But there was nothing.
There was no such thing as a monster capable of turning invisible like a Chameleos. To be honest, this cave, perpetually filled with yellow-green miasma, wasn't much different from the fog released by a Chameleos anyway.
Asterion rapidly sliced through the air around him. The yellow-green Effluvium was constantly severed and reformed by his movements, until he felt safe.
Drip.
Hiss.
The sound of liquid dripping from his own body was immediately followed by a sizzling noise as it hit the ground.
Asterion turned his head and saw a thick, yellow-green liquid sliding down the surface of a volatile shell sac on his flank. Wherever it flowed, white smoke billowed from his carapace with a sizzling sound. The drops that had already hit the ground were even corroding the rock near his feet into a warped, pitted mess.
BOOM!!
Another explosion.
Asterion watched helplessly as the volatile shell sac on his body—which had just been smoking—seemed to have its outer skin corroded through. A second later, it detonated abruptly.
Mystery solved. It was strong acid.
The Acidic Glavenus living in the Rotten Vale had lost the Pyre-Sac that a normal Glavenus should possess. In its place was a potent acid—the Acidic Glavenus's tail blade could secrete an extremely corrosive substance.
In a game, this would result in a hunter suffering from Defense Down. But in reality, it meant a hunter's armor would be corroded into a pile of useless slag—just like Asterion's volatile shell sacs.
Once the mineral crystals covering the surface and the thin outer layer of the shell sac were eaten through, it was no surprise that the volatile contents inside would explode.
In the attack just now, the Acidic Glavenus had flung this highly corrosive acid from its descending sword-tail. And honestly, Asterion was a little disgusted.
His volatile shell sacs were designed to detonate shortly after being struck, meaning they lacked the defensive durability of normal carapace. This situation implied that as long as the Acidic Glavenus kept flinging acid during their clash, given enough hits, it would eventually detonate every single shell sac on his body.
The most critical issue was that unlike other dragons who had to lunge in close to attack with teeth, claws, tails, or body slams, the Acidic Glavenus could launch attacks from a considerable distance using its long sword-tail.
This meant it could deal free damage to Asterion without taking any risks.
Asterion realized just how frustrating it was. He used to love bullying other monsters with his own long, thick, and sharp weapon, but now he was on the receiving end. Was this how those dragons he'd disgusted in the past felt?
That's my armor! I worked hard to eat enough to grow that!
I can't let it be ruined like this!
Asterion realized the Acidic Glavenus had likely discovered the secret of his shell. Since the last exchange, the creature hadn't made any aggressive moves. Instead, it was using its sword-tail solely to deflect or block his attacks—and then frantically splashing acid!!
Sulphur crystals!
With every swing of its blade, it secreted a massive amount of strong acid. Even if Asterion blocked the Acidic Glavenus's tail, the inertia would still fling the acid onto him.
Asterion could see it clearly now. This wasn't some elegant "Acidic Glavenus"—this was purely a shrew!!
Pure splashing!
It wasn't an illusion; the Acidic Glavenus opposite him seemed to be smiling smugly.
BOOM!!
Another volatile shell sac exploded after being eaten through by the acid. It was heartbreaking... those were high-quality "Insidious Dragon" materials.
He couldn't let this go on. With a shift in thought, Asterion made a decision. Since the Acidic Glavenus didn't want a proper, honorable duel between two sword masters to improve their skills, he didn't need to be particular about his methods either.
So, you're a Long Sword dragon? Then I'm Miyamoto Musashi!
Late for the duel, exhausting the old man, spreading rumors to attack the opponent's psyche... Who cares about the details? The point is to win!
Leaping up from the ground once more, he delivered a heavy downward cleave. As expected, the Acidic Glavenus caught the blade. But this time, Asterion didn't try to retreat or change his sword form to pursue. Instead, he whipped his head around and spat out a massive fireball.
Caught off guard.
The Acidic Glavenus completely failed to anticipate that Asterion would suddenly spit fire. For a creature that lived its entire life in the Rotten Vale and had never seen a proper Glavenus, this fireball was content from a completely new version update.
Because the Acidic Glavenus had long since lost the ability to breathe fire, it had no concept that its slightly odd-looking kin possessed such a skill. It had zero defense prepared.
