If the Red Dragon dove into the magma, they would have very few options left. Lyles Edward also saw the dragon's trembling body, clearly at its limit. This was a rare chance, and he could not allow it to recover.
He accelerated. The Red Dragon's speed was already dropping, not only due to its injuries but also because some inescapable fear interfered with its body. More importantly, the destination was close.
In its once chaotic eyes, a strange new color appeared. As they neared the volcano, the temperature climbed above seventy degrees, but that was not a problem. Lyles Edward raised his greatsword and pointed it at the Red Dragon circling above the crater.
He noticed that the crater seemed sealed shut. He did not understand why the dragon had blocked its own lair, but that worked in his favor. Today, he would slay his eighth dragon.
A faint thought surfaced. His body had been pushed hard by years of dragon hunting, and the erosion was already severe. He did not yet need to pass this burden to his young daughter at home, but he realized it had been a long time since he had returned.
After this job, he would rest and go home to see his family. The thought lightened his mood, easing the heat in his body, and a smile slowly appeared. Their injuries were manageable, their numbers intact, and the advantage was his.
"We will win!"
Hearing their leader's declaration, the team members smiled as well. Lyles Edward pointed his sword toward the Red Dragon on the peak, only to see a chilling expression appear on the dragon's face. It was an expression that a mad dragon disaster should never have.
A smile.
The Red Dragon suddenly ignited itself, as if it no longer cared about its life. Surging Magic and flames erupted from its body, turning it into a true fire dragon. Its burning blood fed the flames as it dove straight down like a falling meteor.
"It wants to self-destruct? No, this is…"
Lyles Edward's pupils shrank as he realized the trajectory was wrong. He looked toward where the dragon should land. It was the volcano, its crater sealed by black red solidified magma.
A whole Red Dragon nearly thirty meters long burned with Magic until its body became living fire, its mass reaching several hundred tons, and it turned into a meteor that slammed toward the volcano crater. After foreseeing this outcome, Lyles Edward seemed driven by an unseen Sixth Sense and swung out a slash of Sword Aura to intercept the falling meteor. It was too late.
The sealed volcanic rock was blasted into fragments by the death explosion of a Great Dragon, and the spreading shockwave and sudden heat briefly turned the sky into a sea of flames. Even the group led by Lyles Edward at the foot of the mountain took heavy force, as if a Tactical Nuclear Bomb had gone off, with shockwaves and fire rolling outward. The distance spared their lives, but not their bodies.
There were three Gold present, and the rest were at least Silver. The Red Dragon was truly at its limit, yet the self-destruction of a Great Dragon still injured everyone even from far away. Armor cracked, blood spilled, and breathing turned ragged.
"Why would that dragon do this?" The adjutant voiced the doubt, but even after centuries of fighting dragons, Edward Family's Lyles Edward had no answer. A dragon that still had a chance to escape chose death without hesitation.
Was it really just to put on a huge firework? "I…?!"
Before he could finish, a slight tremor passed through the ground. Black magma surged out of the dark volcano, heat spread rapidly, and thick smoke rolled upward. The volcano erupted without warning, blockbuster magma spraying out and forming a burning river, though it seemed unlikely to reach the more distant foothill where they stood.
Lyles Edward's pupils suddenly shrank to the smallest they had ever been when he sensed something. "Fall back!"
He roared as his hair stood on end, goosebumps forming into fine scales, with dragon scales spreading from the corners of his eyes and his canine teeth sharpening. Even with his control, the leaking power stomped a crater nearly five meters wide beneath his feet, and a terrifying presence burst out.
Everyone was startled, but seeing the commander like this, they obeyed in silence. This kind of state only appeared during the most dangerous moments of past dragon hunts. It was the kind of instinctive command no one dared to ignore.
Why could Edward Family inherit the honor of Dragon-Hunting Duke generation after generation? No matter how outsiders judged them, the truth was that each generation produced one bearer of a cursed bloodline.
