Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 223 - 222: Rumors Fall Behind

Chapter 223: Chapter 222: Rumors Fall Behind

A burly man and a fully armed warrior—who would be more imposing? There’s no doubt it’s the latter.

A fully armed Leon had more charisma than anyone else.

The Dragon Armor didn’t cover Leon’s entire body, only a few critical areas... honestly, it was practically useless. At this point, he possessed the Vajra Body, and the Dragon Armor was purely decorative, leaving large swathes of his scales exposed.

The scales, glimmering like rubies under the sunlight, made Grice somewhat envious. "With scales like those, who needs Dragon Armor? They’re flashy but useless," he remarked.

Leon simply thought for a moment and stayed silent.

"Can we start now?" Grice asked. "I can’t wait to tear that Dragon Armor off you."

"Whenever you’re ready," Leon replied, glancing at Cecilia. "Why don’t you call it?"

"Start!" Cecilia eagerly waved her hand.

The battle began. Leon didn’t rush to attack; he simply activated his Vajra Body. Ferocity was unnecessary, and Downy Hairs wouldn’t be needed, either.

Leon stayed still, but Grice moved quickly. With a low growl, he activated Frightening Majesty—which, predictably, had no effect—and closed the distance in a few strides, raising a claw to strike Leon.

If the mature Red Dragon Angmog couldn’t harm Leon in his teenage dragon years, then Grice, who was barely approaching adulthood, was deluding himself if he thought he could injure a teenage dragon who had only grown stronger.

Had he faced just Grice alone, Leon wouldn’t even need to activate his Vajra Body; its passive effects alone would have sufficed.

Leon activated the Vajra Body primarily for Duens. As the squad captain under Caslak, he wielded the Star Realm Silver Sword—a tremendously powerful weapon capable of inflicting psychic damage. It was definitely formidable.

Duens didn’t disappoint. As Grice lunged at Leon, Duens leaped onto Leon, aiming his sword at the gaps between Leon’s scales, only to find that no matter how much force he applied, the sword couldn’t penetrate.

Indeed, there was something peculiar about this Red Dragon. He hadn’t issued a blind challenge to their group out of arrogance. Grice’s earlier suspicion about the Cliff Sword dealing the final blow to the mature Red Dragon through opportunistic means—after it was worn down by a group assault—seemed incorrect.

In any case, how could they not respond to such provocation? To lose against a lone opponent despite their numbers... what a disgrace that would be.

With this thought, Duens’s gaze shifted to Leon’s wings. If the scales were invulnerable, surely the wing membranes couldn’t withstand his attack. He swung his sword, but the rebound from the impact left him momentarily stunned.

It was one thing for the membranes to be tough enough to resist his attacks, but membranes as hard as diamonds were almost unimaginable.

Duens, even with the Star Realm Silver Sword, could not harm Leon. As for Biska, the Githyanki Knight, she was essentially Duens’s inferior version—a mere filler. But the real bystander was Salovis, who hadn’t made a single move from start to finish.

Her reasoning was simple: once they were gone post-battle, there’d be no protection from Leon’s potential retaliation. She intended to stay here, relying entirely on her elder brother. Without him, she wouldn’t dare provoke Blue Dragons, Green Dragons, Efreeti—or even that Bronze Dragon lingering nearby.

"I’m standing still, letting you attack without resistance, and you still can’t hurt me," Leon said. "Truly pathetic."

"Don’t get cocky!" Grice roared, sinking his teeth into Leon’s arm. He already knew he couldn’t bite through Leon’s scales, so he switched tactics, shaking his head to tear and pull.

Even this was ineffective. Unwillingly, he resorted to rolling.

"Is this the so-called death roll?" Leon remarked, recalling crocodiles performing such death rolls—spinning their bodies while biting prey to rip it apart with immense torque. It was his first time seeing a dragon execute one.

After a full spin, exposing his belly and twisting his neck halfway, Leon’s arm remained entirely motionless. Grice let go, awkwardly revealing Leon’s unscathed arm. He wanted to speak but didn’t know where to begin.

Leon let them attack for several minutes before raising his sword and waving it once. "Didn’t you all want to see me use a sword? Allow me to show you now."

Leon wasted no time. He swung his sword at Grice, leaving only a shallow mark on Grice’s scales with his slash.

As a Red Dragon, Grice’s scales were also incredibly tough. Leon’s strength, while comparable to that of a young or adult dragon, wasn’t enough to chop through Grice’s scales with a single strike to deliver critical damage.

Leon did not despair, aiming for the weaker sections of Grice’s scales and swinging again. However, this time Grice didn’t give him another chance; with a wingbeat, he propelled himself far away.

