Watching the Demon Flame Dragon fall into the volcano's magma, Yoru Machi and the others had originally planned to head to its nest and see whether there were any treasures to help them recover their losses.
However, just as they turned to leave, the scalding magma in the crater suddenly began to churn violently.
"Boom—!"
The next second, several pillars of blazing magma erupted from the crater. As the air temperature became unbearably scorching in an instant, the Demon Flame Dragon spread its wings and appeared above the crater once more.
It had to be said that, as a legendary dragon, the Demon Flame Dragon truly looked impressive right now. With the volcano as its backdrop, it was leagues cooler than the Poisonous Demon Dragon Yoru Machi and the others had encountered before.
"Roar—!"
Missing one eye and with quite a few dragon scales gone from its side jaw, the Demon Flame Dragon let out an immensely imposing Dragon Roar the moment it emerged from the magma. It roared at the three of them, seeming both to threaten them and vent its fury.
Unfortunately, even if the Demon Flame Dragon roared itself hoarse, it could not find the slightest trace of fear on any of the three people's faces.
On the contrary, when the handsome white-haired man saw it make such a stylish reappearance, he actually looked delighted. That immediately made the Demon Flame Dragon begin to regret its decision.
Through their earlier clash, the Demon Flame Dragon had already realized that these three humans were clearly nothing like the humans it had encountered before.
Especially that white-haired man—he was a complete monster. Not only had its Blazing Breath been utterly ineffective against him, but he had even possessed the power to punch a dragon like it flying!
Its odds of victory did not seem very high. These humans had thought it dead after it fell into the magma, and if it had simply stayed hidden in there, it should have been fine. Yet for some reason, it had come out to deliver itself to its death.
Seeing the terrifyingly powerful white-haired man charge toward it with an excited expression, the Demon Flame Dragon—which should have been the nightmare of countless creatures across the continent—froze for a moment before turning around and fleeing...
"Hey, don't run! Weren't you roaring at us just now? Why are you running now? I'm only interested in some of the materials on your body. I won't do anything to you."
Seeing that the Demon Flame Dragon had not died after falling into the magma and had instead flown back out, Yoru Machi felt as though his money had returned and was naturally overjoyed.
When he saw the Demon Flame Dragon trying to slip away, Yoru Machi immediately used Shunpo to chase after it, continuously attacking from behind with Kidō.
The dragon scales on the Demon Flame Dragon were indeed extremely tough, but Yoru Machi's Kidō in this New World was no longer what it used to be. No matter how tough the scales were, they could not withstand his relentless bombardment.
Thus, before long, under Yoru Machi's barrage of chantless Kidō, the Demon Flame Dragon failed to dodge in midair and was struck by one of his Thunder Roar Cannons.
This Thunder Roar Cannon did not render the Demon Flame Dragon unable to fight, nor did it even injure it, but it did cause it to lose its balance briefly.
Taking advantage of that brief moment when the Demon Flame Dragon lost its balance in flight, Yoru Machi quickly closed the distance and began rapidly chanting a Kidō incantation.
"Light exists in this world; spirit is the lock, soul is the chain. All that is bound is sin!
Bakudō #63: Chain Binding!"
Glowing golden chains lashed out from Yoru Machi's hand. With the strength of Chain Binding, it was unrealistic to restrain a Demon Flame Dragon nearly fifty meters long for any significant amount of time.
Therefore, Yoru Machi had not expected Chain Binding to completely restrain the Demon Flame Dragon. Instead, he wrapped the chains around one of its legs, then, the instant the golden chains tightened, used their pulling force to flip himself onto the Demon Flame Dragon's back, playing the part of a dragon rider!
Feeling the human from earlier climb onto its back, the Demon Flame Dragon was naturally furious. It was a proud dragon—was its back something just anyone could ride?
Before long, the enraged Demon Flame Dragon stirred the magic power within its body, causing raging flames to erupt across its scales as it tried to burn Yoru Machi to ashes.
Unfortunately, although the flames were as hot as magma and completely incinerated what little clothing Yoru Machi had left, his body remained entirely unharmed under the effects of Magic Power Immunity.
Unable to kill Yoru Machi, that damned human, the Demon Flame Dragon beat its wings and began performing a series of difficult aerial maneuvers—rolling and spiraling through the sky in every way imaginable, all to throw Yoru Machi from its back.
Unfortunately for it, Yoru Machi was now looking at the Demon Flame Dragon's body as though it were an enormous treasure vault.
He used Chain Binding to tie himself firmly to the dragon's body so that this irritable dragon could not shake him off. Then Yoru Machi clenched his fists and began hammering the Demon Flame Dragon beneath him, one punch after another.
"Infinite Shunko!"
"Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!"
Fists carrying the power of Shunkō crashed into the Demon Flame Dragon's back one after another, and the Demon Flame Dragon had clearly lost its earlier arrogance.
The instant Yoru Machi landed the first punch on its back, the Demon Flame Dragon felt intense pain and the force of the impact. It could no longer maintain flight and plummeted straight from the sky.
Yet even as the Demon Flame Dragon fell from high altitude, Yoru Machi did not stop. He remained seated on its back, raining punches down like a storm.
The air currents and shockwaves generated by Shunkō not only knocked the Demon Flame Dragon's scales off one by one, but the powerful impacts also sent wave after wave of tremors through the ground beneath it.
When Shimada Yousuke and Cui caught up, they were both dumbfounded by the sight before them.
A human was actually riding a giant dragon and beating it senseless. With each fresh barrage of Yoru Machi's punches, the crater beneath the Demon Flame Dragon grew larger and larger. At this rate, before long, the first dragon in history to be beaten to death by a human's fists would be born.
"Yoru Machi, don't kill it yet. This Demon Flame Dragon seems to be begging for mercy... It says that as long as you do not kill it, it promises never to cause trouble again.
"And if you do not believe it, it is even willing to acknowledge you as its master."
The Demon Flame Dragon, which had been beaten into howling while Yoru Machi rode on its back, did seem to have made quite a few incomprehensible sounds. But Yoru Machi had not understood them and had even assumed it was merely screaming in pain.
But upon hearing Shimada Yousuke's words, Yoru Machi froze...
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