With all the Alchemical Item on its body stripped away, the Copper Dragon was dazed, its neck aching intensely. It finally regained its senses and broke free from the hypnotic state.
It raised its claws, both slapping and tearing at Garros's right shoulder.
The slapping sound was dull and heavy.
Immediately after, sparks flew. As the claw tips made contact with the scales, an ear-grating sound, like metal grinding, rang out.
The Copper Dragon felt as if it had struck a tempered anvil; its claws throbbed with pain. Yet, it could only leave a few marks on the other's dragon scales, failing to tear them open and draw blood.
Due to his previous training, Garros currently had no buffer scales on his body.
Dark red patterns interlaced and flickered as if magma were flowing. The black scales, with a subtle silver matte finish, looked as if they were cast from steel and iron, their hardness far exceeding that of a normal Dragonkin.
"What hard dragon scales!"
The Copper Dragon opened its mouth and spat out a glob of gelatinous acidic Dragon Breath, but Garros had already pulled away in advance, dodging the acidic Dragon Breath.
It was only then.
The Copper Dragon, finally having a moment to breathe, realized something seemed to be missing from its body.
Turning its head, it saw that the Fire-Flow Wing Ring hanging on its dragon wing was gone. Looking down, the watchers necklace around its neck had also vanished. It swirled its tongue in its mouth, but similarly could not feel the presence of the silver frost ring.
The scales around its neck also felt empty.
Reaching out with its claws to feel, the Copper Dragon was shocked to find that the gems and gold coins hidden within the inner layers of its scales were almost all gone.
At the same time, it noticed something sparkling within the gaps of the feather-like fine scales on the surface of Garros's dragon wings. Looking closely, weren't those its gems and gold coins?
The Fire-Flow Wing Ring, the silver frost ring, and the watchers necklace were all being gripped in one of his claws.
"Ah, you god-awful Evil Dragon! Give me back my gems, give me back my gold coins, give me back my alchemy equipment!"
The Copper Dragon shrieked.
With treasures and equipment snatched right in front of its face, it was difficult for any normal Dragon to remain calm and rational.
It flapped its wings and flew toward Garros.
The Copper Dragon was fuming, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws.
But rage would not increase its strength; instead, it caused more openings to appear in its movements.
Garros tilted his body, sidestepping the Copper Dragon's angry charge. He grabbed its tail with both dragon claws, gripping it tightly like iron pincers.
Crack, crack, crack!
The dragon scales on his arms locked tightly together, and the strong muscles beneath bulged, bursting with a thick and powerful force.
"You—"
Before the Copper Dragon could finish its sentence, its voice was dragged into a long trail. Its entire body was swung in full circles in the air by Garros, who held it by the tail, before being violently hurled toward the ground.
Boom!
Accompanied by a deafening roar.
Countless fragments of stone and dust filled the air. A huge deep pit formed in the ground, with dense cracks extending and spreading outward.
"Pah!"
The Copper Dragon, whose scales were extensively cracked, spat out the rubble from its mouth and stood up from the deep pit, feeling continuous pain from the outside in.
But even so.
This Copper Dragon still felt no fear.
On the contrary, it flapped its wings to disperse the dust and soared into the sky once more, charging at Garros with a posture as if it were going to fight him to the death.
"Naturally evil Red Iron Dragon! Give my things back, or I'm not finished with you!"
The Copper Dragon shouted.
Dragons have powerful physiques and vigorous life force. The previous injuries were far from being considered severe for the Copper Dragon. Unless the gap was truly immense and the Dragon fought to the death without retreating, it was very difficult to kill a Dragon.
But even so, it appeared far too reckless.
It seemed as though it had some kind of confidence.
Garros's eyes flickered. He did not press the advantage but instead began to retreat.
"I've already snatched enough gems, gold coins, and alchemy equipment. But Metallic Dragons are each wealthier than the last; there's no telling if it still has life-saving measures."
