Chapter 161: The Genius
The dust settled.
Ignius scrambled up from the shattered earth, his skull ringing with a persistent, high-pitched whine. He shook his head violently, dislodging clumps of dirt and stone from his crimson scales.
That single punch had nearly derailed his consciousness.
"D*mn you..."
Ignius snarled, his wings snapping open as his massive bulk lurched back into the sky. He glared at the hovering silhouette of Skele-Pride, an uncontrollable fury boiling in his chest.
One hundred years! One hundred years since his hatching, and he had never been treated with such utter disregard!
Elder Basaka had spent decades praising him, calling him a genius the likes of which the Dragon race saw only once in a millennium. In the Dragon's Nest, other Great Dragons bowed their heads in his presence. Even the veterans, five centuries into their prime, had been dismantled by his claws.
And yet, this... this pile of calcified scrap...
It had the audacity to address him as "little lizard" in a tone of pure, clinical boredom.
"I'LL REND YOUR SOUL FROM YOUR BONES!"
Ignius roared, unhinging his jaw. White-hot Dragon's Breath began to pool in his throat once more, but this time, he held nothing back. He forced his Od to its absolute limit.
BOOM—!
A pillar of pure solar fire erupted, the temperature so extreme the very oxygen in the air ignited in a chain reaction.
Pride didn't move.
A heartbeat before impact, he raised his blue energy-arm, manifesting a shimmering, crystalline barrier. The inferno slammed into the shield, the impact creating a deafening, continuous roar of clashing energies.
Pride remained immovable.
Ignius cut off the breath, gasping for air. The next micro-second, Pride's silhouette vanished.
Ignius's pupils shrank to pinpricks. His instincts screamed Left!, and he banked hard to the side.
He was still too slow.
THWACK—!
A heavy, bone-shattering blow struck him in the underbelly. Ignius's frame folded like a closing book, the kinetic force sending him hurtling sideways through the air. Before he could recover his equilibrium, Pride was on him.
Fists fell like a tropical rainstorm.
Thud! Thud! Crash!
Every strike was calculated, targeting the precise weak points between Ignius's scales. The sound of fracturing chitin was constant.
Ignius tried to retaliate, but his every move was read before it was even executed. Before his claws could extend, Pride was already on the opposite flank. Before his tail could sweep, Pride had leaped onto his head.
This skeleton... his combat experience was a bottomless well.
Ignius finally found a window, beating his wings with a frantic power to put twenty meters of distance between them. He panted heavily, his body riddled with a dozen gashes deep enough to expose the muscle. Bright, acidic dragon blood dripped from his scales, hissing as it corroded the dirt below.
Pride remained suspended in the void, not a speck of dust marring his obsidian frame.
"Is that it?"
Pride's voice was a flat, unmoving calm.
"The 'Strongest' of the Dragons... is this truly the extent of your talent?"
"Compared to the Hero I faced last month, you are... fragile."
Ignius's pride was no longer just wounded; it was being ground into the dirt and spat upon.
"SHUT UP!"
He let out a piercing shriek, his body twisting as a massive aura of fire erupted from his scales.
[Dragon's Dance].
It was the ultimate biological buff of his race, forcing his speed and power into a terminal overclock. Ignius became a blur of crimson lightning, lunging at Pride with several times his previous velocity.
The Soul Fire in Pride's sockets gave a sharp pulse.
"Interesting."
He raised his right hand, reaching into the void. A gargantuan Greatsword of black bone manifested in his grip.
The two magnitudes collided in mid-air.
BOOM—!
A massive shockwave rippled outward, the sheer atmospheric pressure stripping the topsoil from the ground below. Ignius's talons ground against the edge of Pride's bone blade, a shower of white-hot sparks illuminating the night. Their silhouettes flickered across the sky, every collision releasing a thunderous boom of displaced air.
On the street below, Skele-Gluttony maintained the [Immovable Fortress], his shield acting as a dome that kept the carnage from reaching the capital. The human residents watched the sky, their jaws dropped in awe.
"Is that... is that the General's true power?"
"It's terrifying!"
"Wait, the Dragon... it's actually losing!"
In the sky, the battle reached its fever pitch. Ignius's heart grew heavier with every exchange. He was pouring every drop of his Od into his movements, yet the skeleton countered him with a casual, mechanical grace.
