novelraw Chapter 236: Have You Ever Been a Dragon? Don't Be So Presumptuous!
Chapter 236: Have You Ever Been a Dragon? Don't Be So Presumptuous!
At the iron dragon's offensive behavior, the six-armed serpent woman Narys' vertical pupils suddenly contracted into thin slits.
She slowly rose to her feet, her arms that were folded like flower petals before her now extending, her slender fingers slightly spreading.
Shing!
Six cold-iron longswords emerged from the swamp waters, yet the surface didn't ripple at all.
The Venomtail Tribe abundantly produced sorcerers and shamans, but their leader, the six-armed serpent woman Narys, was an undisputed warrior, and one of exceptionally high status.
The warrior advancement branch she chose was—Sword Saint.
Sword Saint: The fusion of soul and steel, merging life and soul into the sword's edge, becoming one with the sword, manifesting formidable power.
The serpent woman gazed coldly at the iron dragon, her swords revealing their sharp edges, yet she didn't rashly attack.
Opposite her, iron dragon Sorog's scales slightly vibrated as he watched the serpent woman's six arms unfold like a dance—each arm holding a sword with completely different starting stances, yet together forming a perfect system of offense and defense.
Under the tense and deadly atmosphere, the frog croaks from the depths of the swamp suddenly ceased."Six-armed serpent Sword Saint... a naturally gifted combination of race and profession."
The iron dragon's voice broke the deadly silence. He didn't conceal his admiration as he said: "You possess not only beauty and wisdom, but also formidable power."
The serpent woman's vertical pupils flashed dangerously, all six swords simultaneously emitting a humming sound.
"This power is sufficient to strip your scales off one by one, completely separate your skeleton from your flesh, and finally chop you into mincemeat."
Sorog gently swished his tail in agreement: "I have no doubt about that."
Then, he changed the subject, saying: "But my safety is irrelevant. Today I represent the entire Molten Iron Tribe, and more importantly—"
His claw suddenly produced a silver dragon scale emitting a piercing cold aura.
"—the will of Lord Frostmark."
When that silver scale came into view, the serpent woman's body visibly stiffened for a moment, the wariness in her eyes growing heavier.
Whoosh!
An elderly serpent shaman elder waved a bone staff, causing invisible ripples to surge toward the serpent woman's body, flashing once before disappearing.
Simultaneously, the iron dragon found he could no longer sense the serpent woman's mental fluctuations.
Clearly, the serpent elder had recognized his identity as a Mind Sorcerer and cast a spell to block the iron dragon's mental perception of the Sword Saint.
But the iron dragon remained expressionless.
After becoming a Mind Sorcerer, his insight into emotions had significantly improved. Even without mental perception, just by observing the serpent's subtle expressions and body changes, he could detect her emotional reactions—it just wasn't as direct as mental perception.
"Frostmark, the Metal Dragon overlord of the convergence lands."
The serpent woman forced her gaze away from the silver scale, saying: "He's a Silver Dragon. How could he have any connection with you vile dragons?"
"Don't think we know nothing about dragonkind. Though we don't know how you obtained this scale, Silver Dragon Frostmark would never support you."
At the serpent woman's skepticism, a meaningful smile appeared at the corner of the iron dragon's mouth.
"Have you ever been a dragon? Don't be so presumptuous."
He said with slight mockery: "The relationships among dragonkind are complex and intricate, never simply black and white. How could you outsider creatures possibly understand? Your thinking is nothing but wishful speculation."
The iron dragon raised his head proudly, looking around as if he were the true lord of the Serpent Swamp.
Under the gaze of numerous serpents, he continued: "Besides, you've already seen Metal Dragons in our territory, haven't you?"
The serpent woman fell silent.
After a few seconds, she spoke: "Iron dragon, first state your purpose. Why have you come here?"
Sorog's expression suddenly turned serious, his voice lowering slightly: "Regardless of the process, no matter what price must be paid along the way, the Molten Iron Tribe will ultimately become the masters of the convergence lands—it's only a matter of time."
"Narys, you're not like those foolish brutes among the barbarians and orcs. You clearly understand this is an unchangeable reality."
He spoke unhurriedly: "Either ally with Dawn and Ironblood to fight us to the death, then suffer heavy blows, be crippled and defeated—or choose to submit to the Molten Iron Tribe in advance, so that after the war ends, you'll still enjoy a transcendent position in the convergence lands."
The iron dragon presented two choices.
"What guarantee do you offer?" the serpent woman sharply countered: "That we won't be used as cannon fodder after submission? Such empty promises are meaningless. The Venomtail Tribe will never bow and submit because of pretty words."
Hearing these resolute words, the iron dragon roughly understood the serpent woman's attitude and thinking.
He swayed his tail, then continued: "I see valuable courage in you serpentfolk, which is indeed worthy of respect. But courage cannot change reality. The Molten Iron Tribe will soon demonstrate power sufficient to make you change your mind."
The six-armed serpent woman coiled on her throne, saying: "Then I'll wait and see. But at least at this stage, don't fantasize about gaining the Venomtail Tribe's allegiance. We have our own principles and judgment."
The iron dragon laughed: "Time is long, and I'm very patient. I won't rush things."
The serpent woman weighed her words, deciding to reveal more information: "To be honest, before your arrival, envoys from the Dawn and Ironblood tribes had already been here, trying to persuade us to form an alliance against your Molten Iron Tribe."
She narrowed her eyes, carefully observing the iron dragon's reaction.
"This was within my expectations."
The iron dragon's reaction was surprisingly calm.
"However, you probably didn't agree to their proposal."
The iron dragon's displayed composure and calmness made the serpent woman secretly surprised—this greatly differed from her understanding of dragonkind's irritable and hot-tempered nature, even making her question some of her ingrained beliefs.
