Chapter 896. Came Prepared
Explosive sounds reverberated as two behemoths clashed. These behemoths fought near the ground, so repeated earthquakes ruined the surrounding area, which was also ablaze with raging fire.
"Raarrhhh...!!!" Thien Huo roared as he swung his claw. A flaming trail followed his swing.
The claw collided with one of Ling Dau’s still-intact heads, which resulted in a fiery explosion. The impact broke and peeled off several of Ling Dau’s scales.
Ling Dau let out his own furious roar as he spun. His tail crashed into Thien Huo. The force sent him tumbling.
Without letting up, two of Ling Dau’s heads fired blast breaths. Thien Huo lifted his large wings and covered himself. A fiery shield accompanied the wings. Ling Dau’s blast breaths hit the fire shield. It endured for a while but eventually broke and hit Thien Huo’s wings. The wings withstood the blast, but Thien Huo was pushed further back.
"Hehe, senior. What do you think of my performance for someone who uses Dragon Awakening for the first time?"
Thien Huo replied with a growl. Ling Dau being able to use Dragon Awakening had already come as a surprise for him, but the multi-headed dragon seemed to get better at it with each clash.
"I did say that I may have a better understanding of this ability than you do, didn’t I?" Ling Dau asked. "After testing it for a while, I know it for a fact. I will show you now."
Ling Dau started shaking. His shake became more exaggerated by the second. He grimaced and even let out a cry as if he were in great pain. With a howl, new heads popped out of his previously severed heads.
"Hah...hah...hah..." He panted. He seemed like someone running out of stamina, but he was grinning widely. All seven of his heads were now as good as new.
"Ins... Instant recovery...," Thien Huo muttered. Only the eldest of noble dragons could perform instant recovery while they were in their awakened forms. If he didn’t see it himself, he would never believe a noble dragon who had just used Dragon Awakening for the first time could use the ability. Even he himself had not yet attained such an ability.
"Hehe," Ling Dau sniggered. All seven of his mouths started glowing. The cloud-like ribbon on his back swirled forward. They formed a ring before him. His seven heads went into a formation circling the ring, with his main head in the middle. "Senior, I hope you survive this. I haven’t had my fill fighting in this form."
Finishing his speech, all seven heads unleashed their blast breaths. The breaths fused within the cloud-like ring and emerged from the other end as a single multicolored blast. The blast’s strike zone was cone-shaped, and it hit a wide area. Thien Huo was in the middle of this blast zone.
Thien Huo didn’t attempt to flee. The breath attack was too quick. His chance of dodging was too low. He opted to strike back instead. He had been gathering his power ever since Ling Dau’s mouths began to glow. Flames raged around him during the process, burning everything in the vicinity to dust. The heat became so intense that the surrounding air turned into a sea of flames.
A ring of condensed fire appeared before him. It glowed so bright it was as if a ring-shaped sun. When Thien Huo unleashed his flame breath, the fire ring shrank and fused with the flames pouring out of his mouth. A beam of condensed flame with blinding light at its center shot forward.
The flaming beam collided with the multi-colored blast. The collision produced a shockwave that obliterated most everything it passed through. This shockwave repeated multiple times as the two massive beams vied for supremacy.
Neither was willing to let up, but eventually, the victor was revealed.
Thien Huo had a more mature body and a more developed power that came with age, but Ling Dau drew his power not only from his own, but also from the six additional souls he had fused with. This combined power let him bridge the gap in power due to the age difference. It also gave him a deeper reserve of energy. This meant he could last longer in a power contest.
After some time, Thien Huo began to feel strained, but Ling Dau’s blast breaths remained strong. The multi-colored blasts began pushing the intense fire beam.
Eventually, Thien Huo ran out of breath. The multi-colored beam shot forth. Thien Huo folded his two large wings before him, forming a shield. The flames raging around him solidified and formed a protective sphere. The multi-colored beam hit, resulting in a massive explosion.
