Chapter 67: Dragon Battle: Mastering Power with Wisdom (Subscribe Now!)

The night was utterly torn apart by two dragons.

Facing Garos's surging assault, the Cliff Serpent Dragon did not meet the blade head-on; after soaring into the air, its body snapped back like a green lightning bolt, twisting and turning, its slender form tracing complex zigzag paths.

However.

In terms of speed and agility, it still could not compare to Garos.

Garos's body was strong and solid, appearing somewhat heavy at first glance, seemingly less agile than the Cliff Serpent Dragon's serpentine form, yet its flexibility during turns was unimaginable; a single sweep of its massive wings unleashed howling gales and dense sparks, allowing nearly ninety-degree turns to be completed in an instant.

The two dragons' forms wove and darted through the night sky.

The Cliff Serpent Dragon angled upward toward the heights, while Garos pursued relentlessly from behind, the distance between them rapidly closing.

Glancing back and seeing the Red Iron Dragon's figure drawing ever closer, the Cliff Serpent Dragon let out a hiss; unable to shake Garos, driven mad by the other's relentless pursuit, it grew enraged.

But instinct and intuition told it that Garos was dangerous right now.

If it could not slow him down, a single strike from him might instantly inflict grievous wounds.

Serpent Dragons did not fear death, but unless it was the final moment, or hatred and rage had reached their peak, they would not resort to using death curses to make powerful enemies pay the price.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

The scorching heat rising from beneath the Cliff Serpent Dragon's scales turned green, transforming into poison mist; immediately, poison mist erupting from the gaps between its scales condensed into fine threads in the air, weaving a deadly net behind its body as it twisted and turned.

Garos's pursuit path was layered and blocked by the poison threads.

He shuddered, shaking off the red-hot exploding scales caused by extreme friction, then exhaled a torrent of flame dragon breath.

The flame dragon breath possessed immense power, though its area of effect was slightly lacking, but when the dragon breath collided with the exploding scales, a tremendous explosion followed.

Molten poison threads rained down into the dense forest below.

The canopies of century-old trees hissed as if splashed with strong acid, resin reacting with the poison to generate thick black-green smoke.

At the same time, surging flames swept outward, tearing a massive gap in the poison net.

Garos folded his wings.

He spun, passing precisely through the gap, then spread his wings again, launching another attack on the Cliff Serpent Dragon; however, hindered by the poison net, his speed was inevitably slightly slower, his assault slightly tempered.

The Cliff Serpent Dragon seized the opportunity to turn and charge.

Garos raised his right wing high, like a massive guillotine, slashing toward the Cliff Serpent Dragon's body.

Having tasted the power of Garos's wing strikes before, this time the Cliff Serpent Dragon did not harden against the wing slash; its slender body bent backward, dodging the right wing.

It was just about to counterattack.

Garos's body suddenly spun, his left wing raised high, the wing-ring at its tip glowing; suddenly, fierce flames ignited on the left wing, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek at even greater speed, cleaving down toward the Cliff Serpent Dragon's head.

This wing spin was far too fast and sudden.

The Cliff Serpent Dragon's eyes narrowed, it hissed, and leaned back as quickly as possible.

Rrrrip!

The wing-blade grazed the Cliff Serpent Dragon's neck, shallowly slicing through the fine scales of its throat.

It missed by a bit.

If he could have slain it in one slash, ending the battle immediately, his body would not have been stained with so much poison blood; unfortunately, this serpent dragon's reaction speed was still fast; being of the same dragon kind, it was incomparable to other beasts and monsters of the same level.

Poison blood gushed from the Cliff Serpent Dragon's throat, landing on Garos's left wing.

Severe pain surged instantly, but compared to the first time, it had become somewhat more bearable.

Previously, Garos's practice of using the Cliff Serpent Dragon's poison to forge his own resistance had indeed added a bit of resistance for him.

Garos's gaze turned cold; his body spun continuously, delivering slash after slash; his pair of wings were like two huge, terrifying blades, whipping up a storm of edges, sweeping violently toward the Cliff Serpent Dragon.

The deadliest weapon on his body was none other than these two wings, tempered through a thousand hammerings.

Facing Garos's ferocious assault, the Cliff Serpent Dragon could not counterattack at all.

