I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 451: The Clever Use of Mechanics

At this moment, the Blue Dragon felt immense pressure.If it were human, its forehead would be drenched in sweat by now.

The humanoid figure floating in the distance even reminded it of its adoptive mother, the Green Dragon Queen Aetherass. Of course, that wasn't to say Gauss's strength was comparable to an adult True Dragon—the pressure they gave off was completely different.

If the Green Dragon Queen represented overwhelming power, the helplessness a Juvenile Dragon felt facing an adult dragon, then the enemy in the distance gave it an extremely peculiar sensation.

Its oppressive pressure was far weaker than the Green Dragon Queen's, yet looking at it, a constant sense of dread kept surging up.

As if the other party possessed some special power targeting it specifically.

Although it was just a feeling, the Blue Dragon believed it without a doubt.

The stronger a creature, the more accurate its instincts often were, especially when it came to matters of life and death.

The countless ancestral powers stored within the dragon blood flowing through its veins seemed to be warning it that the enemy before it was an extremely terrifying opponent.

The Blue Dragon flew with all its might, putting distance between itself and Gauss.

On the other side, Gauss, who had fully absorbed the dragon bloodline, finally moved.

Earlier, because his physical condition hadn't stabilized, he hadn't gone all-out against the young Blue Dragon.

After all, the Blue Dragon was trapped inside the Silent Birdcage. As long as Gauss wanted to act within the specified time, he could do so whenever he pleased.

But his body was in an abnormal state, and using power too violently could trigger uncontrollable risks.

Fortunately, now everything was settled, and he could finally cut loose.

The power within Gauss's body had reached an unprecedented and formidable state.

It was as if a rampaging dragon had been sealed within his human frame.

Power! An overwhelmingly abundant power!

Mana also surged wildly through his body like a great river.

"Boom!!"

His waist-length white hair drifted gently.

The golden, True Dragon-like vertical pupils in his eyes glowed with terrifying brightness.

At this moment, his mind had also entered an exceptionally clear mode.

Earlier, to conserve some energy, he hadn't fully utilized the Dragon-Ghost Union. Now, there was no need to hold back.

This was another reason why the Blue Dragon perceived Gauss as rapidly growing stronger.

Gauss slowly turned his head to look at the distant, fast-flying figure.

It had already moved far enough away, circling around the edge of the Dragon Valley. The invisible barrier of the Silent Birdcage forced it to stay at the perimeter.

Four minutes, with six minutes remaining.

That was enough.

Gauss shrugged his shoulders.

The next moment, the energy dragon wings behind him expanded in size, extending brilliant trailing flames at their edges.

"Buzz!"

The dragon wings behind him vibrated.

The air around Gauss seemed to distort.

Faint black edges even appeared around his body, as if his movement was so fast it tore through the air.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Dozens of Gausses appeared simultaneously in mid-air, their trajectories forming a straight line directly toward the distant young Blue Dragon.

Witnessing this, the Blue Dragon immediately used every ounce of its strength to fly to the other side.

But its speed—several to even ten times faster than ordinary flying monsters—was still far too slow before Gauss now.

The distance between the man and the dragon was rapidly shrinking.

"What circle of Space Magic is this?"

The Blue Dragon caught the flickering Gauss in its peripheral vision, its heart filled with shock.

But its judgment was actually wrong.

Gauss wasn't using Dimension Door right now. This extreme speed was the result of Ghostly Energy and dragon bloodline enhancement, utilizing his dragon wings.

In terms of pure movement speed, dragon wing flight was even faster than Dimension Door.

After all, Dimension Door had a cooldown between uses, and its single maximum displacement was only 300 meters. Additionally, because it was point-to-point teleportation, the overall movement trajectory wasn't smooth, making it less useful against agile opponents than one might think.

But dragon wing flight, which easily broke the sound barrier, was much smoother.

Its only disadvantage was probably having to withstand the immense wind pressure head-on. However, Gauss was currently wrapped in a layer of Ghostly Energy armor, so it didn't affect him at all.

"Gone!"

Panicking as it flew at top speed, the Blue Dragon suddenly lost track of Gauss in its peripheral vision. Just as it felt uneasy—

"Tap!"

A hand landed on the edge of its dragon wing without warning.

Gauss had already flown to the back of its spine, right in its blind spot. That was why it had briefly lost sight of him.

"Boom!!"

A powerful repulsive force exploded from the Blue Dragon's body.

Gauss could feel the defensive magic on the Blue Dragon's skin activating, trying to blast him away.

This should be one of the Blue Dragon's protective spells.

Don't underestimate this repulsive force—it was very strong.

And with the Blue Dragon's speed, once the opponent was thrown off, it could easily use that time to create enough distance and then counterattack with offensive magic.

Much more useful than simple defense.

Unfortunately, although the force was strong, Gauss's arms, like steel claws, remained firmly locked onto the Blue Dragon's body.

