The web of death was woven in a heartbeat.
Dozens of streams of corrosive acid locked down every escape route like an orchestrated bullet barrage.
Within the murky purple mist, this was virtually a dead end.
Yet in that very moment, Mark’s eyes flared brilliant and clear—bright as shadowless surgical lamps.
Fear, tension, panic…
every negative emotion was stripped away instantly, leaving behind only cold, machine-like calculation.
His brain, a superprocessor loaded with top-tier twenty-first-century scientific knowledge, went into overdrive at unprecedented speeds.
The dense, lethal volley of acid before him was no longer a threat, but a series of mathematical equations waiting to be calculated, analyzed, and solved.
Initial velocity, trajectory angles, drag attenuation, intersecting kill zones…
countless data streams coalesced and analyzed in his mind like lightning, forming a complete three-dimensional ballistic map.
He found it!
In that seemingly airtight net of death, he identified the sole path to survival: an extraordinarily narrow, fleeting safe corridor created by the overlapping trajectories.
“Comet!
Execute a corkscrew climb!
Left barrel roll, axis angle thirty-seven degrees, hold for three seconds, then pull up into a vertical climb immediately!” Mark’s instructions were no longer simple commands like “left” or “right,” but complex tactical maneuvers filled with precise angles and timing parameters.
To any other dragonrider of this world, such directives would sound like gibberish.
To Comet, linked to his mind, they manifested as the crystal-clear, intuitive movements required.
*Roar—!* Comet let out a resonant roar, placing absolute trust in his rider.
His massive silver body pivoted sharply, spiraling upward like a high-speed drill along the invisible corridor Mark had mapped out!
A breathtaking scene unfolded.
Their figures performed a magnificent aerial ballet amidst the emerald barrage of death.
A jet of acid grazed the tip of Comet’s wing, singeing the air with a burnt odor.
Another stream flew inches past Mark’s scalp, its searing heat delivering a sharp sting.
Every roll, tilt, and pull-up Comet executed was precise down to the centimeter.
His bulky body wove through the razor-thin gaps without taking a single hit.
This was no longer just a battle, but a masterclass in aerial stunt flying, danced along the edge of a blade!
Three seconds later, they broke through the first barrage and rocketed above the swarm of beasts.
*Beautiful!* Mark praised inwardly, though the fight was far from over.
“Switch mode: Intercept!” Thrown into brief chaos when their initial barrage missed, the monsters screeched as they reformed their pattern for a second attack.
Mark wouldn’t grant them the chance.
“Target directly below, the largest one!
Dive!” Comet tucked his wings like a raptor in mid-strike, diving straight down while his wings erupted with an even fiercer crimson glow.
Terrifying gravitational acceleration sent the blood rushing through Mark’s veins, yet the ergonomics and harness of the Valyrian steel saddle kept him firmly grounded.
Before the targeted beast could react, a silver rider radiating lethal intent materialized before it.
Mark’s gaze was cold.
He didn’t even glance at the creature’s hideous face; the sword in his hand—*Theoretically Feasible*—had already been calculated for the optimal angle of strike.
*Splat—* Without the slightest resistance, the Valyrian steel blade sliced through the monster’s neck like a hot knife through butter.
The giant winged head flew into the air as dark-green, foul blood erupted from the headless torso.
A one-hit kill!
“Pull up!
Intercept two at three o’clock!” Having slain the first monster, Comet executed a sharp V-shaped climb, using immense momentum to hurl them toward the two creatures on their right.
Mark had entered a state of pure flow.
He was no longer an unarmed PhD scholar, but a true god of aerial death.
His mind calculated and commanded, while his body executed the slaughters.
*Slash!
Slash!* Two more strikes sheared off the massive wings of both beasts.
Screaming, they plummeted like broken kites into the depths of the poisonous fog below.
From that moment on, the battle turned into a one-sided slaughter.
Under Mark’s guidance, Comet fought like an elite ace pilot, executing impossible dogfighting maneuvers across the purple sky.
Cobra maneuvers, falling leaf drifts, Immelmann turns—tactics that existed only in Earth’s aviation textbooks were brought to life by the dragon.
And Mark was the ace fighter’s deadliest weapon.
Every time the Valyrian steel longsword swung, it claimed another life.
Within minutes, a gory rain of severed monster limbs showered down from the sky.
Yet just as Mark believed victory was assured, a surge of primal, overwhelming dread flared sharply from below!