Chapter 97

Chapter 97: The Biting Dragon, Times Have Changed!

Night fell, and the thirty weary investigators gathered around the bonfire, sharing their work, discoveries, and food from the day.

But everyone’s eyes kept drifting to the Ailu Cat chef’s bosom, where a friendly Smoky Snow Weasel nestled, its glowing body providing light—a rare sight indeed.

It was hard not to wonder if it had been trained as a pet.

Its name wasn’t on the ship’s roster, so who could have trained it? Was it the natives of the New Continent?

Those who loved furry creatures couldn’t be bad, though their activities were confined to the mountains, with no sign of the natives yet found.

The Dragon People Tribe hunter and the Plains Master had already applied for external exploration missions, which would commence tomorrow.

The Smoky Snow Weasel lifted its head at the sound of conversation; the Commander and Team Leader seemed to be arguing. In the end, the Team Leader helplessly shrugged in submission.

Was it some kind of power struggle drama? But the other investigators showed no reaction.

As the sky grew darker, the Ailu Cat Chef dozed off, her head drooping.

Jié Jié slipped out of her arms unnoticed by the night watchmen and sneaked away.

The rain had lessened, and the ocean gradually calmed down.

After landing in the distant forest, Jié Jié, transformed into his Smoky Snow Weasel form, began raiding the nests of the elusive Rabbits.

This was effortless for him, and soon he dragged three Rabbits to contribute to feeding the investigation team.

However, a battered figure passed by, causing him to pause.

The skeletal frame of a Beasts-Dragon covered in red-and-blue hard shells stood before him, looking tough and unapproachable.

The hard shell was riddled with sword-like scars, and behind it trailed a long tail like a blade.

This was a Slaying Dragon, named for its ability to slash with its blade-like Sword Tail.

But this Slaying Dragon’s Sword Tail was broken, leaving only half of it—quite a pity.

It had been a while since there were any new powerful forms.

Hiding the three Rabbit corpses, the Smoky Snow Weasel’s body rapidly expanded as it charged toward the Slaying Dragon, its horned head leading the charge.

Before the Slaying Dragon could turn its head to see what was charging, a green Flying Dragon loomed large in its vision.

The sudden attack knocked it over, its hard shell cracking under the impact of the horn, piercing through.

“ROAR!”

The fallen Slaying Dragon roared, kicking its strong legs at Jié Jié. Its hard shell protected it from being torn apart.

Struggling to stand, the angry Slaying Dragon opened its armored mouth and bit into the Spiny Dragon.

It realized something was wrong as it tried to bite but found the creature too tough. Worse still, the spikes on its shell cut into its own mouth.

Jié Jié remained unfazed, merely striking the Slaying Dragon’s face with its Wing Claw, knocking it back.

In the brief distance created, he used a simple Horn Strike, while the Slaying Dragon countered with an Iron Mountain Lean.

This left its side exposed to the Spiny Dragon’s horn, causing the Slaying Dragon to groan in pain and lunge forward again with another bite.

Jié Jié stared blankly.

Wouldn’t you rather whip your tail and use a Kasaya Slash to my head, creating distance before initiating a combo attack?

Just because your Sword Tail is broken doesn’t mean you can’t slash anymore!

Go ahead and become a Biting Dragon!

Facing the Slaying Dragon’s bite, Jié Jié struck its side with a Wing Claw.

Since the Slaying Dragon didn’t counter with its tail, Jié Jié retaliated with a Poison Tail, spinning and striking with his Tail Hammer, shattering its face armor and oozing toxic blood.

Spinning further, Jié Jié provocatively bit his own tail, challenging the Slaying Dragon with a defiant look.

A tail strike hit the Slaying Dragon’s face, followed by mimicking its standard pose, humiliating it further until it finally snapped in anger.

Its broken Sword Tail swung, and it bit its own tail, dragging it to build up strength.

The remaining shell on its Sword Tail sparked against its steel teeth, igniting the broken tail.

With just a slight release, the heated Sword Tail could cleave the strange-looking Female Fire Dragon in two with an Iaijutsu strike!

However—

“Times have changed.”

Jié Jié raised his head slightly, revealing the dark cavity of his mouth hidden behind his Tail Hammer. Fiery red light surged upward, transforming into a fireball that exploded on the Slaying Dragon’s head!

Focusing all its energy, the Iaijutsu strike was interrupted, and the Slaying Dragon crashed to the ground.

“Tch, lower your Katana! You’d be better off biting me.”

With a mocking roar, the Spiny Dragon leaped from the ground and trampled the Slaying Dragon repeatedly.

Cracks deepened on the Slaying Dragon’s shell, and thick poison flowed from its mouth.

“Grunnnh!”

An explosion of fiery poison erupted on its body, sending the Slaying Dragon flying to collide with a nearly fallen giant tree, panting heavily.

Come on, again!

His nose horn rose, resembling a beckoning hand.

“Tui~”

A mixture of venom and broken teeth splattered onto the ground, sparks flying as the residual shell on its Sword Tail scraped against the earth. With a mighty thrust from its muscular legs, the Slaying Dragon spun in the air.

The heavy Sword Tail came crashing down.

Switching from Katana moves to Great Sword techniques, huh?

This move was too fast for Jié Jié to dodge, and the burning Sword Tail struck directly on his back.

The Slaying Dragon retracted its Sword Tail, leaving burn marks on the Spiny Dragon’s backshell, then—

A small stab.

Even with the broken shell, the Sword Tail remained sharp, piercing and slicing open Jié Jié’s wing membrane.

Minor injury.

The Spiny Dragon’s more human-like face twisted into a sinister grin as it blocked the returning Sword Tail with its horn.

Raising its neck, it deflected the attack and charged forward!

“After letting you fight for so long, now experience the tradition of the Spiny Dragon—the killing blow!”

The inability to sever his horn seemed to surprise the Slaying Dragon, but it had no time to recover from its shock.

The Spiny Dragon’s upward horn pierced straight into the Slaying Dragon’s throat, flipping it onto the ground.

The Slaying Dragon twitched once on the ground, then lay still.

“Not unworthy of the name Slaying Dragon.”

Both Iaijutsu and True蓄斩 were witnessed by Jié Jié, satisfying him.

Next, these moves would belong to him.

A new Slaying Dragon rose from the remains of the old one, glancing at its somewhat lacking Sword Tail, lowering its head with sparks crackling in its mouth.

As the Slaying Dragon shell was crushed and absorbed into its body, metal emerged on the Sword Tail, but unlike the usual indigo color, Jié Jié’s Sword Tail gleamed silver.

As dawn approached, the Smoky Snow Weasel hurriedly dragged three Rabbits to the Ailu Cat Chef searching for him, presenting his pitiful spoils of war.