Tale of the Red Dragon Without Dragon’s Might
Chapter 470 - 462: My Mana Is Endless

Chapter 470: Chapter 462: My Mana Is Endless

The Ocean Goddess strained to stand on tiptoe, her four tentacles propping up her body like enormous brackets, giving the appearance of a high stool. Finally, she wasn’t so short, at least as tall as Leon’s shoulders. But the twisted limb movements and comical appearance made her look like a clown.

Leon looked at the elevated Ocean Goddess. Their sizes now matched, and it was clear that the previous combat style was no longer applicable. As he raised his hand, he grabbed a handful of air and placed it before his eyes—the Divine Sword lay open in his palm, apparently no larger than a needle.

He blew a breath onto the Divine Sword, and it instantly expanded from the needle-size to a length almost equal to Leon’s height, gripped firmly in his hand.

The Sword Control Technique granted Leon proficiency with all bladed weapons, be it short swords, longswords, or giant swords. However, it didn’t grant him swordsmanship skills.

Leon’s swordsmanship was learned from the Knight Lady, Fiora, encompassing four fundamental stances and several minor ones. He let out a powerful roar, striking his left foot heavily forward, creating a deep depression underfoot, and his muscular arm veins bulged as he assumed the Bull Stance.

The Bull Stance got its name from the sword’s trajectory, resembling a bull’s horn reaching out, achieved by curving the arm so the hilt was just above the head, with the sword’s point directed at the opponent’s face.

He’s already expended nearly half of his mana, and there wasn’t much time left for Leon.

Wasting no time, he took large strides forward, gripping the sword hilt with both hands and raising it high above his head—using his shoulders and upper arms for power instead of just his arms—and delivering a straight downward slash. The New Year Sword Technique was the first to strike, crashing onto the horizontally raised trident handle of the Ocean Goddess.

The clash between trident and giant sword sent shockwaves that shattered the cloud layers.

Leon leveraged his height advantage, pressing his full body weight onto the sword, pushing the Ocean Goddess downward. Her hands, holding the trident, trembled incessantly, forcing her to retreat repeatedly. With each step back, a pit formed on the ocean floor, triggering a tsunami.

Not enough.

Still not enough!

In terms of fighting with cold weapons, Leon was far inferior to the Ocean Goddess. However, his great strength made any technique meaningless in the face of brute power.

With his failed New Year Sword Technique, Leon swung the sword in a wide arc. The Ocean Goddess planted her trident into the ground, raising it to block. Her whole arm tingled, finally realizing in terror that even with the might of the vast ocean, her strength was far inferior to the Red Dragon, whose attacks bore the force of heaven and earth.

With her gills opening and closing, the Ocean Goddess stopped blocking, abandoning the effort to stand on tiptoe, and instead moving with four tentacles, creating massive waves as a shield, only to be cleaved open by Leon’s Divine Sword in less than a second.

Slash, chop, strike, cut, rub, shave, lift, sweep, swirl, draw, twist... Leon’s swordsmanship was not lacking.

After a prolonged battle, it was ultimately the Ocean Goddess who had the upper hand. Besides wielding weapons with her hands, her tentacles could wrap around the trident to wield it. Finding an opportunity, her trident entwined with lightning thrust backward at Leon’s heart!

Leon took a stab, and divine power from the Ocean Goddess surged through the spear tip into his body, trying to destroy him from the inside. The scales on his chest cracked like a cobweb, the damage continually spreading.

Leon wasn’t human now; he was a dragon, a Red Dragon. The intense pain only provoked the beast within him; instead of retreating, he advanced, gripping the trident shaft with his left hand while striking with the sword in his right, aiming for the Ocean Goddess’s shoulder!

The Ocean Goddess abandoned the trident and retreated.

Holding the seized weapon, Leon laughed heartily, blood dripping from his mouth and turning the sea red. Before the laughter faded, he found the trident turning into seawater in his palm, trickling through his fingers. Looking up, he saw the Ocean Goddess fishing yet another trident from the sea, with even more lightning on its blade than before.

Leon bared his teeth, his expression twisted, rushing at the Ocean Goddess again. Every step quaked the ocean floor, unleashing the Divine Sword, utterly abandoning defense.

Fiora once joked—

There was a Navy Major, unparalleled in swordsmanship, who returned from a battlefield missing a hand. When others asked why, he said he encountered a Barbarian. When he struck towards the opponent’s head with his sword, an ordinary person would expect to defend themselves, allowing him to feint, but this Barbarian ignored his attack, forcing him to block with his hand.

Friend or foe, with one wielding a sword and the other a spear, neither defending, both attacks had unimpeded trajectories and were at similar speeds, leading both to die together, ending in mutual destruction.

The possibility of mutual destruction is one of the core issues in all battles.

Facing an opponent willing to risk everything, even the most skilled can easily be defeated. This is also why many nations do not prohibit civilian weapons but strictly forbid the private possession of armor, as a set of armor is more useful than a weapon. Many adventurers begin their journey with a set of ancestral plate armor, worth more than any weapon.

Leon admitted his combat skills were inferior to the Ocean Goddess, but he had thick scales and strong armor, unafraid of injury. Using the Barbarian’s method, akin to a reckless attack in a game granting advantage on attack rolls but also granting opponents advantage against them, he finally seized an opportunity to chop off the Ocean Goddess’s arm, the limb splashing into the sea, creating thousands of waves.

