Chapter 31: Trembling Advance
When the two giant dragons, Agam and Yakov, rushed from their respective ice chambers at the bottom level to the Central Council Hall, what they saw was a scene straight out of hell.
Dismembered limbs and shredded flesh were scattered everywhere. Blue blood had soaked through the ice layer, turning the once pure white crystals into a somewhat murky blue earth. The bodies of eight dragons lay sprawled across the four corners of the hall. Some had been decapitated, others disemboweled—each died a miserable death, having clearly endured immense suffering before their end.
Internal organs spilled out, limbs were missing, heads and limbs had been severed, and scales had been torn apart by some enormous force. Staring at one of these tragic dragon corpses, the elder white dragon Agam let out a furious roar. Yakov’s eyes narrowed sharply, and his face twisted into a grimace.
Dragonkind were already incredibly rare. Even if relationships between dragons tended to be somewhat distant, that was usually the case only for ancient dragons of the elder level. For adult dragons like Agam and Yakov, they had not yet forgotten the concept of emotion. The corpses before them were their siblings, their nephews and nieces—how could they not be enraged, furious?
It was only at this moment that the two dragons shifted their attention to the black-haired warrior standing amidst all the dragon corpses. Riding a black horse, Joshua wore an indifferent expression as he calmly watched the now-raging dragons. He casually wiped away the blue dragon blood from beside his eye, revealing a faint, almost imperceptible smile.
In his hands, the black-golden great axe and the silver-white greatsword were soaked in blue dragon blood. The hidden serrations on the great axe, now caked with dried blood, became starkly visible, gleaming with a black luster.
“Two more have come. Feeding troops piecemeal is a major blunder.”
“Huff—”
Hearing the warrior’s words and confirming that he was the one responsible for all this, Agam had no intention of engaging in conversation. It began to breathe heavily. With each deep, resonant breath, its scales, muscles, and flowing mana grew tougher and stronger by one layer. Its white scales took on a gray, steely hue, and its pale blue eyes gradually turned bloodshot. All emotion was extinguished, replaced by boundless fury.
Rage became its power, transforming this robust beast with a body like white marble into something even more terrifying—a veritable war machine.
What set dragons apart from other beasts was their intelligence. Over the years, their interactions with various civilizations had spread draconic magic to humans and elves, and allowed dwarves to master dragonfire forging. But conversely, dragons had also learned the skills of other races. At this moment, Agam was clearly using a heavily modified, dragon-specific berserk transformation.
Behind it, Yakov let out a resonant, synchronized roar. The mana in the air began to churn violently—a power far greater than the combined spellcasting of the previous eight dragons. In an instant, at least five or six buffs were layered onto both itself and Agam, including spells like Iron Will and Instinct Awakening, which could restore reason to a berserker.
Dragons were a race with dual transcendent talents in magic and physical prowess. Their massive bodies provided terrifying potential for raw strength, and such powerful physiques could, in turn, feed back into their souls and wills, allowing them to control even more mana.
The combination of the two meant power.
Dragon warriors and mages far surpassed warriors and mages of other races at the same rank, and their battle records were nothing short of glorious. Eight hundred years ago, during the chaotic period at the dawn of the Era of Falling Stars, when nations had yet to be established and races were still divided, dragons and endless drakes soared through the skies and galloped across the land. One was a calamity, two a legion, three a war, and four a natural disaster. In the subsequent era of a thousand rising nations, dragons had destroyed many kingdoms, and even the avatars of gods from weaker races—such as the lizardmen’s deity—were shattered by their combined might.
Although these two dragon professionals did not have the glorious achievements of their predecessors, their actual strength was not far behind. In just a few breaths, their auras rapidly swelled, their coordination impeccable.
“Finally, two worth looking at.”
But Joshua showed no sign of tension at the sight. He merely raised an eyebrow, his face finally shedding its bored indifference for an expression of keen interest. He nodded and said, “Too bad there are only two.”
With only two of your caliber, it’s not enough to kill.
Without finishing his words, he dismounted from his warhorse, standing alone with his greatsword and great axe before these two beasts, whose strength and aura were completely different from the other dragons.
As a warhorse, Black could not withstand the force of Joshua’s battles. For fights requiring his full power, the warrior never rode it. Even though it had recently awakened a trace of bloodline and could handle ordinary skirmishes, it still couldn’t bear the weight of full armor—especially now, when holding back was not an option.
Now was the time to go all out.
Seeing that this human actually dared to approach them, Agam silently stomped the ground. Its wings, like rock and steel, beat once, and its nearly forty-meter-long massive body shot straight toward Joshua at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye.
