imagined!

Below.

The red dragon Nass trembled all over; hatred and agony in his dragon pupils had reached their peak.

Lava-like scorching red light once again blazed from the gaps between his blood-soaked scales!

His massive jaws opened, red light like a sun.

Ignoring his refractory period, he forcibly drove the fire bladder into operation.

All for the sake of using his strongest dragon breath to crush Rod!

However.

The free-falling Rod, instead of dodging, smiled.

His wild, exhilarated laughter echoed through the canyon.

"Dragon breath! I stand right here! So what if I don't dodge at all!!"

"ROAR!!!"

A torrent of flame spewed skyward, its extreme heat tearing the air in an instant.

Wherever it passed, space twisted, wreathed in ghastly death-gray ash.

Just as it was about to strike Rod—

The next moment.

The torrent twisted abruptly in midair, taking a small bend.

It was devoured by a sphere in Rod's hand that had suddenly expanded, black as the abyss.

【Throat of the Abyss】 rotated soundlessly; the flames were torn into thin streams, drawn into endless darkness, as if even light could not escape.

The dragon breath's power was endlessly annihilated within the black hole, leaving only a dead, silent void.

The red dragon Nass's eyes widened to their limit, his pupils contracting to pinpoints.

When the dragon-slaying greatsword had appeared, although he had felt fear, he had still been dismissive — after all, what he feared was the weapon, not Rod the human.

But this time, seeing his full-body dragon breath completely absorbed by a black hole that had appeared from nowhere—

His eyes held no more conceit or arrogance, only endless terror.

"What in the world is this?!!"

"Keep guessing."

The free-falling Rod swung the dragon-slaying greatsword in midair, sending the pruning shears — which had spun back toward him — flying once more into the dragon's face.

Then he spun his body, dodging another strike of the dragon claw.

This time, the pruning shears finally did their job.

In a beguiling arc of rotation, it just so happened to dodge the other dragon claw that came to block, and with a wet thrust, plunged into the dragon's eye.

Narss roared in agony.

But this time.

He didn't even intend to strike back.

His broad dragon wings suddenly unfurled, beating up fierce hurricane winds as he rose.

He wanted to flee.

Up on the canyon, the halfling Lily, who had been lying in ambush for a long time, had been waiting for exactly this moment.

Then the buzzing roar of Purple Weight's gravity magic rubbing against the air rang out.

The canyon floor trembled, massive boulders splitting apart.

Dozens of chains gleaming with purple light shot out like giant serpents, binding the red dragon's wings in an instant.

Narss roared and struggled, but the chains only wound tighter; amid flashes of purple light, the dragon's wings were forcibly pinned down, unable to even fully spread.

"Ranger Rod!!! You just have to hunt us to the death, don't you!!!"

Rod landed in a superhero pose, slamming down with a boom and pressing a small crater into the ground.

Facing the dragon's roar.

He simply laughed: "What else—treat you to dinner?"

"Your weapons can hurt me, but they can't easily end my life! I'm willing to trade treasure for the lives of me and another dark elf—we'll stay out of Coral Bay from now on!"

Rod was briefly taken aback.

He somehow caught a hint of ambiguity in the red dragon's tone.

Ambiguity at a moment like this always makes it hard to suppress one's gossip-loving heart.

"I'm just curious—who's that dark elf?"

"Natalie Blackmoon. She's an innocent, pitiful, pure girl. We fell in love here. I'm willing to die for her."

Rod laughed again.

Natalie.

Isn't that the one who tried to secretly use Lilith's corporeal blood to harm the tiefling Cecilia?

To think this dragon had also fallen for it—how interesting.

"You seemed to say just now… can't easily end your life? Indeed, a dragon's vitality is famously strong—truly hard to kill quickly."

"So, does that mean you agree?"

"No, I refuse."

Rod shook his head, raised a hand, and snapped his fingers.

【Julia's Blood Detonation】

【Current Stacks: 124】

"Wha—"

Before the red dragon Narss could finish speaking, his massive dragon body stiffened.

The fear and humiliation on the dragon's face hadn't even faded before it sank into a deathly gray.

Thick blood serpents crawled out of his mouth, nostrils, and ears.

Immediately after, his abdomen rapidly swelled and bulged.

Boom!!!

A huge bloody hole blasted open on his chest!

The spurting flesh and blood instantly dyed the canyon's rock face crimson.

The dragon began to tilt.

Then, like a building, he collapsed limply onto the ground.

His hundred-ton body instantly kicked up a towering wave of dust, swallowing everyone present.

The three onlookers from the Blizzard Mercenary Company stared at the scene as if they'd seen a ghost.

The captain, Lyle, stiffly turned his head to look at his own regiment commander: "Please, Captain, don't tell anyone I wanted that Hatred Cannon. I don't want to die yet."

"."

(End of this chapter)