novelraw Chapter 425: Legend, Legend! (Mega Chapter)
Chapter 425: Legend, Legend! (Mega Chapter)
Several massive dragons stretched their wings, gliding steadily through the boundless sky.
Below them lay a clear, endless blue sea.
Sunlight pierced thin clouds, scattering glittering golden patches across the water.
Occasionally, enormous sea beasts drifted like floating islands, their backs sprouting lush miniature forests; in the distance, dancing reflections lined up like a ribbon connecting sea and sky.
Just like when they had flown across the Atlantis Continent before.
To avoid the unwanted attention and trouble caused by huge sonic booms and energy waves at supersonic speeds, Garoth and his party restrained their pace, keeping a steady subsonic cruise.
This vast, mysterious sea concealed legendary sea beasts in its depths.
If a powerful creature noticed them and fixed its gaze on them, it would spell massive trouble.
As time quietly passed, they gradually left the Everbright Dragon Domain behind.
The dazzling, shifting sky and scattered isles had completely vanished from their sight, swallowed by the distant horizon.Gradually, the once bright sky dimmed.
A velvet-black night spread out, replacing the daytime blue.
Two moons, different in size, hung high, and countless brilliant stars sparkled like shards of diamond.
Their cool light reflected on the now calmer sea, painting a dreamy, bewildering scene where it seemed difficult at first to tell where sky ended and ocean began.
“Garoth, that ‘grand event’ you mentioned to Karus earlier, what exactly did you mean?”
Alberto lazily beat his golden wings to keep pace with the red iron dragon, tilting his head with curiosity to ask.
Garoth contemplated for a moment, then told them of his plan to formally establish a nation in the Ser Wilderness.
He smiled slightly, his steady voice clear in the wind, “When everything is ready, and the nation-founding ceremony is held, I will formally invite you all. I hope you’ll come to celebrate the new birth with me.”
So many Metal Dragons, and with so many Gold Dragons among them, standing as his backing.
The support Garoth had secured would certainly deter most ill-intentioned elements.
“A nation... you’re really taking it this far...”
Alberto first nodded a little at the words, then sighed softly, his tone growing faint, “As for the Golden Order I wish to develop, I still don’t have any solid progress.”
The red iron dragon thought for a moment, then offered a suggestion.
“If you’re interested, I can allocate a piece of territory within my domain for you to govern fully, so you can rule there as a lord.”
“There you can try to establish your Golden Order according to your own ideas and principles.”
Alberto’s eyes brightened instantly, asking to confirm, “Really? You’re not joking, right?”
Garoth shook his head slightly, his tone decisive, “Of course not a joke.”
He paused, then shifted to a more serious tone, “However, there is a corresponding price.”
“Once you become a lord, it means you will officially side with me, the so-called ‘evil dragon.’ At that point, you’ll inevitably face more cold stares, criticism, and doubt.”
Far from being frightened, Alberto grinned and said, “You’ve told me the benefits, now what’s the price?”
Clearly, in his particular way of thinking, enduring cold stares and criticism while pursuing a path misunderstood by others was not a hard price to pay; it actually pleased him.
“If you officially found a kingdom, the name ‘Molten Iron Tribe’ will need to be changed to something befitting a kingdom,” Deborah interjected softly from the side, looking at Garoth. “Have you decided on any suitable names yet?”
Garoth nodded slightly.
“I already have a few candidates in mind, I’m weighing them and will finalize it soon.”
At the same time, Gold Dragon Nasha floated over with interest, saying, “A realm founded by dragons... that sounds fun. Hey, Garoth, remember to reserve me a diplomatic post!”
“I’d be happy to represent you and talk down those who don’t know better and want to cause trouble.”
She waved her claw, her face eager.
The Faerie Dragon hurried down from Deborah’s back and loudly volunteered, “Me too! Me too!”
She cocked her little head, thinking seriously: “I’ll be the acting Lord of Molten Iron, to patrol the land and show off our dragon might!” But she quickly fell into indecision, “Hmm... but being a lord sounds fun too... oh, which should I pick?”
She fretted over the choice.
Garoth cruised steadily, changing the subject and asking, “How far are we from the Vophal Dragon Domain now?”
Alberto replied, “I can’t give an exact distance, but at our current speed, assuming no rests or accidents, we can reach the Vophal Domain’s outer sentinel island within three days.”
His voice blurred a bit on the wind, but it was audible.
Bored with travel, Nasha flapped and spun through the air, stirring turbulence.
After hearing Alberto, she paused and told Garoth, “The Vophal Domain is famous for producing all kinds of rare water magic materials and gems, and the seafood is especially delicious.”
“Especially moonlight clams—the meat is tender and juicy, my favorite. You must try them when you get there.”
The Faerie Dragon perched on Deborah’s back and cried, “I want to eat them too!”
Her voice was tiny compared to the big dragons and was scattered by the wind.