The Ghostly Energy and dragon qi radiating from his skin fiercely clashed against the repulsive force.

Sensing that Gauss was already on its back, the Blue Dragon panicked even more.

Its body spiraled rapidly, going up and down, trying to combine the repulsive force with immense inertia to shake Gauss off.

But Gauss remained as steady as a mountain.

"Dawnbreak!"

Just as the Blue Dragon was about to crash into the mountain and use the sharp turn to smash Gauss into the cliff wall, the cold voice sounded from its back.

"Rip!"

Gauss had already adjusted his stance.

With a wave of his hand, he summoned a brilliant pillar of light that descended from the sky and landed on the Blue Dragon's other wing.

"Boom!!"

The moment the light touched the dragon wing, a tearing sound rang out.

The Blue Dragon's protective spell collided with the enhanced Dawnbreak.

After a brief stalemate, Gauss's Dawnbreak firmly gained the upper hand.

Under the holy light, dragon scales and leather began to peel off, flesh continuously evaporating in the radiance!

In a very short time, Dawnbreak blasted a massive hole through the relatively fragile dragon wing.

The reason for such an excellent effect was also thanks to the [True Dragon Killer] title.

That strike had dealt special damage.

"Roar!"

At first, the Blue Dragon didn't feel much, but soon it realized its body was spinning uncontrollably.

Although True Dragon flight wasn't solely dependent on the physical vibration of their wings—part of it was also magically enhanced—the massive hole in the wing and the spreading, continuous corrosion caused more harm than expected.

It felt as if the opening was extremely difficult to seal, and a troublesome force occupied the area around the wound.

It even felt no sensation there, as if it were no longer part of its body.

This was the true reason for its loss of flight control.

The high-speed Blue Dragon tumbled uncontrollably through the air before crashing into the valley floor with no way to stop itself.

Not far away, Hephaestus, who had just awakened from its evolution, happened to witness this scene and couldn't help shrinking its neck.

It recalled a not-so-pleasant memory, and even its body began to ache faintly.

It seemed that not too long ago, it had also been shot down by Gauss using a similar method.

And the commotion in the distance was even several times more intense than its own crash.

"Good thing..."

It couldn't help letting out a breath, feeling fortunate.

At least now, it was on Gauss's side.

After the relief, it used the reflection of the Black Dragon's blood pool on the ground to admire its current body with satisfaction.

Its size had grown considerably.

Earlier, its wingspan was close to 20 meters. Now, it had reached 23 meters, almost catching up to that 25-meter Blue Dragon.

The horns on its head had also grown much larger.

Previously, its small, rounded horns made it a bit self-conscious, as they were a sign of incomplete development. Now, the horns had grown significantly.

They were now a full fifty centimeters long, with sharp tips extending outward, making them more majestic and fierce.

More importantly, the dragon blood within its body seemed to have fully awakened.

That hot, rampaging power was now indistinguishable from pure Red Dragon True Blood, and even more blazing!

It had become incredibly strong!

Its scorching gaze couldn't help but turn to the distant battlefield, a glint of eagerness flashing in its eyes.

But after a moment, it shook its head.

That was Gauss's opponent. Although it really wanted to test its current true strength, it would leave the enemy to Gauss.

After all, without Gauss's command, it didn't dare act recklessly, afraid of making Gauss angry.

"Gurgle!"

Suddenly, a violent rumbling came from its stomach.

An intense hunger surged from its abdomen.

So hungry!

It looked around, and its gaze eventually landed on the Black Dragon that had been dead for a while.

I'll... just take one bite. Shouldn't be a big problem, right?

It swallowed its saliva.

Speaking of which, Hephaestus had never eaten dragon meat before. After all, it didn't have a self-harming tendency, so there was no reason to randomly bite itself.

It glanced again in Gauss's direction, then finally lowered its head toward the Black Dragon corpse, picking a relatively soft spot on the belly to bite.

Chew, chew, chew...

Soon, a complicated expression appeared on Hephaestus's face.

Black Dragon meat was like its breath—sour, even with a strange, faint, decaying odor.

Disgusting!

The only consolation was that the Black Dragon meat provided a strong sense of fullness.

Just one bite relieved much of the intense hunger caused by its post-evolution state.

Maybe... just one more bite?

Gauss had no idea that his mount, the Red Dragon, had already started eating.

Before the Blue Dragon hit the ground, he had already dismounted its back.

In an instant, he went from extreme speed to a complete stop.

"Boom!!"

The valley floor was smashed into a massive crater, with cracks spreading for hundreds of meters.

At the center of the depression, amidst the steaming hot mist, the Blue Dragon lay covered in blood.

The moment dragon blood left its body, it burned into white smoke.

A pitiful, battered state.

Even in such a seemingly dying condition, if one looked closely, they could see the Blue Dragon's heart area beating powerfully.

