novelraw Chapter 107: Drugs! Bloodburst! The Unparalleled Doom Star! Victory!
Chapter 107: Drugs! Bloodburst! The Unparalleled Doom Star! Victory!
The air currents above the highlands were disrupted by dragon wings as Garoth's vertical pupils locked onto the Diamond Stone Giant, soaring swiftly under the night sky.
He wasn't in a hurry to attack the Diamond Stone Giant yet.
From his aerial vantage point, Garoth could clearly see his minion army approaching the stone giant camp.
Waiting until they were further away.
Waiting until his minions drew closer to the stone giant camp.
Only then would be the perfect opportunity to truly engage the Diamond Stone Giant in battle.
On the ground.
The Diamond Stone Giant's crystalline body reflected the cold moonlight as it ran with powerful strides, each heavy step carving spiderweb-like cracks into the earth.
Its thoughts mirrored Garoth's.
Waiting until they were further from camp, ensuring the battle wouldn't endanger its kin, before stopping to kill this Young Dragon.Time passed in this psychological standoff between them.
Several minutes later.
"Now's the time."
Garoth narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself.
He decisively accelerated, his dragon wings tearing through clouds as he dove, leaving a long comet-like trail behind him.
The Diamond Stone Giant also halted its steps.
It stomped heavily, causing rocks within a hundred-meter radius to suddenly rise like living creatures, forming dozens of interlocking stone spikes that attacked Garoth from all directions.
Garoth's wings cleaved through these thick, hard stone spikes as he closed in on the giant instantly.
Twisting his body, his dragon tail swung like a battle-axe against the giant's shoulder.
As diamond fragments sprayed outward, the giant grabbed the tail and slammed Garoth into the ground.
The moment his tail was seized, Garoth didn't struggle. Instead, he folded his wings sharply, using the giant's pull to accelerate his descent.
Sparks flew as his bladed tail scales scraped against the diamond palms.
Garoth flipped around, his claws stabbing toward the Diamond Stone Giant's chest.
That diamond heart was its power source - and its weak point.
Flame Claws!
Substantial flames surged from Garoth's claws.
Enhanced by his quasi-spell skills and combined with his natural strength and sharp claws, this attack posed real danger even to the Diamond Stone Giant.
The Diamond Stone Giant roared as it released the tail, crossing its arms to block.
Garoth's claws scraped across its arms with an ear-piercing shriek, leaving only shallow marks.
Seizing the opportunity, the giant raised its knee in a shining counterattack, smashing into Garoth's underbelly.
Boom! Garoth was sent flying, belly scales cracking as molten lava-like dragon blood seeped out.
In direct frontal combat without relying on speed and burst attacks, Garoth was at a disadvantage against the Diamond Stone Giant. Their age and life level difference was too vast.
But relying solely on speed and burst wasn't enough either.
With the giant focused on defense, Garoth had no good options.
"That really hurts."
A vicious glint flashed in Garoth's eyes as he instinctively wanted to use his trump card, but his iron will held back - it wasn't the perfect moment yet.
With a shake, explosive scales rained down.
These scales weren't scattered randomly but precisely covered the rock layer beneath the giant's feet.
As the Diamond Stone Giant prepared to pursue, continuous explosions erupted beneath it.
The explosive scales turned the rock layer into sand-like powder, causing the heavy giant to sink half a meter instantly.
Garoth seized this chance, his wings beating powerfully to create hurricane winds that kicked up debris to obscure vision, while he attacked again from the side!
He inhaled deeply, filling his lungs to capacity.
Whoosh!
Fiery breath erupted from Garoth's maw, forcing the giant to raise its arms in defense.
But this was merely a feint.
Dragon breath had limited effect on beings like the Diamond Stone Giant.
Cutting off the breath, Garoth pivoted, pressing his left wing against the ground as a fulcrum while his body spun violently, his right wing's trailing edge blazing with crimson energy for acceleration.
This Dragon Wing Cyclone tore through air with devastating force, slashing toward the giant's midsection.
The Diamond Stone Giant dropped its other arm.
