Chapter 19: Ruthlessness
"This is the blood of a peak rank nine magical beast dragon. What a waste." Linley looked at the dragon blood on the stone floor, thinking to himself. According to the records in the "Dragonblood Secret Code," the living dragon blood of a Saint-level dragon could definitely activate the Dragonblood Warrior bloodline within one's body, while the probability for a rank nine dragon's living dragon blood was lower.
This Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon was, after all, at the peak of rank nine, only one step away from entering the Saint-level. Moreover, the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon was an extremely terrifying category among dragons. Among dragons of the same rank, the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon was the strongest.
"This Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon is at the peak of rank nine and is the strongest dragon among rank nine dragons. Its dragon blood probably isn't much inferior to Saint-level dragon blood. Unfortunately, I can't get any." Linley currently didn't dare to step into that cave at all. Otherwise, the two battling terrifying magical beasts would probably crush him into meat paste with a single wave of their hands.
"Boss, is this Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon going to die? It seems like it can't beat that big stupid bear." Bebe communicated with Linley via soul transmission.
Linley didn't say a word, instead staring fixedly at the cave, watching the decisive battle between these two magical beasts.
"Haha~~~" The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear let out excited laughter, and at the same time, its furry black bear paw actually clenched into a fist. That fist, a full meter in size, carried immense force as it smashed down fiercely at the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon below.
Strike while the iron is hot!
"Boom!" The furry fist slammed into the deep pit in the ground, even causing the entire cave to tremble, sending broken stones tumbling down.
"Hmm?" The single red eye of the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear glowed brightly.
The Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon, which had been slapped into the stone ground by a bear paw earlier, now moved its entire body like an earthworm, darting into the ground with lightning speed. As the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon burrowed underground, sections of the stone floor bulged up one after another.
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear's punch missed, only hitting the tip of the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's tail, allowing it to dive directly into the earth.
"Haha. Sadeus, are you planning to hide underground and never come out?" The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear looked at the ground and said loudly with a laugh.
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear was well aware that when it came to digging, even though he had reached the Saint-level, he couldn't compare to the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon. With its streamlined body and sharp claws, its burrowing ability was far superior to his. If the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon truly intended to stay hidden underground and not come out, there really wasn't much he could do.
However, the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear believed that the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon wouldn't be scared into hiding and refuse to come out and fight.
Because Sadeus was a Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon.
"They say your Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon clan is extremely arrogant, unable to tolerate any insult, and will raise your heads and fight to the death even when certain to die. But it seems that's not the case now. You, Sadeus, are very cowardly." The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear said loudly. He could only use words to provoke his opponent now.
Linley, hiding by the wall of the passage, watched the situation unfold quietly.
"Dragons are generally proud and arrogant. And the very special 'Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon' among dragons is the most arrogant of them all." Dylin's voice sounded in Linley's mind.
"Grandpa Dylin, why don't you come out?" As soon as Linley asked this, he laughed at himself.
He really must have been muddle-headed. Grandpa Dylin's aura now could easily be detected by Saint-level experts. And the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear was, after all, a Saint-level expert.
"I can't come out. Right now, you're just a little ant in their eyes. They've noticed you, but they can't be bothered with you. But once I come out and they sense my aura, that would be bad." Dylin remained hidden inside the Coiling Dragon Ring.
Linley nodded slightly, his eyes fixed on the cave.
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear kept taunting, while the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon seemed to have vanished without a trace, showing no movement at all.
"He smiled?" Linley, watching the battle, noticed a smug smile on the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear's face. Before Linley could figure it out—
Suddenly, the dragon tail, covered in dense scales, spun like a drill, piercing through the surface at incredible speed, tearing through the air with a terrifying "whoosh whoosh" sound, and stabbed directly toward the Saint-level Black Bear's abdomen.
It was too fast, leaving no time to react.
"Hah!"
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear, as if foreseeing this, immediately retreated its massive body as the dragon tail broke through the surface, while its furry bear paws grabbed the rapidly spinning dragon tail.
"Haha~~~"
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear burst into wild laughter, gripping the dragon tail tightly with both hands, yanking the entire Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon out of the ground, then swinging it and slamming it hard against the stone floor.
"Thud!"
Like swinging a whip to strike the ground, the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear swung the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon and slammed it repeatedly.
"Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!" "Thud!" ...
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear crazily swung the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's body, smashing it against the ground over and over. Its entire form became a blur, and within a single breath, the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon collided with the stone floor at least a hundred times.
The dense thuds made Linley's scalp tingle.
"Is it still not dead?" Linley watched nervously.
"Haha, Sadeus, you were so arrogant, gouging out one of my eyes, haha..." The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear laughed wildly, its nearly two-meter-thick arms continuously swinging the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's body, smashing it into the ground.