The fireball Asterion spat was fast. In the blink of an eye, it was right in front of the Acidic Glavenus, which was still in a posture, bracing its tail backward to block Asterion's descending blade!
BOOM!!
A Glavenus's projectile wasn't simple fire. It was a mixture of molten magma stored in the Pyre-Sac and the impurities cleaned off its tail blade during sharpening—like a ball of semi-molten shrapnel. It exploded.
The scorching magma fireball let out a loud bang upon hitting the Acidic Glavenus's body, followed immediately by a second explosive roar.
BOOM!!
Molten slag and magma clung to the Acidic Glavenus like glowing, translucent batter. Asterion's surprise attack hit it directly in the left chest. Instantly, the Acidic Glavenus's shell looked as if it were melting, turning scorched and black.
Specifically, a large clump of molten magma covered a protruding spike on its back's radiator shell during the explosion. The air filled with a burnt smell that even the Effluvium couldn't mask.
But compared to the physical damage caused by the sudden breath attack, what hurt the Acidic Glavenus more was the fireball itself and the light released when it detonated.
The translucent orange light, burning at high temperatures, was blindingly bright in the cavernous zone of the Rotten Vale—or at least in this dim area illuminated only by glowing moss. It flashed the Acidic Glavenus's eyes hard.
For Asterion, this was just the beginning. The Acidic Glavenus had revealed an opening, so he had to kick it while it was down!
Having learned the essence of hunter swordplay from the Sword Master, Asterion was like a big boy with a new toy. Coincidentally running into a Glavenus kin who also wielded a sword, he had momentarily entertained the idea of a pure contest of swordsmanship.
Well, who would have thought this kin's sword was coated in poison, and it was hell-bent on ruining the armor I worked so hard to save up for?
In that case, there's nothing more to say. I wanted to interact as a normal dragon, but all I got in return were dirty tricks—I'm done pretending. I, Asterion, am not a good dragon either!
From the day he hatched, he hadn't known what shame or pride were. Whether it was ambushing hatchlings, setting traps, or bleeding enemies out, these were his specialties. Surviving, and turning others into dung rather than becoming dung himself—that was the most important thing!
In other words, Asterion only respected victory! For the sake of winning, it didn't matter if it looked ugly or unworthy of expectation. It didn't matter what other dragons said or thought. As long as he won, as long as he survived, that was enough!
Hehe, I will survive.
Forced to stumble back a few steps due to the sudden flash and the pain of the explosion, the Acidic Glavenus knew the situation was bad. The opposing force it had been bracing against with its horizontal tail block was suddenly gone.
Straining to open its eyes in a world that was blurry and haloed with white light, the Acidic Glavenus suddenly spotted Asterion swinging his blade again!
Fade Slash!
Using the ground as resistance for charging power, this move could also be called a dragging slash. It swept directly from the lower diagonal toward the Acidic Glavenus's foreleg and belly. Not to be outdone, the Acidic Glavenus urgently retracted its sword-tail and slammed it heavily onto Asterion's tail blade in the nick of time.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Rapid chain slashes!
While backing away quickly to keep distance from the advancing Asterion, the Acidic Glavenus proved worthy of being the dragon upon which the Long Sword was modeled. Its blade work was fast and silky smooth. Like a chaotic dance of water birds, the slender tail blade traced invisible outlines in the air, constantly parrying Asterion's thrusts and keeping him at a safe distance.
In this moment of life and death, the Acidic Glavenus seemed to bring out its full capability. Compared to Asterion's heavy, sweeping sword style, its technique was far swifter and more agile.
Like a clash between a cyan storm and a yellow-green storm, amidst the lighting that had dimmed once more, the blue-white and yellow-green sword-tails engaged in several suffocatingly intense exchanges in a split second.
The ear-piercing friction and collision of blade against blade sounded like two blacksmiths hammering steel with all their might. It wasn't an illusion—parts of the carapace near the blade edges on both Asterion's and the Acidic Glavenus's tails were being chipped away.
This was especially true for the sulphur crystals secreted onto the Acidic Glavenus's tail. Under such violent collision and shock, they were constantly generated and instantly shattered. It was as if a corrosive acid rain had begun to fall inside the cave; wherever the scattered sulphur crystals landed, even the rocks hissed as they eroded.
