Translator: AnubisTL
With a series of thunderous roars, the crimson star descended, gradually revealing its true form.
Garos spread his dragon wings, blotting out the sky. His searing-red scales evaporated the torrential rain into billowing white mist, his magnificent, imposing form looming within.
He folded his wings and dove toward the human camp, compressing the air into a visible cone-shaped shockwave.
"Dragon! It's an evil dragon!"
The knight commander's roar was swallowed by the sonic boom.
Dense, searing-red dragon scales tore through the wind and rain, leaving trails of steam as they rained down upon the human camp.
Buzz!
Magical runes suddenly lit up across the ground.
The defense array constructed here activated, forming a bowl-shaped energy shield around the camp.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Massive fireballs erupted, roaring like enraged dragons.
The energy shield flickered violently, its surface cracking in a web of fissures.
"Defense!"
The knight commander's pupils constricted as he bellowed the command.
The knights, already fully armed and engaged in training, raised their greatshields.
Crack!
The shield shattered under the force of a devastating impact.
Garos's massive form tore through the magical barrier. His Heavenly Comet Wings, gleaming with icy light, fully extended like colossal guillotines, sweeping toward the knight formation.
"Slay the dragon! Slay the dragon!"
The knight commander raised his arm and roared.
Clad in heavy armor and wielding a nearly four-meter-long lance, the knight commander charged forward to meet Garos head-on.
Magic energy surged within him, igniting a flame-like aura that extended from his body to coat his lance. With a flick of his wrist, the lance struck with lightning speed, aimed at the dragon's head.
If he could wound the dragon with this initial strike, the entire knight order would swarm in, supported by the alchemy golems, giving them a chance to subdue the beast. His formidable physique meant he could face a dragon without being instantly killed.
In the next instant, the lance, inscribed with alchemical runes, shattered beneath the dragon's claw.
Garos's left claw crushed the lance, while his right claw, carrying a gale-force wind, slammed into the knight commander.
Boom!
The knight commander's armor shattered into fragments, and his vaunted body exploded into a bloody mist, leaving no trace of bone or flesh.
Garos's momentum remained undiminished as he continued his charge.
Thick war shields, sturdy fine steel spears, and the knights themselves—all were cleaved in two or pulverized into blood mist and dust.
In that single strike, the viscount lost a quarter of his privately trained knights, men he had invested heavily in.
Garos tore through the knight formation like an unstoppable, indestructible dragon-shaped blade. He soared into the air, wheeled around, and swooped down again.
Two devastating dives in rapid succession.
Over half the knight order brought here had perished, while Garos had suffered only minor scratches from their spears, barely grazing his scales.
The remaining knights scattered.
Whoosh! An ice spear hurtled through the air toward Garos, only to be shattered by a flick of his massive tail.
The frost giant lumbered forward, its heavy footsteps shaking the ground as it charged with surprising speed. It conjured another ice spear and prepared to hurl it.
Garos beat his dragon wings, soaring straight upward until he hung suspended high in the sky.
Hummm!
The roar of five engines erupted almost simultaneously, like thunder. The eyes of the fifth-tier alchemical golems glowed crimson as they locked onto Garos.
The young spellcaster's face twisted in terror.
Garos's wingbeats had torn his tent to shreds, exposing him to the torrential rain. Soaked to the bone, his hair plastered to his scalp, the spellcaster's earlier air of control and confidence had vanished.
Tax Collector Brent collapsed into the muddy ground, his legs trembling so violently he couldn't stand.
Only the middle-aged man, his face weathered and dark, his skin rough as a reef battered by ten million waves, stood firm before the young spellcaster. Though small in stature, his presence was as solid as a mountain, radiating a palpable aura—no, not just an aura, but qi.
"A martial monk?"
Garos narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on Bane.
The martial dragon class he sought to attain was derived from the martial monk class, essentially an advanced class for martial monks of the dragon race. However, since the traditional martial monk class served as its foundation, it still held some reference value.
No longer fearing exposure, Garos directly used the Life Level Detection Technique on the martial monk. His eyes glowed with an ethereal light as he focused on Bane.
Yet the detection technique was blocked.
His gaze couldn't penetrate the qi surrounding Bane's body.
This meant Bane's life grade exceeded Garos's, placing him at level 10 or higher.
To Garos, Bane's qi burned like a resilient flame, but its density was limited by the human body, making it ultimately unremarkable.
Meanwhile, the Viscount's Son suppressed his inner terror, forcing himself to remain calm as he glared at the powerful dragon circling overhead. "Dragon!" he shouted. "We have no quarrel with you! Retreat immediately, or do you wish to draw the Federal Army's encirclement upon yourself?!"
Against a ferocious evil dragon, showing weakness was futile.
Threatening to invoke the Federal Army's authority might be the only way to make it retreat.
Unfortunately, Garos hadn't simply stumbled upon this place and decided to attack on a whim.
After deep deliberation, he had already considered the risks.
He lowered his gaze to the tiny creatures below and said, "Humans, the taxes you desire—I have come to deliver them personally. Do you not welcome my arrival?"
The red-iron dragon's voice was deep and resonant, like thunder rumbling through the clouds, sending shivers down the spines of everyone present.
Edmund's face stiffened slightly.
This dragon is the true lord behind those monsters?!
Damn it! If I had known this, I would have brought a stronger expeditionary legion!
He never imagined that a dragon would dare to lurk near the trade route. This evil dragon was no ordinary beast.
"We can renegotiate!" Edmund shouted. "Violence is not the answer! Dragons are intelligent creatures, not inferior beasts. We are willing to concede some profits and engage in formal cooperation with you!"
Regardless of whether his words were sincere or not, the moment Garos decided to bare his fangs and reveal his true form, he had no intention of sparing anyone here.
"Insignificant insects! Your pleas for mercy come too late."
"You must pay the price for provoking dragonkind."
A roar like surging magma erupted from the distance, growing closer, but it wasn't Garos.
Two more smaller dragon shadows appeared, followed by a legion of monsters—ogres, lizardfolk, hyena-men, graymane werewolves, and more—a dark, surging tide converging on the human camp from all directions.
(End of the Chapter)
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