Bai Shi leaped into Agheel’s flames.
A raging storm erupted, parting the fire and keeping it at bay.
This time, Bai Shi had no desire for a fistfight. Fists were hardly effective against these flying dragons with their tough scales and hides.
Conveniently, the Dragon Communion warrior’s weapon from before looked rather good. He might as well borrow it.
But to Bai Shi's surprise, the Dragon Communion warrior and his horse had not died in the flames.
A blood-red barrier exuding a murderous aura enveloped him and his steed; Bai Shi didn't know what kind of ability it was.
However, the warrior’s armor was already glowing red-hot. Had Bai Shi not arrived, he likely would have been on the brink of death.
Seeing Bai Shi jump in and disperse the flames, he was overcome with the joy of having survived a catastrophe.
But before he could offer his thanks, he saw Bai Shi extend a hand toward him.
"Let me borrow your axe.""Ah? Oh, yes..."
Bai Shi took the great axe, tested its weight, and was very satisfied.
The axe was heavy and large, with a long handle. It looked like it had been forged to hunt colossal beasts. The handle was made from the bone of some unknown creature, while the blade was a pair of sharpened dragon horns.
Moreover, the axe possessed a peculiar quality, as if it were alive and desperately thirsting for blood.
Given its size and weight, it could probably be classified as a colossal weapon. Bai Shi had a fondness for such simple, brutal armaments.
This was especially true now that he could use a Great Rune to alter his size.
Bai Shi tore off his clothes, leaving only the loose-fitting battle kilt he had specifically asked someone to bring, which was wrapped around his waist.
He really needed to get a proper set of armor; having his clothes explode every time was not ideal.
Fortunately, a full set was right before his eyes.
Bai Shi’s figure grew taller and taller as the other attributes of his Great Rune converged on his four physical stats.
The great axe, which normally required two hands to wield, no longer seemed so large in Bai Shi's grasp; it was now just a one-handed axe.
Bai Shi glanced at his current appearance and, as if remembering something, let out a laugh.
"Heh, this suddenly reminds me of an old acquaintance."
It was like a certain someone who turned into a muscle-bound man at high noon, bore the Sin of Pride, and wielded an axe.
Bai Shi raised the axe with one hand and swung it down forcefully.
The Dragonwound Grease smeared on the axe blade was flung out with the swing, as bits of gravel and a red aura were carried on the blade of wind that Bai Shi created.
The massive wind blade cleaved through the lake water, parted the flames, and flew straight toward Agheel.
Agheel sensed the rapidly approaching danger. Without pausing its breath attack, it threw its body to one side, its flames scorching the nearby cliff face red.
Agheel’s dodge was timely; Bai Shi had originally been aiming for its head.
The blow ultimately landed on its left leg, leaving a gruesome gash with flesh peeled back.
Agheel felt a pain it had not experienced in a long time and went berserk.
Using its two wings and hind legs for support, it charged toward Bai Shi with unstoppable momentum.
Watching the massive, horned head rushing toward him, a smile tugged at the corner of Bai Shi’s mouth.
Time to stop this dragon's charge.
In a certain game, his favorite thing to do was stop a charging monster with a greatsword.
It had been a while. He wondered if his technique had gotten rusty.
Bai Shi pulled back his right hand, which gripped the axe, bent his left leg forward, and lowered his center of gravity, preparing for a powerful upward slash.
But he changed his mind at the last moment, switching the axe to his left hand while maintaining his posture.
The Dragon Communion warrior behind Bai Shi seemed to realize what he was about to do. The warrior’s eyes widened in disbelief.
In his view, Bai Shi must have been insane. Who else would be so arrogant as to try and face a flying dragon’s charge with their bare body!?
Agheel charged right up to Bai Shi and opened its cavernous maw. Bai Shi could even smell the acrid stench of its saliva.
But Bai Shi was smiling happily.
Even though he had said he would use a weapon, once the fight started, such trivialities were long forgotten.
Lopping off Agheel’s head with one swing of the axe would certainly be satisfying, but Bai Shi planned to play around a bit more.
The moment of conquering such a behemoth with sheer strength—just the thought of it made his blood boil.
Bai Shi twisted his body, and his right fist shot out, striking heavily at the base of the massive horn above Agheel’s nose.
The blow sent Agheel’s head recoiling, but its charge didn’t stop. It pushed against Bai Shi, forcing him backward.
The sludge at the bottom of the lake prevented Bai Shi from planting his feet, and he kept sliding back.
Ultimately, however, Agheel’s charge came to a halt. Bai Shi held its head back with a single hand, and no matter how hard it pushed, it could no longer move him an inch.
