The silver-gray Kushala Daora roared. It looked at Xingyan, who was watching it warily, then stared at its kin for a long moment. To Xingyan's surprise, the Kushala Daora suddenly spread its wings and took off?!
Xingyan warily backed away half a step, but the silver-gray Kushala Daora didn't swoop down.
A gentle wind curled around its body, lifting it into the sky as it flew toward the depths of the New World. Before long, it disappeared into the clouds, out of sight.
It ran? It ran??!!
Xingyan gaped at the direction in which the silver-gray Kushala Daora had vanished. How had things suddenly turned out like this??
To be honest, he'd been ready for the other Kushala Daora to join the fight after he broke the Rusty Steel Dragon's horn... and then, after one roar, turn around and run.
But until it left, the Kushala Daora that had just been fighting the Rusty Steel Dragon tooth and nail, all the way from the sky to the ground, had done nothing but watch. Why are you just watching?!
If the silver-gray Kushala Daora had shown even the slightest sign of joining the fight, Xingyan would have fled without hesitation toward the nearest underground cave entrance. He was already more than satisfied with how the battle had gone.
He'd vented his anger and learned just how powerful Elder Dragons were in the real world. Escaping alive would already have been a good outcome.
Xingyan's greatsword was riddled with chips and so badly rolled at the edge it was barely recognizable. He could sharpen it with his teeth, but that still wore the blade down. A little more sharpening and he'd see the tail hidden inside Glavenus's Sword Tail.
There was no shame in running. Running wasn't shameful for a dragon. Most native dragons living in this world would probably flee without even starting a fight, and the few ordinary dragons brave enough to challenge an Elder Dragon would look for a chance to escape once they were injured, falling behind, or in trouble.
For the vast majority of living things, staying alive was always the most basic instinct.
At this point, Xingyan figured his attempt to prey on an Elder Dragon had probably failed... Elder Dragons were Elder Dragons, after all. He couldn't deal a fatal blow to this Rusty Steel Dragon—not even if it decided to fly away right now.
Only after experiencing it firsthand did Xingyan understand the enormous gulf between ordinary dragons and the Ancient Dragon Species—a gap wider than the distance between heaven and earth.
Still, he'd given the Rusty Steel Dragon a good beating and bitten off and eaten its horn. It wasn't a bad result.
Just like a hunter... driving off an Elder Dragon.
Even if he couldn't win, he had to try, because sooner or later he'd have to hunt an Elder Dragon.
Now it seemed he'd need to prepare more and wait for the right opportunities.
The strain of the fierce battle had left Xingyan hungry. Since he wasn't a match for the Rusty Steel Dragon and had no chance of winning, it was better to cut his losses. What was done was done; he should go get something to eat first. That was what Xingyan thought—but when he roared and prepared to leave, the Rusty Steel Dragon lunged at him once again!
"Roar, roar, roar!!" ("You're that eager to die, huh!")
Xingyan dodged the Rusty Steel Dragon's... slow lunge and roared in irritation. Anyone could talk tough.
"Roar!!!" ("Come on, then! Aren't you trying to kill me?")
It wasn't his imagination. Xingyan clearly heard those words in the Rusty Steel Dragon's roar, and it was the first time he'd understood another dragon's words so clearly.
Was it... asking him to kill it?!
Xingyan stared in confusion, even wondering if he'd heard wrong. But when he saw the Rusty Steel Dragon turn back, panting as it watched him with old, weary eyes, he knew he hadn't.
The Rusty Steel Dragon really was asking to die.
Old...
Suddenly, a flash of insight cut through Xingyan's mind. He remembered all the strange things about this fight. Why would a proud and peaceful dragon like Kushala Daora fight its own kind?
Why was the Rusty Steel Dragon so much bigger than the silver-gray Kushala Daora?
Why were its movements so slow during the fight?
Why was it in such poor shape, despite being an Elder Dragon, panting even harder than him?
Because it was dying.
Dying of old age. Near the end of its lifespan.
