Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 310 - 305: The Indestructible Cockroach

Chapter 310: Chapter 305: The Indestructible Cockroach

Storm Predecessor was somewhat at a loss upon seeing the sudden appearance of the Kraken.

The Kraken—it was the Kraken. Even if it was a Kraken transformed through Shape Shifting... Shape Shifting isn’t something you can just change into arbitrarily. There’s a prerequisite: the Spellcaster must be stronger than the creature they are transforming into. Such powerful Spellcasters are likely rare across the entire world.

"Who are you? Who exactly are you?" The Kraken quickly noticed Leon changing from Storm Predecessor to Kraken. It was hard to imagine the disbelief on the face of a creature with such an evil fish-like head. It was even harder to imagine telepathy conveying an incredulous tone. "You’re not the Kraken."

"If I’m not the Kraken, then what am I?" Leon sprawled on the seafloor, moving like a bottom-dwelling fish, vigorously wagging the ten tentacles of his tail, baring his claws and fangs.

"I’ll figure it out after I kill you." The Kraken bared a mouthful of sharp teeth.

"You don’t even know who’s going to kill who yet." Leon’s eyes shifted—it was better to strike first than suffer later. He launched his attack, though not toward the Kraken but toward Storm Predecessor. The long-standing tradition of eliminating minor foes first couldn’t be forgotten.

Leon surged forward with all limbs, stirring up a cloud of sand as he rushed to Storm Predecessor, pinning him down and rapidly entwining his limbs with his tentacles.

Storm Predecessor, being a corrupted Storm Giant, was even more formidable than a regular Storm Giant, with a challenge level that wasn’t low. His strength was immense, but alas, his opponent was Leon transformed into a Kraken, a titanic behemoth whose power couldn’t be resisted by the mere giant abnormality.

The fierce struggle didn’t let Storm Predecessor escape Leon’s Binding. On the contrary, each attempt that caused a violent vibration in the surrounding seawater only made Leon wrap his tentacles tighter.

Storm Predecessor could only futilely use his claws to tear at Leon’s tentacles. Each slash left a wound, but alas, the Kraken-form Leon had thick skin and sturdy flesh.

The frontlines were already chaotic, with combat in full swing. Naturally, the Kraken wouldn’t merely observe from the sidelines.

It attempted to conjure three Lightning Beams through magic. These magically-created beams of lightning glowed brightly in the deep sea, shining like sharp daggers unaffected by the conductivity of seawater. It launched them straight toward Leon’s head, but the lightning proved entirely ineffective against him.

Abandoning the use of Lightning Storm, the Kraken began wielding its tentacles to lash at Leon. By this time, Leon had already bound Storm Predecessor, opening his massive mouth to bite into the giant’s shoulder—a single bite and pull took out a large chunk of flesh...

Storm Predecessor, being a giant abnormality, had bones stronger than any steel. Even the Kraken-shaped Leon couldn’t easily rip off his arm.

If Storm Predecessor was akin to a cheetah, then Leon was a lion. A lion could easily suppress a cheetah, but killing it would require some effort.

It was hard to say whether Leon had locked down Storm Predecessor, or if Storm Predecessor had locked down Leon.

Either way, Storm Predecessor couldn’t move, and neither could Leon. Seven of his ten tentacles were used to bind Storm Predecessor’s limbs and body, leaving three unable to resist the Kraken.

Leon’s defensive tentacles came under attack from the Kraken’s tentacles. His defenses fell apart, and no matter how tough his skin—though Kraken skin wasn’t as hard as dragon scales, and its defense rating wasn’t as high as a dragon’s—it couldn’t endure the Kraken’s sustained strikes and bites. Soon, countless wounds appeared, staining the surrounding seawater with blood.

Leon eventually managed to rip off one of Storm Predecessor’s arms—or rather, twisted it off—and one of his tentacles was rendered immobile from the Kraken’s violent tugging.

Storm Predecessor’s vitality was astonishing.

Only heavens knew how long it took Leon to finally kill him, using his tentacles to pry open Storm Predecessor’s mouth, stabbing into his throat, twisting his body into a mess. Meanwhile, Leon lost three tentacles to the Kraken’s attacks, with two more rendered useless, leaving countless wounds of varying severity.

The chaotic Sahuagin and Sea Evil Spirits weren’t worth mentioning, nor were the Water Elements. They couldn’t even qualify to watch or jeer on the sidelines. In the grand melee between Leon, Storm Predecessor, and the Kraken, they were just small fry—trampled to death or injured at the slightest collision... Leon could finally face the Kraken one-on-one.

"You shouldn’t have wasted so much effort on Storm Predecessor. You could’ve ignored him." The Kraken stared at the battered Leon.

"And let the two of you gang up on me?" Leon’s eyes glowed fiercely in the darkness, growling low as he swept his fins forward toward the Kraken.

The two colossal Krakens collided with each other, engaging in pure brute-force wrestling, no techniques—just raw power—entangling their massive bodies as they rolled through the water, stirring up the seafloor’s sand, rapidly muddying the surrounding waters.

