# Chapter 9: The Very Center of the Battlefield
Sularno recognized the human warrior before him.
The Lord of Moldavia, the strongest warrior in the Northern lands, the Dragon Slayer, the Enemy of Monsters, the youngest Ultimate-rank on the Mycroft Continent—Joshua von Radcliffe. This man's reputation had already spread throughout the Mad Dragon Legion besieging the Holy Mountain, and even throughout the entire Five-Colored Dragon Clan. He was feared, even dreaded, by the vast majority of dragons.
According to incomplete statistics from this period, the number of dragons who had died by his hand had already exceeded thirty, including two Ultimate-rank Black Dragons. Among all dragon slayers over the past thousand years, there were those who had killed more, but this warrior was absolutely the one with the highest kill count in the shortest time.
According to the dragons who had encountered Joshua and were fortunate enough to escape with their lives, this warrior's pressure exceeded even dragon might. Even a Greater Demon was far inferior. His technique was transcendent, his strength sufficient to grapple with dragons in close combat. His body was tough and possessed extremely strong regenerative ability, and his resistance to magic was unreasonably excessive to the point of absurdity. He was nearly a combat machine without weaknesses, a humanoid incarnation of slaughter.
Originally, Sularno had suspected whether those dragons had seen too little and exaggerated the opponent's strength out of fear. But after being inexplicably found and engaged by the other party, the Blue Dragon truly understood that those fortunate young dragons had not exaggerated at all.
They had even omitted one point—that this human's weapons were truly absurdly powerful. No matter what spell or shield, they were shattered in a single strike, completely unreasonable.
Perhaps because dealing with ordinary dragons didn't require using those two divine weapons that were clearly at the sacred artifact level. In any case, Sularno suffered greatly in this regard. Caught off guard, he barely held on for a few minutes before being completely blasted out of the sky and into the earth. This was even with the opponent clearly holding back, not decapitating or disemboweling him.
The surrounding wyverns were all frightened into scattering in all directions. Faced with Joshua's questions and the giant axe that could sever his neck at any moment, the Blue Dragon naturally told everything he knew without reservation—Sularno had long felt this war was completely absurd. The status of dragons on the continent was already high enough. When facing a dragon, the vast majority of human lords would choose to appease rather than attack. There was no need for any Dragon Calamity at all. He had long wanted to find an opportunity to escape the battlefield and continue his journey. As for now, it was merely a change from escape to surrender. Compared to death, this was not unacceptable.
Coincidentally, Joshua also recognized the Blue Dragon before him.
[Windrider Sularno], the only dragon from the Dragon Calamity of his past life who had escaped from the Holy Mountain battlefield and survived until the Abyss Invasion of Year 855 of the Era of Falling Stars as an Ultimate-rank Blue Dragon—of course, due to the intensifying Great Magic Tide, this dragon had already advanced to Legendary-rank by early 850. At that time, he would still issue quests for players, collecting various different Air Element Cores and Wind Energy Cores to help him advance, with rewards being extremely rare high-rank Air-type talismans, and a chance to obtain the Legendary-rank sacred relic [Undying Twilight Pendant].
Although this Blue Dragon bore the name "Sula the Fleer" among the dragon clan, he actually simply didn't want to engage in meaningless combat. When facing demons, Sularno had also contributed his efforts. Considering this, as long as the other party could quickly answer his questions, Joshua did not intend to kill him now. After all, they were somewhat acquainted—he had even farmed talismans from him back then.
And Sularno, worthy of being a dragon who could survive until twenty-two years later, answered questions quickly, spoke clearly, and used a fluent Elven-accented Common Language when facing a threat to his life. Apart from some preliminary nonsense that was probably foreshadowing, the Blue Dragon took only three minutes to clearly state the approximate locations and external abilities of most Ultimate-rank dragons.
Joshua recorded all the information one by one. He frowned and pondered for a moment, then asked: "No Red Dragon?"
The warrior's tone was direct: "My target is an Ultimate-rank Red Dragon, but among the dragons you just mentioned, there isn't a single Red Dragon. I suspect you're hiding something."
