Chapter 704: The First Crippled Dragon Academy - 1

"D-damn yo—AAHH!!"

Pirrrccchhh!!

The 50-meter-long wooden column with a pointed end pierced through the softer scales, crushing them and digging deep into Pyrotrax's torso. Sylrael had made the wood extra hard, with a sturdier pointed end so it could pierce the dragon's body, and it was successful.

"PYROOO!!!" Ignivorax shouted and shot towards him, but the damage was done. Leo simply grabbed the dragon by the horn and threw him into the water below.

Pyrotrax was already coughing up blood, and with the severe injury he had sustained, he couldn't even attempt to flap his wings and fly.

Thankfully, there was only water below, not hard rock. He wouldn't get too injured and could teach Leo a lesson after pulling out the wooden column and healing up.

Or so he had thought.

Because the closer Pyro got to the water, the stronger the draconic aura became. When he was just 100 meters above the water, he felt as if he had walked right into the lair of some dangerous draconic being.

But there was nothing he could do even after that realization, and he dove into the water...

SPLASH!

Pyrotrax's eyes widened the moment his body touched the water.

"Poi—blub-blub!?" He couldn't speak properly because the moment he opened his mouth, the water—or rather, the acid poison—went in.

And that was not all. With the wooden stake skewering his torso, the acid touched the open wound, making the dragon start writhing in pain almost instantaneously.

He tried to flap his wings to surface, but suddenly, he found himself in a vortex.

The water swirled around him in a spiral, further pushing him downward.

Even if he was a superior draconic being to a hydra, he was still weaker. And even if the poison and acid weren't as effective as they would have been against a normal beast due to Pyro's tough scales and draconic physique, it was still painful, especially with the open wound and some of it going into his mouth.

And with the sudden water vortex pulling him underground, he had no way to escape. Not to mention the wooden column dug deep into his body, making any movement incredibly painful.

High above, Leo was having a chat with Ignivorax, who was boiling with anger and trying his best to claw at Leo, but Leo effortlessly maneuvered around him.

"It was good knowing your nameless friend. What about you? Will you tell me your name?"

"HUMAN! FUCK YOU!"

Ignivorax shouted in anger, coated his tail in flames, and turned sharply to give Leo a surprise attack.

But Leo simply lay flat in the air and rolled.

"HOW?! HOW ARE YOU EVEN FLYING?!" Igni's anger increased by the second.

VROOSSSHHHH!!

A red-flame breath with terrifying intensity was released, which Leo once again dodged as he appeared on the back of Igni's head.

The aerial manoeuvrability due to [Sacred Physique] was almost as if Leo had firm footholds in the air too. Because of that, he could dodge almost everything that was slower than him.

The breath crashed into the kilometre-long island pillar, causing a huge explosion that destroyed a chunk of stone and triggered a mini earthquake as the platform shook.

Leo frowned. He couldn't allow any more damage there, lest he risk damaging the stronghold's foundation.

In other words, time was up.

He glanced up to see the Skyreaver already engaging the remaining two dragons with the others' help.

Crackle—!

Creating a small distance, he raised his hand as lightning crashed onto Ignivorax's location. The dragon tried to fly away, but a sudden, strong gust of wind made him falter, allowing the attack to strike.

At the same time, the three dragons' bracelets beeped, and another dot dimmed. Pyrotrax—who had been submerged in the water—was successfully eliminated.

"AhhHHahhaAHhA!!" Ignivorax shouted as the penetrating lightning cooked him from the inside.

Leo immediately activated Shyra's [Silent Predator] trait, which let him spot the weaknesses all across Igni's body.

He was momentarily amazed to see that the only weak spots seemed to be the joint areas and the underside, where the scales were comparatively softer.

He didn't hesitate for a second before summoning his sword and digging deep into the neck region with one brutal thrust that made Igni's eyes go wide.

The force behind Leo's thrust was enough to pierce straight through the scales.

Suddenly, Igni's eyes shone a bright red. Leo immediately pulled his sword and retreated. The next second, Ignivorax's whole dragon body glowed bright red through the crevices of his scales and—

BOOOM!

A dangerous explosion almost 100 meters wide occurred, pushing Leo further back and rocking the kilometer-tall pillar.

"Damn? Self-destruct?" Leo said.

But when the red explosion cloud and smoke were blown away by the wind, Ignivorax was seen flying, though he looked severely exhausted.

"Sir Vorax!" One of the dragons called, rising high to dodge a lightning attack aimed at him.

But suddenly—

"Awooo!"

"Wha—!" The dragon turned just in time to see a massive bluish-dark spirit wolf running in the sky as if on the ground, which clamped its teeth around his neck.

Lunaria coated her spirit teeth with sharp wind energy that drove them deep into the dragon's neck scales, locking him in her hold. Then she lifted him with wind and dragged him up into the clouds, where black lightning began to strike.

In no time, another dot dimmed in the remaining two dragons' bracelets.

As for the other dragon who was engaging Skyreaver, he didn't sense Uraan, who was rapidly closing in from the distance.

Kaelion had cleverly made the dragon rise high into the sky, where Uraan could deliver a safe aerial strike without damaging himself by hitting the ground.

Shiiinng!

The dragon's eyes widened as if time had slowed down. The next second, he found multiple scales across his abdomen severely cracked and damaged, with shallow gashes.

Even a charged shot from Uraan was not enough to make them bleed. That was how tough their bodies were.

But this also displayed what type of strength Leo had to be able to thrust his sword into the neck of Ignivorax without a run-up—who was stronger than the dragon Uraan struck.

Even Sylrael's enlarged arrows bored a direct hole through a dragon's body, which caused Pyro's defeat.