Translator: AnubisTL
As Crescent Bay was engulfed in flames, reduced to a sea of fire, Garos received a message from the iron dragon.
He warned the iron dragon that the Gold Tooth Tribe's retaliatory strikes would likely target their riverbank strongholds. He advised either reinforcing their defenses or temporarily abandoning the strongholds to harass the Gold Tooth Tribe's other riverbank settlements, suspending trade for the immediate future.
Afterward, Garos refocused on himself, honing his dragon heart.
He donned the alchemical horn ring and activated the Bloodburst Technique. His chest immediately resonated with thunderous roars, like a powerful engine pumping at full throttle, or a warhammer pounding a war drum with furious intensity.
In reality, these were neither thunder, nor engine sounds, nor drumming.
They were the sound of Garos's own heartbeat.
With each thunderous pulse, Garos's blood nearly boiled, his chest scales becoming translucent. The crimson patterns beneath the Cold Exploding Scales shone through like flowing lava, radiating a fiery glow.
His qi surged violently, growing increasingly volatile and unstable.
Huff... Garos took a deep breath, submerging himself completely in the water. He remained motionless, focusing intently on the changes in his body, striving to master the power amplification granted by the Bloodburst Technique.
Soon, the Bloodburst Technique's duration ended.
The red-iron dragon leaped from the water, his body radiating heat that instantly evaporated the dampness clinging to his scales, leaving him dry and refreshed.
"The dragon heart evolution still lags far behind," Garos mused inwardly. "To fully evolve my heart and unlock the Bloodburst Third Stage, which would be perfectly compatible with me, I'll likely have to wait until my youth."
As he continued to develop his innate talent, Garos's understanding of it deepened.
The more complex and vital an organ's evolution, the longer it took to accumulate the necessary energy. Simpler parts, like his dragon scales, evolved rapidly and had already undergone multiple subsequent evolutions.
The dragon heart, currently Garos's primary focus, was evolving at a glacial pace.
Yet he knew that once the heart's evolution was complete, its central importance would trigger a chain reaction throughout his entire being, propelling him to unprecedented heights—far beyond merely gaining a skill like Bloodburst.
Immersed in intense training, time flew by.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, the Gold Tooth Tribe and the Ironforged Tribe formally initiated a "trade war." Small-scale conflicts erupted day and night over trade disputes, with the situation shifting daily.
Neither tribe was small; both had many considerations and refrained from full-scale war.
For example, at the abyssal rift in the Fertile Plains, the white dragon, Elvie, and many elite warriors guarded the rift. Demons occasionally emerged, posing no major threat but providing valuable abyssal materials. Still, the rift remained a persistent concern, tying up a portion of the Ironforged Tribe's forces.
The Gold Tooth Tribe faced similar challenges. With more resource points to defend, they required even greater manpower. If they withdrew all their forces for the war against the Ironforged Tribe, other tribes would undoubtedly seize the opportunity to invade.
Tribal warfare differed greatly from the all-out battles waged by small clans in the wilderness.
The larger the organization, the more complex its affairs became, making it increasingly difficult to commit all resources to a single gamble.
Conflicts between tribes often begin with small-scale skirmishes. Only when all preparations are complete do they consider launching a full-scale assault to conquer their opponent.
The Gold Tooth Tribe and the Ironforged Tribe.
The primary conflict revolved around the riverbank, with both sides targeting each other's fortifications along the river's edge.
After several clashes, Iron Dragon Solgorn adopted Garos's suggestion, ordering his familiars to completely abandon their riverbank strongholds. They temporarily ceased trade and focused solely on attacking the Gold Tooth Tribe's riverbank fortifications.
Unlike the creatures of the Ironforged Tribe, goblins were inherently frail and heavily reliant on external resources, a weakness that proved critical.
Goblins needed the facilities within their strongholds to rest, replenish food and water, and repair their alchemy items. Their mech golems couldn't abandon territory as freely as the Ironforged Tribe's familiars; without these strongholds, their logistics would collapse.
Faced with the monsters' hit-and-run tactics, the Gold Tooth Tribe had to consolidate their previously dispersed riverbank defenses, shifting to a primarily defensive posture while devising a counterattack plan.
Garos occasionally learned about the small-scale "trade war" through the iron dragon's reports, but he didn't pay it much attention.
His focus remained on enhancing his own strength.
As long as the Ominous Star of Death grew powerful enough, it would serve as a Sea God's pillar, bolstering the Ironforged Tribe's morale.
Furthermore, Garos's Cold Exploding Scales had fully regenerated a few days prior.
After careful calculation, he determined that while the scales' regeneration speed couldn't match that of his thorn spikes, it was still quite rapid. If all the scales were shed, it would take approximately six days for new ones to grow back, provided he had sufficient energy replenishment.
The damage sustained during his battle with the Chimera had been extensive, but since the Cold Exploding Scales hadn't been completely destroyed, they could regenerate in about three days.
"I need to stretch my muscles," Garos declared.
The red-iron dragon spread its wings and soared into the sky, intent on eliminating the remaining wild monster lords and getting some exercise.
By now, ordinary hunting was too easy for Garos and no longer served to hone his combat skills. Only battles against lord-level monsters could provide the necessary combat experience.
Southwest, Wind Howl Dense Forest.
As dusk deepened, the sky blazed with fiery crimson clouds, resembling a raging inferno.
When Garos's dragon wings swept over the dense forest canopy, the setting sun painted the jagged beech tree crowns blood-red. The gale he stirred pressed down on the thick foliage, sending leaves swirling in all directions.
At that moment, two golden glints suddenly pierced through the surging emerald waves of the forest sea.
The wild monster lord perched atop a cliff within the forest. This colossal beast, its body length rivaling Garos's own, still clutched half an owlbear carcass in its forepaws. Bloodstained claws and fangs gleamed coldly in the twilight.
Roar!
It threw back its head and roared, its fur bristling like steel needles. Its back arched slightly as it issued a warning to the red-iron dragon that had trespassed into its territory.
Garos narrowed his eyes.
A fiercely predatory beast materialized in his slightly narrowed pupils.
Dense white fur billowed around it, crisscrossed by black stripes that formed a distinct "king" character on its forehead—a white tiger beast.
Its immense size marked it as a ferocious species—a ferocious beast that had pushed its innate talent to its absolute limit and beyond.
The most powerful individuals of the ferocious species possess combat talents comparable to those of dragonkind, but nearly all ferocious species lack intelligence, their IQ far inferior to that of dragons.
(End of the Chapter)
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