novelraw Chapter 207: White Tiger, Deborah’s Little Schemes, and New Riddles
Chapter 207: White Tiger, Deborah’s Little Schemes, and New Riddles
When Crescent Bay was set ablaze, turning into a sea of fire,
Garoth received news transmitted from Iron Dragon.
He reminded Iron Dragon that the Gold Fang Tribe’s subsequent counterattack would most likely target their riverbank strongholds, advising them to prepare defenses or temporarily abandon those positions, opting instead for guerrilla raids against the Gold Fang Tribe’s other riverbank outposts and suspending trade for the short term.
After this, Garoth continued to focus inward, tempering his dragon heart.
Wearing the alchemical horn ring, he activated the Bloodburst spell; instantly, a rumbling akin to muffled thunder echoed within his chest, like a powerful engine pumping vigorously, as if a war hammer was beating fiercely.
In truth,
this was neither thunder nor engine noise nor drumbeats.
It was the sound of Garoth’s heartbeat at that moment.
With the pounding of his heart, Garoth’s blood nearly boiled and blazed; the scales on his chest became translucent, the crimson patterns visible clearly through his Frostburst Scales, resembling flowing molten lava that glowed radiantly.
His aura also surged, growing wildly fierce and scorching, yet unstable.Breathing deeply, Garoth immersed himself in the water, making no other movement but carefully sensing the changes in his body, trying to control the power amplification brought by the Bloodburst spell.
Soon after, the Bloodburst spell’s duration ended.
The Red Iron Dragon leapt out of the water, his body radiating heat, evaporating the dampness clinging to his scales, keeping himself dry and fresh.
“The dragon heart’s evolution still has a long way to go.”
“To fully evolve the heart and obtain a Bloodburst third stage more suited to me, I’ll probably have to wait until the youth phase.”
Garoth thought silently.
As he further developed his innate talents, his understanding deepened.
The evolution of more complex and vital parts required longer accumulation, while simpler parts evolved faster—like his dragon scales, which were the most advanced and had evolved multiple times.
Now, the heart he cared about evolved very slowly.
But it was foreseeable that once it evolved successfully, given the heart’s importance, it would influence the entire body and propel Garoth to a brand-new height, far beyond merely gaining a skill like Bloodburst.
Immersed in training, time flew quickly.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye.
During this time, the Gold Fang Tribe and the Molten Iron Tribe officially began their “trade war,” with small-scale warfare stemming from trade conflicts ongoing day and night, and battle conditions changing daily.
Neither side was a small clan, so many factors had to be considered, preventing all-out war.
For example, at the Abyssal Rift on the Fertile Plains,
White Dragon, Elvy, and many elites guarded the rift. Occasionally, demons appeared, though they caused no major threat and provided abundant abyssal materials, but remained a potential hazard.
This tied down part of the Molten Iron Tribe’s forces.
Similarly, the Gold Fang Tribe had many such situations; since they controlled more resource points, they required more troops stationed. If all were pulled away due to the war with the Molten Iron Tribe, other tribes would surely exploit the vulnerability.
Tribal warfare was unlike wild clans in the wilderness; every battle mobilized the tribe’s full strength.
The larger the organization, the more issues to handle, making reckless all-in attacks difficult.
Conflicts often started from small skirmishes; only when all was in place would they consider launching a decisive strike.
The Gold Fang Tribe and Molten Iron Tribe mainly fought over the riverbanks, attacking each other’s strongholds built along the river edges.
After several clashes, Iron Dragon Sorog implemented Garoth’s advice, ordering his followers to completely abandon riverbank strongholds, temporarily giving up trade to focus on assaulting the Gold Fang Tribe’s riverbank bases.
Unlike the Molten Iron Tribe’s creatures, goblins were relatively weak and heavily reliant on external resources.
Goblins needed the facilities inside their strongholds for rest, food, water, alchemical tool repairs, mechas, and golems... They couldn’t just abandon territory lightly; losing strongholds would cause logistical problems.
Faced with monsters striking swiftly like the wind,
the Gold Fang Tribe had to consolidate their previously scattered riverbank defenses, focusing on defense while plotting counterattacks.
Garoth occasionally learned about this small-scale “trade war” through Iron Dragon’s reports but paid little attention.
