Xiluo and Gordon

Until the instant the time reached 9:40.

"Roar!"

The Red Dragon Whelp threw back his head and roared, unleashing a surge of draconic might.

Opposite him,

wisps of lightning flickered.

Xiluo kicked off hard with his hind legs and charged at the Red Dragon Whelp without a word!

He was much faster than when he had first learned Lightning Flash, covering nearly ten meters with every stride!

The fifty meters between them vanished almost in the blink of an eye.

The Red Dragon Whelp was startled. He could not quite understand why Xiluo, a dragon, would start a fight without roaring to raise his spirits, but that did not leave him without time to react.

Instead, his abdomen swelled and contracted, and he spat out a mouthful of dragonfire.

The flames spread to either side as though alive, forming a wall of fire!

The watching Wyrmlings' eyes lit up at the sight.

"That's Wall of Fire. Gordon actually combined it with his Breath Weapon, saving a huge amount of casting time and practically making it instantaneous.

"Looks like Xiluo's charge is..."

Before those words had fully faded,

the Wyrmlings saw something that startled them.

Without dodging at all, Xiluo plunged straight into the wall of fire!

Flames and arcs of lightning enveloped his body as he streaked straight toward Gordon.

The Red Dragon Whelp had never expected Xiluo to be so aggressive. It was already too late to block him.

He could only watch a red-and-blue streak flash past him, barely slowing at all!

What's going on with him? Why didn't he attack me?

The Red Dragon Whelp was somewhat alarmed.

But a moment later...

"Aaargh!"

He suddenly let out a roar of pain.

The watching Wyrmlings were even more astonished. They saw three long, bloody gashes appear across Gordon's chest and abdomen, as though sharp steel blades had slashed him. Blood hissed out.

"What happened? Didn't Xiluo just swipe him with his claws? Why did that do so much damage?"

The Wyrmlings watching from the sidelines had seen it clearly, but that only made it harder to understand.

"A Red Dragon's scales should be the thickest of any of ours. No matter how sharp Xiluo's claws are, we're all the same age. They shouldn't be anywhere near that powerful."

"Could that be the third-tier spell, Sharpening? But I didn't see him cast anything!"

"Hey, hey, hey... Gordon isn't really going to get beaten by Xiluo in just a few minutes, is he?"

"If he does, that good-for-nothing had better get out of the Green Forest!"

The Wyrmlings buzzed with discussion, every one of them astonished.

Still more Wyrmlings began worrying about their gold coins, filled with anxiety.

Even Barbara, up in the treetops, froze for a moment before smiling.

"I see. So that's what gave you such confidence? Those claws really are sharp. Even a Young Dragon's would be no better..."

"Roar!"

Shocked and furious at being injured, the Red Dragon Whelp roared and quickly twisted around, only to see Xiluo, covered in lightning and fire, double back and charge at him again!

His tremendous speed had snuffed out the flames enveloping him, leaving only a few small flickers.

"Xiluo! You think this is enough to beat me?"

Gordon roared, and flames blazed all over his body.

Under the astonished gazes of all the Wyrmlings, layers of black mucus began seeping from the flesh beneath his scales. The mucus rapidly covered his scales and turned into a strange, soil-like substance!

Xiluo narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight.

What ability is that? It doesn't look like a fire spell. How did he use it so quickly?

Suddenly, he recalled how excited the Red Dragon Whelp had been upon receiving the Blazing Flame Crystal two days before their showdown...

Could it be a bloodline ability?

This guy... really isn't that easy to deal with!

Despite those thoughts, Xiluo did not stop.

Instead, he sped past Gordon and raked a claw across the right side of his chest and abdomen.

Screech...

He felt strong resistance.

After passing Gordon and looking at the Red Dragon Whelp as he turned around, Xiluo discovered that only a little blood had seeped from the place his claws had just slashed.

If the previous wounds had been three or four centimeters deep, these might have been only a few millimeters...

For a Red Dragon Whelp like Gordon, such injuries were already extremely minor.

The surrounding Wyrmlings, who had begun to feel uneasy, smiled again. There was still a chance!

"Gordon! Come on! Hold out for us! Xiluo's nothing special!"

"You're the best, Gordon!"

"Hold out! At least ten minutes!"

The Wyrmlings roared madly for the sake of their gold coins.

Hearing them in the midst of battle, the Red Dragon Whelp's ears twitched. Delight rose in his heart, and he could not help feeling rather smug.

He looked at Xiluo, who also seemed somewhat taken aback, and said,

"Xiluo! Surprised? This is Molten Earth Armor, the ability I gained after my mutation finished developing yesterday! I'm not afraid of those claws of yours!"

Xiluo narrowed his eyes.

Without saying a word, he turned into lightning again, weaving around Gordon and raking his claws across his body over and over.

"Ugh..."

"Urgh..."

"Rrgh..."

"Aargh!"

Gordon suffered four consecutive hits and let out four low cries of pain.

He tried to retaliate, but Xiluo nimbly avoided every attempt, until the fifth time.

Gordon suddenly roared, abandoning all defense. As Xiluo slashed him, he seized his claw in a crushing grip!

The tremendous momentum sent both hatchlings flying, and they rolled more than ten meters before coming to a stop.

"I finally caught you! Xiluo! The game's over!"

The Red Dragon Whelp, who had been thwarted at every turn, let out an excited roar.

Gripping Xiluo's claws tightly in both of his own, he tried to use the brute strength he was so proud of to hoist Xiluo up and slam him down.

But the instant he exerted himself, he felt tremendous strength coming from the other side, not the slightest bit inferior to his own!

Gordon stared at Xiluo's draconic face in astonishment. "Your strength... why... ugh... urgh..."

Before he could finish,

Xiluo kicked Gordon hard in the lower abdomen with a hind leg, showing no sense of fair play. His equally sharp claws opened another shallow wound, and he was not done yet.

Xiluo's hind claws kicked repeatedly, continuously tearing at Gordon's chest and abdomen and making the Red Dragon Whelp's face contort.

The Red Dragon Whelp retaliated, kicking Xiluo's lower abdomen with his own hind claws.

Thud after thud rang out as both sides struggled with all their might.

It was the most primitive kind of fierce struggle.

Although Xiluo and Gordon were both dragons, magical creatures at the top of the food chain,

in their infancy, they still could not escape the awkward situation of relying primarily on physical combat, with spells playing a supporting role.

"Roaaar!"

"Aaargh! Aaargh!"

The two Wyrmlings roared in anger and cried out in pain.

They glared at each other, seemingly evenly matched.

But soon... Gordon, who had been glaring furiously at Xiluo, noticed something was wrong.

Why did the pain on Xiluo's draconic face look so strange, so peculiar?

He shifted his head back slightly while glancing toward their lower bodies out of the corner of his eye.

His expression immediately changed!

Thanks to [mc666] for the 600-coin tip and [Gun8] for the 100-coin tip. Thank you for the tips!

(End of chapter)