Although its body structure looked somewhat like a miniature version of Alatreon, the Inagami moved with a hint of Kirin about it, skipping and leaping through the bamboo forest.
"Roar!!!"
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!
Brother Bazelgeuse's attacks always started with a loud, resounding roar as a wind-up. Having flown into the sky earlier per Asterion's command, he now shook down a dense barrage of blasting scales from above, blanketing Asterion and the unknown monster together in the blast zone.
But there was no need to panic. Brother Bazelgeuse hadn't betrayed him, nor was he trying to turn Asterion into an extra meal. This was a tactic Asterion had arranged beforehand: he would be responsible for stalling the enemy, while Brother Bazelgeuse would set the trap.
After all, Asterion could fly.
With another burst of scorching hot gas, Asterion shot straight up from the ground, dodging the explosions that completely covered the small patch of bamboo forest.
Crimson flames, shockwaves from the blasts, and pulverized bamboo debris filled the air. When Asterion slowed his exhaust output and slowly descended from the sky, gazing into the dissipating dust and thick smoke, he discovered a bamboo cage standing in the center of the explosion.
Dense clusters of bamboo had sprouted with the Inagami's original position as the center. Unlike the other bamboo in the forest, there were almost no gaps between these new stalks; they stood tightly packed, one against another, forming a dense wall.
The outermost layer of new bamboo had been blown to bits, but the inner layers remained intact. There was no need to guess—the Inagami was hiding inside.
Another piece of intel confirmed: this unknown Elder Dragon possessed the ability to manipulate the growth of bamboo, and this bamboo was incredibly durable.
The explosions created by Brother Bazelgeuse weren't something just any random wood or bamboo could withstand. Even ordinary rocks would be blasted into fragments, yet this bamboo wall surrounding the Inagami only appeared to have one or two layers damaged. The inside was as good as new.
One had to remember that the surrounding bamboo forest had been completely wiped out by the earlier bombing, leaving only charred, jagged stumps on the ground.
Storing this confirmed intelligence in his mind, Asterion watched as, within just a second or two, the bamboo surrounding the Inagami rapidly retracted back into the ground. It was as if they had never grown at all, leaving only a patch of churned-up earth.
Where... where could they retract to?
Asterion was a bit baffled. Those bamboo stalks were so tall and thick. They hadn't snapped, nor had they withered or rotted. Instead, they retreated as if time were reversing, shrinking from tall, thick stalks back into bamboo shoots, until they vanished completely.
Is this purely catalyzed by life energy? Do attacks created by life energy degenerate and vanish once the energy is cut off?
Asterion constantly speculated on the Elder Dragon power of this monster. He keenly noticed that the wound he had previously inflicted on the monster's front claw seemed to have healed—no, to be more precise, it had grown a size larger?
The monster's limbs were originally covered in black scales, but at this moment, its left front claw looked as if it were wearing half of a thick glove. A dark gray, unidentified substance covered the wound Asterion had cut, staunching the bleeding.
Looking at its expression, it was as if it hadn't been injured at all. Only anger and hostility remained.
It had absolutely no intention of trying to communicate. Even if this monster performed a stand-up comedy routine for Asterion right now, it still had to die today. The two "brothers" hadn't trekked ten thousand miles to engage in witty banter; they came for life energy.
No dragon would willingly become life energy for another dragon. This was an irreconcilable contradiction.
"Roar!!"
It happened in a flash. The moment the bamboo wall vanished, the Inagami suddenly opened its mouth wide and spat a ball of pale blue gas at Asterion. Having seen the effects of this gas before, Asterion had no intention of tanking it. Even though he was standing on the ground, with just a twist of his wings and a light burst of propulsion, he vacated his position.
Boom!!
The gas ball exploded. The plants and bamboo caught in its radius rapidly turned yellow and withered, just as before.
Asterion didn't need to issue remote commands anymore; Brother Bazelgeuse, having coordinated with him so many times, was already in the zone. When the Inagami breathed its breath attack at Asterion, he dove down from the sky, delivering his signature brutish impact.
Dive Bomb!!
It was an attack style that involved hurling oneself from the heavens at the enemy like a meteor strike. Brother Bazelgeuse adjusted his landing posture, shoving the blasting scales beneath his neck directly into the Inagami's face and body. Under the influence of gravitational acceleration, these scales detonated immediately upon impact with the ground and the Inagami.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!!
