Heat surged through Dago's heart. He drew a light breath, controlled his battle-axe, and took the initiative to meet his opponent once more.
The blood coursing through his body roared like a surging tide. The Blue Conch keened, and Dago swept a pitch-black trail through the void like an ancient demon riding the waves out of the ocean's depths. In an instant, he closed in on the dark silver dragon.
He pressed his palms together, controlling the enormous axe in a posture of worship. Streams of arcing flame spilled down, unleashing an ancient, terrifying pressure.
This time, he aimed for the dark silver dragon's neck. But just as the battle-axe traced a mysterious arc of light and slashed down, the dragon whose claw he had just severed roared in fury.
Its enormous body shuddered violently. Thick, silvery-white spikes rapidly sprouted along its towering, mountainlike back.
Boom!
The power unleashed by this collision was greater than ever. Dago felt as though he had struck an indestructible mountain. A terrifying recoil swept through him, blasting apart the flesh of his arms and chest in an instant. He hurtled backward, finally slamming into an enormous stone statue with a thunderous crash.
"Cough-"
Dago struggled painfully out of the dent in the statue, only to discover that the same humanoid statue had stopped him again. More cracks seemed to have appeared across it, and it was now on the verge of collapse.
A huge notch had broken off the blade of the ancient battle-axe condensed from black Aura, and it was slowly repairing itself.
Alarm flickered in Dago's eyes. Looking into the distance again, he saw that the dark silver Tailless Giant Dragon seemed to have entered a state of extreme frenzy. Its entire body had swollen considerably, its wings spread wide as countless