As the smoke and dust cleared, Xiha Dragon stood unmoving where he was. Only a few shallow scorch marks remained on the hammerheads, and not even a crack had appeared in his scales.
"Is that all the strength you have? That barely scratched an itch!" He laughed loudly, then stomped hard. The thick alloy floor plate caved in slightly beneath his foot as he shot toward Ling Zichen like a cannonball.
His burly frame stood over two meters tall, yet he was not slow in the slightest. In just a few strides, he crossed most of the arena. Both hammers came crashing down toward Ling Zichen's head with howling wind and scorching Dragon-Forging Flame.
Iron-Splitting Heavy Hammer
Ling Zichen's gaze sharpened as the thrusters beneath her feet erupted.
Mechanical Flash Assault
Her figure abruptly became a silver-gray blur, shifting several meters to the side and narrowly evading the strike.
Boom—
The forging hammers struck the ground, instantly blasting out a crater several meters wide. Cracks spread outward like a spiderweb, while scorching forging fire flowed along them and heated the alloy floor until it glowed red.
Before Xiha Dragon could retract his hammers, Ling Zichen had already circled to his side. Her arm armor shifted, ejecting two high-frequency vibrating metal blades that slashed viciously at the seam in the scales around his waist with a piercing hum.
The angle was vicious, striking precisely at the weakest point in his defenses.
Xiha Dragon reacted with incredible speed, bringing his left hammer down in a block.
Clang!
The arm blades struck the hammerhead, sending sparks flying. Ling Zichen used the force to flip backward. In midair, her shoulder cannons fired again, launching three explosive shells at close range directly toward Xiha Dragon's face.
"Good!"
Unhurried, Xiha Dragon opened his mouth and sprayed