Holding the blood-stained giant sword, Leon’s wounds continued to ooze blood, yet his vicious gaze burned ever brighter. Laughing triumphantly, his laughter sent ripples across the sea, he declared, "Your hand is severed."

"I can reattach it," the Ocean Goddess sneered, her tentacles coiling around the severed arm like a snake. When the limb touched the body, it melded together seamlessly, showing no sign of ever being severed.

Leon now noticed that the Ocean Goddess’s colossal form was composed of seawater. Her water-congealed body had no vital points... a hole in the chest could be mended immediately; a severed limb could be picked up and reattached just as easily.

To take down that Ocean Goddess, chopping off Her head and arms won’t be of any use; it’s necessary to deplete Her Divine Power... This is the Material Plane, and the Ocean Goddess’s Divine Country is in other planes. Replenishing Divine Power is not an easy task.

"I know how to beat you now." Leon smirked.

"But I’ve already won." The Ocean Goddess raised her trident, "Your muscles are twitching, your scales are falling off, how much longer can you maintain this state, one minute?"

Leon realized and showed a bitter smile; in fact, he couldn’t last even a minute.

In less than half a minute, his Mana would be completely exhausted, and at that point, he wouldn’t even be able to use the Long Rainbow Escape, as it also consumes a lot of Mana.

Since he was already seen through, Leon stopped pretending and withdrew his Fatian Xiangdi Dharma Body, reverting to the Super Giant Red Dragon, which was still tiny in front of the Ocean Goddess.

"It looks like it’s over." The Ocean Goddess mocked, "Did you really think you could challenge a god?"

The Ocean Goddess raised her trident, lightning gathered at the tips, and before she could swing it, the Red Dragon transformed into a stream of light and fled.

"Run, keep running." The Ocean Goddess roared loudly, "I want to see where you can run to. I will destroy your Volcanic Island, flood your city, and leave you homeless. This is the price of provoking me."

The speed of sound is far less than the speed of light; while the Ocean Goddess’s threatening words echoed in the air, Leon had already safely landed on the Volcanic Island.

"Brother?" Salovis was at the top of the Volcano licking wounds, blood scabs, "Where did you run off to?"

"You’re hurt." Salovis’s eyes widened, "It’s the first time I’ve seen you injured."

Leon gritted his teeth. Just moments ago, while the Ocean Goddess was present, he had no time to be distracted. Now he finally had time to utilize Sleeve of the Universe, bringing out all the elixirs he had previously refined, and threw them into his mouth, letting the medicinal potency surge through his veins, recovering a bit of spirit.

"Leviathan, Storm Giant, Storm Crab, Hydra, Deep Sea Squid, Sea Snake... a whole group of sea monsters suddenly appeared to attack the Volcanic Island." Salovis’s tail slapped the ground, knowing that the Volcanic Island was also where her nest was, "Just when you were needed, where did you run off to?"

"The Ocean Goddess." Leon licked the corner of his mouth, "I just had a bout with her."

"Ah, the Ocean Goddess appeared? Who won?" Salovis looked at Leon covered in wounds, letting out an uneasy low growl from her throat, "Don’t tell me you’ve lost."

Leon glanced at Salovis, considering her injuries from defending the Volcanic Island, didn’t scold her. He quietly utilized Nine Breath Qi, took a deep breath, another deep breath... The entire volcano suddenly emitted a hum, Spiritual Energy funneling into his mouth, causing the Volcanic Island to visibly lack Spiritual Energy, resembling a lifeless photograph.

"Your injuries look severe." Tassera silently landed beside Leon.

"It’s fine now." The Mana recovering within Leon restored his confidence.

"What’s that?" Laksha suddenly exclaimed.

Everyone turned to look, their pupils instantly froze—on the sea level, a moving "mountain range" was pushing at the clouds.

Salovis swallowed, muttering, "Is that the Ocean Goddess? Or a mountain?"

"Red Dragon, you still haven’t run away! If you so wish to die, I’ll grant you that." In a short time, the Ocean Goddess had caught up, her roar rattled the Volcanic Island violently, causing everyone’s ears to buzz, she raised the trident, noticing the Red Dragon flying towards her, "Are you finally considering surrendering?"

The Ocean Goddess pronounced word by word, "Too late."

"Are you trying to say, you—"

"You’re actually so fast, coming to meet your end." Leon spread his wings and once more utilized Fatian Xiangdi, shaking off the divine aura, transformed dramatically, towering in stature, with a head like precipitous peaks, eyes like lightning, two horns resembling iron towers, jaws of blades, flipping paws of sharp teeth and claws, waving his hands, mountains sway and tremble, earth-shaking!

The Ocean Goddess stared at the newly appearing giant, her eyes widened, corners of her eyes twitching, she said, "You—"

Leon heavily pounded his chest, roared, "You shouldn’t think, only you, can, repeatedly, invest Divine Power to stand up... I, cannot."

"This is the second round." Leon pounded his fists, "Let’s fight to the end."

"Come, let’s see who lasts longer." Leon raised a middle finger at the Ocean Goddess and then flipped it, pointing at the ocean surface. As long as this world held nature’s spiritual energy, he’d never be devoid of Mana, just needing a bit of maneuvering, "Is it your Divine Country that’s vast, your Divine Power endlessly flowing, or the Magic Energy filling this world that’s much more?"

The Ocean Goddess looked at the Red Dragon, feeling fear for the first time.