Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

Under a brooding sky where wind and snow howled, the silver dragon Edri and the brass dragon Serena circled above Dragon Valley several times before gracefully folding their broad wings and slowly descending to the edge of the valley’s training ground.

“Father, mother.”

Deborah walked up with light steps and touched her parents’ faceplates in turn.

This exchanged touch is a common greeting in dragon society, symbolizing intimacy.

“Lord Edri, Lady Serena, good evening.”

Garoth took a long inhale of the frigid air, forcing down the agitation in his chest brought on by frenzied flames, and gave a slight bow of his head.

His voice was deeper and huskier than usual, as if molten rock clogged his throat.

Silver Dragon Edri’s gaze fixed fully on the young red-iron dragon standing before him; a close inspection churned waves in his mind.

After his recent slumber and breakthrough in life level,

Garoth’s current form now stretched over twenty-three meters from majestic head to mighty tail.

Although still slightly shorter compared to a silver dragon, his unimaginably massive muscles and rugged, ferocious body structure gave him an overall visual impact that completely eclipsed Edri.

Thick, hard scales, dangerous wings, a spear-bladed tail.

...Every part of his body was a blade, striking fear into dragons’ hearts. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

If an uninformed metal dragon saw Garoth for the first time, they might immediately judge him as an extremely evil dragon based solely on his savage appearance.

Either they would assume he was too terrifying to tolerate and call for his death,

or they would decide he was dangerous to provoke, gather allies, and then strike.

Edri’s sharp gaze finally settled on Garoth’s face.

“This brat, aside from the build, there seems to be something else different.”

The silver dragon’s eyes drifted to Garoth’s pupils, sensing some other oddness. Because his interactions with Garoth had been limited, he couldn’t pinpoint the difference in a short time, only a vague sense.

At the same time,

Edri also noticed the web of bloodshot veins lacing Garoth’s eyes, twisting like spider silk around the pupils.

By common sense, that usually signified extreme mental exhaustion and lack of proper rest, meaning his competitive state would inevitably be impaired.

“Good, that will make the duel more relaxed for me.”

Edri felt a slight stir within but kept his elegant composure.

He did not rush to propose the long-prepared sparring idea. Instead, he turned his attention to his precious daughter.

“Deborah, when are you planning to return to Red Maple Valley? Are you going to stay here in Dragon Valley until the coming coming-of-age ceremony?”

“Don’t forget, this is not your nest, not your home.”

Edri said with a stern face.

“Oh, now that Garoth has woken safely, I plan to go visit you in the next few days.”

Deborah replied with a bright smile, then added with a teasing turn: “But there’s always the most comfortable room kept for me in Scorchsteel Fortress—wide, bright, with a superb view.”

“Garoth promised me personally that if I wanted, he could keep taking me in forever.”

Hearing Deborah’s bell-like laugh, Edri fell silent for three full seconds; the air around him tightened and the temperature plunged because of his mood.

“Is that so?”

He turned to the red-iron dragon and asked coldly.

“Yes, if Lord Edri does not mind the modest accommodations here, you are welcome to stay as often as you like.”

Garoth met Edri’s assessing gaze with calm composure.

He politely looked toward the graceful brass dragon and added, “Lady Serena as well. My domain is broad enough to host many honored guests.”

His voice was unusually low, with faint gasps between words.

Given Edri’s usual sharpness and composure, he should have detected these abnormal signs earlier, but now he was somewhat irritated and not focusing on that.

“With such a magnificent fortress, my dear, not to mention our precious daughter—”

Serena swayed her long tail and said, “Even I feel tempted to stay for a while and enjoy a change of scenery.”

Crackle, crackle.

Centered on the silver dragon, moisture in the air instantly froze into fine ice crystals and snow, the temperature dropping far below freezing, even their exhalations turning into vapor mists.

Hearing their daughter and companion’s endless remarks, a powerful urge surged in Edri to teach the young red-iron dragon a severe lesson to vent his pent-up frustration.

However, as an elder, pride and decorum prevented him from bluntly demanding a duel.

“I need to come up with a dignified but effective way to handle this.”

Edri cast a sideways glance at the red-iron dragon and rapidly weighed his words.

Meanwhile, the plummeting temperature made Garoth increasingly agitated and uncomfortable.

Although he had notable cold resistance, his red-iron bloodline instinctively loathed this frigid environment.

More importantly, Dragon Valley was his domain, the kingdom he had built with effort.

