But there was nothing.
There was no monster capable of turning invisible like a Chameleos. Honestly, this cave, perpetually shrouded in yellow-green miasma, was no different from the fog a Chameleos released.
Xingyan quickly slashed at the air around him. The yellow-green miasma was repeatedly cut apart and gathered back together, until he finally felt at ease.
Plop.
Sizzle—
He heard liquid dripping from his body, followed immediately by a sizzling sound as it hit the ground.
Xingyan turned his head and saw a viscous yellow-green liquid dripping down the surface of an Air Sac Carapace on his side. Wherever it flowed, white smoke billowed from the carapace with a hiss. The liquid that had already dripped onto the ground had even eaten a twisted pit into the rock by his feet.
Boom!!
Another explosion.
Xingyan watched as the Air Sac Carapace on his body, which had still been smoking moments ago, seemed to have its outer layer eaten through. The next second, it suddenly exploded.
Mystery solved. Strong acid.
The Sulfur Dragon Slayer that lived in Miasma Valley had lost the Flame Sac that a Glavenus should have. In its place was strong acid—the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's Sword Tail could secrete highly corrosive acid.
In the game, this lowered a hunter's armor defense. In reality, it meant their armor would be corroded into a useless lump of scrap, just like Xingyan's Air Sac Carapace.
Once the minerals crystallized over the surface and the thin outer layer of the Air Sac Carapace had been eaten through, it was hardly surprising that it would explode.
During that last attack, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer had flung out that highly corrosive acid from its swinging Sword Tail. He had to admit, Xingyan found it a little disgusting.
His Air Sac Carapace had far less defense than normal armor, so it could trigger an explosion as quickly as possible when struck. That meant that if the Sulfur Dragon Slayer kept splashing him with acid during the fight, then once it landed enough hits, it would eventually blow up every last piece of his Air Sac Carapace.
Most importantly, unlike the dragons that had to charge in and attack at close range with their teeth, claws, tails, or bodies, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer could attack from a great distance with its long Sword Tail.
That meant it could wear Xingyan down for free.
He'd enjoyed bullying other dragons with his long, thick, sharp weapon. Now he felt just as awful as the dragons he'd tormented before. Was this what it felt like to be on the receiving end?
This was armor I'd worked so hard to eat my way into!
I couldn't let it get trashed like this!
Xingyan had realized that the Sulfur Dragon Slayer had probably figured out the secret of his carapace. Ever since a moment ago, the creature had stopped making any offensive moves. Instead, it was using its Sword Tail to deflect or block his attacks—and then splashing him with acid like crazy!!
Sulfur Crystals!
It secreted a large amount of strong acid with every swing of its blade. Even when Xingyan blocked the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's Sword Tail, the acid would still be flung at him by the force of its swing.
Xingyan had figured it out by now. This wasn't some beautiful Glavenus—it was a complete shrew!!
A pure shrew!!
It wasn't his imagination. The Sulfur Dragon Slayer across from him seemed to be grinning smugly.
Boom!!
Another piece of Air Sac Carapace exploded after the acid ate through it. Xingyan's heart ached so badly he could hardly breathe... This was top-quality Vaal Hazak material.
He couldn't go on like this. As his thoughts raced, Xingyan made up his mind. Since the Sulfur Dragon Slayer refused to have a proper, fair fight between two sword masters, then he didn't need to hold back either.
So it was a Long Sword dragon, huh? Then he was Miyamoto Musashi!
Show up late to a duel, exhaust the old man, spread rumors to mess with the opponent's head... Whatever! He just had to win!
He leaped into the air again and brought down a powerful slash. As expected, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer blocked it. But this time, instead of retreating or changing his sword technique to press the attack, Xingyan whipped his head around and spat out a huge fireball.
Caught off guard.
The Sulfur Dragon Slayer had never imagined that Xingyan would suddenly spit out a fireball. Having lived all its life in Miasma Valley and never seen a proper Glavenus, it was facing a completely new sight.
The Sulfur Dragon Slayer had long since lost its ability to breathe fire. It never imagined that this strange-looking member of its own species could do such a thing, so it had no defenses up.
