Chapter 648: Dragon Butchering Manual

’Full of resentment or not, you are going down all the same.’

Regardless of the actual reason why the Abyssal Dragon was so bent on attacking him, Leo wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

After all, he had already taken down the original. Enraged or not, a replica could never surpass the original.

’Butchering a Dragon should be quite interesting.’

Most importantly, Leo had no plan of stalling for time to use this as a learning experience as he did on Level 100.

The faster the Dragon went down, the lower the chances that this Trial of Defense could be screwed up!

’Test number one.’

Brandishing the pitch-black cleaver towards the Abyssal Dragon’s burning eyes, Leo stared back undeterred as he launched himself towards the Dragon’s neck.

Swish!

’So it’s not completely overcome by madness.’

Unexpectedly enough, Leo only ended up slicing through thin air. Despite looking like it would die for a chance to take a bite from him, the Abyssal Dragon was still capable of logical thought.

When faced with a direct threat, it retreated just like any proper soldier would do.

’Well then...’

Confirming that the Abyssal Dragon wasn’t demented enough for a primeval style of battle, Leo’s eyes turned into a more logical target different from his blatant large neck.

Thud!

As the shadows surrounding Leo darkened with mysticism, the greatsword in his hand disappeared into the sheath at his hip, instantly replaced by the longbow; the exchange was all done without any physical intervention!

Thud! Thud!

As Leo pulled down at the shadow string, throwing one arrow after another, the Abyssal Dragon that was about to lunge at him one more time immediately retreated. However...

"Wrong answer."

In the spot he retreated to, Leo was already waiting for him with his weapon exchange once again. With just one swing-

Crunch! Groarrrrr!

The already enraged Black Dragon broke into a scream as both of his wings were cleaved almost all the way through, only leaving a small bit attached that kept them hanging limply to the Dragon’s body.

"Sorry, it gets a lot more complicated when we are both fast."

Once he became aware that the Abyssal Dragon knew the methodology of a proper retreat, Leo had already decided that he would break the balance of agility.

The Black Dragon’s original swiftness didn’t give him any edge against Leo, but it leveled down the playing field, taking away the one advantage that Leo could use to end this faster.

Of course, the physically attributed Abyssal Dragon didn’t need his wings to be fast, but to match the speed of Leo’s ’Shadow Teleportation’, their instantaneous flap was his only lifeline. Now...

’Again.’

Once more, the greatsword in Leo’s hand was exchanged with the longbow. With a quick draw, a couple of arrows were sent flying in the Abyssal Dragon’s direction.

Groarrrrr!

However, being shot just in his general direction and not actually heading for his body, the Black Dragon raging at the loss of his wings ignored the harmless arrows and jumped forward in an attempt to exact his revenge on Leo.

Only...

Splatt!

The arrows soaring toward the sky suddenly deviated, shifting their momentum around like a homing missile rushing at an acquired target.

Groarrrrr!

Within just a second, each arrow lodged itself into one of the Abyssal Dragon’s eyes!

’Now we start.’

Taking away the Black Dragon’s absolute mobility as well as their major sense of sight, Leo gave an internal nod at his chain of action.

With this, the Abyssal Dragon was nerfed to the point where things were just right.

This was the perfect time to have an all-out brawl!

Thwonk!

With another arrow shot, the Abyssal Dragon haphazardly dodged. This time, it was also not shot directly at him, but he could no longer tell the difference.

’He isn’t totally blind, but he definitely needs some prescription glasses.’

Eyes were a typical weak point for most species, but when it came to Dragons, even their eyes possessed toughness comparable to other monsters’ bones.

Leo’s arrows were sharp enough to damage something at that level, but with the disturbed momentum, popping them outright wasn’t easy.

However, Leo didn’t think that it was necessary to go that far in the first place.

Swish!

Fueled by pure instincts, the Abyssal Dragon suddenly took a quick step backwards, barely dodging Leo’s cleave at his left foot, but...

Crunch! Crunch!

With the disoriented Dragon failing to make a proper follow-up retreat to his initial evasion, Leo was given the chance to strike at his knee! Twice!

Groarrrrr!

With the curved hook of the greatsword making its way to the knee ligaments, the strike on each side made the Abyssal Dragon into a half-cripple in the matter of seconds!

"Wind down, this won’t take long."

This was no longer part of the process of nerfing the Abyssal Dragon; Leo had already moved on to applying the principles of butchery!

Normally, proper butchery required one to subdue the prey, normally done by calming them down and tying them to something, before delivering one merciful strike to the neck.

However, the enraged Abyssal Dragon wasn’t just any chicken or cow which could be subdued with relative ease, nor would any single strike be sufficient to sever its neck.

As such...

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Leo continued taking away the Abyssal Dragon’s limbs one by one, a tactic he and his companions had already used once against the horrific Devouring Centaur.

Groarrrrr!

By the time Leo was done applying the principle of ’subduction’, the Black Dragon was barely capable of taking small steps, let alone driving his claws in Leo’s direction.

At this point, every spot on its body was left wide open for Leo to strike at!

’What do you say we wrap this up?’

Crunch!

Without the need to waste any more time, Leo’s cleaver made its way to the Abyssal Dragon’s neck, shaving off a part of its stubborn obsidian scales as well as the protective filament under it.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

With a dozen more strikes to open the way, Leo’s greatsword finally managed to peel off most of the obstruction, ultimately revealing the tough flesh trembling under...