Translator: AnubisTL
"The scarcity of resources is likely a secondary concern," Garos mused.
"The Frontierlands border the Permafrost Tundra, where the frost giants and barbarians, whose power rivals that of kingdoms, hold sway. They would never allow the Federal Legion to establish a permanent presence in the Frontierlands."
Garos suppressed his wandering thoughts and turned to Solgorn, the Iron Dragon. "The Four Great Tribes may have a slight edge in overall strength, but it's not significant. More importantly, they've been entrenched in the Frontierlands for years, constantly checking and balancing each other."
Solgorn nodded in agreement. "I share your assessment."
"The Ironforged Tribe's immediate priority isn't war with the Four Great Tribes, but rather consolidating our control over the southwest's resources and securing our existing territory. Our expansion has been too rapid."
He turned to Garos. "There are several powerful wild monster lords in the southwest that I lack the confidence to defeat."
"Sacrificing our familiars to overwhelm them would be too costly, so I've left them untouched."
"These lords occupy some of the most fertile territories, the final pieces missing from our control of the southwest. Now that you've awakened, it's the perfect opportunity to test and refine your growing power while reclaiming these lands."
Wild monster lords were powerful ferocious beasts and demonic beasts with limited intelligence. They lacked familiars and understood nothing of management, relying solely on their overwhelming individual strength to dominate territories.
The Four Great Tribes rarely provoked the most formidable wild monster lords.
The red-iron dragon flexed his thick, agile neck and grinned. "I've always said I'll handle the toughest battles. My wings will shield the entire Ironforged Tribe, including you. If there's a wild monster lord you can't defeat, I'll take it on."
Crack, crack—he stretched his wings and spine, the scales grinding against each other with a crisp, metallic clang.
After a decade of slumber, his power had surged. He needed to familiarize himself with it; uncontrolled power could become a dangerous liability.
His spear-edged tail and wings.
His brand-new Cold Exploding Scales.
Level 3 dragon qi.
Garos needed to master these new assets and develop new combat strategies around them.
The iron dragon revealed the locations and details of several wild monster lords' lairs, then said, "The Gold Tooth Tribe wants to cut off our trade routes. We can't just sit here and wait to die."
He sneered.
"A trade war? Our ancestors, who built the mighty Dragon Kingdom, left us a rich inheritance in this domain. Perfect. I can put their wisdom to the test and see if their knowledge holds true."
He was eager to try.
The conflict with the Gold Tooth Tribe would be handled by Iron Dragon Solgorn.
Garos, meanwhile, would focus on his greatest strength: combat.
With his intellect, he could have devised a better strategy to counter the Gold Tooth Tribe than Solgorn himself.
But Garos, with his red dragon bloodline, preferred direct action. Given the choice, he would always favor solving problems with brute force over intellectual maneuvering.
It had always been this way.
Whenever his strength was sufficient to overcome a target, Garos's wisdom invariably led him to conclude that force was the most efficient solution.
And he acted accordingly.
He wielded his intellect to command his strength, and his reason to restrain his desires.
He forged his path through thorns and brambles.
The wild monster lords in the southwest were thorns embedded in the Ironforged Tribe's territory.
Unlike other red dragons, Garos was cautious.
He wouldn't act immediately. Instead, he would wait for his Cold Exploding Scales to fully develop, then eradicate them one by one in peak condition.
"Dragon Lord, Hyenaman Hodge requests an audience," a burly Earthstorm Bear guard announced in a gruff voice.
Now that all the juvenile dragons had awakened from their deep slumber, the Earthstorm Bears no longer guarded the slumbering grounds and had formally assumed their roles as knight guards.
"Let him in," the red-iron dragon nodded slightly.
A few minutes later, an aged Hyena-Man with patchy, thinning fur and wrinkled skin appeared before Garos. His back was hunched, his eyes clouded, and his claws and fangs were no longer sharp. His left arm was missing, severed cleanly at the shoulder.
He staggered forward, his steps unsteady, and knelt laboriously before Garos.
At first glance, his appearance was almost unrecognizable. Had the Earthstorm Bear guard not mentioned his name earlier, Garos would have struggled to identify the Hyena-Man before him.
"Dragon Lord, your scales still gleam with glory. Praise be to you," the Hyena-Man said, panting slightly and wagging his tail.
His voice was hoarser than before, but the familiar timbre and the familiar obsequious tone remained unmistakable.
"Hodge, you've grown old."
The red-iron dragon spoke.
