Galidos still carefully inspected every attacker who had infiltrated the wall from atop the wall. Although the three mercenary groups had repelled the main force of the attackers, this world was never short of professionals with strange abilities. Right at the start, Galidos had already slain four attackers who had managed to reach the wall using various abilities.
.........
"Yo, this is incredible, Adrian is actually angry. It seems Li Xi must have offended the dragon quite a bit," Adler exclaimed, dancing excitedly by the window as he explained the situation outside to the Grand Princess Fimo, bursting into childish laughter whenever he found something amusing.
"Look at Galidos's clean and decisive swordsmanship; it truly lives up to his S-class mercenary title."
However, upon seeing the numerically superior attackers, Adler declared, "This bunch only cares about money and not the bigger picture. What a waste of so much money to hire them! Besides a few with professional integrity, the rest just hide and stab from the shadows. To be entangled with these mercenaries for so long, they deserve to drown in a cesspool."
"They have the advantage in numbers and strength, yet they're being forced to fight defensively. How long will it take to break through the wall and enter the ancient castle's vicinity at this rate? It's such a waste of their excellent advantage."
At this moment, Adler seemed to have transformed into the verbose Tang Monk, talking about protecting the Princess while simultaneously criticizing the attackers for their indirect and ineffective tactics. It was quite a feat for him to play both roles.
"Roar!"
A colossal pillar-like club slammed down towards an open space outside the ancient castle window. The ground, which was just beginning to freeze, could not withstand such a heavy blow and was directly smashed in by a meter deep. As the club was pulled out, it was covered in a considerable amount of bright red bloodstains.
Below the deep crater, the remains of an infiltrator who had been smashed into a pulp showed only a pair of intact legs; all other parts had been reduced to mush. He was undeniably dead.
Adler's face lit up with joy at this sight. Pointing at Sun Er Dai, who was clad in full armor, he excitedly introduced to the Grand Princess Fimo, "Your Highness, behold the Mountain Ape. It already possessed sixth-level strength and considerable intelligence. Now, clad in this equipment forged by dwarves and wielding a weapon, it is simply an unreasonable brute. No one can withstand its violent strikes when caught off guard."
"This mercenary Li Xi has been making quite a fortune since he somehow found a group of dwarves. Princess Flin's judgment is truly excellent."
"Hmm?" A cold snort from Grand Princess Fimo made Adler sheepishly retract his words, no longer daring to bring up the subject. Anyone who had investigated Li Xi's background knew that he had two confidantes. How could the Grand Princess, who treasured Princess Flin like a gem, possibly agree to Flin marrying such a man?
Putting Flin aside, Adler, unable to bear the silence, continued to explain other situations. "Your Highness, do not underestimate this Mountain Ape. The fact that it could accurately strike down the assassin who eluded Galidos with a single blow just now proves its exceptional strength."
After listening to Adler's explanation, Grand Princess Fimo could not suppress her curiosity and looked at the Mountain Ape, which was as tall as the ancient castle. The Mountain Ape, holding the club that only it could wield, stood firmly in front of Flin.
Although Fimo could not clearly see the Mountain Ape's face, she seemed to have caught sight of a spinning, tailed orb with three pupils within one of its eyes from the side. Nevertheless, such a powerful magical beast earned a rare nod of approval from Fimo, whose standards were sky-high, indicating her agreement with Adler's praise for Sun Er Dai.
Sun Er Dai, clad in armor of the city defense weapon grade, was like a divine warrior from mythology. Simply standing there, he instilled a sense of security regardless of the enemy facing him.
Immediately, Adler, unable to contain himself, explained, "Your Highness, the pattern in the Mountain Ape's eyes is Li Xi's unique ocular power, an extraordinary ability. Historically, only his pair is recorded, and its exact capabilities are still unclear. However, based on its few simple uses so far, we can deduce its approximate abilities: first, exceptionally strong vision; second, keen insight; third, the ability to see through invisible enemies in a unique way. And now, a fourth: the ability to share these capabilities with his contracted magical beasts."
If Li Xi could hear these words, his scalp would surely tingle. He had only evolved to the three-tomoe Sharingan recently and had used it only a few times before it was almost completely deciphered. This demonstrated the immense power of the person behind it.