Dragon-Cursed Blood was how the family's secret records named it, granting extreme talent and strength far beyond normal humans of the same rank. At the same time, dragon traits would gradually appear, scales, pupils, and under certain conditions the bearer could the Lord act to undergo dragonization and gain even greater power.
It was called a curse because of its side effects. The bearer would develop a bloodthirst for Great Dragon flesh, and the dragonization would worsen over time, accompanied by mental Rend and instability. As for whether full dragonization meant becoming a real dragon, even Lyles Edward did not know.
Most previous bearers died on the path of dragon hunting, and he did not dare think further. This curse was undoubtedly linked to dragons, and through bloodline instinct it could the Lord act to sense creatures carrying dragon blood. Right now, Lyles Edward felt such a reaction inside the volcano.
The bloodline reaction felt like a rare, mindless dragon beast. But why was it so violent, stronger than anything he had ever felt?
So intense that merely sensing it forced his body to the Lord act and begin dragonization. It was not just bloodline instinct, but his own life reacting to danger. The threat was so great that only dragonization gave him a chance to survive.
Lyles Edward seemed to vaguely understand why that Red Dragon had done what it did, but stronger earthquakes and eruptions cut off his thoughts. Superheated magma mixed with fragments of Shard fell like fiery meteors, smashing the ground and tearing open massive fissures with Rend force. The land cracked as if bleeding molten blood.
The sky was dyed black by some will, heavy clouds dragged down by deathly cold, as if the heavens were collapsing. Thick blue-purple lightning ripped at the earth again and again. "What is going on?!" "Why is the volcano erupting?!"
Panicked shouts rang out, but only Lyles Edward vaguely understood. Something was coming out.
More explosions followed as the jagged peaks around them snapped apart like demon claws, magma pouring from within and the temperature surging. Violent winds joined the chaos, icy cold above and molten hell below, with the clashing temperatures turning the wind itself into a weapon. Rocks and debris rose against all sense, circling around the volcano.
Several massive tornadoes connected heaven and earth, one side freezing with snow, the other filled with rising molten fire. They visibly rushed toward the members of the Dragon Hunter Corps. "Fall back, get inside!"
Led by Lyles Edward, the three Gold Rank raised Battle Aura barriers, pouring power into the ground just to stay standing. Snow still slipped through, freezing exposed skin. Some members nearly froze to death from brief contact, nerves destroyed by the extreme cold before they could react.
The magma beneath their feet burned at an abnormal temperature and had to be blocked constantly. Ash poured from the volcano like the end of the world, twisting into a cruel smiling face. That face was then torn apart into fragments by something spreading outward, releasing an aura of despair, hatred, decay, and revulsion.
Lyles Edward clenched his greatsword, dragon traits advancing further across his body. He did not cry out, because suppressing fear and inner agitation already required all his will. The two Gold were pale with terror, barely holding back the urge to retreat, gasping as if their throats were being crushed.
Many of the Silver members were either injured by the cold or mentally shattered, dropping to their knees or screaming. "What is it?! What is coming?!"
After continuous natural disasters and crushing mental pressure, everyone was on the edge of collapse. This was only the prelude.
"Roar…" The sound started faint, lost in the chaos, then grew until everyone noticed it.
The volcano exploded outright. Pillars of magma tore the mountain apart, shot skyward, froze into ice, and scattered like a dead burning tree collapsing the world. The ground split open in the truest sense, and the remains of the volcano were completely destroyed.
From the drifting ash, a massive black claw emerged, red light fading between its scales. Another claw followed, forcing the earth plates apart, and then a huge, vicious head rose from magma drawn up from deep below, like an evil god.
"How is this possible…" Lyles Edward murmured as he stared, recognizing it at once.
A dragon. A Black Dragon, one he had never seen before, grotesque beyond belief.
It was easy to imagine that the concept of an evil dragon came from seeing such a creature. Its enormous black body climbed from the magma, wings spreading like giant blades, crystal-like spines on its back still glowing red. It stood atop the ruined peak, wings unfurled, magma around it twisting into claw shapes.