Dragon Monarch System Chapter 1236:- Goddess of War vs Black Dragon [I]

"I am Kaito Black! Heir of the Black Dragon Clan!" Kaito introduced himself with a confident smile as he stared at the woman standing before him.

Hearing his introduction, Freya paused for a moment, looking slightly surprised. She had not expected Kaito to introduce himself before their fight. Considering how quickly he had charged toward her, she had assumed that he would attack her the moment they came face to face.

However, now that she knew his identity, Freya understood why the young man seemed so confident in his abilities.

The Black Dragon Clan was one of the most famous and powerful Dragon Clans in the Celestial Dragon Empire. Even Freya, who rarely paid much attention to the affairs of noble families, had heard about them and their terrifying abilities.

What made the Black Dragon Clan particularly dangerous was their unique ability to absorb elemental attacks. Unlike ordinary cultivators who needed to defend themselves against incoming spells, members of the Black Dragon Clan could directly absorb the mana contained within elemental attacks, greatly reducing their destructive power.

Whether it was fire, lightning, wind, water, or other elemental attacks, the Black Dragons possessed the ability to absorb the elemental mana within them. This made them extremely troublesome opponents for cultivators who relied heavily on elemental magic during battle.

Furthermore, as Black Dragons, every member of the clan possessed an exceptionally high affinity with the Darkness Element. Combined with their naturally powerful Dragon bodies, this gave them a considerable advantage in both physical combat and battles involving elemental magic.

For these reasons, the Black Dragon Clan had maintained its reputation as one of the most dangerous Dragon Clans in the Celestial Dragon Empire for countless years. Even powerful cultivators were generally unwilling to provoke them without a good reason.

And the young man standing before Freya was not just an ordinary member of that clan. He was the son of Duke Black and the future successor of the entire Black Dragon noble household.

After recalling what she knew about his clan, Freya looked directly into Kaito’s eyes before introducing herself. "I am Freya, the Goddess of War!"

"It’s an honor to fight someone from the famous Black Dragon Clan, especially its heir and the future Duke of the Black Dragon noble household."

The moment their introductions were over, Freya and Kaito immediately began exchanging blows. Freya took the initiative and swung her right katana toward Kaito’s neck, but the Black Dragon raised his left claw and effortlessly blocked the attack.

Before he could counterattack, Freya had already swung her second katana toward his waist, forcing him to use his right claw to defend himself.

The sounds of metal striking metal echoed through the sky as Freya continued attacking Kaito with both katanas. Her attacks were extremely fast, with each swing aimed at a different part of his body, forcing Kaito to constantly move his claws to block them. However, despite the speed and power behind her attacks, Kaito showed no signs of struggling as he continued defending himself with his bare hands.

Of course, his hands were not ordinary hands. Both of his hands had transformed into enormous dragon claws covered in shiny, metallic-black dragon scales. These scales were already incredibly tough, but what made them even more dangerous was a special ability known as Hardening, which allowed members of the Black Dragon Clan to temporarily increase the hardness and durability of certain parts of their bodies.

By concentrating his mana into his claws and activating Hardening, Kaito could make his dragon scales almost as hard as Freya’s katanas. This allowed him to block her sword attacks directly without worrying about his claws being cut apart.

It was also one of the main reasons why he did not need to carry any weapons, since his own claws were already powerful enough to compete against most weapons used by Sixth Order cultivators.

Kaito blocked another powerful slash from Freya’s right katana before immediately swinging his left claw toward her chest. His attack was extremely fast, and the sharp talons carried enough strength to tear through the armor of an ordinary Sixth Order cultivator. However, Freya reacted almost instantly, bringing her left katana across her body to intercept the incoming attack.

The two weapons collided with tremendous force, producing a loud metallic sound as both cultivators were pushed slightly backward. However, neither allowed the other to gain any distance, and they immediately rushed toward each other again, continuing their exchange of attacks.

For the next minute, the two Sixth Order cultivators exchanged countless blows in the sky above the battlefield. Freya continuously attacked with both katanas, sometimes swinging them together and sometimes attacking from two different directions to make it harder for Kaito to defend himself. Meanwhile, Kaito used his hardened dragon claws to block her attacks while looking for opportunities to counterattack.

Whenever Freya attempted to strike his upper body, Kaito would raise one of his claws to intercept her katana. If she suddenly changed her target and attacked his lower body, he would quickly move his other claw to block the attack.

