"NOW!! FROM QUARTER FIFTY-SIX! THE MONSTROSITY OF THE LOWER TIERS! THE EMBODIMENT OF FIRE AND HUNGER!! LET’S WELCOME... BLAZE!!"

Boom!!!

"Whoahh!!!!"

"Blaze!! Blaze!! Blaze!!!"

"Kill the Rat! Kill the Rat! Kill the Rat!"

Boom!!! Boom!!! Boom!!!

A colossal beast emerged, its body stretching nearly twelve meters from head to tail. Its scales looked fractured, split apart by countless glowing fissures where molten lava slowly pulsed beneath the surface. Each movement sent a dim orange light crawling through the cracks, as though the creature’s body could barely contain the sheer heat trapped inside.

Its wings unfurled with a heavy groan, spanning close to twenty meters from tip to tip. Torn edges dragged against the air while ash and embers drifted to the sands. The sheer size of them blotted out it’s humongous body, casting the ground beneath into a shadow.

But its eyes were the most unsettling part. There was no life within them; only a hollow, lifeless stillness remained. Those eyes stared forward like something long dead that continued to move, reminding Quinn of the human he had encountered recently.

"Hell! What is that?!* Quinn looked on with genuine dread. This being was distinctly more elite compared to his previous opponents.

’Ting...’

Race: Fire Drake

Rank: Tier-3 (Low-tier drake)

’This beast... is a Fire Drake? It looks almost like a dragon to me!’

His thoughts swirled. His childhood dream of seeing a real dragon was practically coming true... this being was undoubtedly a close relative of those mythical creatures!

’Hehe... let’s test your strength, shall we?’ Although the creature was a monstrosity in its own right, Quinn was also a monster on his own. If this being belonged to a higher base noble race, it was the perfect opportunity to test his own skills and raw strength without holding back!

Still, he knew he need to remain cautious. The beast likely had a hidden trump card, just like Fang, who had possessed a unique power boost from the Call of the Ancestors.

"LET’S NOT WAIT! LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!!!" the host shouted with all its might, signaling the start of the carnage.

ROAR!!!

The Fire Drake roared, shaking the very foundation of the colosseum. The plates of armored scales along its spine brightened into a violent, molten crimson. It opened its massive, obsidian-toothed maw, and the world went white.

An instant later.... a torrential or pressurized eruption of volcanic slag and superheated plasma exploded outward. The air ahead of the blast distorted, turning into a shimmering wall of lethal heat that threatened to reduce Quinn to ash before the flames could even touch his flesh.

’This being is definitely a kin of dragons... Hehe, let’s see how much damage he can take against this blow.’

Quinn’s mind raced, completely detached from the panic around him, thanks to the active state of his..Cold Blood.

Fascinating... the density of its mana is on a completely different level from the previous beasts and humanoids I’ve fought.

Quinn’s instincts kicked in a millisecond before the torrent hit. Dropping his center of gravity, he dug the edges of his feet into the crimson sands and twisted his torso violently to the left. The kinetic energy from the sudden pivot launched him away from danger.

Fwoshh!!!!

The volcanic blast grazed the afterimage of his silhouette, instantly liquefying the sand where he had stood just moments prior!..

’Hoh... you’ve got to be kidding me...!’

Using the momentum of the twist, Quinn transitioned smoothly into an aggressive sprint. He blurred across the sand, circling the drake in search of a blind spot. The radiant heat singed the outer fibers of his garments, but his focus remained locked on the beast’s movements.

’Let’s see what a higher-base noble race can handle. Let’s see if you can actually make me sweat.’

Quinn closed the distance in a fraction of a heartbeat. Stepping into the drake’s blind spot, his right leg anchored into the earth to transfer the momentum of his sprint directly through his hips. He drew his fist back, channeling precisely half of his total physical reserves into the strike.

The air compressed around his knuckles, creating a localized vacuum. He drove his punch directly into the thick plates covering the drake’s ribs.

CRACK!!

The impact sounded like a church bell struck by a meteor. A violent shockwave rippled outward from the point of contact, tearing and blowing up the sands within a ten meter radius. It was a strike that would have reduced an ordinary beast to a slurry of ruptured organs...

Yet, the drake only shifted a mere three inches to the side.

Its heavy claws dug into the sands to stabilize its massive weight. Slowly, the gargantuan head swung around, its slitted, reptilian eyes locking onto Quinn.

It let out a low growl...not of agony, but a rumbling irritation. The scales Quinn had struck were scuffed and smoking slightly, but completely unbroken.

’Impressive." Quinn thought, a thrill of genuine excitement spiking through his veins.

’Fifty percent of my strength didn’t even fracture the carapace. Its muscular density and scales are completely absurd...’

The drake didn’t give him time to marvel. With a speed that defied its massive bulk, it lashed out. A front claw, tipped with five serrated, scythe-like talons, cleaved through the air. The swing was so devastatingly fast it created a vacuum pull, attempting to drag Quinn directly into the trajectory of the strike.

Quinn threw himself into a tight, backward corkscrew, the razor-sharp tips of the drake’s talons missing his chest by the mere width of a coin. The immense wind pressure generated from the near-miss sliced a shallow, clean groove directly into his reinforced shoulder guard.

Before his feet could even touch the ground, the drake’s massive tail whipped around from the opposite direction, heavy as an iron battering ram and entirely coated in obsidian spikes with no leverage to dodge, Quinn crossed his forearms tightly in front of his face, bracing himself for the incoming impact.

The heavy tail slammed directly into him with immense force, propelling him backward through the air. He managed to stick the landing, but his boots skidded violently across the ground... carving deep trenches into the crimson sands.