The alchemical equipment had been stripped from its body. The copper dragon's head spun and its neck throbbed, but it finally came to its senses and broke free of the hypnosis.
It raised a claw and struck Garos's right shoulder, slapping and tearing at it.
The blows landed with heavy, muffled thuds.
Then sparks flew. As claw tips scraped against scales, a grating screech rang out, like metal grinding against metal.
The copper dragon felt as though it had struck a slab of iron hammered a thousand times over. Pain jolted through its claw, yet it left only a few marks on his scales. It could not tear them open or draw blood.
Garos had no buffer scales on his body now, thanks to his earlier training.
Dark red lines flickered across his scales like flowing magma. His black scales, touched with a faint matte silver sheen, seemed cast from solid steel, far harder than those of ordinary dragonkin.
"Those scales are so hard!"
The copper dragon opened its jaws and spat a mouthful of gel-like Acid Dragon Breath, but Garos had already pulled away and avoided it.
Only then
did the copper dragon, finally given a moment to breathe, realize something was missing from its body.
It turned its head. The Flowing Fire Wing Ring hanging from its wing was gone. Looking down, it found that the Watcher Necklace around its neck had vanished too. It ran its tongue around its mouth and could not feel the Silver Frost Ring there either.
Even beneath the scales of its neck, something felt absent.
It reached up with a claw and felt around. To its horror, nearly all the gems and gold coins hidden beneath those scales were gone.
Then it spotted things glinting between the fine, featherlike scales on Garos's wings. On closer inspection, weren't those its gems and gold coins?
The Flowing Fire Wing Ring, Silver Frost Ring, and Watcher Necklace were all clutched in one of his claws.
"You damned evil dragon! Give back my gems, my gold, and my alchemical equipment!"
The copper dragon shrieked.
No normal dragonkin could stay calm and rational after watching its treasure and equipment get stolen right in front of it.
It beat its wings and flew at Garos.
The copper dragon came on in a fury, claws bared and jaws wide.
But anger did not make it stronger. It only left more openings in its attacks.
Garos tilted his body and slipped aside from its furious charge. Then he seized its tail with both claws and locked his grip tight as iron pincers.
Crack, crack, crack!
The scales along his forearms pressed tightly together. Powerful muscles bulged beneath them, unleashing tremendous force.
"You—"
Before the copper dragon could get the word out, its voice stretched into a long cry. Garos swung it by the tail through several full circles in the air, then hurled it hard at the ground.
Boom!
A deafening crash rang out.
Shattered rock and dust billowed upward. A huge crater formed in the ground, with dense cracks spreading out in every direction.
"Pah!"
The copper dragon spat gravel from its mouth and climbed out of the crater. Its scales were cracked across much of its body, and pain pulsed through it from the outside in.
Even so,
it showed no fear.
Instead, it swept the dust away with its wings and soared up again, charging straight at Garos as if ready to fight him to the death.
"You innately evil Red Iron Dragon! Give back my things, or I won't let you get away with this!"
The copper dragon shouted.
Dragonkin had sturdy bodies and vigorous life force. Its injuries were nowhere near severe yet. Unless the difference in strength was immense, or a dragon fought to the death without retreating after losing itself to bloodlust, killing one was difficult.
Even so, this copper dragon was acting far too recklessly.
It seemed to have something to rely on.
Garos's eyes flickered. Rather than press his advantage, he began to retreat.
I've already taken enough gems, gold, and alchemical equipment. But Metal Dragons are rich, every last one of them. It might have another way to save its life.
Sure enough, a silver rune appeared on a scale over the copper dragon's chest. It was not an Alchemy Rune, but a Spell Scale, something like a spell scroll inscribed directly onto a dragon scale.
This was the strongest lifesaving measure Metal Dragon parents bestowed on their offspring.
If those parents were powerful enough,
even an Adolescent Dragon's Spell Scale might unleash terrifying power on par with the Legendary Realm.
No one could be certain what sort of counterattack an adolescent Metal Dragon might unleash in a moment of peril.
Garos instinctively sensed a trace of danger.
Why couldn't I have been a Metal Dragon?
He sighed inwardly.
He would have been lying if he said he was not envious.
For Metal Dragons, adventure was just adventure. They traveled with lifesaving measures in reserve, treating the journey like a game. Often, they did it not to survive, but to entertain themselves and make their lives less dull.
Evil Dragons, on the other hand, had to stake their lives on seeing another day.
The thing was, Garos did not think of himself as an evil dragon. He only wanted to live a little longer. It was a simple, modest wish.
But this world was too dangerous, and it was far from friendly to him.
Just look at what had happened.
Garos had been happily training, bothering no one. Yet the moment the copper dragon saw him, it had called him an innately evil Red-Iron Hybrid and come straight over to pick a fight.
At this rate, even a dragon who was not evil would be forced to become one.
Garos let out a slow breath and gathered his thoughts.
He had the treasure and alchemical equipment. There was no need to take any more risks.
He did not know what level of power lay within the other dragon's lifesaving Spell Scale. The danger of trying to kill a Metal Dragon far outweighed anything else he might gain.
Garos quickly made his choice. He would break off the fight and retreat.
His wings swept back.
He withdrew at tremendous speed, opening a wide gap between himself and the copper dragon in an instant. A moment later, he was almost out of sight.
The copper dragon chased him for a few seconds, but it could not catch up. It stopped, grinding its teeth.
"You evil Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon! Don't let me catch you, or I'll make you lick my claws every day to atone for what you've done!"
It shouted in frustration.
Just before he vanished completely, Garos's voice carried back on the wind.
"Time for a question."
"What's flying through the sky and about to go crying to its mother?"
The copper dragon froze. By the time it understood, its scales were growing visibly brighter.
It was boiling with rage.
Furious but helpless, it turned its gaze on the Worm King, which lay coiled at the bottom of the abandoned mine pit, watching the two dragons fight.
"Damned bug! What are you looking at?"
The copper dragon growled, folded its wings, and dived at the Worm King.
The Worm King paid for its lack of knowledge about dragonkin.
It opened its huge mouth and lunged at the copper dragon.
At the same moment, the silver rune on the copper dragon's chest blazed to life.
A lifesaving Spell Scale of this kind activated only when its bearer's life was in danger.
The temperature plunged, as though a scorching summer day had suddenly become the dead of winter.
Countless ice blades appeared around the copper dragon, seemingly without end. They howled toward the Worm King in a torrential barrage, too fast for it to react.
Slice, slice!
Ice blades plunged into its mouth, tore effortlessly through its shell, and burst out the other side. In an instant, the Worm King was grievously wounded, its body riddled with cuts and holes.
"Gurgle, gurgle..." Strange sounds came from its mouth.
Panicked by the pain, the Worm King turned and fled. It crawled into a mine tunnel and dragged its badly wounded body toward the depths underground.
Failing to kill the Worm King in one strike only made the copper dragon angrier. It circled above the abandoned mine pit, sweeping its wings and raining ice blades across every inch below until the place was utterly ravaged.
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