He spoke in a deep voice, his words clearly reaching the golden dragon's ears: "I can promise that the person you are protecting, or the dragon, will never be harmed."
"Anyone who dares to cross the line and approach the cave during our fight will bear the combined wrath of you and me... together."
In Karl's view, he had given sufficient guarantee and sincerity.
With his demonstrated flying ability and his relationship with Geralt, this promise should carry significant weight.
He thought Borch would hesitate for a while, weigh the options, and then agree to this straightforward duel.
However, the result again exceeded his expectations. The golden dragon's face once again showed movement.
In those pairs of molten gold vertical pupils, a flicker of struggle ignited.
But in the end, he still resolutely shook his head and quietly uttered those two words: "I'm sorry."
Suddenly, the corners of Karl's eyes twitched uncontrollably.
An indescribable feeling of suffocation rose in his heart, and he subconsciously clenched his fists.
It was heavy, very heavy, his fists clenched tight.
Borch was clearly still harboring a strong sense of caution and distrust.
He didn't believe that Karl could protect the cave under the watchful eyes of this group of people.
Or he didn't believe that Karl would truly become an enemy of these people to protect the dragon?
He understood Borch's caution; after all, he was responsible for protection.
But... damn, the desire to fight had been awakened, only to be stifled.
Now, hanging there, neither rising nor falling, felt even worse than being hit.
Karl's eyes flickered slightly, and he said nothing more—words were far less convincing than actions for some stubborn creatures.
He said nothing, and his figure, suspended in the air, suddenly trembled, instantly turning into a blurred afterimage, and streaked towards the cave entrance below.
This sudden movement made the golden dragon suddenly startle, then react, instantly seized by provocation and anger at having touched a reverse scale.
"Human! Don't you dare!!" He let out a deafening roar, a huge sound wave like a substance crashing down on the valley.
He furiously flapped his wings, his huge body bursting forth with agility not befitting its size, immediately turning and charging after Karl.
The turbulent airflow caused by his wingbeats swept the ground, flying sand and stones, filled with smoke and dust, causing the crowd below to stumble.
In his anger, the golden dragon unhesitatingly opened his massive maw, and the orange light deep in his throat sharply shone and coalesced, radiating fierce, intense heat.
He aimed at the front of Karl's trajectory, releasing the accumulated dragon breath.
A trace of reason remained in him; he didn't want to directly harm this special person who was a friend of Geralt.
He only wanted to use his dragon breath to force him to change direction and prevent him from approaching the cave.
And Karl, when he was just over ten meters from the cave entrance, suddenly stopped his dive.
He hovered steadily, less than a meter above the ground, and did not attempt to enter the cave.
He slowly turned around, a smile that indicated his plan had worked on his face, watching the orange stream that could melt stone.
Seeing this, the golden dragon instantly looked surprised, and a flicker of unexpectedness passed through his eyes.
He understood... This man had deliberately made him do it! He used the feint of breaking into the cave to provoke him.
"Get out of the way!" He hurriedly tried to close his mouth, interrupting the dragon breath and sending a warning.
But once the dragon breath was unleashed, how could it be so easily retracted? The blazing stream of flame still rushed towards Karl's position.
In an instant, a strong sense of self-reproach and guilt rose in Borch's heart—could this accidentally kill Geralt's friend?
However, in the flash of lightning and stone, it suddenly bored into the dragon's molten gold pupils, and his pupils again narrowed to thin lines from the shock.
He saw Karl watching the flame that could engulf everything, unhurriedly, even with a hint of leisure... He slightly exhaled.
Then he blew at the oncoming dragon breath.
Huff! Hoo! An icy white stream of air burst from Karl's mouth and collided with the orange dragon breath.
SCREEEE!! The ultimate clash of ice and fire, a sharp sound like a red-hot iron block plunged into ice water, rang out densely.
The moment it hit the cold stream, the front of the dragon breath was frozen and extinguished. Although the subsequent flame stubbornly advanced,
in the face of the endless cold, it could only involuntarily collapse and die out, turning into steaming, dense white water vapor.
The mist completely enveloped Karl's figure and a large area near the cave entrance!
This incredible scene completely shocked the golden dragon, Borch.
He had lived so long and seen all kinds of magical spells, but never anyone who could so easily, with "breath," counter dragon breath.
And the moment he slightly fainted from the shock, in the mist,
the blurred figure again flickered, quickly approaching faster than he could react.
So fast! Borch saw a seemingly ordinary fist rapidly approaching in his field of vision.
BANG!! ROAR!! Suddenly, a dull loud sound, like hitting leather, accompanied by the golden dragon's roar of pain and anger.
Karl's fist, carrying immense power, struck the golden dragon's hard cheek with force.
The force of the blow made the golden dragon's massive head involuntarily tilt to the side.
Several sharp teeth, the size of short swords, with traces of blood, flew out of his huge maw and fell to the ground with a clanging arc.
Borch himself was stunned by this blow; he staggered upwards and flew back some distance.
He hastily flapped his wings, barely keeping his swaying figure in the air.
He raised one of his front claws and touched the side of his face where he had been hit.
There were flashes of searing pain, and although the scales were not shattered, the bones underneath were severely jarred.
His pupils stared intently, and Karl, suspended in his original position, revealed his figure from the gradually dissipating mist, his eyes full of unprecedented seriousness.
The group of people below, including the dwarves' bed crossbows and the sorcerer's spells, had long been unable to even shake off a single scale.
And this Arn Vati, with one punch, had directly knocked out his teeth, making him feel real pain.
The pain instantly ignited the fury that had been sleeping deep in his lineage; the pride and violence of the dragon clan were fully aroused.
However, the remnants of his reason reminded him that the cave should not continue to be entangled, and that the existence in the cave was more important than the fight.
He suppressed the surging anger, opened his mouth still oozing blood, and was about to speak to make Karl stop and end this conflict that shouldn't be happening.