Chapter 49: Your Lord Needs No Blessings
Accompanied by a thunderous dragon roar, a scorching light suddenly flared up in the city center. A dark red ray struck the wall of the Lord's Manor's backyard, then violently exploded.
How blazing and violent was a dragon's breath? The wall was destroyed in an instant, while the scorching hot wind and shockwave overturned everything around it. The backyard pond was nearly half-evaporated in the blink of an eye, transforming into a rapidly rising mushroom-shaped cloud that stood tall in the heart of the main city.
The sounds of collapsing walls and stables rang out one after another. Flames blazed fiercely in the backyard. Although the Lord's Manor, being entirely stone-structured and not directly hit by the dragon's breath, suffered only minor damage, even so, the entire rear half of the manor was in chaos. The area near the reception hall, in particular, had been reduced to complete rubble.
Inside the Lord's Manor, the maids who had been signaled to move farther away were startled by the terrifying shockwave that felt like an earthquake. As a faint dragon's might spread, the younger maids covered their heads and screamed in terror, while the more experienced ones immediately dragged their nearby colleagues, who were frozen in shock, and quickly fled the shaking manor.
"What on earth is happening?!"
Doubt grew in everyone's hearts. The moment they stepped out the door, the leading maid instinctively turned her head to look back at the granite castle behind her.
At that moment, white, high-temperature steam was rapidly rising into the sky, and black smoke and dust were spreading swiftly. Seeing this, she couldn't help but mutter nervously, "How is the master now?"
Just then, from the smoke-shrouded backyard, a furious male voice suddenly rang out: "Damn it!"
This voice was filled with boundless rage. The violent sound waves reverberated throughout the entire city center. And just as the whole city's attention was drawn to this spot, accompanied by two panicked and urgent dragon roars, the white cloud pillar that had been standing high in the sky was torn apart by two suddenly appearing high-speed spheres. They streaked backward like dark red meteors, dragging long trails of light as they flew rapidly into the sky.
No, it wasn't flying... Judging by their trajectory, it seemed these two spheres had been thrown up by someone!
"Now, don't expect to die in one piece!"
As the angry voice rang out, another massive explosion occurred in the manor's backyard. Amidst the violent tremors, a crimson streak of light shot up from the ground and chased after the two dark red spheres at an even faster speed. The remaining walls, already on the verge of collapse, completely crumbled under such a fierce impact.
The entire main city of Moldavia witnessed this scene—and everyone was stunned.
"What is that?!"
"What's going on?"
"Does anyone know what just happened?!"
Questions were repeated over and over, but no one could answer them. However, there were some experts in the city. A monster hunter employed by a dragon-drawn caravan looked up at the sky, never closing his eyes even as blinding flashes erupted repeatedly above. After a moment, he shouted in alarm, "The Count is fighting someone—dragons! Yes, those two light spheres earlier were dragons!"
"The Lord is fighting two dragons!"
Hearing this news, the surrounding caravan crowd erupted in uproar. They naturally knew that the Lord of Moldavia was a dragon slayer willing to slay dragons for his people. Years of travel had also allowed these people to vaguely hear rumors about dragon revenge, but seeing it firsthand now, they still felt a surreal sense of unreality, as if witnessing a legend.
If even outsiders from the dragon-drawn caravan felt this way, the locals of Moldavia were even more affected. At the Scholar's House in the north of the city, a young boy and girl stood on the balcony edge under their grandfather's guidance, wide-eyed, earnestly watching the flashing lights in the sky.
"Are those... dragons?"
Ivan, who could only see a few specks of light flying rapidly, didn't know what to say. He gripped his sister's hand tightly, his eyes full of confusion. But then, Ivan immediately became resolute.
Yes, with his current strength, he couldn't even see how they were fighting. But one day, he and his sister would surely become worthy dragon slayers!
For now, though, all Ivan could do was shout from the balcony along with his sister: "Go for it, Lord!" That was all.
Blessings were nice, but in reality, it wasn't Joshua who needed encouragement.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
High in the sky, the two dragons that Joshua had hurled into the air with sheer brute force spread their wings and finally regained control of their bodies. One was one-eyed, the other larger in build. Their dark red bat-like dragon wings were vastly different from ordinary dragons, and their horns curved like a ram's, with ferocious faces as ugly as demons.
