"Five years ago, defeating Bray required effort. I suffered some minor injuries—nothing serious," I mused.
Bray, the gryphon I vanquished, was a formidable 13th-order beast at the time. Now, he's ascended to the 14th order, significantly stronger than before. Yet, if I were to face the Bray of five years ago now, my mind calculates that I could end the fight in a single blow, no matter his resistance. Even against my 14th-order self, the result would be the same: an instant kill.
"The 15th order is the threshold for mastery, the pinnacle of power for creatures like me. The gap between 14th and 15th order is immense—five times the strength, perhaps more. The me of the future would obliterate the current me in an instant," I concluded aloud.
Although these scenarios were constructed in my mind, even in real combat, the outcome would be no different. This leaves me with only one conclusion—my strength now rivals that of a 15th-order Bray.
The certainty of this realization settled in as I nodded. My immense mental power and the raw strength coursing through my 30-meter-long dragon form gave me confidence that even a newly matured red dragon would struggle to match me in raw power alone.
But calculations are just that—calculations. True strength must be tested in battle.
I made my decision then. Only through combat could I truly gauge my place in this world's hierarchy. Fortunately, Dragon Nest's forces have reported several top-order monsters in the western territories. I would hunt them, and if I triumphed, the territory of Dragon Nest would expand—and perhaps I could even gain a powerful new subordinate.
Though I remained calm in the face of such prospects, there was a quiet thrill. Victory would cement my dominance, and defeat… well, that wasn't a possibility I entertained for long.
---
The mainland in front of Skye was still under a lot of pressure.
The monsters in the Dragon Nest clan do not know the true strength of their master; they only know that he is very strong. Coupled with Barbatos's increasingly majestic figure, the hearts of the monsters in the Dragon Nest clan become more and more swollen. Many times, they are in the dark forest. They are unscrupulous and look down on elves, centaurs, and even the scumbag relatives of the Queen of Darkness.
---
Regarding this point, I was also troubled and couldn't express it, but Skye vaguely understood it, so he kept restraining the monsters below from provoking elves and centaurs. However, although Skye knows this, he still worships and believes fervently in me. Even if I say I can become a god, which I can, Skye will definitely nod. He absolutely believes that his master can become a great being like a god.
---
{Fourth Tier: Any Door}
A giant white light door, more than ten meters high, appeared in front of me in the dragon's nest.
Opposite the giant white light door is a giant forest of ancient trees, full of vitality.
I gathered my dragon wings and stepped through the giant gate. The next moment, I was more than a thousand kilometers away.
The tall and majestic white light giant door behind me quickly shrunk and disappeared.
{Second Tier: Invisibility}
My huge dragon body gradually disappeared into the air under the effect of the magic power of invisibility.
Flying into the sky, my sharp eyes began to look for the rock dragon among the three top monsters marked by Skye.
The rock dragon, one of the top sub-dragon creatures, can reach the 14th order as an adult. The rock dragon recorded in the dragon's nest is a mature rock dragon that has entered the top order of monsters.
Originally, I thought I would have to search for it for a while, but I was wrong.
As my huge dragon body was suspended in the sky, I looked at the grey-brown monster below that looked like a rugged rocky mountain, unconcealed in its figure.
As one of the top sub-dragon creatures, the rock dragon has no dragon wings, no flexible and slender body, and no dragon inheritance, but it has been greatly enhanced in other aspects.
For example, body shape.
I couldn't help but click my tongue when I looked at the gray-brown rock dragon below that was not inferior to me in terms of size and was even slightly larger than me.
"Is this a rock dragon in its prime?" The knowledge of dragon inheritance told me that the rock dragon in front of me was probably in its old age. It may also be that he is about to enter it.
I hesitated for a moment, wondering whether I should fight this big guy. If it was really an old rock dragon, its biological order would be at least 17th, or even 18th.
However, my hesitation was only for a moment. The next moment, I directly lifted the invisibility spell, revealed my huge dragon body, then retracted my dragon wings and fell boldly!
Mud, it's not easy to encounter such a big and powerful creature. If I don't have a good fight, how can I do it?
If I really can't beat him, I'll just leave through Any Door.
The huge noise woke up the sleeping rock dragon below. This terrifying creature had not opened its eyes for an unknown period of time. Its eyelids were as rough as giant rock shields and were covered with moss. I could still see it with my sharp vision. There were many big-headed ants crawling around on the moss.
The rock dragon's turbid gray eyes looked high into the sky, only to see a huge blurry black shadow falling down. The next moment, it felt the long-lost pain coming from its dragon body.
"Rumble~! BOOM!"
