novelraw Chapter 260: The Edge is Revealed
Chapter 260: The Edge is Revealed
A tremendous tearing sound ripped through the air!
Garoth's wings, which resembled giant steel blades, swept through the air with violent force.
Amidst the ear-piercing screech of twisting and snapping metal, several iron cages imprisoning wyrmlings and young dragons shattered instantly. However, the special chains piercing through dragon bodies and engraved with alchemical runes clearly couldn't be dealt with through such brute force methods.
"Samantha! Sorog!"
The red iron dragon's low roar echoed across the battlefield.
His Frostburst Scales were extensively cracked, with the surging heat within his body distorting the surrounding air. Two young adult dragons who had been hunting down remaining dwarf soldiers immediately changed direction upon hearing his call, beating their wings as they swiftly flew over.
"Release the chains, take them airborne."
Garoth commanded.
The red iron dragon's low roar echoed across the battlefield.
After completing the unlocking process,Her thick dragon claws grabbed the black wyrmling and green wyrmling left and right, her powerful wings beating fiercely as they stirred up a gust of wind that shot straight toward the sky.
The iron dragon Sorog used gentler movements to lift the young blue dragon, following closely behind as they ascended.
The dragons quickly gathered at high altitude, the burning mining outpost on the ground now appearing tiny beneath them.
Soon, the dragons had reached the upper atmosphere.
"Those vile dwarf bastards—one day I'll return personally and make them taste the dragon race's vengeful fury."
The black dragon spoke through gritted teeth with a hoarse voice.
Samantha snorted two streams of sparks from her nostrils, emitting a disdainful cold laugh: "Heh, little one, I'm afraid you won't get that opportunity. At the very least, you won't be killing the dwarves here."
"Why—"
The green dragon had just begun questioning when she suddenly felt the terrifying heat waves rising from below, her words cutting off abruptly.
All the little dragons simultaneously stiffened their tails, unable to maintain calm expressions as they stared in terror toward the mining outpost direction below.
Mid-air.
The red iron dragon beat his wings, his massive powerful body hovering in place. His Frostburst Scales, having endured previous attacks and golden lightning stimulation, were now almost completely shattered, revealing the underlying black-red scales bearing Battle-Hardened Patterns.
!
High-temperature heat waves erupted with the red iron dragon at the center, his scales becoming red-hot like branding irons, the surrounding air violently distorting.
Whoosh!
He took a deep breath, holding a ball of fire that shone like the sun within his mouth. Then, accompanied by an ear-shattering dragon roar, he violently expelled it.
Thermal Enhancement—Destruction Breath!
Boom—!
Blindingly brilliant flames fell upon the ground like divine punishment cast down by deities. Rolling, spreading inferno turned the mining outpost into a sea of fire, fleeing dwarves carbonizing within the flames, sturdy structures collapsing and melting under the extreme heat.
The earth shook and mountains quaked, heaven crumbled and earth split.
Even at high altitude, the wyrmlings could clearly feel the heat wave shockwaves carrying the aura of death.
They stood dazed for several seconds, and by the time they regained their senses, the red iron dragon's fierce form had already arrived before them, the heat from his body not yet dissipated.
Lines of Battle-Hardened Patterns glowed like flowing magma, his entire body radiating unparalleled oppressive presence, scorching air washing over them.
"Move."
The red iron dragon issued a brief order.
Immediately afterward, the Ignas brothers swept across the sky, their figures rapidly disappearing, leaving behind only burning flames and a mining outpost reduced to ruined scorched earth.
During the return journey to the convergence lands.
Garoth remained vigilant throughout, never relaxing his guard.
The Blackrock Duchy's legions in the Ser Wilderness didn't warrant Garoth's fear.
But the Federation garrison troops required extra attention.
However, even as his wings swept across the wilderness skies, crossed the Estonian Great River, and reached the convergence lands, he never detected any signs of golems or powerful pursuers.
"Has the Federation's internal support response become sluggish?"
