Soul of Searing Steel
Soul of Searing Steel - Chapter 100: The Dogfight between Blade and Fang

Just like someone pouring ink into clear water, the darkness spread into the surroundings. Facing the blazing spear of the sun slashing down upon it from above the sky, the black dragon instantly beat its wings contaminating the sky with its dark purplish Chaos powder at an attempt to hide its own body. Under the interruption of that magic power, every means of communication would be isolated and blocked. Even the divination spell would not be able to locate its whereabouts.

However, the black dragon's effort did not do any good. Joshua had already locked on to the its breath and presence.

Upon completing the Class quest of the Chaos Guardian, the warrior had acquired the two Gifts called [Flare of Purification] and [Nemesis of Chaos]. Both of the Gifts could allow the warrior to see through the dark purplish Chaos power and mist. Whatever the black dragon attempted to do, it just seemed like a pointless attempt to struggle to Joshua.

Driving the red radiance piercing through the atmosphere of the air, even the sound of the strike had been abandoned right behind his own body. The only thing that came across his ears was the cold wind, blowing the warrior's hair all around making him look godly insane. While Joshua was holding on the silver greatsword that was surging with golden thunder strike, he was looking at how fast he was passing through the dark clouds. His eyes did not even move a little. He was focused.

So when was the last time he slew a dragon?

That seemed to be long time ago.

The Corrupted Black Dragon… Upon thinking about the fact that he was ready to kill this opponent with immense power that could potentially threaten his life, the Warrior could not be able to suppress the intense urge in his heart. His power went along his blood, surging across his entire body. His soul had become excited as well.

"—Phew!"

The air began to rumble. The pitch black light column came shooting out from the dark mists that looked as dark as the color of ink. The air was struck by a high heat laser beam. Frost and snow evaporated into thin air. That Dragon Breath attack was unmatchably fast. It was launched towards Joshua along with enormous high heat. However, that blast was sliced in half by the warrior with his greatsword. With the great sword as the separation point, the two beams of black chaos radiance passed through the warrior. The high-temperature breath attack had hit his skin. However, there was no trace of any burn marks on his skin.

After the first confrontation, the warrior continued to accelerate. Joshua fell right from the sky at higher speed now. He was falling toward the black dragon. He was approaching the below of the mountain rapidly. The two of them were getting closer and closer at the same time. Meanwhile, right behind the warrior's back, the rumbling sonic boom continued to form. However, the sound could not catch up with his speed at all.

Whooosh!

The mist was separated from within. One beam, two beams, three beams! More of the light beam attacks were seen launched towards the red shadow of a man in attempt to stop him from reaching the ground. At the same time when the black dragon was spamming its Dragon Breath attacks, it was also fluttering its wings as it was making its way descending lower to the ground. It was trying to gain distance from Joshua.

Dodging, accelerating, and blocking to avoid being sliced in half, Joshua had handled the 'obstacles' that his enemy threw at him with ease. He had been very used to handling the strike back of the dragon, He could even completely block the attacks with merely his instinct. The warrior's eyes had seen through the dark mist that was getting thinner by the second. He was staring straight at the black dragon that was approaching him. Then he muttered to himself.

"The most vulnerable time—"

The sound was torn by the strong winds, spreading into the air. At that particular moment, Joshua could see every detail on his opponent very clearly. The two colors, black and gold, on the body of the giant dragon were extremely smooth. Its strong dragon wings had bizarre patterns on them. They were emitting the waves of Chaos energy into the surroundings. Meanwhile, there was also a golden horn standing high on the dragon as if it could pierce through the sky.

The golden draconic pupils met with the red eyes of the warrior, angrily staring at each other. The pressure and might of the most powerful overlord of the natural world rushed forth, but Joshua tightened his grip on the Divine Armament greatsword with both his hands, seemingly without a hint of fear; black red flames ran up and down his entire frame, gathering in the body of the sword into a dazzling golden light. The light circulated within it, while everything seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Rawgh!"

The black dragon had given up its retreat. Its dragon instinct had surpassed the antithesis of Chaos and Order. It let out a roar, and it beat its wings; in that moment, all the remaining black mist that surrounded them were drawn in, and then gathered in the huge mouth filled with fangs.The strong winds that were infused with the scent of destruction were overflowing. This was the strongest Dragon Breath ever launched after the siege back at the fortress not long ago. The threat of death rose in the hearts of both sides, but Joshua and the dragon did not retreat.

The most vulnerable time was also the one moment where preparation was done being made, the one moment bright before an attack; right before the attack was launched from its mouth.

The red Combat Aura then burst right behind its body, emitting out a large circular shock wave that went into the surroundings pushing dust and sand on the ground away intensely. However, Joshua's speed was even faster by another level. He was hammering the strength that he borrowed from the sun and the inertia that he gained from the height he was falling down from. Lifting his arm up, instantly, the radiance on the silver greatsword immediately diminished. The thunder strike seemed to be dimmed. Then the radiance vanished completely.

"Die!"

Upon saying the word out loud, a shapeless light sword suddenly expanded!

Just like how the light from the blazing sun was rotating in the sky, countless beams shot out like fireworks. The radiance that shrank was unleashed in an instant. The air was compressed by the shapeless radiance of his Combat Aura. Then a roaring rumble that was as loud as the explosive thunder was heard!