Under the impact of this pure brute force, the ground shook within a radius of several hundred meters, and cracks appeared one after another.
"ROAR!"
In the center of the smoke-filled battle, two giant beasts, one black and one gray, let out a roar, then collided and fought together without any dialogue or words.
A terrifying collision of flesh ensued. My claws swung down mercilessly, and the rugged steel rock on the opponent's body was instantly shattered, the gray scales underneath faintly visible due to the increased damage of the Armor Shredder skill.
The rock dragon felt that the rock armor on its back, which had been with it for hundreds of years, was destroyed. It was instantly angry. It lowered its huge dragon head, pointed the thick gray horn on its head at me, and slammed it.
At the critical moment, my claws caught the rock dragon's head in time, but my huge black dragon body was knocked backwards.
Among those of the same order, the rock dragon's power is more terrifying than that of a red dragon.
Terrifying brute strength, incredible physical defense and magic resistance, and a super-giant dragon body—combined, these traits make many teams that claim to have slain dragons (white dragons account for the majority) step aside, not wanting to provoke such a monster.
My body retreated hundreds of meters, a light blue luster flashed on my dragon scales, and the next moment, my strength increased slightly.
"The Water Element Strengthening is only a second-tier spell after all. As my strength increases, the bonus will become less and less," I thought silently in my mind.
Even with the blessing of return-to-nature level water element enhancement, I was still no match for this rock dragon in terms of strength.
The two giant beasts wrestled all the way, causing ancient trees to collapse within a radius of several miles, smoke and dust rising from the ground, and huge paw print pits appearing one after another. Despite the commotion, the surroundings remained eerily quiet. The rock dragon's mere presence had turned this area into a forbidden zone for other monsters and creatures.
The two giant beasts wrestled all the way, causing ancient trees to collapse within a radius of several miles, smoke and dust rising from the ground, and huge paw print pits appearing one after another. But even if there was such a huge commotion, the surroundings were still quiet. The rock dragon also has dragon power. When it is sleeping, it will unconsciously release a touch of dragon power. Over time, this area has become a forbidden area for monsters and creatures.
The two sides wrestled for a while, and the surrounding ground suddenly shook as thick thorns popped out.
At such close range, I couldn't dodge at all and was directly stabbed by several giant earth thorns. The dragon scales were shattered, and scarlet blood spilled.
After the rock dragon saw that its attack had injured the strange black dragon in front of it, its anger dissipated slightly. Then it raised its head and saw the third eye suddenly open in the middle of the black dragon's forehead.
A dark, evil eye.
The terrifying black light condensed, and the rock dragon sensed the danger. It wanted to avoid it, but my claws tightly hugged its head. The rock dragon let out a roar, bursting with terrifying brute force, and forcefully tried to escape from my claws. It broke away, but the black light condensed too fast, and the rock dragon couldn't avoid it at such close range.
In my expectant gaze, the black light broke through the rugged rock on the rock dragon's head, broke through the gray dragon scales wrapped in the rock, and then broke through a layer of rock armor. This seemed to be the rock dragon's defense; likely a spell-like ability. Then the black light collapsed and dissipated.
The two giant beasts faced each other, a hundred meters apart.
I glanced at the insignificant small wound on the rock dragon's forehead and fell silent. Although I still had some methods I hadn't used yet—such as darkness, acceleration, the spiritual impact of the magic eye, and dragon's breath, heat breath—none of them seemed sufficient.
Even such a terrifying physical attack as the black light of the Demon Eye had only caused minor injuries to the rock dragon. I estimated that even if I used all my methods, I might not be able to do anything to the other party.
Opposite me, the rock dragon examined the strange black dragon. If it was a black dragon, then a black dragon of this size was close to an old dragon in age.
But if it truly was an old black dragon, then its strength didn't match. The old black dragon is a nineteenth-order creature, and the rock dragon was only seventeenth-order. In the same order, it could still fight a black dragon with its terrifying defense, but if the difference was two orders, there was no way it could win.
"What kind of dragon are you? A strange black dragon?"
The rock dragon spoke, and its voice was dry and sharp, like the friction of stones.
I didn't speak, just nodded slightly.
"No wonder. I feel that your scent is still very young. You should be very young," the rock dragon gently sniffed the air, and a trace of surprise flashed in its gray and turbid dragon eyes.
"Oh, by the way, why did you come to attack me? We are all dragons," the rock dragon asked in confusion, seeming slow to react, then finally realizing the situation.
I was silent for a moment, then, with a swipe of my hand, the majestic Any Door appeared. I stepped into it without looking back.
Just as my figure was about to disappear, my voice faintly echoed,
"It was just a simple fight to see how strong you are."
