"Who would have thought a legendary Frost Giant of the cold element was lying in wait in the shadows?"
On the other side, Garon enhanced the effect of his acceleration state, effortlessly dodging the attack of the Flamesteel City Lord. Watching it get cleaved in two by Balton's axe, Garon couldn't help but reveal a genuine smile.
He was in a good mood.
The Flamesteel City Lord had always had an air of confidence, a belief that despite knowing a confrontation was inevitable, it was sure to triumph.
Just as it had claimed before.
The elemental demi-plane was its home ground, where it could exert strength far beyond its usual limits. Thus, its confidence was not unfounded.
Had it not been for Garon, and had any other ordinary legendary being from the primary material world come here and clashed with the Flamesteel City Lord, they would likely have ended up at a disadvantage. Unfortunately for the Flamesteel City Lord, it encountered Garon.
And Garon didn't even need to take action personally.
Balton's axe surely left the Flamesteel City Lord trembling with fear.
"Nidam, my friend, I forgot to tell you, I have a legendary servant under my command."
"To battle me, you probably have to get past it first."
Garon added insult to injury with a chuckle.
Though split in half, and with frost spreading at the fracture, the Flamesteel City Lord didn't die instantly. Its legendary elemental vitality allowed it to barely survive this sneak attack.
But it was in a bad way.
Buzz! The flames suddenly surged, melting the frost at the fracture, and the two halves of its body turned into streaks of light, fleeing from Balton. They recombined a kilometer away in the air, merging back into the complete form of the Flamesteel City Lord.
However, this flaming elemental form was undoubtedly dimmer and more ethereal than before.
If the Flamesteel City Lord had a health bar above its head, Balton's axe would have chopped off at least half of its health.
Then, the Flamesteel City Lord, eyeing Balton warily, its fiery eyes full of dread, looked at Garon and gritted its teeth: "Garon, is this how low true dragons stoop? What happened to the pride you dragons always talk about?"
The Flamesteel City Lord sounded utterly frustrated and furiously impotent.
No doubt, it was desperate.
Garon was surprised and said, "Low? My friend, if you truly wanted to share the lava demi-plane with me, this situation wouldn't have arisen."
Indeed.
Had the Flamesteel City Lord been sincere, Garon would have given it more chances, perhaps even deciding the true ruler through a one-on-one duel.
But as an enemy, especially one with a legendary elemental core within, Garon wasn't so benevolent.
Meanwhile, the Flamesteel City Lord fell silent, its face somber.
The scene of the City Lord of Stone's recent encounter was still vivid in its mind.
And now, it was about to face the same situation as the City Lord of Stone, being ganged up on by two legendary creatures, both possessing cold attribute attacks that countered fire.
At this point, the Flamesteel City Lord realized that talking was futile; it had to find a way out of its current predicament to have a chance at revenge later. The fury of a fire elemental life would not easily extinguish.
The Flamesteel City Lord tried to calm down.
It took a deep breath.
Then, benefiting from the abundant and dense fire elemental energy within the demi-plane, countless red elemental energies emerged from the space, converging towards the Flamesteel City Lord's body.
Bit by bit, tangible fire elemental energy entered its body, quickly healing its ethereal wounds.
At the same time, Balton, now distanced from the Flamesteel City Lord and covered in fierce ice armor, wielding a winter axe, roared and charged towards the Flamesteel City Lord in a frenzy.
Balton couldn't fly.
It ran through the air.
With each step about to fall through, a blast of cold frost formed ice crystal steps, providing Balton with footholds. In this way, it chased after the Flamesteel City Lord, its body enveloped in rising white steam, the winter axe flashing with a chilling cold light.
"I can't be hit by that axe again."
Watching the dark giant charge, the Flamesteel City Lord's eyelids twitched.
The experience of being split in half had left a significant shadow in its heart, the first time the Flamesteel City Lord had suffered such a severe injury. Had it not reacted quickly, a few more hits from Balton would have ended it on the spot.
Now, seeing Balton again made it extremely nervous.
Realizing it stood no chance against two legendary creatures, the Flamesteel City Lord decided not to stubbornly resist like the City Lord of Stone. It had traveled through the human world and understood the principle of "leaving the green mountains without worrying about firewood."
After a surge of flames, the Flamesteel City Lord transformed into a fire tornado.
Before everyone's eyes, it turned tail and fled.
Its speed was incredibly fast, even pulling a long line of fire in the air, retreating with remarkable speed.
Legendary fire elements were known for their speed, surpassing that of equivalent legendary true dragons, let alone the cumbersome movement of legendary frost giants by countless times.
"This..."
Garon blinked and chuckled.
In reality, if a legendary creature doesn't wish to fight and focuses solely on fleeing, it's very difficult to kill, especially elemental life forms. If the City Lord of Stone hadn't been so stubborn and just burrowed into the ground, surviving would have been very possible.
But the Flamesteel City Lord faced Garon.
Garon least feared an enemy attempting to flee.
Being unable to defeat him and trying to escape right under his nose was pure fantasy.
