Chapter 295: Flame and Frost
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 295: Flame and Frost
CRACKLE! BOOM!
Lightning struck again and again.
The purpose of this attack was to accumulate damage while my foe was most vulnerable and to delay her transformation into a spirit beast, even if only for a moment.
The lightning was certainly hurting her, but it wasn't enough to stop the transformation.
CRACK! CRUNCH!
Her massive body continued to swell.
As if deciding it was a bad idea to take the hits head-on, a massive barrier of ice formed around her.
Right. Spirit beasts know this is their most vulnerable moment, so of course they’d have countermeasures.
Still, since this was the first time an enemy had targeted her so openly, she hadn't been able to react immediately.
“I thought you came alone, but it seems that wasn't the case.”
The Ice Dragon turned her gaze to me, as if she had only just noticed my presence.
An overwhelmingly massive body came into view.
She was about the size of the Red Dragon and me combined.
A size truly befitting the term ‘high-tier dragon race.’
“Yes, there you were.”
The Ice Dragon's enormous golden eyes stared at me.
“You pitiful lizard, wearing the form of a hideous beast that reeks of death.”
Her reaction was calmer than I expected.
Considering she was mentally unstable and pathologically obsessed with killing Gomodo's descendants, I thought she would have a fit upon seeing me.
It seemed the generation that had experienced Gomodo firsthand was less likely to equate me with him.
After all, it was an undeniable fact that I still didn't measure up to him.
“You are surely a descendant of Death.”
Still, it seemed she couldn't deny that I was a descendant of Gomodo.
Since Bixi and Qiongqi, both of the Profound Realm, were dead, she would know I was an extremely dangerous spirit beast even if I wasn't Gomodo.
“In the end… did they fail? Ah, how very sad.”
The Ice Dragon muttered in a genuinely sorrowful voice.
“This world is harsh, even for you.”
She slowly began to gather her power.
Of course, the Red Dragon and I weren't about to wait for that.
FWOOSH!
The Red Dragon unleashed a fierce torrent of flames.
CRACK!
But a massive pillar of ice shot up from the ground, completely neutralizing her flames.
BOOM!
“Tch, this one's a monster too.”
RUUUMBLE…
The Ice Dragon's massive body slowly began to move.
The Red Dragon turned her head to meet my gaze.
“Divine Beast, are you alright?”
I gave a slight nod.
I had prepared so much to take this thing down; there was no way I’d be out of energy already.
“Then… let's do as we discussed. I'm counting on you!”
WHOOSH!
The Red Dragon shot up into the air.
The Ice Dragon was no fool, so she naturally tried to block her movement.
But the Ice Dragon would not succeed in stopping the Red Dragon.
RUSH!
Because I was charging at the Ice Dragon with ferocious momentum.
CRASH!
I slammed straight into the Ice Dragon, who was more than twice my size.
“My apologies, but my body is not so weak as to be harmed by such an attack.”
SCREEECH.
This was definitely not an easy opponent.
I had slammed into her at full speed, but she only slid back slightly.
I was confident in close-quarters combat, but the Ice Dragon was an exception.
Even setting aside her overwhelming size, the dreadful chill emanating from her body was lethal.
CRACKLE.
“A meaningless act.”
Trying to take her down by swinging my forelegs would take a long time.
And it wasn't like she would just stand there and take it.
So I decided to go with the easier method.
FWOOSH!
A massive flame began to flicker in the sky.
The reason I was sticking to her was to create an opening for the Red Dragon to attack.
While I restrained her movements, we would take her down with the Gaegaek Cult's strongest firepower.
WHOOSH!
A massive, cross-shaped flame shot out at high speed.
“…You're quite the strategist.”
I grinned at her words.
Right, it seemed even the Ice Dragon found that attack dangerous.
In that case, just holding on like this was a winning move.
Of course, the Ice Dragon wasn't going to just sit there.
BOOM!
The Ice Dragon's massive foot stomped the ground.
The ground instantly froze over, and the frozen earth then shattered into countless shards of ice.
A trick to break my balance, no doubt.
And if things went south, she planned to use my body to block the incoming fireball.
Sorry, but that was a miscalculation.
Because if we were both losing our balance, I had the advantage.
A footwork technique that allowed me to leap off falling raindrops, beads of sweat, and even drops of blood.
For me, who had mastered the Soaring Dragon Ascension Steps, the shattered chunks of ice were more than enough of a foothold.
SWISH!
As soon as I shot into the air, I kicked off an ice shard and changed direction.
The Red Dragon had fired the flame from behind me.
Meaning, in my previous position, her attack would have hit both the Ice Dragon and me.
The Ice Dragon had tried to throw me off balance and make me take the full brunt of the attack alone.
