Chapter 875: The Crumbling Gray King

"Growl!"

The grey cast iron dragon let out an ominous roar, flapping its wings to climb sharply higher.

Standing on its back, Duke Piero Grey Iron grew puzzled. "Grey King, what's wrong?"

"Roar!"

The grey cast iron dragon couldn't speak, nor could it establish a mental link with Piero. It could only manage crude communication through body language and shifting roars. Fortunately, though Piero wasn't a Dragon Knight, he had grown up alongside the grey cast iron dragon and could somewhat understand its meaning.

"You mean we're in danger... Is it that invisible dragon from before?" Piero quickly guessed the truth.

"Roar!" The grey cast iron dragon confirmed.

Piero's expression darkened instantly. "The Invisible Dragon Knight, Liszt Flame—has he been trailing us all this way, waiting for me to fly alone so he could ambush me?"

"Roar!"

"Grey King, can you hold your own against the Invisible Dragon Knight?"

"Roar!" The grey cast iron dragon responded with a defiant roar, then lifted a few scales on its back, signaling Piero to hide beneath them.

Next, it would face the battle alone!

Its wings blotted out the sky, flapping continuously, ascending through layer after layer of clouds—it dreaded the Archmage’s tidal spells might trap it. As highly intelligent creatures, dragons naturally understood that the sky was their true battlefield. The higher they flew, the better their chances of victory.

By the time it climbed to an altitude of 20,000 meters, the air had grown extremely thin.

Though the grey cast iron dragon felt no discomfort, it didn't climb any higher. Even for a dragon, pushing higher was near impossible.

Holding position aloft, it keenly tracked the increasingly close and distinct magic power of the invisible dragon.

Its body appeared robust and powerful, its steel-gray scales reflecting sunlight with a cold metallic sheen. Its tail, slender compared to its body, lashed restlessly behind it. The tip of its tail bore slight protrusions, like a coiled Dragonlance, always ready to strike.

Yet, what unnerved the grey cast iron dragon was that while it clearly sensed the invisible dragon's magic power, it couldn't pinpoint its location.

Left and right, front and back, up and down—it felt as though it wasn't facing just one dragon, but countless foes encircling it.

Of course.

The grey cast iron dragon knew its opponent wasn't just the Invisible Dragon Knight. There was also a Fire Dragon that could appear at any moment, as well as a formidable Archmage—solely to evade the Archmage's attacks, it had climbed to this altitude.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

Minutes dragged on, yet the invisible dragon still hadn't revealed itself. The grey cast iron dragon seethed with impatience.

Even Duke Piero, hiding beneath its scales, was gasping for air. The thin air made it hard to breathe. If this continued, he might become the first king to die of asphyxiation.

But the invisible dragon refused to appear.

It merely darted unpredictably, goading the grey cast iron dragon’s resolve.

Occasionally, it would vanish briefly, only to slowly approach again when the grey cast iron dragon considered retreating, renewing its harassment.

This cycle repeated over and over, lasting a full two hours.

By then, Piero had turned ashen from oxygen loss and couldn't help but plead with the grey cast iron dragon. "Grey King, I'm about to suffocate! Let's fall back to the coast—now!"

"Roar!"

The grey-cast-iron dragon was unwilling to yield and ignored Piero. Another hour passed, and Piero fainted from lack of oxygen, yet the grey-cast-iron dragon remained in formation high in the sky. Though Piero’s incessant noise had ceased, the dragon’s own mental endurance had reached its limit.

After three full hours of tense, nerve-wracking danger and no physical respite, it could hold on no longer.

Its focus shattered completely.

"RAAARGH!"

With an enraged bellow, the grey-cast-iron dragon flapped its wings and flew toward the coastline without looking back.

But just as it succumbed to the urge to flee, the invisible dragon that had been toying with it finally revealed itself. Liszt, who had long been poised to strike, gripped Thunder's Rage and channeled all his violent magic power and mana into the tip of his Dragonlance, unleashing a swift "Snow Mountain" technique.

The grey-cast-iron dragon reacted swiftly, but its momentary lapse in composure caused its tail to swing a beat too slow.

