Without the slightest hesitation, Nolan's figure blurred, and he vanished from where he stood like a ghost.
In that instant, an incredibly sharp dragon wing bone spur whistled through the air, stabbing straight toward the spot where Nolan had just been.
It missed by only the smallest margin. Any closer, and that bone spur would have blown Nolan's head apart.
Bayle let out a deafening roar.
At the very same moment, Nolan appeared again as if out of thin air, flashing into place behind Bayle.
This guy! What is that strange, dangerous feeling? He doesn't even have a weapon in his hand, so why do I feel pain cutting all the way into my bones?
Confusion and shock filled Bayle's mind.
Then a sheet of vivid red blood spread across Bayle's chest like a tide.
In the blink of an eye, its once-dark dragon scales were stained a startling crimson.
A fist wrapped in hard Flying Dragon Scale Armor had struck Bayle's chest.
The blow was so powerful that Bayle lurched forward violently, nearly toppling over.
Fortunately, its reactions were astonishingly fast. It drove its legs hard into the ground and barely managed to steady itself, struggling back upright.
Bayle slowly lowered its head and looked at the deep wound in its chest, where blood continued to gush out.
Then it raised its head, fixed its gaze on Nolan, and gave him a slight nod before speaking in a low, hoarse voice.
"Kid, your strength is far beneath mine, but the fact that you managed to shatter my Scale Armor is rather interesting..."
Nolan slowly turned his head. The massive Flying Dragon clad in blood-red Scale Armor was pressed low against the ground, rows of sharp fangs bared and gleaming coldly.
Bayle looked like a beast on high alert, baring its teeth and claws at a threatening enemy.
Nolan knew this kind of behavior all too well. He had faced countless opponents like this before.
They often looked ferocious, but when they took on such a posture at a critical moment, they only revealed the fear and fragility buried deep inside them.
Only those who truly felt threatened would try to intimidate an enemy into stopping.
The Dread Dragon stood at the apex of all Flying Dragons, the undisputed Lord of Flying Dragons. It sprang from the ground with its battered body, shot backward at incredible speed, and finally landed more than a hundred meters away.
Bayle had thought it could finish him with a single thrust, but Nolan's footwork was far too unpredictable. The balance between attack and defense had shifted.
Bayle's power was enough to make Demigods tremble, yet it had still been a split second too slow. Nolan's eerie speed... was simply unreasonable.
Bayle's eyes widened, disbelief written across its face.
It could not accept the reality before it, but the blood pouring from its chest mercilessly reminded it that this was real, not some illusion or dream.
Before the next fierce clash arrived, Bayle finally snapped back to itself as if waking from a dream.
In an instant, the shock in its eyes turned into blazing fury.
It had been wounded. As the Lord of Flying Dragons, it had been wounded by a mere human!
Bayle suddenly raised its head. Its broad chest began to heave violently, as if something terrible were about to break free from the depths of its body.
It was endless rage. That fury surged like molten lava, swiftly filling its entire chest.
"Damnable ants!"
With Bayle's furious roar, Nolan's vision turned crimson, as if the night had been set ablaze. Scorching flames bloomed like brilliant flowers, driving the darkness away completely.
The enraged colossus threw its head back and roared to the heavens, its voice shaking the clouds.
Was this the bearing of a Lord?
No. In Nolan's eyes, this lofty Lord of Flying Dragons was now nothing more than a beast ruled by instinct.
Even before this, a similar rage had been quietly growing in his own heart, spreading without end.
It seemed that only by releasing that anger could he gain even a moment of relief.
The instant the two crossed paths, everything flowed as if it were only natural.
The flames spewing from Bayle's mouth were stopped firmly by a pure white curtain of light, unable to advance even half an inch.
Immediately afterward, the Lord of Flying Dragons leapt into the air, abandoning without hesitation the dragonfire attack that looked so imposing but had already proven useless.
Instead, the sharp bone spur on its right wing began to coil with red-and-gold Flame Lightning, sweeping toward Nolan.
Nolan sprang backward, his light steps touching the ground in quick succession. In a flash, the distance between him and the Flying Dragon widened.
The next moment, Bayle's bone spur slammed into the ground. The frenzied lightning burned like raging fire, its heat instantly melting the earth into lava.
A few drops of magma splashed onto Nolan's face. He did not dodge, simply letting the Flying Dragon Scale Armor on his face hiss in his ears.
"Aren't you a dragon? If you are, then stop hiding and running like a human. Show your claws and fangs!" Bayle raised its severed wing, crackling with lightning.
You challenge the throne and still resort to sneak attacks. What right do you have to say that?
"I am human," Nolan said. "And who said I was running?"
It was true that he had dodged just now, but dodging and fleeing were two different things. He had no intention of escaping this battle between the Promised Consort of the Covenant and the Lord of Flying Dragons. Taking meaningless wounds would only be the greatest cruelty toward the people beside him.
The deafening howl of lightning drowned out Nolan's voice. The bone spur rushing toward him carried immense heat and destructive force, crushing everything in its path as it advanced.
Nolan still had no intention of meeting it head-on. He certainly was not afraid of being injured, but if the goddess behind him saw his wounds, she would be distressed for quite some time.
If the two of them were compared to war spears, then in a direct clash of spear tips, Nolan would most likely be the first to break. For now, there was still a gap in the material of the two spears.
The wings on Nolan's back, bathed in the blood of countless Flying Dragons, spread wide. Those dragon wings had grown like vast hands covering the sky as he silently lifted off the ground.
The ant that had crawled on the earth had now become a ruler of the skies.
Bayle's bone spur scraped across the ground and sent magma spraying. At almost the same time, it folded its wings and retreated, looking up toward the thick, heavy air high above.
A silver figure emerged from the clouds, unfurling those beautiful "dragon wings." The man raised his hand in a throwing motion.
Bayle narrowed its eyes and roared, "A bug that flies into the sky is still a bug. The vile remain vile!"
A spear of light struck it head-on. Bayle staggered back two steps, then fell backward onto the ground.
The war spear, like an arrow of the sun, struck the broken great wing and pierced through it. Nolan gently lowered his hand, his face calm and expressionless.