A thick layer of diamond structure grew across its skin like armored plating.
Clang!
The wing sliced through the armor into its arm, but failed to sever it completely.
The giant's defensive advantage was to Garoth's speed - its greatest strength.
Simultaneously, the giant's other fist shot out like a battering ram.
The heavy punch connected squarely with Garoth's chest. Amid muffled explosions from detonating scales, the Diamond Stone Giant staggered back several steps while Garoth was sent flying again.
The chest scales had shattered but failed to absorb all the impact.
A clear fist-shaped dent marked Garoth's iron-like black-red scales, surrounded by a web of cracks.
The Diamond Stone Giant strode forward in pursuit.
"Little lizard, you're stronger than I thought, but that's all!"
"Run now if you value your life."
It taunted Garoth, preventing him from actually fleeing in fear.
"You're the one who should run."
Whoosh! Garoth shot skyward against the giant's oppressive aura, circling briefly before continuous energy bursts transformed him into a deadly crimson doom star diving toward the giant.
The wind pressure sent debris flying and flattened vegetation.
Rather than using its disintegration beam at range, the Diamond Stone Giant inhaled deeply, spreading its arms wide like a giant cross.
Blinding light erupted from its chest, quickly enveloping its entire body.
The intensely concentrated light refracted into dazzling radiance, surrounding the giant until it resembled a perfect, indestructible diamond sphere.
This ultimate defensive technique belonged solely to the Diamond Stone Giant, unmatched by other stone giants.
In an instant.
The crimson doom star that was Garoth collided violently with the diamond form.
At the moment of impact.
A ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward, sending concentric ripples through the rocky terrain for five hundred meters.
The ground beneath the giant instantly cratered while Garoth's scales groaned under the strain.
Crack—Crunch!
The sickening sounds of shattering crystal and scales filled the battlefield.
Countless cracks spread across the Diamond Stone Giant's body as Garoth's scales shattered continuously, hot blood droplets spraying everywhere.
Boom!
White light and crimson flames roared outward simultaneously in repelling explosions.
Both combatants were blasted apart violently.
The giant crashed into a cliff face three hundred meters away, half-buried in stone. Garoth tumbled like a broken kite across the ground, carving a hundred-meter trench before stopping.
Both rose quickly.
The Diamond Stone Giant's body was now covered in cracks like fragile porcelain.
But as earth and stone gathered at its feet, these fractures visibly healed.
Garoth had exhausted all his explosive scales, his black-red armor now riddled with damage.
Never before had he suffered such injuries in battle.
"What a hard body, like a mountain condensed into form."
Garoth's gaze swept over the giant, thinking how effective daily collisions would be for physical training.
"I am Ebaddon."
The Diamond Stone Giant stared at Garoth. "Young Dragon, you're a worthy opponent. Tell me your name, and I'll carve it on your tombstone."
Garoth didn't respond.
What if the giant could use names for sinister spells?
Flapping his sore wings, Garoth felt the strain from overusing his Wings of the Celestial Comet. His magical energy was nearly depleted, stamina approaching critical levels.
For self-preservation, Garoth had set a limit.
If consumption and injuries exceeded this threshold, he'd retreat immediately. He hadn't reached it yet, but was getting close.
But.
The time had come.
"Look behind you, foolish stone giant."
Garoth licked blood from his arm, savoring the pain as he spoke calmly.
The Diamond Stone Giant stiffened and turned.
In the distance, the stone giant camp was under attack.
Hordes of ogres, gnolls, lizardfolk, Graymane Werewolves... flooded toward the camp like a tidal wave.
"Treacherous bastard!"
The Diamond Stone Giant's fury erupted.
It had been tricked.
Garoth's true target was the camp all along.
While it thought it had lured Garoth away, in reality Garoth had led it astray.
With only one Granite Stone Giant and its motley crew of minions, the camp couldn't withstand Garoth's larger minion army.
Gluttonous Ogre Karu led the charge.
When rock lizards pounced, he grabbed one by the throat and tail, ripping it in half effortlessly.
