The Mighty Dragons Are Dead

Nobody knew that at this time, the Rupture Mountains were home to four dragons: Light Green Gem Dragon Ethan, Fire Dragon Leo, Formless Dragon Bard, and Mountain Copper Dragon Mata.

Mata, this was the name Liszt had prepared for the Mountain Copper Dragon.

It originated from a game he had played before, "Monster Hunter", which featured a monster nicknamed "Mamu Tarot," the discarded glow dragon that resided in the land of veins called The Golden Homeland, revered as the earth goddess of gold. The Mountain Copper Dragon didn't look anything like Mamu Tarot, nor did it have any relation to gold.

Perhaps the only similarity was their color.

But Liszt's logic, which was beyond ordinary, still linked them together.

As dawn broke the next day, Mountain Copper Dragon Mata finally awoke, its massive body coiled on the ground, its mind still in disarray. To it, the previous night had been like a terrible nightmare, yet the more terrifying fact was that the nightmare was real… It stared at Liszt, its black, narrow pupils flickering.

"Mata, this is the new name I've given you. How about it, do you accept it?" Liszt looked into the dragon's eyes and said with a gentle and refined smile.

After a long while, Mountain Copper Dragon Mata slowly turned its head away and let out a snort from its nostrils, tacitly accepting it all. Regardless of how complex the process had been, in the end, Liszt overcame it in the Mind Battle, which was enough to subdue the dragon's pride and dignity, and to earn its recognition.

"If that's the case, Ach, use the Magic Platform to contact Yevich and have him determine the coordinates with the Sextant. On our way back, let's take in the views of the Snowstorm Mountain Duchy."

Liszt leaped nimbly onto Mountain Copper Dragon Mata's Dragon Tooth Platform and instantly completed the mental bond with the dragon before guiding Mata into Dragon Knight Resonance and swiftly entering Dragon Rider Mode. For an experienced Dragon Knight, this whole procedure was a breeze.

Ach, riding on the back of Formless Dragon Bard, took out the Magic Platform and contacted Yevich.

While waiting for the reply, Liszt and Mata flew to the logistics supply team camp that had been burned the day before, leaving behind a few footprints from the Mountain Copper Dragon and simply staged the scene. They made it appear as if Andre had ridden the Mountain Copper Dragon, forcefully destroyed the camp, and defected from the Eagle Kingdom.

After completing these tasks, by the time they returned, the Magic Platform had already received a response.

Ach received the precise coordinates and determined their specific location: "Brother, from here, if we head fifteen degrees west-southwest and fly about three thousand kilometers, we'll reach Yevich's location."

"Three thousand kilometers, that's a day and night's flight, then let's set off!" With that thought in his mind, Mata flapped its wings and soared into the sky with a roaring "whoosh."

Bard followed closely with Ach.

Then came Leo and Ethan, with Ethan's claws still clutching Andre, who was bound tightly, blindfolded, and gagged—a young knight despised by the Sapphire Duke. Though not of great value, if he could be exchanged for some information regarding Domain Knights or Liches, it would be a gain.

Even the smallest mosquito leg is still meat.

Even Liszt, who kept five dragons, had to live frugally.

The team traveled intermittently, and their mood upon departure was entirely different from when they had arrived; the sun seemed so bright, and the moonlight so pure. Meanwhile, Liszt used the riding time to communicate closely with Mata, fully understanding its capabilities to devise a training plan, and started creating the "Mountain Copper Dragon Knight - Dragon Dou Qi Manual".

"Mata, do you have a copper plating state?"

The copper plating state was a kind of innate talent of Metal Dragons. Some dragons had it, and others didn't. The Grey Iron Dragon Ornn, for instance, didn't have this instinct.

Strictly speaking, it should be called the "gold plating state." It's a protective measure extended by the dragon's innate Superior Magic—using its source to generate an outer shell of the same kind of metal, enhancing the defense of its body surface. The gold plating state of the Mountain Copper Dragon could, roughly, perhaps, maybe, also be called the copper plating state.

"Roar!"

Mata answered arrogantly—it couldn't and didn't need to, due to its already formidable natural defenses; it had no use for such fanciful instincts.

"What a pity. Although you don't need protection, your knight does. In critical moments, if you had the copper plating state, the Mountain Copper Dragon Knight's fighting power would be off the charts." Liszt flicked the golden scales on Mata's neck, finding it hard to imagine the level of force needed to penetrate them.

Maybe only a full-powered blow using the Dragon Dou Qi Manual might scratch the surface.

"Roar!" Mata was proud of its strong defensive scales and believed that its golden color was the most beautiful and the most aesthetically superb among dragons.

Beauty aside, compared to the flowing crystal-like Bard, it was akin to a nouveau riche adorned with a thick gold chain.

