A Battle Destined to Come (Part 1)

The days swayed by, and in the blink of an eye, five years had passed.

When the spring sunlight once again brushed across the earth, the long-peaceful valley finally stirred anew.

The young dragons spread the news, calling friends and companions as they gathered before the meeting grounds.

"How many times has this been that you've challenged me?" Ladon looked down at the Chrome Dragon before him and asked in a low voice.

"Fifty times? A hundred?"

Xilong thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I've lost count."

"This will be the last time."

Ladon stepped forward. "Tomorrow is Dragonbirth Day. After that, I'll head to the Steelspine Plains to wage war. If you can't defeat me now, you won't have another chance in the future."

"I'm going to Windsong Plateau."

Xilong looked at that six-meter-long body. "Before I leave, wouldn't it be a regret if I couldn't win even once?"

"For me, it would be disappointment."

Ladon glanced at Xilong, then swept his gaze across the dragons behind him. "I've waited a long time for a dragon capable of challenging me. Yet all you've ever given me is disappointment."

"Come."

There was nothing left to say between them. Xilong said no more, lowered his body, his bones cracking as he assumed a peculiar zigzag stance.

The juvenile Chrome Dragon gleamed beneath the sunlight, compressing immense tension within his body.

"Come."

Ladon still stood in a lofty, commanding posture, metallic luster flowing across his entire body. It was not difficult to imagine the fearsome strength beneath his scales. The Seventh-Level Calamity Jiazhuosa had hoped for had already been effortlessly attained by this Archaic Species.

The moment the words fell, Xilong lunged straight at him.

His speed was astonishing, like a fleeting afterimage. Yet Ladon reacted even faster. His claw merely turned in what seemed like an ordinary motion, but the force it unleashed was like a mountain collapse.

Xilong had no confidence in taking it head-on. In an instant, he twisted aside and sprang away. At the same time, his membranous wings snapped open, like a blade extended flat. Borrowing the momentum of his charge and turn, he slashed with all his strength.

Ladon reached out with his claw as if he had truly seized an unsheathed blade, yet he could not hold it. The razor-sharp edge scraped across his claw, producing a teeth-grinding screech as sparks showered down like rain.

Xilong retreated at the first touch,

The Archaic Species lowered his head and looked at his claw, where a fairly deep bloody cut had been carved.

"What kind of strange move was that?" Ladon asked.

"Wingblade Strike."

Xilong said, "Afterglow taught it to me."

Ladon narrowed his eyes. "A flashy trick."

Xilong did not answer. He suddenly lowered his head and bowed, seeming almost submissive. Ladon's pupils shifted slightly, but then he saw two chilling flashes shoot from Xilong's body.

Bone spikes.

The two bone spikes struck one after the other, pinning Ladon's left and right shoulder blades. In an instant, they pierced his scales and drove into his muscles, drawing faint traces of blood.

Ladon moved his body, just about to counterattack, when Xilong had already used the opening from firing the bone spikes to turn around and leap high. He stretched out in midair, casting a savage shadow beneath the sun.

"Axe Form."

As Ladon was still thinking, Xilong had already crashed down viciously, turning his entire body into a hurled weapon as he spun and cleaved through the air with a howl.

Ladon instinctively retreated. That killing technique came from the Ember Scar Inheritance; even he did not dare withstand it without any defense.

Xilong crashed down with a howl, kicking up a massive cloud of dust as he struck beside Ladon. Then he twisted his spine and, like a heavy snapping turtle, rammed outward with his shoulder.

A vicious glint flashed through Ladon's eyes as he suddenly whipped his tail in a sweeping strike.

Both sides were jolted back, retreating in unspoken unison. No one knew how Xilong had managed it, but with the body of a Chrome Dragon, he had actually resisted the explosive strength of an Archaic Species.

Without hesitation, Ladon shattered the rocks beneath all four claws. He had barely retreated before charging forward again, determined to seize control of the battle.

Xilong landed at the same time, his foreclaws digging into the earth. Relying on the powerful strength of his waist and abdomen, he dragged his whole body into a sweeping strike. Five years ago, this very blow had smashed Hidorivi's lower jaw.

But Ladon was far tougher than Hidorivi. He advanced coldly, raising his left claw before him and forcibly taking Xilong's tail sweep. He remained unmoving as a mountain, while his right claw came crashing down.

If that claw strike landed, even rock would explode into pieces.

But he had not expected that Xilong's already-swept tail would twist back in such a bizarre fashion. Amid a continuous series of cracking bones, it stabbed fiercely into Ladon's descending right claw.

Like a venomous stinger hidden for ages, it finally revealed its dagger when the map was exhausted, piercing straight through Ladon's claw with terrifying sharpness!

Spiked Tail.

The watching Nickel Dragons erupted in wild cheers.

From the very beginning, the battle had entered a white-hot state. Both sides charged with all their strength, their bodies pouncing and leaping at high speed, every collision scattering sparks.

The once broad, level meeting grounds somehow seemed unable to contain them anymore. Even the spectators began to feel crowded, continually backing away to make the entire arena larger.

Xilong turned his entire body into a weapon, unleashing every kind of move. Yet faced with Ladon's storm-and-tempest counterattacks, Ladon still forced his way right up before him.

They pressed face to face, glaring at each other. Their long-suppressed fury burst forth. Ladon released a deep, thunderous growl and spat out lightning fire that roared like thunder.

Xilong raised his head and roared as well, blasting all the air from his lungs. But what shot from his mouth was not a surging torrent of cold, but ice crystals compressed and condensed again and again. The crystals were as fine as threads, glimmering faintly as they crisscrossed and plowed through the air.

The Tungsten Dragon's Focused Breath.

At last, the two broke free from the melee. Ladon slowly retreated, his claws tensed tight. Blood seeped between his fangs and fell to the ground in thin strands, hissing as wisps of smoke rose and scattered.

The entire meeting grounds fell into deathly silence.

Since the dragons had been born, there had never been such a moment. A dragon had actually wounded Ladon and made him bleed through strength alone. Among the spectators, even the proud Jelierion and the steady Hidorivi could not help being shaken, their pupils nearly trembling.

"Do you know why I lost in that rainstorm five years ago?"

In the silence, Ladon suddenly asked.

"Because if I used my full strength, some hatchlings would die."

Without waiting for Xilong's reply, he answered his own question. "That was why you were all happy then, while I was very unhappy."

Xilong fell silent. He knew in his heart that forty-five dragons swarming together to attack Ladon, even if they won, was nothing glorious or worthy of praise.

"But this time, I feel something different."

Ladon took a deep breath. His eyes lit up as if fire had been kindled within them. "At last, there is a challenger who can match my strength. Xilong, you are good. Very good."

The next instant, a powerful aura exploded with a howl. In a one-on-one battle, the Archaic Species entered Blood Frenzy for the first time,

His heart beat like war drums, his blood surged like roaring giant waves, granting his body comprehensive enhancement.

Ladon had been born to the throne among Heavy-Metal Dragons. He possessed demonic horns, eyes like molten lava, and every trait that Heavy-Metal Dragons revered and feared. The Iron Dragon's strength that none could resist, the body that none could match—all of it revealed itself upon him!