Chapter 33: Provoking the Dragon’s Fearsome Scales

Hearing Rod’s furious roar and seeing him charge straight at the dragon, the warriors who had been repelled were initially stunned, followed by a look of horror on their faces. To try to touch the dragon’s fearsome scales was nothing short of seeking death.
“The dragon’s scales are deadly if touched!” This wasn’t just an exaggeration. Once touched, it would surely drive the dragon into a frenzy. At that point… Thinking of this, the men began to hesitate.
Watching Rod charge forward, they all recognized him—he was the leader of the Death Scythe Squad. The now-famous Death Scythe Squad was under his command. His abilities and strength were evident to all. The fact that he could lead such a team showed that, though only at the early stage of the Imperial rank, his ferocity and fighting momentum were comparable to those of a Saint-level warrior. His words forced everyone to reconsider! If it had been someone else, they would never have agreed to act on them.
In that instant, Rod lunged at the dragon again, his target clearly the fearsome scales. Dodging attacks with quick movements, he managed to get close to the dragon. Thanks to his agile movements, he avoided danger. The dragon, too, sensed the threat.
The energy emanating from this human filled it with worry and fear—a feeling it had never experienced before, even when facing god-level warriors. It seemed this human could pose a serious threat to it.
“Roar…” With a furious cry, the dragon, seeing this guy already so close, became enraged. It set aside the other humans and focused all its attention on Rod.
Spitting out a blast of dragon breath, it then unleashed its magic in succession. In an instant, magic, dense as rain, covered a large area, surrounding Rod completely.
The dark dragon moved constantly, its steps swift, and the intensity of the magic far exceeded its expectations. Combined with the pressure from the dragon breath, it felt suffocated and dizzy, as if crushed by a mountain.
“Damn you, beast!” A small fireball passed by, instantly burning the fabric at the edge of his clothes to ashes. Filled with fear, Rod’s eyes turned red as well! With a loud roar, he charged forward without hesitation.
He knew very well that continuing like this would only result in him being killed by this beast.

At this moment, the dragon was clearly aiming at him, ignoring the others—another wind dragon would be enough to deal with them. Fireballs flew around, constantly missing Death, whose clothes had turned to ashes due to the scorching heat, leaving his upper body exposed. Under the intense heat, his skin turned dark red, sweat streamed down only to evaporate instantly into vapor. Danger surrounded him, but Rod got closer and closer to the dragon—twenty meters, ten meters, five meters—until he was right in front of it in an instant. His eyes narrowed slightly, a glint of coldness flashing through them as murderous intent erupted fully. A terrifying killing aura swept over the dragon. With a roar, Dark Dragon leaped into the air, using his strength to slash through the two fireballs flying at him. All he focused on now was the dragon’s scale. By the time he reached a certain height, he was already in front of the dragon. Death! With a roar, Dark Dragon swung down, creating a brilliant arc as he charged forward in the darkness. Watching the scene from afar, seeing that tiny figure standing in front of the dragon, witnessing the sword strike in midair and feeling its immense power, as well as seeing that dark black light, many who noticed this scene held their breath! Brado of the Death Scythe Squad shocked many people at this moment, filling them with awe. With just one strike, he rushed up to the dragon and slashed, aiming at that scale. Holding their breath, many even stopped fighting and stared blankly at that figure in the air. At this moment, that figure appeared so majestic and terrifying, standing shoulder to shoulder with the dragon! His small frame carried a dreadful threat. Feeling a cold sense of killing intent in his throat, the dragon seemed to realize something as well. As a high-level magical beast with intelligence on par with any human, if it still didn’t understand this human’s intentions by now, it had truly lived in vain for a thousand years.

Everything became clear in that instant. After understanding everything, a roar filled with earth-shattering fury spread across the entire battlefield and throughout Collins Forest. The wrath, combined with the majesty of an emperor, radiated out from him. Even the weaker magical beasts were forced to kneel on the ground, trembling violently under this pressure. The weaker humans were no better off; they seemed suppressed, unable to move, struggling to breathe.