Edri visited as a guest, and Garoth upheld hospitality, but being forced to watch a visitor so casually alter the environment made him feel his authority was being blatantly challenged.

A few more streaks of bloodshot veins silently bloomed in Garoth’s eyes, like burning flames spreading across his pupils.

“My anger meter keeps rising, it’s starting to erode my reason.”

Garoth suddenly realized, detecting abnormal fluctuations in his emotions.

He grew restless, claws itching to shred something to vent this nameless fire; his gaze drifted briefly across the snow before finally locking onto Edri’s long form.

“Deborah’s father seems intent on giving me another display of dominance.”

Garoth thought, “Perfect — I’ll use him to vent some of my bottled-up rage.”

Edri and the red dragon Gorthax were both mature dragons whose life levels were similar.

Although Edri might not match the mad Gorthax in chaotic ferocity, he was definitely an experienced, formidable opponent capable of bearing Garoth’s venting.

At that very moment, Edri’s gaze swept back; the two lines of sight met in midair.

When their eyes locked, the ice-cold expression on Edri’s face quietly softened into a warm smile. In an instructive tone he said, “In the Raging Tides Domain there are many underage metal dragons raised under the domain’s protection, some with pure bloodlines and exceptional talent, leaders among their age group.”

“But—”

He shifted tone and offered sincere praise: “Compared to you, Garoth, the young metal dragons of the Raging Tides Generation lag far behind in both spirit and strength.”

“Your growth and metamorphosis these past few years truly amaze me.”

He planned to use this friendly talk to gently draw the hot-headed young red-iron dragon into his prepared trap.

“Lord Edri, you are absolutely right. I too feel my strength has improved by leaps and bounds recently.”

Garoth suddenly spoke, his tone blunt and sharp like a drawn blade. “If I may be frank, a mature dragon like you is probably no longer my equal. I sincerely hope to spar with you to test that.”

He added, “Rest assured, considering your possible lack of recent battlefield experience, I will go easy and hold back. I won’t embarrass you.”

Under the persistent corrosion of frenzied flames, Garoth’s words grew edged, full of aggression.

Across from him, upon hearing these audacious remarks, Edri’s eyes widened little by little and his graceful neck unconsciously leaned forward.

Wait—these arrogant lines sound so familiar!

Those are exactly the words I prepared to provoke the opponent with!

Did I mishear because I’m angry?

At first Edri even doubted his own hearing.

When he snapped back to attention, the warm smile had vanished, replaced by an icebound severity. His voice turned sharp: “Garoth, failing to recognize the true gap in strength is both extremely foolish and dangerous.”

“You want to spar? Fine.”

“I will let you feel firsthand the unbridgeable gap between a young dragon and a mature dragon!”

He stepped back a few paces, unfurling his broad silver wings with elegance into an impeccable combat stance.

Edri’s voice was grave: “You are no longer the adolescent dragon you once were, Garoth. This time I will hold nothing back. I will use true spell-like abilities and pathway techniques.”

He had cultivated three major extraordinary paths.

A mage specialized in ice magic, a potion-master skilled in brewing various elixirs, and an alchemist adept at crafting items.

Of these, ice elemental magic formed his foundation and primary study, while the other two supporting disciplines, after centuries of focus, had also reached impressive heights.

Garoth retreated in turn, his thick tail flicking impatiently like a steel whip, carving deep furrows into the snow-covered ground.

Tension instantly filled the training ground, like the silence before a storm, ready to snap at any moment.

“Father, maybe we should just stop? Let’s value peace.”

Serena and Deborah almost spoke in unison, voices trembling with worry.

However, while speaking they exchanged a conspiratorial sly glance, outwardly discouraging but secretly stepping back to a safe distance, giving the two giants enough space to duel.

At their core, dragons are born with hot-blooded combativeness.

Mother and daughter did not mind playing enthusiastic spectators to this rare internal clash.

“Here, I brought some of your favorite glass-berries from the Domain, perfect for snacking while we watch.”

Serena pulled a large, soft mat from a spatial item, spread it on the ground, and, with a flourish, produced a heap of crystal-clear, sweet-smelling berries.

“Mother knows me best, loves me most.”

Deborah cheerfully twined a plump berry in her agile tail and, with her mother, gracefully lay down on the mat, eyes fixed on the dueling pair in the center, eager for the show to begin.

Just as Serena and Deborah gently bit through the berry’s crisp skin and the cool sweet juice had not yet fully melted on their tongues,

Two overwhelming auras of dragon might crashed into each other from the distance.

—!

A pulse swept out that made hearts pound.

