Both Dragon Flame Armor and Dragon Force were techniques that Drake had developed by combining his own abilities to unleash his power.
The difference between the two was that Dragon Force was formed by combining all the techniques that utilized his own power.
While Dragon Flame Armor was a fusion of techniques that drew upon all external sources of power.
Since it relied on external power, using it naturally placed an additional burden on the body. In order to minimize this burden, Drake had constructed Dragon Flame Armor in the form of armor.
But Dragon Flame Armor had another mode besides its armored form: to completely integrate all power into himself, unleashing its full potential without limit.
Of course, this came with a tremendous load, significantly shortening Drake's combat time.
But right now, Drake had no other thoughts in his mind; he just wanted to fight Ignia with all his might.
The armor shattered, transforming into red runes that crawled across Drake's body. His outer clothing was incinerated by the flames, revealing his rune-covered upper body.
His dragon scale scarf fluttered in the wind, its ends shimmering with fire.
The broken horns on Drake's forehead also grew back, becoming even thicker and stronger.
Ignia genuinely felt surprised; he hadn't expected Drake to be able to grow even stronger at this point.
But the empowered Drake was now his opponent, and before he could react, Drake had closed the distance and delivered a chop to his neck.
Crack!
Ignia had forgotten how long it had been since he'd heard the sound of his own bones breaking, and how long it had been since he'd felt such intense pain.
But this pain only fueled his fighting spirit. So, he immediately threw a punch at Drake.
Drake also raised his fist in response, and as Ignia's fist struck his chest, Drake's also landed on Ignia's face.
Neither side retreated, but instead continued their assault.
After exchanging countless blows, Ignia roared with exhilaration, ignoring his dislocated fingers and throwing another punch at Drake's face.
Taking that punch, Drake only took half a step back, then aimed both hands at Ignia, unleashing a Fire Dragon's Brilliant Flame at point-blank range.
Enduring Drake's scorching flames, Ignia leaned in, delivering a punch to Drake's chest that caved it in.
Drake's veins were now coursing with dragon power, granting him considerable regenerative abilities.
But this time, the injuries Drake had sustained in the battle up to this point were healing very slowly.
No wonder only Dragon Slayers with dragon power could slay dragons; it turned out that dragon power could suppress other dragon power.
In the original timeline, the five dragons of Guiltina were known as the Five Dragon Gods, but they weren't exactly working together, more like harboring ulterior motives!
Each of the five dragons had their own thoughts and goals, and wished they could eliminate the other dragons, leaving only themselves.
The reason war hadn't broken out between them was that the injuries sustained in battles between the Five Dragon Gods couldn't be easily healed.
They were all afraid of being taken advantage of by a third party after fighting another dragon.
Ignia dispersed Drake's flames, looking at Drake and saying, "Interesting flames! But you seem to have misunderstood something; truly powerful flames aren't like that!"
"Enough talk!" Drake's breathing was labored, and he slowly lowered his stance.
Ignia sensed Drake's intention, saying, "Then let me show you!"
Saying this, Ignia also adopted the same stance, and the two, dragon and human, puffed out their cheeks, as immense fire-elemental magic power began to surge.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!" x2
White and crimson flames erupted from their mouths simultaneously, colliding with a deafening roar.
Drake couldn't help but frown; whether it was the density of the flames or the amount of magic power poured into them, he shouldn't have been inferior to Ignia.
But when his flames collided with Ignia's, they showed signs of collapsing.
Even as Drake poured in more magic power, he couldn't stop this trend; the crimson flames directly overwhelmed the white flames, engulfing Drake.
Drake endured the pain of the burns, and opened his mouth to swallow Ignia's flames.
If the other's flames were more powerful, then he'd just eat them and make them his own power.
Drake's idea was sound, but the problem was that Ignia's flames were too domineering.
Although Drake forcibly swallowed them, the surging power put him through hell.
The veins on Drake's face bulged, and his reptilian eyes turned completely crimson. Drake fought with all his might to maintain a sliver of clarity.
Ignia, seeing Drake's expression, revealed a look of disappointment, saying, "So, you've lost your mind from being unable to withstand my flames?"
