Nevertheless, in the act of severely injuring the Crimson Flame Dragon, Tyler himself was too close, sustaining 74 points of damage from the “Roaring Cry,” leaving a mere 90 points of his life energy, which now hanged by a thread.
Should “death” bear a form, then in Tyler’s eyes at this moment, it most certainly took the shape of the Crimson Flame Dragon.
To deliver a threatening blow to the Crimson Flame Dragon, Tyler was required to engage it in close combat.
However, when the Crimson Flame Dragon unleashed its “Roaring Cry”, Tyler was incapable of reaching a safe distance within three seconds, even by utilizing Shadow Step. At most, he could instantly move to a location 10 meters away, and that too only if there was a conveniently situated shadow.
On the other hand, if he chose to keep a safe distance from the Crimson Flame Dragon, it was certain that Tyler would deplete his endurance first, a way that promised an even more hopeless death.
Among all strategies Tyler could foresee, none would allow him to survive.
wFor Tyler, the Crimson Flame Dragon was death itself.
.
And yet, what of it?
.
If one ran from death, the only end was death itself.
But if one fought against death, perhaps a miracle could occur.
The phrase “Face fear, live towards death” was now taking on a raw, literal meaning before Tyler’s eyes!
The severely wounded Crimson Flame Dragon stared at Tyler with increasing ferocity. Tyler spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground, then raised his Shadow Sword Blaze Steed, pointing it at the dragon, challenging it to continue the battle!
If one were to merely consider the numerical values and skills of both sides, in this endgame the only victor could be the Crimson Flame Dragon.
Yet, didn’t the dragon stand to win at the beginning of the battle?
The battle had raged up to this point, and the originally vast disparity in power had now entered a bloody, do-or-die situation. The cause of this miracle was Tyler’s strategic intellect in combat, his only advantage over the Crimson Flame Dragon.
As the Crimson Flame Dragon was about to initiate a charge, Tyler immediately threw two smoke bombs. Learning from its previous lesson, the dragon swiftly spread its wings to disperse the smoke, denying the human another chance for a trick.
But in the time it took to clear the smoke, Tyler had released a volley of 13 arrows, circumventing the wind pressure by their trajectory, and falling towards the body of the dragon.
The Crimson Flame Dragon, pleased with itself for clearing the smoke, was suddenly assaulted by a downpour of arrows from its blind spot.
The damage was minimal, but the insult was immense.
The dragon roared in anger, about to charge, when two more smoke bombs, thrown by the human following his arrow volley, exploded at its feet.
Once bitten, twice shy. 𝗈𝐕𝗅xt.𝔠𝐎𝕞
The Crimson Flame Dragon dared not take the risk and once again used its wings to disperse the smoke. This time, after clearing the smoke, it found the human had vanished, leaving only the bow and arrows behind.
— (Where did he run off to?!)
Instinctively, the dragon guessed the human must have run to its left blind spot. Just as it turned left, a sharp pain shot through its right leg! The cunning human!
The Crimson Flame Dragon immediately leapt into the air. Looking down, it saw the human had slashed once and ran, already six or seven meters away.
The Crimson Flame Dragon was now extremely enraged. It wanted to unleash its “Roaring Cry”, but it had to land first to do so, which was too time-consuming.
So, the dragon spewed out a fireball instead. Unexpectedly, the human was able to easily dodge even while facing away from the attack, as if he had eyes on the back of his head!
Continuous attacks proved futile, so the Crimson Flame Dragon took to the sky. However, this time, learning from its mistakes, it did not dive to attack, but instead kept up with the human at low altitude, constantly spewing fireballs in a bombardment…
It refused to believe this human would not make a single mistake!
.
Tyler proved flawless in his execution.
He not only masterfully evaded the incessant bombardment of fireballs but also remained constantly vigilant, ensuring he was not forced into a corner by the attacks of the Crimson Flame Dragon.
Flying and spewing fireballs had sapped a great deal of the dragon’s strength. After a while, sensing something amiss, it chose to land and catch its breath.
No sooner had the dragon touched the ground than the human’s mysterious smoke device was deployed again.
This time, however, the dragon did not rush to disperse the smoke; it had witnessed the human abandon his bow and arrows, and amid the recent bombardment, it had managed to drive the human away from the discarded weapons.
So, what could the human possibly do amidst the smoke?
His only option was to approach the dragon and attack with his sword.
A sword-strike would feel like a needle prick to the dragon—painful, yes, but not significantly damaging.
In contrast, the blast from the blue flame had nearly cost the dragon half its life, nearly roasting its innards.
The dragon surmised that had its scales not been bypassed, allowing the blue flame to sear its flesh directly, the attack would not have been so potent.
Thus, its priority was to prevent the human from repeating this strategy.
During this intense battle, the Crimson Flame Dragon, usually driven purely by instinct, had unknowingly begun to strategize—a measure of growth derived from this combat.
For now, its sole thought was to devise a plan to defeat this crafty human.
The overwhelming desire for victory had spurred the dragon’s cognitive evolution.
For the first time, the concept of a trap surfaced in its mind.
The dragon realized that the human’s use of smoke was likely a ploy to unleash another blue flame attack. Therefore, its strategy was to keenly listen within the smoke, wait for the human to approach, and then immobilize him with a draconic roar before crushing him underfoot.
This time, the dragon would not miss its opportunity!
However, even after the smoke had cleared, the human had not approached.
Confused, the dragon spotted the human resting at a distance.
— (You must be kidding!)
— (How dare you insult me!)
The dragon thought, charging towards the human while spewing fireballs.
This time, the dragon had learned. It did not aim to hit, but alternated its fireball blasts left and right, effectively sealing the human’s escape routes.
Then, when the distance between them was less than 10 meters, the dragon leaped into the air, unleashing a serpentine blaze on the human!
The cornered human threw a dagger at the dragon before getting engulfed by the flames, but the aim was wildly off. The dragon sneered at the human’s futile struggle, hovering in the air, continuing its flame attack.
As long as the dragon remained airborne, the human could only endure its unilateral onslaught!
The outcome of this battle is leaning in favor of the dragon!
But just as the dragon thought victory was within its grasp, it felt something land on its head.
Unbeknownst to the dragon, the shadow of the human’s dagger had been cast on its head when the dagger flew past.
Neither did it know of the human’s ability to teleport to any shadow within a ten-meter radius.
By the time it realized something was standing on its head, the scorching blade had already pierced its skull.
“Farewell, you were a formidable opponent,” the human’s voice echoed in evilkind language, followed by intense pain.
Then, the dragon’s vision was filled with blue flames.
A roaring blue blaze steed ignited inside its head, spreading through its neck, body, and organs, mercilessly ravaging its entire body.