The giant axe pressed deeper, and blood flowed faster.
Hearing Joshua's words and feeling the cold axe blade cutting into his flesh, Sularno's neck twitched slightly, as if swallowing saliva. He immediately replied with a forcibly calm voice: "No, absolutely not—it's just that Red Dragon..."
Speaking up to this point, he seemed somewhat hesitant, but still spoke quickly: "I don't know its exact location. I only know it should be hidden among the dragon groups on the northwest side. It rarely shows itself. Among all the Ultimate-rank dragons, only it is so mysterious."
Sularno was very curious about how Joshua knew of this Red Dragon's existence. Even he, a fellow dragon, had almost forgotten about that mysterious Ultimate-rank Red Dragon. Where on earth did this human obtain such classified information? Could there be a traitor within the dragon clan?
Of course, it was memories from his past life.
Joshua nodded, retracting the giant axe in his hand. He seemed relatively satisfied with this answer. Then, the warrior said indifferently as a reminder: "If you want to live, stop the bleeding quickly."
He didn't pay attention to the dragon beside him, but instead looked up at the sky in the northwest direction.
As someone who had experienced all this before, Joshua naturally knew most of the Five-Colored Dragon Clan's arrangements in this war. He had long selected some important matters to discuss with Pope Eagle, and shifting the defensive focus to the northeast direction was the warrior's handiwork, avoiding countless unnecessary losses.
And certain things particularly worth guarding against, he also remembered very clearly.
For example, regarding that mysterious Red Dragon.
In his past life, the Mad Dragons besieged the Holy Mountain. Countless wyverns, just like now, engaged in a brutal war of attrition with the clergy relying on the temple defense line. This battle lasted for a week, only pausing briefly when the Pope and three Legendary-rank dragons went to the Void for a decisive battle.
At that time, the Holy Mountain's losses were not yet severe. Because of the large number of divine puppet cannon fodder, the vast majority of clergy were merely fatigued, not combat-ineffective. The death toll was also acceptable. Once they caught their breath, they could continue with relentless fierce fighting. By then, the Mad Dragons had already suffered over forty thousand casualties. If not for berserking robbing them of reason, the vast majority of wyverns would have fled in panic.
But during that brief hour or so of stalemate, an Ultimate-rank Red Dragon struck at the moment when the Holy Mountain side let down their guard. Using an unknown magical artifact, at the cost of exhausting itself and reducing the artifact to ashes, it destroyed two-thirds of the temples in the north-central temple district with a single strike, completely tearing open a huge gap in the entire Holy Mountain defense line.
The battle resumed. To prevent the enemy from breaking through to the Holy Mountain, which served as the center of all divine spell formations, the northern part of the central temple district became a true meat grinder. The lost defensive thickness could only be filled with human lives. Under the assault of maddened dragons, countless clergy resolutely threw their lives into this bloody mill. Within a single day, thousands of clergy died and countless puppets were scrapped.
Mothers lost sons, wives lost husbands, daughters lost fathers. And conversely, the same applied. War was such a cruel thing. Humans were not isolated islands. Every clergy member's death represented the pain and grief of a group of people behind them. Village churches would lose their healers, and orphanages would lose their directors. Although the Church of the Seven Gods also engaged in shady dealings behind the scenes, overall it was worthy of the name of goodness and justice. If possible, Joshua did not want to see this scene.
So he would kill that Red Dragon before it could act. That was where a warrior's work and responsibility lay.
Joshua stared at the sky in the northwest direction.
—Once the specific direction was confirmed, it would be easy to handle. He thought so.
Then, Joshua took a deep breath.
Air containing the smell of blood was drawn into the warrior's lungs. Endless information was analyzed by him.
The scent of wyvern blood, the lubricating oil of divine puppets, the burnt smell of steel and acid mist, the dust of Mad Dragon Plague.
Temperature, air humidity, wind direction, the fishy smell of seawater.