This was clearly an elderly Kushala Daora that had crossed over from the Old World during the Elder Dragon Crossing!
Xingyan suddenly understood it all. From this perspective, every puzzling thing about the fight made sense.
The Rusty Steel Dragon hadn't turned a tea-brown color because it was shedding. It was simply so old that it was nearing death.
The Life Energy stored within its body had grown sluggish, no longer brimming with vitality as it once had. Its nerve endings were losing their sensitivity, and it was gradually losing control of its own body. Even its once-proud, sturdy metal body had begun to feel like a foreign object, forcing it to lumber around every day beneath a heavy steel shell.
As it waited for the end, it watched its body grow older and rustier, day after day. The rust began with the outermost metal shell, then seeped deeper and deeper.
But this time, there would be no new steel shell growing beneath the rust.
Xingyan's gaze fell on the Rusty Steel Dragon's extremities: the bones on either side of its wings, the tips of its wings, and its tail.
In those places, the metal shell could no longer even be called metal. Its color and texture were closer to bone.
A Kushala Daora spent its life shedding and growing anew. The Rusty Steel Dragon was simply one stage in that cycle. As the cycle repeated, they grew older—but that didn't mean their steel outer shells could regenerate forever.
As they aged, the parts of their bodies with less tissue, such as their extremities, slowly began to turn to bone. The steel shell would no longer grow back there. Once this bone-like transformation covered the entire outer shell, a Kushala Daora's lifespan would come to an end.
Bone-like growth and a rusted outer shell: when a Kushala Daora died, all that remained in its place was a steel skeleton. The Life Energy it had accumulated throughout its life would disperse, returning to nature.
During the fierce battle, Xingyan hadn't noticed these subtle signs. Besides, the rust covering the Rusty Steel Dragon had hidden them. To be honest, they weren't very obvious.
Xingyan understood now. The young, silver-gray Kushala Daora hadn't truly been fighting the Rusty Steel Dragon. It had simply been trying, in its own way, to spare an old relative the pain of living like this.
It was trying to preserve the dignity of a dying elder.
The pain and torment caused by its rusting body had made the Rusty Steel Dragon especially irritable and aggressive. The rust had eaten unusually deep, too, because there was no fresh layer of skin to hold it back.
It was like a knife carving into every cell of its body. Worst of all, the pain spread little by little from the surface inward. It was a terrible ordeal for both body and mind.
To the Rusty Steel Dragon, it must have felt as though some monster were devouring it bit by bit, from the outside in. The process was slow and agonizing—enough to drive a dragon mad.
No wonder Xingyan had been able to chop away such a thick layer of rust when he struck it earlier. No wonder the Rusty Steel Dragon had seemed so relieved and comfortable at the time.
In a way, Xingyan's attack really had helped. At the very least, it had spared the Rusty Steel Dragon some of the pain of its rusting, for a little while.
And the silver-gray Kushala Daora had probably left because it couldn't bear to watch an elder of its kind meet such a miserable end.
This was the Rusty Steel Dragon's own choice.
No wonder it was an Elder Dragon. Its intelligence was extraordinary. Unlike ordinary dragons, it clearly possessed higher emotions like sympathy and compassion.
Feeling a pang of emotion, Xingyan gazed at the Rusty Steel Dragon. The pain and anger from having its horn bitten off seemed to have faded, leaving only exhaustion.
"Roar..." ("So you chose me to send you on your way?")
Xingyan asked in a low growl.
"Roar!" ("Send me on my way? Don't make me laugh!")
Though its exhaustion showed in every movement, the Rusty Steel Dragon still raised its neck proudly.
"Roar, roar!!" ("I'll die fighting! You understand, little guy?!")
The Elder Dragon answered an ordinary dragon's words. In the past, with all their pride, Elder Dragons wouldn't have bothered to respond to an ordinary dragon's roar.
Xingyan could understand Kushala Daora's words and clearly grasp what it meant. Yes—fight to the death!
