The Primal Hunter Chapter 1234 - Dragon Hunter (3)

Jake didn't consider himself a specialist in fighting healers. Most of his previous encounters involved healers who were part of larger squads and significantly weaker than him individually. In those cases, Jake would simply focus his power and eliminate the healer quickly before wiping out the rest of the group.

Reflecting on his past, the only time Jake had ever engaged a healer in one-on-one combat was his battle against Eron during the Treasure Hunt. However, since Eron was essentially a living cheat who couldn't be killed—forcing Jake to seal him instead—that experience wasn't particularly applicable here.

Furthermore, Jake didn't view Yrelstromoz as a dedicated healer. She was a dragon of the Lumenflight who possessed some light-based restoration magic, but he sensed it wasn't her primary path. True Dragons from the Lumenflight rarely committed to being pure healers, as that role thrived in groups, and True Dragons were notoriously arrogant and solitary. Considering Yrelstromoz’s temperament, Jake found it impossible to believe she had altruistically mastered the art of mending others.

Instead, Jake surmised her healing was likely restricted to self-restoration and probably lacked efficiency. More importantly, now that she had revealed her True Dragon form, Jake could feel the dormant Dragonsbane Poison finally beginning to take hold. It hadn't fully triggered yet due to insufficient buildup, but once he injected enough, any magic she used—including healing—would turn into a double-edged sword.

“It does make sense, I guess,” Yrelstromoz remarked, as Jake felt the fading remnants of her magic closing the last few injuries from her humanoid state. Notably, injuries didn't translate perfectly between forms; any trauma dealt to her human vessel became much less significant once she shifted into her massive true form.

“What other peak C-grade could possibly push a True Dragon to undo their Polymorph but a Chosen hailed as one of the greatest geniuses in the history of the multiverse?” she added. Jake wasn't entirely sure if she was complimenting him or boosting her own ego.

He saw no reason to correct her assumption about his rank, despite the fact that he hadn't quite reached the peak of C-grade yet.

“Even so, you are still just a C-grade. No matter your strength, your grade is a ceiling. You might slaughter weak B-grades easily, but do you think I couldn't do the same at your level? I can only assume the Malefic One wants to teach you a lesson regarding the true power of Dragons, and I am happy to oblige.”

Yrelstromoz’s vanity seemed to inflate after her transformation, but Jake found it less irritating than before because she now possessed the aura to justify it. It was still a level of hubris Jake intended to exploit, though he knew the battle would no longer be one-sided.

“Then please, show me my mistakes… or become the prey that earns me the title of dragonslayer,” Jake countered, his voice vibrating with Willpower as he met her arrogance with his own.

His declaration signaled the start of the fight's second phase. Instantly, the sky filled with golden spheres of light. Jake backed away, arcane energy surging from his frame as he readied his bow.

Over a hundred glowing beams converged on Jake simultaneously. He reacted by manifesting his Wings of the Malefic Viper, using them to deflect and maneuver while he bought himself a moment to charge an arrow.

Seeing no immediate results, Yrelstromoz escalated her assault. The ivory horns on her head began to shimmer as her mana spiked, and a massive magic circle—the size of a small town—manifested in the heavens.

It gave an immediate pulse, sending a physical shockwave of light crashing down. Jake was forced to fire his Arcane Powershot early to deal with the pressure. He raised both hands, conjuring an arcane shield above himself to absorb the impact.

The shield shattered instantly, but it managed to dull the brunt of the force. Even so, the sheer weight of the large-scale magic sent Jake plummeting. Around him, the shockwave slammed into the earth, flattening the terrain within the crater.

The shockwave was only interrupted in two spots: where Jake stood and the path of his mid-flight arrow. Enveloped in destructive arcane energy and infused with the concepts of Penetrating Arrow and Unblemished Arrows, the projectile brushed off the shockwave and continued toward its target.

Jake worried the attack might be intercepted or prove ineffective, but he had underestimated his own lethality. Yrelstromoz seemingly believed her massive spell would neutralize the arrow; when it didn't, her rushed barrier failed to stop Jake’s Arcane Powershot from tearing through and slamming into her flank.

The satisfaction Jake felt seeing the dragon knocked sideways was immense. It felt even better when he sensed a potent dose of Dragonsbane Poison entering her system through the fresh wound.

However, as the dust settled, Jake saw that while the impact had sent her sliding for kilometers, the actual damage was minor. The arrow had pierced her scales, but the following arcane explosion and residual energy couldn't bypass the dragon's massive innate magic resistance.

Before Jake could fire again, the floating orbs of light reminded him of their presence, pelting him with searing rays. Individually, they were weak and easily parried, but Jake noticed that multiple beams hitting the same spot caused exponentially more damage. Some potent concepts were clearly at work, as standard logic couldn't explain the amplification.

This forced Jake to prioritize evasion over blocking. He had learned this lesson the hard way when a beam punched through his wing, and he nearly lost an ear trying to block a cluster of dozens at once.

Maintaining his pressure, Jake fired quick shots while weaving through the beams. He took comfort in the fact that Yrelstromoz was consuming mana at an incredible rate. While his own Arcane Awakening was active and put him on a clock, he felt the dragon had been pushing just as hard since he triggered her life-saving ability at the start of the encounter.

The previous Arcane Powershot seemed to have rattled Yrelstromoz. She began focusing significant energy on intercepting his arrows, which gave Jake the breathing room to fire even more. To her frustration, Jake’s projectiles were difficult to dodge due to their speed and his ability to curve them. Given her thirty-meter-long True Dragon body, she was an easy target.