The incense of the temples, the fragrance of grass and trees, the unavoidable negative energy odor of Black Dragons, the White Dragon's breath carrying a trace of Abyss power—and the unique sulfur scorch smell of Red Dragons!
Having distinguished the Red Dragon's scent from thousands or even tens of thousands of different odors in the air, and confirming the opponent's existence, Joshua's eyes lit up. He immediately tilted his head slightly, pupils contracting, and began to actually confirm the enemy's location.
In the eyes of an Ultimate-rank warrior, the trajectories of all things' energy began to appear. Because of the wyverns' previous breath attacks, Fire Element and Earth Element were boiling and sweeping across the entire surface of the Holy Mountain. The Mad Dragons' powerful life energy was like clusters of flames shuttling through the air. But just as scents differed, energy trajectories and characteristics also differed. In an instant, Joshua discovered quite a few Gold-rank and Ultimate-rank dragons hidden among the dragon groups. Their positions matched exactly what Sularno had said, with any differences within the margin of error.
The warrior's brain processed various information like a supercomputer, then aggregated the information layer by layer, locking onto a target at one location. It was a very concealed position behind three waves of dragon groups and thousands of wyverns.
But no matter how concealed, it didn't matter.
The warrior had already found it.
So, the hunt began.
*Boom!*
A crimson flash lit up beneath his feet. The earth exploded. Propelled by Battle Qi, Joshua's speed instantly surpassed the speed of sound as he rose into the sky. Like an arrow, he shot forward toward the target direction.
In the blink of an eye, he had already charged into the first wave of dragon groups.
And the other Gold-rank and Ultimate-rank dragons were only just shifting their gazes in this direction.
Joshua's battle with Sularno had only lasted a few minutes, and the commotion wasn't great. Compared to the spectacle of countless wyverns assaulting the temples, spewing liquid fire and acid mist, the Blue Dragon had lost too quickly and too cleanly, almost silently. No one had noticed before because Ultimate-rank dragons were few in number and needed to constantly monitor their assigned areas to ensure suppression. It was only when Joshua went against the dragon tide rose into the sky that other Ultimate-rank dragons were startled to discover that Sularno, who was responsible for that area, had disappeared.
"The Dragon Slayer is here!"
"As expected, he couldn't hold back and struck first!"
Exclamations and warnings echoed through the sky. Because of the warrior's pressure, countless wyverns driven only by instinct forgot their master's commands and scattered in panic. But given the density of the airspace above Ash Island at this moment, where could these wyverns flee to? All kinds of different Mad Dragons crossed paths, emitting deafening screeches, plunging this airspace into chaos.
Out of fear, many wyverns began spewing liquid fire and acid mist toward the crimson Battle Qi cluster where the warrior was. Dragons with spellcasting abilities also unsparingly used various spells to obstruct Joshua's advance, trying to delay him until other Ultimate-rank dragons arrived. Magical light pierced the entire battlefield. Elemental mists and acid mist floated in the air. Wyvern after wyvern fell from the sky with wails, like a bizarre rain. The vast majority of these wyverns died at the hands of their own kind, not by the warrior's greatsword or giant axe.
"Quick, stop him!"
A Gold-rank White Dragon responsible for this area shouted warnings to all surrounding dragons through Dragon Language and the psychic network. He screamed at the top of his lungs: "We absolutely cannot let this monster disrupt the formation!"
But other dragons' voices also sounded simultaneously, mixing together, making the sky instantly noisy.
"High-intensity energy convergence detected ahead!"
"Detarna, evade quickly! That Dragon Slayer is right in front of you!"
"Fourth Squad, change formation! Rapid descent! Avoid danger!"
"Watch for impact! He's already here!"
Joshua was surrounded by black-red high-concentration Battle Qi. Pure life energy formed a semi-solid barrier capable of canceling out some spells. He flew silently at supersonic speed, passing squad after squad of wyverns. Wherever the warrior passed, all Mad Dragons within a ten-meter radius were cut in two. The dragons and wyverns were in chaos. Their attacks and obstructions couldn't cause him any meaningful harm.