The red iron dragon circled above the convergence lands, thoughtfully looking back toward the wilderness direction.
Since the Holy King's fall, although the various nations maintained surface peace, they each harbored ulterior motives privately, with undercurrents swirling as they silently accumulated strength waiting for the opportune moment to erupt. During such times, even if the Blackrock Duchy's garrison requested reinforcements immediately, they would struggle to receive rapid effective response.
Actually, it wasn't just Blackrock Duchy.
Throughout the Ser Wilderness outposts, the powerful kingdom stations fared better, but the weaker duchy outposts recently faced fires everywhere, with attack frequencies from powerful fierce beasts and magical beast lords gradually increasing.
Never underestimate the wilderness monsters' intelligence.
Some monsters didn't know the southern situation, but they keenly detected unusual scents, thus no longer lying dormant and enduring, slowly extending their claws and fangs to test the Federation garrison's reactions. The Federation garrison's sluggishness only made the monsters more ferocious, pushing their advantage further.
Following this trend,
It wouldn't be long before the wilderness creatures suppressed for centuries would fully bare their fangs, seizing territory and resources from the Federation.
The sound of wing membranes cutting through air gradually diminished.
Sensing the adult dragons visibly relaxing after entering the convergence lands, the green wyrmling's eyes shifted as she carefully spoke, tentatively asking: "Mighty kin, we thank you for saving our lives."
Until now.
The wyrmlings still didn't understand Garoth's true intentions, uncertain whether they were now rescued or had merely escaped dwarf imprisonment only to fall into more dangerous circumstances.
"Although our strength is meager, we will definitely find ways to repay you. Whatever we can do, please feel free to command."
The green dragon spoke with humble sincerity, quietly using her innate negotiation quasi-spell skills.
Unfortunately, the gap between them was too vast—her negotiation influence was completely nullified.
"We want your lives." Samantha suddenly grinned, revealing menacing white fangs as she spoke like playing a mischievous prank.
The little dragons instantly stiffened completely, their scales standing on end.
The iron dragon Sorog timely added: "To be precise, we want you to preserve your lives and pledge loyalty to us."
Samantha arrogantly continued: "Listen, you milk-scented little whelps—your lives belong to us now. Any objections?"
The white dragon Trixie's ability to achieve 'great enlightenment' owed much to Samantha's 'guidance'.
"A quite reasonable demand."
The green dragon forced a smile onto her face, while the black dragon remained silent.
Simultaneously, the young blue dragon who had been silent for a long time suddenly asked: "Did you encounter Kahir?"
These dragons had clear objectives—while destroying and damaging the dwarf stronghold, they had almost directly come to rescue them, then decisively disengaged and left the wilderness.
Calming down made it not difficult to realize that their actual target wasn't the dwarves, but rather the dwarves' captives—them.
Their capture duration had been brief.
Such rapid rescue support either meant they had incredibly good luck encountering some unexpected situation, or it was connected to the escaped red dragon Kahir.
The iron dragon's eyes flashed as he looked down at the young blue dragon he carried.
"Name?"
"Heriam."
The young blue dragon said in a low voice.
Sorog only asked for his name, then said nothing more, offering no explanation about whether they came because of the red dragon Kahir. Heriam didn't press further either, remaining silently thoughtful.
During the first raid on Raymond Duchy's mining operation, advanced golems had soon come pursuing through the skies. This time the commotion was even greater—they couldn't afford to be careless.
As she spoke, she restlessly squirmed within Samantha's grasp.
"Black-skinned brat, shut your mouth!" Samantha impatiently tightened her claws, nearly squeezing the black dragon into losing consciousness.
She couldn't be bothered explaining much—they'd understand once they reached the dragon's den anyway. Better to bring them there first.
The other carried green dragon had also wanted to ask, but upon seeing her companion's miserable state, she wisely closed her mouth.
The distant horizon revealed a bright shining sun, gradually illuminating the gray-blue curtain of sky. Within the lingering night's embrace, several dragons flew deeper into the convergence lands.