After evaluating the Sharingan's abilities, Adler marveled with evident admiration, "Magical abilities, a fortunate encounter. If Li Xi does not die and this ability can be inherited, his descendants will surely form a powerful family."
Grand Princess Fimo seemed not to hear Adler's words, her expression unchanged as she continued to watch the battle outside.
Meanwhile, Li Xi had flown high into the sky. Adrian, facing him, spoke with a cold, iron-like expression, "Li Xi, have you hunted dragons?"
Li Xi denied it without a second thought, "I haven't. I have never killed any dragons. However, my lover has a black dragon as a contracted magical beast."
Li Xi silently muttered to himself, the few he had tricked didn't count.
Upon hearing this, coupled with Li Xi's unblinking gaze, Adrian believed him. True experts disdained lying. He set aside his suspicions and even smiled, "I imagine that black dragon must hate you and is not friendly towards you."
Conversely, Li Xi did not understand the meaning of his words. "Why do you say that?"
Adrian chuckled evasively, refusing to answer Li Xi. The matter that could have caused such immense dragon resentment towards Li Xi must have been interesting. Adrian would not betray his kin; let Li Xi ponder it himself.
The murderous aura dissipated. Adrian reached out and gripped the thick, snow-laden clouds above. Lightning, which never appeared in winter, struck down directly in front of Li Xi. Although it was only a small beam, it broke the natural order.
Following the flash of lightning, Adrian's battle intent surged, "I, Adrian, the golden dragon born amidst lightning and a controller of lightning, shall defeat you here today."
Adrian charged into the sky, directly entering the snow clouds. As his body disappeared into the clouds, arcane draconic spells caused the energy to churn. The entire thick cloud layer immediately became a dance of silver snakes, accompanied by rumbling thunder that shook the earth. The originally dark sky and earth were illuminated with streaks of silver-white by the flashing lightning, as if a deity had become curious and turned its flash to maximum frequency.
"Li Xi, you must be careful."
Adrian, within the clouds, did not attack but continuously raised the energy limit of the lightning, causing the previously dense clouds to resemble a thunderous storm interwoven with thunderous serpents. The deafening roar of countless silver snakes was painful to the ears.
Such immense power of heaven and earth caused both sides engaged in fierce combat on the ground to slow their movements involuntarily. They frequently raised their heads in fear towards the anomaly that enveloped the sky. It was not that they were cowardly, but their hair, as if possessing life, was growing uncontrollably upwards, making them anxious. No matter how smoothly they styled their hair, it now stood on end like a stiff broom.
The oppressive power from above made everyone on the ground feel their insignificance. A single strike from the interwoven lightning storm could reduce them to dust, or if the entire mass of the thunderous storm above descended, their battlefield, including the wall in front and even the ancient castle, would be flattened.
From Galidos's perspective, the two warring factions on the ground looked like crops planted in the soil, and their upward-growing hair resembled seedlings being sown, so uniformly that it sent chills down his spine.
Such a move, which could affect such a large area even before it was unleashed, began to worry Galidos about Li Xi's ability to hold off Adrian.
Many began to have second thoughts. Before the two had even engaged, the electrical properties contained in the air were so potent that fine electrical sparks began to appear on their clashing weapons. Especially for warriors in thick armor, their entire bodies felt a tingling sensation as if receiving an electric shock. As the area was on the verge of becoming a world of lightning, if they accidentally leaked even a tiny bit during the fight, would not those with insufficient strength be struck down by the lightning?
The two figures in the sky paid no heed to the thoughts of those below. One was solely focused on how to suppress Li Xi, while the other was determined to bring down the golden dragon.
"Crack!"
A probing bolt of lightning struck down towards Li Xi. Li Xi casually threw a kunai in place and vanished with the Body Flicker Technique. The lightning bolt, aimed at Li Xi, struck the kunai directly, shattering the superior quality kunai into more than a dozen fragments.
"Such potent power."
"You can dodge one, but how will you dodge a thousand or ten thousand?" Adrian, within the clouds, manipulated the saturated thunderous power and unleashed it towards Li Xi.
