Chapter 61: Destruction (Double Feature)
The sky shattered, the earth quaked, and the terrifying presence of the golden giant dragon dominated the battlefield with every breath.
Even the spectators from afar were drenched in cold sweat, some so intimidated they fell to their knees.
Yet, before the towering and esteemed figure of Star, the man known as Leon Casmod showed no fear whatsoever.
He gathered the power of lightning in his hands and loudly expressed his dissatisfaction with the colossal beast.
He absolutely hated how these Dragon Kings just had to shout whenever they transformed.
Sure, transformation is cool, but do you really need to yell about it?
Does shouting make you feel more badass or something?
Come on, we’re in a fight here, not a shouting contest!
Leon turned to look at Roswiser.
As much as he wanted to complain, he understood that the dragon’s might was not something an ordinary person could shrug off.
Facing a presence like Star’s up close, even Roswiser, another Dragon King, would inevitably feel the pressure.
It’s instinct for living beings to fear the strong; it’s in the bl**d of dragons to submit to the powerful.
Roswiser looked up, her gaze fixed on the hulking creature.
Her face showed little emotion, her body was relaxed, almost too relaxed.
Seeing her demeanor, Leon opened his mouth, ready to check on her, but she spoke first.
“Leon.”
“…Huh?”
“That shout you let out earlier… it was ridiculously cool.”
General Leon froze, staring at Roswiser in shock.
She squinted and smiled, not in a boastful way but genuinely praising him.
But looking closer, he noticed a bead of sweat trickling from her temple and down the bridge of her nose.
Suddenly, it clicked. That overwhelming dragon presence did affect her somewhat.
Some things buried in their dragon bl**d cannot be easily altered. If it had been another Dragon King, they would have reacted similarly.
In fact, even less than Roswiser. She had held her ground against Star’s oppressive force without showing any discomfort prior, relying entirely on her strong will.
It was only when Leon shouted that her confidence solidified.
She didn’t lack the courage to face a strong enemy; she just needed someone to have her back at critical moments.
And that someone was Leon.
“If you compliment me like this regularly, I’d be really happy.”
After a brief moment of surprise, Leon chuckled, “So, can you keep this up after the battle too?”
Roswiser spread her dragon wings, slowly enveloping herself.
Before her lovely face was completely obscured by the wings, she replied, “Let’s see how you do, idiot.”
With that, she unfurled her wings again, transforming into a roaring silver dragon that soared into the sky.
From that moment, the battle entered its next phase.
The dragon race has its advantages both in human form and dragon form.
In human form, dragons can manipulate magic with greater finesse and have more concentrated attacks, but their explosive power and defense are a bit lacking.
In dragon form, they can completely make up for those weaknesses, but they sacrifice agility, and magic consumption spikes.
The Silver Dragons, particularly, have their stats skewed towards speed, so in terms of size and magical strength, Roswiser couldn’t match Star.
Thus, to conquer this shiny old geezer, she and Leon had to work seamlessly together without a single misstep.
Luckily, the couple shared enough of a bond to do just that.
They didn’t even need words; a single glance was enough to know what the other was planning next.
Let’s call it—team voice chat.
Noticing Roswiser was ready up in the air, Leon readied himself.
“Round two… commence!”
The couple attacked Star simultaneously from the ground and sky.
This time, Star didn’t attempt his previous bell toll.
In human form, he was smaller, allowing for a more effective magical overlay on the bell.
But in dragon form, accumulating the same intensity of bell toll would demand tens of times the magical power.
Moreover, since that human brat had pierced the bell earlier, using it again wouldn’t do much good.
So, in response to the duo’s onslaught, Star opted for a counter-offensive.
He unleashed a massive expulsion of golden light from his maw.
It was like a rain of golden sparks pouring down from above, targeting the ground.
His first target, of course, was Leon Casmod.
From their previous skirmishes, Star began to understand why the Empire was so eager to eliminate this guy.
If he was allowed to live, the repercussions would be immeasurable.
Rulers may have various methods to maintain their reign, but one principle unites them all:
Never allow uncontrollable factors to exist.
And Leon was a prime example of that uncontrollable risk.
Thus, he had to be wiped out.
Boom—boom—boom—
Countless rays of golden light darted around Leon, triggering a series of magical explosions beneath him.
The silver armor was engulfed by fire and smoke, allowing Star to temporarily lose track of Leon.
But before Star could refocus, he felt an intense heat coming from above.
Looking up, three crescent-shaped flames were speeding toward him.
S-Class Fire Magic: Moonfire
Balancing the explosive nature and burning damage unique to fire magic, it also transformed its shape into a blade, greatly increasing its penetrating power.
The three crescent flames struck true, marking the golden scales on Star’s head with distinct burn marks.
But ultimately, it was just surface damage; for a Dragon King, it wasn’t effective harm.
“Dragons these days are getting weaker; the new generation of Dragon Kings only has this much finesse,” Star scoffed, not holding back on his insults.
“If you still had the power to cover the heavens with one hand, why hide in the shadows for centuries and even associate with humans?” Roswiser retorted fiercely.
“My alliance with humans is for the long-term future of our race.”
“The future of the dragon race should be wielded in the hands of dragons themselves, not relying on others.”