That was why the young Kushala Daora had fought the Rusty Steel Dragon so fiercely. Even knowing its kin meant well, and even as it endured such pain, the Rusty Steel Dragon still wouldn't choose to evade that pain by offering up its neck.
That was the pride of the Ancient Dragon Species. No—that was the pride of dragons!
Xingyan felt the same way. If he were in the same situation, he'd rather fight to the death!
Hearing the Rusty Steel Dragon's roar, Xingyan felt his blood surge. Oh my god! That's totally me!!
"Roar!!" ("Then let's do it!!")
There was no need for more words. After a brief rest, Xingyan had quickly recovered some of his strength. He roared, then clamped his teeth around his Sword Tail.
To show his respect, he would meet the Rusty Steel Dragon with his strongest move.
He lowered his body, twisted his hips, and gathered his strength. Xingyan curled up tight like a shrimp, his whole body taut. He was biting down with all his might, yet his Sword Tail still slowly slid outward between his teeth.
On the other side, the Rusty Steel Dragon saw Xingyan clearly preparing a powerful move, but it neither dodged nor seized the chance to attack. Instead, it lifted its forequarters with a hint of satisfaction and opened its mouth. Powerful air pressure, generated by its internal organs, gathered into a wind projectile in its maw. It, too, was charging up.
It would retaliate not with its body, but with the power of an Elder Dragon.
The gathering storm clouds had spread back overhead before anyone noticed. The few rays of sunlight that had pierced them had vanished. As the first raindrop fell once more, Xingyan suddenly moved.
Heaven and Earth—Peerless Great Roundslash!!!
Xingyan released all the strength he'd built up in an instant. Like a streak of red and blue-green, he vanished from the spot, leaving behind only a rock crushed beneath his feet.
He tore through the air, covering a hundred meters in an instant!!
Boom!!
The moment Xingyan moved, the Rusty Steel Dragon released the pressurized blast of wind it had gathered in its mouth. The air in front of it seemed to split apart. No—in that instant, it was no longer air that one could simply pass through, but a transparent wall.
The impact was powerful enough to shatter and crush rock. The compressed mass of wind even took on a warped, translucent shape in the real world, but Xingyan could no longer see any of it.
All he knew was that he'd aimed straight ahead. All he knew was that in that instant, he'd unfolded his shrimp-curled body and unleashed every bit of the momentum he'd built up—this was the strike that would decide the fight!!
It all happened in an instant, faster than the thunder rumbling through the clouds above, faster even than lightning streaking across the sky.
The red-and-blue-green streak tore through the blue-white mass of wind. The violent gust exploded the moment it was cut apart, like a massive cannon going off. Then came a deafening clang—the clearest sound of metal striking metal yet!!
"Roar!!!"
The Rusty Steel Dragon roared in pain. This was the inevitable result of choosing not to dodge and taking Xingyan's attack head-on: the strike had cut deep into its chest!
And unlike all the injuries it had suffered before, this slash—backed by every ounce of Xingyan's strength—had carved a deep wound into the Rusty Steel Dragon's chest.
It wasn't merely a deep gash. From the wound, deep-red Elder Dragon blood was clearly flowing.
"Roar!!!" ("You made me bleed!!")
But it wasn't over yet. The pain and wound drove the Rusty Steel Dragon into a frenzy. With a furious roar, it used its weight and strength to seize Xingyan, who had tried to leap back to safety after landing the blow.
When the Rusty Steel Dragon's incredibly heavy body crashed down on him, Xingyan felt as if a collapsing mountain had crushed him. He struggled desperately, only to realize with horror that as it pinned him down, the Rusty Steel Dragon had grabbed his tail with its forelegs—even though his thrashing Sword Tail had carved several sparks-spitting wounds across its neck and head.
"Roar, roar! Roar!!" ("This one's for what you did to me!!")
"Roar!!!" ("What are you doing?!")
Roaring and struggling, Xingyan knew he only needed a few more seconds to break free of the Rusty Steel Dragon's hold. It was like a mountain, but it wasn't actually a mountain. But it seemed to be too late.
Before you continue