The fireball Xingyan spat out was fast. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of the Sulfur Dragon Slayer, which was still holding Xingyan's descending Sword Tail in place with its own in a backward-swinging stance!
Boom!!
A Glavenus's spit wasn't just fire. It was a mixture of the magma stored in its Flame Sac and the debris it scraped off its Sword Tail whenever it ground it clean—like a half-melted ball of nails. It could explode.
The scorching magma fireball struck the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's body with a loud boom, followed immediately by another explosion.
BOOM!!!
The melted slag and magma splattered over the Sulfur Dragon Slayer like glowing, translucent batter. Xingyan's unexpected blast hit it directly in the left chest. For a moment, its carapace looked as if it were about to melt, turning charred black.
The cooling plates on its back were hit especially hard. A large mass of molten magma covered one of the protruding spikes in the explosion. A scorched smell filled the air—one even the miasma couldn't hide.
But worse than the damage from the unexpected blast was the fireball itself and the bright flash it released when it exploded.
The clear orange-yellow light burned at an incredible temperature. In the stone caverns of Miasma Valley, or at least this dark region that relied on glowing moss for light, it was already bright enough to hurt the eyes—and it had flashed the Sulfur Dragon Slayer right in them.
But for Xingyan, this was only the beginning. The Sulfur Dragon Slayer had left itself open, so he had to strike while it was down and finish it off!
Xingyan had learned the essentials of hunter swordsmanship from the Sword Master. He was like a big boy who'd gotten a new toy, and just happened to run into a fellow Glavenus with a sword. He'd gotten excited about comparing sword techniques.
Well, he hadn't expected this fellow's sword to be coated in poison, or for it to keep aiming at the armor he'd worked so hard to build up.
If that was how it was going to be, then there was nothing more to say. He'd wanted to treat his fellow like any ordinary dragon, but all he got in return were dirty tricks. Fine, he'd stop pretending—Xingyan wasn't a good dragon either!
From the day he hatched, he'd never known what shame or pride meant. Ambushing hatchlings, setting traps, or bleeding his enemies dry—all of it came naturally to him. What mattered most was surviving, turning others into dung instead of ending up as dung himself!
In other words, Xingyan only respected victory! For the sake of victory, it didn't matter if he looked shameless or disappointed anyone. It didn't matter what the other dragons said or thought of him. All he wanted was to win and stay alive!
Hehe, I'm going to survive no matter what.
Forced to stagger back several steps by the pain of the sudden flash and explosion, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer knew things were bad. The opposing force that had held back the Sword Tail it had raised to block Xingyan's descending slash had suddenly vanished.
Straining its eyes open, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer found Xingyan's next slash in a blurry world still ringed by white light!
Sweep Fire!
Using the ground as resistance to build up power, this move could also be called a draw slash. It swept up from below at the underside of the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's foreleg. The Sulfur Dragon Slayer refused to back down; in the blink of an eye, it brought down its Sword Tail and slammed it hard against Xingyan's.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang—!!
A rapid series of slashes!
Stepping quickly backward to keep away from the approaching Xingyan, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer was every bit the dragon modeled after the Long Sword. Its strikes were fast and fluid, like a waterbird dancing wildly. Its slender blade traced invisible patterns in midair, repeatedly keeping Xingyan's thrusting Sword Tail at a safe distance.
At this life-or-death moment, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer seemed to be giving it everything it had. Compared with Xingyan's broad, powerful swordsmanship, its style was faster and more agile.
Like two storms—one blue and one yellow-green—colliding, the blue-white and yellow-green Sword Tails clashed several times in a breathtaking flurry amid the growing darkness.
The shrill scrape and crash of blade against blade sounded like two blacksmiths hammering steel with all their might. It wasn't his imagination: both Xingyan's and the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's tail armor near the blade had been hacked apart in places.
The Sulfur Dragon Slayer's Sword Tail was especially notable for the sulfur crystals it secreted. Under the fierce collisions and impacts, the crystals kept forming, then shattering and flying apart. It was as if corrosive acid rain were falling inside the cave. Even the rocks hissed wherever the sulfur crystals landed.