Seeing Ignia's expression, Drake charged forward, launching a furious assault on him.
While unleashing the rampaging power within his body, Drake was using the last of his sanity to consider what made his flames inferior to Ignia's.
Drake had a premonition that only by solving this problem could he reverse his current disadvantageous situation.
At the same time, as long as he understood this problem, even if his intended goal wasn't achieved, his gains on this trip would have been enough.
However, the severe injuries he had sustained since the start of the battle, the burden of the second stage of Dragon Flame Armor, and the uncontrollable power after swallowing Ignia's flames were all eroding away at Drake's remaining sanity.
He could already sense his thoughts slowing down.
Just as his consciousness was becoming increasingly blurred, a distant memory suddenly surfaced.
…
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
The young Natsu, his face red with exertion, managed to spit out a fireball the size of a fist.
"How's that, Drake? I finally learned it!"
The equally small Drake shook his head helplessly, "That's it?"
Saying this, Drake took a deep breath, and unleashed a pillar of fire that stretched for over ten meters.
Natsu's eyes sparkled, "That's amazing, but I'll be able to do that someday!"
A deep voice sounded, and Igneel leaned in, saying, "What a joke; that's what you call a roar?
Watch closely; this is the real Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Then, Drake and Natsu witnessed what a true Fire Dragon's Roar looked like!
A pillar of fire as thick as a person was unleashed by Igneel, directly leveling a distant mountain peak, the resulting wind making it difficult for Drake and Natsu to breathe.
"So cool!"
Hearing Natsu's exclamation, Igneel laughed heartily.
Looking down at the thoughtful Drake, Igneel asked, "Drake, what are you thinking about?"
Drake replied, "It's strange; I feel like Igneel's flames are different from mine."
Igneel smiled, saying, "Of course they are! You don't understand what fire is yet; once you do, you'll be able to wield the same flames."
Drake looked puzzled, and then glanced at Natsu, before giving up and turning away.
Looking at his clear, foolish eyes, he knew he hadn't understood a thing; it was too much to expect any inspiration from him.
…
'What is fire?'
Drake's mind echoed with Igneel's hint, but he couldn't come up with an answer.
But on the outside, Drake was attacking Ignia like a wild beast.
Although his power had increased, these chaotic attacks posed no threat to Ignia.
Ignia didn't even bother to retaliate, simply dodging all of Drake's attacks with a cold expression.
Ignia dodged Drake's reaching fingers, and kicked Drake away.
Looking at Drake as he got to his feet, Ignia said, Can't absorb my flames? That's to be expected; my flames are the karmic fires that burn everything to ashes!
But I was just starting to feel something; is this battle going to end in such a boring way?
Unbeknownst to Ignia, his words had reached the ears of Drake, who still retained a sliver of sanity, and like sunlight piercing through thick clouds, they suddenly gave Drake a direction to follow.
Drake had noticed while studying Kiria that the magic wielded by dragons differed from that of humans in that dragons were closer to the source of magic; they possessed the power of concepts.
For example, the Blade Dragon's power that Kiria possessed was, in essence, the power of the concept of severance.
And the reason Ignia's flames were stronger than his was because his flames were the embodiment of burning, of turning everything to ash.
Drake, on the other hand, was simply using fire, without grasping the concept within.
Even with the purifying power of Spirit Assimilation and the dragon-slaying power of his skills, his flames were still fundamentally inferior.
So, what was the concept behind his own flames?
…
Ignia watched as Drake slowly raised his head, the crimson in his eyes beginning to fade.
"Oh, it looks like I'll be able to enjoy this a little longer."
Drake smiled, saying, "Don't worry; this time, I'm really fired up!"
Saying this, a vermillion glow emerged from the core of the white flames surrounding Drake, becoming incomparably beautiful.
The two, dragon and human, stared at each other, adopting the same stance as before.
"Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Flames with vermillion cores and white outer flames shot forth from Drake's mouth, directly blocking Ignia's crimson flames, the two locked in a stalemate in mid-air.
These were Drake's new flames, flames that possessed the concept of "Scorching Heat"!
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