Edri extended his wings with composed grace, and an invisible winter chill radiated outward from his body like ripples.

The ground quickly froze into thick sheets of ice, countless sharp ice spires burst forth, and moisture in the air continually turned to crystal with faint, rapid cracking sounds.

He held his claws in an elegant poised grip.

Blades of ice, each emanating extreme cold with knife-sharp edges, rapidly formed around him, hovering in the air with tips aimed straight at the red-iron dragon.

The killing cold contained in those ice shards.

Even a battle-hardened mature white dragon would risk frostburn if struck directly.

“Let me see with my own eyes how far you’ve really grown to mouth off like this.”

Edri said icily.

The reply was a crazed, low, thunderous roar.

The red-iron dragon moved.

No probing attacks, no tactical withdrawal—only the most direct, violent, brutal frontal charge.

Sizzle—!

With a piercing crackle of electric steam, Garoth’s outrageously pronounced muscles bulged further, coiling like countless writhing golden snakes; hot steam billowed from between his scales, forming a heaving white cloud in the frost.

Each heavy footstep brutally crushed the ice, leaving charred, melting prints.

His speed surpassed what the eye could follow, tearing the frozen air as he burst forward like a burning meteor toward the elegant silver dragon.

“Brute-force fighting.”

Edri sneered in his mind.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

He waved his silver-scaled foreclaws like an orchestra conductor and one by one the bone-freezing ice shards launched out like soldiers following orders, sealing every possible path and dodge for Garoth.

Their advance outran the speed of sound.

Only when they neared Garoth’s massive body did the shrill scream of tearing air finally reach the spectators, belated and thin.

Since he could not dodge them all, Garoth stopped trying.

His colossal wings slammed forward like two unbreakable shields, protecting head, neck, and chest; simultaneously his enormous but supple body executed a precise sidestep during the charge, using the hardest and thickest armor on his shoulders and spine to meet the oncoming ice storm head-on.

The next instant,

A deafening impact and the violent shattering of ice crystals rang out together.

Biting cold attacked like a bone-deep infection.

A thick layer of ice crust formed on Garoth’s protective wings at a visible speed.

The scales on his shoulders and back that took the brunt of the impact were struck by magic-laden ice shards, showering sparks and leaving white impact marks and spiderweb-like cracks, frost spreading from the hits, attempting to freeze the blazing body.

With such force and such numbers of ice shards firing in unison,

If an ordinary young dragon— even some slightly weaker mature dragons—faced this, they would likely be frozen into statues or gravely wounded and unable to continue.

But Garoth not only did not halt; a wilder, deeper roar erupted from his throat.

His wings slammed outward, shattering the adhered ice into a rain of glittering fragments.

His charge barely hesitated and then accelerated again through the flying ice, his claws wrapped in dragon qi and star-forged lightning digging fiercely for Edri’s skull.

“What?! Such high ice resistance?”

Edri’s pupils constricted to thin slits; his usual composure shook for the first time.

He had expected Garoth to withstand that volley, but not to be barely affected by it.

Clearly, this red-iron dragon possessed unbelievable resistance to ice, breaking the usual elemental constraints.

Unlike other fire-line dragons who would be hindered by ice magic, Garoth could greatly reduce or even nullify freezing and slow effects.

Facing Garoth’s blunt, strength-and-speed frontal assault,

Edri, who fought elegantly from range through suppression, was forced to abandon composed casting.

His broad wings beat hard, whipping up a frigid gale as he leapt back to create distance.

At the same time, his foreclaws glinted as he rapidly recited a compact, efficient protective chant in draconic tongue.

In an instant, an incredibly thick ice crystalline barrier stitched with countless arcane runes materialized!

He planted both foreclaws steadily against the glittering wall, serving as an experienced shield-bearer holding the “Absolute Ice Wall” as defense.

Boom!

Gauntleted claws of Garoth struck solidly against the smooth, weighty Absolute Ice Wall.

The wall, harder than tempered steel, gave a grievous groan under the impact.

Spiderwebbing fractures spread madly from the impact point, the runes on the surface flashing and collapsing one by one.

Ice shards and blistering red dragon qi mingled like fireworks in the air, casting two battling silhouettes.

The power in Garoth’s claws transmitted through the splintering wall, numbing Edri’s arms; his forelimbs trembled in complaint.

Garoth’s body slid backward uncontrollably, carving two deep furrows in the thick ice as crystal snapped harshly beneath his claws.

“What terrifying strength… this is not the level a young dragon should possess.”

