Translator: AnubisTL
"With the newly signed magic contract in place, the Venomtail Tribe's serpentmen won't dare exploit our vulnerabilities."
"The Ironforged Tribe has been raiding our riverside outposts, disrupting trade, and causing us significant losses."
"Strike first, strike hard. They're no ordinary tribe anymore; we need to crush them decisively."
As the elders below spoke, Grand Artificer Scott slowly nodded. The Gold Tooth Tribe's chief, his eyes gleaming, declared, "Our monopoly plan is crucial to our future. The Ironforged Tribe opposes us, and we can't tolerate their defiance any longer."
Having resolved to attack the Ironforged Tribe, Grand Artificer Scott and the elders began strategizing.
After carefully analyzing their respective strengths and weaknesses, they concluded that the best approach was to assemble a massive legion and launch a direct, frontal assault. This would deny the Ironforged Tribe any chance to react, allowing them to crush the enemy with alchemy golems and war machines.
Before long, the goblin high command reached a consensus.
The Ironforged Tribe's accumulated resources were weaker than those of the Frontierlands' Four Great Tribes, but they were not to be underestimated. To boost morale, the grand artificer used communication devices to first transmit war preparations orders to the bosses of each stronghold, then prepared a declaration of war.
"Warriors of the goblin race!"
"Those arrogant reptiles in the southwest! Scaled bandits! They burned our harbors, plundered our wealth, and dared to challenge the Gold Tooth Tribe's authority!"
"We will crush their pride beneath a tide of steel!"
"Let those winged lizards taste the fury of our alchemical heavy cannons!"
"We will strip their scales one by one and forge them into new battle armor!"
After a pause, the grand artificer's voice, amplified by communication devices and alchemy items, echoed almost simultaneously through every stronghold: "For the glory of the Gold Tooth Tribe! To restore the goblin race's former glory! We will crush all who stand in our way with steel!"
ROAR!
Almost simultaneously, an unusual roar erupted.
The grand artificer's gaze sharpened as he noticed the roar emanating from a communication device.
"Rogue, what's happening?"
The grand artificer addressed the boss communicating through the device.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! It's a white dragon, and many monsters!" came the urgent reply.
The grand artificer's expression hardened.
The Ironforged Tribe dares to overstep their bounds so brazenly? Attacking our riverside outposts wasn't enough for them? he thought. This time, we must eradicate the Ironforged Tribe completely.
These barbaric monsters only grow bolder with each concession. Their existence can no longer be tolerated.
With this assembled force, we will wipe out the Ironforged Tribe once and for all!
The grand artificer maintained a calm demeanor as he said, "Reinforcements are on their way—"
Before he could finish, a cacophony of frantic voices erupted from the communication devices, interrupting him.
"Ogres! Ogres are charging our defenses!"
"So many giant wolves! They bypassed our sentries using stealth!"
"Iron dragons! I see iron dragons approaching, and a swarm of wyverns!"
Dire news poured in from every direction.
The Gold Tooth Tribe's outposts were under simultaneous assault.
"Is that a comet falling from the sky? No! It's not a comet—"
Boom!
With an ear-splitting roar like a meteorite crashing into the earth, the voice from the communication device abruptly cut off.
The grand artificer's expression remained unchanged, yet his composure seemed to freeze into a rigid mask.
The goblins had planned to strike first.
But while they were still deliberating in the council chamber, the Ironforged Tribe's legion, under the cover of warlock shamans, had already begun their silent, methodical advance. Concealing their movements, they stealthily converged on the Gold Tooth Tribe's strongholds from multiple directions.
To avoid alerting the enemy, the first units to approach the goblin strongholds didn't immediately attack. Instead, they lay low, patiently awaiting orders.
The initial surprise attack would undoubtedly be the most effective. It was crucial to wait until all units were in position before launching a simultaneous assault on the goblin strongholds, catching them completely off guard.
As the goblin leaders continued their deliberations, more and more Ironforged Tribe units moved into position, gradually increasing the risk of detection.
The Ironforged Tribe, like a ferocious beast, didn't remain dormant indefinitely. At the opportune moment, it bared its claws and fangs.
Let's rewind to the moment before Grand Artificer Scott declared war.
Southeast, quartz mine.
The sun cast long shadows from the mine's steam towers. A goblin lookout chewing tobacco on the watchtower suddenly narrowed his eyes.
In the distance, several glints of light seemed out of place.
"Hey!" he shouted down. "The rocks on the western slope look like they're moving! Take a closer look!"
His deputy, leaning lazily against a ballista, replied, "Probably just those damn rock sheep again. They chewed through the cables last week."
Before he could finish speaking, the ground began to tremble, dust billowing up and settling back down.
Focusing his gaze, the goblin scout's breath caught in his throat. His spirit instantly tensed. What he saw wasn't rocks or rock sheep, but enemies charging toward them at breakneck speed!
The Crimson Iron Cavalry's centaurs, giant wolf knights, and hyena knights led the charge, their iron hooves crushing earth and stone.
Behind them came heavily armored ogres and troll elites, towering figures like walking mountains of flesh.
A dense swarm of Hyena-Men and kobolds surged through the ranks, howling as they ran.
Even more terrifying, a White Dragon Shadow streaked across the sky, its malevolent, icy form briefly visible through the clouds.
The mine's alarm instantly blared across the valley.
Steam crossbows with multiple barrels emerged from behind camouflaged rock walls, their arrows gleaming with a chilling light.
Buzzing!
Black oil burned in the mech golems' engines, transforming into energy that surged through their pipelines. Every golem stood ready for battle.