And the moment my posture broke, the trajectory changed so that I would be the only one hit.
In that brief moment, the Ice Dragon must have had many thoughts.
The first and foremost was relief.
A kind of carelessness, thinking I would be hit by that attack without a doubt.
And that's why an opening was created.
Of course, even so, she would probably be able to dodge the attack.
Since I wasn't holding her down anymore.
So, I had to stop her from even doing that.
RIIIP!
I took her flank and left a long gash with my claws.
SPLOOSH!
And just before she could grasp the situation…
BOOM!
The flame launched by the Red Dragon arrived.
FWOOSH!
A massive blaze engulfed the Ice Dragon.
The timing was perfect.
My original plan was to hold her and then break away, but she gave me an angle to use the Soaring Dragon Ascension Steps, allowing me to deal even greater damage.
“Kugh…”
Even for a dragon, an attack of this magnitude was bound to cause damage.
The pained groan was proof of that.
HIIISSS.
An immense amount of cold energy was instantly released.
CRACKLE!
It was her struggling to avoid a follow-up attack after taking a direct hit.
Of course, given the opponent, the force of her struggle was anything but ordinary.
It was enough to cover the land the Red Dragon and I had scorched in ice once more.
“It burns. Like that child's grudge, it burns so hotly.”
Tears welled up in the Ice Dragon's large eyes again.
Those detestable eyes.
After committing such an act, she had the attitude of someone who had done what was necessary.
“But… what is the source of your grudge? I can understand that child's resentment, but yours is incomprehensible.”
A true dragon is a being with the power to interfere with the weather.
In that sense, the creature before me was strong enough to be called a dragon.
WHOOSH!
A sudden storm of cold energy blew forth.
It was an attack that forced me to retreat.
SWISH!
Cold energy spread out in all directions, centered on where the Ice Dragon stood.
It felt as if the space itself had changed.
The area began to be consumed by her power at an incredible speed, as if this place had always been a snow-covered mountain.
FWOOSH!
The Red Dragon's flames were melting the ice and snow, but the snow was piling up much faster than it could melt.
Was this a power that could truly be called a natural disaster?
“I ask you, what grudge drives you to commit such cruel acts?”
I couldn't understand her words.
A grudge.
As if I had something like that.
I wasn't enraged because she harmed some parent lizard I've never even met.
The reason I'm attacking her is that she is the vanguard of the True Dragon.
And because she is the Red Dragon's enemy.
My personal feelings have nothing to do with it.
“Grrrrr…”
I let out a low growl and prepared to charge in again, timing it with the Red Dragon's attack.
“Ahh…”
Seeing me, another tear trickled from the Ice Dragon's massive eye.
“I can feel your emotions. You are confused.”
Was she just spouting nonsense now?
“A certain truth you have been ignoring. That is what's confusing you.”
Listening to her words was a waste of time.
“I shall end your suffering and grant you eternal rest.”
I just needed to fight her the same way as before.
I'll hold her down, and the Red Dragon will bombard her from a distance.
Once we've melted enough of her ice, I can change my offensive.
My goal is to hold her down without wasting unnecessary energy.
BOOM!
Of course, there was no rule against throwing in some attacks in between, so I got behind her and swung my Dragon's Claws.
CLANG!
The overwhelmingly large Ice Dragon easily parried my attack and lifted her already massive body.
She balanced on her two hind legs and raised her two front legs.
It was obvious what move would follow.
BOOM!
An indiscriminate barrage of blows shook the earth.
BOOOOM!
The aftershock caused mountains of snow to collapse, creating a massive ice storm.
Her simple physical strength was formidable enough, but her control over the dreadful chill and cold energy was extremely annoying.
Still, I couldn't back down.
The moment I looked away, she would attack the Red Dragon, who was busy melting her ice.
In my left hand, the profound principle of a viper, like thunder.
In my right hand, the profound principle of an eagle, like a storm.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
I parried all of her attacks with the Eagle-Snake Life-Death Struggle, imbued with the power of Wood.
“Hsssss…”
I blocked all the immediate attacks, but the situation wasn't good.
Because the more attacks I blocked, the more the Ice Dragon's cold energy seeped into my body.
“You resist needlessly. Ah, why can't you realize that the more you do, the more innocent lives on this land will perish?”
BOOM!
The sight of her striking me again and again while shedding tears was truly bizarre.
I had to admit it.
Her cold energy was on a level incomparable to any I had ever seen.
Just a brief exchange of blows had already slowed my movements.
CRACKLE!
Hundreds of ice blades shot up from the ground.
SWISH!
Each one had enough power to pierce through my body.
FWOOSH!
And at that moment, a rain of fire began to fall from the sky.
