Chapter 59: Vs Green Dragon (END)

"OOOOOOOO!" The green dragon stretched its head towards Rex and roared.

Immediately, Rex leaped forward with incredible force, the burning woods crumbling under the force of his leap, with his spear drawn back for a devastating horizontal slash aimed at the dragon. 

Seeing this, the dragon reacted with unbelievable agility, twisting its massive, slender body into a rapid spin, and lashing out its whip-like tail lashed out with precision.

*BOOM*The tail slammed into Rex abdomen like a bat hitting a fastball, unleashing a shockwave that scattered flame, debris, and air. Rex's body shot backward like a missile, his frame vanishing into the distance, crossing a kilometer in mere seconds.

He crashed down into the forest, smashing into the ground and bouncing violently, his body spinning uncontrollable. He flew through trees, breaking trunks like twigs, rolling and tumbling across the dirt like an unstoppable projectile. Unsuspecting monsters caught in his trajectory were obliterated instantly.

Finally regaining control mid-flight, Rex flipped upside down mid-air, driving his spear into the soil below. His spear carved a deep trench through the soil, creating friction of sparks that slowed his flight. He then pulled himself down, boots scraping the dirt, he dug further trenches until finally skidding to a halt.

He lifted his head with a bloodied grin, noticing a stunned three-man team of adventurers staring at him from the side. It looked like they were camping out when he flew towards them.

"Hello, adventurers!" he greeted enthusiastically, entirely unbothered by the broken ribs he had just sustained. "Lovely weather we're having, right?"

They stared at the man who looked far too underdressed for the dangers of the Large Tree Labyrinth, with his glowing red eyes behind the shadow of the T-shaped helm sending shivers down their spines. Rex didn't wait for them to respond and shouted exuberantly like a tribal warrior, his spear raised high above him:

"Olalalalalala!"

BOOM—he bolted forward, sprinting like a lunatic, bulldozing through trees effortlessly. After building enough momentum, he executed a powerful long jump, landing and immediately performing another even more explosive leap.

Like a three-step long jump, his third leap was the strongest. As he pushed off, the earth beneath him exploded outward like water hit by a stone, entire sections of the forest floor uprooted in a wave of destruction. The leap hurled him through the air toward the great jewel tree, arms and legs stretched out casually, his body flying straight at the heart of the dragon's domain, forest passing rapidly below him.

The green dragon snarled, eyes blazing, roaring fiercely, sending another pulse of vivid green energy radiating into the ground. A massive wall, fifty meters high, composed of towering trees, thick roots, and dense foliage, rose rapidly, forming an impenetrable barrier between Rex and the dragon's precious jewel tree.

Rex grinned confidently, calmly readjusting himself mid-air. Drawing his spear back and gripping the bottom of the shaft tightly with both hands, he unleashed an explosive horizontal slash. A brilliant crimson glint flashed, slicing effortlessly through the colossal barrier and the massive trunk of the jewel tree behind it.

The wall split neatly in half, allowing Rex to fly through the center unobstructed. As he shot through the gap, he twisted his body midair, continuing forwards feet first, and slamming into the jewel tree trunk. The immense force of the impact caused the trunk to groan deeply, tilting backward slowly as the upper half began to fall from the cleanly sliced section.

The dragon roared furiously, gazing upward at its precious jewel tree, falling. Its rage intensified as it spotted Rex standing sideways on the falling tree trunk, feet ankle deep into the bark, keeping him upright. 

Driven by fury, the dragon spread its wings and soared upward, landing heavily on the colossal trunk. With astonishing agility, the massive creature began climbing up the steeply inclined tree trunk toward Rex, its enormous body resembling a small lizard against the sheer scale of the tree.

As it reached striking distance, the dragon lashed out with a wide, powerful swipe from its foreleg, its paw big enough to dwarf an elephant. Rex instantly withdrew his legs from the trunk's bark, jumping backward to evade. 

The dragon swiftly followed up with another rapid swipe, forcing Rex to duck beneath it, dashing forward and thrusting his spear towards the dragon's throat. With unmatched agility, the dragon flapped its wings, jumping back to narrowly evade the strike before immediately lunging down at Rex again.

Man and dragon collided again and again in rapid succession, red and green streaks flashing across the slowly falling tree trunk like comets. Each collision erupted in showers of sparks, claws scraping against spear, flesh colliding with scales, streaks of crimson blood and green scales trailing behind them as the fight intensified.

