"Regardless of the human's methods, the human has proven his strength. Therefore, we no longer have the right to look down on him," a Mid-level Rank 4 True Dragon within the group spoke.

Although seeing so much strength in such a small body was shocking, the dragons couldn't deny the truth before their eyes.

Size didn't equal strength; it never did.

"So what?" Gryme argued with a dark look. "The human might be stronger than we anticipated, but it doesn't change the fact that he is still an outsider and not welcomed here."

"It seems if I want something done, I have to do it myself!" Gryme stated as he stared into the distance with a cold glint.

Shortly after, the High-level Rank 4 True Dragon broke away from the dragon crowd and entered the battle ring.

"Gryme, I"

"Get the fuck out!" Gryme snapped at Hedwig, slapping him out of the battle ring with a powerful tail sweep. "You're a goddamn embarrassment to us dragons! How dare you let a mere human make a fool out of you! Sit the fuck out there and watch how I do things!"

"I will be your opponent, human!" Gryme declared after shifting his attention to Vaan.

"Alright," Vaan calmly replied, but his eyes narrowed.

He could tell that the Gryme didn't have any good intentions. Cruelness was practically seeping out of his body.

Furthermore, he was a High-level Rank 4 being.

Thus, he couldn't use normal methods to deal with Gryme. His opponent was a little too strong for him this time.

However, defeat wasn't certain.

There were various methods the weak could use to defeat the strong. The real issue was to pick the most effective and efficient method and use it before the opponent could have the advantage.

Boom!

Even before the battle started, Gryme immediately enhanced himself with magic, causing various runes to appear all over his body.

"You will pay for humiliating a dragon, human," Gryme spat in a low tone before Vaan sensed danger the next moment.

Extreme Lightning Flash Step!

Boom!

Vaan quickly retreated with a high-rank movement skill before his original location exploded like a volcanic eruption, sending hot lava of horrendous temperatures into the air.

No doubt, the lava was much hotter than his magma; he would have received serious burns from it.

Although Gryme had initiated the start of the battle with a sneak attack, Vaan didn't complain, nor did he have a reason to besides wanting to make a fool of himself.

As Jergag mentioned, there were no rules, and all methods were permitted as long as no one died in the fight.

In other words, lethal attacks were permitted as long as they didn't kill.

Nevertheless, Gryme didn't give Vaan a chance to catch a break. Right after launching his sneak attack, he quickly pursued Vaan with a powerful flap of his wings.

Although Gryme's dragon body was huge in comparison to Vaan, he was also very nimble.

Even so, Vaan used his high-rank movement skill to avoid Gryme's lethal claws that threatened to shred his body into parts.

"What's wrong, human?! Where's your arrogance now?!" Gryme sneered with ridicule, "All you can do is run like a rat with its tail tucked between its legs!"

"And you, a noble, powerful, and big lizard, can't even land a single blow on this little rat. So who's the bigger joke, I wonder?" Vaan casually retorted, intending to provoke his opponent.

Arrogance and anger clouds one's judgment.

"How dare you!" Gryme roared furiously.

"Heh, am I wrong?" Vaan snickered as he continued his provocation.

Safe to say, it was far too easy to provoke Gryme. The giant lizard's discrimination against humans was too strong.

Any little thing could upset the big lizard, not to mention direct insults and contempt.

"I'll kill you!"

Gryme issued a dragon roar that shook Vaan's soul, stunning him briefly before taking the chance to close the distance between them.

Vaan's eyes narrowed instantly.

Although Gryme's dragon roar was nothing compared to the ninth dragon lord's, the ability to stun him was dangerous nonetheless.

In a split second, he immediately decided to cause countless earthen rocks in the area to explode into thick dust clouds, covering his figure within.

"Do you think you can hide, you little rat?!" Gryme blindly charged into the dust cloud, unaware portions of the harmless dust clouds were transmuted into various powdered metals.

Some were extremely sharp, while others easily melted at room temperature but retained their solidity due to Kinetic Energy Manipulation.

Nevertheless, Gryme inhaled a bunch of powdered metals before his powerful wings swept the dust clouds out of the area and cleared the view.

However, Vaan had already created distance, appearing over a hundred yards away with his Extreme Lightning Flash Steps.

Roar!

Gryme briefly stunned Vaan with another powerful dragon roar.

If Vaan's mental resistance weren't high, he would have been stunned for a longer period, making the situation much more dangerous.

Fortunately, his mental resistance was very high.

Even so, against a mana-infused sound attack, plugging his ears wasn't enough to block it from stunning him.

Boom! Boom!

More earthen rocks were gathered and exploded into dust clouds, covering Vaan's presence once.

Gryme was infuriated by the repeated tricks but chased after Vaan nonetheless, inhaling more doses of Vaan's powdered metals in the process.

As Gryme moved rapidly in his pursuit, the sharp metals were causing microscopic cuts throughout his internal system and fastening the spread of mercury into his system.

After the game of cat and mouse was repeated several times, Gryme's wings finally didn't move the way he wanted, causing him to plunge into the magma sea.

A moment later, he resurfaced from the magma sea with alarm.

Within half an hour, Gryme experienced various motor movement problems, vision and hearing impairment, and different levels of paralysis throughout his body.

Furthermore, the symptoms only became more severe with time.

He was incapacitated and couldn't fight.

"Something is wrong with my body! What the hell did you do to me, human?!" Gryme immediately blamed Vaan for his predicament. He coughed up blood the next moment before roaring, "How dare you use poison!"

"Oh, how the tables have turned, eh? I guess mercury is still effective, even against dragons," Vaan casually commented before saying, "I suggest you concede defeat before your situation becomes life-threatening."

"I am a proud dragon! I would rather die than yield to a despicable human like you!" Gryme roared furiously.