War Machine (Part 1)

As Xilong's voice fell silent, his expression settled. He walked into the center of the field, lowered his body, arched his back, and assumed a fighting stance.

Opposite him, Kelaili was ready as well.

The Cobalt Dragon's limbs sank heavily into the earth. Muscles knotted beneath his scales, and his tail swayed lightly. At its tip, a huge blunt tail club gleamed faintly with an iron sheen.

Cobalt Dragons had short limbs and necks. This strange physique made it difficult for them to dodge or pounce. Once battle began, all they could do was crush and ram.

The drifting breeze gradually died away, and Ironwood Forest no longer rustled, as if oppressed by the silent standoff.

One side of the confrontation was the aloof, cold Chrome Dragon. Though he was two meters long, he was not especially large, even seeming somewhat lean. Yet the protruding joints beneath his claws revealed his savage strength.

Beneath Xilong's neck and at the ends of his limbs, spike-like bony cones trembled faintly.

Chrome Dragons' scales were exceedingly weak. These bony cones were their only protection, yet even structures meant for defense carried a ferocious air.

From across the field, that Chrome Dragon looked like an unsheathed blade—precise and razor-sharp, his entire body flashing with naked knife-light.

The Cobalt Dragon across from him possessed an utterly different bearing.

Kelaili's body was so massive it could almost be called bloated, covered from head to tail in bulging muscles and thick, block-like scales, as though clad in armor. His presence was heavy as a mountain, like some colossal beast that had stepped out of ancient times, bearing the primal savagery of dragons at their beginning.

Their mutual assessment finally came to an end.

Xilong bared his fangs. His already lowered body sank even further, then he suddenly pounced.

His stride was enormous. When he ran, he resembled a swift great cat, reaching his maximum speed in only a few seconds. He crossed the seemingly distant gap between them like a pale blur, whistling past the young dragons.

Moqi knew full well that, among all the hatchlings of Ochre Valley, Xilong was undoubtedly the fastest.

When the other hatchlings hunted roe deer, they often needed to lure and ambush them. Xilong, however, did not care for any of that. The moment he saw one, he pounced and seized it. If the roe deer shifted direction in a sudden burst, he did the same, treating the chase as training. He truly was a Chrome Dragon among Chrome Dragons, a monster among monsters.

"Don't lose."

Moqi clenched the gold coin in his hand, more nervous than either of the two Heavy-Metal Dragons fighting in the field.

Xilong made successive sudden shifts, and the Cobalt Dragon was already close at hand. He changed direction repeatedly, charging from entirely opposite angles. Before Kelaili could even tell where he was, Xilong had already moved behind him.

His muscles flowed like rippling water, drawing an entire chain of force into motion. Xilong's claws howled through the air, aimed directly at the Cobalt-Blue Overlord's relatively vulnerable nape.

No matter what defense the Cobalt Dragon was famed for, if this strike landed solidly, even rock would be pierced through!

The claws were within inches of him when Kelaili finally reacted.

Fortunately, he was not an unmoving rock. He immediately lowered his center of gravity, leaving deep footprints in the ground. Centered on his spine, his entire back tensed and gathered strength. He neither dodged nor evaded, meeting the attack head-on.

The Cobalt Dragon unleashed a massive shoulder charge, his broad armored back crashing straight toward Xilong.

Both sides displayed their terrifying qualities. Xilong's claws merely gouged once behind the Cobalt Dragon's neck, instantly tearing out dripping flesh and blood.

Yet he also felt as if he had slammed into a solid block of iron. The enormous recoil spread from his foreclaws into his chest, jolting his organs into spasms and leaving his bones numb.

Xilong twisted his body nimbly, spun around, and slid backward along the ground to disperse the force, while also evading Kelaili's possible follow-up attack.

"Sss, sss, sss."

Thin wisps of smoke rose from his claws. Xilong lowered his head and discovered that they had actually been corroded by the Cobalt-Blue Overlord's blood. Their edges were dulling, and a burning pain coursed through them.

Kelaili turned around to face Xilong once more. The muscles behind his neck writhed, forcibly sealing the wound and stopping the blood from seeping out.

"I told you."

Kelaili snorted and smiled. "I'm not afraid of your claws."

