novelraw Chapter 286: Five Years! Do You Know How I've Lived Through These Five Years?!
Chapter 286: Five Years! Do You Know How I've Lived Through These Five Years?!
Alberto's bloodshot vertical pupils locked tightly onto Garoth, his massive dragon wings slightly raised.
Accompanied by faint flashes of alchemical tool light.
One massive treasure chest after another, crafted from heavy solid wood with metal reinforcement strips along the edges, appeared as if out of thin air, crashing down one after another between the valley cliffs and mountain rocks where he stood, emitting dull thuds and raising clouds of dust.
"This is the original thirty percent of the debt plus interest."
Alberto said with visible pain.
The red iron dragon's gaze calmly swept over those treasure chests, nodding slightly.
Almost the moment he nodded, a group of well-trained flying dragons of various sizes spiraled up from the shadows of Scorchsteel Fortress, grabbing those heavy wooden treasure chests one by one and swiftly transporting them away from the valley cliffs.
"These were originally my possessions."
"Whether you challenge me or not, they would have been returned eventually. They cannot be considered additional stakes for your challenge."
The red iron dragon said."I know."
Alberto said: "I'm just repaying part of it first."
He let out a breath, then said in a deep voice:
"If I lose, I'll owe you an additional debt equivalent to double the original total amount."
"But if I win, that will prove I've become stronger than you. Undeniably stronger. I will have completely surpassed you."
The red iron dragon's thick neck covered with heavy scales gently swayed, emitting faint metallic friction sounds.
Indeed.
It had been some time since he had properly stretched his limbs and enjoyed a more intense battle.
But looking at Alberto's eager expression, Garoth didn't mind talking with him a bit more.
"Alberto, you seem quite eager to win this battle."
He shook his head and said: "The probability of victory, in my eyes, isn't very high."
"If you lose, it will be even harder for you to repay your debts."
"Are you sure you still want to challenge me?"
The young gold dragon Alberto's massive head covered with golden scales nodded heavily.
Without any hesitation.
Without any delay.
As if he had already cast all so-called consequences aside.
In truth, the reason he was willing to bear the risk of increased debt to challenge this Lord of Molten Iron who shook the convergence lands wasn't born from ordinary competitive spirit.
Its roots lay in that near-masochistic steel oath he had made five years ago in youthful arrogance and impulsive passion—
Until he truly defeated and completely surpassed the red iron dragon Garoth, he, Alberto, would abstain from all forms of entertainment and leisure activities. He would devote his entire being, without reservation, to training and honing his own limits.
In the first two years, under the constraints and motivation of this oath.
Alberto squeezed his potential day after day, night after night, immersed in the fulfillment brought by this extreme cultivation, enjoying it thoroughly, filled with soaring fighting spirit and unwavering belief in victory. As if surpassing Garoth was just around the corner.
However.
When time mercilessly flowed into the third year, enthusiasm began to fade.
A profound weariness, like creeping vines, quietly entwined his body and mind.
He began to yearn for even the slightest relaxation of his taut nerves, even if just briefly gazing at the starry sky or lazily basking in the sun.
But.
Because he had made the oath too absolute and too harsh to strengthen his resolve back then—
Forget entertainment and relaxation.
Even the most basic, adequate rest time had become a luxurious extravagance.
The Saint-Dragon's proud recovery ability.
Now instead became a curse.
Every time he trained himself to utter exhaustion, collapsing to the ground like mud, before too long, that oath would immediately transform into invisible flames, forcing him as if his back were on fire to immediately rise and throw himself back into honing.
What pained him even more.
His grand ambitions, his dreams of shaping the perfect Golden Law, all these magnificent blueprints for the future—now could only be thought about and constructed during the pitifully brief rest intervals squeezed out under the oath's pressure, crammed into every possible moment.
The entire dragon was like a spinning top whipped by an invisible lash, never having a moment of leisure.
For five years, a full five years!
He had been so busy he almost began to question the meaning of dragon life.
Even his originally obsessive nature had been worn down and diluted considerably in this endless grinding.
Finally—
He endured until today, five years later.
Alberto could no longer bear it, and deep in his heart, a voice roared:
After experiencing these five years of what could be called hellish extreme tempering.
The potential of the noble gold dragon bloodline flowing within him had almost been squeezed to the limit, utilized to the maximum.
He had grown much stronger than five years ago.
With his potential, with his talent, with his uninterrupted efforts over these five years... the current him might not necessarily be weaker than the red iron dragon.
"I have made my decision!"
Alberto's voice was resolute: "Garoth, accept my challenge."
As his words fell.
Alberto's sharp foreclaws covered with thick golden scales, like a hot knife through butter, carved several bottomless grooves in the hard valley cliff rocks.
His robust limbs suddenly bent, muscles tensing instantly like adamantine cables, bulging high.
His entire massive and heavy dragon body slightly lowered, like a gigantic golden bow drawn to its limit.
The entire dragon was already poised to strike, arrow on the string, momentum like thunder.
"Then, come, challenger."
Garoth's voice remained calm, declaring the challenge begun.
Whoosh—!
The red iron dragon's pair of majestic dragon wings that could blot out the sky suddenly fully extended.
With just what seemed like a casual sweep, a fierce hurricane materialized out of thin air.
Immediately after, he transformed into a crimson meteor tearing through the sky's curtain, straightforwardly and directly shooting upward, piercing toward the high, vast heavens.
"I must win."
The young gold dragon Alberto roared inwardly.
Hum—!
Two sacred and majestic lights suddenly blazed.
A crown symbolizing authority, flowing with dazzling golden light, instantly appeared upon his raised head, while that Conquest Oath weapon symbolizing the will to conquer, engraved with ancient vows, simultaneously shone with piercing light, taking form from pure energy, firmly grasped in his massive dragon claws.
The fully armed young gold dragon, bathed in sacred radiance.
His massive golden dragon wings also flapped with full power at this moment, the entire dragon transforming into a golden lightning bolt tearing through the sky, following closely behind, boldly charging toward that boundless sky where winds and clouds surged.
Meanwhile.
Aside from the brass-silver dragon Deborah who still stood at the edge of Scorchsteel Fortress's fourth-level lookout platform, her slender dragon claws elegantly resting above her brow bones, looking up as if watching a play.
Down in the training ground.
White Dragon Trixie had long since paused her "education" of the two young dragons.
She was now watching with keen interest, together with the black dragon Seraphina who had just climbed up from the ground, and the green dragon Ludwig who seemed lost in thought, all focusing on the two figures about to collide high in the air.
"The gold dragon's ecological niche is indeed quite high within mainstream dragon genealogy."
White Dragon Trixie analyzed coolly in her heart.
"In the eyes of other races, even before most Five-colored Dragons and Metal Dragons, they naturally appear majestic, sacred, and noble."
"But—"
Her heart emitted a soundless laugh.
"—He just had to challenge Garoth, this red iron dragon whose ecological niche is essentially higher than his."
"A lower position challenging a higher one will likely only result in another crushing, humiliating defeat."
She didn't need to watch the process; she had already foreseen the outcome.
"Hmph, that gold dragon doesn't know his place."
The green dragon Ludwig's slender, graceful emerald green tail swished, emitting a contemptuous laugh.
"The great Lord of Molten Iron will soon beat him to his knees begging for mercy." He said in a lowered voice.
Beside him, the black dragon Seraphina, who had just struggled to get up from the ground, also nodded silently in agreement.