The thousands of wounds, big and small, on its body were also visibly healing through the rising white smoke.

Except... for the wound on its dragon wing caused by Gauss's Dawnbreak, which dealt special damage.

It could only be said that a True Dragon's vitality was far more tenacious than a cockroach's.

Unless it was a true damage effect like Gauss's, any non-fatal wound would heal in a very short time.

One could imagine how hopeless an ordinary creature would feel facing such an opponent.

The Blue Dragon slowly stood up from the massive crater.

"Crackle!"

Countless electric arcs scattered through the air.

In the brief moment of its self-healing, the Blue Dragon tried to unleash lightning magic to attack the floating Gauss above.

This detail showed that its injuries weren't as severe as they appeared.

Simple fall damage was far from enough to kill it.

Its protective spell was still actively working.

"Dispel Magic!"

Gauss swung the White Wand forward, and the many lightning serpents dissipating in the air were suddenly undone.

He glanced downward.

"Magic Missile!"

The True Dragon Killer title gave him a small chance to deal special damage.

Thus, the significance of high-frequency attacks became apparent.

"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Dozens of Magic Missiles burst forth from the tip of Gauss's staff.

In a blanket barrage, they rained down on the Blue Dragon crouching below, recovering its health.

"Bang!"

Most of the Magic Missiles landed on the Blue Dragon's body but were ruthlessly deflected by its protective spell, creating craters on the ground.

But a very small number of missiles triggered the special effect.

These missiles pierced through the Blue Dragon's protective spell and exploded on its body.

"Roar!!!"

The Blue Dragon soon felt a piercing, stabbing pain.

This strange power again!

The relentless, high-frequency missiles continued to fall.

Ordinary missiles could weaken the intensity of the Blue Dragon's protective spell, while those that triggered the special effect and critical hits dealt true damage.

The Blue Dragon, whether healing its wounds or replenishing its protective spell, required energy.

Normal creatures couldn't engage in such a war of attrition with it.

But Gauss was different. Under the Dragon-Ghost Union, his mana was no less than a dragon's—in fact, it was significantly more.

After all, he had abilities like [Feast] and [Three-Phase Source] to continuously replenish his mana.

"Boom! Boom!"

In less than a minute, Gauss fired hundreds of missiles in a torrential downpour.

Under Gauss's carpet bombing, the ground beneath the Blue Dragon was pressed down by one or two meters.

Its aura gradually waned.

Gauss, flying higher and higher in the sky, exchanged glances with the Blue Dragon below, whose eyes were filled with unwillingness.

"You want to drag me down with you before you die?"

The corner of Gauss's mouth lifted slightly as he spoke the piercing words calmly in the Dragon Language.

Of course, he wouldn't give the opponent that chance.

Unlike the other three dragons, this Blue Dragon, skilled in magic, seemed to have inherited more from its bloodline.

Facing a True Dragon with inherited knowledge, even if the opponent was weaker, one needed to be extremely cautious.

The young Blue Dragon's eyes flashed with hatred and despair as Gauss exposed its intention.

Just as Gauss guessed, its inheritance also contained a means of revenge before death.

By fully sacrificing its dragon blood, it could leave a Dragon's Curse on its enemy.

Unfortunately, while the curse could theoretically be cast remotely, when it realized its time was near and tried to cast the spell, it sensed another higher-dimensional force within Gauss's body preventing the curse.

So it probably needed to get closer to cast the curse on the enemy.

But even that only attempt seemed to have been seen through by him.

"Roar!!"

The Blue Dragon let out a furious roar, then its entire body blazed with brilliant blue light. The blood, filled with powerful mana, surged within its body, causing it to swell rapidly.

"Self-detonation?"

Gauss hadn't expected the opponent to be so ruthless—ready to blow itself up at a moment's notice, not even leaving him a complete corpse.

"Dawnbreak!"

He unleashed three consecutive Dawnbreaks, targeting the Blue Dragon's heart.

The third Dawnbreak triggered the title's special damage.

Because the Blue Dragon's protective spell had already been severely depleted, this attack was especially effective.

Of course, this wasn't a coincidence but pseudo-randomness. He had been counting silently earlier—none of the recent dozens of Magic Missiles had triggered a critical hit.

And the title's mechanic seemed to be that higher-level attack methods had a higher trigger probability. Combined with casting Dawnbreak three times in a row, successfully triggering it wasn't just pure luck.

"Boom!"

Just before the Blue Dragon could self-detonate.

A pillar of light descending from the sky pierced through its heart.

"Psh!"

Like a deflating balloon, the Blue Dragon's swollen body didn't explode but slowly shriveled.

"Kill: Transcendent creature Blue Dragon (Youth Stage) * 1"

Seeing the notification, Gauss let out a sigh of relief.

That hot, violent power was now indistinguishable from pure Red Dragon True Blood, and even more blazing!

The weak have no freedom to choose how they die.