Translator: AnubisTL
Leticia shook her trembling, numb wings. As she raised her head to look at the spot where Garos had been standing, she realized with a jolt that the dark red figure had vanished from her sight!
Above me!
Her transcendent perception and crisis prediction—enhanced by the Tactical Intellect—were still active. At the critical moment, Leticia relied on her combat instincts and threw herself into a desperate roll to the side.
RIIIIIP—!!!
A massive, rapidly spinning shadow tore through the ground where she had stood just an instant before.
Garos had spun his powerful spine like an axis, using his dragon wings—their edges as sharp as colossal blades—to unleash a devastating storm of steel!
Leticia narrowly dodged the initial strike.
But Garos's astonishing wingspan created a terrifying attack range, and she was still caught in the subsequent, spreading shockwaves.
Harden Body!
A dense, mercury-like metallic luster instantly solidified across Leticia's body—a signature quasi-spell skill possessed by all iron dragons.
Yet, that wasn't enough.
As Harden Body took effect, she let out a low snarl. Magic energy surged from her body like boiling water, swiftly forming a tough, translucent magical energy shield outside her scales.
Arcane Deflection—a skill that significantly weakened the physical impact and energy damage she received.
Iron dragons were renowned for their indestructible defense. While they might be inferior to red dragons of the same level in terms of raw strength, they often surpassed them in body hardness and defensive capabilities.
However.
Against Garos's assault, Leticia's meticulously constructed double-layered defense was still torn apart, layer by layer.
The edges of his dragon wings, like two giant guillotines, hacked relentlessly into her crossed wings and shoulders.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
With each strike, a shower of sparks erupted, accompanied by the harsh sound of rending metal. Leticia's own incredibly hard iron dragon scales were brutally sliced open and shattered.
Scalding dragon blood sprayed from the deep wounds.
Am I... no match for Garos?
The searing pain sent Leticia's heart sinking. She could already vaguely foresee the final outcome of this battle.
But the pride of being the older, more experienced one refused to let her surrender so easily.
Besides, in her view, strength and defense weren't the only factors that decided a fight.
Combat experience and timing were equally crucial.
Garos's body bore no battle-scarred patterns. This perhaps meant that while he was powerful, he lacked the rich experience of true life-and-death struggles.
If that was the case...
If she could just seize a perfect opportunity and land one devastating, unexpected blow, there might still be a chance to turn the tide!
A swift strike!
After narrowly dodging Garos's devastatingly powerful claw strike, Leticia's speed surged once more. Seizing the fleeting opening, she swiftly raised her gleaming, cold-glinting claws!
Magic Energy Burst!
With a short, powerful draconic incantation, a highly unstable sphere of magic energy, brimming with explosive power, instantly compressed and formed within her palm.
Magic Energy Surge!
An even greater torrent of magic energy erupted from the iron dragon's body like a burst dam, flooding into the sphere in her palm. Its energy fluctuations skyrocketed, vibrating violently.
The air around Leticia's palm distorted, making it look as if she were clutching an energy vortex.
"A standard Warrior Path, combined with War Magic."
At this point, Garos was completely certain of the iron dragon maiden's chosen primary class path.
The Warrior Path needed no explanation—it was the foundation of melee combat.
War Magic, on the other hand, was a special spellcaster path that fused the destructive power of the Evocation School with the defenses of the Abjuration School, focusing on a seamless integration of offense and defense.
It offered less versatility than pure Evocation or Abjuration paths, but its offensive and defensive spells were exceptionally pure and efficient, capable of being cast in an instant. This made it perfectly suited for the high-intensity, fast-paced nature of melee combat.
Meanwhile, facing the brewing, perilous strike, the dragon qi churning within Garos's body accelerated as he swung his claws.
Boom! Boom!
Their attacks struck each other's chests almost simultaneously.
Pffft—!
Iron Dragon Leticia was struck as if by a devastating blow. She coughed up a massive spray of scorching dragon blood, her body sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut, before slamming heavily into the ground.
The vast area of steel-scale breastplate on her chest was completely shattered and caved in, faintly revealing the contours of broken bones beneath.
On the other side, Garos had taken a full-force, magically-enhanced Magic Energy Burst. The highly concentrated explosive energy erupted in a blindingly bright magical flame across the red-iron dragon's chest!
Yet, Garos's iron-cast body merely stumbled back a dozen or so steps before coming to a steady halt, the dark light on his skin slowly fading.
Harden Body—he knew this spell-like ability too.
With his own natural defense bolstered by the Harden Body skill, Garos had not only resisted being sent flying but had even managed to keep his balance without stumbling.
"Did... did I win?"
Leticia's head throbbed with a dull ache, and waves of sharp pain pulsed through her chest with every ragged breath.
She struggled to her feet, her gaze immediately snapping to the Red-Iron Dragon. Then, her expression froze.
Under her stare, the Red-Iron Dragon merely lowered its head slightly. It raised a claw and casually brushed its chest, sweeping away the shattered fragments of Cold Exploding Scales. This revealed the dense, crisscrossing battle-scarred patterns of the dark-red main scales beneath.
The armor-like scales bore only a few faint scorch marks and insignificant white scuffs.
"Shall we continue?"
Garos raised his eyes to look at the battered Iron Dragon maiden. His voice was as steady as ever, as if the attack—one that would have crippled any dragon of his rank—had been nothing more than a gentle breeze.
Silence hung in the air for several seconds.
Finally, Leticia slowly shook her head. "No need. Continuing the fight would be meaningless now."
She had no choice but to accept the truth.
The Iron Dragon's vaunted, impenetrable defense; the Red Dragon's legendary, world-shattering power... The signature strengths of these two dragon breeds were perfectly, even excessively, manifested in Garos.
And yet, he also seemed to possess all the other advantages that neither the Iron Dragon nor the Red Dragon could claim.
Leticia stared intently at that powerful dragon body, which seemed to harbor infinite strength. She showed no frustration or rage over her own defeat. Instead, the muscles on her massive draconic face slowly shifted, eventually forming a smile.
"My dear Garos," she said, "your strength has indeed far exceeded even my most optimistic expectations."
She continued, "I... am proud of you."
These words invisibly dissolved the strangeness and distance created by decades of separation, quietly drawing the two closer through their unique bloodline connection.
Clearly, the Iron Dragon Leticia possessed a remarkable wisdom when it came to communication and managing the situation.
"This is thanks to the bloodline I inherited from you, Mother. I am equally proud of it," Garos replied, his words further closing the gap between them.
It was evident that he, who deeply understood dragon nature, also knew exactly how to communicate with an Iron Dragon.
(End of the Chapter)
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