Translator: AnubisTL
The rain poured down in torrents. What had begun as a fine, silvery drizzle had, after a brief lull, transformed into a sky-spanning waterfall, cascading relentlessly onto the desolate wilderness.
It was midday, a time when the sun should have been blazing brightly. Yet, under the oppressive blanket of dark clouds, the entire world was shrouded in a gloomy, rain-soaked darkness.
A colossal creature lumbered through the muddy terrain.
This was a swordjaw beast, roughly twelve meters long, its body covered in scales and claws. At first glance, it resembled a grotesque fusion of a crocodile and a lion. Its most striking feature was the pair of massive, bone-like blades extending from its lower jaw.
Each blade was nearly three meters long, its surface coated in a steel-hard enamel that gleamed coldly in the rain.
The predator was tracking a herd of ironhorn deer.
Its movements were astonishingly light for its size. Padded paws allowed it to move silently through the downpour. Whenever it detected signs of prey, it would crouch low, the bone blades on its head trembling slightly—a characteristic hunting posture of the swordjaw beast.
Just as the creature prepared to pounce on the deer, the sky suddenly blazed with blinding light.
A bolt of crimson-gold lightning tore through the rain-soaked darkness.
Garos descended like a divine being, his body wreathed in crackling electricity and raging flames that instantly vaporized the surrounding rain.
The swordjaw beast instinctively tilted its head back, its bone blades pointing skyward.
But it was too late.
A dazzling golden-red sphere erupted from Garos's maw, piercing through the rain in a straight line.
At first glance, it resembled ball lightning, with golden arcs of electricity crackling and swirling within. Yet its overall form resembled a raging inferno. Moving with blinding speed, it slammed into the swordjaw beast in an instant.
Boom!
Countless bolts of lightning and flames exploded simultaneously.
The swordjaw beast, a ferocious beast of the same tenth-tier as Garos, froze, convulsed, and spasmed. Its hide blackened in massive patches as it collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
Garos retracted his wings and landed before the fallen swordjaw beast, carefully examining its wounds.
"The flame lightning breath formed in my frenzy state is remarkably potent—superior even to my flaming dragon breath and electric fire dragon breath," Garos said, a satisfied smile spreading across his draconic face.
Through repeated activation and refinement of his frenzy state over the past few days, Garos had gradually mastered deeper applications.
Initially, the golden lightning had only served to stimulate his body, enhancing his physical attributes. But during a chance experiment, Garos unexpectedly discovered that while in his frenzy state, he could fuse the golden lightning with his dragon breath, unleashing spherical bursts of flame lightning.
This flame lightning possessed the characteristics of both lightning and fire, combining paralysis, penetration, explosion, and incineration into a single attack.
Garos, a Red Iron Hybrid, inherently possessed only the fire attribute.
Iron dragons were also fire-type dragons. Though they could breathe electric fire, this ability was limited to their breath, and the lightning damage was disproportionately weak, serving primarily to accelerate the attack. Their destructive power still relied primarily on fire.
Flame lightning was different.
It was a true dual-attribute energy.
Just as dragonkind could fuse magic energy and life energy to form dragon qi, the fusion of fire and lightning could create flame lightning.
"Currently, flame lightning can only be used in my breath," Garos thought.
"But I sense its potential hasn't been fully realized yet."
His golden mane stood proudly against the rain as Garos extended his right claw, focusing his spirit.
Zzzzt!
A high-temperature lightning, interwoven with gold and crimson, erupted from between his claws like molten gold flames. The chaotic sparks danced and flickered wildly. Garos tried to condense them into a stable form, but the unstable fusion immediately shattered.
If flame lightning could be condensed and attached to his body, it would undoubtedly further enhance Garos's attack power.
Given the properties of flame lightning breath, if it could be stably condensed, it would not only be a formidable weapon for close combat but also a devastating long-range attack.
Garos exhaled softly, the golden lightning crackling across his body receding inward.
Hiss... Hiss... Hiss... The scorching-red explosive scales on his body hissed as they came into contact with the rain, creating dense steam that gradually cooled.
Garos flapped his dragon wings, dispersing the obscuring steam that blocked his vision.
"My dragon scales also need to evolve," the red-iron dragon murmured, gazing at his cooling explosive scales. Rain hissed against their still-hot surfaces.
This layer of explosive scales was becoming increasingly unsuitable.
In truth, the scales had already become somewhat impractical after Garos's wings evolved.
Whenever he soared at high speeds, friction with the air rapidly heated the scales. If he wasn't careful, they would overload and explode.
As for their explosive and shrapnel damage...
They were effective against fodder enemies, but against targets like diamond giants or behemoths, the explosive scales struggled to inflict significant damage. Against fodder units, Garos didn't even need the scales; a swift charge with his wings fully extended would clear them out in droves.
Garos also had the cushioning defense provided by his explosive scales.
As Garos moved rapidly, diving through the sky, his scales grew scorching hot.