This was a choice the Acidic Glavenus was forced to make. Asterion's offensive was ferocious; every cut was heavy and powerful, and most importantly, fast. This required the Acidic Glavenus to put maximum effort into dealing with every single one of Asterion's strikes, whether parrying or deflecting.
But even deflecting required the Acidic Glavenus to guide the blow with its own sword-tail. For the Acidic Glavenus, whose tail blade was naturally more slender than Asterion's, this was a difficult choice.
To sever Asterion's tail, one would have to wait until he heated it with magma into a red-hot state. But to sever an Acidic Glavenus's tail was not so troublesome. Even in its normal iron-tail state, if subjected to sufficiently intense attacks, the Acidic Glavenus's tail blade would snap on the spot.
To withstand Asterion's storm-like, relentless, and hard-hitting offense, the Acidic Glavenus had to attach more sulphur crystals to its blade. Only then would its tail become heavy and hard enough not to snap in two during these head-on collisions.
The cost was that the sulphur crystals it spent stamina secreting were now being splashed everywhere as if they were free. Asterion, not to be outdone, fought in a bizarre style—swinging with heavy cleaves while occasionally spitting a fireball. It was comparable to two people agreeing to a duel with cold weapons, only for one to suddenly pull out a pistol and fire point-blank during the fight.
The Acidic Glavenus was suffering greatly, but Asterion was finding the fight more and more exhilarating.
This is the feeling... this is the stuff!
A large portion of the sword knowledge and techniques belonging to the "Simian Wyvern" species that he learned from the Sword Master were impossible for Asterion to use directly. And the Sword Master couldn't exactly lift his helmet and spit fire mid-fight like Asterion could.
Therefore, he could only borrow, and only borrow.
The knowledge and skills mastered during those days of sword training were rapidly melting into the heat of combat with the Acidic Glavenus, seeping into every cut Asterion made—so smooth, so natural.
Vertical cleave, horizontal slash, followed by a chaotic diagonal upward sweep. Every muscle in his body condensed into a unified whole in that moment. Power flowed through Asterion's body, finally arriving at his tail.
With a spin that accumulated the strength of his entire body, Asterion swung his sword-tail in a perfect circle, slashing toward the Acidic Glavenus!
CLANG!
The roundslash struck heavily against the mid-section of the Acidic Glavenus's tail blade. But that wasn't the point. The point was that when Asterion's strike was blocked, and his heavy tail bounced back from the feedback force, he executed another incredibly smooth spin. Borrowing the rebound force, he slashed out again!
But this time—this time, the tail blade glowed with a faint yellow light!!
I did it!!!
This faint yellow light was exceptionally distinct in the dimly lit cave, especially as the glow traced a massive yellow arc.
Spirit Blade!!
An unprecedented sense of immense joy and satisfaction instantly filled Asterion's mind. I did it! I succeeded!!
He had broken through the wall that had troubled him for so long. Using incredibly fluid swordsmanship, he condensed the life energy and stamina within his body onto the weapon outside his body—right onto his sword-tail!
Sharper, and harder!
"ROAR!!!"
Roaring in excitement, his condition couldn't be better. Asterion chained a second cut, a third cut, a fourth cut!
Spirit Combo!!
The wild, chaotic swordplay forced the Acidic Glavenus to retreat again and again. It breathed rapidly, white steam jetting from the radiator shell on its back.
But it would not flee!!
When two Glavenus met in the same area, unless it was breeding season and both had the desire to mate, the encounter would only lead to one outcome—one would die, or have their tail severed!!
Being cold-blooded and loving battle wasn't a joke, even for a subspecies like the Acidic Glavenus. This was the instinct engraved in the Glavenus species!
Fight!!
The Acidic Glavenus was enraged too. It could not tolerate being constantly suppressed in battle like this. It was a humiliation! Something the bloodline of a Glavenus absolutely could not accept!
But Asterion didn't care about any of that. If anything, he was now a little afraid the Acidic Glavenus wouldn't be able to withstand his attacks and would collapse, or turn and run.
He hadn't cut enough yet!
Let me cut some more! Until I'm satisfied!
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