The entire sky seemed to sprout a thousand lush ancient trees cultivated by lightning in that instant. A thousand trees bloomed with silver flowers, densely filling every inch of space. Naturally, Li Xi's figure was also buried amidst the countless bolts of lightning.
"Adrian is indeed a top-tier expert among the new generation of dragons. This move already possesses some characteristics of a domain. If Adrian were to advance to the level of an eight-level domain expert, his domain would undoubtedly be a lightning domain, controlling all lightning attributes within it, making it a formidable offensive domain," Adler explained Adrian's strength to the Grand Princess Fimo without reservation.
Perhaps it was the unprecedentedly dazzling magic that piqued the Grand Princess's interest. She rarely spoke but opened her mouth to ask, "Adrian is so powerful, can Li Xi defeat him?"
"Haha, Your Highness worries too much. Li Xi has already encountered such a level of power on his way to escort Princess Flin back to Eisenkard. That time, it was the storm used by the Priest of the Storm God, Seth, which was very similar to what Adrian is using now. And in the end, wasn't it easily neutralized by Li Xi? The same move against the same expert will not work a second time."
What followed indeed proved Adler's words. Amidst the countless flashing lightning bolts, a crimson energy phantom appeared, with two long, flowing energy tails swaying leisurely behind Li Xi.
Every time a lightning bolt struck the crimson energy outer layer around Li Xi, even if it caused ripples and caused large sections of the crimson outer layer to disappear, it would immediately recover and continue to protect Li Xi.
Countless lightning bolts rained down on the tailed beast outer layer. Li Xi stood rooted to the spot, unwavering. With the continuous supply of chakra from Isobu, the Three-Tails within the sealed space, Li Xi dared to stand there and engage Adrian in a battle of attrition.
"How is it? How long can you last?" Li Xi chatted with the two tailed beasts within the sealed space, having nothing else to do.
Isobu, the Three-Tails, floating on the sea surface, replied, "It doesn't matter. I can last for three days and three nights in a battle like this."
Matatabi, the Two-Tails, suddenly spoke, "I sensed two unprecedentedly powerful presences within that ancient castle. I can understand and accept one of them. However, the aura that briefly revealed itself just now frightened me. Even the Sage of Six Paths in the past did not give me such a feeling of helplessness and threat. Jinchuriki, you must be careful."
"Hmm, I also sensed that aura. It should be the Grand Princess's hidden trump card. Such immense power truly gives one the confidence to be fearless."
"Enough talk. I'm going to meet this golden dragon. It is said that golden dragons are the most powerful branch among all dragons. I want to see it for myself."
"Be careful, Jinchuriki. If you die, we all die."
"Don't worry, I have three lives now."
In the world of thunder and lightning, Li Xi shouted towards Adrian, whose figure was hidden in the sky, "Your move is useless against me. It's my turn next."
"Be my guest."
Although Adrian's words were dismissive, the lightning that had been bombarding the large area instantly seemed to activate a navigation system, narrowing the attack range to within a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters). It targeted Li Xi in a funnel-like manner, continuously attacking, increasing the pressure on Li Xi by hundreds of times. This showed Adrian's extreme caution towards Li Xi, leaving him no room to maneuver.
Faced with such intense attacks, Li Xi adopted a special approach. He took out two small scrolls from his spatial ring.
"Dual Rising Dragons."
Yes, these were the tool scrolls that Ten-Ten used during the Chunin Exams, capable of summoning a large number of iron weapons.
Li Xi was, of course, not using these rudimentary weapons to fight a seventh-level golden dragon. These weapons were probably not even enough for Adrian to pick his teeth.
What Li Xi was interested in was the iron component of the weapons themselves. Instantly, countless weapons appeared from the Dual Rising Dragons and shot out in all directions. The forest of lightning, composed of countless lightning bolts, seemed to see the sun like sunflowers, or a wild cat seeing a plump mouse, and all of them curved to chase after the weapons Li Xi threw.
This one move caused the lightning that had been attacking Li Xi to disappear. Adrian, who was manipulating the lightning to attack Li Xi in the sky, was astonished, his mouth agape. It was the first time he had seen someone break his move like this.
The moment Li Xi broke through Adrian's powerful attack, his chakra surged within him.
"Gate of Opening, Gate of Life, Gate of Rest."
"Open."