Leon and Vos walked side-by-side, their feet crunching on the shattered remains of crystals. Fires still burned in the distance, and the roars of monsters occasionally echoed between heaven and earth.
"It should still be in the same area," Vos said in a low voice. "That last fight enraged it; it shouldn't flee easily."
"Perfect." Leon's eyes were like lightning as he gripped his twin blades, thunder crackling faintly.
The two climbed over a collapsed crystal hill, reaching the area of their previous battle.
A wave of heat hit them. The crystals on the rock walls had been burned a dark red, looking as though they might melt at any moment.
Just then, the ground shook violently.
Leon whispered, "It's here."
BOOM!!!
With a deafening crash, the Bazelgeuse plummeted from the sky. Its scales were boiling and churning. With a flick of its tail, it smashed several crystal pillars!
It seemed to recognize Leon and Vos. A low growl rumbled in its throat. Its left eye, where blood had once poured, was now covered in a dark red scab, but the tyranny in its other eye hadn't faded one bit.
"That thing is even more agitated." Vos stepped forward, raising his large shield. It hit the ground with a heavy thud, sounding like a muffled war drum.
"Let's go," Leon said coldly. "We're here to harvest this crazed dragon. I'll take the flank; you hold the front."
The next second.
The Bazelgeuse roared and charged, its four limbs moving like a stampeding beast of molten rock. The air was compressed into visible shockwaves.
—BOOM!
Vos blocked the first collision, pushed back half a step as the crystals beneath his feet shattered.
He let out a low grunt as he diverted the force of the impact.
"My turn!" Leon had already circled to the flank. His twin blades erupted with explosive lightning.
—Demon Reverse Slash!
—Demon Double Slash!
—Demon Six-fold Slash!
Leon was like a yellow flash, tearing a gash into the Bazelgeuse's side.
Pshhh!
Blood sprayed and scales shattered. The Bazelgeuse howled and leapt back. An instant later, its tail ignited once more.
Leon retreated quickly, but the aftershock of the tail's explosion still sent him flying. He tumbled across the ground.
"Meow—!" Dumpling's voice came from a corner. "Rookie! Watch out for the collapsing crystals to your back-right! The terrain is shifting, meow!"
"Got it." Leon flipped onto his feet and stepped onto a crystal slope to close the distance again.
The Bazelgeuse took to the air again, shaking out several blasting scales that exploded the moment they hit the ground.
Vos held his lance high and thrust upward repeatedly, forcing the Bazelgeuse back down to the ground.
Leon fired his Clutch Claw with precision, then leapt high, crossing his twin blades.
—Heavenly Blade Dance!
The blade light was like a crescent moon, striking the gap between the Bazelgeuse's shoulder plates and neck.
Crack—!
The Bazelgeuse shrieked in pain. A vital nerve point was sliced open, causing its front limbs to lose control and twist instantly.
"There it is!" Leon shouted. "This thing has a weakness! The hitzones on its belly and limbs are soft!"
"Understood!" Vos slammed his heavy shield into the ground, locking his gaze on the Bazelgeuse's belly. He continued, "I'll handle disrupting its movements; you keep up the damage."
The two worked in perfect tandem, Leon focusing on the openings while Vos concentrated on blocking and countering.
The battle entered a high-frequency rhythm of push and pull.
The Bazelgeuse grew increasingly frantic, even starting to burn the scales on its body to create a twenty-meter radius circle of explosive fire, forcing Leon and the others to retreat.
Leon quickly fell back beneath a crystal hill, using the terrain to shield himself from the aftershocks of the fire.
The scorching ring of fire seemed to consume everything, turning the very air into twisted flames.
"It's entered a berserk state!" Dumpling's voice held a hint of tension. "Watch the scales on its body! They'll explode if they overheat, meow!"
Leon gritted his teeth and growled, "I know!"
The Bazelgeuse's scales were like flowing magma. Clusters of red spots appeared and writhed on its surface...
...Like blood blisters that could burst at any moment.
Leon's pupils shrank. He jumped suddenly, closing in on the target again. He used the momentum to fly into the air, turning himself into a buzzsaw.
—Heavenly Blade Dance!
Lightning wreathed his twin blades as he sliced precisely into the joint of the Bazelgeuse's right front leg. With a loud pop, flesh and blood splattered.
That front leg trembled as if it had lost all strength.
'The gaps in its bones have also overheated and become brittle,' Leon thought. 'This might be the breakthrough.'
On the other side.
Vos charged forward, protected by his heavy shield.
A shockwave spread, and the Bazelgeuse lost its balance.
Leon seized the opportunity.
Entering Demon Mode once more, the twin blades in his hands were like dancing serpents of electricity. The Bazelgeuse's belly was quickly turned into a bloody mess.
"It can't suppress the thermal energy inside anymore!" Vos roared. "Blow it up now!!!"
"I can tear its belly open!" Leon flew beneath the Bazelgeuse's jaw, his body spinning as he swept his blades.
—Demon Flurry Rush!
—Demon Slashes!
—Blade Dance!
Swish! Swish! Swish—
The Bazelgeuse roared and struggled violently. It suddenly leapt into the air and crashed back down, rolling on the ground in an attempt to throw them off.
Leon quickly leaped back and rolled to avoid it, while Vos dug his heels in. He braced for the aftershock and was pushed back seven or eight steps!
"Meow-ooo! It's going to self-destruct!" Biscuit shouted from a high vantage point. "Quick, quick, quick! Use a Flash Pod, meow!"
"On it!" Leon immediately pulled out a Flash Pod. He dashed in front of the Bazelgeuse and threw it quickly.
Bang—!
The Bazelgeuse happened to open its mouth to roar just as the Flash Pod hit it between the eyes, erupting in a brilliant flash.
Its pupils constricted, and it fell into a brief stupor.
"Now's the time!!!!" Leon propelled himself upward and dove down.
—Heavenly Blade Dance!
Leon achieved the true flair of the twin blades, using consecutive aerial techniques to bring the Bazelgeuse down.
Thunder rumbled!
"Roar!" The Bazelgeuse let out one final cry. Its scales shattered, and blood sprayed out along with high-heat air currents.
BOOM—!!!
Its massive body could no longer support itself. It slowly collapsed onto the scorching crystal ground. Its limbs convulsed, the fires died out, and its breath ceased.
After a few seconds of silence, Leon knelt on one knee, his twin blades stabbed into the crystals, panting like an ox.
Vos dragged his heavy shield over, his shoulders trembling. He was clearly exhausted as well.
Dumpling and Biscuit rushed over, cheering, "You did it, meow! You two smashed its head in, meow!"
Vos looked at the blood-red carcass of the Bazelgeuse and asked in a low voice, "Is it... really dead this time?"
[Killed: Bazelgeuse (High Rank)]
[Experience gained: 4000]
[Level: Lv.25]
[Experience: 109,000 / 125,000]
Leon nodded. "Don't worry. It's as dead as it can get."
However, his tone wasn't light.
Leon looked toward the nearby chasm that was still burning. His voice was low as he said, "The ecology of the Elder's Recess is losing its balance. The Bazelgeuse was just the beginning..."
At those words, Vos's brow furrowed.
Leon looked up at the sky.
At that moment, a dull rumble like thunder came from the distant sky—
Like the echo of giant wings tearing through the heavens.
He slowly stood up and said softly:
"—Teostra."
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