Chapter 652: Air Drop, Shadow Projectile

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

The process through which Leo handled the last Abyssal Dragon was a little more aggressive. However, in essence, it was no different from the way he dealt with the first one.

Crunch! Crunch!

...And finally.

Swish!

With the cleaver seamlessly making its way through the Black Dragon’s neck, the fourth Dragon replica bid its farewell to the world.

’As expected, she isn’t done yet.’

Perhaps being closer to the castle, Aurora couldn’t rampage as much as she did at the start, putting more focus on containing the Earthen Dragon in place rather than ending its life.

Unlike the Golden Dragon she barbecued before, this Earthen Dragon’s aggro wasn’t grabbable; all it wanted to do was turn the Defenders’ Castle into ruins.

As such, if Aurora was to mess up even once, the Earthen Dragon was bound to throw itself on the castle just like its brother. This was a way harder battle than Leo’s.

Besides...

’It’s a little bit tricky.’

Looking at the rock fragments scattered all around Aurora’s area of combat, Leo quickly analyzed the situation.

Once again, there was a decision to be made. Turning his eyes between Aurora, the caged Earthen Dragon, and Kara’s grave face...

Leo closed his eyes before melting into the ground.

’That’s the only way.’

As a singular thought echoed in Leo’s mind, light returned to the eyes of his copy standing at the top of the castle.

Taking a step forward, Leo’s body moved out of his stationary copy before jumping off the highest spire!

"Let it go!"

With words directed at Kara, Leo dropped down like a high-velocity projectile as a mass of densely packed shadow grew over his body, increasing the effects of gravity more and more.

Despite how absent-minded Kara looked with how concentrated she was on her task, Leo’s words didn’t fail to reach her ears and fully register in her mind.

Any other person in her same shoes might doubt the makings of such a decision, or wonder if this was done out of worry over their inability to continue their mission, making them more reluctant to follow that directive.

That being said...

"Got it."

For Kara, things were way simpler. Since this was a command from Leo, it had to be carried out.

Doubt wasn’t an option, and self-doubt could be dealt with after the command had been faithfully carried out.

...-oarrrrr!

With the starry night cage no longer in place, the Earthen Dragon’s cry that had been continuously suppressed till this point finally went through.

At the same time, the force that the Earthen Dragon was using to push his body out of the barrier was still active, the preserved momentum instantly moving its body towards the castle.

However...

Bang!

In that instant, a terrifying impact struck the Earthen Dragon’s back, shifting that momentum from moving forward to dropping downward!

At the same time, as if unaffected by the collision he made, the source of the impact smoothly rose from the depressed crater in the Earthen Dragon’s back, brandishing a long but wide flat sword.

Swish!

In one swift circular motion, the wings that originally held the Earthen Dragon in the air were completely cut off from the joint and left to float in the air on their own, destroying the Dragon’s last chance of resisting the indubitable force of gravity.

’Not bad.’

This was the first time Leo had used all of his strength in an attack since the start of the Trial of Defense, utilizing peak 5-refined Enigma to the utmost.

This was something that Leo could only afford to use because the Trial was about to end. Thankfully, the result was quite satisfactory.

Crack!

Without anything to slow down its descent to the ground, the Earthen Dragon was forced to take on the shock of the impact using its limbs.

With the weight that Leo was forcefully exerting from above, even its tough-as-steel bones had to have received some damage!

This was precisely why Leo put more strength into cutting off the wings in one swipe. After all, if it was still partially hanging to the Dragon’s body, it could have been used as a makeshift parachute even if they had become useless for flying.

Roarrrrr!

The Earthen Dragon screamed in pain, but Leo was unmoved. As soon as it tried to stand up using its compromised legs, shadow tendrils rose from the ground to force them down and deny that possibility!

Roarrr! Roarrr! Roarrr!

This was Leo’s own way of skipping the subduction part of the butchering process!

Although his full-strength attack could directly cut off a part of the Earthen Dragon’s body in one slash, that only worked out against the thin and flexible wing joint.

When it came to the Dragon’s thick rock-plated neck, one slash would never cut it. A brute force one-shot kill was still impossible.

As such, the process that Leo chose was right in the middle. He could use brute force to subdue the Earthen Dragon and then use calculated attacks to get the slaughtering job done!

Roarrrrr!

However, screaming wasn’t the only thing that the Earthen Dragon could do in retaliation.

It might not have had the physical strength of the Abyssal Dragon, which wouldn’t have put it in such a weak position to begin with, but each type of Dragon had their own special strength.

Clack! Clack! Clack!

All of a sudden, the ground surrounding them started shaking as small rocks shot from under Leo’s legs haphazardly.

This was the Brown Dragon’s speciality, Earthen Control!

Clack! Clack! Thud!

At first, the shooting was too random for it to even hit Leo, but within seconds it wasn’t only growing more accurate, but the shooting rocks were growing in size.

’Troublesome.’

Earthen Dragons were truly troublesome to deal with!

Thud!

Of course, once a rock got too close, a shadow tendril instantly rose to swat it away, but that wasn’t what Leo was worried about.

Thud! Thud!

’...I guess it wasn’t trying to be accurate.’

Seeing the rocks being thrown further and further away from home, Leo realized that he had never been the target.

Despite the physical violence that he had exacted on the Earthen Dragon, the only thing that it bothered with was still destroying the castle!

Thud!