The surface of the sea had been thoroughly boiled. At a glance, the water was bubbling violently, but even more conspicuous was the beach near the shore.
The sand there had been melted by the intense heat, fusing into patches of viscous, orange-red liquid that dotted the coastline.
The artificial sun created by the Teostra had killed almost everything on the surface. In the time Asterion spent observing the situation, large swathes of dead fish had floated to the surface. Boiled alive, creatures of all sizes drifted with the churning waves toward the shore, where they collided with the molten sand in the shallows, sending up bursts of white steam.
The returning waves crashed against the coast again, cooling the orange-red liquid. After a few washes, it solidified into a turbid gray.
It was cruel, yet the coast was now filled with an appetizing scent of… fish.
The dead fish, cooked to perfection and delivered to the shore by the waves, were giving off such a tantalizing aroma that it actually made Asterion hungry. This was especially true for the ones sizzling against the molten sand, making a crisp crackling sound as if they were meat being seared on a hot stone slab.
The marine life that had luckily survived the previous Elder Dragon disaster could not escape this one. If the battle situation weren't so critical, Asterion really would have considered gobbling up these wave-delivered fish before throwing himself into the fray.
The Nergigante and the Teostra were rolling around in a grapple once again. Activating their special abilities consumed stamina even for Elder Dragons. The Teostra couldn't chain his Supernovas, nor could he endlessly release blast powder or breathe fire—he was like a man waving a flyswatter, trying desperately to drive away the fly that was Nergigante. But no matter how hard he swatted, he couldn't kill it; he was merely wasting his own stamina in vain.
The sheer madness displayed by the Nergigante made Asterion's scalp tingle. It was no wonder that hunters who first encountered it recorded it as the "demon clad in black spikes." He was like an undead god of war. Even as the Teostra tore at him, even as fire scorched his flesh until it cracked and fell away, he showed no sign of retreating.
Reason seemed to have vanished from the Nergigante's body. He roared madly, shooting his spikes at the Teostra, completely ignoring the chunks of flesh falling from his own body or the scales burning to ash—he just wanted the Teostra dead!!
All of this Elder Dragon's Bioenergy belonged to him! And only him!!
The Nergigante's thirst for Bioenergy had turned into hysteria!
"Roar!!"
The Teostra let out a mournful howl. He had realized he was no match for this strange Elder Dragon, and he had realized his own death was approaching.
What drove him to continue fighting now was not even the desire to live, but the dignity of an Elder Dragon.
The battle between the two Elder Dragons was reshaping the coastal area over and over again. Protruding rocks were melted, and small hills were smashed by immense force. Unlike the seawater, which would refill from other areas even if evaporated, any changes to the land here were profound and permanent.
But things were different now. Before, Asterion could only watch from the sidelines, but now that the battlefield had shifted to land, he could finally do something.
He heard the Teostra's tragic cries clearly, just as he heard the Nergigante's excited roars and his desire for the Teostra to die quickly—however, the Nergigante might be celebrating a little too early.
Asterion was preparing to shoot him in the back.
No matter who wanted to kill the Nergigante, his Smelting Blade had to help out. He couldn't let the Nergigante get a good meal.
It was best if the Great Elder Dragon War didn't become one-sided. Asterion would attack whoever had the upper hand. His ideal scenario was for the Nergigante and the Teostra to take each other out, allowing him to happily feast on the flesh and blood of two Elder Dragons. Delicious.
So…
Asterion lurked low against the ground.
Logically, a dragon of his size shouldn't be able to hide on a barren coastline, but who could blame him when the Nergigante and Teostra currently had eyes only for each other?
The only thing an Elder Dragon considered a threat was another Elder Dragon. Even though the Nergigante had suffered a small loss at Asterion's hands earlier, he still didn't take this strange wyvern seriously. He had only left previously to minimize his losses.
Good.
Asterion loved this feeling of sneaking up to launch an attack while the other monsters paid him no mind.
It meant he could steal a massive first strike.
He didn't know where the Commander and the Huntsman had gone, but Asterion believed those two would definitely survive safely for another forty years—he bent his sword-tail forward and clamped it in his mouth!
In the present day, years later, Asterion would no longer miss his mark. He gathered all the strength in his body, his gaze locked dead on the two giant beasts rolling around.