The explosion was so great that its blast wave hit those far away. Di Yu, Amon, and even the humans and cryanids fighting inside Venal Virtuous City were struck. Most of the buildings at the outer edge were demolished. The weaker humans and cryanids suffered injuries from the wave alone.
At ground zero, a huge crater had formed. At the center of this crater was Thien Huo. He survived the blast, but not without a scratch. His two large wings were gone. Many of his scales had broken or chipped off. Blood leaked from those exposed parts. One of his eyes had melted. He lay weakly on the ground. The fire that used to rage around him was now no more than dim candlelight.
"Hahahaha!" Ling Dau laughed. "Is this all the great noble dragon can offer? If it is so, I will have no problem wiping out your entire race."
He slowly slithered toward the helpless Thien Huo while laughing, all the while ridiculing the fallen dragon and reveling in his victory.
"Hahaha. I will tear you apart, then I will go for that old bitch. Afterward, I will hunt down other noble dragons in this lower world before heading for the upper world for the elder and his ilk."
Ling Dau arrived before Thien Huo, who remained motionless on the ground. He lowered his heads, attempting to bite and tear the red dragon apart.
To his surprise, the fire around Thien Huo suddenly went ablaze. At the same time, Thien Huo raised. His one remaining eye shone brightly. It emitted a thin ray made of condensed flames. Like a powerful laser, the flame ray sliced through three of Ling Dau’s approaching heads.
The surprise caused Ling Dau to jerk. Thien Huo lunged at him with a sudden jump. Ling Dau was too shocked to respond properly. Thien Huo’s jaws came for Ling Dau’s main head.
In a panic, Ling Dau moved his main head away while using another head to block. Thien Huo’s jaws bite into the neck of the blocking head. Ling Dau’s main head didn’t get far because Thien Huo’s claw caught it. The red dragon’s other claw grabbed another head. That left Ling Dau with only one head remaining free.
Ling Dau finally got over his shock and retaliated with that one free head. He bit Thien Huo’s shoulder. Blood spurted from the bite.
Thien Huo ignored the pain. With all his strength, he ripped the neck he was biting, savagely tearing the head off.
"Ahhh...!!! Let me go, bastard...!!" Ling Dau roared. He tried using his shadow power, but Thien Huo had flames raging around them. The shadow was burned away before he could merge with it.
In desperation, he rammed his huge body into Thien Huo. To his surprise, Thien Huo stood his ground. He didn’t expect Thien Huo still had such strength in him. Lying defenseless just now was all but an act to make him careless, and he fell for it.
"Go ahead and use instant recovery!" Thien Huo taunted. "That ability consumed a lot of energy. You will lose your awakening form if you use it a second time. Surrender, and I will let you live!"
"To hell with you!" Ling Dau yelled defiantly. He continued to use brute force to free himself, but Thien Huo’s grip was strong. Ling Dau suddenly shouted, "Human! What are you waiting for...?!"
Ling Dau’s last sentence confused Thien Huo. While he was still wondering what Ling Dau meant, he sensed disturbance in nearby space. He also noticed the back of Ling Dau’s main head was glowing.
*
When the massive explosion occurred, the blast wave also hit Di Yu and the others near her. They inadvertently turned to where Ling Dau and Thien Huo were battling.
"Uncle!" Di Ying exclaimed with concern. Thien Huo was lying motionless on the ground.
Mo Wang’s laughter brought their attention back. "Haha, good! With that red dragon taken out of the picture, I can deal with you lot with that hydra’s help. This is great. I don’t even have to be the one who delivers the killing blow. That way, I don’t need to be afraid of the other noble dragons blaming me for your deaths."
Then, they saw Thien Huo catching Ling Dau by surprise and turning the tables. Mo Wang frowned at the scene.
"Haha! You were saying?" Di Yu mocked him back. "Once Thien Huo joins us, let’s see how you flee. I don’t believe your teleportation ability can outpace two awakened noble dragons!"
To her surprise, Mo Wang’s frown turned into a grin. "Well, fortunately, I came prepared."
He showed a talisman in his hand. Words of power surrounded him. Not long after, he vanished.