This image made them seem like demons with dragon bodies, evoking disgust. Moreover, the chaotic aura surrounding them only fueled the anger burning in Joshua's heart.
"Blood-magic dragons, monsters that have sided with the Abyss."
Standing high in the air, he coldly stared at the two bizarre creatures before him and said in the most contemptuous tone, "I never thought the Five-Colored Dragon Clan would actually side with Chaos. Unfathomable."
"How would a mere human understand the greatness of our kind!"
The one-eyed dragon, Sriel, who was confronting the warrior in midair, heard Joshua's words and couldn't help but sneer: "Siding with Chaos? Don't get it wrong—we're using Chaos. On the other hand, you lot sit idly by while a treasure trove..."
Boom! The sound of a fist tearing through the atmosphere cut off his words.
Joshua wasn't foolish enough to let this dragon finish speaking while allowing the other dragon to calmly cast spells and breathe dragon breath. Mid-sentence, he simply gathered his energy and stepped through the air. The violent force turned the air into solid platforms—accompanied by a piercing sonic boom and a ring-shaped cloud of vapor—the warrior instantly broke the sound barrier and vanished from the two blood-magic dragons' sight.
The usually silent magic dragon, Daven, who had been quiet due to his poor grasp of the common tongue, now roared loudly. A semi-transparent sound wave, enhanced by magic, spread in all directions, slightly slowing Joshua's speed as he prepared to strike from behind. Sriel's single eye locked onto Joshua's still-fast-moving figure. His golden dragon pupils were filled with fierce bloodshot veins, staring unblinkingly at the opponent's form.
Sriel and Daven were both blood-magic dragons, possessing special abilities ordinary dragons lacked. The one-eyed magic dragon had a dragon's eye capable of piercing through high-level invisibility spells, while Daven could gather magic power through sound waves, unleashing various unexpected effects.
Working together, they could handle most unexpected situations and produce surprising results against most opponents.
To this end, they had undergone countless trainings on Dragon Island, learning numerous combat and concealment techniques. To completely mask their aura for poisoning and assassination, they had even asked a dragon elder to cast an extreme human transformation spell on them. Although their strength was weakened, their aura had indeed become truly human. When the enemy let their guard down, that would be their moment to strike.
But now, not only had their earlier ambush been easily detected, but even after fully unleashing their power—both dragons now possessing mid-Gold rank strength—they still couldn't gain the upper hand in direct combat!
—Two mid-Gold rank special-bloodline dragons were already terrifyingly powerful. Even on Dragon Island, reaching this level marked one as elite. But that alone wasn't enough!
In direct combat, they were completely suppressed by the warrior!
Although hindered by Daven's sound waves and various draconic spells, Joshua still dominated the two dragons from start to finish. The warrior's body traced circular arcs through the air. His fists tore through the atmosphere, and the wind from his battle qi even created a twisted storm. Every solid hit from his incredibly hard iron fists punched large holes through dragon scales as tough as refined steel, causing blood to gush out.
Sriel and Daven tried to dodge but had no way to do so. Whether because of their large bodies or other reasons, they simply couldn't evade. Joshua's agile and swift dodging rendered their counterattacks meaningless. Their situation was now very awkward—the dragons couldn't hit the warrior, and even if they did, they might not break through his thick, semi-transparent battle qi defense layer. In contrast, Joshua could attack or defend at will. Not only could the dragons not hit him, but they could barely withstand a single blow from the warrior.
Laughing heartily, Joshua, bare-handed, pressed them into misery. He effortlessly executed any combat technique. Raising his palm, it became the sharpest blade; a single hand-chop could send sparks flying across dragon scales and carve out long, terrifying wounds. Each jab was like an armor-piercing spike, piercing even magically enhanced dragon scales.
So this was what the elder meant by not engaging in direct combat but only ambushing from the shadows. While struggling to hold on under Joshua's relentless aerial assaults, the magic dragon Daven suddenly had a thought: "So that's it—even Dragon Island couldn't spare an Ultimate-rank dragon elder to deal with this human, so they sent us to poison him!"
