Dumpling's drumming suddenly quickened, the rhythm resonating deep within the heart.
"Keep going!" Leon kicked off the ground, lunging forward like a pouncing tiger to close the distance with Malzeno.
The moment his dual blades were unsheathed, his form turned into an afterimage.
—Demon Mode!—
Crimson flames enveloped his body. Leon dashed low, launching an assault from Malzeno's left wing.
—Demon Reverse Slash!—
—Demon Double Slash!—
The first strike pierced the forelimb scales, the second grazed its ribs, but the third—was suddenly cut short!
"Ah?!" Leon realized the danger. Malzeno's tri-tail had snapped together into a cone, thrusting straight toward him.
He couldn't dodge...
Leon forced his blades into a cross-block, but he was sent flying. His health bar plummeted instantly into the danger zone.
Suddenly, Dumpling came sprinting toward Leon, carrying a green water orb. The moment it touched his body, his injuries began to knit back together.
"Meowww! You've got to hang in there, meow!"
Leon gritted his teeth and stood up, quickly retrieving a Max Potion from his Spatial Ring and swallowing it.
A Max Potion was a miraculous medicine capable of expanding one's physical limits to the maximum while fully restoring all health.
Because of its immense value, Leon had been reluctant to use it, but facing Malzeno, he clearly couldn't afford to hold anything back.
"Man, this dragon is like it's using cheats..." Leon wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his gaze growing sharper.
This time, he didn't charge in recklessly, opting instead for a slow, probing approach.
As if disdainful of Leon's caution, Malzeno raised its tail, and a two-stage tail-stab came hurtling toward him.
Seeing this, Leon performed a mid-air dance, following up with a sliding evade upon landing. After dodging the tail thrust, he spun back with a Demon Flurry Rush, repositioning to the left while attacking.
Malzeno hesitated for half a beat, and Leon seized the opening!
—Blade Dance!—
A relentless barrage of slashes rained down on Malzeno's left foreleg.
Malzeno roared in pain, delivering two consecutive charges.
But Leon had long since seen it coming. He used two sliding evades to the left to clear the area, and once the charges ended, he used Demon Flurry Rush to return to Malzeno's left foreleg.
—Demon Reverse Slash!—
—Demon Double Slash!—
The slashes landed heavily, but Leon didn't get greedy. Before Malzeno could even react, he had already pulled back.
Seeing this, Dumpling quickly scrambled to the side, terrified of disrupting Leon's combat rhythm.
Malzeno instantly leaped backward, condensing Dragon energy in its maw before unleashing its breath directly at him.
Thinking it was a linear attack, Leon hurried to sidestep, but what appeared were three waves of black-red dragon flame. He was caught by one and sent tumbling.
Leon slammed hard against the ground, his armor scorched black. Fresh red wounds hissed with white smoke under the searing heat.
"Hiss—" Leon inhaled sharply, his hands trembling slightly, yet he still gripped his dual blades tight. He thought to himself, 'That thing's breath... it can curve?'
Malzeno's wings snapped open, stirring a gale that tore through the air. The lingering heat of the dragon flame still swirled as its dragon pupils locked onto Leon. It was clear—
It was truly enraged by this slippery human.
"Newbie... it doesn't look like he'll last much longer, meow!" Dumpling spun in circles anxiously before throwing a Flash Pod.
White light suddenly exploded across the battlefield.
Leon took the chance to stand, tightening his grip on the Decimation Claws as he charged Malzeno once more.
The next moment.
Leon's legs exploded with power, propelling him to Malzeno's side in an instant as his blades blurred into afterimages.
—Blade Dance!—
The dual blades swept out like a violent storm, accurately striking the inner side of Malzeno's left knee joint.
"ROARRRR—!!" Malzeno let out a pained howl, its knee buckling as it nearly fell.
An opening!
Leon roared, "Get down!!"
He slid forward, pouring everything into a Demon Blade Dance!