Just as the tree's canopy neared the earth, the wounded dragon shot upward into the sky, chest puffed out, rising nearly a hundred meters high. Twisting sharply, it faced downward, unleashing an immense torrent of green poisonous fog, instantly engulfing Rex and the tree below. Adding venom from its fangs, the dragon ignited the fog into fierce emerald flames, consuming everything below.

It continued breathing down, rage feeling it as it saw its treasured tree burning, but then, from within the blazing inferno shot a crimson spear, streaking upward with tremendous velocity. 

Before the dragon could evade, the spear collided with a small gap in the dragon's chest where a scale had been chipped during their earlier clash. It penetrated through its hide, muscles, passed its ribs, and pierced slightly into its heart.

"AWOOOOOO!" The dragon roared in agony, as a thin trickle of crimson blood ran down its chest, sliding over the green scales from the small hole left by the spear. 

Its body spasmed in the air, spinning wildly, wings flailing uselessly as it lost all control. It twirled through the sky, twisting like a broken arrow before crashing back down.

It slammed into the burning crown of the jewel tree, the impact snapping thick branches and splitting bark, then it collided with the ground beneath, the force shaking the forest. A roar of pain ripped from its throat as it landed, wings breaking under the crushing weight of the fall.

The dragon groaned, trapped in a storm of green fire of the burning back. It staggered back to its feet, breath wheezing, blood leaking from its chest. The crown of the tree blazed around it, flames licking its scales, casting flickering light over its injuries.

Compared to its massive body, the spear was no larger than a toothpick—yet it had pierced its heart and with every beat, the embedded weapon sank deeper. It needed to calm down. It knew the truth—if its heart beat too fast, if it panicked, the spear would drive deeper, and it would die.

So it breathed. Steady. Calm. Control. Inside the green flames, it felt still. Surrounded by heat and ruin, it told itself it was safe. It could—

*Crack.*

The dragon turned its head to see a man walking through the fire, his cape, boots, and pants burning in the green fire—but the fire didn't consume them as they were resistant to burn. The helm cast his face in shadow, one of his glowing crimson eyes piercing through the blaze.

"You lost, Hashirama~," Rex's calm voice came, forcing the dragon to take a step back.

"Rejoice!" Rex spread his one working arm, revealing his scorched, bubbled, bruised, and mangled torso, with his right arm hanging to his side, twisted grotesquely. "You ALMOST made me use Strong Body!"

"OOOOOOO!" The dragon roared in fury.

It knew it was dying. So it would take this arrogant human with it, so it charged forward in a gallop, claws tearing into the burning ground.

"This is—" Rex started.

The dragon reared up on its hind legs, bringing both forelegs down on Rex with crushing force. The ground cracked beneath the dragon's weight and power as Rex leaped back. He landed on a flaming branch, then launched himself again—this time appearing above the dragon's back.

"—THE END!" He roared as he punched down.

He slammed his working left fist down with brutal force, punching through the fin on the dragon's spine, crashing into its scales, and driving it down. The impact echoed across the forest along with the dragon howl, the punch sending a powerful dome-shaped gust of wind outwards that put out all the fire burning the tree's crown.

Rex landed on its back, panting hard with his back hunched. Below him, the dragon groaned, still trying to move. Its heart continued to bleed as the embedded spear pulsed deeper, but it kept trying to move its limbs, to stand. 

Green fog spilled from its nose and mouth as it almost stood, then it collapsed. 'Damn…' its thoughts faded.

Its eyes rolled back, the nictitating membrane sliding across its vision.

'…you…'

Rex stood straight and, with his back arched, he cried out in dominance, "OOOOOOOO!"

After his roar, his adrenaline quickly died down and the pain from his entire body came rushing back to his mind like a flood, almost making him pass out—but Indomitable Will activated.

'…Indomitable Will?' He was surprised, then sighed at the sky, his cape that had stopped burning settling behind him. 'I need to get used to this level of pain.'

Since coming to this world a month ago, he'd only taken this level of damage seven times. Five times against the infant dragon at level 1, once against the Goliath at level 2, and now against the Green Dragon. 

Every time, he'd almost passed out from the pain, because mentally, even after a month, he was still a McDonald's worker. And because Indomitable Will activated automatically to numb the pain, he hadn't really gotten used to pain at this level, which was a bit sad.

'Haah~' He looked down at the dragon, a smile growing on his face as he started using his healing magic. 'It was really a good idea to nerf myself. I should start doing this against bosses I outscale.'