Garoth pondered, “Each of the Five Great Dragon Domains has its own features, but I only know the Everbright Domain is the first. Are the others ranked too?”
Alberto lifted his head, “Of course, Vophal Domain sits just below Everbright.”
Deborah the brass-silver dragon bristled at that.
“Don’t listen to him. Aside from Everbright, our Raging Tides Domain is the strongest, then Vophal; White Tide and Daylight Domains might be a tier lower.”
Alberto shot Deborah a wary look, “We in Vophal have the Eternal Tide, do you?”
Deborah retorted, “We in Raging Tides have the Star-Forged Furnace, do you?”
The two then argued like squabbling children, citing their domain’s legendary artifacts, scale, quantities and qualities of legendary dragons, and more, trying to prove superiority, but neither convinced the other.
If their claims were true, Garoth thought, Vophal and Raging Tides probably stood nearly equal, hence the endless bickering.
With the roar of waves, time passed amidst chat and petty disputes, minute by minute.
Night deepened.
Humidity rose, bringing the salty scent of the sea.
At that moment, Garoth’s gaze snapped tight, and he looked up into what had been a reasonably clear night.
From nowhere, leaden clouds were gathering rapidly overhead.
Within the clouds, lightning writhed like snakes and thunder rumbled faintly.
The air around them suddenly grew oppressive, suffocating; in an instant a storm was born. Rain lashed down in torrents, the previously calm sea heaved into violent swell, forming waves many meters high.
“This weather change... is moving strangely fast,” Garoth sensed something wrong.
He keenly felt the air currents, the sudden violent churning of the sea below without warning, and the abnormally dense clouds overhead. He focused to sense every subtle change and his flight froze for a moment.
“What’s wrong? Why have you suddenly stopped?” Deborah, close behind, noticed his abnormality and asked in puzzlement.
Garoth scanned the raging wind and rain and spoke in a low voice, “Don’t you feel it? The speed and intensity with which these clouds and the storm formed feel unusual, not like a natural weather event.”
His face went solemn and his guard spiked to its highest.
“Sea weather is variable, nothing like the continent,” Alberto said nonchalantly, scratching a horn with his claw, “One moment calm and sunny, the next a storm. I’ve seen it many times.”
“Garoth, maybe this is your first long flight over the open sea, you’re worrying too much.”
But the instant he finished speaking, an invisible, formless ripple swept across the sky.
Garoth felt the world pause for a breath, his vision blurring and doubling; he blinked and it returned to normal.
At the same time, the frenzied flame in his mind felt provoked and surged up violently.
“Something’s wrong! Be on alert!”
Golden arcs leaped across Garoth’s body as his Frenzied State snapped on and he roared low.
Almost at the moment he shouted, the situation changed abruptly.
Lightning suddenly split the sky.
Garoth had anticipated danger from the clouds and dodged.
But the dragons still under the spell were hit squarely by bolts! Blinding arcs danced wildly across their bodies with crackling sounds.
Nasha, Alberto, and Deborah could not even let out a cry before their bodies convulsed and they blacked out. Their huge bodies went limp and, like kites with cut strings, plunged toward the churning sea.
Below, the already turbulent ocean exploded.
A hundred-zhang-tall wall of water, as if raised by an invisible giant hand, leapt into the air!
The dragons falling toward the surface were struck hard by that towering wall of water and immediately swept into whirlpools and undertows, dragged into the depths without time to send a distress signal.
Watching this, Garoth’s expression turned stone-cold.
Sheets of heavy rain struck his thick black-red scales, scattering into countless droplets.
His muscles tensed like iron, his massive wings fully spread, the crimson sheen on the wing membranes flashing dangerously in the night.
He kept his movements calm, observing.
He could sense that the life signs of Deborah and the others were steady but faint from unconsciousness; essentially their vitality was still strong and they weren’t near death.
They had simply fallen into a deep coma under the combined effects of illusion, lightning paralysis, and the crushing waves.
The whole attack had been swift, precise, and ruthless.
The enemy had never shown itself, yet had used targeted methods to take down all the Metal Dragon companions cleanly.
Garoth’s worry and vigilance rose to a peak.
This clearly meant the assailant had planned carefully and struck with purpose—first neutralizing the Metal Dragons’ combat ability with lightning while controlling force to avoid killing them, likely to prevent their elders from sensing and tracing the attack.
To perform such an operation so quickly, and to ambush them after they had left the dragon domains...
His mind raced and he formed a rough guess about the situation.
“The target is most likely me. Deborah and the others were just collateral; they’ll be fine for now.”
Garoth decided instantly and without hesitation, and his massive wings swept back fiercely.
Boom!
Air and rain behind him were driven away by a tremendous force, forming a clear ring-shaped shockwave.
Garoth’s huge body vanished from its prior position, attempting to burst out of the storm-covered danger zone with speed.