But not even the Dragon God could have known that this damned human lord was learned enough to easily identify crystalline poison—and his strength was ridiculously overpowered!
If the poisoning failed, was their mission doomed to fail?
Driven to a dead end, the battered Sriel and Daven finally awakened a primal beastly instinct buried deep in their bloodline. As Joshua once again traced an arc through the air, preparing to inflict another wound, both dragons simultaneously let out a roar that sent violent ripples through the air. Enhanced by Daven's draconic talent, this roar mixed with a spell momentarily bound Joshua's body. Vast magical power formed solid chains, firmly sealing the warrior's movements!
Sriel also took a deep breath—a dragon's deep breath could only mean one thing: dragon breath!
After making ample preparations, the deep red, scorching dragon breath, carrying the stench of the Abyss's depths, turned into a solid ray that swept rapidly toward the immobilized Joshua! Wherever it passed, even the air was burned into a vacuum. Countless electric plasmas and violent shockwaves spread everywhere. This attack's temperature far exceeded the sun's surface, capable of instantly vaporizing steel!
And this terrifying strike hit Joshua head-on!
After hitting its target, the dragon breath produced a violent explosion. Amidst the rumbling, black-red dust clouds and shockwaves spread rapidly, even punching hundreds or thousands of meter-long holes through the surrounding clouds. The entire main city of Moldavia felt a wave of hot wind sweeping through. The already withered leaves of trees all fell, and the supposedly evergreen pine needles turned yellow under the chaotic hot wind.
This hot wind swept across a huge semicircular area. Wherever it passed, both plants and animals lost some of their vitality. Even the usually energetic winter wolves began to wilt, let alone the more fragile humans. Some with weaker constitutions even lost the strength to walk.
"Is he dead?!"
Sriel, who had unleashed this devastating dragon breath, was panting heavily. As a bloodline magic dragon with Abyssal power, this destructive dragon breath wasn't something he could use casually. He had nearly drained all the bloodline power within him to barely unleash this attack. Recovering would take at least seven or eight years of quiet recuperation. Daven was the same—to bind the warrior, he had used all his remaining power and now had no strength left to fight.
A desperate, all-or-nothing gamble—this was their only option when completely suppressed in both strength and agility! If Joshua still didn't die from this, then Sriel and Daven could only choose suicide or retreat to preserve dragon dignity.
"No living being can survive a destructive dragon breath!" Daven comforted his companion in Draconic, his eyes still filled with lingering fear: "Even steel would be burned into metallic gas. A flesh-and-blood human can't possibly—owoo?!"
Before he could finish, the impossible happened.
From the air currents stirred up by the destructive dragon breath, a white light bloomed. This light was gentle, as if it could heal everything, stabilize everything, and calm everything. The moment this orderly light appeared, the chaotic side effects brought by the destructive dragon breath were swept away. Under its radiance, the people in the main city were surprised to find their strength restored. The winter wolves regained their vitality. Even though the fallen leaves couldn't be recovered, countless new buds appeared on the branches.
And a figure, radiating golden and white light, walked out of the black-red dragon breath dust.
[Heavenly Descent] and [Order Force]!
"Using a Chaos-attribute attack against me... Didn't your dragon superiors tell you that dealing with those Chaos monsters is far easier for me than dealing with you dragons?"
Stretching his body, Joshua, who was almost unharmed except for consuming nearly half his battle qi, sneered: "Too weak! Compared to the light cannon of an Ultimate-rank Wild God that can burn down mountains, this is too weak!"
"Ultimate-rank!"
It was only then that the one-eyed magic dragon Sriel realized something from the warrior's endless stream of skills and techniques. He quickly retreated a long distance and let out a fearful dragon roar: "You've already comprehended the Ultimate Essence of Technique!"
Snorting, Joshua wouldn't bother answering such a stupid question. He prepared to attack again, his steel-like perfect muscles tensed, ready to unleash his strongest power at any moment.
First, kill these enemies, then think about what comes next!
(To be continued.)