Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

Chapter 67: Garoth the Dragon Bomber

Garoth's eyes remained locked onto the Cliff Serpent Dragon. As it attempted to retreat, he unleashed his Electric Fire Breath - a blazing projectile with incredible speed and range - forcing the serpentine beast to react.

The breath weapon carved a brilliant trail across the night sky toward its target.

The serpent dragon twisted violently at the last moment, narrowly avoiding the direct hit. However, the sudden movement tore open its barely-closed wounds, sending waves of searing pain through its body.

"I'll swallow you whole!"

The Cliff Serpent Dragon roared as it charged toward Garoth. But the red iron dragon spread his wings wide and retreated once more.

Though his wings grew numb and sluggish from the accumulating poison in his bloodstream, Garoth retained enough mobility to outmaneuver his injured opponent. The serpent dragon's own wounds made its movements increasingly clumsy, leaving it unable to close the distance.

For a moment, the serpent dragon couldn't comprehend Garoth's tactics.

Frustrated hisses escaped its maw as it suddenly dove toward the ground. Its elongated body skimmed the earth, sliding between ancient trees covering the hilly terrain with serpentine grace. Lesser creatures scattered in panic at its passing, birds taking flight and beasts fleeing in all directions.

The dense ground cover would obscure visibility.

Realizing it couldn't match Garoth's aerial agility, the serpent dragon had chosen terrestrial combat.Tracking the serpent's winding path through his dragon pupils, Garoth folded his wings and dove in pursuit.

The Cliff Serpent Dragon coiled its body defensively as it watched Garoth's silhouette streak across the night sky. A long forked tongue flicked out while thick poisonous mist billowed from its scales, withering surrounding foliage instantly.

Then—

At precisely one hundred meters above ground, Garoth leveled out into a high-speed strafing run instead of completing his dive.

A hail of superheated scales—glowing cherry-red from air friction and magical energy enhancement—rained down upon the serpent dragon below.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Giant fireballs erupted across the landscape. Rolling waves of heat and black smoke pillars rose into the night as the saturation bombing—far more extensive than any breath weapon—left the serpent dragon scrambling helplessly through the inferno despite its agility.

The earth itself cratered and split under the barrage.

When the serpent dragon finally emerged from the flames, rolling desperately to extinguish lingering fires, its condition had deteriorated dramatically.

Soot-blackened scales covered most of its body.

Explosive shocks had torn entire scale plates loose.

Shrapnel-like fragments of its own armor now protruded from bleeding wounds.

"Hssssss—!"

An enraged hiss burst forth as the wounded beast raised its head—

Only to face another scale-born hailstorm before it could spot Garoth.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Blood flowers bloomed where shrapnel scales embedded themselves before secondary explosions engulfed the serpent dragon once more.

Garoth banked sharply through the night sky, his wings spread wide. The remaining explosive scales on his body crackled and popped from friction heat, occasionally spitting sparks like red-hot metal plunged into water.

These were scales pushed to their absolute limits—visibly trembling as if ready to detonate at any moment.

And Garoth hurled them downward in relentless waves.

Landing had been a fatal mistake.

Pinned beneath Garoth's aerial bombardment like some draconic bomber aircraft, the serpent dragon found itself unable to even raise its head. Every attempt to take flight met with either another explosive scale volley or precisely timed breath attacks that slammed it back to earth.

At full strength, the serpent dragon might have matched Garoth's speed in short bursts.

But its prior injuries and prolonged battle had robbed it of any escape options.

This was exactly the battle strategy Garoth had devised while approaching Crescent Valley.

First: a devastating alpha strike to wound the serpent dragon without overcommitting.

Then: shift to ranged attacks while the poison's effects remained manageable.

Advance when the enemy retreats. Retreat when the enemy advances. Strike when the enemy tires.

The very earth split open beneath the onslaught. Ancient trees burned like towering torches.

Even a dragon's legendary vitality couldn't endure such sustained bombardment indefinitely. The serpent dragon's life force flickered like a dying candle.

As a fire-aligned creature, it resisted flame damage reasonably well. But the explosive scales' true lethality lay in their concussive blasts and shrapnel effects rather than mere heat.

One final pass.

Garoth shook his body, releasing the last few remaining scales.

The small explosions that followed seemed almost anticlimactic.

A quick self-assessment revealed nearly all his explosive scales had been expended—the saturation bombing had taken its toll.

With the unremarkable explosive plating gone, Garoth's true scales stood revealed under moonlight.

Dull silver-black plates like forged steel or premium obsidian covered his body, crisscrossed with glowing crimson veins resembling molten lava flows. Their metallic sheen projected an aura of indestructibility.

Majestic. Powerful. Radiating dragon might.

One might say Garoth's true health bar had only now become visible.

But the Cliff Serpent Dragon had already reached its limit.

The massive red-and-black dragon hovered in the night sky, wings outstretched to blot out the moon. His shadow fell across the broken serpent dragon below.

The once-fearsome predator now lay with scales shattered, flesh torn, and poison emissions at their most concentrated yet weakest potency—barely clinging to life.

Its hate-filled eyes locked onto Garoth as it weakly raised its head...

Then collapsed unconscious.

Probably not dead yet. Just incapacitated.

Should I take it captive? Restrain it from self-destruction to farm poison resistance?

Garoth narrowed his eyes and launched one final spherical Electric Fire Breath.

Whoosh—

The "unconscious" serpent dragon's eyes snapped open as it twisted aside with surprising agility, hissing furiously at Garoth.

A feigned death attempt—hoping to lure Garoth close for one final toxic counterattack when its venom potency peaked.

Garoth hadn't taken the bait, opting for a safe ranged execution instead.

In a final desperate surge, the mortally wounded serpent dragon mustered enough strength for a leaping attack—only to abruptly change direction mid-air and flee toward Crescent Valley.

"The dragon heritage memories said serpent dragons curse their killers when mortally wounded..."

"Seems this one values survival more than I expected."

"Did I not push it to true desperation? Or is this just individual variance?"

Garoth suspected the latter.

Heritage knowledge reflected species-wide generalizations—less reliable when dealing with specific individuals.

Maintaining a cautious pursuit, Garoth continued harassing the fleeing serpent dragon with breath attacks and Frost Silver Ring projectiles, steadily wearing it down without risking close engagement.

The chase didn't last long.

Their earlier battle hadn't ranged far, and soon the bleeding serpent dragon crashed down into Crescent Valley.

The Howling Moon Clan werewolf warriors stood assembled in defensive formations. Some watched the crippled serpent dragon's arrival while others tracked the approaching red-and-black dragon in the sky.

Collapsing before the elder shaman, the serpent dragon rasped:

"Stop it! Kill it! That's my enemy!"

The target of its hatred needed no clarification—Garoth now circled above the valley.

"What exactly connects these werewolves and the serpent dragon?"

Garoth mused while preparing to continue his aerial bombardment—the flightless werewolves posed little threat to him.

But then came the unexpected development.

As the wounded serpent dragon twisted toward the elder shaman seeking aid, the old werewolf suddenly radiated white light—transforming into a massive spectral wolf spirit that swiped at the serpent dragon's head with one ethereal paw.

The attack itself lacked physical force—but left the serpent dragon momentarily stunned by sheer betrayal.