Having lived for 314 years, Vera was seeing a living dragon for the first time, even if this one was only a half-blood sub-dragon.
After all, in Vera’s knowledge, dragons were a race that had gone extinct much earlier than mimic beasts, dwarfs, or even elves.
Therefore, in this battle, Vera could provide no effective intelligence support other than ensuring Anke’s safety.
Instead, it was Priestess Kaxier of the Iron Jaw Tribe who, with her ancestral knowledge passed down through generations, served as the “Staff Officer” in this dragon-hunting operation — well, “Staff Officer” was another word invented by Anke.
“Follow your training! Load ordinary bolts! Volley! Fire!”
In front of Vera, Anke unsheathed his sword and pointed it at the behemoth emerging from the river, commanding the crossbowmen at each position.
Standing in a prominent spot, one of the Imperial Guard Knights raised a black flag and a red flag upon hearing Anke’s order, signaling the command for a volley of ordinary bolts.
“Yes, sir! Fire — !”
Seeing the flags, the crossbowmen followed Anke’s command and aimed at the Blue Water Dragon in the river, launching their first round of attacks almost simultaneously.
Heavy bolts over 6 feet long (approximately 2 meters) whistled through the air toward the Blue Water Dragon swimming in the water. Whoosh — !
Unfortunately, the first round of attacks failed to wound the Blue Water Dragon.
The two closest bolts merely grazed its back before disappearing into the icy river water.
However, although the first volley did not injure the Blue Water Dragon, it successfully diverted the behemoth’s attention from the bridge to the crossbow positions on the bank.
The sub-dragon roared and turned to swim toward the shore!
“Use the Special Iron Bolts! Fire at will!” Anke issued the order calmly.
However, Vera could see his tension from how tightly he clenched his hands.
The Imperial Guard Knight signaling immediately translated Anke’s command into flag signals, quickly raising a white flag and a yellow flag.
“Use the Special Iron Bolts!”
Seeing the signals, the crossbowmen immediately swapped their ordinary bolts for heavier, solid iron ones.
A thick hemp rope was attached to the end of each bolt, with an iron chain the thickness of a finger interwoven within the fibers.
“Are the ropes secured?”
“Locked tight!”
The crossbowmen tugged on the hemp ropes, confirming they would not come loose after being fired.
“Good! Now aim — fire!”
Amid the roars of the crossbowmen, iron bolts with ropes attached to their tails whistled through the air toward the Blue Water Dragon in the river.
Because the Blue Water Dragon was swimming toward the shore, the distance to the crossbow positions had shortened.
Two bolts successfully struck the behemoth’s massive body.
These heavy bolts, powerful enough to pierce iron-clad city gates, easily penetrated the creature’s scales, making it roar in pain and rage.
The Blue Water Dragon immediately tried to pull out the bolts.
It bit down on the shafts with its mouth and jerked its neck outward, but the massive iron arrows were like harpoons, embedded deep within its body.
The barbs on the tips were firmly lodged in its flesh; pulling hard only caused more intense pain.
As the Blue Water Dragon tried to remove the bolts, more Special Iron Bolts arrived in quick succession.
Unable to dodge in time, its massive body was struck by seventeen more identical bolts.
The blood flowing from its wounds left several pink streaks across the Blue Water Dragon’s blue-and-white body.
“Good! If it keeps bleeding like this, we might be able to wear it down to death!” Anke said optimistically, looking through his telescope at the Blue Water Dragon attempting to shake off the bolts.
“Your Highness, do not be too optimistic. The Blue Water Dragon can use thunder, and it has not used that method of attack yet,” Kaxier reminded Anke.
“I know, Kaxier. However, I have long been prepared to deal with the Blue Water Dragon’s electric shocks. As long as it does not violate basic physical laws, I can prevent it from releasing its current.”
After finishing, Anke turned and issued a new order. “Ordinary bolts! Fire at will!”
The signaling Imperial Guard Knight immediately informed the crossbowmen of Anke’s command through the flag colors.
Understanding the signal, the crossbowmen immediately resumed using ordinary bolts to attack the Blue Water Dragon.
Under the renewed assault, the Blue Water Dragon stopped trying to pull out the bolts and instead dove deep underwater.
“The Blue Water Dragon is preparing to release its lightning! Your Highness, please evacuate the soldiers immediately!” Kaxier guessed its intention and warned Anke.
“Alright, evacuate the positions!” Anke ordered immediately after nodding to Kaxier.
The Imperial Guard Knight also raised two black flags.
Seeing the two black flags, the crossbowmen immediately dropped their bolts and winches, turned to evacuate their positions, and ran to hide behind pre-dug bunkers.
Just after the soldiers evacuated, the Blue Water Dragon, which had dove underwater, reappeared less than 15 feet from the shore.
Kaxier’s guess was correct.
At that moment, the giant horns on the Blue Water Dragon’s head were glowing with blue light. It was clearly channeling mana, preparing to sweep the exposed crossbow positions on the bank with thunder!
“Succeed… Please, let this succeed!” Anke prayed in a low voice while clenching his fists.
Bzzzzzt — !
Blue-and-white arcs of electricity danced between the beast’s horns, gradually forming a glowing sphere of blue lightning.
It was obvious that no living being present, aside from the dragon itself, could withstand such thunder.
However, just as the Blue Water Dragon was about to release the lightning from the orb, the sphere suddenly shrank rapidly until it completely vanished.
The Special Iron Bolts Anke had prepared were working.
Those nineteen iron bolts embedded deep within the Blue Water Dragon’s body were like blood-sucking leeches, greedily draining the gathered thunder!
“Nice!” Anke pumped his left fist downward in front of him.
“The Blue Water Dragon’s thunder was drained?”
“Your Highness, how did you know this would drain its power?”
Kaxier and Vera both looked at Anke in shock.
“It is basic physical common sense. I call the Blue Water Dragon’s thunder ‘electricity.’ As long as it is electricity, it can be attracted by metals like copper and iron. The most common example is how holding a spear on a rainy day makes you more likely to be struck by lightning. I used this principle to have pure iron bolts shot into its body to guide the current along the chains hidden in the hemp ropes. Finally, it passes through the cement blocks at the ends and dissipates into the ground.”
“Oh! I think I understand! Your Highness, you truly are knowledgeable.”
“Is this also something Sai-insi taught you?”
While Anke was explaining the science of lightning rods, the Blue Water Dragon let out a low growl of surprise and once again began to gather thunder between its horns.
But before it could release the attack, the accumulated thunder was drained by the iron bolts once again.
This behemoth, which had reigned supreme over the Piranha River for more than 600 years, immediately realized there was something wrong with the bolts in its body.
It turned its head to bite them, trying to pull them out.
But Anke would not give it the chance. Having confirmed the tactic worked, he immediately ordered the crossbowmen back to their positions to attack with more Special Iron Bolts, giving the creature no opportunity to escape!
The Blue Water Dragon possessed cunning equal to a human’s and realized these intruders had come prepared.
It stopped attacking and turned to swim toward the middle of the river.
But Anke and his men would not give their enemy a chance to flee.
Dozens of Special Iron Bolts with ropes attached to their ends acted like the arms of a giant, firmly holding back the behemoth’s massive body.