Gajeel faced the all-encompassing attack, turning his entire body into iron, crossing his arms to shield his head and chest, enduring it head-on!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The poison stingers crashed against his iron body, producing a dense series of sharp sounds and scattering sparks.
Some of the stingers, with their extreme penetrating power, even pierced the surface layer of his Iron scales!
"Hmph!" Gajeel grunted, feeling several sharp pains in his arms and shoulders.
Although the poison was blocked by the metal and couldn't enter, the physical damage caused by the powerful impact still remained!
At the same time, Cobra's "heart's voice" surged into Gajeel's mind like a malicious icy current: 'He's taking it head-on! His next move is... to the right, he wants to rush up and counterattack with an Iron claw!'
Gajeel had just managed to steady himself, enduring the impact, and his right claw was indeed gathering magic power, preparing for a advance counterattack.
However, Cobra's mind-reading voice suddenly echoed in his head, causing an extremely slight delay in his movements!
It was this split-second prediction!
Cobra's lips curled into a cruel smile, and his figure had already ghosted around to the opposite side of Gajeel's intended rush direction!
His feet were, at some unknown point, tightly entwined by thick, dark-red poisonous liquid, spinning and raising a nauseating poisonous wind!
"Poison Dragon's Spiral Jaw!"
Like a spiral kick from a Poison Dragon's tail whip, it swept fiercely towards Gajeel's vulnerable left flank, accompanied by a wind-tearing sound!
"Damn it!!" Gajeel's pupils constricted.
He forcefully twisted his body, hastily blocking with his left arm, which had the highest degree of iron transformation!
Bang!!!
A heavy thud! The corrosive impact slammed violently into Gajeel's Iron arm!
Crack!
The solid rocky ground beneath Gajeel's feet shattered!
He was sent flying by the immense force!
He crashed like a cannonball into a steep mountain wall behind him!
Boom!
A huge dent was created in the mountain wall, and gravel flew everywhere!
"Cough..." Gajeel slid down from the dent in the rock wall, kneeling on one knee, a sweet, metallic taste rising in his throat.
He wiped away the blood seeping from the corner of his mouth, his eyes burning with furious flames, "Damn mind-reading! Shut up!"
"Shut up? Haha! You foolish Iron scum! This is just the prelude to silencing you completely!" Cobra laughed wildly, giving Gajeel no chance to catch his breath.
He coordinated with his circling magical pet, unleashing Poison Dragon magic one after another, almost flawlessly linked!
Gajeel relied on his powerful defense and strength to forcibly cope, but every time he attempted a crucial burst attack, his intention was preemptively perceived and dodged by Cobra.
Meanwhile, his own attack rhythm was constantly disrupted by Cobra's tricky angles and attacks with added poisonous impact.
Dark red poisonous mist enveloped a large area, and the rocks were eroded into terrifying pits.
The iron-gray figure stubbornly charged through the poisonous mist, but always missed by a hair's breadth!
"Poison Dragon's Iron Fist!" Cobra seized the opportunity, his right fist, imbued with condensed dark-red poison, struck like a Poison Dragon, slamming heavily into Gajeel's blocking arms!
Boom!
Gajeel was once again knocked back, more blood spilling from his mouth.
His iron dragon scales were covered with mottled marks left by impacts and corrosion.
"Hahahaha! Let's see how long you can last?! Poison Dragon's Roar!!" Cobra leaped high, took a deep breath, his chest rapidly expanding, and a dark purple destructive light condensed in his mouth!
A massive poisonous gas vortex formed, and a dragon head phantom, larger than the previous "protruding teeth" and composed of viscous, liquid-like highly toxic purple mist, appeared behind him, opening its giant mouth capable of devouring everything!
A deadly aura locked onto Gajeel below!
"Bastard!" Gajeel felt immense pressure.
The range and toxicity of this attack far exceeded anything before!
He absolutely could not take it head-on!
He took a deep breath, also accumulating magic power in his mouth!
A huge iron dragon magic circle glowed beneath his feet! He intended to meet the roar with his strongest roar!
However, just as his magic power was about to erupt, Cobra's cold, viper-like voice once again pierced his mind: 'Accumulating power... a roaring clash? Foolish! Do you want a mutual defeat? No... you want to take the opportunity to get closer?'
It was this momentary distraction that actually interrupted Gajeel's magic output for a split second!
He wasn't ready in time, and the opponent's roar was already poised to unleash!
'He saw through me!' Gajeel's heart sank.