It was the secret technique of the Volcano, the Sky-Filling Flower Rain.
The Red Dragon succeeded in completely neutralizing the Ice Dragon's attack.
And launching that attack was a kind of signal flare.
It meant that her strongest technique, one that could land a decisive blow on the Ice Dragon, was ready.
It wouldn't take her down in one hit, but if it landed, we would definitely gain the upper hand.
So for now, I just had to hold on for a bit and then get away like before.
“Why do beings like you repeat such actions? Do you know how many innocent lives were lost because of one lizard that fled from me?”
…
“There was a lizard with insignificant power. A lizard who bore the sin of causing her entire clan to be annihilated just to preserve her own body, when all she had to do was offer up her own neck.”
I instinctively knew which lizard she was talking about.
“Can you believe she fled all the way to the Central Plains with that small body? How could she be so selfish? I… I simply could not bear it. How many lives were lost because of such an act?”
A lizard with insignificant power.
A lizard who, while carrying a child, fled from the Western Regions to the Central Plains just to survive.
With a body smaller than the palm of a hand, she accomplished the impossible to protect her child.
With that small body, that inconvenient body carrying a child, over such a great distance.
A small lizard who laid her egg and passed away without even getting to see her child's face.
That lizard was selfish?
She bore a sin?
What a ridiculous story.
Did she think I would fall for such an obvious provocation?
A lizard's blood is cold.
There's no way I'd get worked up over a lizard I've never even met.
…
Therefore, my charging at her now was not due to some pointless emotional outburst.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
After throwing myself at her, we exchanged blows several times.
CLANG! CLANG!
CLANG!
“Foolish one, why do you charge at me again? Can you not feel this chill? The more time passes, the colder your blood will become, and in the end, it will freeze solid.”
Just being near the Ice Dragon caused a lethal chill to seep into me.
So what did that matter?
The cold that the lizard carrying her child felt must have been far harsher than what I was feeling now.
HIIISSS.
A blue Sword Flux coated my tail, not my claws.
This was not for an attack.
It was a signal for the Red Dragon.
A signal that everything was ready, and she could attack.
WHOOSH!
Plum blossoms of fire covered the entire area.
The Twenty-Four Plum Blossom Sword Art, ultimate technique.
Plum Blossom Ten Thousand Li Fragrance.
FWOOOOSH!
A massive flame in the shape of a plum blossom fell straight toward the Ice Dragon.
“That is certainly a powerful attack. If I were to be hit by that, I would suffer considerable damage. But… why would I let myself be hit by such a slow attack?”
Right.
She wouldn't just stand there and take an attack that focused so heavily on firepower.
So, what I had to do was hold her down and then escape just before it hit.
BOOM!
I smashed my claws, imbued with blue Sword Flux, into her face.
SCREEECH!
“Dull-witted creature. Do you not realize your body is slowing down? At this rate, you will be the only one hit, not me.”
The Ice Dragon was right.
I could feel my body getting slower the longer this went on.
So what did that matter?
BOOM!
BOOM!
“At that speed, you won't be able to escape in time…”
The Ice Dragon's voice trailed off.
Right, it seemed she'd finally noticed.
That I never intended to escape in the first place.
RUSTLE!
Countless trees grew in an instant, binding the Ice Dragon and me together.
“Wh-what is this!”
Now that was the kind of reaction I liked to see.
Wood Gives Birth to Fire, Fire Feeds Wood.
A fire that meets firewood burns even stronger, and a strong fire can even evaporate water.
I am the firewood, and her flower will be the flame.
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
Firepower capable of melting the dragon with a heart of ice was created.
“Guuuuuuugh!”
FWOOOOOOSH!
The Red Dragon's flames burned my body.
I could hear the Red Dragon's scream from far away.
She thought I was going to escape, but I didn't.
Since I even gave her the signal, she had no choice but to trust me.
“Th-this is madness… Your body… there's no way it's… unharmed…”
The Ice Dragon, while burning, tried to swing her arm.
CLACK!
I caught her massive swinging arm.
“H… how?”
She must be asking how I could move at this speed.
After all, so much cold energy had accumulated in my body that I might as well have been a corpse.
Sorry, but the cold energy in my body had long since vanished.
Drip.
Blood trickled from between my torn scales.
SIZZLE…
The blood that dripped from my body melted the earth.
[The effect of 「Dragon Blood LV10」 activates.]
[Potent fire energy now imbues your blood.]
And it wasn't just my blood that had grown hot.
“Kugh… Gyaaaak!”
Using the Red Dragon's attack as a medium, my scales and claws had become so hot they glowed red.
The Ice Dragon, in contact with me, could do nothing but scream.
“Grrrrr…”
Now, let's go another round.