"My lord, time is the most terrifying enemy. It has no claws or fangs, yet it has left countless scars upon my body. Only a being as noble as you can conquer it."
The Hyena-Man spoke in a hoarse voice.
To the long-lived races, a decade passed in the blink of an eye. But when it flowed over the short-lived races, it weighed heavy as a mountain.
The average lifespan of a Hyena-Man was barely thirty years.
By the time Garos reached adolescence, only a handful of the Hyena-Men who had first followed him remained. Even the once-vigorous Warchief Bloodtooth was now frail and aged, with one foot already in the grave.
"Hodge, what do you seek by coming before me?" Garos asked directly.
The Hyena-Man's cloudy eyes gleamed with their usual cunning. "My lord, your awakening at this moment is my fortune, allowing me to bask in your glory once more before I die."
Garos smiled faintly.
"Is there anything else?" he pressed.
The Hyena-Man's petty tricks were transparent before him.
Hodge wagged his tail, grinning obsequiously. "No, no, nothing like that."
After a pause, he added, "Ever since leading the Steel Will in the siege against the Beast Lord years ago, when my arm was torn off and I was left critically wounded, barely clinging to life, my body has steadily deteriorated with each passing day. Now, I only wish to see you one last time before I die, to personally tell you that the greatest honor of my life has been to fight for you."
The red-iron dragon nodded.
"Since you've seen me now, return."
The Hyena-Man's smile stiffened slightly, then he turned slowly, almost reluctantly, his steps as sluggish as a snail's.
"Stop. Come here."
A deep, resonant dragon language echoed from behind him a dozen seconds later.
The words were music to his ears, like hearing celestial melodies that momentarily cleared his hearing.
The Hyena-Man spun around with the agility of his youth, his face beaming with ingratiating eagerness.
Garos spoke plainly, "You have followed me since the earliest days, you are an elder of the Ironforged Tribe, and you have earned great merit through your valiant service. As a reward, I will grant you dragon blood, giving you the chance to be reborn."
"This is your due."
Garos had not wasted the dragon blood spilled during fierce battles. He had collected it and stored it in the cellars of Dragon Valley, preserving it as material for dragon blood transformations. There was still a considerable quantity remaining.
The red-iron dragon leaned forward slightly and said, "Hodge, burn away everything you are, then survive and continue fighting for me."
"This is an order. Do you understand?"
The Hyena-Man Hodge abandoned his ingratiating smile, straightened his hunched back, and adopted a solemn expression.
"As you command!" he replied solemnly.
Soon after, the dragon blood was brought from the cellars.
Garos, well-versed in the ritual, began the transformation process. The dragon blood condensed into a scorching, crimson bead.
Hodge gritted his teeth and swallowed the bead in one gulp.
Instantly, flames erupted across his body.
The terrifying pain, originating from within and tearing through both flesh and soul simultaneously, forced the Hyena-Man to his knees. He clawed frantically at the ground, his howls piercing the air.
His flesh swelled violently, tearing through skin and fur.
His body continued to swell, only to be repeatedly burned to ash by the raging flames.
His movements gradually diminished, and his howls grew weaker. Half an hour later, the Hyena-Man was gone, leaving behind only a pile of ashes.
In the end, Hyenaman Hodge failed to complete his mission.
Dragon blood transformation required a steel will.
From the very beginning, Hodge lacked the courage to embrace death and be reborn. During battles, he always positioned himself at the rear, "protecting" his warriors by enhancing them with his warlord skills.
This allowed him to survive countless fierce battles.
But it could not grant him new life.
The red-iron dragon shook his head gently.
He flapped his dragon wings, creating a fierce wind that scattered the ashes across the vast sky.
Time is merciless.
Dragonkind are long-lived, capable of surviving for millennia. Yet unless they achieve immortality, their lifespans must eventually come to an end. Even the mighty twenty-four-winged golden dragons now languish in twilight, their deaths imminent.
"Eternal life, immortality... Can I achieve it?"
Garos's heart surged with unspoken questions.
"Absolutely!"
The answer was resolute, ringing with unwavering conviction.
(End of the Chapter)
------------------------------------------------------
📚 Continue Reading [DRAGON] on 𝖈𝖎𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗𝖙𝖑.𝖈𝖔𝖒.
👉 Read upto [56] Free Chapters ahead. No Login Required! Members can read ahead upto [150] Chapters.
Total Chapters of [DRAGON]: 360
Read 16 other high quality novels, only on 𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝕞.
------------------------------------------------------