Ashen Dragon

Ed crouched down slightly, placing his left hand on the ground as the royal blood within him surged.

"Crack!"

[Stone Power]

This was an iconic divine spell of the Moladin Sect, capable of granting the caster the favor of the earth, greatly enhancing their strength in a short period of time.

In an instant, accompanied by a crisp sound, dust and smoke filled the air. Soil and rocks climbed up his arm and gradually formed a sturdy armor, radiating a faint brown light symbolizing the earth element.

Ed lifted his head, gazing resolutely at the bipedal wyvern, his whole body emanating an increasingly powerful aura.

"Roar— Useless, dwarf! Stop your futile resistance. I am a retainer of the Ashen Emperor, the embodiment of flames!"

Smaug was exceedingly arrogant, believing that even the renowned "Master of High Mountains" was nothing more than a clay chicken before him, utterly insignificant.

Smaug let out an arrogant and triumphant roar, then spread his massive wings and swooped down from the sky with unstoppable momentum, charging directly at the Dwarf King.

"Swipe—"

The edges of his dragon wings cut through the air, producing a piercing whistle. The overly massive bipedal wyvern dragged a torrent of flames as it plummeted toward the ground.

Yet Ed neither dodged nor flinched. Standing his ground, he tightly gripped his war hammer, his iron-ball muscles bulging prominently with veins popping out. His knees bent slightly, clearly gathering power.

At the very moment Smaug was about to strike, Ed finally moved!

With all his might, he swung his war hammer towards Smaug's head. The metal war hammer, imbued with monumental earth-elemental power, tore through the air—

"Bang!!"

A terrifying collision erupted, and an incredibly powerful shockwave instantly spread out, ravaging the surrounding space and raising clouds of dust and gravel.

What followed was Smaug's anguished wail.

His head was violently jerked upward from the tremendous impact, sending blood and shattered scales splattering through the air. Even his massive body was hurled backward.

Ed's strike was monstrously powerful, flinging the giant bipedal wyvern away as if he were merely swinging a golf club!

"Boom—"

The wyvern flipped several times before crashing into the wall behind him, causing it to collapse. Dust filled the air as the massive 20-meter-long dragon body created ruins of destruction on impact.

"Damn you, dwarf! How can you possibly possess such power?!"

Struggling to climb out of the rubble, Smaug's previously smug, ferocious dragon face now radiated rage, shame, and even a trace of fear.

The strength of this Master of High Mountains exceeded his every expectation. He couldn't fathom how a dwarf's diminutive body could contain a force so horrifying, capable of hurling him away.

At this moment, the bipedal wyvern's jaw was bloodied and mangled, its scales shattered, and even its mouth was askew.

Unbeknownst to Smaug, under the amplification of Stone Power, the strength of this legendary dwarf warrior had already surpassed a level of thirty—a force stronger than common ancient red dragons.

However, Ed wasn't about to give Smaug any chance to recover. Raising his war hammer high above his head, he leaped into the air, executing a jump slash towards the bipedal wyvern as he roared, "Monster, I will make you witness—Mountain's Wrath!"

In that instant, Ed's eyes flashed brilliantly, and behind him manifested the shadow of towering mountains, as though an immense peak were crashing towards the wyvern at lightning speed.

Smaug's expression drastically changed, hurriedly flapping his wings and scrambling into the air to evade.

"Boom!"

Dust flew, rocks splintered, and the ground shook violently as Ed's fury created a massive crater several meters wide. If it had landed on the wyvern's head, it might have pulverized his skull.

Smaug flapped his wings frantically in midair, narrowly dodging the jump slash, feeling a twinge of relief as his earlier arrogance completely dissipated.

Yet Ed's offensive was far from over. As the war hammer fell, the earth cracked open, spreading jagged fissures across the ground like a looming abyss.

"Crack!"

With a deafening roar from the earth, accompanied by splintering debris, countless sharp rocks erupted from the ground, rising like massive swords to strike at the airborne bipedal wyvern.

Earth Sword!

Caught unawares, Smaug twisted his body in midair, wildly flapping his left wing and dodging with all his strength—but one of the rocks still found its mark.

"Slash—"

The sharp rock instantly tore through scales, skin, and flesh,

"Roar—"

Smaug cried out in pain, his voice echoing in agony. This strike had directly pierced through the wyvern's hind limb, spilling scalding dragon blood onto the earth.

Furiously flapping his wings, he managed to wrench himself free, retreating with his wounded body.

"Boom!"

"Boom! Boom!"

More rocks erupted from the ground, and Ed charged forward atop the jagged stones, war hammer in hand, relentlessly pursuing the wyvern as though he wouldn't stop until Smaug's skull was shattered.

A storm of dust and gravel swept across the air, hindering the wyvern's flight while the dwarf maneuvered freely within the sandstorm, completely unimpeded.

"Dwarf, you've gone too far!" Smaug cried out in bitterness and rage.

Below, both the Imperial soldiers and the High Mountain Kingdom's dwarves were witnessing this globally momentous battle. Even their Emperor might be watching it unfold!

To be beaten to such a state by a dwarf—if word of this spread, Smaug's prestige and reputation within the Ashen Empire would be utterly destroyed!