Chiying felt that gaze.
The gaze landed on its scales, not as a physical attack, but as a more insidious, harder-to-defend power. This power pierced through its scales' defenses, directly affecting its body and bringing a burning sensation.
It was a Burn.
Chiying's body stiffened slightly, and tiny sparks began to seep from the gaps in its scales.
That wasn't its own energy, but flames forcibly injected by the Molten Blast Lizard's Blazing Gaze.
Liu Yi's brow furrowed deeper.
Blazing Gaze, a B-rank Fire-type skill, used scorching eyes to glare at the target, inflicting a Burn.
This skill was guaranteed to hit, but it had one prerequisite: the caster's speed had to be higher than the target's.
The Molten Blast Lizard's Dance of Flames had already increased its speed by twenty percent, and while Chiying's Dragon Dance also boosted its speed, the increase was clearly not as significant as its opponent's.
Speed assessment: Molten Blast Lizard wins.
Chiying's Burn status took effect, continuously draining its stamina.
While the damage from the Burn wouldn't immediately affect a Dragon-type pet's combat ability, it would become a significant burden if it persisted.
Shui Heyu watched the sparks seeping from Chiying's scales, a nearly imperceptible curve playing at the corner of his lips.
“Lava Bomb, rapid fire.”
The Molten Blast Lizard's tail volcano abruptly opened, firing Lava Bombs at Chiying like a chain gun.
These Lava Bombs were faster and denser than those at the start, each leaving a golden-red, high-temperature trail as they streaked across the sky in crisscrossing paths.
Chiying dodged left and right in the air, Lava Bombs whistling past its sides. Some grazed its scales, leaving charred marks, while others exploded in bursts of orange-red sparks against its energy shield.
However, its current speed was inferior to the Molten Blast Lizard's, and its evasion space was shrinking.
Liu Yi quickly analyzed the situation.
The Molten Blast Lizard's speed advantage was established, and the Burn from Blazing Gaze continued to drain Chiying's stamina. If she couldn't reverse the situation quickly, the battle would become increasingly passive.
But Chiying also had its own advantages.
“Chiying, Venom Spray, fan-shaped coverage.”
Chiying flicked its tail, and a mass of purplish-black venom exploded in the air, transforming into countless tiny venom droplets that sprayed in a fan shape towards the Molten Blast Lizard.
The venom droplets covered an extremely wide area, almost encompassing all possible evasion routes for the Molten Blast Lizard.
Shui Heyu calmly said, “Smokescreen.”
The Molten Blast Lizard opened its mouth and spewed a thick, grayish-white mist, which rapidly spread in front of it, forming a dense smoke screen.
The venom droplets shot into the smoke screen, producing dense hissing sounds, but most were blocked by the mist.
A few droplets penetrated the smoke screen and landed on the Molten Blast Lizard, only leaving faint corrosive marks on its scales without causing substantial damage.
Shui Heyu's tactics were clear: use Smokescreen to create a visual obstruction, Dance of Flames to boost speed, Blazing Gaze to inflict Burns, and Lava Bombs for long-range attrition.
Every step was preparing for close-quarters combat.
This was because the Molten Blast Lizard possessed a trait called Scorching Body: when an opponent used a contact skill to attack, there was a chance for them to be burned.
As long as the Molten Blast Lizard could force Chiying into close quarters, it could continuously inflict Burns on Chiying using this trait.
Chiying had already been burned once by Blazing Gaze, and if more Burns were stacked, Chiying's attack power would also decrease.
Chiying hovered high above, sparks seeping from its scales shimmering in the sunlight, like an ignited dark starry sky.
The stinging pain of the Burn emanated from beneath each scale; it wasn't intense, but it persistently drained its stamina like a persistent ailment.
Shui Heyu stood on his maglev skateboard, his hands back in his school uniform pockets.
His expression remained unchanged, but his gaze had shifted from Chiying, sweeping over the surrounding floating islands as he calculated the optimal landing points for the Molten Blast Lizard's next wave of attacks.
“Lava Bomb, lock down upper left.”
The Molten Blast Lizard's tail volcano abruptly opened, firing a golden-red Lava Bomb diagonally upwards, precisely towards the airspace above Chiying's upper left. That wasn't an attack aimed at Chiying, but a pre-emptive blockade of its possible evasion route.
A second shot followed, blocking the upper right.
A third shot flew directly towards Chiying's front.
Three Lava Bombs, three directions, compressing Chiying's evasion space to its limit.
Chiying neither dodged left or right nor gained altitude.
It swooped down towards the Lava Bomb coming from the front, simultaneously condensing dark golden energy in its throat.
Dragon's Breath.
A purplish-golden aura surged from its mouth, colliding head-on with the Lava Bomb.
Light exploded, and shockwaves spread in all directions. Chiying burst through the smoke and dust of the explosion, its speed undiminished, charging directly towards the floating island where the Molten Blast Lizard was.
Shui Heyu's eyes narrowed slightly.
A direct close-quarters approach?
The Molten Blast Lizard's Scorching Body trait meant that when an opponent used a contact skill to attack, there was a chance for them to be burned.
If Chiying chose a close-quarters attack, it would essentially be stacking Burns on itself.
But Liu Yi wasn't foolish; she wouldn't do something so disadvantageous.
Unless—
Shui Heyu's gaze fell on the faint purplish-black aura shimmering around Chiying.
Poison Scales.
Shui Heyu's lips curved into a nearly imperceptible smile.
“So that's it. You want to trade Poison Scales for Scorching Body, poison for Burn. One for one, no loss.”
“But the problem is, your Poison Scales only have a chance to poison the opponent, and my Scorching Body also only has a chance.”
“Who triggers first, who triggers second—these are all matters of probability.”
“In the face of probability, no one can claim a sure victory.”
“Molten Blast Lizard, Flame Wheel.”
The Molten Blast Lizard's body abruptly curled into a ball, its surrounding flames transforming from golden-red to a dazzling white-hot intensity.
It pushed off the edge of the floating island, its entire body resembling a burning giant wheel, hurtling directly towards the diving Chiying.
The two figures rapidly approached each other in mid-air.
Dark golden light condensed in Chiying's throat once more, Dragon's Breath ready to be unleashed.
The Molten Blast Lizard's Flame Wheel spun faster and faster, its high temperature scorching and distorting the surrounding air.
Thirty meters.
Twenty meters.
Ten meters.
Chiying abruptly opened its mouth, dark golden energy condensing in its throat, then transforming into a continuous purplish-golden aura that blasted towards the Molten Blast Lizard's direction.
The purplish-golden aura struck the Molten Blast Lizard and the edge of the floating island, while the immense recoil simultaneously pushed Chiying's body upwards, causing the Molten Blast Lizard's Flame Wheel to graze Chiying's scales.
The two figures crossed paths.
The Molten Blast Lizard's Flame Wheel hit nothing, and it landed on another floating island below, its four limbs leaving four charred marks on the surface.
Chiying ascended to a higher position, its crimson eyes sweeping downwards.
A low growl emanated from the Molten Blast Lizard's throat as the poisoned status took effect, and its stamina began to continuously deplete.
While the poisoned status wasn't fatal, the continuous health drain would severely impact the Molten Blast Lizard's endurance.
Moreover, the color and spread rate of the poison indicated it wasn't ordinary poisoning, but a highly venomous state.
Shui Heyu's expression finally showed a hint of change.
He stared at the spreading purplish-black aura on the Molten Blast Lizard's back, his brow furrowing slightly, but then quickly relaxing.
Rate on N.U.