Before it even closed in, a fierce gale rushed forward, making the warrior’s robes snap loudly.
But facing the dragon charging at him like an unstoppable meteor, Joshua focused all his energy on his waist.
At his waist were several sharp, conical spikes as long as an arm. Their structure seemed specifically designed for armor-piercing, coated in poison. At the tips of the barbs, countless dense runes were engraved, exuding an aura of curse, corrosion, and magic-breaking.
He slightly loosened his right hand, letting the greatsword begin to fall. But in the split second between releasing the sword and it touching the ground, Joshua reached out and, with a single shake, hurled all the dragon-slaying spikes.
Instantly, three vacuum corridors were carved by the spikes, shooting forward with greater speed and force than the dragon itself. Layer upon layer of sonic booms and white shockwaves tore through the council hall. A muffled grunt was heard, and then the charging dragon came to a halt.
A massive body, while granting immense power, also made one an easy target, hard to dodge attacks. Agam was not unaware that dragon-slaying spikes were a counter to large beasts like itself. In fact, it knew well that many dragons had died to such unassuming weapons.
But it still endured these attacks head-on.
“Human, your killing moves are spent.”
Faltering words came from Agam’s mouth as it stopped its charge. The somewhat awkward Common Tongue was filled with boundless rage. On the dragon’s wings, chest, and forehead were huge bloody craters. Black curse and corrosion patterns spread, deepening the wounds. Though its muscles clenched, blue blood still gushed out. However, its powerful self-healing ability and the magic from Yakov behind it kept it fully combat-ready.
Its strength hadn’t diminished in the slightest.
The effects of poison, curse, and corrosion were all dispelled by Yakov’s endless stream of buffs and purification spells. As a magic-specialized dragon not adept at close combat, Yakov was least suited for fighting in cramped environments like a dragon’s lair. But fortunately, it had its brother and friend Agam in front—a white dragon extremely skilled in battle. It kept throwing countless healing and buff spells, not caring if they conflicted or overlapped, simply providing continuous support while secretly nurturing other attack spells.
One dragon plus one dragon was not simply equal to two.
But Joshua paid no attention to the dragon’s words. He seemed to have known all along that his attack wouldn’t faze it. That throw was just to make it stop.
Stop right where he wanted it.
That was enough!
The ice layer of the lair’s council hall let out a trembling wail. The solid ice, capable of withstanding dragon combat, was utterly shattered beneath the warrior’s feet in that instant. The edges of the greatsword and great axe scraped across the ice, leaving trails of snow. Before the dragon could even react, Joshua had already leaped to the top of Agam’s head.
—This bastard is going to chop me?!
Facing this unprecedented dragon-slaying foe and his clearly superior weapons, even Agam dared not be careless. Dragon scales were tough, but no match for enchanted hard steel. It didn’t believe a dragon slayer would wield ordinary weapons.
So in an instant, the dragon erected all its defenses: the innate magical shields of dragonkind, the scale reinforcement from berserk transformation, and the petrified skin, invisible air armor, electromagnetic repulsion field, and various other spells cast by Yakov. With his friend’s help, Agam was confident it could withstand any attack.
And after blocking this axe blow, it would be the moment it crushed this human into pulp!
But in the next instant, it knew it was wrong.
This human had no intention of striking it with the axe at all!
“Get down, you fool!”
The two massive steel weapons, wielded by Joshua like two giant hammers, slammed heavily onto the dragon’s body. With each swing, magical shields, petrified skin, mana armor—all were breached in an instant. The magic immunity granted by his divine descent was not only for defense; it was equally unstoppable in offense.
Agam inwardly cursed, feeling an overwhelming force centered on the two transcendent weapons, pressing down on its claws and forcing it to its knees. Caught off guard, the dragon collapsed to the ground, its entire body tilting before being blasted into the ice layer.
Countless snow and ice shards scattered into the air. Joshua seized the moment, flashing forward again, breaking through the ice, and slashing the axe across the dragon’s body.
The dragon naturally began to resist. It had only been stunned at first, not incapable of fighting back. But now, trapped in the ice, its massive body slowed its reaction time by a beat, allowing the warrior to land a full blow. Under the immense force, the dragon’s scales shattered, its steel-hard muscles were completely severed, and its bones were broken into countless fragments.
At the same time, the ice floor of the first council hall completely collapsed, sending its body plunging deeper into the lair.
And that was precisely Joshua’s goal!
(To be continued.)