Chapter 371: Dragon-Slaying (Part I)

Sinuoli also followed closely behind the Yang Army and jumped onto the treasure ship; after nodding in greeting to them, Yin Yin leaped into the river. Following behind her was a group of frog-ninja troops wearing fish-skin water suits and equipped with water-splitting spikes and short blades.

This type of unit was introduced from an island nation called Nipeng to the east of the Jade Sea, where ninjutsu was prevalent and ninjas were adept at using the five-element escape arts. According to not-necessarily-reliable news, the Eshin Clan of the ratmen had also once learned related techniques there.

The crisis underwater was being handled by Yin Yin; the so-called "leaping in the abyss," the water could also be considered the home field of a true Dragon. Moreover, according to Yang Yanzhang, many sea beasts had been heavily injured while attacking Fuzhou City, so if she had helpers, she should surely be able to cope.

"Hahaha, it seems today is the day Estrekh manifests, for she has sent so many valuable holy offerings before me!"

Luoxiya-Fellheart stood on the spine of his Black Dragon, looking down from a height and clamoring at the reinforcements. The fragmented, unrecognizable corpses lying beneath the Black Dragon had completely awakened the bloodlust within him.

"Good fellow, a living Black Dragon, it truly looks extraordinary! The ancestors of the Golden Age actually fought against organized Dragon Prince formations and even won in the end; I wonder when the Mountain Kingdom will be able to restore the glory of those days!"

Sinuoli did not rush to charge up and take action; he first stood in the distance and carefully observed the two Black Dragons. Suddenly, he recalled the wretched scene of being ambushed by the Twilight Sisters riding a Forest Dragon at Karak-Hern during his wedding procession years ago; the situation now was completely different.

With the improvement of his level, combat techniques, and equipment, he was already qualified to directly confront such giant beasts that appeared widely in various heroic epics, whether in his past life or this one.

The reason why Western Dragons could stand at the top of the giant beast contempt chain mainly lay in three major advantages: first, they were born with wings and possessed the ability to fly—attacking from a height and retreating freely;

Second is intelligence—unlike stupid giants, beasts, and the Undead or constructs that simply lacked the ability to think, Dragons possessed intelligence not inferior to any long-lived race;

Third, of course, is the breath ability; whether it was the Dragons of Caledor, Athel Loren, or Naggaroth, Dragons could brew a highly destructive Dragon breath in their mouths when needed.

"Load the Dragon-slaying shells!"

The Dwarf King waved his hand to summon his Engineering Master.

"Are you sure?"

Buluokesen rubbed his hands back and forth; it was clear he was also very excited about such an epic battle of dragon-slaying, but out of responsibility to his lord and the guild charter, the young man still confirmed it in a low voice.

"Of course, His Excellency the Abyss Dragon will not be returning with us!"

Not limiting his gaze to what was right in front of him was one of Sinuoli's greatest strengths; he did not want to face the vengeful fury of Fellheart alone on the vast ocean.

"Understood! Pass on my order, reload!"

Buluokesen decisively executed Sinuoli's request, and the sailors on the Dreadnought quickly ran into the bottom ammunition depot and carried up two boxes of strangely shaped chain-shot.

This thing was actually two small cannonballs, smaller than the caliber of the muzzle, connected together by a chain; after firing, one cannonball would drag the other to spin centrifugally and fly out.

The ancestors realized that the key to slaying a dragon was to make them lose their ability to fly; otherwise, if they were beaten half to death and flapped their wings to run away, all efforts would be in vain, and this kind of chain-shot thus came into being.

The rapidly spinning cannonballs and iron chains could instantly tear a large hole in a dragon's wing, and if lucky, could even snap their relatively fragile wing bones; after that, the success rate of surrounding and killing them would be much higher.

However, after the War of the Beard, Dragons were hard to find in the Old World, and the Dwarf Realms were increasingly declining. In recent years, when occasionally encountering Dragon harassment, the kings of the citadels would mostly choose to drive them away rather than fire Dragon-slaying shells.

After all, once a Dragon's wings were destroyed, it became a fight to the death, and their frantic fury would make most Dwarf kingdoms pay a painful price.

"Do not approach, spears are hard to pierce dragon scales; go and engage the water bandits, and summon the Celestial Dragon Guard here!"

Yang Yanzhang was also not in a hurry to take action; in his limited life, this was his first time seeing a Western Dragon. Twenty-some years of military campaigns told him that being hasty would result in an extremely heavy price.

"In your opinion?"

The ninth-ranked on the Heaven List, gripping the shaft of his spear, felt the veins on his hand twitch; he asked Sinuoli in a low voice.

"If you are confident, you can take one each; otherwise, you can also guard from the side, do not force it."

The Dwarf King looked at his eager subordinates and the slowly rotating Naval Cannons, and he knew what to do. From the Flag Bearer Gotrek to the lowest-ranking sailor, all thirsted for the head and flesh of the Black Dragon. Henlide could talk about his dragon-slaying exploits eight times a day; who didn't like that kind of taste?

"I leave the enemy chief to you!"

Yang Yanzhang was a general as well as a warrior; he had the desire to challenge strong enemies and knew how much benefit it would bring him if he succeeded. Gripping the Coiled Dragon Spear in his hand, he took a deep breath and made up his mind.

In the time it took for half a stick of incense to burn, Sinuoli had arranged the key to dragon-slaying, and he had discovered the threshold for dragon-slaying—a weapon capable of piercing dragon scales; without a decent piece of gear, everything was useless.

It just so happened that the spear in his hand had an extraordinary origin. Yang was a long-established great surname, and for generations, they had summarized a set of spear techniques during the many times they participated in battles as corvée farmers. But unfortunately, these were all farm-style moves, only enough to be a militia Captain or a village head.

However, the situation changed two hundred years ago; his seventh-generation ancestor, after witnessing a true Dragon soaring and fighting, realized a set of supreme techniques and relied on it to make great contributions during the period of resisting the Meihouwang's rebellion.

Haotian Longdi was greatly pleased and granted his request, bestowing this Coiled Dragon Spear, and incidentally giving that set of supreme techniques a name. According to the rules, the holder of this spear could use the word "Dragon," but to avoid taboo, others still had to call it the Coiled Snake Spear, so the Yang family simply stopped distinguishing between them.

"If this commander dies for the country, tell Xiaoliu not to tarnish the name of the Yang family and this spear!" Yang Yanzhang tightened his belt with one hand and swung the Coiled Dragon Spear in a circle with the other, preparing to go up.

"Fire!"

At Buluokesen's order, the main guns of the Dreadnought roared.

"Whoosh!"

From the moment they turned the muzzles, Fellheart had made preparations, and the two Black Dragons flapped their wings in time, preparing to climb.

"Awoo!"

"Hahaha!"

The wails of the Black Dragon and the hearty laughter of the gunners intertwined; they did not foolishly aim and fire, but predicted the enemy's possible dodging direction and fired. The smaller Black Dragon already had one wing injured, and this time the wing membrane on the left was almost completely scraped off, and it fell onto the deck with a "thump."

"Kill!"

"Don't just enjoy yourself, reload!"

As the sound of the cannons fell, Yang Yanzhang and Sinuoli moved at the same time.