He thought to himself.
Sure enough, a silver rune emerged on a dragon scale over the Copper Dragon's heart. Its shape was not that of an alchemy rune, but rather something like a Spell scroll, a Magic Scale directly inscribed using the dragon scale as material.
—This was the strongest life-saving measure that Metallic Dragon parents would bestow upon their offspring.
If the Metallic Dragon parents were powerful enough.
Even for a Young Dragon, its Magic Scale might erupt with a terrifying, Legendary-like power.
No one could be certain what kind of counterattack a young Metallic Dragon could unleash in a moment of crisis.
Garros instinctively felt a hint of danger.
"Why am I not a Metallic Dragon?"
He sighed in his heart.
To say he wasn't envious would definitely be a lie.
A Metallic Dragon's adventure was just an adventure. They held onto life-saving measures and traveled everywhere with a playful mindset. Moreover, it was often not for survival, but for self-entertainment, to make a dragon's life less dull and tedious.
Evil Dragons, however, risked their lives for a tomorrow.
The key was that Garros didn't feel he was an Evil Dragon either. His goal was simply to live a long time; his thoughts were very simple and plain.
But this world was too dangerous and very unfriendly to him.
Case in point.
Garros had been training happily and hadn't provoked anyone. But as soon as the Copper Dragon saw him, it directly shouted something about a naturally evil Red-Iron Hybrid and came straight to find trouble.
Even if he wasn't an Evil Dragon, he was being forced to become one.
Garros slowly exhaled and composed his thoughts.
The treasures and alchemy equipment were already in hand; there was no need to take further risks.
He didn't know what level of power was contained within the other's life-saving Magic Scale. The danger of trying to kill a Metallic Dragon far outweighed the subsequent benefits.
Garros quickly made a choice and prepared to disengage and retreat.
With a flap of his wings.
He retreated at high speed, instantly widening the distance between him and the Copper Dragon, nearly vanishing in a flash.
The Copper Dragon pursued for a few seconds but was completely unable to catch up, stopping while gnashing its teeth.
"Evil Red-Iron Hybrid Dragon, don't let me catch you! Otherwise, I'll definitely make you lick my claws every day to atone for your evil deeds!"
It shouted out in annoyance.
At the same time, before his figure completely disappeared, Garros's voice drifted from afar in the wind.
"Now is question time."
"What is flying in the sky and is about to go crying for its mommy?"
The Copper Dragon was stunned for a moment. By the time it reacted, the color of the scales on its body became visibly more vivid.
It had gone red-hot with rage.
It was furious but helpless. Its gaze fixed on the Bug King, which was perched at the bottom of the abandoned mine pit's center, watching the battle between the two dragons.
"Damn bug, what are you looking at!"
The Copper Dragon growled, folded its wings, and dove toward the Bug King.
Suffering from a lack of understanding regarding Dragonkin.
The Bug King opened its massive maw and lunged to bite the Copper Dragon.
At the same time, the silver rune on the Copper Dragon's chest fully lit up.
—This type of life-saving Magic Scale would only trigger when life was threatened.
The temperature in the air plummeted, as if suddenly changing from a scorching summer to the dead of winter.
Dense, seemingly endless ice blades appeared around the Copper Dragon's body, then whistled toward the Bug King like a rainstorm. They were so fast that the Bug King could not react.
Puchi, puchi!
Ice blades pierced into its mouth, easily tearing through its carapace and erupting from its body. The Bug King was left covered in wounds and riddled with holes, instantly and heavily injured.
Gurgle, gurgle. A strange sound came from its mouth.
In its agony, the Bug King was panic-stricken. It turned and fled, diving into a mine tunnel and escaping toward the depths of the underground with its heavily injured body.
Failing to kill the Bug King in one blow made the Copper Dragon even more furious. It circled above the abandoned mine, its wings flapping to rain down a storm of ice blades, plowing through the abandoned mine below from all directions and leaving it in ruins.