Ancient Dragon in Arknights

"I'll go."

Neltharion is "immortal," but Azure Star is not—in order to give his friends a chance to survive, Neltharion decides to challenge the Scourge.

Following the light of the guideworms, Nesario moved swiftly through the massive crystal pillars. Broken crystals were scattered across the stone ground, and occasionally, overgrown plants could be seen—their growth was fueled by intense energy.

"Those are... battle marks?"

The guideworm discovered a trace—many sharp spines embedded in the ground, like arrows on a battlefield.

"I hope I can make it."

Nesario quickened his pace, trying to catch up with Azure Star, who had set off earlier.

Chapter Eighty-Four: Annihilating the Dragons!

Following the trail of various clues, Neltharion finally arrived at a dead end—a massive, chaotic thicket of crystal trees completely blocked the path, where there should have been a road.

"Azure Star..."

"Nesario? What are you doing here?"

"I was sleeping at home when I fell asleep and ended up here. Maybe it was God who sent me to help you, since this enemy is really tough to deal with?"

At the crossroads completely blocked by crystals, the fully armed Azure Star stood there—she carried a huge greatsword on her back. The greatsword was very distinctive because it was not made of traditional thick steel, but rather a "bone fork" with eight sharp points attached to its main body, making it look like she was carrying a piece of coral from a distance.

Besides the unique sword, Nesario discovered that Azure Star's belt was covered with many hunting tools—projectile ammunition, potions, and other items.

This is a hunter when he gets serious! In nature, any creature can be hunted!

"It's a very troublesome enemy... Many of the investigation team's operations have failed because of it. Right now, it's closely related to what we're investigating, so I have to investigate it thoroughly."

Azure Star was determined, and Nesario knew it was impossible to get her to give up the mission... That's right, hunters are a group of adventurous guys, and giving up before even starting is not their style.

"But we can't get in now. Look at all these crystals, how long would it take to excavate them by hand?"

"Look around and see if there's anything else—!"

A strong tremor came from the ground. Was it an earthquake?

"Gala! Gala!"

"wow—"

As strange cries echoed, many peculiar creatures emerged one after another from the path blocked by crystals—they resembled small humans, small in size but with limbs, their faces adorned with masks covered in patterns and colorful feathers, resembling a peculiar tribal culture.

"What are these things!?"

Nesario warily extended his tail, intending to drive away all the strange creatures that approached him.

"Don't attack! These guys are 'Ghost Faces'! Getting angry will cause trouble."

Hearing Azure Star's warning, Nesario reluctantly retracted his tail—the two of them stepped aside, watching as the strange creatures continued to emerge from the cracks in the crystal cluster.

They looked panicked, shouting and screaming, and appeared extremely...terrified?

Something is chasing them!

Thump! Boom! Crack!

With a loud noise, a figure approached, smashing the crystals and breaking through the previously blocked passage with its own power!

"coming!"

Boom!

As the shattered crystals and dust were blasted out, the previously blocked passage was officially opened.

"Roar--!!!"

With a deafening roar and the flapping of wings, the dust that had been obscuring the view was instantly blown away.

"this......"

The newcomer's full appearance was finally revealed to Neltharion, who was stunned into silence by the shadows it cast.

It is about 18 meters long and about 5 meters tall. Despite its enormous size, it has the most harmonious curves - it walks on all fours, has a thick tail, and has huge wings on its back. When fully extended, its length is definitely more than 20 meters.

But that wasn't what surprised Neltharion the most. In terms of size, the Dragon Slayer was no less impressive. What shocked Neltharion was the countless thorns covering its body—forelimbs, wings, back, tail, and head—this monster was like a hedgehog covered in sharp thorns that gleamed with a cold light, and being pricked by them would definitely leave a bloody hole.

The monster quickly noticed the two "ants" in front of it. Its two huge white horns turned along with its scarlet gaze, and Nesario felt his blood freeze at that moment.

Bloodline suppression!

why? !

The combined bloodlines of Odogaron, Glaive, and Neltharion are no match for a single glance!

"Come on!"

After recovering from the deafening dragon roar, Azure Star immediately pulled Neltharion away to create some distance. Neltharion was dragged away by her—the next moment, the spiked dragon's arm slammed down!

Boon! The ground trembled with the impact, and the once solid rock was completely shattered.

monster!

The fear between life and death is the most thrilling, and this thrill made Nesario's almost frozen blood start flowing again.

"Thanks... for saving my life."

"Don't worry about me, how are you? Can you fight?"

"sure."

As Neltharion finished speaking, claws and blades appeared together—currently, Neltharion's claws were more suitable for working with his tail than the hunters' weapons, and his future fighting style would likely be based on using his own body as a weapon.

“After you take the pill, my weapon becomes cumbersome—so I need you to create the opportunity.”

"learn!"

Nesario and Azure Star ran off to the left and right, consuming all the enhancement potions in their pockets as they ran.

