As the altitude dropped and speed increased, the blade-like whistling sound weakened, replaced by a thunderous roar.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
This sound heralded the arrival of Garros.
He dove over the Stone Giant camp, and red-hot, high-temperature Explosive Scales fell from his body like a torrential rain, sweeping toward the camp.
Simultaneously, he locked onto the Diamond Giant, carrying an unstoppable force as he plummeted like a meteorite, a malevolent star crashing down.
Garros's speed was too fast.
His attack caught them completely off guard.
By the time the Diamond Giant realized what was happening, the red-hot rain had already showered down, densely packed and primarily concentrated on the area where the weak young and Young Giants were located.
A shimmering, translucent light glowed on the surface of its skin.
Demonic Energy flowed through the Diamond Giant's body as it raised its thick right arm and spread its fingers.
"Earth, heed my command!"
A voice like rolling stones emerged from its mouth, coarse and solemn.
It clenched its five fingers, creating a Spell effect.
Elements previously invisible to the naked eye condensed, and a heavy Rock Curtain appeared almost out of thin air, like an extra layer of ground in mid-air. It was thick, dense, and hard, shielding the weak Young Giants within.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The red-hot Explosive Scales fell, shattering the rocks into pieces and sending countless stone fragments flying.
Under the Diamond Giant's control, even as the Rock Curtain shattered, more elemental energy filled and patched the gaps, maintaining the defense and intercepting Garros's wave of Explosive Scale attacks.
Meanwhile.
Watching the Hybrid Dragon charging toward it at high speed, the Diamond Giant's eyes shone brightly. Its surface gleamed with a diamond-like luster, and its entire body exuded an indestructible quality.
The Diamond Giant's defense was supreme among the Giant species.
Other creatures of the same level were far behind, including Dragonkin.
"Come, Dragon!"
It raised its head fearlessly to meet the battle.
The Young Dragon before it was somewhat unusual, but in the end, it was just a Young Dragon. The Diamond Giant found no reason for fear and even found Garros's arrogance and conceit laughable.
A single Young Dragon dared to attack a Stone Giant camp alone.
What level of arrogance and conceit would drive such behavior?
Garros was less than two hundred meters from the Diamond Giant; at his current speed, he would be upon it in an instant.
However, at that moment.
Thicker dark red flames billowed from the ends of his wing bones, and Garros tilted his wings.
Carrying all the kinetic energy accumulated from his dive, his massive body traced a sharp, nearly right-angled line in the air, changing direction and crashing toward a young adult Stone Giant.
Great Desolation Dragon Fall!
Garros let out a long draconic roar, mentally adding the Move name he had devised to enhance his prestige.
In the next instant.
The young adult Stone Giant had just raised its head when its gray rock chest caved in, forming a clear draconic silhouette.
Garros's horns were the first to pierce its chest cavity, and the friction between the Explosive Scales and the stony skin erupted in blinding sparks.
Immediately after.
A shockwave erupted.
Centered on the impact point, the ground collapsed and buckled, creating a crater like that of a meteorite.
A circular blast of air exploded outward at the same time.
The ground for hundreds of meters around rose and fell like waves, three stone houses collapsed like building blocks, and flying debris riddled the nearby Rock Lizard pack like a sieve.
Under this earth-shattering blow, the young adult Stone Giant's body turned into countless burning fragments, embedded radially into the bottom of the crater.
It had died before it could even react.
Garros shook his wings, shedding the debris, and pulled his body straight up, soaring into the sky.
"Damned Dragon!"
The Diamond Giant's roar echoed.
It crushed the cracked ground and leaped hundreds of meters high like a cannonball. With fierce momentum, while Garros had not yet fully ascended, it clenched its massive fist and swung at him.
Before the fist even landed.
Garros felt his body grow heavy, as if being pulled by an invisible giant hand.
Amidst the light shining from the Diamond Giant, runes could be faintly seen flowing, constructing a Heavy Spell that made Garros's body sink as if he were carrying a small mountain.