The ground kept shattering, with deep trenches two to three meters deep and over ten meters long appearing one after another.
Stones from the cave ceiling were shaken loose and fell, but those broken stones had no effect on the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear.
"Don't let the passage collapse." Linley had broken stones falling on his head, making him curse the bear inwardly. Linley could only silently chant the 'Earth Guardian Armor' spell, hoping the jade armor would protect him, ensuring his safety.
"Roar~~" "Roar~~~"
Angry roars came from the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's mouth. Given its terrifying defense, stones normally wouldn't harm it. But this rapid swinging and violent slamming was different!
It was like a pebble—it didn't have much attack power on its own. But if that pebble reached a terrifying speed, it could even pierce through steel plates.
Speed itself was an attack!
Bear-type magical beasts were born with immense strength, and this Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear's power was terrifyingly great. With its astonishing 'arm strength,' swinging the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon could achieve a shocking speed. At that speed, the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon slammed violently into the stone floor.
Such impacts were incredibly fierce.
The Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's body twisted like a snake, dispersing the impact force throughout its body.
"Dragon blood, all bloodstains." Linley looked at the ground. The Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon was being crazily smashed into the ground, splattering blood everywhere.
For the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon, physical injuries were secondary. The most fatal issue was—dizziness!
This rapid swinging made the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's head start to spin. If this continued, even if its body could withstand it, its brain couldn't.
"Sadeus, you idiot, did you think hiding underground and ambushing me would catch me off guard? Haha, did you forget? Saint-level experts can release their soul power. I've been tracking your every move underground. You wanted to ambush me? Haha..."
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear was now immensely pleased.
For three hundred years, he had been thinking about revenge. Every time he saw the reflection of his gouged-out eye in the water, he felt endless rage. It was with this hatred and anger that he persisted for three hundred years, finally reaching the Saint-level.
"Crack!"
A strange sound rang out. The Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's body flew off, crashing into a wall hundreds of meters away, creating a huge pit before falling to the ground.
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear stood there, stunned, holding a severed dragon tail in its paws.
"You, you cut off your tail?" The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear was very surprised, then reacted and laughed smugly, "Haha, you, Sadeus, have stooped to cutting off your tail to save your life. How satisfying, how satisfying!" Forcing the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon to this point made the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear feel great.
Linley was also somewhat surprised by the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's ruthlessness toward itself. Cutting off its tail—the tail's importance to a dragon was self-evident. Being willing to sever its tail required the courage and ferocity of a man cutting off his own arm.
The Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's rear was bare, with a circular wound nearly a meter in diameter where the tail had been. This large wound was now bleeding profusely. But the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's dark golden eyes remained icy cold, fixed on the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear.
"Ruthless enough, but you're going to die today." The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear casually tossed the severed tail aside, his face full of confidence.
Losing its tail and bleeding excessively had greatly reduced the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's strength. If he, a Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear, couldn't kill it under these circumstances, that would be a joke.
"Roar!" With a low roar, the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon pushed off with all four limbs, turning into a blur as it charged straight at the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear. The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear's two huge furry bear paws glowed with black light again, then slammed fiercely toward the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon.
With the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear's paw strength, it could definitely send the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon flying.
But—
Facing the two black bear paws coming at it, the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon opened its mouth and bit down hard on one of the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear's arms. The bear's arm was extremely tough; it could only break the skin but couldn't sever it.
"Ah!" A pained roar. The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear never expected Sadeus to do this, because doing so put its head right in front of him. "You're asking for death!" The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear roared, its other bear paw thrusting toward Sadeus's eyes.
Once the nearly meter-long thick finger pierced the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's eye and through its brain, it would be dead for sure.
But at that moment—
"Swish!" "Swish!" "Swish!" ...
The entire Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's body shook rapidly like a sieve, and the spikes along its back all flew off, like lightning, over a hundred spikes piercing into the Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear's body.
The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear was pierced all over, with even a spike embedded in its face.
"Ah, Sadeus, you..." The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear's eyes were filled with disbelief.
The Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon's two greatest strengths were its 'spiked back' and 'iron armor.' The iron armor represented its incredible defense, while the 'spiked back' referred to the series of spikes on its body. Many didn't know what those spikes were for.
For defense? The dense scales were already enough.
For attack?
How could the spikes be used for attack? Even if they were, it would be passive.
No magical beast knew that the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon had a suicidal move—releasing all its 'spikes' in an instant. At that speed, each spike's penetrating power was stronger than its claws.
He had no idea that the Spiked-back Iron-armored Dragon had such a move. In close quarters, with the spikes at that speed, he couldn't dodge.
"Oooh~~" The Saint-level Purple-striped Black Bear, its body pierced through, felt its life force fading. In its unwillingness, it could only raise its head and roar.