Xilong drew his gaze away from his claws, his expression calm. "You Cobalt Dragons are all turtles."

Kelaili's expression changed. His smile vanished, and he grew somewhat angry.

Xilong was not surprised that he had gained no advantage in their first exchange. His orange-yellow eyes flickered slightly as he lowered his body and burst forward again.

He swiftly reached the Cobalt Dragon's vicinity. Then his wing membranes flared wide, and he used air resistance to slide sideways, drawing his entire body's strength into a sweeping claw strike.

Kelaili had no time to react and had no idea where the Chrome Dragon would come from. He merely let out a muffled roar as the muscles throughout his body instantly tightened. Those block-like scales actually flipped up in unison, bristling outward like a hedgehog's raised quills.

At a glance, they resembled countless icy, slightly curved reverse blades.

Xilong's claws were too fast and too sharp, slicing off an entire section of Kelaili's wing membrane. Yet at the very same moment, they were caught and locked by those upturned scales.

As Kelaili's muscles violently twisted, a horrifying tearing force erupted. Xilong's keratinous claws shattered amid the dense serrations, blood spurting out like a fountain.

Even in such agony, Xilong remained calm to the point of cruelty. He neither screamed nor roared. He simply made a snap decision, tearing off the tips of four claws without hesitation and forcibly wrenching himself free before retreating explosively.

Kelaili seized the opportunity, giving Xilong no room to catch his breath. The strongest overlord among the Cobalt Dragons bared his teeth and growled low. Rising into a seated posture, he made those savage scales tremble again, producing a dense clanging like beans popping in a pan.

"Whoosh, whoosh!"

The next instant, scales shot explosively from Kelaili's body like crossbow bolts released from their strings, or a thief's throwing knives. One after another, they burst forth, shrouding Xilong and locking him in.

Among the watching dragons, Hidorivi narrowed his eyes.

Near his jaw was hidden a savage bloodstain. In the earlier battle, Kelaili had relied on those explosively fired scales to slice open part of his windpipe, leaving Hidorivi unable to continue fighting no matter what. In the end, he could only show weakness and concede.

That was why he had warned Xilong, telling him, "Watch out for his scales."

But Iron Dragons could not evade such attacks. Xilong, however, could. His body sped beneath the scales' lock-on, pushing his speed to the limit. He shifted and weaved without warning, sometimes crouching low, sometimes leaping up, moving in all directions through three-dimensional space without even giving Kelaili a chance to predict his route.

Beneath the storm-like barrage, Xilong streaked and darted forward. Bearing immense pressure, he once again closed in on Kelaili.

Seeing that the flying scales were ineffective, Kelaili finally abandoned the move. After all, he could not fire off every scale on his body. If he did, he would become a bleating lamb awaiting slaughter, left without any protection.

After this fight, I'll have to collect those scales again, Kelaili thought.

Battles between Heavy-Metal Dragons had always been brutal clashes of flesh. In another savage exchange, a hideous wound appeared across Kelaili's chest. At the same time, he used the same trick again, crippling Xilong's kicking hind claw.

The two finally pulled apart, falling into a brief respite.

Xilong stood atop a rock, a faintly thoughtful expression on his face.

He looked at his foreclaws. His talons remained, but the keratin at their tips had all been damaged, robbing them of their former sharpness. Strands of blood were still continuously seeping out.

He roughly understood Kelaili's fighting approach. The Cobalt-Blue Overlord was like a war fortress, defending as he attacked. He wanted to trade injuries again and again, ruin the claws and fangs Xilong took pride in, and force him into a dead end.

"He's a good opponent."

Xilong took a deep breath, swallowing huge quantities of air into his lungs.

That scorching ferocity surged up again. His rushing blood granted him a ceaseless supply of strength, and boundless vitality filled his chest, leaving Xilong both exhilarated and satisfied.

He extended his damaged claws and slowly reached behind his neck. Then he gave a hard pull, forcibly ripping out a sharp bony cone. Flesh and blood still clung to its base, but the Chrome Dragon gripped it with all his strength, holding it backward in his claws like a crimson dagger.

Xilong lowered his body again. It trembled slightly, from pain, but even more from excitement.

Kelaili saw this, raised his head, and unleashed a heavy, vicious roar at the Chrome Dragon.