Terra wasn't fazed in the slightest by the fact that he had used both of his Skills in quick succession, essentially achieving nothing aside from shielding himself once from the ranged attacks. He roared directly at Izuku perched on a rocky outcropping below, activating his third and final Skill.
[Dragon Lord, Terra is using Skill: Dragon Lord's Orders.]
Seemingly from nowhere, more of the amphipteres and amphisbaenians appeared, assaulting the Shadow Army with a vigor that made the earlier attacks look lame. Said army obviously wouldn't lose to such a force, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be greatly distracted from the bigger target.
By now, Ifrit and Izuku were the only ones facing off against Terra. Pektra and Igris had fallen back down the mountain after getting their bodies sandblasted into nothingness.
The rocky dragon finally broke away from its perch atop the mountain and leapt off, its front legs outstretched and aiming straight for Izuku. Just one of his talons was larger than Izuku was. If it connected at his sternum, it was likely that it would punch straight through him and tear him apart from the center outwards.
Thankfully, while he was huge and proportionately strong, he wasn't exactly fast. Ifrit shapeshifted to his Dragon-Jet form and scooped Izuku up from his spot, taking to the skies just as Terra crashed into the cliff, completely decimating the fake mountain as he went crashing through it and tumbling down its slope.
Izuku originally just assumed that this Splash Mountain was made out of more durable resources than its real-life counterpart. However, as Terra crashed down through it after his missed attack, Izuku quickly began reconsidering that assumption.
It seemed that the Dragon Lord had merely been balancing its weight exceptionally well and restricting the immense aura within itself to keep the mountain as its roost. It finally came to a stop on the ground, crushing the queue line under his stony frame. He also came pretty close to crushing much of the Shadow Army, who retreated at the last second, leaving only Terra's own troops to be trampled and squished into a bloody paste.
It was a dramatic and powerful fall, but Terra shook it off like it was nothing, waves off dust pouring from his wings as he fanned them. He was just a little too nonchalant about the man who had come to kill him.
[Hymn of Frenzy, Hymn of Strengthening, and Hymn of Giants have activated.]
Terra's head lifted into the sky upon sensing a sudden swelling of Mana above him. He was only able to catch a glimpse of movement before that very movement caused his head to be flung back to the ground.
Izuku, leaping from Ifrit's back, had flung himself down at the Dragon Lord. With Tusk boosting him, Infinite Strength, and Quicksilver activating, his blow was more than enough to shatter some of the rocky skin resting on Terra's head.
With all his momentum transferred to the blow on Terra's head, Izuku felt himself practically stop mid air, almost a hundred feet up. And as he fell back down to the earth, he could see the legs of the Dragon straining to push himself. Igris and Pektra didn't like that.
Fully recovered, the two raced under his body. Igris's sword flashed through his right back leg, tearing deep enough to sever the muscle while Pektra's massive claws unfurled and did the same.
With his backside collapsing, Terra opened his mouth and let out a roar as the sand gathered in his mouth once more.
[Dragon Lord, Terra is using Skill: Sandstorm.]
"It's recharged!" Izuku realized as his feet finally hit the ground, "Ifrit!"
The Fire God was already on it, his form changing to that of one of the Lava Titans as he slammed down on the back of Terra, barely the same size as him. He wrapped his hands around his neck and slammed the rocky head into the ground, holding his mouth shut as the Skill discharged, supposedly tearing apart his flesh from the inside out.
Despite the pain, Terra's front legs reached above him, their talons digging into the side of Ifrit. Izuku bashed both of them aside with his maces, shattering the bones.
"My Liege!" Igris hefted the Genesis Blade into the air, it's handle capaulting into Izuku's hand just as Ifrit lost his grip on the failing neck of Terra.
As the Fire God was flung off, Izuku vaulted over him, the Genesis Blade glowing white with energy as he brought the sword down on the top of Terra's head. Like light cutting through the dark, the Genesis Blade easily split the Dragon Lord's head down the middle, ending his life.