He had succeeded in stopping the dragon's charge with one hand.
Though he had slid back several meters, Bai Shi had finally stopped Agheel’s momentum.
Man and dragon were locked in a contest of strength, a stalemate.
The Dragon Communion warrior couldn't believe his eyes.
An ordinary person could not physically withstand the charge of a common flying dragon, let alone a renowned one many times its size.
But Bai Shi had done it, with just one punch.
Bai Shi's eyes burned with intensity as he stared into Agheel’s.
Stared at by those bloodthirsty, frenzied eyes, Agheel suddenly felt a strange panic in its heart.
It suddenly recalled an emotion it had only experienced once in its long life—fear.
It was from a time before it had become famous when an ancient dragon had set its sights on it.
Those eyes were exactly the same as the ones before it now.
No, they were different. That ancient dragon had only wanted to "play" with it.
But this enormous human was here to kill it!
Agheel spat a gout of flame and quickly retreated, trying to put distance between itself and Bai Shi.
But how could Bai Shi let it have its way? With a wave of his right hand, he scattered the flames, leaped into the air, and crashed down onto Agheel’s head.
Bai Shi landed on its head, grabbed its massive horn with his right hand, and hung on.
The axe in his left hand rose high, then chopped down toward the base of Agheel’s horn.
Agheel shook and thrashed its head wildly, trying to throw Bai Shi off.
But it was all in vain. Bai Shi remained firmly attached to its head.
In fact, under his relentless chopping, Agheel’s horn was on the verge of breaking.
"CRACK—"
With the final swing of the axe, Agheel's skyward-pointing horn snapped off.
Its horn was broken.
Agheel let out a mournful cry.
With the horn gone, Bai Shi had nothing left to hold onto and was shaken off.
After landing safely, Bai Shi licked his lips. He'd been an avid *Monster Hunter* player back in the day; part-breaking was his specialty.
He tossed the massive horn to the shore.
Its size and quality were quite good. Perhaps it could also be crafted into a weapon.
Agheel's fear was washed away by rage, its beastly instincts overwhelming its draconic intellect.
It was one of the mightiest of the flying dragons, yet its magnificent horn, a source of great pride, had been severed.
The horn was a symbol of a flying dragon’s status.
Agheel gathered terrifying power in its maw, preparing to breathe fire once more.
Bai Shi gave it no chance. He kicked it squarely in the jaw, and the flames exploded inside its mouth.
Agheel was not hurt by its own fire, but as its attack was interrupted, an intense sense of crisis welled up inside it.
It couldn't see Bai Shi and didn't know where he was, but the feeling of danger grew stronger and stronger.
It flapped its wings, wanting to fly into the air to catch its breath and observe Bai Shi's movements.
But as Agheel quickly ascended, it found no sign of Bai Shi in the lake. All that remained were the small flying dragon and the Dragon Communion warrior.
Agheel turned its long neck to look at its own back. Bai Shi was sitting there, the axe resting on his shoulder.
Seeing Agheel look back, Bai Shi gave it a wave and then began to muse to himself.
"Riding a dragon feels pretty good. I wonder if I can find an ancient dragon to ride in the future."
Agheel was furious. It thrashed its body wildly in the air, trying to throw Bai Shi off like an unruly steed.
Bai Shi stood up and placed his free hand on Agheel's back.
"Trying to run? I didn't say you could leave."
"Disobedient brats need to be taught a lesson."
A howling gale erupted, pressing down with immense force.
The powerful wind pressure bore down on Agheel's back. Even as it flapped its wings with all its might, it was gradually forced down from the sky.
Agheel crashed into the lake. With the water supporting it, it pushed itself up.
Bai Shi also jumped off Agheel and stood before it.
"I've had my fun. Time to end this."
A powerful body and deadly flames—a worthy descendant of the ancient dragons indeed.
Few of the common races in the Lands Between could compare to the flying dragons.
The species was strong, but in Bai Shi's eyes, that was the extent of it.
If it were their ancestors—the ancient dragons—they might have the power to contend with the demigods.
Bai Shi faced Agheel, gripped the axe with both hands, and raised it high above his head.
He took a deep breath, then swung down heavily.
A blade of air sliced past, and one of Agheel’s wings was shorn off.
Having lost a wing, it could no longer support its massive body, and Agheel toppled to its side.
Agheel roared, as if to suppress the pain.
It turned to flee, but how could a flightless dragon escape?
Bai Shi executed a jumping slash, severing Agheel’s massive head.
The huge dragon head rolled a couple of times, its eyes still wide with terror and fury.
Bai Shi stood on Agheel’s corpse, carefully examining its scales and hide.
