The thick, cotton-like clouds were constantly torn and shattered like fragile silk, creating enormous holes.
Because it was not the first time they had fought each other.
Both sides understood each other's multi-stage tactics, and at this point, any further concealment or probing would be meaningless and a waste of time.
Therefore, this battle almost immediately entered a white-hot state as soon as the two sides made contact.
Both chose to abandon flashy techniques and circuitous tactics.
They met head-on, attacking offense with offense, and power with power, without any evasion.
The Red Iron Dragon, his body entwined with destructive golden lightning and black-Red Dragon Qi, now wildly swung his extra arms, constructed from pure Dragon Qi, and his main arms, forged like tempered steel.
Four arms danced together, each swing incredibly powerful and fully revealing its ferocity.
Leaving behind a sky full of dazzling, lethal afterimages that flickered incessantly.
On the opposite side.
Every Gold Dragon scale on Alberto's body shone with a sacred and pure golden light, and the crown on his head, flowing with solidified Sacred Oath energy, was even more dazzling, illuminating the sky like a second small sun.
Crown + Conquest, both Sacred Oaths activated to their utmost.
The Conquest Sacred Oath halberd, which he held tightly in his claw,
was wielded with astonishing strength and speed, piercing through the sky again and again with unparalleled ferocity. From a distance, it looked like a golden downpour, furiously unleashing itself upon that strong figure.
Clang!
A deafening crash exploded.
The incredibly sharp, gleaming blade of the Conquest Sacred Oath halberd savagely struck the Red Iron Dragon's right Dragon arm, which was composed of Dragon Qi energy and as thick as a siege ram.
Dazzling red energy sparks erupted violently like fireworks, scattering in all directions.
At the same time.
Galos's other arm, condensed from Dragon Qi, fiercely slammed towards Alberto's head, which was covered by Sacred Armor.
In the nick of time.
Alberto raised his free left claw, and his claw, covered in golden scales, was instantly reinforced to be incomparably hard by condensed Sacred Oath energy, deflecting the attack.
However.
In the instant Alberto's old strength waned and new strength had yet to emerge,
another Dragon Qi arm struck Alberto's chest with lightning speed.
The Sacred Armor, constructed from Sacred Oath energy, shattered in response.
And in the instant the Sacred Armor shattered, creating a fatal defensive gap.
Galos's physical left claw, entwined with flame lightning and Dragon Qi, followed immediately.
It pierced through the broken gap in the Sacred Armor with extreme precision, striking Alberto's unprotected chest squarely and without any flourish.
A grating sound of scales breaking rang out.
Alberto's originally brilliant and dazzling golden Dragon scales, centered on the point of impact, instantly caved in, cracked, and shattered over a large area.
The flesh beneath was like mud hit by a heavy hammer, collapsing and decaying.
"Ugh—"
Alberto let out a pained groan.
His entire massive and heavy Dragon body trembled, uncontrollably recoiling violently, plowing a broken wake through the air.
Galos's wings flapped fiercely, pressing the advantage.
His pair of fully extended, razor-sharp, formidable Dragon wings, their tips surging with an aura like substantial flames.
This pair of enormous Dragon wings began to rotate at high speed, using his body as an axis, and with a tearing shriek, they fiercely slashed towards Alberto, who was still retreating.
Feeling the power of this strike, Alberto's pupils contracted sharply.
While retreating, he twisted his waist suddenly, his massive body forcibly shifting sideways in the air.
Tear!
The wing blade narrowly grazed the soft scales of his abdomen, tearing through the Sacred Armor, bringing with it a few shattered golden scales, and splattering wisps of blood.
Before he could stabilize his body and organize an effective counterattack.
In the corner of Alberto's eye, a ferocious Dragon tail, fast as lightning and sharp as a blade, had already ripped through the air, carrying an ear-splitting shriek, and was fiercely lashing towards his head, with almost no interval.
Too fast.
Crack!—
A heart-stopping, muffled explosion.
The Sacred Armor covering Alberto's face shattered instantly like a fragile eggshell.
The Dragon tail's force was somewhat weakened, but it still struck his faceplate squarely.
In an instant.
A large, gaping wound, with broken Dragon scales and torn flesh, bleeding profusely, immediately appeared on his face.
At this moment, the Red Iron Dragon.
had completely transformed into a fighting machine.
Claws, four arms, Dragon tail, two wings.
Every part of his body had become a dangerous weapon.
The combat techniques derived from the Martial Dragon path were pushed to an impeccable extreme.
One move after another.
One link after another.
Like an unending tide.
Relentlessly fierce attacks rained down on the Gold Dragon Gold Dragon Alberto's body again and again, like a fierce storm.
Gold Dragon Alberto was not entirely without the ability to fight back.
The hellish special training of the past five years was by no means meaningless.
His strength had indeed grown remarkably and significantly under the extreme pressure of the Sacred Oath, and because he constantly practiced the path of the Sacred Oath, the Sacred Oath energy flowing within him had become purer and more abundant.
He occasionally managed to seize opportunities during Galos's attacks to launch counterattacks.
The force was extremely heavy.
He could even shatter layers of incredibly tough Cold Burst Scales covering Galos's body, which had astonishing defensive power, and leave clearly visible spiderweb-like cracks on the Red Iron Dragon's more resilient black-Red Dragon scales, which served as a second line of defense.
But.
Every time he struck Galos, he was inevitably corroded by cold energy, and also suffered damage from those sharp thorns.
Moreover, he would often just seize an opportunity to leave a minor scratch on Galos, and the next second, he would have to endure three or four, or even more, fierce counterattacks from his opponent, like a raging storm.
His proud Sacred Oath armor was torn apart again and again like paper.
His indestructible Gold Dragon scales were shattered again and again like porcelain.
