The Battle That Was Bound to Come (Part 2)

Xilong's heartbeat began to accelerate. That tangled mix of unease, fear, and terror surged up once more, and under the bloodline pressure of an Archaic Species, every scale on his body trembled uncontrollably.

Ladon launched another attack, but in a stance utterly unlike before. In an instant, he was before Xilong, like a mountain shifting sideways, then he bit down and struck.

There was no pattern to his attacks, no techniques to speak of. Every movement was simple to the point of brutality—clean bites, claw swipes, tail lashes.

Yet even if Xilong exhausted every trick he possessed, he could no longer contend with Ladon. Every killing technique he had used before lost its meaning at this moment; he could not block them, and even evasion became exceedingly difficult.

"In this world, there have never been any techniques. There is only—"

Ladon's gaze blazed. Leaping electric sparks filled his body, while scorching currents burst from the gaps between his scales with every motion.

"Power!"

His claw swept across. Xilong had only just landed, and it was already too late to dodge. He could only raise his own claw to block, but at the instant of impact, his scales burst apart and his finger bones snapped with a mournful crack.

"Speed!"

The immense impact forced Xilong sideways, but Ladon did not stop in the slightest. His pursuit followed close behind, and a kick carrying the strength of his entire body blasted out, sending the Chrome Dragon tumbling through the air.

"And the rigidity of the body."

The Archaic Species charged after him, flinging Xilong into the air before leaping up himself and spinning into a tail lash.

The anomalous Chrome Dragon, firmly ranked first among dragonkind, was smashed into the rock wall in an instant, then thrown forward by the recoil and sent crashing down.

He was not wrong. If he did not restrain his strength, Ladon at the peak of his power could shatter a Lower Species' skull in an instant.

That siege by the dragon pack years ago had seemed stirring and impassioned, yet it had instead made him feel bound hand and foot.

Dust filled the air, while shattered stones pattered down.

"I have longed so desperately for a true opponent to emerge from among the dragon pack, because only then could you truly feel my power as if it were your own."

Ladon stepped closer. An endless stream of power was being born within his body.

"If you have been to that mountain and seen the claw marks and cracks I left behind, then you should know that while you were still chasing and playing with Rust Rabbits, I was already enduring the lashings of young dragons."

He looked at Xilong as he slowly climbed back to his feet. "I am no Archaic Species. I am stronger than any Archaic Species. Since I broke from my shell, I have not had a moment of leisure, nor a day of slackness. Jiazhuosa likes you, and the dragon pack all says you are diligent and hardworking, but everything you have experienced, I have experienced as well."

"So, Xiron Solax."

Ladon let out a deep, thunderous growl, like a booming rebuke. "What makes you think you can defeat me?"

Xilong spread his four claws and struggled to stand. All manner of injuries weighed upon him, heavy as a thousand jun, nearly crushing him.

Yet some new strength seemed to surge up from the depths of his body, supporting him and refusing to let him fall.

Five years of Consume Gold, Absorb Iron. Five years of training without pause, day or night. Five years of refining his bloodline. Five years of studying techniques. Perhaps there had been moments of leisure, but he had never dared to slacken.

To catch up. To make himself stronger.

"Precisely because everything you have experienced, I have experienced too."

Xilong coughed softly, spitting out broken teeth stained with blood. "That is why I do not believe I will lose."

"Stubbornly hanging on!"

Ladon sneered and came whistling in once more.

Xilong could actually still fight. At the instant Ladon arrived, he counterattacked, all the bone spikes over his body exploding outward like a savage rain of arrows.

But Ladon remained unstoppable. The bone spikes made him bleed, but they could not truly injure him. They left wounds, but could not make him retreat.

Ladon reached back and tore out a bone spike, driving it deep into Xilong's shoulder blade. Then, with a savage slam, he sent him flying once again.

Blood slowly spread out, staining the ground beneath the Chrome Dragon a dark crimson.

"However, I have something you do not."

Xilong shook his head. His vision blurred, the world spun around him, and he felt himself nearing the point of losing control. Something was battering against his bones and sinews. He drew in huge gulps of air, swallowing enormous amounts of oxygen, yet it still did not feel like enough.

"I have Moqi. I have Jiazhuosa. I have In Tas, Kelaili, Afterglow... Their eyes are watching me from behind, and their fighting spirit is revealed upon me as well."

The Chrome Dragon's breathing grew heavier with every breath. His chest heaved violently, and his entire body trembled.

Xilong heard that thunderous chanting again. The savagery deep in his bloodline had already filled his body, screaming wildly through his veins. Like a water balloon stretched to its limit, it was about to burst at any moment.

"So I have never believed I would lose."

Xilong opened his jaws to their widest, stretching them until the corners of his mouth ached. His fangs jutted out, making him resemble a dying beast.

He felt that he had to spit that thing out, or he would die in the next second.

"Blood—Frenzy—"

Xilong unleashed an earthshaking roar, and within that roar, countless blades rang and sang.

Surging cold flames erupted from the gaps between his scales, trailing a visible vortex behind him like gray-white iridescence.

A dragon's bloodline advancement was like a rebirth. Endless vitality descended upon Xilong, repairing his bones and internal organs, reconnecting severed sinews and muscles, granting him even greater strength and a more powerful physique.

