Chapter 31: Unwarranted Calamity

All the alchemical items on its body had been stripped away; the copper-red dragon, dizzy and disoriented with a throbbing neck, finally snapped out of its hypnotic state.

It raised a claw and slapped and tore at Garos's right shoulder.

The slapping sound was dull and heavy.

Immediately, sparks flew as the claw tips met the scales, producing a grating, metal-on-metal screech that made teeth ache.

The copper-red dragon felt as though it had struck an anvil forged through a thousand hammerings; its claws vibrated with pain, yet could only leave marks on the opponent's dragon scales, failing to tear them and draw blood.

Due to prior training, Garos currently had no buffer scales on his body.

Dark red patterns crisscrossed and flickered like flowing magma, while the black scales, gleaming with a faint silvery matte luster, were as hard as cast steel, far exceeding the hardness of normal dragons.

"What hard dragon scales!"

The copper-red dragon opened its mouth and spat a gel-like acidic dragon breath, but Garos had already pulled back to avoid its acidic breath.

Only then.

Did the copper-red dragon, having gained a moment to catch its breath, realize something seemed to be missing from its body.

Turning its head, it saw the Flowing Fire Wing Rings hanging on its dragon wings were gone; looking down, the Watcher Necklace around its neck had also vanished; it rolled its tongue in its mouth but felt no trace of the Silver Frost Ring.

The scales on its neck also felt hollow.

Reaching out a claw to touch, the copper-red dragon was startled to find that almost all the gems and gold coins hidden within the inner layer of its scales were gone.

At the same time, it noticed something glittering in the gaps between the fine, feather-like scales on the surface of Garos's dragon wings; looking closely, weren't those its own gems and gold coins?

The Flowing Fire Wing Rings, the Silver Frost Ring, and the Watcher Necklace were all clenched in one of his claws.

"Ah, you heaven-slaying evil dragon! Return my gems, return my gold coins, return my alchemical equipment!"

The copper-red dragon shrieked.

With treasure and equipment snatched right before its eyes, any normal dragon would find it hard to remain calm and rational.

It flapped its wings and flew toward Garos.

The copper-red dragon, furious and baring its fangs and claws.

But anger would not increase its strength; instead, it caused more openings in its movements.

Garos tilted his body, sidestepping the copper-red dragon's rage-fueled charge, and seized its tail with both dragon claws, gripping it tight like iron tongs.

Crack-crack-crack!

The dragon scales on the dragon arm interlocked tightly, the powerful muscles beneath bulged, unleashing immense and formidable force.

"You—"

Before the copper-red dragon could finish speaking, its voice was stretched into a long note as Garos grabbed its tail, spun it around in the air several times, and finally hurled it violently onto the ground.

Boom!

Accompanied by a deafening roar.

Countless rocks and dust filled the air; a huge crater formed on the ground, with dense cracks spreading outward in all directions.

"Pah!"

The copper-red dragon, its scales cracked over a large area, spat out the gravel from its mouth, stood up from the crater, and felt constant pain radiating from the outside in.

But even so.

This copper-red dragon felt no fear.

Instead, it flapped its wings to scatter the dust, soared into the sky once more, and charged at Garos again, looking as if it intended to fight to the death.

"Naturally evil red-iron dragon! Return my things, or I won't let you off!"

The copper-red dragon shouted.

Dragons possess formidable physiques and vigorous life; the previous injuries were far from serious for the copper-red dragon. Unless the gap was enormous, and unless a dragon fought to the death without retreating even when bloodthirsty, killing a dragon was difficult.

But even so, it appeared far too reckless.

It seemed to have some kind of confidence.

Garos's eyes flickered; instead of pressing the advantage, he began to retreat.

"I have already stolen enough gems, gold coins, and alchemical equipment, but metallic dragons are richer than one another; who knows what life-saving measures they might have."

He thought.

Sure enough, on a scale at the copper-red dragon's heart, a silver rune appeared; its shape was not an alchemical rune, but rather a spell scroll-like pattern directly carved onto the dragon scale as a spell scale.

—This was the strongest life-saving measure that metallic dragon parents would bestow upon their offspring.

If the metallic dragon parents were powerful enough.

Even a young dragon's spell scale might unleash legendary-level terrifying power.

No one could determine what kind of counterattack a young metallic dragon might unleash in a critical moment.

Garos instinctively felt a hint of danger.

"Why am I not a metallic dragon?"

He sighed in his heart.

To say he wasn't envious would certainly be a lie.

A metallic dragon's adventure is merely an adventure; holding a life-saving measure, they travel the world with a playful mindset, often not for survival but for their own entertainment, to make dragon life less dull.

Evil dragons gamble their lives for tomorrow.

The key is that Garos did not even consider himself an evil dragon; his goal was simply to live longer, a very simple and plain thought.

But this world was too dangerous and extremely unfriendly to him.

Just look.

Garos was happily training, having provoked no one, yet the moment the copper-red dragon saw him, it immediately shouted something about a "naturally evil red-iron hybrid" and came straight over to pick a fight.

Not an evil dragon, yet forced to become one.

Garos slowly exhaled a breath and gathered his thoughts.

The treasures and alchemical equipment are already secured; there is no need to take further risks.

He did not know what level of power was contained within the opponent's Life-Saving Art scales; the danger of attempting to kill a Metal Dragon far outweighed any subsequent gain.

Garos quickly made a trade-off in his heart and prepared to disengage and retreat.

The dragon wings swept.

He retreated at flying speed, instantly putting distance between himself and the Copper Dragon, vanishing in a flash.

The Copper Dragon chased for a few seconds but could not catch up, stopping with gritted teeth.

"Evil Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon, do not let me catch you, or I will make you lick my claws every day to atone for your evil deeds!"

It shouted angrily.

At the same time, just before his figure completely disappeared, Garos's voice drifted from afar on the wind.

"It is now question time."

"What thing is flying in the sky, about to cry and look for its mother?"

The Copper Dragon was stunned; by the time it reacted, the color of its scales became visibly more vivid.

It turned red-hot.

It flew into a rage but had no recourse, its gaze fixing on the Insect King coiled at the bottom center of the abandoned mine, watching the battle between the two dragon-kind.

"Damn stinking bug, what are you looking at!"

The Copper Dragon let out a low roar, folded its wings, and dove toward the Insect King.

It had suffered the disadvantage of lacking knowledge about dragon-kind.

The Insect King opened its huge mouth and launched itself to snap at the Copper Dragon.

At the same time, the silver runes on the Copper Dragon's chest lit up completely.

—This type of Life-Saving Art scale only activates when life is threatened.

The temperature in the air plummeted, as if shifting suddenly from a hot summer to the dead of winter.

Countless ice blades, seemingly endless, materialized around the Copper Dragon, then roared toward the Insect King like a torrential rain; so fast was their speed that the Insect King could not react.

Pfft-pfft!

One by one, the ice blades drilled into its mouth, easily tearing open its carapace and bursting out, cutting the Insect King all over with wounds, riddled with holes, instantly heavily injured.

Gugu-gu... strange sounds issued from its mouth.

In pain, the Insect King panicked, turned and ran, diving into the mine tunnel and dragging its heavily injured body toward the deep underground.

Failing to kill the Insect King in one strike made the Copper Dragon even more furious; it circled above the abandoned mine, and as its wings beat, a rain of ice blades descended, plowing over the abandoned mine below in all directions, leaving it in ruins.

(End of this chapter)