Hot Dragon blood constantly splattered.
This head-on, no-holds-barred, fierce assault was intense to the extreme.
Before long, Alberto's originally majestic and dazzling golden Dragon body was completely soaked in his own hot Dragon blood, becoming covered in blood.
Even though he simultaneously activated the Crown Sacred Oath and the Conquest Sacred Oath, possessing the powerful healing and buffing effects of the Sacred Dragon path, he could no longer keep up with the rate of his body's injury and power loss.
However, even with such severe injuries. Even with slim chances of victory.
The young Gold Dragon still fought fiercely, refusing to retreat or admit defeat, as if this was not a challenge or sparring match, but a fight to the death.
Until thirty seconds later.
Due to the intense battle and the ravages of the Excited State lightning, the Cold Burst Scales covering Galos's torso finally succumbed to the strain, almost completely shattering and peeling off, revealing the dense battle scars beneath.
Just then.
Seizing a small moment of stiffness from Alberto due to intense pain.
Galos's thick, heavy foot claw stomped down on Alberto's heavily scarred chest.
Alberto was struck as if by lightning.
His massive, heavy Dragon body was kicked away with immense force, like a golden kite with a broken string.
Immediately after.
Galos's wings spread wide again, his whole body surging with heat, distorting the air, as he rapidly pursued Alberto, who was still flying backward, unwilling to admit defeat.
Just at this moment.
The young Gold Dragon, in mid-flight after being kicked, took a deep breath, his gaze becoming exceptionally focused.
Whether I can defeat Galos depends on this one move, on the skill I comprehended a few days ago.
Crown Sacred Oath: Turn the Tide!
Conquest Sacred Oath: Desperate Counterattack!
Alberto let out a silent roar in his heart.
Buzz!
His remaining Sacred Oath energy once again erupted with an unprecedented dazzling golden light.
And these liquid gold-like energies, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, frantically converged towards his limbs and bones.
Finally, all of it, without reservation, was poured into the depths of his throat, from which he was about to unleash Dragon Breath.
Sacred Oath Enhancement—Holy Flame Breath.
The next moment.
A Dragon Breath, condensed like liquid gold and burning fiercely, erupted from Alberto's wide-open Dragon mouth like a surging river of molten gold, blasting directly towards the Red Iron Dragon who was pursuing him head-on.
Coincidentally.
The pursuing Red Iron Dragon also suddenly opened his massive mouth.
The rolling heat, which had been constantly accumulating within his massive body during the intense battle, now, as if obeying a king's command, frantically collapsed, compressed, and converged within him, all rushing towards his throat, which was about to erupt.
So much so that his entire body of crimson Dragon scales instantly turned a dazzling color, like a glowing red-hot iron just removed from a furnace, emitting a thousand-degree high temperature.
Especially in the neck area, all those battle scars now lit up, shining with destructive red light.
Heat Enhancement—Destructive Dragon Breath!
Boom!
A destructive Dragon Breath, viscous as molten lava, seemingly containing the terrifying power to burn mountains and boil seas, erupted from Galos's mouth like a volcanic torrent.
Under Alberto's incredulous gaze.
This destructive torrent of crimson Dragon Breath, inch by inch, with an overwhelming and unstoppable overbearing momentum, furiously crushed and pushed forward, forcibly covering, suppressing, and continuously pushing back Alberto's holy golden Dragon Breath torrent.
"No—!"
Alberto squeezed out Sacred Oath energy, trying to reverse the situation.
However, it was all in vain.
Until the Dragon Breath was right before his eyes.
The surging destructive Dragon Breath completely engulfed Alberto's struggling golden figure.
The terrifying extreme heat of the flames, even with the Gold Dragon's extremely high fire resistance, could not be completely exempted.
Dragon scales carbonized in wails.
Flesh charred and withered in the high temperature.
And the flames were secondary; even more terrifying was the immense impact that could tear steel, pressing the Gold Dragon's body downwards.
Accompanied by deafening roars and rising dust.
The Gold Dragon Gold Dragon Alberto, charred and steaming, fell like a burnt meteor, deeply embedded in the solid earth of the vast plain outside the Dragon Valley.
A huge, radiating crater appeared on the scorched earth.
And he lay half-dead in the very center of the pit, with hardly a single intact scale on his entire body, wisps of smoke curling up from his carbonized wounds.
A few seconds later.
The Red Iron Dragon's majestic and formidable figure, retracting his sky-obscuring Dragon wings, landed steadily on the steep, cracked edge of the deep pit with a slight whoosh.
Looking at the miserable Alberto, he flicked his tail and said,
"I apologize, the battle just now filled me with joy, and I accidentally hit too hard."
However, what happened next before Galos's eyes completely exceeded the King of Molten Iron's expectations.
According to his understanding of Alberto's proud and stubborn character,
at this moment, the Gold Dragon would either fall into impotent rage due to the crushing defeat, letting out unwilling roars, or feel exhilarated by the failure, with an unyielding fighting spirit rekindled in his eyes, or at the very least, he might become disheartened and show a sense of defeat.
But.
Galos never expected.
In the deep pit, the faint-breathed Alberto's slightly cracked golden lips twitched and curved upward, eventually pulling into a relieved and contented smile.
Immediately after.
As if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted.
Alberto straightforwardly rolled his eyes upward and completely fainted, his body simultaneously going limp, almost bowing down before the Red Iron Dragon.
And almost at the same time he lost consciousness.
A low, even, thunderous, and incredibly loud snore began to emanate clearly from his slightly open Dragon mouth, echoing exceptionally loudly across this vast land.
Galos tilted his head, his eyes showing confusion.
What's happening now?
Even the knowledgeable and steady King of Molten Iron couldn't help but fall into a brief, bewildered silence at this moment.