Leon, who had endured too many attacks from the Kraken while killing Storm Predecessor, now had only half of his tentacles still functional. What’s more, this was the Kraken’s lair, and the Kraken could harness magical energy from the lair. As the battle intensified, Leon gradually found himself at a disadvantage.

His dwindling tentacles and fin wounds left him near death, though he did manage to tear off one of the Kraken’s tentacles—it wasn’t a total loss.

"You’re losing."

The Kraken, better acquainted with its kind than anyone, knew a Kraken’s weak points were in its hearts—two in the chest, one in the back, and one at the base of its tail. It tore into Leon’s Kraken form, ripping through the skin and using tentacles to locate and crush his hearts one by one.

Leon could distinctly feel his vitality slipping away. Without hesitation, he dissolved the transformed state, swiftly invoked 72 Transformations again, and a brand-new Kraken materialized... Thankfully, he’d consumed plenty of natural Immortal Pills; otherwise, he’d have no Mana left to transform first into Storm Predecessor, then Kraken, and now Kraken again.

Leon roared and lunged at the Kraken once more, this time with much greater caution since he didn’t have enough Mana for another Kraken transformation.

"How can you still transform?" The Kraken swore it was witnessing something absurd. "I’ll just kill you again."

The new battle commenced.

After such prolonged fighting, if this were a game, Leon would now have read through the Kraken’s skill descriptions, becoming more familiar with using the Kraken’s body.

Even so, while Leon improved, the Kraken had lost a tentacle in the previous fight—a minor injury, perhaps—yet it remained confident, even pressing an advantage against Leon at times...

To reiterate, this was the Kraken’s lair. Here it could continually absorb the abundant magical energy in the habitat, leveraging various benefits. No matter what, an imposter Kraken couldn’t rival the real thing.

Predictably, Leon lost again, but the Kraken didn’t come away unscathed either. Leon’s attacks had left cracks in its body, exposing its heart. Its tentacles were reduced to a scant few that remained usable.

"Show me what tricks you still have..."

The Kraken stared at Leon, waiting as long as it dared without another Kraken appearing. After finally relaxing... though severely injured, it needed only some time—perhaps a few days—for its shell to heal, and its damaged hearts would regenerate. Suddenly, it saw an elderly Green Dragon emerge.

Not again?

Leon wanted to transform into another Kraken, but he only had enough Mana to become an elderly Green Dragon... He figured an Adult Dragon Turtle would be inferior to an elderly Green Dragon.

"You’re a dragon?" The Kraken couldn’t discern if the creature before it was truly a dragon, given its previous shifts into Storm Predecessor and Kraken. "No, you’re a monster."

"You’re the monster—your whole family is monsters!" Leon exclaimed, pressing his wings tightly to his sides and stretching his limbs backward to create a streamlined profile. Using a serpentine motion, he undulated his body, vigorously sweeping his tail side-to-side for propulsion as he swam.

Leon hadn’t expected telepathy to become so erratic, indirectly proving the Kraken’s unstable mental state. Half-truthfully, he said, "This is my final transformation. If you defeat me again, you can face my true form."

Leon thought about his true form, which, lacking sufficient Mana, wasn’t particularly impressive. In terms of size, he was one step away from being colossal, unable to reach the level of an elderly Red Dragon. But in terms of strength and constitution, he was essentially equivalent to one. His agility surpassed that of an elderly Red Dragon, making him close to a standard elderly Red Dragon.

Though Red Dragons weren’t adept at aquatic combat, considering Leon could use weapons and equipment, his combat prowess likely wouldn’t diminish. Plus, his Sleeve of the Universe held several Human Elixirs, valuable potions for Mana regeneration—pricey, but worth it.

The Kraken silently watched Leon, seeming lost in thought, suddenly releasing a cloud of ink. The ink cloud spread to every corner of the vicinity... Since Leon was now a dragon rather than a Kraken, he couldn’t ignore the ink cloud.

Seeing the sudden surge of ink, Leon immediately prepared himself... Though he was a Green Dragon immune to poison, the danger of the Kraken lurking within the ink cloud was still substantial.

Of course, he didn’t believe the Kraken could overcome him, even in its heavily injured state. A wounded lion could still bully groundhogs and rabbits, but it certainly wouldn’t overpower a cheetah. An elderly Green Dragon like Storm Predecessor was still comparable to a cheetah.

Leon patiently waited for the ink cloud to disperse but saw no trace of the Kraken. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he swiftly swam into the ink cloud, chasing after its source—only to find no sign of the Kraken.

It’s not our army’s incompetence, but rather that the enemy is too cunning. As long as one lives, there’s still hope. Once dead, everything ends—Kraken or not, even it would retreat.

Meanwhile, the Kraken had already fled far away, wondering whether the North Sea was still a viable habitat.

It wasn’t just a matter of sleeping for a few dozen or hundred years, was it? Where had such a powerful Druid—or perhaps monster—come from? Impossible to defeat, and might even just be playing with him the entire time?

Perhaps it was better to find a new home further south, like the Flash Sea.