Warlord Bloodfang positioned his warriors strategically, using his commander's aura to enhance them.
Giant wolf knights howled at the sky, carving through enemy ranks.
Lizardfolk moved like invisible assassins, striking from shadows.
All spellcasters focused on buffing their army rather than attacking, transforming their forces into an unstoppable tide that crushed the stone giants' feeble minions, charging toward the Granite Stone Giant and the young giants it protected.
"Crush them!"
"Tear these rocks apart!"
"For the great Dragon Lord!"
Even at this distance, the monsters' excited roars were faintly audible.
The Diamond Stone Giant lost all composure, turning to rush back toward camp without another thought for Garoth.
In this moment of panic, it exposed its greatest opening.
Garoth beat his wings, shooting skyward with eyes locked on the retreating giant.
It had guessed wrong again.
Garoth's target had always been the Diamond Stone Giant itself.
The camp assault? Merely a distraction to break its focus. To Garoth, eliminating the Diamond Stone Giant made the remaining giants inconsequential.
He knew exactly who the real threat was.
High above, Garoth opened his maw, throat convulsing as he expelled a small barrel of black oil and a horn ring.
Dragons possessed a separate stomach chamber for storage, though most preferred keeping treasures visible for admiration rather than swallowing them.
From beneath his neck scales, Garoth retrieved a small pouch of faerie dragon scale powder, pouring it into his mouth.
He simultaneously crunched the black oil barrel, chewing through metal to swallow everything together into his energy-digesting stomach.
Instantly.
Indescribable euphoria flooded both body and mind.
"Toooo... damn good!"
Garoth's entire being thrummed with excitement. A sneeze shot twin streams of fire several meters from his nostrils.
The crimson energy at his wingtips flared violently, expanding several times in intensity.
He dove toward the Diamond Stone Giant again, speed surpassing all previous limits yet remaining under perfect control.
Mid-plummet, Garoth donned the horn ring and activated the Bloodburst spell.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Engine-like roars erupted from his chest as it began glowing.
Crimson light seeped through scale gaps, forming magma-like patterns while heat distorted the surrounding air.
Dragon blood circulated furiously.
The patterns across his scales all lit up sequentially.
Starting from his pounding heart, an energy network spread across his entire body.
The crimson energy expanded further, trailing thick streams behind Garoth.
Bang!
As supersonic booms sounded consecutively, Garoth was already closing in, moving faster than sound itself.
Distracted by the camp crisis and underestimating Garoth's threat, the Diamond Stone Giant paid no attention when Garoth took flight again.
By the time it sensed danger, it was too late.
Looking up, the giant's vision filled completely with crimson.
Not flames, but the radiance of Garoth's Bloodburst activation.
Sonic boom rings erupted outward as the wingtip energy expanded like falling clouds, trailing a kilometer-long burning scar across the night sky - as if the heavens themselves had been torn open.
Garoth became an unparalleled doom star in vertical descent.
The Diamond Stone Giant's pupils contracted.
Under terrifying wind pressure, the ground beneath it cracked inch by inch as its body sank.
In this critical moment.
The Diamond Stone Giant activated its ultimate defense again, arms spread as light enveloped its body into a perfect diamond sphere.
At the moment of collision, time seemed to freeze.
The rocky ground beneath the giant collapsed in concentric circles as cataclysmic booms echoed outward. Dust and debris surged skyward like a tsunami, obscuring the highland completely.
Whoosh!
Garoth's wingbeats dispersed the dust cloud.
Standing in the crater's depths, Garoth's wings had lost many small scales, their silver bones now cracked. His body armor was extensively shattered, one horn broken.
This beyond-limits attack had cost him dearly.
But he'd won.
Through meticulous planning and decisive execution, victory was his.
Beneath him lay the Diamond Stone Giant, its once-indestructible body now shattered beyond recognition, light gone from its eyes, radiance extinguished.
Crack!
Garoth wrenched his claws free, extracting the diamond core from its chest.
"I'll carve your name here, as a trophy."
He gazed down at the giant's cracked, resentful face, delivering the victor's proclamation.