But the enemy’s methods kept coming.
The next second, the rain and howling wind seemed given life and will.
They no longer fell and blew randomly; instead, droplets and gusts condensed and braided into countless translucent energy chains that wrapped around Garoth’s body, wings, and limbs from all directions, severely restricting his movement. Thunder intensified overhead; countless bolts formed a net shaped like a funnel and hammered down continuously on the fleeing Garoth.
This lightning was extraordinary.
Even Garoth’s lightning resistance felt prickly and numbing; his scales cracked.
The one consolation was that the stimulation strengthened his Frenzied State—currents leapt across him, his form swelling, his aura growing fiercer.
Still, lightning, rain, and storm were real impediments that greatly reduced his speed.
Garoth glanced up at the boundless, dense cloud bank, and at a huge dragon-shaped silhouette drifting within. He understood the situation.
With the oppressor controlling the weather and terrain, speed alone wouldn’t save him.
Continuing to escape would only waste energy.
Facing a major enemy, even he could not afford to waste resources.
Garoth took a deep breath and stopped trying to force his way through, focusing instead on dodging the lightning and the rain-lock chains and resisting the storm.
A few seconds later, perhaps because he no longer attempted to flee, the attacks halted abruptly.
However, the sea still billowed wildly below and the wind and rain roared around them.
Despite the cacophony, Garoth felt a dangerous stillness.
A legendary Metal Dragon who hid and then ambushed his younger kin had revealed himself.
Garoth raised his head; light cut through the rain like two solid blades, locking on the huge dragon silhouette in the clouds. He spoke in a low voice.
“Aren’t you ashamed?”
“Ashamed?”
A deep voice rolled from the cloud summit, indifferent and superior as if delivering a judgment from another world.
The heavy clouds parted to the sides like stage curtains drawn by an invisible hand, revealing the vast body within.
It was a majestic, powerful male Bronze Dragon.
Larger than Garoth, his body exceeded thirty-two meters, muscles flowing with devastating force. His blue-green scales reflected the lightning with a cold, hard sheen, and his great horns resembled ancient spears weathered by time.
This was the Legendary Bronze Dragon Siano Sheffield.
Siano’s deep eyes seemed charged with storm energy.
He gazed down at Garoth not like at a kin, but like an insect trapped in a web, futilely struggling.
“Eradicating potential evil-dragon scourges and maintaining draconic order is justice. Where is the shame in that?”
He spoke slowly; his voice rolled like thunder across the horizon, carrying unquestionable authority.
“Justice? You chose to ambush and half-kill your kin in secret. Ha! Can you dare declare today’s actions to the world?” Garoth snarled in rage, arcs of electricity cracking across him as anger made his Frenzied State surge further. “That’s arrogance to the extreme.”
He was sure the other was a dragon who followed the Purification Faction’s creed.
From what Nasha had mentioned, this sounded like Siano.
Worse, this Siano was no ordinary Bronze Dragon—he was Legendary and thus stronger than most peers.
If it were a Legendary White Dragon, Garoth wouldn’t feel such alarm.
Garoth also recalled Gold Dragon Ovis’s bold assertion that Purification Faction dragons wouldn’t lightly strike him, yet the enemy’s resolve now seemed absolute.
He didn’t have the energy to parse the contradiction further.
From Siano flowed an unprecedented oppressive weight, nearly tangible, squeezing Garoth to the point of breathlessness.
“What would an evil dragon like you know?”
“There are many ignorant in the world and few who are clear-sighted. The Metal Dragon clans are quietly decaying in hidden corners. Only I can stop the collapse, punish the wicked, and restore the order your kind have lost.”
Siano’s voice remained calm, stating his convictions as if they were self-evident fact.
“Or perhaps you are the real fool. Your words mirror those of the corrupted—stubborn and idiotic.”
Garoth spoke to buy time, his mind working like a precise machine, cataloging skills and hidden cards, weighing chances for victory, or more realistically, the odds of escape.
“Sharp tongue won’t change the outcome.”
Siano, seasoned in battle, immediately recognized Garoth’s stalling.
Without more words, the giant dragon lashed out, folding his wings and diving with crushing power toward Garoth.
Crackle!
Lightning writhed along Siano’s wings, producing hair-raising sounds.
The Bronze Dragon, known as the dragon of storm and ocean and akin to the Blue Dragons among the chromatics, had trained in both Hundred Battle Dragon and Storm Dragon paths; his speed was astonishing, and he vanished into the clouds like a thrown spear, striking toward Garoth in a flash.
Storm Domain!
As he extended his claw, Siano unleashed his strongest Legendary Domain.
No hesitation—clean, decisive. His intent was unmistakable: quick, decisive victory.
Boom!
An invisible domain centered on the Bronze Dragon expanded at once.
Unlike the defensive close-range domain used by human Sword Saints, Siano’s domain was aggressively expansive, opening like the maw of a primeval beast and instantly enveloping Garoth’s huge form.