Boom!!!!

Having not enough time to aim its Dragon Breath attack, the black dragon was suddenly struck by Joshua's sword. The intense explosion and impact made the dragon lose the ability to control its magic power anymore. Along with a deep miserable roar, instantly, a beam of black breath attack that was much more powerful than the one before this was launched. The breath attack passed by the left side of the warrior, however, the attack did not hit the intended target.

This pillar of light ionized the atmosphere; the air was being forcefully diffused by the scorching scent that decomposes and melts. The chaotic magic surged, and in that moment Joshua's left arm had lost a huge chunk of flesh. The wound was charred due to the high temperature, so there was no bleeding.

Even with the Steel Armor Kokyu-ho and the enhancement from the resonance with his Divine Armament, Joshua's body could not block the Dragon Breath with such immense destructive power that seemed to be able to obliterate everything. However, compared to the black dragon which had its wing cut into half and its chest slit open by one-third, the injuries that the warrior sustained were so minor to the point that he could just ignore it!

The greatsword that was even larger than the size of a human was plunged into the chest of the dragon. Dark purplish blood was oozing out madly. The breath of the black dragon swiftly weakened. Although that large sword was merely like a small knife stuck in the dragon's body in term of size, however, this so-called small knife came at it like a rapid lightning strike that could penetrate the rock solid dragon scale and its muscle with only one strike. The outer layer of skin and the bones beneath were all crushed. The blood and bones became extremely vulnerable after being struck by that sword. If the black dragon did not enhance its body with Chaos power before that, it might have been slashed into half by that powerful strike.

However, the dragon was not cut into half after all. Even though the black dragon was heavily wounded, its fire of life had not been extinguished. The excruciating pain was stimulating its brain. The chaotic, berserk, and impulsive instinct was scrambling its thoughts. Because its wing and chest was wounded by the sword, its backbones also revealed some cracks. The dragon's two front legs could not exert strength. It could not attack the warrior that was currently standing in front of its chest. The purplish-blue eye of the black dragon suddenly widened. It instantly opened up its big mouth, its fangs covered with some black gas substance. After that, the dragon lowered its head and lunged straight at Joshua who was right before his chest, attempting to chew him up.

Before using any weapons or equipment, the teeth and fingernails of a human were the strongest weapons there were on that particular human himself. Meanwhile, the dragon's teeth and fangs were much superior compared to other blades and weapons. Needless to say about the flesh and bones of the warrior, even the strongest and toughest metal would not be able to sustain more than a few chews from the dragon.

"Are you trying to eat me?"

Tightening his left fist and lifting it up with strength, Joshua struck the dragon hard right in the jaw with a Rising Dragon Fist. The sound of bones cracking was heard coming right from the collision between the warrior's left fist and the dragon's jaws. The warrior's left fist was almost crushed! However, he used that hand to grab onto the jaw of the dragon, foiling the dragon's attempts at biting him.

Under the tremendous pressure exerted on the dragon's jaw, that large wound that was inflicted by the high-temperature Dragon Breath on his arm burst open countless times as blood splattered from his wound over and over again. Joshua grit his teeth and ignored the bones and the muscles on his left arm that were collapsing bit by bit under the powerful struggle of the dragon trying to rid itself of the grip of Joshua. He was standing right before the chest of the Black Dragon. Holding the silver greatsword in his right arm tightly, he had the intention to slash his sword straight at the dragon to continue his assault on the dragon.

However, he no longer had the support from the inertia from falling down from high above the sky. Furthermore, the golden radiance of the sun that gathered in his sword had also been depleted after the previous strike. Meanwhile, he could not continue gathering his Combat Aura to activate his ultimate skill while he was engaged in battle with the black dragon. Although the silver Divine Armament was still cutting the flesh and bones of the black dragon inch by inch as we speak, causing the fresh blood that was infused with the Chaos power oozing out like a fountain splashing on the entire body of the warrior, the speed of killing the dragon was deemed to be too slow.

"Just open up already!"

Adjusting the little remained Combat Aura to unleash his strength, the bloody-red radiance flashed brightly. The ear-piercing sound of a sonic boom came from beneath the leg of Joshua. He pushed himself forward. The air, the sound and the body of the dragon were all torn apart. After penetrating the chest of the black dragon, Joshua left a large hole in it. The power was charged into the body of the dragon. One of its ribs was even broken.

However, regardless of anything, the body of a man was still considered too small when facing a dragon. Even though Joshua managed to unleash his strength, slashing its chest open and breaking a rib, the strike could not reach the heart of the dragon just yet. Upon feeling its life was being threatened on another whole new level, the Corrupted Black Dragon continued to roar in rage. It was attempting to bite the warrior that was currently standing right before its chest.

The one dragon and one man in the air had directed all their strength at each other. They even stopped focusing on staying afloat.

Red and black, steel and blood. The two moving radiances intertwined with each other. They were falling while they were engaged in a fierce dogfight.

White ripples of air, transparent shock waves, Combat Aura infused with murderous intend, the Dragon Breath attack. The battle went on vigorously. The chaotic energy that was being shot out in all directions had pulled out violent turbulence that could pierce heaven and earth. The turbulence was going towards the direction below as it was rolling downwards. Because of that turbulence, the daemon horde that was surrounding the dark green shadow of a man, began to retreat in a hurry!