Chapter 67: A Battle with Absolutely No Nonsense
High in the air, a black dragon far larger than an ordinary dragon was circling within the clouds and mist.
Its body was massive and robust, a layer of hazy light mist spreading across its surface, allowing this dragon to hover in the sky without needing to flap its wings.
Its position was higher than the clouds, far above the curtain of rain and black mist. Thick negative energy fog, dense enough to block out light, surged from the gaps between this dragon's scales, tainting the rain clouds and storms below, bringing a deathly stillness to the surrounding sea area.
Thus, within dozens of kilometers, seabirds had vanished, leaving only sea beasts eroded by the abyssal aura to roam.
Dead Smoke Grandi didn't dislike this kind of work; in fact, it was the most suitable task for it.
Among the many creatures of the mortal world, black dragons were the closest to negative energy. Even the talents of the undead elite could only match them. As natural masters of negative energy and water elements, any black dragon was a qualified villain. They could easily poison a city's water source and corrupt thousands of corpses, and their evil nature made all black dragons endlessly enjoy such activities.
And Grandi was undoubtedly a genius among black dragons. As an evil dragon that had destroyed a human kingdom, even a hundred years later, its name was still used by parents in the Far South to scare children. Its domain, 'Endless Black Mist,' had become a symbol of evil in many legendary tales.
Using magic to float at a high altitude, Grandi stared at the clouds. A ring of faint purple light flickered in its eye sockets, allowing the dragon to clearly observe the white giant wheel swaying amidst the storm and giant waves.
That was its target: the Seven Gods Church's sacred ark, 'Time Vessel.'
Originally, as an Ultimate-rank dragon lord, Grandi should have led three Mad Dragon Corps to participate in the upcoming siege of the Far Sea Holy Mountain. But for some reason, it was sent by the Five-Colored Dragon Clan's council to cooperate with its old partner, 'Undead Dragon' Mandagar, to guard the abyssal rift in the Abyss of Anos and destroy the Seven Gods Church's exploration fleet.
The black dragon, initially somewhat resistant, immediately agreed happily after learning that the human warrior who had injured it was also on that ark. Dragons held grudges far longer than humans; their hatred and resentment could last for centuries. Grandi had been injured and forced to retreat in its first battle after emerging from seclusion, and it absolutely could not swallow that bitter anger.
So, the black dragon readily agreed to its somewhat strange old partner's request to cooperate with those eroding sea beasts and abyssal monsters, blocking the Seven Gods Church's ark outside the Central Great Maelstrom.
Now, Grandi felt this task was easy. The Time Vessel ark was already surrounded by an endless stream of sea beasts. Even if it regained power, it couldn't accelerate again. Coupled with the continuous weakening from the mist it released, it wouldn't be long before all the ark's crew fell into a coma, gradually losing their life force, and then dying.
Occasionally, purple lightning flashed through the clouds beneath the dragon, and violent rumbles shook its eardrums. Grandi shook its massive head slightly. Unlike other dragons, black dragons preferred the deep sea abyss and toxic swamps; it was still somewhat unaccustomed to the fierce winds at high altitude.
Grandi's attention wavered for just one second.
And the battle began at that moment.
Beneath the clouds, an inconspicuous black-red light point flickered to life. The alerted black dragon had only just shifted its gaze to the location of the light point when that point ignited the sky, turning the gray rain clouds crimson.
And a streak of rapid light had already reached beneath Grandi. A humanoid figure, its entire body wreathed in blazing battle qi, executed a simple and clean rising dragon punch, striking the black dragon's abdomen with crisp efficiency. Instantly, countless purple-black scales on the dragon's belly shattered inch by inch, and the thick muscles and internal organs beneath were deformed and folded under the immense pressure.
"!!"
Eyes wide, mouth agape, Grandi was struck in the abdomen by this heavy punch, unable even to scream. It could only instinctively expel a breath of turbid air from its lungs. Then, the hazy light mist all over its body flowed rapidly, accompanied by a crisp sound, and its tens-of-meters-long massive body vanished in an instant.
Short-range triggered teleportation.
"I knew it was you, Grandi!"
Only then did the sound arrive belatedly. A series of violent sonic booms mixed with shockwaves surged wildly in all directions along the trajectory of the light. The originally rumbling thunderclouds were dispersed in an instant. Joshua, his body burning with battle qi flames, stood high in the sky. He scanned his surroundings, his crimson pupils shifting, searching for the location where the black dragon had teleported.
Seconds later, the warrior found his target. He raised his hand and made a chopping motion in the air. A thick cloud in the distance was instantly split in two, revealing the startled and furious black dragon behind it, rapidly healing its wounds.
Having fought various experts on the continent a hundred years ago, Grandi was cautious in its tactics: if it could ambush, it would never attack; if it could scheme, it would never engage directly. But once forced into a frontal battle, its actions were equally decisive—it would never utter a single word of nonsense.