"Fire!"
At the goblin commander's roar, crossbows launched specialized armor-piercing bolts, unleashing a dense rain of arrows at the white dragon soaring overhead. But before they could strike, a frigid gust of ice wind froze the projectiles mid-air, sending them crashing to the ground.
Whoosh!
The white dragon swooped low, her frost dragon breath instantly freezing a flesh ripper solid.
Alchemical cannon fire struck her, cracking her icy armor and sending shards scattering, but failing to bring her down. Before more attacks could lock on, the Ironforged Tribe's soldiers surged forward like a tidal wave, forcing the goblins into brutal close combat.
The white dragon dominated the skies, each dive obliterating a mech golem. Hyena-Men and kobolds swarmed like locusts, their claws and fangs tearing apart any goblins caught without mecha protection. Elite ogres and centaur warriors gradually breached the goblin defenses.
The quartz mine was just one of many Gold Tooth Tribe strongholds under attack, with flames of war erupting across the southeastern region.
The Ironforged Tribe's assault forces varied depending on the garrison defending each target. For example, the fine iron mine and Spikebeast Ranch faced different attackers based on their defenders' composition.
The weaker forces were led by familiar bosses such as Gluttonous Demon Karu, Dragonblood Werewolf Russell, and Half-Centaur Elvie.
The stronger forces were directly commanded by dragonkind, including Iron Dragon Solgorn, Red Dragon Samantha, and White Dragon Treacy.
Moreover,
To maximize the impact of the initial assault, Garos wasn't idle in Dragon Valley either. He had targeted a crucial stronghold of the Gold Tooth Tribe:
The steel spike outpost in the southeast.
This was a key military defense node for the Gold Tooth Tribe, more heavily guarded than typical resource outposts.
The goblins had sealed off the main ground routes with a wall bristling with steel spikes, resembling a giant nail-studded barrier. Multiple mech golems stood guard here, including advanced models beyond the basic flesh rippers, as well as numerous alchemical heavy cannons, steam crossbows, and other defensive units.
At that moment, the midday sun baked the steel spike wall to a scorching heat.
A goblin lookout had just pushed his goggles up to wipe sweat from his brow when a crimson comet streaking across the sky caught his eye. Even in broad daylight, its fiery tail was clearly visible, and the extraordinary power it carried was palpable.
It was plummeting at breakneck speed.
After a mere second of stunned disbelief, the goblin lookout clearly recognized the approaching figure.
Not a comet! Not a comet!
It wasn't a celestial body at all, but a colossal dragon folding its wings as it dove!
A piercing shriek, like the arrival of death itself, tore through the air, its sound delayed until after the dragon's appearance.
As the dragon rapidly closed the distance, the thunderous roar of breaking the sound barrier reverberated relentlessly, as if distant mountain thunder had been forcibly dragged into their midst.
The goblins at the steel spike outpost now faced two stark realities.
The good news:
Only a single enemy was attacking, unlike other outposts besieged by overwhelming forces.
The bad news:
The attacker was the Sky-Rending Wing, the Ominous Star of Death, the Lord of the Crimson Wings—the king of the Ironforged Tribe.
Garos's gaze locked onto the alchemical heavy cannon array. With each sweep of his dragon wings, crimson qi surged and churned, leaving a fiery trail that tore a burning gash across the azure sky.
He descended like a scarlet thunderbolt hurled from the heavens, eclipsing even the midday sun.
"Enemy attack! Deploy all cannons!"
The goblin commander reacted swiftly, issuing orders at the first possible moment.
But the red-iron dragon was too fast, too sudden.
The steel city walls, bristling with spikes, posed no obstacle to him.
Even with alchemists personally operating their anti-air heavy cannons, the time required from activation to firing was at least a few seconds. Precise targeting would take even longer.
Therefore, by the time the heavy cannons had just begun to swivel their muzzles but before they could fire, the red-iron dragon was already upon them.
Bearing unparalleled dragon might, he descended with unstoppable, irresistible, and utterly destructive force, like a meteor piercing the earth. His trajectory was as vertical as a fiery line connecting heaven and earth, and he crashed down with earth-shattering force!
Boom!
Time seemed to freeze for an instant before an ear-splitting roar erupted like a natural disaster.
The shockwave exploded outward in a circular blast, followed by surging waves of scorching heat. The ground buckled and rippled layer by layer, as if the earth itself had liquefied.
The barrels of the alchemical heavy cannons twisted like wax candles in the extreme heat, then were flung into the sky like discarded toys.
In an instant, nearly all the anti-aircraft heavy cannons in the array were utterly destroyed, and the goblin skeletons attempting to operate them were reduced to dust.
Sunlight pierced through the billowing smoke and dust, revealing a massive, imposing figure looming between the deep circular crater and the dense haze.
Whoosh!
A fierce gust of wind scattered the dust, and the red-iron dragon spread its wings and soared into the air, its impossibly muscular form fully exposed to the goblins' sight.
His physique was powerfully built, with iron-like muscles bulging beneath his thick scales. Even the heavy armor couldn't conceal their sheer strength.
His dragon horns were sharp and formidable, and his Cold Exploding Scales formed an impenetrable armor, their thorn spikes resembling a forest of swords.
Every part of his body radiated lethal sharpness, each limb and appendage a peerless weapon shimmering with the cold, deadly glint of death.
Surrounded by ranks of mech golems,
he remained calm, his gaze steady. The cold, hard dragon face, covered in scales and fine thorn spikes, showed no trace of tension or excitement. It was as if he were strolling through a garden rather than standing on a battlefield.
(End of the Chapter)
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