[You have defeated the first of the Six Dragon Lords.]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have Leveled-Up!]
[You have obtained Key Item: Key of Earth.]
[You have obtained Ingredient Item: Impenetrable Skin of Terra.]
[You have obtained Item: Tectonic Plate.]
[You have obtained Crafting Recipe: Frieg's Fangs.]
Instantly recognizing the name of Frieg, Izuku focused all of his attention on this new recipe.
[Item: Frieg's Fangs.]
Item Class: SS
Item Type: Daggers
+350
After studying the corpse of a second dragon, you have learned how to manipulate the organic materials of their bodies. These daggers are proof of that concept. Forged from the body of the Marshal Grade Frost Dragon, Frieg, they hold immense Cryogenic power and will quadruple the power of any Ice Magic used by the holder of both daggers.
Ingredients:
Frost Dragon Bones
Frost Dragon Blood
Frost Dragon Scales.
Izuku wasted no time pulling out the ingredients from his Inventory and beginning the crafting procedure.
[Crafting successful!]
[Crafted Item: Frieg's Fangs]
The daggers' curved blade was a brilliant sky-blue and their power could be felt just by holding them, making Izuku almost envious as he called out Hyo. "You kept my mother safe during a dangerous time. Nothing will truly express my gratitude for something like that, but… I hope this reward is adequate."
Hyo looked up from his kneeled position, his eyes growing large as his Liege handed off the weapons to him. He gazed at them as if they were the most precious diamonds in the world, genuine emotion clouding his face. In fact, he looked so happy that Izuku practically forgot that Hyo was once a sadistic Ice Elf that threatened Sakura and Yaoyorozu. As Izuku walked back over to his three Commander Grades, who were waiting for him by Terra's corpse, many other Shadows gathered around Hyo, observing him with envy.
Making sure that the Evolution Core was still fit snugly in his glove, Izuku took a deep breath, praying to whoever was listening that this end result would be different than the last time he attempted to Extract a Dragon's Shadow.
"Arise."
Much to his surprise, Terra reacted instantly, his Shadow pooling above his body and an Aura stronger than anything else in the Shadow Army assaulted Izuku.
At first, the Shadow appeared to be taking the same shape as its living form, a central body with four lower legs, but Izuku noticed that it was at least twice as large as it had been. Not only that, but his tail grew a wrecking ball with spikes on the end of it, his neck shortened, his armor grew thicker, and finally, he was lacking wings. Now, he resembled more of an ankylosaurus than a Dragon, but with a size and armor like this, it was arguable that he was far more dangerous than any typical Dragon.
[Shadow Dragon Lord of Earth Commander Grade has evolved into Shadow Dragon God of Earth General Grade Lv. 25]
[Active Skill: Tectonic Protection has evolved into Passive Skill: Gaia's Mantle.]
[Active Skill: Sandstorm's cooldown has been removed.]
"My Liege." The Dragon's voice was like Igris's in the sense that it was overly manly, but it was also so powerful that Izuku could practically feel his ribcage shaking apart. "It is my honor to be brought into the Shadow Army. I beseech you, grant your loyal servant a name." He bowed his head to Izuku, though thanks to his asinine size, it looked more like he was looking down at Izuku than showing his respect. Of course, Izuku knew that he was, in fact, doing the latter.
"His speech seems way too proper for a raging beast." Izuku pondered for a moment, deciding whether he should keep Terra, or switch it up. He looked over the Dragon's corpse, noting it's golden brown rock skin and massive size, being reminded of a certain American book series all about Dragons.
"Glaedr."
[Glaedr General Grade Lv. 25]
Thank you for reading! I know this chapter is incredibly short, but I'm simply posting what I have as a precaution. Fires have started very close to me and I can't be certain the next time I'll be able to write. There's a good chance my house and its contents will be fine, but there's no guarantee. See you next time.