It could only concentrate all its spirit to dodge and maneuver around Garos's attacks, and even then, it could not avoid all of them.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Fierce wing slashes swept past the Cliff Serpent Dragon's body again and again, occasionally accompanied by claw strikes and tail swipes; with the sound of metal colliding, they tore through its scales and flesh, leaving dense bloodstains upon its body.

Its body suffered continuous wounds.

Yet the Cliff Serpent Dragon did not flee in fear; instead, it continued to maneuver against Garos, as if it had lost its reason.

In reality, it was not so; dragon-kind possessed excellent instincts for combat, and this Cliff Serpent Dragon was a veteran of many battles, skilled in using its own strengths, cunning and treacherous, unlike the fledgling Copper Dragon from before which lacked combat experience.

In direct combat, it was far inferior to Garos.

Its advantage lay in its own poisonous blood and the poison mist rising from its steaming blood.

As the wounds on the Cliff Serpent Dragon increased, Garos's body became stained with more poison blood; furthermore, green poison mist continuously emanated from the Cliff Serpent Dragon, enveloping the nearby Garos inescapably, subjecting him to the all-pervading erosion of this poison mist.

This poison mist was different from its direct poison blood.

It appeared mediocre, highly deceptive, but would gradually accumulate until reaching a certain threshold, then erupt like a mountain flood.

By then, by the time the target reacted, it was often too late; the poison would ruthlessly destroy their resistance, rendering them combat-incapable.

The Cliff Serpent Dragon had once relied on this poison to kill beasts stronger than itself.

Next.

It would feign weakness, making this Red Iron Dragon believe it could kill it first, while secretly accumulating poison to erupt instantly; a cruel smirk crossed the Cliff Serpent Dragon's mouth; it had already decided how, once Garos lost the ability to resist due to poisoning, it would slowly tear open his dragon scales, listening to his agonized cries, and devour his flesh and blood strand by strand.

Rrrrip!

Garos's claws swept across the Cliff Serpent Dragon's abdomen, leaving several bloodstains.

The Cliff Serpent Dragon was covered in blood; the poison blood that failed to directly touch Garos evaporated into poison mist swirling around it; the muscles beneath its scales tensed, ready to continue dodging and maneuvering, accumulating poison, and counter-killing Garos.

However.

What the Cliff Serpent Dragon did not expect was.

Garos, who seemingly held all the advantages, suddenly spread his wings, rose higher into the air, and retreated, not continuing the pursuit.

Higher in the sky, Garos's gaze remained calm, silently staring at the Cliff Serpent Dragon.

He did not let the heat of battle surge through him, recklessly locking horns with the Cliffside Snake Dragon. Although he was confident he could slay the Cliffside Snake Dragon first within a short time, the risk was too great; it would only cause him to absorb too much poison, and even if he won, the price would be grievous.

Compared to this,

Garos wanted to deal with this Snake Dragon at a smaller cost.

So, at a moment that seemed overwhelmingly advantageous, he chose to withdraw, unlike most young dragons who, once fighting, act like beasts, swept up by bloodlust, blindly engaging in a death match, forgetting that they possess intelligence and are intelligent beings.

In this struggle of life and death,

Garos adopted a combat strategy of using wisdom to command strength, and retreating to advance.

Using wisdom to master strength—this is often something only older dragons can achieve.

"Are you afraid of me? Afraid of death?!"

The Cliffside Snake Dragon roared. Wounded and battered, it charged back at Garos, while Garos, unhurried, flapped his wings, continuing to increase the distance, refusing to engage it in close combat again.

The Cliffside Snake Dragon was not lightly injured, and its sluggish speed could not keep up with Garos at all.

It kept provoking him.

Yet it could never draw Garos's hatred.

Because he frequently struggled against his own negative desires and emotions, Garos had forged a resilient and steady mental will; the baiting tactic did not work on him, and he did not lose his mind due to his opponent's provocation.

At this moment,

The Cliffside Snake Dragon thought Garos wanted to break off the fight and flee. Realizing it could not catch up, it turned around in a rage and headed back toward Crescent Valley, intending to take out its anger on the werewolves just as it had last time.

However,

Unlike last time,

Garos did not leave.

(End of this chapter)