She frankly admitted: "We had indeed originally decided to accept the alliance invitation, but the Frostmark scale you brought has made me reconsider."
"We've decided to adopt a delaying strategy—neither explicitly agreeing to their alliance request, nor allying with or submitting to your Molten Iron Tribe. As long as the war doesn't spread to our territory, the Venomtail Tribe will maintain absolute neutrality."
After further detailed discussions where both sides confirmed more specifics, iron dragon Sorog finally left the Serpent Swamp.
Though he failed to directly gain the Venomtail Tribe's allegiance, his main objective had been achieved.
—Successfully shaking the Venomtail Tribe's determination to ally with other tribes, pushing them toward a neutral position.
"Leader, do you truly believe Silver Dragon Frostmark is secretly supporting the Molten Iron Tribe?"
A wrinkled old shaman couldn't help but ask after the iron dragon's departure.
Narys gazed in the direction the iron dragon had left, slowly shaking her head: "This question is fundamentally unimportant."
"If the human and orc alliance defeats the Molten Iron Tribe, they'll inevitably suffer heavy casualties. Then we can completely reap the benefits; conversely, if the Molten Iron Tribe wins at great cost, we'll also have an opportunity to take advantage of their weakness."
"As for Silver Dragon Frostmark..."
Her serpent tail gently swayed, shrewd light flashing in her eyes: "Given his consistent behavior patterns, even if he intervenes, he won't directly destroy us—at most he'll issue warnings first. And if the Molten Iron Tribe demonstrates overwhelming power, it won't be too late to pledge allegiance then. Regardless, our Venomtail Tribe maintains room to retreat unscathed."
In the southwest of the convergence lands, the sunset of Dragon Valley dyed the cliff walls blood-red.
Garoth slowly exhaled a turbid breath, the drum-like reverberations in his chest gradually calming as he concluded today's dragon heart tempering.
Dew condensed on the cliff walls shook loose from the residual vibrations, rolling waves of heat emanating from the slightly parted scales of the red iron dragon.
Just then, a familiar throbbing came from deep within his bloodline—that was the sensation of the Bloodkin Chain being triggered.
Sorog's voice came through: "These swamp crawlers are much more cunning than humans and orcs, calculating to watch the tigers fight from the mountain."
Though the six-armed serpent woman had concealed it extremely well, she couldn't escape the insight of a Mind Sorcerer.
He carefully recounted his conversation content at the Venomtail Tribe and the reactions of the serpentfolk.
"Reasonable enough. I would do the same if I were them."
The red iron dragon said: "After we crush Dawn and Ironblood, these serpentfolk will naturally kneel."
The leaders of the original four major tribes in the convergence lands were roughly equal in level, basically at the level of the Grand Artificer's alchemical golems, with little difference between them.
If facing three simultaneously, especially if they had some special methods and coordinated with each other, the situation could become very troublesome.
But if only dealing with two... the red iron dragon's spikes warmed slightly with battle intent, his Battle Dragon energy churning faster within him.
"By the way, I've taken a liking to the Venomtail Tribe's leader."
The iron dragon suddenly said.
Garoth gently nodded: "Six-armed serpent woman... exceptional bloodline, inherently powerful, perfectly matching your preferences. It's normal that you like her, but don't let this hinder our great cause."
"I'm not a foolish White Scale. I can already control my desires and thoughts. If the serpent woman ultimately chooses to oppose us, I won't hesitate to kill her."
These words rumbled low like thunder, decisive and firm.
For the iron dragon, nothing compared to his burning ambition of establishing a dragon nation. Moreover, he felt no emotion toward the serpent woman—only some desire. The iron dragon wouldn't let this cloud his judgment.
After some thought, the red iron dragon asked:
"Sorog, how should we conduct this war? What are your thoughts?"
After a few seconds of calm, iron dragon Sorog's methodical, orderly voice slowly came through: "Assuming humans and orcs have fully united, their advantage lies in having more mid-to-upper level commanders and elite soldiers than us, with high tactical flexibility enabling multi-front combat."
"Our current situation is: we have sufficient numbers of lowest-tier gnolls and kobolds that we don't fear losses, our top-tier combat power exceeds theirs, but we lack enough mid-to-upper level commanders. The alchemy workshop's produced golems can compensate partially, but it's still insufficient."
Though the alchemy workshop operated day and night under Samantha's leadership with the Grand Artificer's assistance, the number of newly produced war golems was far from enough to fill the war gap.
"We've occupied the entire south with numerous outposts, but it's been too short a time. We're short-handed, haven't fully digested the southeastern territories, making comprehensive defense difficult."
Time ticked away as Sorog first analyzed each side's advantages and disadvantages.
Using his Mind Sorcerer skills, his thinking was now meticulous and rapid, quickly penetratingly analyzing both situations.
Garoth nodded in approval: "Hmm, similar to what I was thinking."
His voice paused briefly before the red iron dragon gradually withdrew his smile, saying seriously: "With war imminent, we don't have time to slowly digest our victories and consolidate our territories. The human and orc alliance could attack at any time."
Immediately following, commands were transmitted one by one through communication devices to the ears of various commanders.
The Molten Iron Tribe's war with the Gold Fang Tribe had just recently ended. The subordinate races were still immersed in the afterglow of victory, emitting war cries and roars reaching toward the sky for the coming battle, full of fighting spirit and high morale.
They deeply understood:
After this battle, the Molten Iron Tribe's banners would be planted throughout the convergence lands.
And these beings, regardless of what humble race they originally belonged to—all who followed the great Redwing Lord's Molten Iron subordinates—would share this honor, becoming the masters of the convergence lands.
When that time comes.
Even the basic servants working on assembly lines would presumably feel proud at the thought that the Molten Iron Tribe already ruled the convergence lands.