The Inagami... was a little dazed by the beating.
After all, Brother Bazelgeuse's suicidal fighting style was quite rare among monsters. Normal monsters were very careful to avoid injury and reduce stamina consumption during combat. Who else fought like Brother Bazelgeuse, with wide-open attacks, risking their life with every move?
The environment of the Ancient Forest actually didn't favor Brother Bazelgeuse much; there were too many trees, making it hard to build up speed, and a moment of carelessness could get him stuck in the branches. But this bamboo forest compensated for that perfectly. Ordinary bamboo couldn't stop Brother Bazelgeuse's tonnage; he toppled it effortlessly.
"Roar!!!"
Taking a bombardment straight to the face, the Inagami was caught off guard and pinned beneath Brother Bazelgeuse. It roared, but unlike a typical roar, the Inagami's bellow possessed a tangible lethality, much like a Tigrex. It forcibly blasted Brother Bazelgeuse back two steps, eliciting a howl of pain.
"Roar!!"
With Brother Bazelgeuse acting as the tank and fighting desperately, Asterion naturally wouldn't just spectate from the sidelines. He had already flanked to the monster's rear. His razor-sharp sword-tail was deployed, muscles vibrating at high frequency. Specific blade scales were no longer visible on the edge of the tail; only a blurry halo remained.
Activate! Saw!!
Taking advantage of the opening, Asterion slashed directly at the monster's lower back. He was certain the monster's scales couldn't withstand his saw-blade. But the monster... stuck its tail into the ground??
In that electric spark of a moment, the Inagami braced its hind legs on the ground, using its front claws to push against the Bazelgeuse to stop the brute from pinning it down again. Meanwhile, its flower-like tail drilled directly into the soil, leaving only a slender tail tip visible above ground.
Huh?
"Roar!!" (Back off!)
He didn't know what this guy was planning, but Asterion still issued a warning to Brother Bazelgeuse immediately.
He would rather miss an excellent attack opportunity than get greedy for damage and eat a monster's ultimate move. One absolutely could not be like a rookie seeing a Teostra for the first time, thinking it was a great opening when the Teostra stopped attacking and curled up for a Supernova, only to get "carted" clearly.
Brother Bazelgeuse... he didn't retreat. That guy was already seeing red.
The wild style of Brother Bazelgeuse and the rational style of Asterion were two completely different paths of combat. This bro just wanted to BOOM BOOM BOOM, BANG BANG BANG right now.
The bamboo began to grow.
It sounded like a mundane sentence, but if you amplified the quantity and growth speed of the bamboo to the extreme, it became somewhat terrifying... especially if you added the hardness and sharpness of the bamboo into the equation.
Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk!!
Centering on the Inagami, countless bamboo stalks began to drill out of the ground, mercilessly stabbing toward Brother Bazelgeuse's most vulnerable parts: his abdomen, his butthole, and his eyes.
"Roar!!!"
Howling in pain, Brother Bazelgeuse instinctively clamped his mouth shut as bamboo tried to jam into his maw. His response consisted of one move, and one move only: EXPLODE!
At that moment, Brother Bazelgeuse desperately catalyzed the blasting scales under his neck and tail. The ones in front were rapidly turning red and detonating, while new scales were already being secreted from his glands.
However, unlike the previous situation where the bamboo was destroyed effortlessly, these new stalks held firm. Even though the scales Brother Bazelgeuse generated in a crisis burned even hotter upon detonation, they didn't destroy much of the bamboo—they did even less damage than the earlier attack on the bamboo wall.
The bamboo the Inagami catalyzed this time was harder than steel, and its tips were exceptionally sharp. When they drilled out of the surface in mass quantities, they forcibly pierced right through Brother Bazelgeuse's shell!
"Roar!" (I'm here to help!!)
It takes time to describe, but everything happened in less than two breaths. Hearing Brother Bazelgeuse's cry of pain, Asterion certainly couldn't just watch—L-L-L-L-Lumberjack!
The bamboo forest catalyzed by the Inagami had already pierced its way to Asterion. With a burst from his wing-bones, Asterion spun around and slashed directly through the patch of bamboo in front of him with his sword-tail.
Hard!!
That was Asterion's overwhelming impression. The tactile feedback was completely different from when he cut the bamboo earlier. Even with his saw-blade activated, he felt a distinct resistance when slicing through these stalks.