There were still two enemies nearby. Leon didn’t chase Grice, instead turning toward Duens and Biska.

Biska didn’t hesitate. As a Githyanki who innately mastered Spiritual Energy, she used Mysterious Steps to escape Leon’s reach.

Duens, however, didn’t retreat. With a wave of his hand, he cast the Obscuring Technique. His figure blurred, wavered, and flickered—making his attacks harder to target, as if under a sustained spell.

"Don’t you know I have True Vision?" Leon said. The technique might affect others, but thanks to the Heavenly Eye Technique granting him True Vision, it had no effect on Leon.

Of course, while Leon could see through the illusion, that only ensured his attack rolls weren’t disadvantaged. Duens could still dodge and block. At some point, he had used the Jumping Technique, leaping several meters to evade Leon’s attacks with ease.

Duens also retreated far away.

While Leon could walk using his human-like legs post-transformation, he found it bothersome. Tossing his sword away, he activated the Sword Control Technique.

The flying sword circled once, failing to hit Duens or Biska. Despite striking Grice several times, Leon was unable to bypass Grice’s scale defense and ultimately recalled his blade.

"Is that all your attack amounts to?" Grice taunted, sporting several gashes the size of a normal human’s thigh. Yet, given his massive frame, they were relatively insignificant. "So you’re just good at taking hits."

"I was simply showing off some swordplay earlier," Leon said, slightly lowering his gaze. "I hope you won’t cry in a moment."

As soon as he finished speaking, Leon roared, activating Ferocity and Gathering Form and Scattering Energy, disappearing from view. The next moment, he reappeared beside Grice, targeting a weak point in his scales and delivering a Shadow-breaking Strike that drove his sword halfway in.

Without hesitation, Leon took a deep breath and unleashed the Samadhi True Fire onto Grice, scorching his scales until they dulled. With a claw, he ripped away the scales, exposing the blood-soaked, pulsing muscles below.

"How about now?" Leon pressed Grice’s head to the ground. "Do you want to continue?"

Grice tried to struggle, but when he met Leon’s gaze, his heart skipped a beat in fear. Not wanting to die, he stayed obediently still.

Leon released Grice, withdrew his sword, and turned to Duens. Without swinging his blade, he wrinkled his nose and fired a barrage of Hand Palm Bombs.

Duens, unaware that Hand Palm Bombs were similar to Arcane Missiles and could track foes, jumped and rolled repeatedly, only to be hit anyway. Finally realizing what was happening, he hesitated for just a second before surrendering.

Biska, merely a Githyanki Knight with a challenge level far inferior to Leon’s, was pinned down by a perfectly cast immobilization spell before she could even surrender.

"Now it’s your turn." Leon stood, his height surpassing Salovis’s even while she stood on all fours.

"Brother..." Salovis gazed at Leon, memories of their first meeting surfacing. She had been shouting outside a hole Leon had dug when he emerged dragging a sword, standing tall and looking at her just like this. "Isn’t this how we first met?"

The buried memories resurfaced. Leon also recalled their first encounter, his heart stirring slightly. With a smile, he said, "You probably never imagined this day would come."

"Not at all, not even a little," Salovis exclaimed excitedly. She had come to terms with it—this was her brother, and the stronger he was, the better.

"Honestly, I hadn’t imagined this day either," Leon admitted, feeling somewhat sentimental. Who would’ve thought the baby dragon who once survived on snails and crabs would come this far?

"But Brother, isn’t your nickname ’Cliff Sword?’" Salovis, having witnessed the entire battle, added, "Why does your swordsmanship seem so average?"

"The nickname ’Cliff Sword’ primarily serves to highlight that I’m a sword-wielding Red Dragon... more or less," Leon mused. The Sword Control Technique was gradually falling behind compared to the Samadhi True Fire and other techniques he’d learned later. He needed to step up his game. "Just because I use a sword doesn’t mean it’s my strongest suit; magic is my true forte."

"I believe you killed a mature Red Dragon now," Salovis said. "But even so, can it really make you that strong?"

"What do you know? That wasn’t just a mature Red Dragon; it was in Blood Scale Frenzy." Leon wrinkled his nose. "And that was years ago. Compared to back then, I’ve grown far stronger."

Salovis’s eyes widened as realization struck. "So you’re saying those rumors didn’t exaggerate you—instead, they underestimated you."

"It’s not that they underestimated me, just that they lagged behind and lacked full understanding." Leon reverted to his human form.

After that battle, negotiations for their subsequent collaboration proceeded smoothly and wrapped up within an hour.

Leon heard the familiar "ding" sound he hadn’t heard in ages.

"Worker Bee—Before starting a business, take on a job."

"Ordinary Reward: Feng Shui Basics."