25 - Dialong(1)

Several hours later, Lele arrived at the scene of the calamity. The media had already been broadcasting the battlefield, but with little success. The constant flying debris and adverse atmospheric conditions made it impossible for flying vehicles to be used. In front of Lele's eyes, there was only destruction. Reporters tried to intercept him and Trevisani, but Trevisani handled them.

"Mister Trevisani, how does the awakeners bureau plan on handling the situation? Will yourself step in? Who is that rookie?" A barrage of questions was thrown at him and he tried his best to reassure the public. However since the situation was so critical his words weren't enough to extinguish the anxiety of the public. While Roland was facing the reporters Lele entered the restricted area.

As Lele approached the site, the destruction was overwhelming. Cars looked like they had been flattened by a hydraulic press, and massive rocks had smashed through the few buildings still standing. The area of destruction easily surpassed 2 square kilometers. Lele followed the non-stop sounds of destruction until he finally saw it: a massive Chinese dragon, chomping down on a building. The drake was around 20 meters long, with brown-green scales and yellow, lizard-like eyes. Its massive mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth, and its four claws were sinking into the concrete of the building it was crushing.

Lele couldn't help but stare in awe at the majestic beast, despite the destruction it was causing. The dragon's muscular body was covered in sinewy veins, and its long, powerful tail swished back and forth, sending debris flying in all directions. Each time the dragon released a roar, the ground shook, making it hard for Lele to keep his footing. The air was thick with the stench of smoke and burning debris, and Lele had to cover his mouth and nose to keep from choking.

As rage surged in Lele's heart, he shouted with an unnaturally loud voice, "Why are you doing this?"

He didn't expect an answer, so when the dragon actually replied, he was left in shock. The dragon spoke in a language Lele had never heard before,

" -èèò+èp@#adòad" which translated to, ["You puny creature, you seem different from the others. I ended up here by accident and spent the last few days recovering from my wounds. If you are what I think you are, then it's my duty to destroy and kill every single one of you."]

Lele for some reason even if he didn't fully comprehend his words he still understood the overall meaning.

"Then you're not going to stop?" he asked.

The dragon responded in its foreign tongue, "hdig+awd" which translated to, ["No, now come at me. The other challengers were boring, I killed them in just a few hits."]

Lele sprinted towards the dragon, coating himself with mana to further enhance his strength and speed. As he closed in, he vanished from his original position, reappearing above the dragon's head and leaving small cracks on the ground. The dragon was astounded by Lele's agility and strength. 'He jumped all the way up here? This is a three-story building!' it thought in disbelief.

Lele formed a fist joining them together before slamming them down on the dragon's head with all his might. The impact was so powerful that it caused the already-damaged building to crumble even further as the dragon's head slammed onto the ground. Lele was about to follow up with another attack, but the dragon quickly got back on its feet.

["That's an impressive amount of physical power, however, your mana density is barely half of mine. You still managed to give me a headache. My name is Dialong. What's yours, kid?"]

Lele barely registered Dialong's words as he looked around the battlefield and saw the countless corpses, some bruised, others splattered or dismembered. The sight filled him with rage, and he didn't feel like talking. Without a word, he delivered a devastating right hook to Dialong's snout. Although the force of the blow was enough to move the dragon's head, it didn't seem to do any visible damage.

[Alert! Detected opponent with higher mana density. Nonstandard Class Invictus activated.]

["Like I said before, your mana density is not enough to do anything to me. Earth Breath!"]

Lele faced a massive blast of debris, rocks, and dirt, unable to react in time. He put up his guard, anticipating the attack. He refrained from screaming, knowing that if he opened his mouth, it would have filled with soil. The small debris and rocks covered his body with small but painful cuts, but they were not enough to bring him down. As the breath extinguished, he braced the pain and rushed at the dragon, landing an uppercut. He felt that his punch was slightly faster and stronger than before.

However, the dragon trapped him with his claws, saying, ["Now you can't dodge or block! Face the full strength of my breath!"]

Lele struggled to free himself from the dragon's grip, but he failed. When he saw that the breath was fully charged and ready, he accepted his fate and took it head-on. This time, the attack was almost twice as powerful, and the dragon threw Lele's tattered body against a building, saying, ["You never stood a chance."]

Despite bleeding profusely and hurting all over, Lele stood up, looking around. 'Oh I guess I was thrown on the fourth floor of the building behind me'. Anyone in Lele's position would have fainted just from the pain, but he was different, he had an insanely high pain tolerance since he was a little kid and his Painkiller passive was definitely coming in clutch. 'I think I understand how Mana Coating works a bit better now since he's using it too,' he thought. [Mana Coating leveled up to LV 2 due to a sudden enlightenment of the user.]. Lele's eyes blazed with determination as he gripped the exterior casing of a broken window and flung himself at the dragon with incredible speed. His fist glowed with a powerful yellow light, causing all of Dialong's primal instincts to activate. That fist was different from before, it was dangerous. As it collided with the dragon's scales like a bullet, the result was completely different from the previous hits. The dragon let out a deafening roar of pain as several of his scales were shattered and the fist impacted on his flesh.

["What?! How is this possible? His mana density is too low to harm me. No, that's not it. He's completely insane. He concentrated all his mana coating on his fist, leaving himself vulnerable. That's madness! Now he can deal actual damage, but one good hit and he's finished!"]

Lele learned from his mistake and employed a hit-and-run tactic. Instead of attempting follow-up strikes as he had done previously, he focused on delivering a single powerful blow to the massive target before retreating. He aimed to turn the battle into a stamina competition, which he was confident he would win due to his Painkiller and Endless Stamina passives.

However, the unexpected happened once again as a blinding green light enveloped everything. When Lele's vision returned, he was faced with a humanoid creature instead of the dragon. It spoke, ["Let the real battle begin!"]