Chapter 61: Contact, Probe

"Serpent Dragons fear neither death nor pain; wounds bring them pleasure and madness, and they are insatiable in battle."

"Fighting such a mad dragon brings no advantage."

Upon seeing the Cliff Serpent Dragon, Garos’s gaze flickered, then he held his breath, folded his Long Yi into the most concealed gliding posture, and hid himself behind the cloud layer.

Serpent Dragons are famously fearless of death.

One could even say these creatures pursue death, yearning for it.

For example, if a Serpent Dragon fights a powerful foe, suffers grievous wounds, yet the foe, fearing the Serpent Dragon’s curse, refrains from delivering the killing blow and prepares to retreat.

The Serpent Dragon, which could have lived.

Yet chooses the most extreme path.

Suicide—offering its life and soul to curse the powerful foe.

Even in death, it ensures the enemy suffers.

Ancient records state that Serpent Dragons were once main-class dragons, numbering no less than the Five-Colored Dragons, Metal Dragons, or Gem Dragons—but due to their bizarre trait of dying on a whim, their numbers dwindled until they became a subclass of dragons.

Garos never expected to encounter a Cliff Serpent Dragon in the Gray Mane Wolfmen’s territory.

This thing is too troublesome.

Its claws and blood carry deadly poison.

If you fight it, even if you kill it, you will pay a heavy price.

It fears no death, cares for nothing.

But Garos wishes to live long and refuses to risk injury—or worse—by fighting the Serpent Dragon.

In this wilderness, dangers abound beyond the Serpent Dragon.

If you suffer serious wounds from it and then encounter another threat before healing, the consequences are unthinkable.

"And it carries a curse."

"Even if I kill it, the Cliff Serpent Dragon’s Fire Curse will continuously lower my fire resistance."

As a hybrid of Red Dragon and Iron Dragon Mother, his fire resistance is high; most fire attacks simply bypass him. He does not wish to gain a new weakness in fire resistance due to the Cliff Serpent Dragon’s curse.

"But consider another angle."

"Can my Adaptation Evolution affect resistance lowered by curses?"

"If so, my fire resistance might dip initially, but then rise continuously."

Garos weighed the pros and cons in his mind.

Because his base fire resistance was already so high, he rarely trained for it—returns were low and training was difficult—but if he could steadily increase it, he would gladly do so. After all, though his fire resistance was high, it was not absolute; high-tier magical flames could still harm him.

"The risk is still too high."

"I’m unsure how my body will react once the curse takes hold."

After a few seconds, Garos shook his head, concealed himself deeper, and remained motionless.

Just now, upon first seeing the Serpent Dragon, he had felt not only caution but also revulsion and murderous intent from his lineage—but since the risk outweighed the benefit, Garos suppressed his instinct to strike.

Meanwhile.

The Cliff Serpent Dragon retreated into its cave.

This chance encounter seemed to end without incident.

Yet the Serpent Dragon’s forked tail suddenly halted midair, then thrashed excitedly, scales scraping with a shrill screech. It turned back, nostrils flaring as it sniffed the air.

Dragons are always drawn to one another, sensitive to each other’s essence.

And the Cliff Serpent Dragon was exceptionally sensitive to the scent of other dragons.

In its olfactory world, scent molecules now formed a vivid red trail, pointing directly upward into a thick, dense cloud layer.

It could not only smell dragon essence.

It could deduce far more from the scent.

Red Dragon and Iron Dragon Mother hybrid, eight-year-old juvenile, male, recent heavy meat consumption, strong odor.

Body length over seven meters, covered in unremarkable black-gray dragon scales, wings unusually large, limbs powerfully built. Ordinary Serpent Dragons have keen senses but cannot extract so much detail.

This Serpent Dragon was no exception.

Its body length and appearance were observed visually.

Garos flapped his wings, slicing through the clouds and leaving a visible trail as he flew away.

From the moment the Cliff Serpent Dragon stopped, turned, and sniffed the air, he knew he had been exposed.

He had suppressed his scent as much as possible, but the Serpent Dragon’s olfactory senses were too acute—it had detected him.

Since fighting the Cliff Serpent Dragon offered no advantage, Garos did not want it chasing him. Now that he was exposed, he fled.

Seeing the dragon silhouette burst from the clouds and soar through the night sky, the wolfmen of New Moon Valley were stunned—they had not expected a dragon to be lurking here.

Hssss—!

The Cliff Serpent Dragon’s crimson pupils locked onto Garos, its throat rumbling a hiss like a venomous snake’s tongue, its spiked tail lashing and shattering rock.

It launched skyward like an arrow released from a bow, its body streaking straight through the air without wings.

Whoosh!

At its peak, it opened its maw, its chest swelling, and spat a linear stream of molten dragon breath at Garos’s back.

This breath was devastating—not merely fire-based.

Garos did not block it; he accelerated, sidestepped, and continued retreating.

As his speed increased, his burst scales rubbed against the air, revealing previously invisible, iron-like dark red patterns that glowed, their edges turning molten red.

Garos infused his burst scales with magical energy and whipped his body.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Several scales shot from his body toward the Cliff Serpent Dragon, glowing nearly white-hot from friction with the air.

The Cliff Serpent Dragon charged straight toward Garos, ignoring the flying scales.

It twisted its long body, its three-pronged spiked tail precisely intercepting them.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Fireballs exploded in midair, engulfing the Cliff Serpent Dragon in roaring flames, illuminating the sky.

Hssss! A furious hiss erupted from within the flames.

It burst through the fire, its body covered in charred marks—but since it was also a fire-type dragon with high fire resistance, the burns were not severe.

But.

The razor-sharp fragments embedded themselves in its softer, less armored abdominal plates, sending sharp stabs of pain and trickles of toxic blood.

Pain made the Cliff Serpent Dragon more frenzied.

Its body arched, molten patterns rising across its skin, beneath the scales a hissing sound like steam rising, then it recoiled and launched forward—speed surging, piercing through clouds and air, closing in on Garos at terrifying velocity.

"This thing has incredible burst power!"

"I seem to lack some burst techniques."

Using the Serpent Dragon as a mirror, Garos suddenly realized his own burst capability was weak—his strongest strike required distance and acceleration to achieve.

The dragon lineage’s burst secret techniques were beyond his current age and rank.

Garos did not push his speed to maximum; he wanted to test the Cliff Serpent Dragon’s true strength. The Serpent Dragon, now in its burst state, gradually drew near.

(End of Chapter)