In the nick of time!
The purple Cobra magical pet behind Cobra suddenly hissed, abruptly spreading a pair of huge bat wings made entirely of dark magic power!
Those bat wings were not solid but stirred up intense dark magic power!
"Die! Iron scum!" Cobra roared, the "Poison Dragon's Roar" accumulated in his mouth about to burst forth!
However, just as that deadly purple-black destructive poisonous mist was about to be unleashed—
An iron-gray figure moved with extreme speed!
Not rushing forward, but—soaring into the sky!
"I f***ing hate guys who fly around! Get down here!" Gajeel's eyes flashed with violent light!
At the moment the opponent predicted his forward charge and focused all his attention on the roar, he actually chose an action that went against expectations!
His feet stomped on the ground like iron stakes, shattering it.
Using the recoil force combined with the iron dragon's power of adsorption and traction on metal (utilizing the metal components in the rocks), he moved at a speed beyond normal human comprehension, like a cannonball ascending in reverse.
He instantly rushed in front of Cobra, who was still in mid-air and had not yet completed his spitting posture!
Cobra was caught completely off guard!
He hadn't even "heard" Gajeel's intention to "rush upward" so strongly!
The previous combat pattern had led him to habitual judgments!
"Wh...?!"
A look of astonishment froze on Cobra's face!
Gajeel's Iron fist, condensing all his pent-up fury and power, carrying the sound of shattering rock and splitting metal, slammed heavily into Cobra's stunned face!
"iron dragon's Crushing Fist!"
Bang!!!!
A heavy thud, like a war drum beating!
Cobra was struck like a kite with a broken string, flying backward through the air, a clear, sunken fist print appearing on his face, and purple-black blood mixed with broken teeth spewed from his mouth!
The Poison Dragon's Roar in his mouth was forcibly interrupted and backfired!
The purple Cobra magical pet let out an angry hiss, flapping its magical bat wings to try and catch its master, but it too was sent tumbling by the immense impact!
"Ugh—!" Cobra crashed heavily to the ground, then rolled for more than ten meters before hitting a rock and stopping, coughing up a large mouthful of blood.
Gajeel landed heavily, the rocks beneath his feet shattering.
He shook his Iron fist, which had pained his opponent, a savage and satisfied smile on his face: "How's that, Viper? Was the 'heart's voice' of my punch loud enough? Your damned mind-reading couldn't keep up with the speed of me beating you up, could it?!"
"Damn... Iron scum!!" Cobra clutched his cheek as he got up, his deep purple eyes filled with unprecedented resentment and humiliation!
His magical pet circled him anxiously.
His mind-reading was still active, but Gajeel's instantaneous, furious strike was a pure burst of combat instinct, with almost no "deliberate thought" that could be captured!
Moreover, the iron dragon's immunity to potent poisons greatly reduced Cobra's reliance on destructive power!
He needed stronger power!
"Today, I will definitely turn you to dust!!" Cobra roared like a wounded viper, dark red poisonous gas surging out around him, denser than at any previous moment!
The magical bat wings once again flapped behind the magical pet, providing greater lift.
Cobra clearly intended to use his aerial advantage for a more intense long-range suppressive attack!
"Come on! I'm waiting to tear off those broken wings of yours, bone and flesh!" Gajeel laughed arrogantly, his entire iron dragon scales becoming even more solid and heavy, emitting a cold metallic luster.
He needed to finish the fight quickly and destroy the magic crystal!
Now that the opponent was prepared, attempting the same trick again would be extremely difficult!
The intense standoff resumed!
Cobra, relying on the aerial advantage provided by the magical bat wings, continuously circled, dived, spewed poisonous mist, and released area-of-effect magic: "Poison Dragon's Scale Teeth!"
"Poison Dragon's protruding teeth!"
Dense, rain-like dark-red poisonous stingers and phantom poison fangs shot at Gajeel from tricky angles.
Purple-black highly toxic mist spread, obstructing vision and corroding Gajeel's scales, emitting a continuous hissing sound, constantly depleting his magic power to maintain his body's iron transformation.
Gajeel, however, was like a fortress on the battlefield.
His iron dragon Sword sometimes slashed, sometimes blocked.
His Iron Dragon Rod fiercely counterattacked in the gaps.
The iron-gray figure charged resolutely through the poisonous mist and attacks, each leap and assault carrying the might of an earthquake!
Although the roaring attacks were immensely powerful, the flexible aerial maneuvers of the target made them very difficult to hit accurately.
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