With that roar, everyone, every magical beast, turned their attention to this side! They stared in shock at the man and the dragon, as if in a dream, unable to believe what they saw.

“Kill them! Go help him—he can’t do it alone!” The first to react were the few Saint-level warriors closest to Rod, along with a quasi-divine-level martial artist. Seeing this, the quasi-divine-level warrior shouted at them and charged forward first.

Even if a single person created such an opportunity, they still couldn’t achieve much. The dragon must have already sensed his intentions, making success almost impossible. Someone needed to cover for him; otherwise, death was inevitable. If the dragon were that easy to kill and its scale so easily provoked, it wouldn’t have such a fearsome reputation, wouldn’t inspire terror, and wouldn’t be the king of beasts.

“Kill!” Realizing this, the others quickly got up, gripped their weapons, and charged forward with a shout. As the sharp sword neared the dragon’s throat, they felt both hope and worry.

“Break!” With a roar, ignoring the spells fired by the dragon’s open mouth and the massive tail swishing behind, Rod targeted those scales and attacked.

“Argh…” The dragon was enraged. It could feel the sharp sword energy and a slight pain—realizing that this humble human had dared to target its scales, it went berserk.

With a leap, it swung its huge tail at the man, unleashing spells continuously. It wanted to kill this human, this one who dared to offend it. No one could challenge the dignity of the dragon race.

Its eyes narrowed, and in an instant, the distance between them increased as the dragon moved swiftly. Rod realized that the chances of continuing his attack on its scale were now extremely slim—virtually zero! Indeed, it was a formidable foe, with a massive body and scales so high that ordinary people could never reach them, no wonder it was so hard to defeat. Coupled with the dragon’s own overwhelming strength, it would have been impossible to get close if one hadn’t been careless or unattentive.

His body began to descend slowly. In front of him, several people were rushing toward him, clearly to help. Seeing this, Rod breathed a sigh of relief. With a sharp cry, he swung his sword at the dragon’s sweeping tail, using the recoil to fly backward before landing like a feather on the ground. Before magic could strike, he bent his knees, gathered his strength, and jumped again—still aiming at the scale!

Zzzz… A fireball passed by; he still couldn’t fully dodge it in midair. The intense pain nearly made Rod scream. He gritted his teeth, feeling the severe pain in his abdomen as cold sweat streamed down his face. Soon, the tail attacked again. Caught off guard, Rod was flung aside. Yet the dragon seemed determined not to give up and pursued him once more! Rod, who had been thrown dozens of meters away, groaned in pain. A bitter taste filled his mouth as blood sprayed out, and everything before his eyes turned golden. Fortunately, several holy-level warriors joined forces to hold off the pursuing dragon, giving him a chance to catch his breath!

With several holy-level warriors and one quasi-divine being, their offensive power was undeniable. The dragon became panicked and retreated step by step. The wind dragon in the distance tried to help but was overwhelmed, unable to split its attention as it was engaged in battle.

All that could be heard between heaven and earth was the dragon’s roars and the sounds of combat—crisp clashes!

Boom… With a loud explosion, the quasi-divine warrior delivered a full-force strike, forcing the dragon back three steps. Deep red blood sprayed out, and scales fell away, revealing a gaping wound. Without any defense, the dragon was severely damaged. Its body swayed, almost toppling to the ground.

Roars continued incessantly. The dragon stopped using magic and began attacking with its powerful physical strength and defense, pushing forward like a bulldozer. With its fierce and brutal force, it kept charging in amid its roars, instantly chaos reigning over the area.

“An opportunity!” Stopping in his tracks, panting heavily, Rod wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth silently. A strange cold smile crossed his lips. Amid the chaos, he dodged past the crowd and moved behind the dragon. Clutching the Dark Dragon in his hand, he quickly reached behind the dragon amidst the confusion. With a cold snort, he concentrated his combat energy in his soles and leaped upward, aiming straight for the dragon’s back of its head. His body soared rapidly, and in the blink of an eye, he was already at the height of the dragon’s torso!