After a brief exchange, Roswiser unfurled her wings, creating a spiral current of air.
Next, she concentrated fire magic in her mouth, releasing it in a fiery surge.
The flames chased after the swirling winds, instantly forming a sinuous “fire serpent” that surged towards Star.
S-Class Fire Magic: Explosive Dance of Flames
Star’s massive size bestowed him with exceptional defense and magical power.
But being that large also made him easier to hit.
And with the accelerated flame attack propelled by the wind, Star simply couldn’t dodge it.
The fire serpent crashed against Star’s neck; while his scales absorbed much of the impact, they couldn’t negate the intense heat.
With a low growl, Star gathered energy in his maw, straight at the airborne Roswiser.
But before he could unleash that attack, a silver figure shot out from the explosive flames below at breakneck speed.
Leon, gripping lightning, charged straight for Star.
Star had been keeping an eye on Leon, so the kid wouldn’t succeed in a surprise attack.
While continuing to gather energy, he swung his vast dragon tail towards Leon.
The human simply didn’t flinch and kept charging forward toward Star.
Star snorted, thinking, “Arrogant young fool, prepare to meet your end!”
The golden tail lifted high, blocking the sunlight above Leon, casting a shadow over him.
As he looked up, the tail came crashing down.
Boom!!—
This strike wasn’t just the tail’s free fall; it was Star’s near full-powered blow.
Taking advantage of the formidable size that came with his dragon form, such a heavy attack would be hard to withstand even for a fellow Dragon King of the same size.
What chance did a mere human stand?
As the tail came down, Star released the energy pooling in his mouth, targeting Roswiser in the sky.
The agility of the silver dragon queen meant she wouldn’t fall for such a clumsy charged attack; Roswiser nimbly dodged Star’s strike.
“Ha… a reckless young fool and a timid new king, oh how am I to rate you two?”
The queen hovered midair, her dragon eyes fixed on the golden tail below.
She believed that Leon had a plan; he wouldn’t be foolish enough to charge in only to be squished beneath it.
“Since you’re so unsure about your ratings, how about you hear mine?”
Suddenly, the voice of the man was heard from behind Star’s neck.
The huge body jolted.
Star’s pupils constricted, “Wh, when—”
“So, my rating is… a thousand-year-old geezer like you should just lie down in the dirt.”
Star tried to spin around and swat away the “flea” on his back.
But with a sharp snap of Leon’s fingers, a blue glow lit up at the tip of his tail.
Instantly, a numbing sensation shot through his entire lower body.
A-Class Lightning Magic: Lightning Shadow Mirage
As Star’s earlier attack had ignited the battlefield in a blaze of explosions and smoke, Leon had used that as cover to create a temporary illusionary clone with Lightning Shadow Mirage, and once Star’s attention had been drawn, he silently slipped around to the back of the colossal creature.
This trick only worked on larger Dragon Kings, as in close-quarters combat, distinguishing between the real body and the clone was usually straightforward.
Of course, Roswiser’s cooperation was crucial.
If she hadn’t interfered with her two S-Class magic spells, this old dragon king might have caught on to Leon’s little scheme.
“I’m sure before you showed up, someone told you not to transform into dragon form when fighting me, but clearly, you didn’t listen.”
Leon concentrated lightning into a sword, “But it’s not too late; you can have a nice recap with Constantine down below, titled ‘How Foolish It Is to Fight Casmod in Dragon Form.’”
The lightning sword sliced through Star’s tough golden scales at the nape of his neck.
Star’s dragon eyes trembled violently.
This was more shocking than Leon managing to sneak in a surprise attack.
“He… he actually pierced Star’s scales with a sword made of lightning?!”
Even from a distance, Rave was awestruck by that human’s terrifying power.
The discomfort from Star’s dragon presence still lingered, but that guy named Casmod had plunged him into icy cold fear once more.
But these two fears were fundamentally different.
The pressure from Dragon Majesty came from the bloodline of dragons;
Yet the pressure from Leon stemmed from his outrageously superior, almost freakish strength.
At that moment, Nacho lost his gloating and felt dread. “Does Star have any hidden moves left? If not, we’ll have to call in Blay and Jagers, and you three alone will have to handle it.”
Rave swallowed hard; for once, he didn’t refute Nacho, “Got it, I’ll prepare. This monster… absolutely must not live. It’s terrifying…”
He looked at Leon and muttered, “Too terrifying.”
Rave mustered all his strength to tear his gaze away from Leon and turned to prepare their final ace.
But before he could leave the general’s platform, Nacho shouted, “Wait, you, you look! What’s Star about to do?”
Hearing this, Rave turned back to look.
He saw the golden giant dragon tilting its head back and roaring, completely ignoring the dragon bl**d gushing from its neck.
It erupted in a dazzling light as tremendous energy began to gather above him.
The sheer strength of that energy was enough to warp the heavens and stir up the elements.
Rave instantly recognized Star’s intent.
“He… he’s planning to turn the self-destruction energy into an attack!”
“What… does that mean?” Nacho asked in confusion.
“Old dragons would choose to obliterate everything when cornered.”
Rave felt cold sweat forming, his voice trembling,
“Including themselves.”