Jake discovered that his standard stable arrows could just barely nick her scales if she didn't defend. He didn't even bother with the destructive variant, and after a Splitting Arrow was easily deflected, he realized he needed to focus on quality over quantity.

Though individual arrows did little physical damage, each one delivered more Dragonsbane Poison. Yrelstromoz didn't seem to notice the buildup; since the wounds were minor, she simply chose to heal them rather than block.

Jake worried she might find it suspicious that the Chosen of the Malefic Viper wasn't using poison, so he occasionally fired arrows coated in standard toxins rather than Dragonsbane. This proved to be a smart move, as she neutralized those poisons instantly, allowing the Dragonsbane to remain undetected beneath her magical radar.

Jake’s plan was to keep stacking the poison while building Hunting Momentum and other long-term advantages. However, Yrelstromoz wasn't going to let him dictate the pace forever.

Realizing that taking hits without landing a counter was a losing game, the dragon shifted from defense to total aggression.

Just as Jake teleported and prepared another shot, the dragon vanished, transforming into a streak of light. Using his Hunter’s Mark and sphere, Jake tracked her, though it was hardly necessary as she charged directly at him.

Beating his wings, Jake retreated while venting a cloud of poison mist into the path of the light beam. Just before she reached him, he loosed his arrow and swapped to his katars.

Yrelstromoz solidified and was immediately struck by a point-blank arrow that sank deeper than his previous shots. She ignored the pain, swinging a massive claw at him.

Jake tried to back away, but the claw suddenly accelerated, reaching him in a blur. Thanks to his precognitive senses, he narrowly avoided the primary strike but was left vulnerable to the follow-up.

Forced into a defensive position, Jake was struck in the side by the dragon's claw. He threw a wing up at the last second, but it was shredded as the talons clashed with his katars, sending him tumbling in a painful explosion of light.

Yrelstromoz gave him no room to breathe. She spun mid-air, her tail—now composed of pure light—sweeping toward him. He managed to fire a burst of arcane magic to propel himself downward, dodging the tail, only for a magic circle to ignite directly beneath his path.

A pillar of solidified light slammed into Jake, sending him into an uncontrolled spin. Yrelstromoz lunged again, bringing another claw down, but the seemingly disoriented Jake used his momentum to drive his katar into the descending limb.

Jake’s forearms might have shattered if not for his Fangs of Man upgrade, which made them incredibly durable. He withstood the recoil as a shockwave of light and arcane force pushed the combatants apart.

Yrelstromoz paused to mend her punctured claw, allowing Jake to draw his bow again. He much preferred keeping the fight at a distance.

Even though the Lumenflight specialized in magic, they were still dragons. All True Dragons were apex predators in physical combat, bolstered by their immense mana. While the Wildflight were the physical extremists, all dragons had bodies saturated with energy, providing a passive boost that significantly raised their physical attributes.

Jake’s Sense of the Malefic Viper confirmed Yrelstromoz was no exception. Her hide was so dense that even when he bypassed the scales, his arrows struggled to penetrate deep into the muscle.

Jake wasn't afraid of melee, but he knew the range gave him the edge. Furthermore, her reliance on high-level magic would drain her mana faster, which played into his hands.

He notched an arrow as she finished healing. Seeing his aim, she turned back into a beam of light to evade. Jake waited patiently, charging an Arcane Powershot and only releasing it the moment she reappeared, catching her off guard.

The bolt hit her square in the chest, the impact staggering her. Jake capitalized by landing three more arrows before she could mount a defense.

Spreading her wings, Yrelstromoz began to glow with a brilliant gold light as they expanded. They grew from dozens of meters to hundreds, and then thousands, until they seemed to blot out the entire horizon.

Jake continued firing, but a turbulent flux of magic around her deflected his shots. His danger sense began to scream, warning him not to commit to a larger attack.

That caution was justified. A moment later, the massive wings swept inward. A colossal tide of light washed over Jake, hitting him with immense physical pressure. He knew this was just the beginning. As he flew backward, guarding with his katars, the wings pulsed and exploded into tens of thousands of small light beams that swirled and locked onto him.

Jake realized these carried the same concept as the previous orbs. Individually they were manageable, but a concentrated volley would be fatal.

With no time to dodge so many projectiles, Jake triggered Pride of the Malefic Viper, seizing control of the local space. Hundreds of arcane spheres materialized and detonated instantly, saturating the area in chaotic mana.

Jake emerged from the smoke, drawing the fire of the beams. He dodged hundreds, but the sheer volume was overwhelming. Eventually, they struck him—only for his form to dissolve into black curse energy.

Yrelstromoz was visibly stunned, unable to grasp what had happened. With their target gone, the beams shot harmlessly into the sky and faded before she could relocate him. She sent out a pulse of light to find him, but she was too slow.

From within the lingering arcane smoke of the earlier explosions, an Arcane Powershot erupted. It caught Yrelstromoz completely by surprise. Jake had hidden within the chaos to charge his attack, allowing Stealth Attack to trigger once more.

The dragon was blasted back, a large new wound opening on her chest. Jake had used Eternal Shadow—a valuable surprise tool—but as Yrelstromoz tried to heal, he felt the shift.

Jake couldn't hide his grin as Yrelstromoz’s eyes went wide. Her healing wasn't working. Through his Sense of the Malefic Viper, he felt the change within her. The mana inside this magical creature had been thoroughly compromised. The toxins had reached critical mass. In short…

Dragonsbane Poison had officially kicked into effect.