Alarm bells clanged in Edri’s heart; for the first time a heavy gravity showed in his draconic eyes.

Silver dragons are not known for raw brute force compared to raging red dragons,

but even so, as a strong metal dragon, Edri’s strength was no small matter.

Yet he could not stand toe-to-toe with this young red-iron dragon, forced backward by a single blow.

This sheer strength suppression made him realize Garoth’s power had far outstripped conventional understanding.

Smelling blood in the wind, Garoth pressed his advantage and pursued.

He lunged a heavy step forward, his paw smashing the shattered ice wall into powder with a thunderous crash; his bulk closed in to chase the silver dragon regrouping in the air.

Claws tore the air, wings beat violent gusts, tail lashed like a steel whip.

Garoth’s whole body had become a lethal weapon.

His attacks had no flourish—each strike was blunt and direct, yet carried world-crushing power, pure numerical dominance.

Edri found himself forced into an extremely unfavorable close-quarter struggle.

His proud ice magics required casting space and time, but Garoth’s storm of continuous assaults left no opening.

The silver dragon could only rely on exquisite combat skill and instant defensive tricks—ice shields, armor, spikes—to parry and weave in tight quarters.

Slap—!

Garoth’s blade-like tail narrowly grazed Edri’s elegant flank, tearing away freshly formed ice armor and flinging sparks, leaving a deep bleeding gash across silver scales.

Thud!

Edri seized the fleeting moment and slammed a frost-coated claw into Garoth’s chest. Bone-freezing frost spread quickly, but this blow that would cripple an ordinary dragon only earned Garoth a more excited bellow and a ferocious counterattack.

Ice repeatedly shattered and reformed; the air thickened with steaming ice dust and a sharp scent of scorched flesh.

Edri’s movements remained graceful and swift; the ice under his control behaved like living things, forming different shield shapes to block heavy blows or condensing into spikes to strike.

Yet none of it truly repelled Garoth.

He seemed ignorant of pain and injury; no matter the assault he took, he answered with ever more ferocious strikes.

With each passing second a new bloodstain appeared on the flawless body of the silver dragon.

Garoth’s Frostburst Scales gradually cracked and flaked away, revealing deeper, black-red base scales beneath, etched with dense battle-hardened patterns that horrified any dragon who saw them.

Edri had known Garoth bore battle-patterns, but witnessing these densely covering almost his entire body was still unbelievable. They had grown so many—it was staggering to imagine how many battles the red-iron dragon had fought to form them.

!

While Edri was momentarily distracted by shock, Garoth’s massive claw slammed down on the silver dragon’s head!

The blow shattered three layers of quickly formed heavy ice shields and landed squarely on Edri’s cheek.

Edri’s long frame flew tens of meters back; broken silver scales mixed with spurting hot dragon blood sprayed through the air and fell in crimson spots across the snow.

“I cannot... let this continue!”

Edri rocked his dazed head and gritted his teeth.

Feeling the burning pain on his face, he realized he had to show real skill, or he might lose ground in this sparring.

Crunch—!

Just as the red-iron dragon roared and charged once more, mysterious runes suddenly lit across Edri’s body.

Runes engraved on specific scales linked together, forming an intricate, dense magic array over much of his body in a flash.

Unlike Samantha, who used alchemy to craft augmenting heavy armor for herself,

Edri took another route. Using an alchemist’s craft, he refined parts of his own scales into single-use, powerful spell items comparable to scrolls—stealthy and instantaneous.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

With each shining scale that shattered, the sealed spells within activated, transforming into deadly torrents of frost that surged toward charging Garoth!

Frost rays tore the sky with absolute cold;

icy touches wrapped like ghosts, seeking to freeze blood;

frost novas detonated, whipping up fierce blizzards.

Ice magics of staggering potency struck Garoth’s massive frame one after another, forming a dangerous ice domain in the high air.

The perpetual wind and snow of the convergence lands now amplified Edri’s spells, boosting their potency.

Under Edri’s unreserved, fierce burst,

Even Garoth’s physique and ice resistance were forced back; his momentum stalled.

Thick ice crystals formed on his body, slowing his movements.

Yet Edri’s sharp counterattack was far from over.

He fully unfurled his wings to widen the distance and swallowed a prepared array of potions.

Then his silver-clad foreclaws crossed rapidly before his chest, tracing complex patterns while he chanted ancient incantations with weight in every syllable.

At the same time,

The Valley’s cold seemed to obey the king’s command, converging furiously toward Garoth; snowflakes in the sky even altered course like iron filings drawn to a magnet, rushing at him.