One second, two seconds, three seconds… Asterion waited for his opening. The Nergigante and Teostra were tangled up a bit too tightly, rolling around on the ground almost as if they were mating.
The Teostra's body was already full of Nergigante spikes. Considering the special effects of the spikes, maybe they really were mating.
Wait, the Nergigante bounced off!!
A pair of powerful claws violently pushed away the Teostra, who had been biting him. The Nergigante reared up abruptly, raising his left claw high, his spiked wings spreading like dark clouds. The Teostra, knocked down by the shove, couldn't get up in time.
—Asterion was waiting for exactly this moment.
Heaven and Earth—Spirit Roundslash!!!
It was a pity his mouth was clamped onto his tail, preventing him from shouting out the move name. Asterion's speed was faster than the Nergigante's falling palm. He tore through the air, crossing the space in the blink of an eye, and slashed heavily into the Nergigante's exposed chest!!
"ROAR!!!!"
The sudden slash drew a roar of agony from the Nergigante. His entire body toppled backward onto the ground; his abdomen, lacking the protection of carapace or heavy scales, had suffered a grievous injury.
When Asterion landed, stabilized his stance, and looked up, he saw blood gushing wildly from the Nergigante's chest. A wide, horizontal gash had appeared there, and the pumping of muscles was faintly visible within.
Damn it, this guy's bones were simply too hard. Hard enough that Asterion's full-power slash couldn't cut through them.
A wounded wild animal is often the most terrifying. The Nergigante's eyes turned red. He struggled up from the ground, smartly using one foreclaw to cover the wound on his chest, seemingly trying to press the injury together.
The same injury on the Teostra would have been enough to make the old dragon die half a day sooner, but for the Nergigante, with his super-regenerative capabilities, this battle was far from over.
It was as if his wound had been smeared with glue; just by forcefully pressing the opening together, the flesh began to knit itself back up in record time.
"Roar, roar!!" (Let's get him together! Kill him!!)
Seeing the situation turn unfavorable, Asterion roared at the Teostra.
But the Teostra… he seemed hesitant.
Teaming up with a strange wyvern that wasn't even an Elder Dragon to defeat an opponent seemed to be a humiliation for him.
Asterion didn't know how to persuade the Teostra; he had no understanding of the culture, morals, or unspoken rules between Elder Dragons in the real world.
Shaking his head, he simply charged in himself.
Kick him while he's down!
Unlike the tail-biting Spirit Roundslash, this time Asterion's sword-tail was fully extended. The muscles derived from the Odogaron were twitching wildly, and the sharp blade-scales vibrated into a blurred ring of silver-gray.
Accompanied by a violent hum, Asterion slashed his sword at the Nergigante, who was still propped up on the ground!
Aiming right for the dragon head!!
"Roar!!" (Die!!)
The chest wound did nothing to diminish the Nergigante's ferocity. Faced with Asterion's attack, he didn't retreat but advanced. He slammed his wings against the ground to propel himself upward, meeting Asterion head-on with a dense array of black spikes!!
Kr-k-k-k-k-k-k-k-k!!
Asterion's saw-blade collided with the Nergigante's sharp and hard spikes. Unlike the fresh white spikes, these were pitch black, devoid of any other color.
Borrowing the momentum of the heavy swing, the saw-blade easily sliced through the first few spikes. But as the force of the impact dissipated, it got stuck in the subsequent thick spikes located in the middle of the Nergigante's wing.
The collision generated a deafening noise, like a saw cutting through steel rebar, sending sparks flying everywhere!
It takes time to describe, but it all happened in a flash. Asterion didn't even have time to be shocked that his saw-blade failed to penetrate the spikes before the Nergigante exerted force for a second time.
"ROAR!!!"
He roared, slamming one foreclaw onto the ground. Borrowing this new leverage, he forcibly flipped Asterion's saw-blade off his body, then immediately swiped at Asterion with his sharp claws. Asterion, having his sword-tail forcefully knocked aside, couldn't react in time!
Danger!!
BOOM!!
Suddenly, a surging torrent of flame bombarded the Nergigante's wing. The heat and impact forced the Nergigante to tilt his body, causing significantly more blood to spray from the wound on his chest.
