Chapter 305: My Turn You Beast...

Weeks of hunting dragons, and slaying them cold, had long instilled the group with enough dragon-slaying instinct.

There were three factors the division always targeted when facing these oversized foes.

Balance, size and specialties.

First, you make the foe lose its balance, whether in the air or on land, use its size and inflexibility against it, and finally target its specialty.

Dragons weren’t all the same; as cultivators of essence, they grew through gradual accumulation, instead of directly reaping power the way humans did.

There were things these ancient beings didn’t have that humans did — well, most of them, at least; there were a few outliers.

But these beings mostly lacked gene skills or classes in the way humans wielded them.

Instead, their genes manifested as perks or specialties — speed, strength, sight, and so on.

This trait was specific to each target, meaning an evolver’s entire attack mode revolved around his opponent’s specialty.

And this Doyle was determined to find out....

"Attack!!!!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, his battle suits thrusters bursting to life, and catapulting him into the air.

His heart shook the closer he got to the colossal beast, but his eyes remained cold.

His energy saber gleamed brighter as his frame spun through the wind, the silhouette of his men racing right behind him, shaken but still blazing with the will to fight.

Their energy weapons flared bright, leaving gleaming streaks in the wind.

Ash didn’t move, his wings spread like canopies, blotting out the sulphuric skies as they kept him anchored in the air.

Its golden eyes, burning brilliantly like deadly torches, found the incoming swarm of humans pretty amusing.

It had promised to show them despair, and it always kept its word.

These ants thought of themselves to have a chance?

Clearly they didn’t know the distance between heaven and the earth...

Smoke steamed from its nostrils, its head coiling back, as its wings beat against the air, elevating its frame even higher.

The sheer waves of gales kicked into turmoil, sending the soldiers flying back out of control, their momentum snuffed out.

Doyle hissed as his frame flipped uncontrollably through the wind, both man and armour struggling to find balance in the storm, but he still crashed hard into the earth, the impact shattering his collarbone.

Crimson rippled on the dragon’s end, flames sputtering from its maws as it declared, "Embrace the flames of death you pests!"

As its throat gleamed bright red, its maws snapped wide, swivelling towards the evolvers.

Doyle hissed, his eyes flickering with fear. He dared not let that foaming breath touch him.

Even the flame breath of an average dragon promised to leave him in ashes, talk less about this beast.

"Evade! Evade!" He yelled at the top of his voice, his tone cracking with both fear and a severe lack of air, as he crawled to his feet and began to flee.

Dragons’ size made them an easy target, some might say, but that was also the case for the humans.

The scale of each attack was so large, their reach so ridiculous, that dodging a single blow equated to running a brief marathon. Add to that a speed that defied the laws of physics, and one would find that dragons were indeed a terrifying breed.

A terrifying roar pealed through the sky, a thunderous rumble quaking as a brilliant glare of fiery red baptized all in its path.

From the dragon’s maws, a devastating torrent of flames flowed, its eyes glowing with glee as it heaved, the coverage of its flame breath swelling to an absurd degree.

The humans who once saw a chance felt true despair, as a range considered safe seemed to draw farther away.

Everything happened within many seconds, as the flames raged down with unrelenting promises of a smoldering death.

The humans racked their brains but no form of escape lay in sight, none of their means would be fast enough to evade this breath.

Doyle felt indignant; he’d gathered his unit’s morale with such great effort, gassed them up so much.

Only for them not to even land a single blow before being pushed to such straits.

The dragon had merely flapped its wings, and the destabilising wind that came with it sent them flying, unable to even resist.

Was this what the leader of division two, Jack Bane, had warned about? A total grade lifeform...

Were they truly witnessing the might of a titan?

The flame raged, looming close. Doyle saw no hope, his brain flooding with so much activity that time practically slowed to a halt.

His life as well as the life of every other evolver in sight flashed before their eyes.

Their hearts went cold, no hope of escape, no chance of victory.

They were bronze humans for god’s sake, their entire division consisted of bronze humans.

They were all well aware of their potential, they could be future pillars of their race, light bringers to their people.

It was all going to be snuffed out just like that. The heat of the atmosphere rose to a terrifying degree — the flame hadn’t even landed yet, but the sheer heat was already frying their skin within their armour, riddling the entire surface with blisters.

The pain was intense, but they couldn’t even scream — there was no air. The heat seeped into their air supply, consuming the oxygen and igniting weak explosions that stripped them of what little air they had left.

At this point the human heart went still, some not even struggling any further, surrendering to their fate.

What else could they do, there was no resisting this...

Fwoooom!!!!

Crackle!!!

Booom!!

The flame raged, popped, cracked and combusted as it met the earth swallowing their frames whole.

The bronze cells ignited, struggling to resist the flames with what little tolerance they had built so far.

The humans screamed without lungs, the pain of being burnt alive unlike anything they’d known, slow, excruciating and lethal.

As bronze humans, their resilience worked against them, making their deaths far from instant as their cells struggled to adapt, but the overwhelming current didn’t give them time.

The dragon’s eyes glowed with glee and satisfaction, as the flame purified the land of these pests.

The earth beneath their feet slowly turned soft, then molten red, the frames of the humans sinking in despair and pain.

The dragon, relishing in its task, suddenly felt a tiny trickle from behind...

The dragon’s heart lurched, as a presence loomed from behind, one far too familiar only... different?

"My turn, you beast!" a voice suddenly screamed.