Unless Garos abandoned his speed advantage, his explosive scales would be on the verge of overloading during close combat. For example, in his battle against the frost behemoth, a single direct clash with the giant beast detonated all his explosive scales.
For the current Garos, the cushioning effect of the explosive scales remained useful, but their high-temperature explosions had proven to be an evolutionary dead end.
Of course, success and failure must be judged dialectically, depending on the stage of development.
When Garos first evolved his explosive scales, their wide-area bombardment and shrapnel-like scattering of shattered scales were perfectly suited to his needs. This was a successful evolution, granting him a massive area-of-effect attack early in his development.
However, as he grew stronger, these scales had become obsolete, incompatible with his enhanced capabilities.
"I need a completely new scale system," Garos mused inwardly.
"One that retains the kinetic energy absorption of the explosive scales but doesn't overload and explode during high-speed movement. Ideally, it should accumulate the absorbed kinetic energy, replenishing my stamina and enhancing my endurance."
Garos pondered deeply.
He had a clear direction and vision for his evolution. Unfortunately, adaptive evolution doesn't follow predetermined paths based solely on his desires. He couldn't precisely control the outcome of his evolutionary adaptations.
The successful evolution of the Heavenly Comet Wings was due to both Garos's diligent efforts and a stroke of luck.
Regardless, having a clear goal was undoubtedly a good thing.
Garos took a pinch of scale powder from his pouch. The world shifted into warm hues, the colors no longer dull. Even shrouded in torrential rain, everything seemed vibrant and hopeful.
"Flame lightning is a unique energy form."
"By using it frequently in the frenzy state and maintaining its formation for longer periods, I can gradually adapt and evolve it, making it stable."
"The explosive scales are more problematic."
"The process of absorbing kinetic energy and converting it into self-sustaining power must be incredibly complex and require a long period of refinement. First, I need to prevent them from detonating so easily. For example, whenever the explosive scales are overloaded and on the verge of exploding, I should immediately stop, allowing them to cool down. I should repeat this process as consistently as possible."
Garos's mind raced, simultaneously considering methods to refine both flame lightning and explosive scale evolution. He began to formulate preliminary strategies.
As time passed, the effects of the scale powder gradually faded.
Perhaps because Garos's mind was also evolving, the powder's potency diminished over time. To achieve the same level of mental acuity, he now required significantly larger doses.
There was only one fairy dragon, and its scale powder production was limited.
Now, Garos rarely used scale powder except when absolutely necessary, reserving it for critical moments. He could no longer indulge in the extravagant practice of using it purely for spiritual pleasure, as he had done in the beginning.
Black oil was similar to scale powder.
As Garos's physique grew stronger, he needed increasingly larger quantities of black oil to achieve the same initial effect. Fortunately, black oil wasn't a scarce resource; thanks to stable supply chains from trade routes, he had so much that he could even bathe in it.
Zzzzt!
Golden lightning crackled as Garos entered his frenzy state once more.
His explosive scales, recently cooled by the icy rain, rapidly began to glow red and heat up.
Garos attempted to condense flame lightning while letting his explosive scales heat up. Just as he sensed the scales nearing their overload point, he immediately deactivated his frenzy state, allowing them to cool gradually before repeating the process.
Flame lightning, explosive scales, dragon heart, thorn spikes.
Garos's life was full and fulfilling, his daily training schedule packed to the brim. He cherished this peaceful yet productive routine, knowing that every bit of effort he accumulated was also preparing him for potential risks and unforeseen events.
However, Garos's training with the explosive scales and flame lightning was cut short.
A scale on his neck suddenly trembled slightly.
Garos halted his movements, retrieved his message stone, and received a transmission from the iron dragon. His pupils instantly contracted into cold, predatory vertical slits, before returning to their normal shape a second later.
"Viscount Ironthorn, the tax official."
"The day has come."
Garos had anticipated this day. He knew that seizing control of a trade route, whether overtly or covertly, would inevitably attract attention. Covert control minimized the impact, but it couldn't remain hidden forever.
"As they wish, let's talk first."
Garos's eyes flickered as he transmitted his thoughts to Solgorn.
He was no brute beast.
The Scaly Earth Rift Road was the other party's trade route, and Garos's occupation of it for profit did indeed justify their demand for taxes. He was willing to cooperate for mutual benefit and maintain the current arrangement.
But this hinged on the reasonableness of their demands.
If they demanded an exorbitant sum, Garos would not yield.
He honed his claws and fangs, cautiously seeking survival, precisely so that he would have the strength to resist danger, the confidence to overturn the table, rather than being forced to compromise at every turn.
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------------------------------------
Continue Reading (𝘿𝙍𝘼𝙂𝙊𝙉) on CinderTL• ⓒⓞⓜ
Read Ahead to Ch234 • 𝕱𝖗𝖊𝖊 𝕮𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖘 • No Login
🎉 10,000 Chapter Discount is Live. Ends June 2.
---------------------------------------------------------