Given the fully armed posture Mirrorblade was striking at that moment, Asterion felt that rather than challenging a dragon far more powerful than himself, this foolish boy was trending toward becoming a "Hunter Killer."
Are you actually serious?
Of all things for a dragon to learn, why learn to use human weapons? And he hadn't even bothered to scale the weapons up to a proper size.
"ROAR!!!"
A single, offhanded taunt instantly ignited the emotions Mirrorblade had been suppressing for so long. He had to fight; he had to launch an attack. He suspected that if he didn't—if he allowed Asterion to keep suppressing him with that overwhelming Bio-energy—he might lose the ability to even lift a blade.
The string of his sanity finally snapped. This cry wasn't a mere threat; it was a battle cry filled with grim determination!
Along with that roar, the tens of thousands of ethereal blue crystal shards and the formed Bio-crystal weapons circling Mirrorblade seemed to receive their final command. In an instant, they became a sudden metallic storm, shrieking through the air as they swept toward Asterion.
It was eerie and magnificent, like a miniature Big Bang of matter or a pouring nebula storm. Their speed was extreme, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye to arrive before Asterion, completely submerging his front in a torrential downpour of crystal!
CLANG! CLANG! CRASH! BOOM!!
The crisp sounds of countless crystals shattering against a hard object mixed together, forming a massive flood of noise. There was no beauty in it; it was pure destruction, a dual pollution of the senses and the spirit. The Bio-crystal weapons threw themselves at Asterion one after another. No sooner had one shattered than the next would condense from the crystal dust and launch a new volley.
There was no mercy. Mirrorblade was deliberately aiming his attacks, targeting Asterion's vulnerable spots—the joints connecting limbs to torso, the ears, the mouth, and the gaps in his shell—striving to inflict maximum damage.
The scene was so staggering that even the young hatchling in the distance was frightened by the exaggerated commotion. She hadn't expected the stranger who had suddenly appeared on their turf to cause such a scene. The killing intent permeating the air and the shockwaves of energy made her shrink back in fear; this was nothing like the games she played with Asterion.
She instinctively tucked her neck in, hiding her small body against Kulve Taroth's chest, peeking out through the gaps in her mother's front claws.
"Roar?" (Is he okay?)
The little one looked up at her mother's chin, worried.
"Roar." (Don't worry, he's just a little guy.)
Compared to the frightened hatchling, Kulve Taroth remained exceptionally calm, showing not a hint of tension. She knew Asterion too well; she knew that an attack of this level, while grand in appearance, couldn't actually harm her mate.
Seeing the adorable, fearful expression on the little one before her, she lowered her head and gave the hatchling a loving, reassuring lick.
"Roar." (Just keep watching. Don't worry, no one is getting hurt.)
The truth was exactly as Kulve Taroth predicted. That storm of shattered crystals was dense enough to wipe out an elite squad of human hunters in a heartbeat, forming a thick, sparkling blue mist that completely obscured Asterion's silhouette.
However, in the next heartbeat, that seemingly impassable mist moved. In the Leyline Corridors, where natural wind should not exist—only energy tides—a suffocating gale suddenly rose.
That wind carried an unparalleled, overbearing aura, as if some ancient beast was bursting through the mist covering the corridor. In an instant, it was right in front of Mirrorblade!
Turn and Tail-Slam!!
There were no flashy flourishes—just the most basic, most violent form of a Brute Wyvern attack. Despite his mountain-like weight and massive frame, the moment he moved, Asterion displayed an agility that defied his size.
That speed and explosive power left Mirrorblade, who was still mid-energy release and unable to recover his momentum, with no time to react. His eyes couldn't even track the trajectory of the movement before his father's thick, heavy crystal tail, carrying the momentum to crush everything, slammed directly into his head!
A deafening boom echoed. Mass equals power; this is an eternal truth. Given Asterion's current weight, the force behind that full-swing tail whip was immeasurable. It connected squarely with the side of Mirrorblade's head.
Mirrorblade felt as though he had been struck head-on by a meteorite falling from the sky. The massive impact instantly stripped him of all sense of balance and direction. His mind went blank, and the world spun violently before his eyes.
His massive body, like a kite with a broken string, stumbled uncontrollably for several steps before crashing miserably into the nearby crystal wall, shattering a large patch of glowing clusters.
As the dust settled and the crystal mist dissipated, Asterion stood proudly in the center of the arena, having broken through all opposition!
But what made Mirrorblade feel utterly hopeless—even questioning his very existence as a dragon—was that after enduring such a torrential storm of attacks, his father's body appeared completely unscathed. Leave aside the scales, shell, or internal flesh—even the crystal layer on the surface showed no signs of damage. It was as polished as new!!
"ROAR!" (Impossible!!)
He wasn't going to give up, of course. A strong will to survive and a stubborn streak supported Mirrorblade as he struggled to stand. He shook his buzzing head, throwing off the crystal shards stuck to his face. His bloodshot eyes glared at Asterion, unable to accept this cruel reality.
"ROAR! ROAR ROAR!!" (Even two monsters using the fire element can't ignore each other's flames! Why aren't you hurt at all!!)
Mirrorblade could not accept it!
That attack was the strongest he could muster. He'd bet his own two Monster Cores that even an Azure Espinas in its prime wouldn't dare take that hit head-on. Never mind the energy damage—what about the physical impact of the crystals?!
How could he not even have a scratch!!
"Roar?" (Fire element energy?)
When Mirrorblade thinks, Asterion laughs.