It narrowly missed the invisible dragon, only for a sharp pain to erupt on its upper thigh as Thunder's Rage landed a solid blow. The attack shattered its steel-hard scales, scorching aura and razor-edged magic erupting violently, shredding crucial muscles at the base of its leg.

Before the grey-cast-iron dragon could counter, Liszt withdrew Thunder's Rage, allowing Acheronides to toss an ice shield as a brief barrier while he mounted the invisible dragon Bard and slipped back into the material boundary once more.

The grey-cast-iron dragon twisted to bite.

It loosed a storm of metallic breath, shattering the ice shield into countless shards, but failed to harm the invisible dragon. The grey-cast-iron dragon channeled magic power to seal the wound at its thigh and raised its scales, transforming itself into an ironclad, spine-studded defense.

Unlike the copper dragon’s copper-plated state, the iron dragon could only erect its scales into a defensive hedgehog formation.

But it was a wasted effort—the raised scales disrupted airflow, drastically slowing its flight. The invisible dragon dipped in and out of the material boundary, striking with its lance each time, each strike painting the sky with dragon blood.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

The grey-cast-iron dragon grew increasingly frustrated, but worse was its mounting exhaustion, fueling its desire to flee.

Sometimes, it endured Liszt’s brutal strikes just to keep flying forward, as if reaching land would mean safety.

Yet Liszt, close behind, grinned triumphantly. "You’re broken! In this state, turning to fight could still wound me badly—but trying to escape? Impossible!" Against an invisible dragon’s speed, the grey-cast-iron dragon stood no chance!

His Dragonlance danced, mana surging violently.

Liszt poured every insight from the *Invisible Dragon Knight—Dragon Aura Manual* into this chase, testing techniques like *Ghost-Swipe*, *Shadow-Flick*, *Snow Mountain-Collapse*, *Sonic Boom-Thrust*, and *Venom-Dragon Drill*, along with newly conceived, unpolished inspirations.

"Hyah!"

Bard, too, was exhilarated. Despite its sleek build, it relentlessly harassed the massive grey-cast-iron dragon, giddy with the thrill of overpowering it. It didn’t even need to unleash its breath—its claws alone left jagged gashes. Dragon breath drained its innate hyper-magic—best used sparingly.

Thus, Liszt’s Dragonlance and combat arts, Bard’s claws and bites, and Acheronides’ ice shields and blades of water relentlessly chipped away at the grey-cast-iron dragon. The entire ordeal was smoother than their rushed slaying of the Copper Dragon Knight, Loyel—thanks to an unopposed, methodical assault.

No dragon knight could arrive in time to aid the grey-cast-iron dragon.

A chase—a sky painted red.

In moments, they covered dozens of kilometers. Finally, the grey-cast-iron dragon glimpsed the coastline of the Kingdom of the Eagle. Digging deep into its reserves, enduring its wounds, it pushed desperately toward land.

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

If it reached land, it might yet reverse its fate.

Reality, however, would not grant its wish. Liszt reappeared, driving the Dragonlance fiercely into its body. Bard also unleashed a reluctant dragonbreath shatter, relentlessly slicing through its scales. Acheronides simultaneously released Vector Slash combined with a high-pressure water jet, once again tearing through its already battered scales.

Then.

What filled the grey cast iron dragon with absolute dread was the sight of a burst of flames ahead, transforming into a Fire Dragon with a wingspan nearing thirty meters, its body clad in black-red scales. Beneath the Fire Dragon's menacing horns and twisted facial scales lay a pair of crimson eyes radiating boundless malevolence.

Like looking death straight in the eye!

Without any hesitation, the Fire Dragon collided headlong into the grey cast iron dragon!

In an instant, the sound of cracking bones echoed from both dragons as they lost balance and plummeted toward the sea. Yet, while the Fire Dragon Leo had ample time to regain its balance, the grey cast iron dragon faced the unrelenting barrage of attacks from Liszt, Bard, and Acheronides.

Finish it while it's down!

This had always been Liszt's life motto. Though usually cautious, in battle, he transformed into a reckless berserker, embracing the creed of "live or die, fight without hesitation."

And how could he let slip the chance to kick it while it's down?

"The grey cast iron dragon belongs to me now!"