His focus on self-improvement was paramount.
As long as the “Death’s Harbinger” was strong enough, it would serve as an unshakable pillar, boosting the Molten Iron Tribe’s morale.
Additionally,
Garoth’s Frostburst Scales had fully regenerated several days ago.
He carefully calculated the time; although the Frostburst Scales’ regeneration speed couldn’t match the Spikes, it was still quite fast. If all scales fell off, with sufficient energy supply, it would take about six days to regrow new scales.
Though the previous battle with the Chimera caused heavy damage, the Frostburst Scales were not completely destroyed and could recover in about three days.
“I need to stretch my muscles.”
The Red Iron Dragon spread his wings and soared straight into the sky, intent on eliminating the remaining wild monster lords and loosening up his body.
Now, ordinary hunts were too simple for Garoth, unable to meet the standards for honing combat skills; only fighting lord-level wild monsters could increase battle experience.
In the southwest, the Howling Wind Dense Forest.
Dusk was thick; the fiery clouds of the sunset painted the sky like blazing flames.
When Garoth’s dragon wings swept over the forest canopy, the jagged beech treetops were dyed blood red by the sunset. His fierce wind caused the dense canopy to collapse inward, scattering branches and leaves in all directions.
At the same time, two points of golden light suddenly lit up amid the dark green rolling waves of the forest sea.
The wild monster lord was entrenched atop the cliff within the forest. This giant beast, comparable in length to Garoth, clenched half a ghoul bear carcass in its front paw, its bloodstained claws gleaming coldly in the sunset.
Roar!
It opened its mouth and roared; its fur bristled like steel needles, its spine slightly arched, warning the intruding Red Iron Dragon.
Garoth fixed his gaze.
A fiercely aggressive beast appeared clearly within his slightly narrowed pupils.
Dense white fur fluttered wildly, crisscrossed by black stripes forming a distinct “king” character on its forehead—it was a ferocious white tiger beast.
Its size was enormous, belonging to the brutal subtype, which meant it had maximized its beast talents and pushed its limits.
Extremely strong individuals of the brutal subtype, at the same level, had terrifying combat talents comparable to dragons, but nearly all lacked intelligence, their IQ far inferior to dragons.
The white tiger’s muscle lines were smooth, its tail taut like a steel whip.
Its body crouched low, its posture somewhat resembling a dragon’s hunting stance.
Hearing the white tiger’s warning roar, the Red Iron Dragon did not retreat; instead, he changed direction and dived down.
His blade-like wings tore through the air, roaring as he closed in.
The white tiger shook off its prey; as the Red Iron Dragon approached at high speed, it reacted with lightning speed, sidestepping and leaping.
Though grazed by the dragon’s wing, leaving a long bloody scar on its side, no bones were broken, so it was not serious.
Its muddy paws plowed deep furrows in the ground, and the wind stirred rotting leaves.
As the white tiger landed, it suddenly turned, displaying terrifying jumping power and explosiveness, pouncing toward the Red Iron Dragon’s back, making multiple leaps, seemingly walking on air.
Dense wind elemental energy clustered around it, forming wings that locked onto the Red Iron Dragon’s neck vertebrae.
The wild monster lords left by the Molten Iron Tribe were quite tough and mostly capable of flight.
Otherwise, they could use worthless gnolls and kobolds to exhaust their stamina, then have a powerful leader finish them off, which would be easy.
Garoth flicked his thick dragon tail, muscles tense, the edges of the scales rising like blades, the tip sharp as a spear.
Raising his tail, the spear-like tip struck like lightning, stabbing toward the white tiger’s head.
The tiger instinctively lowered its head; the spear tip brushed past its scalp, leaving a bloody groove.
When it lifted its head, the Red Iron Dragon had already turned, claws sweeping directly at it.
With a low roar, the white tiger refused to yield, riding the wild wind, engaging in close combat with the Red Iron Dragon mid-air.
Its reaction speed was extremely fast, possessing an instinctive talent similar to a Battle Dragon’s Reflexive Dodge skill, always managing to evade attacks at minimal cost.
Still, fighting the heavily armed Red Iron Dragon left it covered in wounds within moments, though none were critical.
