The pupils in Kiria's eyes reflected Drake's fist, her instincts screaming at her to evade, but her body refused to obey.
Drake's fist connected squarely with her face, sending her flying.
Sting and Rogue, watching from the sidelines, winced at the impact, recalling the punches they'd endured during their special training.
Drake, however, didn't think he'd hit too hard; Dragon Slayers, if nothing else, were notoriously durable.
Sure enough, Kiria quickly regained her footing, wiping the blood from her cheek, and a twisted smile spread across her face.
"That's it! Someone like you is truly delicious!"
With that, Kiria charged again, magic power coalescing into razor-sharp blades at the joints of her limbs.
Transforming into a terrifying killing machine, Kiria launched a furious assault on Drake.
However, every single one of Kiria's attacks fell just short of connecting, Drake dodging her blades with an almost leisurely grace.
"Damn it, all you do is dodge?" Kiria halted her attack, unleashing a sweeping strike that carved a deep gash into the ground, before shouting, "Are you afraid?"
Drake also stopped, saying, "I was hoping to see more of the Fifth Generation Dragon Slayers' power, but I don't seem to be learning anything. Fine, I'll grant your wish!"
Kiria's pupils constricted, and she instinctively raised her arms to defend.
But the scene unfolding before her defied all comprehension. The magic blades extending from her wrists shattered into fragments, and a gauntlet-clad hand seized her wrist, slamming her into the ground.
Relying on her animalistic instincts, Kiria managed to twist her body, launching a counterattack the instant she landed.
"Blade Dragon's Rending Roar!"
Not only was the air torn asunder by the blades of compressed magic power Kiria unleashed, but everything in the surrounding area was reduced to ribbons… except for Drake, who stood with his arms crossed.
All the blades of compressed air slammed into Drake's arms, dissipating without leaving even a scratch on his gauntlets.
A roar attack, the most powerful weapon in a dragon's arsenal, could transform a dragon's immense magic power into devastating destructive force.
For Dragon Slayers, it was also their most potent magic, second only to the Dragon Slayer Secret Arts. But to be honest, Drake was quite disappointed by Kiria's roar.
While it appeared to possess incredible destructive power, the force was too dispersed. If Kiria's own magic power was comparable to that of a dragon, it might have been a different story, but with her current level, her roar posed little threat to Drake.
Drake lowered his arms, looking at the stunned Kiria, saying, "Is that what you call a roar? Watch closely; this is a roar!"
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
A crimson magic circle materialized, and flames surged forth.
This time, Drake was serious, intent on completely incapacitating Kiria. The flames spread out in a fan shape, and the already ravaged valley suffered further devastation, with nearly a quarter of the surrounding mountainside being obliterated.
The moment the flames engulfed her, Kiria suddenly understood how the valley had been transformed into its current state. But before she could formulate any further thoughts, she was consumed by the scorching inferno.
Sting and Rogue, marveling at the spectacle and wondering when they'd be able to accomplish something similar, saw Drake walking towards them, dragging the unconscious Kiria in tow.
"Stop gawking; our purpose has been achieved. Let's get out of here!"
With that, Drake summoned Chongming, and, with the two aboard, flew towards the location where the rest of the group was waiting.
Two days later, members of Diabolos, having not received any word from Kiria, arrived at the valley.
Unfortunately, aside from the utterly devastated landscape, there were no clues to be found.
A square-faced man clad in armor said, "There are traces of Kiria's magic here; she must have fought someone."
A man whose body was adorned with bones said, "The opponent was strong; the surrounding destruction bears testament to that."
The armored man asked, "Could it be… the Flame Dragon God has appeared?"
The bone-clad man shook his head, "It's still unclear, but it's certainly possible! But whatever it is, it won't escape this time, because one of our guild's strongest members is on the case."
Saying this, the bone-clad man turned to look at a man in a kimono standing nearby.
The man didn't respond, simply placing his hand on the hilt of the long sword at his waist.