Regarding this matter, Liszt didn't respond; he bluntly changed the subject: "What is the status of your Dragon Breath? Is it a metallic torrent?"

The Purple Copper Dragon's metallic torrent Dragon Breath could transform into innumerable bullet-like metal spheres; the Grey Iron Dragon's metallic torrent Dragon Breath could turn into countless blade-like iron shards.

"Roar!"

Mata responded with a negative; its Dragon Breath was a special Magic Power with extremely strong plasticity. It could form a shield to ward off attacks, transform into a long spear to pierce through enemies, and also wrap objects in a thin film. Moreover, it could recycle the Mountain Copper produced by the Dragon Breath back into a Magic Form.

Under Liszt's strong insistence, Mata decided to demonstrate its Dragon Breath.

The dragon's mouth opened, and a golden-yellow stream of air sprayed out, swiftly turning into a huge javelin against the wind and shooting towards a mountain peak.

Pfft!

The Mountain Copper javelin plunged directly into the mountain, its powerful Impact Force almost shattering the entire peak—its might was formidable. Then it flew low over the ground, and as it passed the mountain peak, its mouth opened, sucking back a golden-yellow stream of air through the original hole of the javelin, swallowing it back into its belly.

Even though it could be recycled, a bit of Superior Magic was still lost between releasing and retrieving it.

Of course, this bit of Superior Magic was nothing to mature Mountain Copper Dragons, which had lived two hundred years and had accumulated enough Superior Magic within them to flaunt for a considerable time.

"It's a powerful move; I've decided, this move will be called 'Dragon Breath Terminator'!" The T-1000 from "Terminator," made of thought-controlled liquid metal, came to Liszt's mind at that moment, capable of free transformation.

His thoughts then diverged: "So, Mata, can you freely retrieve all the Mountain Copper? I'm referring to the Mountain Copper that might not have been produced by you."

Mata responded that it could not. For a short time after being released, the Mountain Copper created by the Dragon Breath Terminator maintained the properties of Superior Magic. But as time passed, if more than an hour elapsed, that Superior Magic would dissipate into intangibility. Without the Superior Magic, the Mountain Copper was virtually indistinguishable from ordinary Mountain Copper and could not be recycled.

"In that case, how about we exchange a resource? Mata, I will spare no resources in providing for you from now on—delicacies, Magic Potions, you name it. In return, could you now exhale for me a ten-meter-long Mountain Copper Dragon Lance?"

He had an Alloy Dragon Spear that was five meters long—Wrath of Thunder.

While coordinating with Bard and Ethan, the five-meter-long Dragon Lance was sufficient. But with Mata's body length of eighty meters and a wingspan of seventy-five meters, a five-meter-long Dragon Lance was severely inadequate. It had to be ten meters long to facilitate cooperation and execute the Dragon Dou Qi Manual. Since Mata was capable of such a feat, it was a perfect opportunity to create a ten-meter-long Dragon Lance.

A pure Mountain Copper Dragon Lance didn't need the forging skills of an Iron Knight; it was already a powerful weapon on its own.

Feeling enticed by Liszt, Mata turned its head to look at him.

Liszt smiled back at it.

For a full fifty kilometers, the pair kept this eye contact while flying, their minds locked in a Mind Battle. In the end, Mata succumbed—perseverance was victory in the contest between dragon and Knight, and steadfastness was one of Liszt's admirable qualities.

Reluctantly, it opened its mouth and aimed at Liszt, gently exhaling a golden-yellow Magic Power stream that immediately transformed into a ten-meter-long, arm-thick Dragon Lance in the wind. The lance had a sharp conical head, a spiraling twisted pattern along the shaft, and the tail tapered off to a point as well.

The ten-meter-long Mountain Copper Dragon Lance was crafted completely according to Liszt's wishes.

He grabbed it with his hand and felt as though it weighed ten thousand jin—it was so heavy that he wouldn't have been able to lift it without his strong physique and the support of his Dou Qi.

Trying to swing it around, it felt heavy and stable. Although he wasn't quite proficient yet, the feel was excellent.

"This is the Dragon Lance I wanted!"

Suddenly infusing it with Dragon Dou Qi, the Mountain Copper Dragon Lance erupted into blazing red flames, its conductivity for Dou Qi virtually like a "superconductor", without any sluggishness.

"Mata, charge with me!"

Guided by willpower, man and dragon began their somewhat clunky first charge, plunging towards a steep mountain peak not far away. The golden-yellow wings tucked in, skimming past the mountain. At the same time, Liszt brandished the Mountain Copper Dragon Lance, unleashing a Flame Slash mixed with Dragon Magic Power and Dragon Dou Qi.

It struck the mountain peak, shearing off a large portion of it—as the thunderous sound of countless boulders tumbling into the valley broke who knows how many trees.

"Thrilling!"