The sword-marks on Ignius's scales were multiplying. Blood was hemorrhaging from his wings. In contrast, Pride remained untouched—a perfect, silent machine of slaughter.
Ignius's breathing became a series of ragged, desperate gasps. His stamina was hitting zero. If this continued, he wouldn't just lose—he would die here. He would die at the hands of a ghost.
The thought sent a spike of primal terror through his core.
No.
I can't die.
I haven't reached the Throne yet.
I haven't proven I'm the greatest!
As they crossed for the next strike, Ignius suddenly aborted his lunge. He performed a violent mid-air turn, his wings beating with a frantic, desperate power as he turned tail and bolted for the horizon.
Pride paused, his head tilting. "Fleeing?"
He immediately gave chase. Two streaks of light tore across the night sky, carving a path through the clouds. Ignius was flying for his life, his speed pushed to a suicidal limit. Pride hung doggedly at his heels, the distance between them refusing to widen.
After several dozen kilometers of pursuit, Pride realized his linear velocity was matched. He skidded to a halt in the air, the Soul Fire in his eyes flickering.
"I suppose... I'll borrow your method."
He raised his hand, gripping the bone greatsword like a javelin.
SHING—!
The black blade left his hand, launched with a velocity that shattered the sound barrier several times over. Ignius felt the sudden, lethal spike in the atmosphere behind him and glanced over his shoulder.
SQUELCH—!
The blade whistled past, grazing the side of Ignius's jaw. It left a deep, horrific gouge that tore through scale and bone. A fountain of crimson blood sprayed into the clouds.
Ignius let out a shriek of agony, his body wobbling precariously in the air. But he gritted his teeth, refusing to slow down, and vanished into the darkness of the far horizon.
Pride didn't resume the chase. He watched the dragon's fading heat-sigil until his Soul Fire settled into a calm state.
"Tch. I missed."
He turned and drifted back toward Iron Fortress.
Upon landing, Gluttony deactivated the Immovable Fortress. "Gone?"
"Yes," Pride replied. "Fast for a lizard. I couldn't close the gap."
Gluttony glanced at the sky. "The Dragon's strength?"
Pride's tone was dismissive. "Millennary Commander level. Capable, but not a threat. The Seven of us are more than sufficient."
Gluttony nodded. "Good enough."
"The Master said dragons who do not initiate hostilities are to be spared. Since he fled, we let it go."
Pride remained silent, staring at the dark night sky. The Red Dragon was strong—Tier 6 Peak, a pure power-type. In terms of raw output, he might have even eclipsed the Hero. But his frame was too large, his flaws too numerous, and his experience against smaller entities was non-existent. He was all power and zero application.
"Let's move," Gluttony rumbled, heading toward the teleportation node. "We still have other sectors to clear."
Pride followed him, their silhouettes vanishing as the portal closed.
In the streets of Iron Fortress, the residents were already buzzing with excitement.
"The General was incredible!"
"That dragon was running with its tail between its legs!"
"Hah! Serves it right for trying to raid our city!"
Hundreds of Kilometers Away.
Ignius finally collapsed.
He skidded onto a patch of barren wasteland, his limbs giving way as his massive frame plowed into the dirt. The wound on his face was still bleeding, the pain a white-hot iron against his nerves.
But the physical agony was nothing compared to the psychological trauma.
He had lost. He had been dismantled by a bone-rack. He hadn't even managed to land a single scratch.
"Dmn it... DMN IT ALL!"
Ignius let out a low, broken growl, slamming a claw into the earth. The stone was reduced to powder under his weight.
He had lived for a hundred years. He had never known such humiliation. Elder Basaka called him a genius. The Nest called him the Future. And today, that "Future" had run away like a beaten dog.
"No... it's impossible..." Ignius wheezed. "I was just... I was careless..."
"Yes. Just careless. If we fought again..."
He tried to convince himself. But deep in his core, a voice told him the truth. Even if they fought a thousand times, the result would be the same. The skeleton was simply on a different level of existence.
Ignius lay in the dirt, staring up at the indifferent stars. After a long time, his eyes slowly closed.
"Basaka..."
"What do I do...?"
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you