Chapter 909: Eighty

Amid thunderous snores, Liszt descended from the sky and landed beside the golden orichalcum dragon. The sky gradually darkened, but this did not stop him from taking out a crystal lamp—a hand-magic torch—to carefully examine the massive beast.

The classification of metal dragons is quite fascinating.

There are dragons for every metal, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, and tin, as well as lead, mercury, titanium, platinum, and others. Often, one metal has several dragon variants.

Iron dragons can be categorized into five known types: black-hearted iron dragon, white-hearted iron dragon, mottled-cast iron dragon, White-Mouthed Iron Dragon, and grey cast iron dragon. Copper dragons have four known classifications: bronze dragon, purple copper dragon, brass dragon, and white copper dragon. However, the orichalcum dragon does not fall under the category of copper dragons; it belongs to the magical metal dragons.

Orichalcum, an indestructible metal, looks somewhat similar to gold but is more vibrant in color. Conventional forging methods cannot shape orichalcum.

Only an iron knight can forge it using mana.

The Longyu family of Red Crab Island has a knight order clad in orichalcum alloy armor, which shines blindingly and looks badass.

"Clink, clink."

Liszt tapped the orichalcum dragon's scales with his sword hilt, producing a crisp metallic sound. "Acher, if I channel Dragon Aura and stab down hard, do you think I could pierce this scale?"

"Hehe, why would you want to stab it, brother?" Acher giggled.

"This jerk dissed me earlier."

It was just a joke. After confirming that the orichalcum dragon was completely drugged by the Milon Mind Fruit, he quickly located the dragon-tooth dais at the junction of its neck and body. "Guard me. I'm about to begin the psyche duel."

"Mhm!"

With Acher protecting him, Liszt felt at ease.

He sat down squarely on the dragon-tooth dais. Whoosh—a weird, tingly rush to his head, and the next moment, he found himself in a world drenched in gold. Everything in this world was golden: the earth, the towering trees, the sky, and even the sun hanging above.

At the center of this world stood a massive, translucent golden rock, from which loud snores emanated.

Inside the rock, the orichalcum dragon slept soundly, with flickering prismatic glows around it—the power of the Milon Mind Fruit enveloping its mind.

"Though it's not my first time using the Milon Mind Fruit, seeing a dragon in the mental world completely subdued always reminds me of the Jade Dragon's formidable power. Any dragon that consumes the Milon Mind Fruit would likely have its mind bound by this force, left at your mercy."

Leo ate it and got ridden, Ornn ate it and got ridden, and now it was the orichalcum dragon's turn.

Only the invisible dragon escaped being subdued by the Milon Mind Fruit, but that wasn't because the fruit lacked power—it was because Bard saw through its effects and refused to eat it. Had he consumed it unknowingly, the result would have been the same.

Even if the invisible dragon had been subdued, winning the psyche duel against it would have been nearly impossible—its intricate mind-maze was knight-proof.

Without it voluntarily lowering the maze's difficulty, Liszt would have had no chance of victory.

"So, all I need to do now is shatter this rock, right?" Standing before the hundred-meter-tall rock, Liszt already knew how to proceed with the mental battle.

To win, he had to break this rock, which symbolized the orichalcum dragon's unbreakable rep.

Andre’s dumb ass could never crack this rock if he had attempted to tame the orichalcum dragon. Even if he managed to lick the dragon senseless in reality, the mental battle would still require facing this nearly unbreakable rock. Perhaps, given enough time, relentless strikes could eventually crack it.

But time in the mental battle was limited.

Andre and the Kingdom of the Eagle's big-headed plans were all in vain.

"Simps get squat, hehe." Liszt shook his head. "That's why I prefer brute force—smash and grab!"

He glanced down at the icy-blue Frostbite Dragon Slayer in his hand. As his will surged, his Dragon Aura entwined the sword, morphing it into a goddamn sledgehammer.

He sucked in a breath.

Liszt suddenly swung the hammer, striking the golden, translucent rock with full force: "Eighty!"

"Eighty!"

"Eighty!"

After three strikes, the golden rock only shuddered slightly without leaving any marks. Clearly, the hammer alone couldn’t shatter this rock—another approach was needed. If it were a native knight, they might be frustrated beyond measure, but Liszt still had plenty of inspiration.

The mist coiled again, transforming the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword from a hammer into a drill shape this time.

Taking another deep breath, the Dragon Aura within him activated the mana technique—Spiral Drive—then drove the drill in his hand, whirring into a frenzy.

GRRRRIND!

A screeching noise erupted between the drill and the rock, and in the next moment, rock dust sprayed outward as the drill pierced through the rock’s outer layer.

"It’s working!"

Liszt gritted his teeth, focusing his will as the smoke grew denser. The drill in his hand spun faster and faster, GRRRRINDING, steadily boring deeper into the rock’s surface. When the outer layer was finally breached, cracks spread from the drill point like a spiderweb, rapidly covering the entire rock.

The Orichalcum Dragon inside the rock seemed to stir slightly, its eyelids trembling faintly, but the shimmering aurora quickly suppressed it again, preventing any influence over the rock.

Yanking the drill free, Liszt once more used the smoke’s power to reshape the Frostbite Dragon Slayer Sword into a hammer, then struck the drilled hole with full force: "Eighty!"

"Eighty!"

"Eighty!"

With each strike, the cracks widened, spawning even finer fractures.

"Eighty!"

"Eighty!"

"Eighty!"

By the tenth swing, the rock was completely veined with cracks, and on Liszt’s eleventh final, crushing strike, it collapsed with a deafening collapse. As the dust settled, the Orichalcum Dragon had somehow awakened, its gaze locked onto Liszt with a tangle of emotions—confusion, reluctance, surprise, relief, and loss.

Yet, in the end, it let out a deep call toward him: "ROOOAR!"

With a leap, Liszt mounted its serrated dragonback, and in that moment, man and dragon became one in spirit. The Orichalcum Dragon flapped its wings, its massive body soaring into the sky, charging straight toward the golden sun. The blazing sunlight filled the world.

When the overwhelming glare finally faded, Liszt realized he had left the mindscape and returned to reality.

Underfoot, the Orichalcum Dragon still roared with earth-shaking snores, but a powerful soul-deep connection had already formed between them.

"Success."

Liszt stood up and gave Acheronides a tired grin. "Once the Orichalcum Dragon wakes, we’ll depart the Riftspine Mountains."