It was the Teostra!!
"Roar, roar!!" (You saved my life, I save yours!)
He didn't agree to Asterion's request to fight side-by-side, but the Teostra's response was simple. He had judged the situation accurately; in Asterion's state just then, if the Nergigante's palm had connected solidly, he would inevitably have been injured.
Though Asterion was skeptical that he would have died, the Teostra was applying his impression of ordinary monsters to him.
Well, it was a good thing—at least this way, Asterion wouldn't feel guilty when he stabbed the Teostra later.
Asterion didn't know why the social mode between dragons had turned into this Gotham City-native situation. Given the chance, it seemed everyone would turn the other party into dung.
It was simply too cruel.
The Nergigante was somewhat intelligent. He gave Asterion absolutely no time or opportunity to persuade the Teostra further. After slightly adjusting his stance, which had been knocked askew by the Teostra's fireball, he pounced straight at Asterion.
Trade injury for injury!!
This was the Nergigante's favorite tactic. He easily distinguished the difference in strength between the Teostra and Asterion, and immediately decided to risk injury to first take out this strange wyvern that had inexplicably popped up and slashed him.
—Kill the weak and easy one first. It saves the most effort and reduces the chance of this strange wyvern, whose Bioenergy was weak but whose killing power was high, sneaking in another stab.
Great idea. Think more.
The Nergigante's intent was far too easy to guess. The moment he saw the Nergigante turn toward him, Asterion settled into a combat stance—Ding!!
An invisible chime rang in his mind. Foresight Slash!!
Some sounds, you see, appear automatically with just a single movement. It's quite magical.
Asterion even saw the Nergigante's dilated pupils. The moment the beast pounced with fiendish look, time seemed to slow down. Powerful leg muscles and hip strength allowed Asterion to twist his body and fade backward.
His raised dragon head even brushed past the Nergigante's skull at close range in the slowed time—specifically his sword-tail. The silver-gray gleaming sword-tail slowly brushed past Asterion's own head, as if slicking back his hair.
Elegant. Effortless.
Every Long Sword user is elegant, especially with the return slash that follows the Foresight Slash. A diagonal spray of blood flew into the air as the vibrating saw-blade sliced open the scales on the Nergigante's hind leg, a spot unprotected by black spikes.
It was as if the scene from that day was replaying itself. Asterion skillfully slashed the Nergigante, who couldn't turn in time. Finally, a pale white light coalesced on his sword-tail.
That's the stuff.
As he steadied his stance and caught his breath, Asterion instinctively looked up at the sky, searching for a certain someone who always invited himself to battles.
He—he—he actually saw him?!!
A black dot in the sky, a shadowed figure with wings spread wide, was flying rapidly toward them.
Asterion's expression turned grim. He felt as if he could hear that familiar, oppressive music again. But when he listened carefully, all he could hear was the Teostra's heavy breathing and the Nergigante's angry roars.
And also—"ROAAARRRNGNGNG!!"
That dragon had arrived.
Who knew where he sensed the fighting from, but the Bazelgeuse had arrived right on the beat.
The falling blasting scales were his way of saying hello. It's back, it's all back—at this moment, just like that moment!
But Asterion didn't feel moved to tears at all; he just felt a headache!
Two Elder Dragons, and two dragons with power rivaling Elder Dragons. A four-way melee?
A four-way dragon brawl?
Interesting.
As expected of the New World. Even the clusterfucks are a bit messier than in the Old World.
"ROAAARRRNGNGNG!!" (I'm here! Fight!!)
Among the four dragons present, perhaps the Bazelgeuse had the purest fighting spirit. He was solely here to join the fun.
The Nergigante, having dealt with this mad dragon countless times, knew his thought process all too well. Without hesitation, he continued his pounce toward Asterion!
Plan unchanged!!
But when the Teostra also lunged out, the Bazelgeuse stuck his neck out and intercepted him. A chain of exploding scales blasted the Teostra into a face-full of confusion, knocking the entire dragon sideways onto the ground.
For the Teostra, who had just arrived from the Old World, a New World specialty monster like the Bazelgeuse was somewhat beyond his imagination.
Excuse me, what kind of dragon are you?
Is this dragon even legal?
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)