This was the true, efficient use of a Legendary Domain.
Humans used domains defensively because of fragile bodies; domains are essentially meant to amplify oneself comprehensively and suppress an enemy, not merely act as shields.
Inside, light dimmed, as if devoured by an unseen force. Only pale blue wind blades and leaping, piercing lightning filled the space.
The wind became tangible locks and razor blades, tearing and cutting Garoth’s heavy scales and spitting off sparks. Lightning hammered from all directions endlessly, each bolt carrying destructive power and blinding brightness.
Pressure skyrocketed.
Garoth felt physically suffocated.
Although also at Legendary tier, Siano’s oppression was something the human Sword Saint could not compare with.
“No holding back!”
Garoth roared, unleashing torrents of dragon qi at unprecedented speed.
Nine-Dragon Magical Medicine! Bloodburst State! Crimson Lotus Form!
Star Path defenses—Face of the Self, Arms of the Self, Star Body!
Chew—!
Seething heat erupted from Garoth, black-red scale gaps spewing scorching energy, like boiling lava turning his surface into vivid red-lotus patterns.
Dragon qi ignited into raging flames across his body.
They condensed into solid twin energy arms and a heavy, tough energy armor covering him—even his skull was shrouded tightly.
Garoth’s aura surged wildly.
As the price for this power burst, his dragon qi poured out like an open floodgate. Only by this expenditure could he barely withstand the Legendary Domain’s suppression.
But it was not over.
Rage State, open!
The frenzied flame in his mind flared at unprecedented intensity, red veins mushroomed in his eyes, and his aura climbed again with the tide of fury.
Anger made him stronger, yet his reason still held.
As for Wild State—it needed time to build fury, so it wasn’t yet optimal to open.
Roar!
Garoth didn’t choose to retreat. He let out a war cry and swung all four powerful limbs to meet the incoming wind blades and destructive lightning.
Firm claws collided with invisible wind blades, a clash like metal on metal rang out; the solid energy arms smashed at the rampaging lightning, shredding bolts into flying electric serpents. He bore the storm like an upstream boulder and charged toward the pale-blue silhouette at the domain’s heart.
At this moment there was nearly no turning back.
Only by exhausting himself and fighting for survival could he hope to prevail.
Garoth’s style had always been cautious—he valued self-preservation above all and avoided needless risks.
But when fatal danger came with no escape, he faced the storm unflinchingly.
Siano glanced and showed brief surprise in his dragon pupils.
“I underestimated you before!”
“Such a pity—if only you were born a Metal Dragon... but the more potential you show, the less excuse I have to leave you alive!”
The Bronze Dragon stirred with storm and lightning, his voice a rolling rumble.
He moved, meeting Garoth’s charge head-on. His speed left a clear cyan afterimage.
Smash!!!
The two bodies collided like meteors, a monstrous shockwave exploding outward in a perfect ring and denting the sea beneath into a huge, temporary depression.
Garoth’s four blazing claws lunged for Siano’s relatively vulnerable neck and chest.
Though Garoth offset some domain suppression with his Star Body formed by massive dragon qi—and despite his raw physical strength—he still felt slightly slowed, his movements a touch sluggish.
A Legendary dragon’s reflexes surpassed his.
Siano calmly raised a muscular right forearm to block Garoth’s two main arms’ fierce strike.
On contact, the immense power almost sank Siano’s arm under the impact.
“What strength—exceeding my normal state?!”
Killing intent flared in Siano’s eyes.
He activated Overclock—no time wasted—lightning leapt denser and wilder around him, and his whole aura leapt, becoming far more dangerous and unfathomable.
The arm that had momentarily settled now steadied like a rock and prevented Garoth from creating the defensive opening he expected.
Meanwhile, Siano’s left arm launched a surprise strike.
A paired hooked claw closed like a spear tip, slathered in compressed, steel-tearing wind, thrusting lightning-quick into Garoth’s chest where the heart lay.
Hundred Battle skill: Wind-Piercing Dragon Spear!
Garoth reacted extremely quickly; his right wing slammed down, rotating his body.
Slam!
The strike was too swift and sharp—Garoth couldn’t fully evade.
His hardest chest-heart scale was torn open in a long, horrifying gash; scalding dragon blood poured out and met the air, instantly igniting into more dragon qi and roaring flames.
His eyes flashed ferocity, bloodshot lines multiplying with pain and anger.
He did not hesitate. His two energy arms, formed purely of dragon qi, smashed the ribs near Siano’s flank.
Thud! Thud!
Like heavy war hammers, they pounded against Siano’s bronze hide with dull, ear-splitting impact.
Siano took the blows, his body wobbling; a chunk of blue-scaled flesh tore from his ribs in a burst of pain.
But his structure was exceptionally tough and his dragon bone tempered by countless trials, so these wounds were not crippling.