If the Flamesteel City Lord could escape, Garon might as well find a hole to crawl into.
In the platinum dragon's eyes, reflected the rapidly retreating fire tornado, his gaze sharp.
The power of time suddenly entered the river of time.
On the other end, around the Flamesteel City Lord, ripples in the river of time slowed down significantly.
In that instant, hit by the slow spell, the Flamesteel City Lord moved as if in slow motion, its speed drastically reduced, unaware of its predicament.
Not all legendaries, like Halis, could sense the river of time.
Without the mental strength of a legendary spellcaster, it was nearly impossible.
After running for a few seconds, the Flamesteel City Lord began to relax slightly.
It knew its speed and believed that Balton, with its previously demonstrated speed, couldn't catch up. If only Garon chased after it alone, it would be fearless, which was exactly what it wanted.
Feeling a bit more relaxed.
The Flamesteel City Lord maintained its fastest flying speed, its body ablaze.
It glanced behind, splitting its attention.
But upon looking, it was shocked, feeling a chill down its spine.
In the Flamesteel City Lord's view, the frost giant wielding a large axe seemed to have activated an acceleration, its speed unimaginably fast, rapidly closing the distance. On the other side, the silver dragon also left the battlefield, flapping its wings, stirring up a storm, like a silver beam of light, chasing after it as well.
"Why are they so fast!"
Panic surged in the Flamesteel City Lord's heart, speeding up slightly in fear.
Behind, Garon watched the Flamesteel City Lord's fleeing figure, a smile on his face.
The slow spell had reduced the Flamesteel City Lord's speed by more than seven times.
His tenfold slow spell, after affecting a legendary creature, had its effect somewhat weakened, but it still managed to slow the Flamesteel City Lord by seven times.
Besides, he had also used an acceleration state.
And he had also applied the acceleration state to Balton.
Yes, after this period of growth, Garon's acceleration state could not only be used on himself but also on other beings. An unexpected acceleration could turn the tide of battle, even if not used on allies.
"Nidam, you can't escape."
"Hand over the legendary fire elemental core. In consideration of our acquaintance, I can spare your life."
Hearing the calm but increasingly close voice behind, the Flamesteel City Lord's face darkened.
The elemental core was akin to its heart.
Handing it over wouldn't kill it, but it would regress to a lower-level fire elemental life. Having once reached legendary status, its starting point would be much higher than that of ordinary fire elementals, but whether it could grow to legendary status again was uncertain.
"In your dreams!"
The Flamesteel City Lord suddenly turned around, flames converging into a human form.
A flaming giant sword slashed, sending out massive waves of fire.
Balton didn't hold back, swinging the winter axe like a windmill. The force of the frost condensed in the slash collided with the waves of fire, creating terrifying shockwaves, distorting the air and rising steam.
At the same time, a cluster of flames rose on the Flamesteel City Lord.
This cluster of flames was highly condensed, burning space, extending into fine cracks, and spreading rapidly.
Through those cracks, one could vaguely see a vast world of fire, hotter than the lava demi-plane.
"Fire elemental plane?"
If not mistaken, that fiery world was one of the four elemental planes, the pure fire elemental plane.
Garon narrowed his eyes.
The Flamesteel City Lord intended to abandon its holdings in the lava demi-plane and escape to the fire elemental plane through a portal.
But Garon wouldn't sit by and let the Flamesteel City Lord successfully open the portal.
With a thought, the slow spell also affected the cluster of flames, significantly slowing its space-burning speed.
Then, not sparing any time power, Garon's body streaked through the air, closing in on the Flamesteel City Lord.
The Flamesteel City Lord's face darkened, releasing endless flames, creating a barrier in front of Garon. But cold axe beams came through the air, whistling mournfully, cutting the flames into disarray, utterly defeated.
Balton, clad in the fury of winter, was strictly more powerful in defense and lethality than Garon, a relentless killing machine.
Boom! The silver dragon pierced through the shattered torrent of flames.
The wind from the dragon wings turned the flames into finer, scattered fires.
In an instant, Garon approached the Flamesteel City Lord, bringing it within the range of time stop.
This distance was also within the Flamesteel City Lord's attack range.
It paused for a moment, seeing the silver dragon surpassing the legendary frost giant and approaching alone, it sneered, raising the flaming giant sword high, with flames soaring to the sky.
Endless flames condensed into an extending blade, held by the Flamesteel City Lord.
Locking onto Garon with mental force, the Flamesteel City Lord didn't hesitate to strike down.
This strike left a dangerous and lethal arc in the air, with rolling air currents and belching flames, carrying the fierce momentum of splitting Garon from back to belly.
"Die!"
A roar erupted from the Flamesteel City Lord.
However, at that moment, the world seemed to hit the pause button, freezing in an instant, the burning flames, the blowing hot wind, the Flamesteel City Lord's body's roaring flames, and the raised giant sword about to strike Garon. Everything halted.
The still flames continued to emit high temperatures.