Moreover, the closer the bamboo was to the Inagami, the harder it became. By the end, the momentum of Asterion's tail swing had been completely exhausted; he was only cutting forward by relying on the high-speed vibration of the saw-blade, unable to even complete a full circular swing.
Inagami, and a Zenith Species Inagami at that—an ordinary Inagami was already an Elder Dragon, but only after surviving for a long time could it evolve into a Zenith Species. It not only possessed a tail capable of mimicry, but its physical constitution and Elder Dragon power were also strengthened to unprecedented levels.
Is a mainline monster challenging Frontier intensity?
A little interesting.
Unaware that he had inadvertently achieved a historical record, Asterion only managed to cut down the bamboo blocking Brother Bazelgeuse's path to him. He then watched as Brother Bazelgeuse stumbled toward him, detonating scales as he ran.
"Roar!"
Wearing an expression of "I'm saved," Brother Bazelgeuse didn't want to stay on the ground for a second longer. He flapped his wings and took flight on the spot.
He wasn't trying to flee, he was just a bit spooked by getting poked by all that dense, hard bamboo. In just a few seconds, Brother Bazelgeuse's wing membranes were riddled with holes large and small. The fact that he could still fly was nothing short of a miracle.
A miracle of aerodynamics.
Not to mention the bamboo that nearly blinded him or the stalks that drilled into his unmentionable areas. In all his years of living, this was the first time Brother Bazelgeuse had the thought of not wanting to engage in melee combat with an enemy.
It was too ruthless.
Before Asterion and Brother Bazelgeuse could discuss any tactics, the bamboo that had suddenly shot out of the ground just as suddenly retracted, no different from the bamboo that had retreated earlier.
Whoosh!!
There was a difference!!
Amidst the retracting bamboo forest, a horizontal stalk stabbed toward Asterion out of nowhere!!
Clang!!
As a top-tier swordsman, Asterion instinctively raised his sword-tail to parry the incoming attack. Listening purely to the sound, one couldn't tell it was the collision of metallic blade scales against what should have been wooden bamboo.
Screech!!!
Only the initial impact sounded like metal clashing. Immediately after, Asterion's blade scales went to work. The scales, vibrating at high speed, emitted an ear-piercing noise, acting like countless greedy little mouths devouring the bamboo they contacted.
But this was different from the bamboo Asterion had just cut halfway through. This horizontally thrusting stalk was even harder than the previous two waves. Even with prolonged contact and a head-on clash, Asterion's saw-blade only managed to cut about a fifth of the way in.
Following the length of the bamboo to its end, Asterion saw the monster biting the root of the bamboo, standing sideways and staring at him with one eye at an oblique angle.
Good lord, you use a weapon too??
It was clearly a serious moment, but somehow Asterion felt like laughing—every time he wanted to try some gimmick, he would always find that a monster already existed in nature that made a living off the gimmick he wanted to try.
What is this? Dragon version of Great Grey Wolf Sif?
Years ago, when his combat power was insufficient, Asterion had actually considered becoming a Dual Blades Glavenus—holding another forged mineral tail-blade in his mouth and spinning like a little top when fighting other monsters, transforming into a peeler machine.
However, Asterion really didn't want his tail cut off, so after thinking it over, he abandoned the idea.
Interesting. Truly interesting. Asterion hadn't expected to encounter a dragon here that knew how to wield a weapon just like a Glavenus. If the Glavenus was a swordsman, then this unknown monster was a lancer.
Now it's Saber versus Lancer.
Clunk!
The Inagami realized the long spear it had thrust out was being sawed through, so it turned its head to disengage from Asterion's saw-blade. Asterion didn't twist his tail-blade to lock the Inagami's spear; instead, he adjusted his stance, curving his sword-tail in front of him like an Acidic Glavenus.
He moved his sword-tail up and down provocatively. Asterion's meaning was clear:
—Come, test your spear skills.
Asterion believed this unknown Elder Dragon could understand him. After all, he saw the light of intelligence in the monster's eyes, not just wild bestiality.
Whoosh!!
No words were needed. As the Inagami twisted its head, the sharp, spear-like bamboo slapped toward Asterion from the side!
Fight!
Asterion jumped directly into mid-air to dodge the horizontal sweep. Wing-bone jets activated!
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)