Nesario felt his body gradually heating up, and a continuous stream of power surged from it—at this moment, he had reached the berserk state of his physical abilities!

"Roar!"

Nergigante glanced around before turning its attention to Neltharion—the aura of this ant piqued its interest even more.

It spread its wings and, propelled by immense wind pressure, its massive body soared upwards—only to crash down upon Neltharion at its highest point!

The impact of flight, the immense gravitational potential energy, and the sheer physical strength of the Nergigante itself—this attack could shatter any defense!

Nesario barely managed to create some distance by using his glider against the wall just as it attacked.

'It's now! ’

Such a massive attack provides a huge buffer period—no matter how terrifying the monster is, it cannot recover quickly from such a recoil.

The flying claws struck again, aiming directly at Nergigante's side. Azure Star shared the same thought as Neltharion—two figures flew onto Nergigante from the left and right.

Neltharion swung his claws like a whirlwind, and as he fell, he spun around and slashed with his tail. Multiple attacks shattered many thorns, and fragments and broken thorns flew everywhere, but the actual damage was probably only from the last strike.

Compared to Neltharion's lightness and speed, Azure Star's movements were much heavier. She slashed down with the greatsword on her back, but as expected, the uniquely shaped horned greatsword was blocked and jammed by the hard thorns on Nergigante's body.

But Azure Star remained calm. She gripped her sword in her left hand, used the dragon as a foothold, and suddenly raised and slammed her right elbow down—the powerful impact was transmitted from the sword to the Nergigante.

The sword slashed down fiercely from the thicket of thorns, which were not indestructible!

Chapter 85 Exterminating the Dragons is nothing special!

"Roar--"

The pain from being attacked on both sides enraged the Nergigante, a predator that usually tore others apart. Today, however, it was being harmed by these weak ants. No predator can tolerate being mocked by its prey, and Nergigante is no exception.

It folded its wings, the sky-covering wings quickly retracting to its sides, and Nesario could clearly see the damaged thorns above rapidly regenerating!

"This guy's regenerative ability—!"

Before Neltharion could reveal his discovery, Nergigante's counterattack came swiftly, its wings outstretched—the ground was gnawed by spikes, and many spikes were even launched like arrows.

Neltharion swung his claws rapidly, slicing through many spikes just before they were about to hit; Azure Star was also hit by the spikes, but compared to Neltharion's attack, her response was much simpler: she held her broadsword in front of her, deflecting countless flying spikes.

'It's alright... it's holding up for now.'

Neltharion roughly understood the terrifying nature of the ancient dragon before him: its immense physical strength, rapidly regenerating and incredibly sharp thorns—with such a combination, it was virtually invincible in melee combat. Even a giant dragon wouldn't fare well if it got close enough to unleash a full combo; it would inevitably suffer broken bones and a bloody mess.

When fighting against it, the human body has the advantage of being able to dodge its attacks, even though it is small in size.

His rambling thoughts ended there. Nesario quickly charged forward, determined to finish the battle quickly and avoid any unforeseen complications.

Neltharion charged at Nergigante at near-ground speed, his claws piercing between the thorns with tremendous force—judging from the feel of the impact, the blow had indeed landed squarely.

Neltharion was originally Nergigante's primary target, and now that he dared to approach, Nergigante naturally wouldn't let him escape so easily—it swung its forelimbs and swept its thick right claw across. If Neltharion were hit by this attack, his internal organs would definitely bleed.

Snapped--!

A massive flash of light erupted in front of Nergigante's face, and the unsuspecting creature took the full blast of the flashbang.

"Well done, Nesario!"

Azure Star had been looking for an opportunity on the side, and the moment Neltharion drew Nergigante's attention to it was the perfect opportunity.

The Nergigante's eyes were temporarily blinded by the bright light, but it did not faint; instead, it became even more ferocious—unable to see any threats around it, it chose to tear everything apart.

Sweeping, tearing, and whipping, the storm of thorns completely ravaged the once relatively flat land.

Despite the perilous situation, Azure Star still chose to attack.

She quickly approached with her greatsword on her back, and when she was still a few meters away, she performed a tactical roll to avoid damage, while also pulling the greatsword out of her back.

She didn't waste the force of her roll to her feet; the moment Azure Star stood up, she exerted her strength—using herself as a weapon, she slammed into the impact!

The force of her tumbling charge and her own physical strength were all poured into this Iron Mountain Strike. Was it really possible for a human body to clash head-on with a dragon...?

Nergigante was knocked off course by Azure Star!

"what!?"

Neltharion's mouth could fit an egg right now. He had originally guessed that Azure Star would use its greatsword to cleave the Nergigante's head open; but instead, he saw Azure Star choose to charge. He thought this was impossible to succeed—the two were not even in the same league, like an ant trying to shake a tree.

As a result, Nergigante's limbs, which were originally firmly gripping the ground, began to slip and fall to the side after this impact—the once majestic and terrifying dragon now looked like a cat that was about to fall over.

"It's not over yet!"