A massive ice-blue magic circle unfurled beneath Garoth with alarming speed, tracing out a perilous geometry.

Permafrost Coffin!

Edri let out a low, dignified roar as dozens of rune-etched scales on his body shattered, pouring stored magical energy into the spell.

When his final syllable fell, the composite spell completed,

Rumble—!

A terrifying chill rose like a tangible tide centering on Garoth, air condensing into countless crystals.

In the next instant, an enormous semi-transparent coffin etched with freezing runes took shape, sealing the red-iron dragon’s huge body inside.

Moreover, the coffin visibly shifted from ghostly to solid—growing denser and heavier by the eye!

This was one of Edri’s trump cards.

It was not a single spell but a complex ritual centered on his high-tier ice magic, augmented by alchemically prepared scale-based spells and bolstered with rare potions that temporarily enhanced mana control and spell strength. All combined and launched by his full power.

If the coffin fully solidified,

any mature dragon of the same level would be frozen within and suffer grievous injury.

Unlike the brute-force Gorthax, the artful wisdom of a spell dragon was on full display.

Edri’s three cultivated extraordinary paths did not act separately;

they synergized cleverly, producing an effect greater than the sum of their parts.

The chill from the ice coffin made Serena and Deborah shiver.

“It’s been a while since I saw your father use that move.”

Serena whispered, impressed, “Garoth’s strength must far exceed his expectations, forcing him to go all-out.”

Deborah did not reply immediately; she nervously crushed a crystal berry between her claws, sweet juice running down without her noticing.

But when she remembered Garoth had even beaten that mad Gorthax, her taut nerves eased somewhat.

Inside the slowly solidifying coffin,

Garoth felt unprecedented bone-deep cold; even thought itself felt like it might freeze. The crushing sensation around him grew heavier, scales creaked under the strain and fine cracks spread like a web, as if they might shatter at any moment.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Garoth condensed dragon qi to form massive arms to strike the inner walls of the coffin, hammering with ferocious blows, but the coffin’s resilience and the external influx of magic only caused it to contract more, compressing his space relentlessly.

“Truly a mighty mature silver dragon.”

“I only managed to wound him the first time because he held back.”

This fierce, exhilarating combat allowed Garoth’s pent-up rage a substantial release, clearing his mind somewhat.

His regard for the silver dragon rose.

“Garoth, admit defeat.”

Edri’s cool voice filtered through the ice: “Forcing me to use this move shows your strength equals most mature dragons.”

“You’re still a step short of me.”

In reply came an ever louder, faster thudding sound.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Like war drums, like thunder, like a gargantuan engine roaring to life,

A powerful heartbeat rang from Garoth’s right chest cavity, echoing inside the coffin and even outside.

Garoth let out a long-suppressed roar and without hesitation entered Bloodburst State.

His entire aura surged like a volcanic eruption, blistering heat erupting from within.

He spread his cramped wings and limbs, muscles swelling as he forced his body outward.

The ghostly ice coffin erupted with dense cracks; snapping, popping noises sounded.

At the same time,

The dragon-qi-shaped arms superimposed on his real ones and his strength exploded.

Boom—!

With a deafening crack, the solid ice wall was pierced and shattered by his claws! A huge hole split the coffin open.

Boom, boom, boom, boom—!

Like a beast breaking its cage, Garoth—over just a few breaths—used the most savage, direct method to smash the permafrost coffin to smithereens, turning it into a fluttering storm of glittering ice shards.

On contact with Garoth’s body, those ice fragments vaporized like snow in sun,

The Permafrost Coffin’s remains vanished around him in an instant.

He tore through the cold mist, his dragon might billowing even more immense than before, a burning meteor rushing once more at the hovering Edri.

After entering Bloodburst State, Garoth’s speed increased astonishingly.

Edri didn’t have enough time to create distance before that crimson figure closed into the danger zone.

“Roar—!!!”

Garoth’s thunderous dragon cry filled the clouds, his claws infused with the Arms of the Self’s power, wrapped in savage golden thunder and boiling black-red dragon qi as they came down toward Edri’s skull!

Layer upon layer of ice defenses condensed but shattered in an instant.

Edri’s face tightened; all elegance and composure of battle’s start were gone.

His broad wings beat frantically as he backed away.

His claws weaved spells at blazing speed; remaining alchemic scales reacted and burst, spraying a final ice-blue torrent; potions he had prepared kicked in, boosting every attribute; ice protective chants tumbled from his throat.