Just as Joshua was about to break through two groups with his own strength and approach his target, a high-pitched long cry came from high above. The clouds were torn apart. A huge White Dragon, riding freezing cold air, pounced toward the warrior from above. Its size far exceeded ordinary White Dragons, reaching nearly sixty meters in length. It beat its wings, and its diving momentum blotted out the sky and covered the earth, like a falling meteor mountain, enough to crush everything into fragments.
Sub-zero-one-hundred-fifty-degree extreme cold breath was spewed out by this White Dragon. Under its psychic command, countless originally panicked wyverns changed direction and charged screeching toward the crimson light cluster.
"Kill him!"
Toward this human warrior who had displayed extremely strong strength and potential, all dragons wanted him dead. The Dragon Slayer Joshua's reputation was so terrifying to dragons that even some adult dragons changed color at the mention of his name. To kill him, the dragons had even sent special assassination squads, but unfortunately, they had failed. But now, this madman had actually charged alone into the dragon group—simply seeking death.
And on the ground, the clergy who had been holding fast in the temples suddenly found the pressure relieved. The endless stream of Black Dragon attacks suddenly disappeared. A certain priest who recognized Joshua looked at the conspicuous black-red light cluster in the sky and immediately reacted.
"The Count has made his move! Create an opportunity for him!" Although he didn't know Joshua's purpose, it was presumably to decapitate some Ultimate-rank dragon first, reducing the both sides combat power gap. At this command, all the clergy in the northwest direction immediately shifted their offensive-defensive posture, reversing the barrier energy, and actively attacked the dragon groups in the sky.
"For the Seven Gods!"
"For humanity!"
Roar after roar rang out. Countless dense sacred light patterns appeared above the temples. Holy Light power converged, completing spell filling within seconds—at the command of some commander, countless shallow gold concentrated light bullets rose from below to above, their density so great that it was like a golden cloud ascending straight up.
Where the golden cloud passed, countless wyverns seemed to collide with a wall of magma. Their bodies were burned to nothing in an instant, with only a few remnants falling through the gaps in the light bullets, forming large patches of foul-smelling bloody rain.
In the huge pit where Sularno had been, a weak blue-haired pointed-eared "elf" crawled out. This "elf," who seemed to have the temperament of a bard, stared in shock at the scene of Joshua charging all the way, his heart shaken beyond words.
The huge wounds on the Blue Dragon's dragon body couldn't heal. It should be the special ability of the weapon in the warrior's hand. Sularno tried every method, and nearly fainted from blood loss without being able to recover. Helpless, he could only choose to transform into human form, relying on a human body to barely survive for a while.
And just as the Blue Dragon crawled out of the pit, he happened to see the scene of Joshua charging into the dragon group as if entering an unguarded realm—thousands of wyverns and dozens of dragons were emitting screeches and wails because of one human's charge. Bodies and entrails fell like rain.
Sularno pressed his right palm against his heart and swallowed saliva.
It seemed... when he had attacked him, he really had held back.
Because of Joshua's actions, the entire northwest defense line of Eda Ash Island underwent a huge change. Countless people, dragons, and even some secret observers all turned their attention to him.
But the warrior didn't care at all.
The greatsword swung with full force, horizontally striking the White Dragon that had tried to crush him. The warrior's peripheral vision saw the other party, like a bowling ball thrown with force, crash at the same diving speed into a dense group of dragons nearby. In an instant, countless wyverns and this White Dragon fell from the sky, plummeting toward the earth.
Without paying attention to whether the other party had become meat paste or meat puree, Joshua accelerated again, advancing with full force. All scenery beside him became blurry lines. No attack or spell could catch up to his speed. The warrior even felt himself crashing through quite a few wyverns and even dragons that couldn't dodge in time. Blood mist exploded. Hard dragon scales and dragon bones, under the impact of Battle Qi concentrated to the extreme, were hardly harder than biscuits.
But he didn't care at all.
Between his crimson pupils, there was only one target.
Ahead in the air, that Red Dragon with a face full of shock and panic.