The man was confident that even if the Flame Dragon God, one of the Five Dragon Gods, were to appear, he could still cut it down with his blade, because he was a member of Diabolos' strongest unit: the Black Howling Dragon Knights.
Drake, having anticipated a conflict with Diabolos when formulating his plan, didn't pay any attention to the pursuers.
For him, studying Kiria, this Fifth Generation Dragon Slayer, was the most important thing right now.
Drake revised his earlier assessment of Guiltina as "barbaric"; the desolate areas were primarily concentrated in the southern region of the continent. The further north they traveled, the more densely populated the area became.
Drake had even heard that in the northernmost regions, there was a distinct power system completely different from that of the other two continents: alchemy.
Drake, having stopped reading the 100 Years Quest arc before crossing over, didn't know what this so-called alchemy was, and was planning to take a look after he had accomplished his current objective.
Thanks to the development of alchemy, Drake had been able to acquire all the necessary equipment for his research in the town where they were staying.
"Damn it! What are you trying to do! Let me go!"
Kiria, securely bound to a metal platform, screamed.
Drake reached for something on a nearby table, only to find that he'd run out of anesthetics. Impatient, Drake simply delivered a swift chop to her neck, achieving physical anesthesia.
Dragon Slayers were too resilient; even specially formulated anesthetics were metabolized too quickly. His consumption of anesthetics had been faster than anticipated.
But it didn't matter; he had already collected most of the data he needed.
As Drake had suspected, the differences between the generations of Dragon Slayers didn't lie in how they acquired their magic.
The essence of a Dragon Slayer was a human mage who wielded dragon magic, and the differences between the generations stemmed from the nature of that dragon magic.
That's right, dragon magic wasn't all the same. More precisely, it was divided into the magic of the soul and the magic of the body.
In the First Generation, Dragon Slayers learned from dragons, thus acquiring dragon magic.
Because the human body was different from that of a dragon, the magic they obtained was the magic of the soul.
But the soul would eventually influence the body, so as the Dragon Slayer grew stronger, their body would be influenced by the magic of the soul, gradually transforming into that of a dragon.
The Dragon Lacrima implanted into Second Generation Dragon Slayers was made from the heart of a dragon, thus granting them the magic of a dragon's body.
The Third Generation combined both, simultaneously obtaining the magic of the soul and the body.
So, Sting and Rogue's pride was justified; they could freely use dragonification, something that First Generation Dragon Slayers struggled to control.
The reason was that they possessed both the magic of the soul and the magic of the body.
The Fifth Generation, of course, obtained the magic of the body, just like the Second Generation. But their method of acquisition was far more brutal.
By directly consuming dragon meat, they were essentially allowing the magic of a dragon's body to directly invade their own.
Of course, this allowed them to more deeply acquire and integrate with the magic of the body, but it also came with greater risks.
Because they lacked the magic of the soul, and were being constantly invaded by dragon power, if they ever entered the realm of dragonification, there would be no turning back.
They would inevitably transform into dragons… no, they would become mindless monsters with the bodies of dragons.
Drake also thought of Acnologia; had he become the Black Dragon so quickly because he had hunted too many dragons, and was constantly being invaded by the magic of dragon flesh whenever he bathed in their blood?
And why were Natsu and Gajeel so special, gaining the power of the Lightning Flame Dragon and the Iron Shadow Dragon?
It was likely because they had absorbed the magic of the body from Laxus and Rogue, respectively, and combined it with the attributes of their own soul magic.
And that was the direction Drake intended to take his own enhancement; ideally, Drake could obtain the magic of the body from Sting, Rogue, or even Kiria.
But if he was going to enhance himself, Drake naturally wouldn't settle for second best.
The magic power of a Dragon Slayer couldn't compare to that of a true dragon.
The Flame Dragon God Ignia, who, if one were to be technical, was his older brother, the biological son of the Fire Dragon King Igneel, was the target Drake had set his sights on.
It's the first time I've realized how comfortable it is to sleep without a CPAP machine!
What can I say? I hope everyone stays healthy!
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