The Sulfur Dragon Slayer had no choice. Xingyan's assault was ferocious, and every slash carried tremendous force. Most importantly, they were fast—he had to work hard to meet each one, whether by blocking or deflecting it.
But even deflecting the strikes required the Sulfur Dragon Slayer to guide them with its Sword Tail. For a creature whose blade was thinner than Xingyan's, it was a difficult choice.
To sever Xingyan's Sword Tail, it had to wait until he spat out magma and heated it red-hot. But cutting off the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's Sword Tail was much simpler. Even in its ordinary iron-tail state, a sufficiently powerful blow could snap its blade on the spot.
To withstand Xingyan's relentless, rainstorm-like assault, the Sulfur Dragon Slayer had to coat its blade with more sulfur crystals. Only then could it make its Sword Tail thicker and harder, keeping it from snapping in two during their head-on clashes.
The price was that the sulfur crystals it produced by expending its stamina were now being flung everywhere as if they cost nothing. Xingyan, meanwhile, was just as shameless in his own way. His habit of spitting out a fireball from time to time while delivering powerful slashes was downright bizarre—like two people agreeing to settle things with cold weapons, only for one of them to suddenly pull out a pistol and shoot at point-blank range.
The Sulfur Dragon Slayer suffered terribly from it, but Xingyan was having more and more fun.
That was it—this was the feeling!
Much of the swordsmanship knowledge and techniques Xingyan had learned from the Sword Master, which belonged to the Ape Dragon Species, were impossible for him to use. And the Sword Master couldn't fight like Xingyan, popping his head out from beneath his helmet to breathe fire mid-battle.
So all he could do was adapt—and adapt was all he needed.
The knowledge and techniques he'd mastered during those days of sword training now flowed swiftly into every slash he made against the Sulfur Dragon Slayer—so effortless, so natural.
A vertical chop, a horizontal slash, then another wild upswing. Every muscle in his body became one, and the force surged through him, finally reaching his tail.
With a spin that brought all his strength to bear, Xingyan swung his Sword Tail in a perfect circle and slashed at the Sulfur Dragon Slayer!
Clang!!!
The circular slash slammed into the middle of the Sulfur Dragon Slayer's blade. But that wasn't the point. The point was that when Xingyan's slash was blocked and his heavy Sword Tail bounced back from the force of the impact, he smoothly spun around again and used the rebound to strike once more!
But this slash—this slash's blade glimmered faintly with a pale yellow light!!
He did it!!!
The pale yellow glow stood out vividly in the dim cave, especially as it traced a huge yellow arc.
The blade was drawn!!
A joy and satisfaction unlike anything he'd ever felt flooded Xingyan's mind. I did it! I succeeded!!
He'd broken through the wall that had troubled him for so long. With remarkably fluid swordsmanship, he'd condensed the Life Energy and strength within his body onto the weapon outside it—right onto his Sword Tail!
Sharper, and harder!
"ROAR!!!"
He roared with excitement. He couldn't have been in better shape. Xingyan struck again, then a third time, then a fourth!
Wild Dance!!
His frenzied swordplay forced the Sulfur Dragon Slayer to retreat again and again. It panted rapidly, white steam pouring from the cooling plates on its back.
But it wouldn't flee!!
When two Glavenuses met in the same territory, unless they were in mating season and both wanted to breed, their meeting would end one of two ways—one would die, or one would have its blade broken!!
Cold and passionate about battle—that wasn't a joke. Even an offshoot like the Sulfur Dragon Slayer was the same. It was instinct, etched into the Glavenus species!
Fight!!
The Sulfur Dragon Slayer was enraged too. It couldn't stand being constantly suppressed like this. It was humiliating! The Glavenus bloodline would never accept it!
But whatever! Xingyan was starting to worry the Sulfur Dragon Slayer might not be able to withstand his attacks and would just fall, or turn and run.
He hadn't had enough yet!
Let me chop you some more! I'm not stopping until I've had my fill!
Before you continue