Days swayed by, and in the blink of an eye, five years had passed.
When the spring sunlight brushed across the earth once more, the valley, long tranquil, finally stirred again.
The young dragons spread the news, calling friends and companions as they gathered before the meeting ground.
"How many times has this been that you've challenged me?" Ladon asked in a low voice, looking down at the Chrome Dragon before him.
"Fifty? A hundred?"
Ferrum thought for a moment, then shook his head. "I've lost count."
"This is the last time."
Ladon stepped forward. "Tomorrow is Dragonbirth Day. After that, I'll leave for the Steelspine Plains to wage war. If you cannot defeat me now, you will never have another chance."
"I'm going to the Windsong Plateau."
Ferrum looked at the six-meter-long body before him. "Before I leave, wouldn't it be a regret if I couldn't win even once?"
"For me, it would be a disappointment."
Ladon glanced at Ferrum, then swept his gaze over the dragons behind him. "I have waited a long time for a dragon capable of challenging me. Yet all you have ever given me is disappointment."
"Come."
There was nothing more for them to say. Ferrum lowered his body, his bones crackling as he assumed a strange zigzag stance.
The young Chrome Dragon stood beneath the sunlight, compressing immense tension within his body.
"Come."
Ladon still stood high above him, metallic luster flowing over his entire body. One could easily imagine the sheer power beneath his scales. The Seventh-Level Calamity that the Nurturer Valyria had once anticipated had already been effortlessly attained by the Archaic Species.
The moment the words fell, Ferrum lunged straight at him.
His speed was astonishing, like an afterimage that vanished in a flash. Yet Ladon reacted even faster. He merely turned one claw in what seemed a casual motion, but the force it unleashed was like a mountain collapsing.
Ferrum had no confidence in taking it head-on. In an instant, he shifted direction and sprang aside. At the same time, his membranous wings snapped open like a pointed blade extended flat, borrowing the momentum of his charge and leap to slash with all his strength.
Ladon reached out with his claw as if he had truly grasped an unsheathed blade, yet he could not hold it. The keen edge scraped across his claw, producing a teeth-grinding screech as sparks sprayed like rain.
Ferrum retreated at the first touch.
The Archaic Species lowered his head and looked at his claw, where a deep bloody gash had been cut.
"What kind of strange move was that?" Ladon asked.
"Wingblade Strike."
Ferrum said, "Afterglow taught it to me."
Ladon narrowed his eyes. "A flashy trick."
Ferrum did not answer. Suddenly, he lowered his head and bowed as if in submission. Ladon's pupils shifted slightly, but then he saw two icy glints, sharp as drawn blades, shoot from Ferrum's body.
Bone spikes.
The two bone spikes flew one after the other, pinning Ladon's left and right shoulder blades respectively. In an instant, they pierced through his scales and sank into his flesh, drawing a faint trace of blood.
Ladon moved his body, just about to counterattack, when Ferrum had already used the opening created by firing the bone spikes to turn back and leap into the air. His body stretched out in midair, casting a savage shadow beneath the sunlight.
"Axe Form."
As Ladon considered it, Ferrum was already plunging down with ferocious force, turning his entire body into a hurled weapon as he spun and cleaved through the air.
Ladon instinctively retreated. That killing technique came from the Ember Scar Inheritance; even he did not dare withstand it without any defense.
Ferrum crashed down with a howl, kicking up enormous clouds of dust as he struck beside Ladon. Then he twisted his spine and, like a heavy snapping turtle, slammed his shoulder outward with brutal force.
A flash of savagery crossed Ladon's eyes as he suddenly swung his tail in a sweeping strike.
Both were jolted by the impact and retreated at the same time. No one knew how Ferrum had managed it, but with the body of a Chrome Dragon, he had actually held back the immense strength unleashed by an Archaic Species.
Without a moment's thought, Ladon crushed the rocks beneath his four claws. He had barely retreated before charging forward once more, intent on seizing control of the fight.
Ferrum landed at the same time, his foreclaws digging into the ground. Relying on the powerful strength of his waist and abdomen, he dragged his entire body into a sweeping strike. Five years ago, this blow had shattered Hidorivi's jaw.
But Ladon was far stronger than Hidorivi. He charged forward coldly, raising his left claw before him to forcibly take Ferrum's tail sweep. He remained as immovable as a mountain, while his right claw came crashing down.
Had that claw strike landed, even rock would have exploded apart.
But he had not expected Ferrum's tail, which had already swept past, to twist back in an eerie arc. Amid a continuous chorus of cracking bones, it stabbed fiercely into Ladon's descending right claw.
Like a venomous stinger hidden for ages, its dagger was finally revealed—sharp enough to pierce straight through Ladon's claw!
Spiked Tail.
The watching Nickel Dragons erupted in wild cheers.
From the very beginning, the battle had entered a white-hot stage. Both sides charged with all their strength, their bodies lunging and leaping at high speed, sparks bursting with every collision.
The once broad and level meeting ground somehow seemed unable to contain them anymore. Even the spectators began to feel cramped, retreating again and again to make the entire arena larger.
Ferrum turned his whole body into a weapon, unleashing move after move. Yet in the face of Ladon's storm-and-tempest counterattacks, Ladon still forced his way before him.
Their faces were nearly pressed together as they glared at each other. Their long-suppressed fury erupted. Ladon gave a deep, thunderous growl and exhaled lightning and flame like rolling thunder.
Ferrum also raised his head and roared, expelling all the air from his lungs. What burst from his mouth was not a surging torrent of frost, but ice crystals compressed and condensed again and again. Fine as threads and glimmering faintly, they carved across the air in crisscrossing lines.
The Tungsten Dragon's Focused Breath.
At last, the two broke free from the melee. Ladon slowly retreated, his claws clenched tight. Blood seeped between his fangs and fell in thin strands to the ground, hissing as wisps of smoke rose.
The entire meeting ground fell into deathly silence.
Since the dragons had been born, there had never been such a moment. Never had a dragon wounded Ladon and made him bleed through strength alone. Among the spectators, even one as proud as Jelierion or as steady as Hidorivi could not help being shaken, their pupils almost 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 Dragon Hatchlings would die."
Without waiting for Ferrum's reply, he answered his own question. "That was why you were all so happy then, while I was very unhappy."
Ferrum remained silent. He understood it as well. When forty-five dragons had joined forces to attack one opponent, even if they won, there was no glory in it, nothing worth praising.
"But this time, it feels different."
Ladon drew a deep breath. His eyes lit up as though fire had been kindled within them. "At last, there is a challenger who can match my strength. Ferrum, you are good. Very good."
The next instant, a powerful aura erupted with a roar. In a one-on-one battle, the Archaic Species entered Blood Frenzy for the first time.
His heart beat like a war drum, his blood roaring like towering waves, strengthening every aspect of his body.
Ladon had been born upon the throne of the Heavy-Metal Dragons. He possessed demonic horns, lava-like eyes, and every trait that inspired reverence and fear among Heavy-Metal Dragons—the overpowering strength of an Iron Dragon, an unmatched body—all of it manifested upon him!