Chapter 102: The Wind Rises.
“Truly an intense battle, enough to make one’s blood boil.”
The two investigators hadn’t moved far; instead, they were hiding in the shadows, watching stealthily. The young commander, observing this spectacle, felt his heart race with excitement.
“But these two Slaying Dragons seem different from the ones on the Old Continent.”
The Dragon Person Hunter watched the two Slaying Dragons clash. If that guy had started with such power, he might not have even had a chance to counterattack.
“One has darkened shell plating and shows signs of crystallization.”
“The other has a sword tail of a completely different color than normal Slaying Dragons, and its blade seems laced with toxins.”
Perhaps individual differences within a species exist, but could they be this vast?
Yet both dragons’ main colors are normal, so the existing differences aren’t enough to classify them as subspecies.
The Dragon Person Hunter stared at the veteran Slaying Dragon, a strange feeling lingering in his mind, refusing to dissipate.
“With your observation, indeed, just in this area alone, we’ve witnessed one Spiny Dragon and three unusual Slaying Dragons. The challenges of the New Continent may be much higher than expected.”
The commander could feel his pulse pounding wildly; the effects of the accelerated heartbeat still lingered.
He originally intended to climb to higher ground on the hillside but noticed another Slaying Dragon on the other side. He gambled with his rapid heartbeat mushrooms and led the monster away.
“I hope this is just a coincidence.”
The Dragon Person didn’t know which event he hoped was coincidental, but wasn’t venturing into the New Continent all about chasing the mysteries in his mind?
“After the battle ends and they leave, we’ll retrieve the materials.”
“The Slaying Dragon’s sword tail—this will be our first material reserve since arriving on the New Continent, right?”
The commander focused on the terrifying monsters’ clashing sword tails, curious about whose would break first.
Meanwhile, the veteran Slaying Dragon’s sword tail already showed numerous cracks, with signs of melting due to high temperatures.
But Jié Jié’s steel sword tail remained in good condition, unlike his opponent’s, showing no absurd signs of chipping.
Its scales in the ocean seemed to act like protective armor for the sword tail, being both hard and flexible.
After the distance was pulled apart, it quickly closed again.
This time, Jié Jié took the offensive. As he learned during the fight, his body, steps, and tail worked together more harmoniously, almost becoming a true Slaying Dragon.
Beast-dragon combat doesn’t care much for experience; hacking away is often enough.
But compared to ordinary Slaying Dragons, Jié Jié possessed greater physical resilience, allowing him to execute combos beyond their reach with greater agility.
His tango-like movements twisted towards Latin dance rhythms.
With graceful spins, his sword tail attacked using every part—tip, back, body, and sides—in various ways.
Now, he spun ceaselessly, his blade swirling into a storm, forcing the veteran Slaying Dragon to retreat under pressure.
Agility mixed with brute force.
Threads of wind pressure generated by the small horns on the Slaying Dragon’s head swirled around Jié Jié’s spinning sword tail according to his will.
“Huff.”
Air flowed from his mouth, spinning alongside the wind-laden sword tail.
Large creatures can nullify wind pressure, but it isn’t solely used externally—it can also wrap around oneself.
The wind picked up.
Accelerated by the howling wind, the sword tail carved new scars onto the veteran Slaying Dragon’s body and serrated grooves onto its own sword tail.
As for the counterattacks?
If the windmill spun fast enough, a single sword tail could fill every offensive gap of the opponent, naturally blocking every attack.
A rather annoying style, yet understanding the opponent’s rhythm is essential to exploit such advantages.
Let’s try wind blades.
Facing the cornered Slaying Dragon, Jié Jié blew the fire ignited by his sword tail grazing the ground into a raging inferno.
Wind fuels the flames, wind, forest, mountain, and fire.
The scorching wind blades, akin to sword aura, were swung out and slashed across the veteran Slaying Dragon’s body.
But upon touching the dragon, the sword aura dissipated without causing effective damage.
It was like blowing out a hot gust of wind—good for harassing hunters, perhaps, but in battles between large monsters, it was merely a trick.
However, the veteran Slaying Dragon recovered some stamina while retreating and now turned angrily.
A sweeping slash struck Jié Jié directly in the face.
“Bang!”
Jié Jié simply shook his head, dislodging many sawtooth-like crystals and fiery streams. His faceplate didn’t even show any new marks.
In the spinning steps, the dual dragons’ sword tails clashed once more.
The veteran Slaying Dragon retreated, sheathed its sword, and began sharpening its blade.
The crystalline serrations on its sword tail were ground down, colliding with the magma rising from its red flame sacs. The magma smoothed the blade, creating sharp textures.
Though the blade regained its edge, the cracks in the body remained.
Without those crystals that could shatter to reduce impact, the blade might become more fragile.
The veteran Slaying Dragon spat out chunks of magma mixed with crystals toward Jié Jié.
“Huff!”
The compressed wind ball in Jié Jié’s mouth was released upon opening, forming a tornado that deflected the breath weapon, exploding in mid-air.
The Slaying Dragon paused, having fought many of its kind before but never seen such a move.
The two observers watching from afar were similarly stunned.
“Did that Slaying Dragon just use a Storm Breath?”
The commander rubbed his eyes, but the swirl of air vanished after deflecting the breath weapon.
“Yeah, we should start an investigation project on this. But how… did that happen?”
“I can breathe wind. Seen anything like it?”
Jié Jié chuckled, biting onto his own sword tail, which, despite its steel-like texture, showed wear from multiple clashes. Yet he didn’t intend to grind it like the veteran dragon but instead slightly twisted his body in an Iaijutsu stance.
Compressed air was expelled from his mouth but restrained by the dragon wind onto his sword tail.
Forward! Draw the blade!
The sword tail was released along with the storm!
Summon the storm!
The sword tail, engulfed by the storm, tangled with the opponent’s incoming sword tail but was sliced open by the sharpened blade.
The sharp sword tail met its end when its cutting point wore down, leaving monstrous recoil and impact forces rushing like waves—
The scale armor shattered, and Jié Jié’s delayed steel sword tail strike finally landed on the unprotected sword tail.
A sword tail, accompanied by shattered crystalline scale armor, spun through the storm and fell to the ground.
The match was decided.
Jié Jié raised his steel sword tail, now bearing a massive notch, breaking the veteran Slaying Dragon’s last hopes.
The veteran Slaying Dragon let out a roar of disappointment and wobbled away, turning to flee.
Jié Jié didn’t chase it, letting it escape.
This battle was exhilarating for him—full of blood-pumping action in the beginning and playful innovation later on.
Fighting happily, everything went smoothly.
103