Blade light completely enveloped Malzeno's left foreleg, every strike cutting precisely into the gaps between the scales.
Crack!
A crisp sound of breaking echoed.
"It worked!"
The joint of Malzeno's left foreleg finally shattered. Its massive frame tilted to the left, but it didn't collapse...
Leon had no time for joy. Malzeno spread its massive wings and roared at the heavens. Blood-red veins pulsed along its back, and its originally dark scales began to glow a brilliant, burning red, as if its very blood were boiling.
"This... this is..." Leon's expression shifted drastically as he went on high alert. "An enraged state?!"
The atmospheric pressure across the battlefield spiked, and the air itself seemed to turn blistering and heavy.
Seeing this, Dumpling shouted a warning, "Meowww! Newbie, get back! That's the sign that it's about to blow the whole place sky-high, meow!"
However, Leon did not retreat. Instead, he pressed forward, a determined light flashing in his eyes. He tossed a Flash Pod and followed up with a Clutch Claw, slingshotting himself directly in front of Malzeno.
—Heavenly Blade Dance!—
In the brief window before Malzeno's eruption, Leon vaulted into the air. His dual blades spun at high speed as he plummeted like a crimson meteor, slamming precisely into Malzeno's head.
The entire battlefield seemed to shatter under the weight of the blow!
Malzeno roared to the sky!
Silver scales shifted violently as blood energy billowed out like mist from its chest, its entire body radiating an eerie red light.
Dragon flames scattered everywhere, and Leon was thrown back by the shockwave.
"Dammit..." Leon landed steadily, his eyes fixed on the now-enraged Malzeno.
"Newbie!" Dumpling's pupils shrank, its voice cracking with panic. "Meow? Are you okay—"
Before it could finish, Malzeno vanished.
"Teleportation?!" Leon forced down his shock, but in the next heartbeat, an explosion of pain erupted from his back—
Malzeno's tail had impaled his right shoulder.
"Gah!" Leon gritted his teeth and lurched sideways, trying to use the Clutch Claw to leap out of range.
Simultaneously, a second strike followed!
"A combo?!" Leon forced his body to twist mid-air, barely neutralizing the second tail thrust with a Heavenly Blade Dance Finisher. But before he could stabilize, three homing Bloodblight Orbs came flying at him.
"Crap..." Leon felt a massive force slam him out of the air, his body crashing heavily into the dirt.
Giving him no time to react, Malzeno flickered and charged like a drill, its two massive golden horns slamming toward him.
"Leon—!" Dumpling screamed, watching as Malzeno's chest swelled and its wings rose high.
A breath attack?
Leon was covered in blood, his ears ringing, but his eyes remained locked forward—
'System... allocate... points...'
[ATTRIBUTES: STRENGTH 52, AGILITY 38, VITALITY 37, PERCEPTION 35. (UNASSIGNED POINTS: 30)]
[VITALITY +1, CURRENT: 38]
[UNASSIGNED POINTS: 29]
The system instantly mended Leon's wounds. He forced himself up, but his legs buckled beneath him.
Due to the Bloodblight status, Leon's health didn't recover immediately, leaving him unable to stand.
Malzeno's breath followed right on its heels...
BOOM!!!
A shockwave of Dragon energy tore through the air, shattering the ground. Leon was blasted back, blood spraying.
Dumpling pounced forward, quickly deploying an Emergency Felyne Cart and yelling, "Quick! We have to retreat, meow! I can't take it anymore, meow—!!"
A wooden cart was summoned.
Leon's eyes narrowed as he lay powerless on the ground. Through the haze, he could see Malzeno taking flight, its wings blotting out the sun like a monarch from hell.
Dumpling hoisted Leon onto the cart and sprinted toward the temporary camp without looking back.
Silence fell over the battlefield, save for Malzeno landing slowly. It gave its tail a light flick, tossing several broken shards of dual blades into the air—
Clack.
The fragments fell, embedding themselves into the scorched earth.