Chapter 4: The Roar of the Tyrant
The dragon’s tail swung up and down, delivering two consecutive strikes that inflicted heavy casualties on the jellyfish warriors hiding in the water. Meanwhile, the two sword auras that had been hiding, waiting for an opportunity to strike, finally reappeared. No one could remain indifferent under such circumstances, especially when their own kind was being slaughtered in this way. Though they knew it was risky to reveal themselves now, it seemed there was no other choice.
The blue sword aura sliced through the water once again, launching a fierce attack from beneath the dragon’s belly. But the Ice Dragon, well-prepared, easily blocked this powerful strike with its clawed foot. The unstoppable sword aura collided with the claw, leaving only a deep mark—severe in pain but unable to cause real harm to the Ice Dragon. Its claws were the hardest part of its body, protected by a thick, keratinous layer that could withstand any external force. Even the highest-level martial arts of humans could only leave a mark.
The Ice Dragon was triumphant, its wide mouth stretched open in a grotesque laugh. It had finally forced these two “ants” to show themselves. Once it dealt with them, it would kill every last one of those who dared challenge the great Ice Dragon, even if it meant taking a few arrows, to serve as a warning to those who didn’t know their place!
At that moment, the white sword aura also arrived from afar. Its brilliant sword shadow emitted a strange silver glow. As it neared the dragon’s body, it suddenly transformed into three sword shadows—real and illusory, dazzling and intricate. The Ice Dragon, which was using its claw to block the attack, never expected its opponent to employ such a sophisticated technique of alternating reality and illusion at the last moment. In its brief hesitation, its claw struck empty air. By the time the Ice Dragon realized what was happening and tried to turn away, it was too late. The sword auras in the illusions erupted violently, piercing into the dragon’s flanks beneath its wings. Its thick muscles could not withstand this strike infused with supreme primordial energy. A gush of blood shot into the air as the sword auras spun rapidly, turning the entire sky into a blood mist that spread like a crimson flame barrier across the water’s surface.
“Ugh!” For the first time in its life, the Ice Dragon let out a pained roar that sent massive waves rippling across the water. Even the depths of the sky seemed to echo with a thunderous sound. This cry, originating from the depths of the Ice Dragon’s being, spread wildly in all directions like a supersonic wave.
As the dragon bled and roared, Komer realized the danger. He kicked the bewildered Seth into the water to avoid the attack and pulled Grace behind him, shouting, “Hold on tight! Seal your six senses!”
Grace, who had been utterly captivated, finally snapped out of it and quickly pressed her full body tightly against Comer’s back, her cheek pressed firmly against his back as well to avoid the mighty roar of the continental king. She immediately sealed her six senses to prevent the dragon’s roar from harming her body. Lebrui also quickly lowered his head and crouched on the ground of the balcony to avoid the direct impact of the sound waves—the old fox didn’t want to waste even a bit of extra energy. It seemed Sorrenberg wanted to test his combat energy strength. At that moment, his combat energy took on a tangible form and surged forward abruptly, while a magical shield also appeared in front of his body. Though he was quite confident in his combat energy strength, the power of the dragon’s roar was nothing to be underestimated; to challenge it required thorough preparation. Seeking death outright was another matter entirely.
The suddenly arriving sound waves were like a violent wind, causing unusual fluctuations throughout the space. The two light-based magical shields disappeared without even leaving a trace. Finally, the long-prepared Heavenly Demon Shield collided with the powerful sound waves. The originally colorless Heavenly Demon Shield instantly transformed into a rainbow of hues before returning to its dark color. The immense pressure from the sound waves made Comer feel suffocated; it seemed even his chest was about to be crushed. The Heavenly Demon Shield’s ability to grow stronger under pressure was evident at this moment. Although it gave the impression of being on the verge of breaking, it ultimately managed to deflect the sound wave power, causing it to whiz past along both sides of his body. Even though he had sealed his six senses, Comer could still imagine just how powerful the force was.
Sorrenberg’s magical shield was even weaker than Comer’s. The only thing that could protect him was the gradually expanding combat energy. By intuition, the moment his magical shield vanished, Sorrenberg realized the crisis had arrived. He never expected the power of the dragon’s roar to be so fierce. The magical shield, which usually served as a defense, disappeared without even a chance to react—worse than a piece of paper. He could only grit his teeth and release all his combat energy. At this point, there was no need to attack the enemy; only to protect himself. His combat energy rushed forward to meet the roaring sound waves, causing intense tremors. The wild combat energy collided with the sound waves, and Sorrenberg immediately felt a pressure in his chest—he knew he had been injured. Fortunately, he took advantage of the momentum to glide backward, performing a graceful spiral over the water before landing back on the balcony, dissipating the peak intensity of his energy to relieve some of the pressure.
