Chapter 921: The Shadow Drakaina
Chapter 921: The Shadow Drakaina
Standing at almost thirty-eight meters tall, the shadow drakaina was two meters shorter than Arad yet her large body didn't lack any muscles. Her arms were as thick as massive tree trunks and her hind legs almost rivalled Arad's. Unlike him, the two wings on her back were engulfed in a shadowy mist of magic with burning shadow flame that spanned across her spine and up to her forehead like a mullet that halted between her goat-like black horns.
Arad glared her down, his wings slowly opening wide as his tail rattled like a snake. Compared to all the dragons he had faced before; she was the largest and most built one of them all. Even the adult red dragon he slayed before seemed small and thin compared to her.
It was the same for her, in the past centuries, she had never felt the need to take her draconic form, but faced with Arad's shocking presence she was forced to put on an intimidation display.
"Care to speak, Drakaina. What's your name?" Arad asked even though he already knew he won't get an answer. He was already aware of her condition, she was insane, and something had gone horribly wrong in her head. Since the dark elf goddess asks him to save her, he believes that there is a way to get her sanity back, but what he faces now is a mindless beast. She could only growl, deep rumbles echoed from her chest as her eyes burned with black magic. The monsters in the cavern had already run away, none dared stay close to where such massive dragons were about to fight it off.
"Don't move now, I'll just drag you back to my lair. I'll keep you there until I find a way to get your sense back." Arad extended his front claw, trying to grab her. "Don't make this harder than it should be."
In the blink of an eye, she swung her front talon as hard as she could at Arad's chest, aiming at his heart. Her claw hit its mark, and Arad gasped, a deep growl escaping his throat. "AAAAAAH...hahahaha..." He started laughing, "Good hit...it would've been better if you put your wing muscles into it." Her claw didn't pierce his scales, they almost cracked on it.
CLACK! With a single swing from his massive arm, he slapped her in the face with his right talon, rocking her head like a spring. "And aim for the head. The heart is a weakness, but it's protected with hard ribs and large chest muscles. It isn't easy to get at." He was almost hitting a most muscular pose, flexing his chest.
The drakaina growled, slowly lifting her head with saliva dripping from her large fangs. Arad's slap was hard, it had shaken her brain and almost ripped some of her teeth, but she was lucky he didn't use any slap technique and only threw a weak normal smack.
Without delay, she swung a slap of her own, and Arad took it without even blocking. But unlike her, his head didn't rock at all, the large muscles on his neck had made it feel like slapping a concrete pillar.
She still didn't put her all into the strikes, for this whole time, the two dragons only gauged each other strength. None of them had sustained any damage yet, and neither were willing to go all out first. Arad was worried that he would kill her, and she was trying to conserve her energy, as an animalistic instinct, she doesn't like to spend more energy that her prey could offer back as food.
Arad took the first step forward, approaching her with an oppressive presence. Since she lacks sane intelligence, he must prove to her that he's the one dominating the fight, that he isn't a prey, but the predator.
The two massive dragons started walking in circles while glaring at each other, slowly getting closer and closer as their growls and grunts filled the cavern. Even though Arad had lived between humans most of his life, he still understood how to act like a dragon, it was ingrained in his blood, and the same could be said for her. Even after losing her mind to insanity, she remained a full-blooded dragon.
When two of the dragon kind meet and argue about something, the older one speaks first. She roared, her voice shaking the whole cavern. The stalactite in the ceiling fell down, some of them hit Arad's back but they immediately shattered, to him they felt as weak as raindrops. Hearing her roar, Arad nodded. What she said was a threat, she's far older than him, vicious, and controls the mighty shadows. This was her resting place, and she wanted him out of her den. She didn't intend to fight him, and wouldn't give chase if he was to turn around and leave. A fight would only leave them injured and weak; it wasn't worth it.
"The wisdom of a dragon goes beyond madness. Consumed by insanity, you still make sense by your roar." Arad smiled, "Sadly, I'm not changing my mind." He opened his massive jaws and roared, conjuring a shockwave with how loud he was. She could feel his roar booming inside her chest, shaking her bones to the marrow.
-Bend down and submit, you've already lost- This was the meaning carried by his roar. Arad is larger than her, stronger both physically and magically, his will would never change, and he doesn't know how to run away. A king's declaration of domination, he isn't backing down and won't be allowing her to escape.
Understanding that it was a fight, the drakaina lunged forth and swung her claw at full force at Arad, smacking him in the side hard enough that she sent him flying over the city and toward the other side of the cavern.
Arad's massive draconic body hit the wall, almost collapsing the whole cave. The drakaina was growling in her place, looking at her smoking claw. She was surprised her claws didn't rip a hole in Arad's body, not even stone can remain whole after taking one of her hits. Arad stood naturally as if nothing had happened. He patted the dust from his scales and looked at her, "To send my heavy body flying, you're one of the strongest dragons I've met so far. An ancient dragon at least." He started walking toward her, his tail swinging left and right, ripping the stones that had crumbled around him.
Arad started running toward her and she braced for an impact. He lunged at her, tackling her by the neck and sending her rolling on the ground. It was then that the real wrestling match between dragons had started.
When she rolled on the ground, she stood on her front arms and swung a kick at Arad's face. She hit him square in the jaw and immediately followed with a tail slam to the neck, trying to
slash it off.
Despite their massive size and heavy weight, dragons were extremely athletic and could move in mind-boggling ways.
Arad's claws rushed forth, and he grabbed her by her left hind leg and tackled her down, pinning her to the ground. As she tried to push him away with her wings, he smacked them away with his head and grabbed her limbs. Arad had locked her two hind legs in his left hand and her two front claws in his right hand, lifting her up like a towel as he stood on his hind
legs.
"This might break bones." He said and she bit his left arm and wrapped her massive tail around d his neck, trying to strangle him.
Arad lifted her up and smacked her back to the ground like a doll. She gasped, feeling the impact shaking her insides. With a single hand, he was holding her front claws so tightly that she couldn't escape his grasp, it was utterly clear that he didn't just outclass her in strength, she was far weaker than him.
As Arad looked at her and noticed that she still had some fire in her eyes and wanted to keep fighting, he grabbed her by the tail. "Let's see how long you'll last." He swung her left and right like a whip. Using her massive body as a weapon, Arad started digging the cavern walls with her; smacking her on the stones left and right with ease.
This wasn't a fight; it was a one-sided beatdown.
After one minute of brutal swinging and smacking, Arad laid her down and pinned her head to the ground with his hind left foot as he lifted her butt up from the tail. "Ready to give up?" He
spoke in a deep growl.
VRO000000000000000M! An engine-like rumble boomed out of her chest, Arad had experienced that before. When dragons go all out and their adrenaline rush across their veins, their heart rate can reach such a high level that their heartbeats can be heard rumbling. She had become aware that she was in a really bad situation, Arad wasn't an opponent that she
could face.
The drakaina's skull sunk into the ground so smoothly that Arad noticed that something was off. She turned her head around and bit his foot, dragging him into the shadows. Arad tried to let her go and jump away, but she wrapped her thighs around his face and wrapped her arms around his leg, preventing him from escaping.