He planted the foreclaw that had blocked Garoth’s primary arms and suddenly shoved hard; the hooked claw dug into Garoth’s arm bone.
Crack!
A sickening bone-splintering sound rang out.
At the same time, Siano’s massive tail whipped like a siege hammer, streaked with tearing air, and crashed into Garoth’s waist and abdomen from a tricky angle.
Boom!
Garoth felt his insides shift under the strike; a searing pain rippled through him and his body flew off course.
Before he could right himself, Siano was already on him like a shadow.
The Legendary dragon revealed battle experience refined by countless fights: vicious, precise strikes aiming for joint weaknesses—the sharp elbow smacking the neck, heavy knee targeting the wing roots that support flight.
Crack! Shatter! Fragment!
Garoth’s Star Body armor woven of dragon qi could not withstand the Legendary dragon’s crushing blows.
Each fierce collision shattered more of his scales and the groan of overloaded bone betrayed him.
He tried to raise an arm to block, but Siano’s Overclocked power and speed outpaced him, with the Storm Domain adding constant suppression so his actions were always half a beat late.
As Garoth’s defense had yet to fully form, Siano’s rain of blows rained down.
Rip!
A vicious claw tore along Garoth’s spine, leaving deep gouges exposing bone; even the energy wing membranes were sliced through over half. Luckily, because the membranes were energy-based, they could be repaired using dragon qi, limiting long-term damage.
Garoth endured the pain and spun violently.
The intact outer wing edge flashed cold steel as it slashed a long bloody streak along Siano’s flank.
Siano did not take hits idly.
Thud!
A heavy tail sweep like a steel whip struck Garoth’s head, blacking his vision and buzzing his ears, and he lost balance, spiraling toward the churning sea below.
From above, Siano’s wings bristled with storm and lightning as he dove, appearing over falling Garoth. He flipped his body, using the wing like a colossal shield and slammed it down with tremendous force.
Boom!
Garoth felt as if a mountain had fallen on him. He was slammed into the icy sea with impossible force.
The ocean exploded upward in towering waves; the sea groaned and roiled as if all the vast waters trembled.
Before the waves settled, Siano opened his mouth not to breathe flame but to unleash a compressed, high-pressure hydro-explosion, accurately detonating in the water beneath Garoth.
Kaboom!
It was as if an enormous bomb detonated on the seabed; a shockwave pinned Garoth back under the deep sea, and vast volumes of seawater vaporized into steaming white mist from the high pressure and heat.
“Phew... it’s over,” Siano exhaled, his chest rising and falling.
He had struck genuinely—his successive tempest assaults treated Garoth like a peer and sought to kill him in one stroke, giving no chance for recovery.
After such ruthless, rapid strikes, any dragon below Legendary should have had no way out...
Suddenly, Siano’s gaze snapped down to the sea.
Splash!
A figure burning with even hotter black-red flames burst through the water, shedding spray as it roared back into view.
Garoth’s appearance was dreadful: scales cracked, burn marks blackened the hide, many wounds deep to the bone, dragon blood seeping and vaporizing under the flames.
Yet despite the horrific injuries, the core was intact; he was far from near-death.
His vitality and bodily resilience exceeded Siano’s initial estimate.
“A dying struggle,” Siano’s eyes showed a flicker of astonishment, quickly replaced by deeper coldness.
He curled a claw and, responding to his call, the wind elements in the Storm Domain condensed into countless cold blue-white spears. The spear tips glittered with frost like a reviewed army and volleyed down. At the same time, he opened his mouth and expelled a condensed lightning breath of destructive force that rippled space where it passed.
Garoth’s four arms flailed, his wings a shield dismantling the spears as he twisted aside.
The Legendary breath grazed his ribs, taking away a chunk of charred scalebone and leaving a molten, gaping wound.
Legendary dragons commonly possess overwhelming breath—if hit squarely, one could die instantly.
As he evaded, Siano streaked like a lightning spear, and Storm Domain again closed like an invisible cage around Garoth.
Endless wind blades and lightning unleashed a new barrage.
The pain and helplessness of being suppressed and pummeled stoked the frenzied flame in his mind fiercer.
Rage built like a pent volcano.
His black-red flaming body surged forth toward Siano—four claws sought the opponent’s wing roots and vulnerable neck.
Siano’s eyes flashed with sharpness. His huge body displayed agility beyond its size; the thick tail lit with blinding condensed lightning and whirled like a thunder whip to strike.
This Legendary Bronze Dragon clearly excelled at using that powerful tail.
Bang!!!
Garoth crossed his forearms to block, but the bone-shattering impact flung him like a falling meteor toward the sea.
Boom!
The water was hollowed into a massive depression and waves roared skyward.
Then a dragon roar erupted from the seafloor, tearing through the water.
Garoth crashed through once more.
His form had changed significantly.
