CHAPTER 185: THE DRAGON OF DESTRUCTION—2

Leon thought the dragon in the sky had ignored his taunts. He couldn’t have been more wrong.

It was far from the truth.

After a yawn from the dragon, its eyes locked directly onto Leon. Its energy surged, but to the pitiful creature before it, Leon was too weak to even warrant descending personally. The dragon decided to end him from where it floated in the sky.

It opened its mouth, and an astronomical amount of golden lightning began to accumulate in front of it, forming a growing sphere.

Leon trembled when the energy level surpassed even that of the previous sword. I’ve faced death before, but never something that looked so certain. Not even the sword felt this final.

He quickly began working on creating the black hole to counter the attack—it was his only bet.

Raaah! He pushed himself to the limit as that abomination’s attack could come at him at any moment.

A humongous beam of pure energy tore through the air with a thunderous sound, its speed far too fast. At the last possible moment before it could erase him, his black hole completed.

Unlike with the sword, due to his extraordinary control, the attack was completely sucked into the hole. Leon was only slightly burned before escaping to a safe distance, the burns a result of the immense energy the attack contained.

Other than that, he was completely fine, thanks to the compatibility of his black hole with the attack.

The dragon’s golden eyebrows twitched for a moment, but it didn’t get angry or charge. Instead, it snorted through its imaginary nose and began generating another breath of abomination.

This time, however, the energy accumulation was much faster.

Leon’s whole body trembled in fear—he knew he was done for.

I can’t create the black hole this fast. I’ll die. I have to somehow make it attack me up close, or else I’m finished. My provocation earlier seemed to have some effect; I have to make it angry enough to come down, so I can make the source of everything—the dragon itself—disappear.

He took a deep breath and prayed this would work.

"YOU DAMN FLYING LIZARD! ARE YOU REALLY THAT SCARED TO ATTACK ME HEAD-ON?"

"I SEE NOTHING BUT A COWARD LIZARD WITH WINGS IN FRONT OF ME!"

"GROW A PAIR AND FIGHT ME HEAD-ON, YOU PUSSY LIZARD!"

The dragon, hearing those words from an even weaker being, abruptly closed its mouth, stopping the attack.

The aura around it changed completely, as if it had heard something that could never be ignored.

ROOOOOAAARRRRRRR!!!

An earth-shattering roar made Leon take two steps back just from the pressure alone. Every instinct screams at me to kneel... but I’d rather die standing.

Despite his fear, excitement bloomed within him—this was his chance to deal with the abomination.

It flapped its wings. Leon was already in his strongest form, so he wouldn’t die from just one attack; at the very least, he could dodge.

He worked on forming the black hole simultaneously.

The dragon flapped its wings a single time in his direction. Leon’s sharp eyes locked onto it, ready to move.

Despite its massive size, it vanished from the sky. Leon felt an enormous presence within his range, thanks to his spatial awareness.

Oh shit, I’m fucked.

The massive form closed in on his small body. He barely managed to teleport far away while covering himself with his hands to block the attack.

He didn’t teleport far enough—the dragon’s claw made contact with his body.

CRRRAAACK! His ribs splintered like brittle glass under the sheer weight of the strike, the sound lost beneath the dragon’s lingering roar. I’ve been hit before, but never like this. This isn’t just pain—it’s the kind that tries to erase you.

When he reappeared at a distance, his body was hurled back like a skipping stone, each impact carving out a fresh crater until he slammed into a half-buried boulder that cracked under the force. The bones in his hand were completely crushed, his chest caved in from the force of the dragon’s strike.

He left a path of destruction hundreds of meters long before coming to a stop, blood pouring from his mouth. He barely recovered thanks to the lingering effect of the elixir, only for the creature to be on him once again.

Another attack struck his side, which he barely blocked. The blow sent him skipping across the ground like a stone over water, each impact carving out a fresh crater until he slammed into a half-buried boulder that cracked under the force.

ROOOAAARRRR!

Instead of feeling satisfied toying with the one who had insulted it, the dragon became even angrier that the weak being had still not died.

The relentless assault continued. Each strike spun him in the air like a leaf in a hurricane, the world a blur of sky, dirt, and flashing gold before the next blow caught him. Every time he hit the earth, stone split and dirt geysered upward, the battlefield scarred by deep furrows and shattered boulders.

The effects of the elixir were wearing off—he had to use his life element to heal himself just to avoid dying from the second attack.

This is so unfair... how can I ever win against this monster?

The thought flickered in his mind, but he ignored it. I can’t accept this. I won’t die here—not like this. I will survive.

He didn’t even have time to drink the elixir, but his will refused to give up. His mind pushed his body to its limits.

An elixir materialized from his inventory. He tried to use his spatial element to manipulate it.

Still, he was once again launched sideways, ribs screaming as blood filled his mouth. He landed in a heap, the taste of copper sharp on his tongue and dust choking his lungs.

He barely stood, using his element and spending mana like water.

The same cycle repeated five times consecutively. On the fifth attempt, with only a quarter of his mana left, it worked.

Leon felt the warm, bitter liquid pour directly into his mouth, the scent of herbs flooding his senses. He gulped it down fully, a smirk forming on his face. Finally... now let’s see if I can make you regret leaving me breathing.

This time, he wasn’t helplessly thrown around. Between the dragon’s attacks, he managed to compose his stance. His wounds healed, and he drained a mana potion to refill his reserves.

For a moment, the dragon was startled—the human still stood after its attack.

Even so, Leon knew he didn’t have nearly enough time to create an attack that would work on the dragon directly.

A plan began to form in his mind. His range of spatial awareness expanded to one kilometer around him.

His mana drained continuously, but for the plan to work perfectly, he needed that spatial awareness.

The massive creature attacked him head-on again, ferociously. He was thrown back once more, but this time he didn’t drink the potion midair. Instead, he waited until his body hit the ground, making it look to the dragon as though he was using his life energy to heal.

In reality, his mana was being used somewhere else entirely.

The dragon snorted, assuming the previous recovery had been a fluke.

Leon, while enduring the dragon’s brutal beatings, kept only one thought in his mind.

As soon as my plan works, this dragon will realize how big a mistake it made fighting me head-on... and by then, it’ll be too late for this prideful creature to regret it.