Molten-gold light flowed from Xilong's eyes. Amid the continuous crackling of his bones, he rose in a calm, unhurried stretch and met Ladon's flame-breathing pupils.

"At last..."

Ladon gave a satisfied, cold smile. Archaic Species faced Archaic Species, while cold flames and heat waves pressed against one another.

Both of them lowered their bodies without prior agreement.

Xilong roared and charged, taking the initiative to launch a new assault. Gravel in the gathering ground shattered beneath his claws, and cold flames swept past with a howl.

Ladon stood unmoving, glancing about from above. The muscles beneath his scales knotted like iron.

In no more than the blink of an eye, Xilong had reached Ladon. Amid a thunderous explosion, their claws collided.

The Iron Dragon's mountainlike body was actually driven backward again and again. His joints creaked, and his feet carved a massive trench into the ground.

Ladon's expression did not change as he slammed his claw downward, but he caught only Xilong's afterimage. The rocks exploded and burst apart, flinging shattered stone like a waterfall.

Xilong swept his wings back and leaped forward in a diving pounce.

Under the wash of berserk power came an equally immense burden. Pain seemed to have a pulse and heartbeat, expanding with every breath Xilong took, like red-hot iron nails boring out from the depths of his bones, swelling from within to without.

Agony. Scorching heat. Fury.

Only at this moment did Xilong suddenly realize that Blood Frenzy's so-called terrifying burden felt strangely familiar to him.

Ladon came whistling in, braking to a halt with a kick before swinging a claw in a horizontal sweep. As his talons passed through the air, even the air gave a mournful whine.

Xilong did not dodge at all. His mind and strength burned fiercely. His body sank and compressed, his talons exposing their sharp edge as he met Ladon's savage blow head-on.

"Wedge Form."

When the cold flames and heat currents collided, they became a blast wave that instantly swept away the dust and shattered stones thrown up around them.

The Heavy-Metal Dragons' uniquely hard keratin claws pressed against each other. Ladon's pupils shifted slightly as he heard the soft sound of flesh being pierced. His talons throbbed with violent pain from being punctured again and again.

Yet he did not care in the slightest. His heartbeat boomed in his chest like war drums. Seizing the chance while Xilong was close, he transformed the Myriad Weight force of his entire body into an utterly unrestrained downward smash.

Xilong was crushed by the sudden, colossal force. His talons rebounded, and he flashed backward as the already shattered rocks were flung up once more.

"Roar!"

Ladon roared harshly, ignoring the fractures in his bones caused by that downward smash. Like black lightning, he pursued with leaping sparks, lunging straight for Xilong's neck, where the bone spikes had already exploded open.

Around the edge of the gathering ground, the dragon pack suppressed the fear born from bloodline oppression and stared fixedly at that savage arena.

Jili, Hidorivi, Kelaili... Even the powerful ones among the dragon pack could not help being moved.

Young dragons could no longer describe the power of those two combatants. They were two true Seventh-Level Calamities. Whenever they collided, every burst of power made the other young dragons' hearts tremble.

The two crossed paths countless times throughout the gathering ground. Whenever the sound of tearing collisions rang out, bright, vicious scales would spray through the air, while blood spurted forth, evaporated by heat currents and frozen by cold flames, becoming billowing smoke.

Blood ran all over Xilong's body. His scales shattered across huge swaths under Ladon's terrifying violence. His bones broke time and again, only to be repaired by powerful vitality and thrown back into the cruel battle.

Ladon was no longer flawless either. Several times, he rolled across the sandy ground, so disheveled he nearly lost his footing and fell.

His body was covered in dripping wounds, as though he had been sliced by countless blades. Dark-red dragon blood flowed down his talons, and thread after thread of bloody foam seeped from the corners of his mouth.

The battle had reached its end, and both sides had pushed their strength to the utmost. It was time to decide victory and defeat.

Xilong took a deep breath. Under the compulsion of his cold will, the Chrome Dragon's heavy-metal keratin claws slowly twisted and reformed. His talons fused together until they could no longer be distinguished from one another, turning his entire forelimb into a savage weapon.

There were no flashy moves. Xilong stood on three legs, lowered his body, gathered all his strength, and then thrust forward.

This had always been how Chrome Dragons fought. It was their way of survival. The Supreme had tailored the sharpest body for them and taught them an unmatched thrust.

Concentrate all the strength of the body at one point. Whether a giant dragon or a Titan stood ahead, whether demon or god, all a Chrome Dragon needed to do was cut through and pierce through!

Xilong flashed past like a whistling spear.

Ladon narrowed his eyes, and the light in his pupils grew even more blazing. He slowly bared his fangs, drew a deep breath, and prepared to roar.

A wind arrived out of nowhere, extinguishing the boiling flames. All light and all power withdrew at this moment. Jiazhuosa appeared in the gathering ground, swept her tail to push Ladon aside, and grasped Xilong's body.

No matter what Seventh-Level Calamity or Archaic Species they were, before Jiazhuosa, they were still only two children.

"That is enough."

Jiazhuosa looked at them and said in a low voice, "You still cannot control your own strength. If that strike lands, one of you will die."

"So leave the outcome of this battle for the future."