Ashen Dragon

Accompanied by the sharp sound of air shattering, Stieg descended fiercely from the skies, carrying terrifying kinetic energy, his colossal body smashing heavily into the city wall.

Little did he know, the dwarves were not trapped inside the wall unable to escape, but were actually ambushed within that hollow, gripping their great swords, muscles taut, ready to strike the wyvern at any moment.

As Stieg was about to collide with the wall, a Black Iron great sword pierced through the smoke and dust, thrusting straight toward the bipedal wyvern's abdomen.

"Boom!"

A thunderous explosion erupted, the wall was reduced to rubble by Stieg's impact. Bren dodged aside in a flash but was still sent flying by the powerful blast. His sword-hand trembled violently, almost losing grip of the blade.

Luckily, the dwarf managed to cling to the outer edge of the city wall, preventing himself from plummeting from Aivendel.

"Damn it, how is this possible?!" Bren's heart was filled with shock. He had just aimed a strike at the wyvern's abdomen through the smoke and dust, yet his full-force attack was blocked by the creature's scales!

His hand was numb from the impact, but the bipedal wyvern was completely unaffected, without even its outermost defense being breached!

The legendary dwarf warrior was unaware that, as the Empire's wyvern leader, Stieg's vulnerable abdomen was engraved with multiple layers of protective magic.

Moreover, the Ancestral Dragon Blood bestowed by Cassius had altered Stieg's form, granting him scales even tougher than those of ordinary giant dragons.

"Roar!"

Stieg roared once more, like a massive bulldozer, mercilessly tearing through the nearby city wall, advancing toward the dwarves hanging on the wall's edge.

He had attacked so many times, yet this dwarf still hadn't perished! Simply like a stubborn, stinking stone!

Stieg exhaled clouds of sulfur-scented white smoke, enraged yet secretly astonished in his heart.

Even within the Empire, those capable of withstanding the full breath of the wyvern leader were exceedingly rare, and to clash with him in such a manner was practically unheard of.

Seeing the wyvern charge again, the dwarf summoned all his strength, flipping onto the wall with his great sword, moving agilely across the wall, dodging the wyvern's claws and the overwhelming strikes of its massive tail.

Thus, each harboring astonishment and rage towards their enemy, the dwarf warrior and the wyvern leader wrestled and clashed once more.

"Clang!"

The great sword struck heavily against the tail once again but was deflected upon impact, leaving only a faint white mark while the bipedal wyvern remained completely unscathed.

"This creature's scales are too hard. I must find his weakness, or it's impossible to defeat him." The dwarf thought through gritted teeth as he dodged the rampaging tongues of flame.

In the midst of the perilous exchange, Bren continued to closely observe the bipedal wyvern's body.

Finally, as Stieg spread his wings and let out a long howl, the dwarf keenly spotted the enemy's weakness—his left chest. A section of scales was missing from the wyvern's left chest!

And that spot happened to be where the heart was located!

In an instant, Bren was overwhelmed with excitement, his eyes fixated intently on that gap.

The dwarf thought: "If I can strike that unprotected area and pierce through the heart, this bipedal wyvern will surely die!"

But Bren also knew that trying to hit that small area precisely during a battle would be incredibly challenging. Facing this bipedal wyvern, even getting close was extremely perilous.

Moreover, this wyvern was so gigantic that even if he managed to hit the spot, there was still a chance he might not penetrate the heart, thus alerting the wyvern instead.

Steel crossbow.

The word suddenly surfaced in Bren's mind.

The dwarf steel crossbow, a ranged weapon specifically designed to deal with large monsters like this, would be the most appropriate choice to use against the bipedal wyvern.

Additionally, the crossbow was equipped with specially crafted bolts meant for hunting dragons, which Bren could take advantage of.

Thinking of this, Bren finally made up his mind. He decided to wait for an opportunity to retreat from the battlefield and use the dwarf steel crossbow to target the wyvern's left chest gap of missing scales, delivering a fatal blow to the beast.

"Roar—" Stieg spat flames, demolishing the city wall blocking his path, rampaging through Aivendel City, charging once again at the dwarf warrior.

But this time, Bren smirked mockingly, using his relatively small stature to dart into the tower's entrance, disappearing from the wyvern's sight.

"Coward!"

"Damn dwarf, come out here!"

In his extreme rage, Stieg swung his massive tail violently, smashing his immense and powerful body against the city walls repeatedly, cracking large sections of brick and stone, wreaking havoc on everything around him.

"Boom!"

With a deafening crash, dust filled the air as the tower Bren had just entered unexpectedly collapsed into ruins, but the dwarf had already vanished from sight.

Using his familiarity with the layout of Aivendel City, Bren had easily escaped the collapsing tower and was now heading through the inner city's secret passages towards the arrow tower housing the dwarf steel crossbow.

After unleashing a wave of destruction to vent his anger, Stieg still couldn't locate Bren. Standing atop the rubble, he let out a furious roar: "Dwarf! Since I can't find you, I'll make your kin pay the price!

Stieg flapped his wings, soaring skyward, ferociously flying toward the dwarf garrison stationed on Aivendel's city walls.

The bipedal wyvern spread his wings wide and dove sharply along the direction of the walls, his mouth agape as scalding dragonflame erupted forth, engulfing the city wall occupied by the dwarves in a sea of fire.

"No!"

"Flames everywhere!"

"Cough, cough! Damn monster! I'll perish with you!"

Thick smoke billowed, flames raged, the city walls reverberated with the anguished cries of the dwarf garrison, struggling amidst the inferno but unable to escape their fate of being reduced to ashes.

Stieg spread his wings, circling above the southwestern section of Aivendel's walls.

This bipedal wyvern glided through the dense smoke, casting his sinister shadow, like a deity embodying death itself, using flames to relentlessly snatch away the lives of the dwarves.

"Dwarves, keep hiding in your fortress like rats!

I'll burn every last one of your kind, every family member, I'll turn every dwarf into ashes!"

Death's whispers echoed above Aivendel's city walls.

Stieg declared, "I am flame, I am death!"