"ROAR!!" (You dare use my own power against me, boy!)
Fire Sweep!!
The technique Asterion once considered a finishing move was now one of the lower-damage skills in his arsenal—effective for educating a child without causing irreversible harm.
He was his own flesh and blood, after all. Even if the boy wasn't the brightest, Asterion wouldn't actually kill him.
It was also thanks to Kulve Taroth's years of activity in this area. Her massive body and her talent for terraforming had done wonders. Although it hadn't become a new El Dorado yet due to the short timeframe and the erosion of Bio-energy, she had carved out these Leyline Corridors wide enough for comfort.
At least the space was large enough for Asterion to complete a full turn with his massive body, allowing him to leisurely gather his strength and whip his tail into Mirrorblade once more.
He used the exact same move Mirrorblade had just attempted, but only in appearance. Asterion's blade-tail was also covered in a thick layer of Bio-crystals, but the purity of the crystals and the energy density within were worlds apart from Mirrorblade's.
If Mirrorblade's tail was a wooden club wrapped in sheet metal, then Asterion's tail was a warhammer forged of high-density alloy.
As the tail whip swept out, trailing a ghostly blue arc, the air was violently torn apart with a sharp crack. Mirrorblade only had time to swing his own tail in front of him to block, but in the next second, it felt like being hit by a high-speed semi-truck.
BAM!!
With Mirrorblade's current tonnage, he wasn't easily swept into the air like a leaf, but he certainly couldn't withstand the force. His entire body was sent flying sideways, slamming hard into the thick crystal rock wall on the other side of the corridor.
The Bio-crystals condensed on the wall and the bedrock beneath collapsed together from the impact, but fortunately, the sharp crystals failed to penetrate Mirrorblade's thick shell.
Naturally formed crystal spikes couldn't do it, but the highly compressed Bio-crystal thorns growing on Asterion's blade-tail were a different story. They pierced clean through the shell on the side of Mirrorblade's abdomen. Blood began to seep from the cracks.
Strangely, however, the blood vanished as quickly as it flowed. Before it could even drip to the ground, it was assimilated and decomposed by the high concentration of Bio-energy in the corridor, turning into glowing energy particles that dissipated into the air.
"ROAR!" (Your power?)
The intense pain made Mirrorblade's muscles tighten further, but he didn't even care about the injury. He jerked his head up from the rubble, eyes wide with fury, and stared at Asterion, roaring.
"ROAR!! (Why are you doing this!! Why create such evil energy!!)"
E-Evil?
Asterion had intended to follow up with a few more hits, but Mirrorblade's question made him freeze. What do you mean?
Wait, how did we get to "evil"??
To be honest, Mirrorblade's question was the first thing since his sudden appearance that genuinely left Asterion baffled.
What is he babbling about?
Could a cat-rearing master as kind as me—someone who raised a few dozen cats into tens of thousands—the most benevolent dragon in the New World, ever be associated with that word???
"Roar?" (Is there a problem?)
Forgetting his plan to tease his foolish son, Asterion asked back, genuinely confused.
"Roar roar?" (Did I do something?)
What happened?
The confusion was genuine. Asterion really didn't know why his idiot son had suddenly shown up looking like he'd murdered his entire family. The boy was acting like a lunatic—so much rage, such a fierce desire to fight. It was bizarre.
He'd assumed the boy had just grown up, felt his wings were strong, and come back to settle the old grudge of being kicked out of the house. Or perhaps he'd lived outside long enough to gain some perspective and wanted to prove himself through a "discussion"—Asterion was fine with that. He could prove his point.
So, he'd approached it like a play session, stretching his muscles to let Mirrorblade know that "your dad is still your dad" and show him what a real dragon looks like... but now it seemed there was more to the story?
Though he could be cold about many things, Asterion didn't think he was an unreasonable dragon. Facing Mirrorblade's angry interrogation, he actually spent three whole seconds seriously reflecting on his actions over the years.
Aside from kicking the boy out years ago to teach him what it takes to survive, what "heinous crimes" had he committed since then?
The reflection was quick, and the result was clear. I haven't done anything!
As heaven and earth are his witnesses, for all these years, in order to continuously absorb Bio-energy to stimulate his internal heat organs, Asterion hadn't stepped foot outside!
He was as steady and reclusive as a Xeno'jiiva that hadn't even hatched! A total shut-in!
Like a hardworking, law-abiding old farmer, he'd huddled in these sunless depths, doing nothing but sucking up energy to fill his belly, doing "wholesome things" with Kulve Taroth for his mental and physical health, and planting Bio-energy crystals when he was bored. In short, his life was peaceful, harmonious, and harmless.
He hadn't even killed anything. He hadn't slain a single large monster in years. He hadn't tasted fresh meat in ages, living entirely on energy. How could a simple, pure dragon like him, who had transcended low-level desires, be stared at by his son as if he were some world-ending demon?? Why the "you-did-something-terrible" face???
"ROAR!" (Stop playing dumb!)
"ROAR ROAR ROAR!" (The Ancient Forest is already crawling with this energy! Countless plants and animals have been twisted into new forms by it, and even more life has perished in the transformation!)
"ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR!" (The pain of growing stones on your body, the mental torture... you have no idea the destruction you've caused!!)
"ROAR!!!" (You are destroying the New World! You are destroying the world!!!)
Mirrorblade's roar, filled with grief and accusation, echoed like thunder through the hollow corridor. It was as if he was venting all the anger, pity, and pain he had suppressed while traveling the outside world all these years in a single burst.
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