His body swelled again, muscles expanding nearly grotesquely. Wounds now spewed not blazing black-red flame but thick, viscous crimson blood-fire like coagulated plasma. His claws had grown thicker and more lethal; hooked talons curved like deadly sickles, shining with a grim chill. His head seemed more fearsome, breathing hot white mist laden with frenzy.
Most of all, his eyes had almost become pure blood-red, with only the pupils holding the last threads of reason.
During the fall, his rage had reached a tipping point. He used Selfless Frenzy and combined it with his state, advancing further into Wild State.
Yet he could feel the dam of his mind about to burst; a beast within clamored to annihilate all. The mental cage formed by his earlier evolution teetered, nearing collapse and risking loss of control.
Two choices stood before him.
One: forcibly suppress the frenzied flame and stop at the current Wild State. This was strong, but against a Legendary Bronze Dragon it probably wouldn’t suffice.
Two: let go of all restraint and release the beast to gain enough power to possibly reverse the tide. That could win the fight, but risk unknown consequences.
In one instant Garoth chose.
Since there was no retreat—then everything burns!
As for the hidden risk? Survive first, deal later.
With his talent, he thought the mind cage needed smashing and remolding to become stronger and hold vaster fury.
He inhaled deeply, greedy as if drawing in all surrounding air and energy.
He no longer resisted and unleashed the beast within.
In that instant his eyes became a pure, untainted blood-red.
A new, unprecedented sense of wildness and frenzy surged through him like a freed beast.
His aura climbed crazily; his robust body strained under the pressure and scales cracked into fine fissures, blood and flame bursting from those cracks.
Absolute! Madness!
“Kill!”
Garoth screamed, wings flaring.
He vanished!
With a near-space-jump ferocity, he suddenly appeared beside Siano.
The once-crushing domain suppression was forcibly reduced under his mania.
Pant!
Garoth’s four claws became afterimages, clawing with hysterical ferocity.
Siano’s tough bronze scales, like paper, were gouged off in chunks by Garoth’s claws. Blood gushed, leaving deep, bone-exposing wounds.
The Wild State’s strength and speed exceeded Siano’s estimate.
Garoth, now fully maddened, saw his aura climb past the threshold between mortal and Legendary. The temporary surge even made his Legendary barrier quake.
“Impossible! He’s about to perform an in-battle breakthrough!”
Siano’s face changed; disbelief flickered across his eyes.
He also saw in his periphery that the unconscious Metal Dragons’ life signs were reviving and would soon fully awaken, able to send out calls for help.
Siano had two options: withdraw for a long plan, or strike now and use everything to kill Garoth.
Looking at the bloody, vicious Garoth, a nameless rage rose in Siano’s chest.
He clenched his teeth and chose the second option.
He couldn’t allow Garoth to breakthrough Legendary.
Now was the last and best chance to kill him.
“Die!”
Siano roared.
Storm Domain compressed by his will, drawing all the wind blades and lightning into a single point. They concentrated upon Garoth with multiplied force.
But the crazed Garoth seemed beyond pain and ignored attacks.
His blood-red eyes locked on Siano and he attacked again and again.
Clawing, biting, headbutting—the most primitive and brutal attacks, yet carrying city-shattering force.
The sky became their battlefield as storm and searing dragon qi collided and extinguished.
Garoth’s blood sprayed like burning flame; Siano’s blood fell like torrential rain, staining the ocean red.
Meanwhile, Alberto, who had been unconscious for a while, felt the aftershock of the titanic clash and gradually opened heavy eyelids, waking.
Sensing the violent combat not far away, he tensed and forced his wings, struggling to rise.
He could see the furious fight clearly.
“Damned Purification Faction scum! How dare they strike kin and butcher the dragon domain’s champion!”
Without hesitation, Alberto sent the most urgent distress call to the elder Gold Dragon Ovis.
At the same time he watched the far-off fight, wanting to join but afraid to approach hastily.
Thunderous blasts, roaring dragon bellows, flesh being ripped—an endless chorus of sound.
Legendary strength is real, forged by trials.
And the furious power gained by losing one’s mind carries costs; an in-battle breakthrough is very risky.
Garoth’s aura now flickered like a candle in gale winds—extremely unstable.
His attack patterns showed many gaps born of madness.
Siano inhaled deeply, suppressing his injuries and drained energy. He retracted his expanding domain tightly around his body, forming an impenetrable defensive wall.
Shatter! Shatter! Shatter!
Under Garoth’s storm of assaults, Siano’s defensive barrier wrinkled and cracked, looking ready to break.
Yet Siano remained unmoved. Calmly he raised his right foreclaw.
From all directions, howling winds, surging seawater, and leaping lightning answered his summons and converged on that claw. He braced under Garoth’s nonstop frantic onslaught, compressing and forging that raw energy into a gigantic wind-and-lightning spear brimming with destruction.
