78 Battle of Kinship (2)

Just like before, the dragon fear had no effect on Ayla, only whipping her hair around slightly. Ayla glared at the black dragon. She voiced, "Shouldn't you have realized this the first time, your Dragon fear has no effect."

"You…" Having been persistently provoked, the black dragon couldn't take it anymore, so he roared, and released his dragon breath. He wanted to kill Ayla for the humiliation he felt for daring to appear before him with the intentions of killing him. Just this short conversation with her alone was enough.

Even if she hadn't blatantly taunted him, what would become the outcome wouldn't have changed in the slightest. For a human daring to trespass into his territory, the one and only ever outcome was death. His loathe for humans was simply that great.

During his life that spanned almost a thousand years, he came to the conclusion that humans weren't worth protecting, saving, or allowing to live. Their unrelenting greed, and the struggle for power they didn't have nor did they deserve were things he saw first hand. Even at this very moment, their greed has never glimpsed upon a sliver of satisfaction.

If ever given the chance, he would kill as many humans as he could. Of course, he wouldn't go out of his way in order to exterminate them as they were so insignificant to a dragon such as himself. A fragile species that lived such short lifespans who were inferior to dragons, why would he waste his time on them?

For those who dared to trespass, he would use them as entertainment to pass the time before eventually killing and feasting on them. In a sense, they were his playthings. That's how it always went whenever humans had entered his territory. However, he also knew that there were times where some humans invaded his territory which he couldn't bear the existence of the most.

Ayla was one such existence. She was someone without an aura, but still dared to trespass and declared she would kill him? He didn't care that she miraculously withstood his dragon fear. He refused to give it any more thought.

Entertainment? He didn't even think about that. All that he cared about was to kill her now. Rid this world of her existence…

A stream of purplish black flames shot towards Ayla, eradicated everything that it hit.

Boom~!

Without hindrance, the dragon breath passed through where Ayla stood, and disappeared shortly after hitting a mountain far away in the distance, erasing the tip of the mountain. No matter what was in its path, either it be an small insect or beast, everything was destroyed. A dragon's breath was that strong, especially one that belonged to a black dragon.

The Black Dragon was sure that Ayla was dead. A human couldn't survive against an ordinary dragon's breath. But his breath wasn't ordinary.

It was stronger than an elemental dragon's breath, and could only be rivaled by another black dragon or a white dragon. Unlike elemental dragons; it didn't have just one attribute. He was naturally a fire dragon, but as a black dragon tainted with eldritch energy; his breath was poisonous, lacking purity.

"As expected, a human thinking they can kill a dragon, such pointless arrogance." He snorted, as his eyes scanned where Ayla stood. Nothing, not even a speck of her clothing remained. "So fragile, but so disorderly… A fitting end."

Seeing that the human was dead and no longer of a disturbance, he slowly lowered his head, closing his eyes, returning to his rest.

Or, at least, he desired to.

The human woman stood directly before him, previously outside his field of view.

"What…?" Shock filled the Black Dragon's eyes as he stared down. The dragon breath visibly hit her, he was sure of this, a dragon's eyes could see through illusions, especially if it was made by humans, so how did she survive? It was clear that she successfully dodged. He couldn't deny that fact.

However, the Black Dragon couldn't tell just how Ayla managed to dodge and appear before him without him noticing. Had she moved to the side at last second, barely avoiding his dragon breath? But if that truly was the case, there was no way he wouldn't have missed it.

'It's strange…' The Black Dragon thought as he swung down his claws. Her existence itself was an absurdity to him. She was immune to dragon fear, she miraculously avoided his dragon breath without him knowing. She was an irregularity amongst humans. Yet; it all came down to one simple thing.

'… I'll just kill her.'

Just that action alone was enough to end such an absurdity as Ayla. As he swung his claws through the air with all his might, he aimed to severe Ayla into pieces.

But his claws never reached their target.

Ayla's figured blurred, disappearing entirely out of his vision. Then, he felt a sudden and intense pain. The claws that he had brandished were all shattered and disfigured.

The moment his eyes fell onto his arm, it split open all the way up to his elbow and spewed out blood.

"Argh!"

His arm had been sliced; the cut was so deep that it severed his arm in two even when his arm was covered in a layer of thick dragon scales. He didn't roar because of the pain in his arm, rather he roared out of rage. This kind of wound was nothing to him. A dragon's body wasn't easy to permanently inflict wounds on even if someone were to cut through their scales. Apex species like dragons could easily regenerate wounds that would've normally crippled an ordinary human.

In fact, he could visibly see his arm reattaching itself in real time. In a short matter of seconds; his arm and claws were entirely regenerated. However…

A kick holding unparalleled strength suddenly struck his face out of nowhere.

Booooom~!!

The force of the blow swept over the ground as it sent the Black Dragon flying. It didn't just end there. Without weakening even slightly, the shockwave pierced through the air and even destroyed a line of mountain peaks that fell into its path.

Boom~

Far off into the distance, the reverberating loud sound of the Black Dragon crashing into a mountain was heard.

With a cold expressionless face, Ayla kicked off the ground and her figure vanished. Within an instant, she reappeared directly above the Black Dragon, as six throwing knives replaced the dagger that was in her hand. She sent them flying, three from each hand. Although they were all thrown simultaneously, each of the knives shot off in different directions, aimed at his vital points and limbs.

They weren't just simple throwing knives either. They were draconic knives.

Boom~

The knives each hit their marks; easily piercing through his hard black scales that protected his neck and brain, while pinning his limbs to the ground. There was only one vital organ she had no intention of targeting; it was his dragon heart which contained an abundance of its eldritch energy and was the core foundation of a dragon.

It was true that the knives had reached their intended destinations, but it was too shallow to have done any significant damage to him. They had pierced his vital areas that would've killed without failure normally, but that alone wasn't enough to kill a dragon. Ayla conjured another weapon.

This time it was a sword.

Ayla, moving with incredible speed, didn't miss this chance she gained with the Black Dragon now immobilized. She instantly closed in on the Black Dragon's neck, as she brought her sword down with incredible force.

Like a knife passing through butter, the sword sliced through the Dragon's neck, sending the severed head rolling back slightly. Black blood immediately sprayed out across the ground. As soon as the black blood touched the ground; it melted and corroded everything.

Ayla looked at the Black Dragon. His presence had disappeared. She could no longer feel any energy radiating off of him with the exception of the eldritch energy inside his Dragon Heart. She had come out as the victor of this fight in a one-sided battle, but her expression didn't express an once of excitement.

Instead, her face expressed something else. "I'm… Disappointed!"

She had expected that fighting another black dragon would be a challenge for her, even if the standards for this world was low; she wanted a real challenge. It might've been a small feeling she felt from her memories as a human acting up, but it was all for naught. The black dragon had been far weaker than she had expected.

She understood that the possibility that he was stronger or even equal to her was almost none, and that it would inevitably become her victory, but she desired for him to at least be able to endure for some time.

Amidst her deep thought, her senses suddenly screamed, noticing something.

"Hm?"

Her expression immediately changed, as she twisted her body around quickly, understanding it was already too late for her to dodge.