Before it could respond, the black dragon disappeared.
The rock dragon stood there stupidly for a while, then silently found a flat, undamaged ground to lie down on.
It resumed sleeping.
The rocks on its back, head, and the broken mountain rocks around it slowly condensed and grew under the influence of some strange force, but the speed was very slow.
These rocks were not ordinary rocks, but rather the special dragon scales of the rock dragon. It was a magic-like ability, and their hardness was much more exaggerated than steel.
---
Dragon's Nest.
The black dragon stepped out of the light door. As I walked, I cast a few water therapy spells to treat the wounds on my body.
The main injuries were caused by the earth thorns, while the secondary ones were due to the damage to the muscle fibers of my dragon body during the wrestling with the rock dragon.
But overall, they were just minor injuries, nothing serious.
Although this battle ended a little hastily, it gave me a clear understanding of my current strength.
I was almost equivalent to the ordinary black dragon or white dragon at the 17th order (the delicious and lazy type).
If it were a human professional (ordinary type), I could probably fight a dozen at level 19.
The individuals compared above were the most ordinary individuals. Elite individuals, or even more terrifying geniuses, couldn't be counted among them.
"Absolutely right," I muttered to myself, quite satisfied—or rather, pleasantly surprised.
"I wonder if I can beat my mother?" I pondered for a moment, recalling how the Black Dragon Lady was injured by the Thunderstorm attack but still managed to kill the master-level wild dwarf bone-blood warrior with a single blow.
"Forget it. There's still a lot left to do," I concluded, aware of my limitations.
'My Black Dragon Lady is far from the typical black dragon that lazes about, merely consuming and waiting for the end. She's a true anomaly, a mutant among her kind. Her strength can't be judged solely by her rank. To make matters even more uncertain, I have no clue about the extent of her secret profession or which level that is at, nor the potential power she could unleash with the gear she has stashed away. She's a force beyond mere classification.'
---
Because of my growth in size, the vast dragon nest had expanded several times again.
A white dragon beast, without horns on its forehead, with short and thick limbs and a body length of about six meters, was playing around.
Behind him, two dragonborn maids, each standing two meters and two tall, were trotting after him. Their shapely white legs moved quickly, swaying up and down, which was extremely eye-catching. Their exposed navels were covered by small black dragon scales. Their dazzling white skin, mixed with linear dragon scales, was complemented by custom-made, oversized black and white maid outfits purchased from the human kingdom. Their voices were as clear as bells, quite pleasing to the ears.
I lay in the center of the stone throne, watching this scene happily.
Ever since I had the fight with the rock dragon and figured out my current level of strength, my worried mood had gradually calmed down.
My current strength was no longer weak. Although there were still many terrifying master-level experts and top-order creatures far beyond me in strength, with my excellent flying ability, escape spells, and acceleration spells, they couldn't win. If I wanted to leave, not many master-level experts could stop me.
Being able to run meant victory for me.
As long as the legends didn't emerge, I could already feel at ease to a certain extent. I no longer had to worry too much about being slain.
The highest mortality rate for chromatic dragons occurs between the teenage and young adult stages. Mortality rates are very low for dragons that reach adulthood. Moreover, a considerable portion of adult chromatic dragons died because they overstepped.
They frequently attacked human cities or cities of other intelligent races, annoying them to the point that they had to be eliminated, thus forming dragon-slaying armies or powerful dragon-slaying teams.
All in all, I had passed the most dangerous period. As long as I didn't go seeking death, I would basically remain safe and sound.
Just as the Kingdom of Albit and the Principality of Kass both know that there is an adult black dragon (Lyanna, Queen of Darkness) in the Dark Forest, but for decades, no dragon-slaying army or dragon-slaying team has ever entered the Dark Forest to slay her.
Slaying a dragon sounds noble, but often it's the dragon slayers who end up being slaughtered. Many times, the evil dragon doesn't need to defeat the dragon-slaying team head-on. As long as the team's energy is drained, the dragon is victorious.
Flying in the sky, breathing dragon fire, and casting spell-like attacks from time to time, the dragon's massive magic power and physical strength could easily last for three days and three nights. But many races don't have such long-lasting, high-intensity combat capabilities.
"Pup…"
Eirlys, the white dragon beast, bumped into my claws and fell to his knees, looking a little dazed.
My attention was drawn, and I lowered my head slightly.
Identification Technique.
[Biological order: Intermediate Fifth]
It had been almost five years since the little one came to Dragon's Nest. When it first arrived, the creature was at the high third order.
Compared to kobolds and goblins who also received void blood, the improvement in this order was actually very slow.
***
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