“Such madness and savagery... truly a scourge to be eradicated.”
Siano murmured and then expanded his domain, forcibly pushing the biting Garoth back.
At that moment he fixed his sight on Garoth’s head and hurled the consolidated wind-and-lightning spear with all his might.
“Die!”
The spear tore through the air, warping light itself.
Garoth’s survival instincts forced his four arms to clamp down like a trap, seizing the spear’s shaft.
Sizzle—!
The furious wind-and-lightning energy scoured his claws, sparking shrill noises.
The spear’s advance slowed but resolutely pressed forward inch by inch.
Though its tip diverted slightly, it still carried residual terror and burrowed deep into Garoth’s chest.
Puncture!
The already fragile body could not sustain the blow.
Garoth’s pupils dilated then wavered; the vivid blood-color in his eyes began to fade.
At the threshold between life and oblivion, a woman’s voice sounded—not through ears, but directly into the nearly halted depths of his mind.
The voice was low, hoarse, yet intimate in a way that chilled, like the gentlest poison.
“Garoth Ignas, my dear child.”
“Look at you—so wretched... driven to this brink by those self-righteous Metal Dragons.”
The voice continued its whisper, stirring the primal, brutal instincts and resentment buried in a dragon’s bloodline with every syllable.
“You flow dragon-red blood—an embodiment of destruction and power.”
“You are destined to stand above all, to look down on the world, not to crawl and die beneath the judgments of hypocrites.”
“You desire power, don’t you?”
“You yearn to tear your enemies apart, to make the world tremble under your dragon might... the unquenchable fire in your heart is what I adore.”
“Offer your faith, open your soul... and I will grant you rebirth and the power of vengeance.”
“Come, my dear child, pray to me, call my name... you know who I am.”
Even with blurred consciousness, Garoth’s mind was filled with boundless savagery.
Instinctively he bellowed inside his mind, “Whoreson—get out of my head! I, Garoth, want neither pity nor charity!”
The voice fell silent.
As it tried to speak more, the frenzied flame violently flickered and shut down the whisper.
“This time, it’s truly over.”
At the other side, Siano watched Garoth pierced by the spear and falling. Tension in his chest loosened and he exhaled a long breath tinged with electric light.
But just when he thought it was finished, a strong, warm light unexpectedly fountained from Garoth’s wounded body, overflowing with potent life energy like spring sunlight, instantly nurturing his shattered form.
Garoth’s previously blurred pupils snapped back into focus.
The blood-red in his eyes grew deeper and more intense than before—like two boiling pools of blood.
The amassed fury and battle-hardened power that had been forged through countless fights, smashed through some rigid barrier at the instant the spear pierced him.
Time seemed to freeze for a heartbeat.
Then Garoth lifted his head and howled, a cry laced with pain and boundless exhilaration toward the storm-dark sky.
Chew—!
An enormous, newly refined pressure erupted from his body like a waking volcano.
The clouds above were driven aside by this new force, revealing a sparkling sky; the raging Storm Domain shook violently and destabilized.
Garoth, in madness and death, had completed a life-tier metamorphosis.
“Legendary... you actually...”
Siano’s pupils contracted, alarm bells screaming in his chest.
The fight had already worn him down; his energy reserves were depleted.
Reason told him that even if Garoth hadn’t broken through, he should retreat.
Now a freshly ascended Legendary Garoth with an unstable aura stood before him; even if the opponent was imperfect, Siano ought to pull back and plan.
But a deeper, uncontrollable rage flared within Siano’s depths.
So what if he awakened?!
A life-tier metamorphosis is not conjured from nothing—it needs massive energy. This Garoth might look terrifying, but he was likely hollow and near the end. How long could he hold?
“Roar—!”
Siano suppressed reason and let the nameless fury drive him. He roared and became a blue lightning spear, hurtling toward Garoth who hung over the sea with an unsteady aura.
Retreat? No.
He intended to obliterate the newly ascended evil dragon in the most brutal way, making its Legendary moment the shortest joke in dragon history.
“Die! You must die!”
Siano’s body carried his Storm Domain, like an out-of-control meteor, diving at Garoth.
Garoth answered with a more savage roar.
He advanced, dragging his shattered but imposing body into collision.
Boom!!
This clash was more intense than any before.
Legendary change granted Garoth raw body power, and he smashed Siano’s domain to pieces by sheer force.
Crack!
One of Siano’s proud, spear-like horns was smashed off by one of Garoth’s main arms. Garoth’s shoulder was ripped and flesh shredded; bone cracks sounded.
But both seemed oblivious—pain only stoked their ferocity.
Claws tore at claws in the sky; each clash boomed like iron and bronze meeting. Scales and blood showered down like torrential rain. Tails whipped like living whips, striking thunderous impacts and shaking the space.
Siano seized an opening and snapped his jaws filled with teeth at Garoth’s vulnerable neck.