On several occasions, he even managed to push her swords aside and launch powerful counterattacks of his own, but Freya successfully blocked or avoided every single one of them.

Although their battle appeared evenly matched, Freya was doing something that Kaito had not noticed. She was carefully studying his fighting style.

As the Goddess of War, Freya had fought countless powerful opponents throughout her life, and one of her greatest strengths was her ability to understand an opponent’s fighting habits while exchanging blows with them.

She did not need to spend hours observing someone to identify their weaknesses. Sometimes, a few dozen exchanges were enough for her to begin understanding how an opponent preferred to attack and defend.

And against Kaito, who had already exchanged countless blows with her in just sixty seconds, Freya had gathered more than enough information to form a basic understanding of his fighting style.

The first thing she noticed was that Kaito was left-handed. Although he was perfectly capable of fighting with both claws, his left hand was clearly his dominant one. Whenever he launched a particularly powerful attack, he almost always used his left claw, while his right claw was generally used to distract his opponent, interrupt incoming attacks, or create an opening for his left hand.

Of course, this did not mean his right hand was weak. On the contrary, his right claw was still extremely dangerous, and even a direct strike from it could cause serious injuries. However, because Kaito was naturally left-handed, he preferred relying on his left hand whenever he wanted to deliver a powerful blow.

The second thing Freya noticed was that Kaito had a habit of putting slightly more weight on his left side whenever he prepared to launch a strong attack.

This was not something an ordinary cultivator would easily notice, especially when fighting against someone moving at such incredible speed. However, after observing the same movement several times, Freya realized that she could use this small change in his posture to predict when he was about to attack with his left claw.

The third weakness was related to his aggressive fighting style. Kaito was extremely confident in the strength of his dragon claws and the defensive abilities of his scales, which made him more willing to block incoming attacks rather than avoid them.

Even when Freya attacked from an unexpected angle, his first reaction was usually to raise one of his claws and intercept her katana instead of moving his body out of the way.

While this approach worked well against most opponents, Freya immediately recognized that it could become a weakness against someone who specialized in speed and swordsmanship. Since Kaito preferred blocking attacks directly, she could potentially force his claws into certain positions before suddenly changing the direction of her next attack.

Another thing Freya noticed was that Kaito tended to extend his left arm slightly too far whenever he attempted to land a decisive strike. Because he relied heavily on his physical strength, he often committed a considerable amount of power to these attacks, believing that even if his opponent managed to block them, the force behind his claws would still push them backward.

However, this also meant that whenever his powerful left-handed attacks missed their targets, he needed a brief moment to pull his arm back and recover his original fighting stance. Although this opening lasted only a fraction of a second, it was more than enough for someone with Freya’s speed and experience to take advantage of it.

The fifth weakness was that Kaito seemed to enjoy overpowering his opponents far more than fighting them patiently. Whenever Freya successfully blocked one of his attacks, he would immediately attempt to follow up with another, often increasing the strength and speed of his strikes instead of changing his approach. This made his attacks increasingly predictable, as his excitement sometimes caused him to repeat the same combinations without realizing it.

Freya also noticed that Kaito was especially protective of his left side whenever she managed to push his dominant claw out of position. During those brief moments, he would instinctively bring his right claw across his body to cover the opening, leaving the opposite side of his upper body slightly less protected.

This was a particularly interesting habit because it showed that despite his reckless appearance, Kaito still had certain defensive instincts that he followed almost automatically.

Freya thought to herself as she blocked another powerful strike from his left claw.

In just one minute, she had already identified several habits and weaknesses in Kaito’s fighting style. None of them were particularly serious on their own, and against an ordinary opponent, they probably would not have mattered much. However, when several small weaknesses were combined, they could create an opening that an experienced fighter could exploit.

Naturally, Freya did not assume that understanding these habits meant she had already won the battle. Kaito was still a powerful Sixth Order Black Dragon, and his extraordinary physical strength, hardened claws, and natural defensive abilities made him a dangerous opponent.

Furthermore, he had yet to reveal the full extent of his abilities, especially his powerful Darkness Element and the Black Dragon Clan’s famous ability to absorb elemental attacks.

Nevertheless, Freya was beginning to understand how she should approach this fight. Rather than simply trying to overpower Kaito through speed and strength, she could gradually take advantage of his fighting habits, force him into uncomfortable positions, and create opportunities to strike at the parts of his body that were not protected by his hardened claws.

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