Using time stop on a legendary creature consumed a tremendous amount of time power, and Garon felt the strain. He sensed the Flamesteel City Lord's flames trying to break free from the time stop, continuing to burn.
Garon didn't waste time.
Already open mouth, between the crisscrossing dragon teeth, brewed a ball of icy blue low-temperature glow.
Against the Flamesteel City Lord, frost dragon breath was more effective than anything.
Whether it was plundering the breath of time or expelling the breath of time, frost dragon breath was more effective at this moment.
The next moment, frost dragon breath from the legendary dragon poured out, like a blue ice river spanning the heavens and earth, piercing through flames, directly targeting the Flamesteel City Lord's frozen body.
Crack crack, the low-temperature frost and countless ice spears fell on the Flamesteel City Lord's body.
Clusters of ice crystals spread and grew.
The icy blue color covered the Flamesteel City Lord's body, freezing the flames within.
Garon continued to breathe out dragon breath until he could no longer, then stopped.
Then, Garon, with a somewhat dry throat, looked forward.
A giant ice sculpture floated in the air, inside was the frozen Flamesteel City Lord, clusters of flames fixed within the translucent ice crystals, lifelike, like a magnificent and magical artistic masterpiece, captivating.
As a fire elemental life, being directly faced with frost dragon breath, the Flamesteel City Lord's vitality had plummeted to its lowest point.
"A legendary fire elemental frozen by frost..."
Garon's eyes shone, admiring his work.
If possible, he really wanted to keep the Flamesteel City Lord in this state as a trophy.
But the not yet fully dead Flamesteel City Lord would definitely resist.
As time power was heavily consumed, Garon ended the time stop, and the giant ice crystal, pulled by gravity, fell from the sky. During the fall, Garon saw the Flamesteel City Lord's eyes filled with astonishment and incomprehension.
Garon had seen such gazes many times.
The power of time was often unreasonable in many situations.
On the dust and smoke-filled ground, the ice-encased Flamesteel City Lord fell towards the earth.
The wind howled, the ice crystal shook and trembled, cracks emerging from within as the Flamesteel City Lord struggled to break free, but weakened, it was somewhat feeble.
The surrounding fire elemental energy tried to converge under the Flamesteel City Lord's control but was repelled by the cold force emanating from the ice crystals.
Eventually, the giant ice crystal accelerated and crashed into the ground.
Crash! A deafening noise as the ground formed a deep pit, surrounding soil and rocks splashing like waves, the lifelike ice sculpture shattering under the tremendous impact and flame erosion.
Countless fire-encased ice blocks scattered and fell, rolling around.
The ice blocks quickly melted.
Clusters of flames struggled to burn, expelling all frost, and then condensed in the spreading dust, forming a Flamesteel City Lord's body no more than ten meters tall.
At this moment, the Flamesteel City Lord's elemental form was nearly translucent, and one could vaguely see a dazzling red core, floating in the burning chest.
Before the Flamesteel City Lord could look up, a shadow cast down from the sky.
The silver dragon spread its vast wings like sails, its gigantic body blocking the light from the fiery sky.
Dragon might surged forward, with a tangible oppressive force, falling on the Flamesteel City Lord.
In that instant, the Flamesteel City Lord's flames fluttered backward, disorderly and chaotic, just like its current chaotic emotions.
It looked up, seeing the increasingly close dragon claws, densely covered in silver dragon scales, intricately fitted together.
Garon extended his claw.
The sharp dragon claw, wrapped in threads of cold frost, swiped from head to toe, top to bottom, turning the Flamesteel City Lord's newly condensed elemental form into scattered flames.
At the same time, the silver dragon landed.
The wind from the dragon wings blew away the pervasive flames and dust, revealing the devastated ground.
Garon stood in the pit created by the Flamesteel City Lord's fall, looking down at his claw.
In the dragon claw, a half-meter diameter core, shaped like a cluster of flames, emitted a dazzling elemental light.
"Legendary fire elemental core, so beautiful."
Garon focused, murmuring to himself.
He examined the legendary fire elemental core, its value possibly surpassing hundreds or thousands of ordinary fire attribute magic gems. This was the power source of a legendary fire giant, which, if used properly, could even nurture a second legendary fire element.
This was a treasure even ancient dragons would covet.
"It can be placed at the very top of my treasure mountain."
"Nidam, for now, your heart is my most precious collection. Be grateful for that."
Elemental cores, often called elemental hearts.
The surrounding flames condensed again, forming a small two-meter tall elemental form.
This size was that of the lowest-level small fire element.
Having its elemental core forcibly taken, the weakened Flamesteel City Lord looked ashen.
Garon moved his dragon head, slowly approaching the tiny elemental form.
"Nidam, we've crossed paths. I'll give you a chance. If you agree, I can return this elemental core to you, allowing you to regain your legendary strength, and you can continue to live as the Flamesteel City Lord."
Garon looked down at the small fire element.
Pausing, he continued, "The condition is, you must become my servant, loyal to me forever and ever."
Servant, not a follower like the red dragon and Krichten.
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