Garoth reacted swiftly; two blood-and-dragon-qi arms clamped his jaws and ripped with all his might, trying to tear the Bronze Dragon’s head off. Hot dragon blood bubbled from Siano’s forced-open mouth and dripped down.
The battle degenerated into the most primitive, bloody struggle—no finesse, only exhaustion and brutality.
Two Legendary dragons rolled through the air and slammed into the icy sea, sending towering water columns skyward; then from the deep they surged back, shattering cloud layers.
Where they passed, sky seemed rent and the ocean boiled.
At the same time, a dazzling golden meteor streaked across the horizon, trailing vast, familiar dragon might.
Ovis, the elder Gold Dragon who had rushed to the distress call, arrived at top speed.
What he saw was etched into his memory for life.
The bleeding, riddled Garoth bore a crushing claw strike to his chest but seized an instant for life by trading injury for gain: his four claws clamped like iron bands, locking down one of Siano’s wings and half of his body.
“I’ll tear you apart!!!”
Garoth roared in a frenzy.
After a century of struggle, careful steps and countless fights, he had been ambushed simply for being labeled an evil dragon. If he’d been weaker, he’d have died; all his years of effort would have been mocked.
A fury unlike ever before surged in him.
The life-tier metamorphosis could not quench this anger.
Anyone who tried to kill him would have to die—even a backed Metal Dragon would not be spared!
All the pent-up fury, pain, and resentment that had accumulated over years of struggle exploded now without restraint.
Rip—!!!
With a terrifying tearing sound like cloth being violently shredded, Siano, who had been locked into Garoth’s grasp, let out an agonized roar. Garoth tore off the wing and the half-shoulder and chest attached to it with brutal force.
Dragon blood rained in a crimson deluge.
Siano screamed in unprecedented agony and his mighty body lost balance. Like a great bird with a broken wing, he fell powerlessly toward the surging sea below.
He could feel the shadow of death looming, a bone-chilling sensation nearly freezing his soul.
“O great Dragon God! Grant me the power to slay this monster! Let me judge all evil!”
Siano shouted a final, mad cry in his heart, offering his lifelong righteous faith as sacrifice and prayer.
But the reply was not sacred or warm.
Time thickened and slowed.
A low, hoarse, magnetic voice sounded deep within his mind.
“Judging evil? Ha ha ha... what naive, foolish ideas, my loyal servant.”
Hearing the ominous, mocking voice, Siano’s consciousness felt drenched in cold water.
“Who are you?! Get out of my mind!”
He roared, trying to dispel the sudden evil presence.
“Who am I?” The voice’s amusement deepened, tinged with pity, “I am one of your sources of power, the truth hidden deep in your blood that you refuse to acknowledge... my dear, you who bear the rebellious blood.”
“I am the noble Bronze Dragon, born with the will of wind and lightning! What nonsense are you spouting?!”
Siano’s thoughts flailed like an insect in a web.
The voice slid into his mind like a slick viper and continued.
“If not for evil-dragon blood coursing your veins, how could you hear my whisper so clearly?”
“You think your violent temper above your kin comes merely from storms?”
“No—that is a gift I gave your children: a hidden, maddening essence under your Bronze Dragon blood.”
Thunderous revelations struck Siano’s mind like lightning.
He recalled his uncontrollable rages in youth, and how he’d targeted evil dragons to vent his violence—on that path he had grown paranoid and extreme.
“Accept it, embrace your true power.”
“Pray to me, call my name, and I will grant you the strength to rip your foes apart and survive.”
The temptation wrapped his dying will like sweetest poison, seeking to drag him to hell.
After a brief silence, Siano refused and roared, “No... I’d rather fall than kneel to evil!”
Time resumed its normal flow.
Siano braced his shattered body and lunged like a mad beast, but the disparity in power and state could not be closed.
The frenzied, newly ascended Garoth—carrying the crushing momentum of destruction—overwhelmed Siano’s futile counterattacks.
Four claws burning with blood-flame dug into Siano’s battered chest like red-hot branding irons.
“Wait! The Dragon Domain Law will punish him! Garoth, stop!”
Ovis, who had arrived at the battlefield’s edge, watched horrified and yelled in dragon speech.
Garoth did not stop.
Roar—!
Amid that cry, four claws sank deeper and surged with power in all directions.
Slash—!
The terrifying ripping drowned the storm and waves.
Under Ovis’s stunned gaze, showers of blood and shredded organs rained; Siano’s huge, resilient body was torn into four sections from his chest.
Broken bones jutted like pale blades from the flesh; shattered organs and scalding blood poured down in a torrential deluge.
Siano’s pupils lost all light as his broken body crashed heavily into the churning waves below, painting the sea in heaving scarlet.
Only Garoth’s silhouette remained in the sky.
Under the stars, moons, and blood-fire’s reflection, he unleashed a victory roar that shook the heavens.