Though the defensive properties of the scales were certainly no match for the immortal stone scales of the ancient dragons, they were still materials befitting his current level of combat.
As for the dragonhide, its elasticity wasn't bad. He wondered if Hewg could forge armor that could change size along with his body.
Blood flowing from Agheel's corpse stained the lake red.
Countless prawns and crabs that had fled earlier now returned, constantly trying to approach the body.
Dragon blood and dragon flesh held an unparalleled attraction for these creatures.
Bai Shi glared at the crowd of prawns and crabs, releasing an intense pressure.
Intimidated, the creatures turned and fled for their lives.
Bai Shi didn't know how to skin it, so he had to ask the Stormhawk King to send a bird to Stormveil to fetch someone.
He'd have the corpse moved back to Stormveil first, then ask Hewg how to process the materials.
If it proved too difficult, he might have to go to Ranni and see if he could get the blacksmith Iji to make a house call to craft some gear.
With another swing of his axe, Bai Shi beheaded the small flying dragon that was trying to inch its way to safety.
Next, he moved to the abdomen of Agheel's corpse, wanting to take out the dragon heart first.
The Great Rune could analyze the power of a dragon heart, and Bai Shi wanted to see how it worked.
Besides, the Dragon Communion incantations were very cool.
After examining the corpse for a while, Bai Shi realized he had no idea where the heart was located.
Fortunately, there was someone nearby who did know.
Bai Shi looked at the Dragon Communion warrior standing to the side and beckoned him over.
"You over there, you know where the dragon heart is, right?"
When the Dragon Communion warrior heard Bai Shi call, he hesitated for a moment but still walked over.
He was obsessed with power, willing to consume dragon hearts and perform the Dragon Communion ritual in its pursuit. He was a firm believer in the principle that might makes right.
Faced with a powerhouse like Bai Shi, he naturally knew he had no right to refuse.
"Shall I retrieve it for you?"
"That would be great. By the way, I have a use for the scales and hide, so try not to damage them too much."
Bai Shi handed the axe back, returning it to its owner.
The Dragon Communion warrior took the axe with both hands and began to laboriously cut an opening in Agheel’s abdomen.
While the man was working, Bai Shi started a conversation.
"I see you're wearing the armor of a Storm Knight, but I've never seen you in Stormveil. Who are you, and where are you from?"
The Dragon Communion warrior was taken aback by Bai Shi's question.
"A Storm Knight... I suppose so. I am Moraga, a descendant of the Caelid Storm Knights."
"You're from Caelid?"
Caelid was a long way from here.
"You're pretty strong. Want to work for me?"
"I have quite a few Storm Knights under my command, but this is the first time I've met one who practices Dragon Communion."
Bai Shi considered recruiting him. Although practitioners of Dragon Communion were often unstable and gradually became less than human, their strength was the real deal. They would be good for sending on missions, and he wouldn’t have to worry about them turning into magma wyrms inside the city.
But Moraga refused.
"My apologies. The path I seek is a bloody and foul one. My company will only bring misfortune."
Bai Shi wasn't angry at the refusal. He continued to ask him about dragons.
"The heart can be used for Dragon Communion, and the hide and scales can be made into armor. Is there any use for the flesh and blood?"
Moraga cut through Agheel’s muscles layer by layer, gradually revealing the massive dragon heart.
"Yes. Bathing in dragon blood and eating dragon flesh can make a creature stronger. My horse, for example, bathed in dragon blood with me, so it's much hardier than an ordinary horse."
"The bones and that horn can be forged into very powerful weapons."
"But be careful. Bathing in dragon blood will plunge a creature into a bloodthirsty state. This horse will only drink blood now. Humans have a higher resistance; at least, I can still control myself."
"The more powerful the dragon, the better the effect of its blood. However, for a body as powerful as yours, I fear even Agheel's blood will have a negligible effect."
Moraga reached into Agheel's corpse and pulled out a heart the size of a man’s torso.
The gravel stone scales arranged on the heart still gave off a continuous, faint pulse.
Moraga respectfully handed the heart to Bai Shi, then prepared to take his leave.
Bai Shi stopped him and pointed to the small dragon's corpse nearby.
"That dragon, you don't want it?"
Moraga was greatly surprised. His hunt had been a failure, and he would have lost his life if Bai Shi hadn't saved him.
"I do. But my hunt failed. This is your spoil of war."
Bai Shi waved his hand dismissively. He didn't need the heart for Dragon Communion, so he might as well have Moraga deal with the corpse and skin it.
"It's fine. I don't need it for Dragon Communion. You know how to skin it, right? Skin this one for me, and that other dragon is yours."
"And while you're at it, there's quite a bit more I'd like to ask you."