Stone Giants of adult age and above generally possess this kind of Heavy Spell.
Its essence is to strengthen gravitational pull to restrict flight, rather than dispersing Demonic Energy, so it had a certain effect on Garros.
Boom!
Dark red flames billowed as Garros flapped his massive wings, continuing to soar upward despite the heavy sensation.
However, because he was hindered.
The leaping Diamond Giant was already before him, its hard, giant fist smashing toward Garros's head.
Garros tilted his body, taking the punch with his strong, thick back.
Bang!
The Explosive Scales that had absorbed the kinetic energy exploded, and sharp fragments shot at the Diamond Giant from close range, leaving streaks of scratches on its body.
Garros's body only swayed slightly.
Using the force of the punch, he rotated his body, accelerated his flames, and swung his wings around, viciously striking the Diamond Giant's chest. He knocked it back to the ground, leaving a shallow horizontal gash on its chest.
Having broken free from the Diamond Giant's entanglement.
Garros ascended into the high sky again, simultaneously leaving the range of its Heavy Spell.
He looked down at the Stone Giant camp and grinned. His draconic face showed intense arrogance and conceit, sparks snorting from his nostrils, revealing the tyrannical and boorish nature of a Red Dragon.
"Just you? A bunch of inferior lifeforms made of broken stones, wanting to fight me for territory?"
"This Dragon shall wipe you off the map today, leaving none behind!"
On the ground.
The earth and stone beneath the Diamond Giant's feet seemed to come alive, gathering onto its body. The gash on its chest and the small wounds from the close-range explosions and fragments regenerated at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Dragonkin rule the sky; Stone Giants control the earth.
Both sides had their strengths and weaknesses.
Looking over the massive crater in the camp and thinking of the young adult clansman who had been smashed to pieces, lines representing anger appeared on the Diamond Giant's sculpted face.
"Young Dragon."
"You will pay a price in blood for your arrogance!"
The Diamond Giant said in a low voice.
Garros did not refute or explain the Diamond Giant's assessment of him as a Young Dragon.
Although he was still about a year and a half short, having finished the longest slumber of his Young Dragon stage, he could indeed be called a Young Dragon.
An adult Granite Giant stood beside the Diamond Giant.
It hadn't kept up with Garros's speed and burst of power before and failed to react in time. Now, with a look of fury, it prepared to face the enemy alongside the Elder.
"Targon."
"This Dragon is not as boorish as he appears. He seems to be a Red-Iron hybrid, not a pure Red Dragon. He is cunning and treacherous; though in his youth, he already shows the signs of a great evil."
"Guard our weak clansmen. Do not let them be attacked and killed again."
The Diamond Giant said to the Granite Giant.
Judging from Garros's initial feint toward itself followed by the attack on the young adult giant, the Diamond Giant was certain of his inner cunning. He was not to be underestimated and must be dealt with cautiously.
The Granite Giant clenched its fists and nodded heavily.
It gathered the two remaining young adult giants and the other small giants behind it, taking full responsibility for guarding them to prevent any further sudden attacks from Garros.
Meanwhile.
Garros soared into the high sky once more.
He spiraled and circled, his flames accelerating, shredding the high-altitude clouds into a massive hole, before finally diving toward the Stone Giant camp at extreme speed.
The Heavy Spells of the Diamond Giant and the Granite Giant were useless at this time.
If used, they would purely provide Garros with even greater speed and power.
This time, the Giants and their vassals were prepared, no longer caught completely off guard as they were the first time.
Massive boulders were condensed by the Stone Giants, soaring into the sky like cannonballs toward Garros. The monsters also spat fireballs and acid, using various long-range attacks to support the Giants.
The most dangerous attack came from the Diamond Giant.
Light shone from its body, and diamond-like brilliance gathered at its chest, erupting into a white pillar of light. It decomposed the air along its path, leaving a void trail, its power immense.