With that thought, he used Scavenger on it. Its body turned to dust, and he dropped almost 3 meters to the ground, his spear clattering beside him along with the drops.

[+773 Strength, +713 Endurance, +999 Dexterity, +799 Agility, +999 Magic]

"Um…" He blinked at the stat screen. "What the fuck?" Maxed-out magic from one Scavenge? When does that ever happen—

"Ohhhh~" He palmed his forehead with his left hand. "I'm a level 3 and this guy is a level 4." He'd forgotten the level difference with how 'easily' he killed it.

Not only that, the skill Dragon's Bane—that dramatically improves the quality and quantity of loot from slain dragons—also applied to scavenging. Ever since getting it, every time he scavenged a dragon-type monster, he got more stats than usual and a higher chance for multiple abilities—just like with the Vouivre. Combined with his Luck DA, it wasn't weird he got this amount of stats.

"Damn, this is good isn't it?" He mumbled, ignoring the abilities and just looking at the stats. "If I kill the other two and Goliath, I should reach about a thousand and twenty. So when I get down to Water City, I would only need to farm triple S stats." He nodded. 'That's good. Really good.'

With that thought, he turned to his ability screen.

[Vouivre Blood -> Green Dragon Body (Skill/Passive): Significantly increases resistance to poison, venom, and toxins. Provides a great boost to natural physical regeneration, poison-based abilities, and earth-based elemental magic. Passive buff to earth and poison-based magic to surrounding allies. Increases mind regeneration and reduces overall mind usage in forested areas.]

[Sharp Teeth++ -> Green Dragon Teeth+++ (Physical Property): Grants the user sharper teeth with elongated canines. The user can draw blood from other beings to heal themselves. The user can inject paralysis venom through their canines and shoot extremely corrosive acid from them. (Effective after a good night's sleep.)]

[Dark Fungus Spores+ -> Poison Release++ (Magic/Active): You can release the Dark Fungus's poisonous spores from any part of your body. You can also give it the property of the Green Dragon poison, granting it a highly combustible effect.]

[Nictitating Membrane+ -> Nictitating Membrane++ (Physical Property): Grants the user a third eyelid known as a Nictitating Membrane. Can use it to see in infrared and through trees. (Effective after a good night's sleep.)]

'Congratulations to Vouivre Blood on being the shortest ability I ever had~' he thought with a chuckle. 'Not even two hours and it's already been replaced.' He paused, 

'But seeing as this one is called Green Dragon Body, I guess Body Furnace is not the highest level.' Scavenger confirmed it. The highest level is Red Dragon Body which can be acquired from the red dragons on the... 

'Floor fifty-eight.' He has a long way to go. He would probably get Blue Dragon Body from Cadmus on the 51st floor before getting the final upgrade of Body Furnace. 

'And white dragon body...? Wonder what would happen if I got all elemental dragon bodies.' He thought, 'Would it become the Black Dragon Body?' He decided not to ask scavenger for the location of the White Dragon or the final evolution of all four elemental bodies to avoid spoilers.

As for the other upgrades, he had gotten the first + on Nictitating Membrane from the Firebird, a rare bird-type monster known for shooting fireballs, which granted him infrared sight. The tree-vision was from the Green Dragon.

'Guess that's how it was able to see me despite being surrounded by trees.' Rex concluded.

As for Sharp Teeth, one plus was from those massive vampire bats that could literally suck you dry within seconds, giving him the blood-drain effect. The paralysis venom came from those large spiders that caught him off guard with their webs. Now, with the Green Dragon's acid, it became his ability with the most replacements.

It's a good physical property, honestly, but he could never see himself using it. He wasn't a rabid dog going around biting random things, nor did he feel comfortable using it. The only one of his tooth abilities he might use regularly was the acid shot.

There was also Tremor Sense that got an upgrade after he killed a massive mole monster. This only increased the range from ~20 meters to ~70 while fine tuning it to let him feel everything that's on the ground. They didn't have to be moving for vibration for him to sense them now. Lastly was his DA, Abnormal Resistance H, which he got from a recently deceased adventure. 

'I didn't get the Overgrowth ability,' he thought. 'But I have two more tries.'

'Well,' he squatted to pick up his spear with his barely working right arm, then used his cloak like a makeshift sack to carry the Green Dragon's drops, slinging it over his shoulder, 'Let's continue.' Too bad the dragon burned down the gems on the tree. They could have sold for a lot.

[Author's Note: How was the fight with the green dragon? I think it was good. Anyway, thanks for reading~ feeling tired~(￣o￣) . z Z]