Ice Magic—Frost Prism Realm!

At the brink, Edri finally formed one of his powerful spells; intricate magical array patterns shimmered over his body.

A prism wall of hexagonal ice crystals spun at high speed, refracting splendid cold light, instantly forming a barrier.

It stretched across before Garoth’s destructive claw, seemingly unbreakable.

And this time it was not merely defensive.

Each magically enhanced crystal contained freezing energy, reflected physical and magical attacks, and rebounded damage—a composite counterspell, Edri’s hidden trump.

Next moment,

Crash—!

Garoth’s molten-iron claws slammed into the iridescent prism wall.

Time seemed to freeze.

Then came a sound that shook all of Dragon Valley to its core: an awful shattering.

That seemingly invulnerable spell under Garoth’s claws was crushed like a kaleidoscope of glass struck by a hammer; spiderweb cracks spread and the frozen prisms exploded.

Frost Prism Realm, together with Edri’s hastily stacked instant shields, shattered like illusions, turning into a rain of magic-less ice dust.

Power! Pure power!

It pierced technique, crushed composite magic, and shattered the silver dragon’s defense.

“Argh—!”

Edri reeled as the irresistible force smashed through his shattered protections, slamming into his arms and chest.

One by one his beautiful silver scales twisted, deformed, and broke.

Blood sprayed from his mouth, nostrils, and gaps in his claws and scales.

Edri felt struck by a burning metal mountain; his proud, sturdy dragon body groaned under unbearable strain.

His form flew back, driven into the rock face,

Boom—!!!

The cliffside violently shook, huge chunks of stone mixed with long-accumulated ice and snow collapsed, thundering down.

Edri slammed deep into the solid rock, dust and rubble shrouding him completely; only the gaping radial crater on the cliff and a slow trickle of dragon blood told of the strike’s horror.

“Did I hit too hard?”

After that cathartic, savage blow in Bloodburst State, Garoth’s boiling anger meter drained somewhat and reason edged back in.

He looked at the collapsed cliff and belatedly felt perhaps he had gone a little overboard.

Thud—!

At that moment a silver silhouette burst out from the shattered rock with a spray of debris.

Edri breathed hard, chest heaving; silver scales dusted with ash and his own blood, many wounds still bleeding.

But his dragon heart was aflame with fighting spirit, not extinguished but ignited.

“Garoth! Ha...hahaha! It’s been so long since I’ve taken such a good hit!”

The silver dragon howled to the sky, “Come! Keep going!”

“Now I will truly show you without reserve how powerful a mature silver dragon can be!”

—

All his remaining, unused alchemical scales flared like stars;

one by one potions of different colors hovered before him.

Clearly Edri intended to gulp them all down for the final duel.

But just as his jaws opened to consume the potions,

his gaze suddenly froze and all his movements stiffened.

Across from him, Garoth stood quietly in the swirling snow.

At that moment, Garoth’s scales shifted all at once to an intensely scorching forge-red, searing lines of heat streaking across his body in brilliant, seductive red-lotus patterns.

His aura surged; snow near him vaporized on approach.

“Still want to continue, Lord Edri?”

Garoth lifted his head slowly and stared at the silver dragon.

Edri said nothing.

He moved stiffly, gathering the floating potions back into himself.

The light on his alchemic scales dimmed rapidly.

A graceful, composed smile reappeared on his face as if the fired-up silver dragon moments ago had not been him.

“Ahem.”

Edri gave a light cough, flicked his tail to shake off dust and ice fragments, and in a breezy tone said, “After all, it’s only a friendly spar—knock it off when it reaches a point.”

“If we keep going, either of us might suffer injuries that won’t quickly heal, and that wouldn’t be worth it.”

He looked at the red-iron dragon deeply and said, “Garoth, your strength has far exceeded my boldest expectations. Very good, truly remarkable.”

“At this rate, in a few years I imagine I might not be your match at all.”

After a few seconds of silence, Garoth nodded slowly under the silver dragon’s expectant gaze, accepting the sentiment.

“Yes, Lord Edri, your strength also exceeded my expectations.”

“I look forward to our next duel.”

Garoth said with a smile.

Much of his anger had been vented; his offensiveness eased and he did not mind giving Edri an exit.

Edri exhaled in relief, feeling the red-iron dragon far more pleasing to his eyes now.

ps: Ah, it actually rushed into the top twenty on monthly votes—unbelievable, all thanks to your support, thank you! By the way, please throw another monthly vote to keep the author around longer.