As for its attacks,
those claws that could shatter steel and tear metal caused the Frostburst Scales to dent and crack upon contact, releasing dense cold air.
Every time the white tiger touched the Frostburst Scales, it felt chilled to the bone due to heat absorption and the freezing aura.
Its movements grew sluggish; no matter how fast its instinctive reactions were, it gradually couldn’t keep up with Garoth’s attacks.
Garoth’s dragon claw struck down, hitting the white tiger’s head squarely, sending it crashing toward the ground like a cannonball.
The brutal beast’s physique was extraordinarily tough; though its head was bloodied and skull dented, it still managed to twist midair and land on all fours atop a fallen giant cedar tree.
Its sharp claws pierced the tree trunk as it raised its head and howled toward the sky.
Wood chips flew as the white tiger’s roar transformed into a tangible sound wave cannon, shredding the blocking treetops and branches to powder.
Boom—
Garoth’s dragon wings surged with dark red flames as he suddenly accelerated and turned, dodging past the tiger’s sonic wave roar.
Thanks to the Frostburst Scales, Garoth didn’t need to dodge the non-lethal attacks; he could withstand them directly, but he never forgot his superior mobility.
The white tiger’s howling continued; the terrifying sonic wave chased the Red Iron Dragon, destroying anything in its path with considerable power.
However, Garoth’s wings flapped gracefully like a nimble dragon.
He darted left and right, dodging the sonic waves, gradually closing in on the brutal tiger.
Flying at top speed, his wings sliced through tree trunks on the ground, and his dragon claws accurately gripped the white tiger’s head.
With one claw pressing down, as Level 3 Dragon Qi circulated inside and outside his dragon arm, overwhelming force left no room for resistance, forcing the beast deep into the earth.
With dense collisions, the ground was furrowed deeply; giant trees were uprooted or smashed to pieces.
Finally, the dragon claw pressed the white tiger against a cliff wall, coming to a halt.
The white tiger no longer appeared fierce; its aura was weak, its body badly wounded and bloodied.
It exposed its belly, its eyes showing a trace of pleading.
Though the brutal subtype’s intelligence was lower than the Earth Rampage Bears, it was still higher than ordinary beasts; lacking the Chimera’s evil chaotic nature, it instinctively begged the Red Iron Dragon for mercy in this life-or-death moment.
Seeing this, Garoth withdrew his killing intent.
Using the Mind Link skill derived from Iron Dragon’s bloodline, he communicated with the bewildered white tiger, offering it the choice to submit or die—and it made the right decision.
“Taking out your anger on ignorant beasts, hmph, Red Iron Dragon, you truly are born evil.”
A light and graceful voice came from the sky. She dispelled her invisibility spell and appeared in the air.
Garoth was not surprised by her arrival. Since leaving Dragon Valley, his gradually heightened perception had vaguely sensed someone tracking him.
“Deborah, you’ve finally returned.”
Garoth did not get angry at Deborah’s slightly provocative words but said calmly, “What happened last time was a misunderstanding. I awoke from ten years of slumber, briefly affected by the desires of a wicked dragon.”
Looking at Garoth’s broad and majestic figure, recalling his bold and direct confession,
Deborah’s tail tip still trembled slightly.
She feigned composure and said, “Answer my riddle, and I will forgive your impertinence.”
“Alright.”
Garoth nodded.
Deborah blinked and said:
“I am gentler than time, more enduring than stone, able to turn an angry volcano into a docile stream.
The rich often discard me like trash, yet the poor treasure me dearly.
The wise use me as a shield, while fools easily throw me away.
If you grasp me tightly, I quietly slip away.
If you call for me while waiting, I will stay with you forever.”
Pausing, she looked at the Red Iron Dragon and said, “Tell me, hybrid dragon—who am I?”
Deborah’s tone was as usual, but subtly trembled, as if containing special thoughts and emotions.
Garoth focused intently on the riddle but found no suitable answer. Moreover, riddling was one of Deborah’s favorite pastimes; occasionally failing to answer her riddles only increased her favor.
“I can’t think of it, Deborah. Tell me the answer.”
The Red Iron Dragon shook his head.
Deborah blinked again and whispered softly, “Patience. The answer is patience.”