The sturdy veranda appeared equally fragile under this onslaught of violent sound waves; the canopy on top of it was instantly blown away by the sound waves, while the hard special wooden pillars withstood the attack, though even their surfaces showed some minor cracks. It seemed that even this magically enhanced wooden material could not withstand the unparalleled force of the dragon’s roar. As for the few jellyfish warriors standing in the water, monitoring Comer and his group, their faces turned blood-red almost simultaneously—the immense pressure turned their faces deep purple, and they became floating corpses on the water’s surface without a sound.
After the dragon’s roar, a brief calm settled over the reed marsh, but this calm lasted only for a moment. The barrage of arrows once again proved that the dragon’s roar did not cause much harm to humans in the water. By this time, Seth also struggled to get up, pain evident on his face as he saw the purple, pained faces of the jellyfish warriors around him. Recalling the power of the dragon’s roar he had felt in the water, Seth was filled with horror.
The two streams of sword energy seemed unaffected by the dragon’s roar at all. One after another, one on each side, they circled around the dragon’s body. However, it was clear that the blue sword energy was no longer as strong or distinct as the white one—the power of the dragon’s breath had indeed damaged the blue sword energy. The enraged ice dragon used its unique dragon blood magic to stop the bleeding while also taking the opportunity to catch its breath. The previous roar had cost it a great deal of energy. It knew such roars were not very useful against strong opponents, but it could hardly bear the anger building inside it if it didn’t vent it through such roars.
Yet, after being injured, the ice dragon seemed even more ferocious and wild, its agility also greatly increased. Perhaps the intense pain stimulated its nerves, making it more responsive. It flailed around wildly with its massive claws and wings, and its tail whipped around from time to time. The strong winds and waves, along with the occasional bursts of dragon breath, made even the two powerful warriors hidden in the reed marsh struggle to cope. Moreover, the arrow rain fired by the jellyfish archers lost much of its effectiveness as the ice dragon deliberately rose higher in the air.
Its ice-blue eyes turned slightly red from anger. At this moment, the ice dragon no longer cared about its own wounded body that needed healing; it needed the deaths of these humans to restore its mental balance. It was unthinkable in its mind that these wretched creatures could cause it such great pain and suffering. Moreover, it had tolerated their existence in this vast marshland for so many years—purely out of kindness, only to be repaid with harm. It must take revenge and make these creatures taste the consequences of its wrath!
Suddenly, it encountered two sword auras coming head-on. Its fierce dragon breath collided with the white sword auras, which dispersed into wisps of mist. Although it cost it a lot of dragon energy, it was worth it. Its two dragon feet slammed down together, striking the dimly colored blue sword auras, which instantly shattered. With a sharp glint in its eyes, it finally located where the master of the blue sword auras was hiding. It raised its head abruptly, and its massive body spiraled gracefully through the air before diving downward at high speed. The white sword auras also detected the anomaly and quickly reformed to target the dragon’s ribs, attempting a strategy of luring it away from its true target. Meanwhile, the jellyfish archers in the reeds emerged from the water amidst strange howls and fired their arrows with all their might. But they never expected that the ice dragon was determined to kill them. It swung its tail to clash with the white sword auras, ignoring the barrage of arrows, and continued its descent like a meteor straight into the reeds.
“Lord, it seems the jellyfish warriors will suffer a heavy defeat this time. Though this ice dragon isn’t fully grown yet, it’s not something that a few self-proclaimed skilled fighters can subdue. If we don’t intervene, we’ll just have to wait to collect their corpses,” said Rebrí, standing behind Kommer and watching the thrilling battle intently, clicking his tongue in admiration.
“Mr. Rebrí, it seems this ice dragon is quite afraid of those arrows from the jellyfish archers. Normally, those arrows shouldn’t be able to cause any real damage to an ice dragon. Could there be poison on them?” Kommer asked, shaking his head in confusion.
“Poison? Would an ice dragon be afraid of poison? Dragons are naturally immune to poison, unless it’s some special kind of drug—though those drugs need to be specially mixed and refined through magic. The jellyfish people probably don’t have that level of skill yet. Although there are strong martial artists among them, martial arts and magic are different. Apart from some water-related magic that suits their natural traits, their other magical abilities are probably quite weak.” Rebrí curled his lips; clearly, he also realized that there were no notable magic experts among the jellyfish people. Otherwise, the outcome of this great battle would have been very different with magicians involved.