Its massive dragon claws raised. The scales on its dragon arms were inscribed with numerous magical runes, almost equivalent to a legendary staff. With a low dragon roar, a dim gray light shot straight toward Joshua.
But the warrior, already in a combat state, couldn't be hit by such an attack. The deathly finger, filled with a stagnant aura, was deflected by his battle qi barrier. The gray light slanted into the thunderclouds, causing the thick clouds to dissipate instantly. The water vapor within was completely decomposed into gas by the high-energy mana, then ignited by the heat, turning into a sea of flames.
Seizing this opening, Joshua rushed toward Grandi's location. Explosive battle qi detonated behind him, allowing the warrior to cross kilometers in a fraction of a second. But the black dragon was no longer there. Through another teleportation spell, it had moved to a high altitude several kilometers above the warrior's head.
The black dragon was now nearly eight kilometers above sea level. The atmosphere here was thin and extremely cold. Even the ubiquitous elements struggled to respond to the caster's call. But Grandi was, after all, a powerful black dragon. It drew upon the mana it had long accumulated within its body, then extended its dragon claws and unleashed a barrage of powerful spells in rapid succession.
Flames, ice, lightning, acid, instant death, mana, petrification, negative energy... Various types of spells rained down like bombardment, precisely aimed at Joshua. The diverse damage types made it difficult for the warrior's battle qi barrier to withstand, especially since invisible curses and weakening effects were mixed in.
A triple combo of flames, lightning, and acid struck Joshua's battle qi barrier. The powerful energy flow pierced through it, but this also gave him a chance to dodge. With a booming sound, the warrior, having located the black dragon, carved a vacuum tunnel and appeared directly beside Grandi.
The black dragon tried to repeat its tactic, casting another teleportation spell to create distance. The battle between a caster and a warrior was like this: one side wanted to keep distance and maintain a casting rhythm, while the other constantly closed in, bringing the opponent into their attack range.
But this time was different. Already prepared, Joshua sensed the ripples in space-time the moment they appeared. He decisively punched the void, his powerful battle qi flattening the twenty-seven mana nodes the black dragon had used to open a teleportation channel. At the same time, the warrior closed in and grabbed Grandi's right claw.
"Roar!"
Without hesitation, the black dragon let out a mighty roar. Following this dragon roar, it rapidly chanted a draconic spell. Instantly, pitch-black mist poured out from the scales of its right claw. This was the most condensed negative energy, comparable to the River Styx in the abyss. Except for the black dragon, which had long transformed itself into a half-undead, no living thing could withstand the erosion of this mist.
But a moment later, Grandi was shocked to find that Joshua hadn't let go.
The warrior's muscles bulged from the stimulation of battle qi, making his already tall frame even more imposing. But compared to the black dragon, which was dozens of meters tall, Joshua still seemed insignificant. Yet, this insignificant human, amidst the highly condensed negative energy mist, sneered coldly at the massive dragon.
The surface skin was melted by the negative energy, and the muscles beneath were corroded and pitted. But with a mighty roar from the warrior, blazing black-red battle qi scattered the mist. As a manifestation of life force, battle qi was inherently opposed to negative energy, like fire and water—utterly incompatible. Only the stronger side could prevail.
Clearly, Joshua's battle qi was far more abundant than the black mist Grandi had hastily released. The warrior, fighting at full power, underwent intense metabolism throughout his body. The result was that within just three seconds, all his wounds were completely renewed. The melted muscles and skin grew back, becoming even tougher.
Only a transcendent body fully assimilated with life energy could use such terrifying high-speed regeneration. For an ordinary person, the life force lost in an instant would age them by over a decade.
The muscles on his arms bulged. The power of battle qi surged through his entire body. The warrior roared, and the dragon claw in his hand snapped off with a sound. Severely wounded, the black dragon lost control of the levitation spell fixed to its body and plummeted straight down like a meteor.
Joshua held the black dragon claw in his hand. This half-dead limb, filled with negative energy, was ignited by his surging battle qi like fuel for a flame. Blazing light burst forth from it, swirling around the warrior.
His crimson pupils locked onto the black dragon, which was using its fall to escape his attack range. Joshua stomped on the air. The thin atmosphere at eight kilometers high was compressed by his immense force, becoming as solid as a steel plate. The powerful reaction force instantly accelerated the warrior to several times the speed of sound. He thrust his left elbow forward, crashing directly into the black dragon's spine. The crisp sound of bones shattering echoed in the air, accompanied by the dragon's agonized roar.
On the sea surface, on the deck of the Time Vessel ark, the people who had been easily eliminating the attacking sea beasts all looked up simultaneously. A tangled massive meteor, trailing flames from high-speed friction, was plummeting diagonally toward the sea.
The sky was crimson.