Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

Chapter 46: Dragon and Steel, Explosive Scales in Battle

The setting sun's afterglow dyed the sky over Iron Fir Hills red, with Garoth's scales gleaming dangerously in the twilight.

Centered around him, three Earth-Rending Centipede alchemical golems suddenly burst from the ground in different directions. Their steel bodies cast menacing shadows as piercing metal screeches echoed, sparks flying when their segmented limbs scraped against rocks.

The first golem curled into a massive metal wheel, its high-frequency vibrating blade limbs converging to slice toward Garoth.

The second golem opened its terrifying maw, spewing liquid resembling processed black oil that instantly ignited into roaring flames upon contact with air.

The third golem's shell cracked open, firing dense armor-piercing steel nails like a torrential downpour.

Garoth took a deep breath and abruptly raised his dragon wings.

The scythe-like wings hacked toward the 'metal wheel'.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Countless sparks flew as the dragon wings and Earth-Rending Centipede's bladed limbs collided violently, producing metallic clangs that reverberated through the night air.

Segment after segment of bladed limbs twisted and shattered.The metallic outer wing bones also gained several notches.

Then with a powerful flap of Garoth's wings,

The Earth-Rending Centipede was sent flying, spinning through the air and cutting down thick iron fir trees in its path.

Simultaneously,

Just as the first Earth-Rending Centipede was sent flying,

The roaring flames and steel nail downpour came crashing toward Garoth.

Without dodging or retreating, Garoth stepped forward and puffed out his chest.

The flames engulfed him first, swallowing Garoth whole. Yet within this fiery embrace, Garoth instead grinned, his Explosive Scales tempering in the flames to take on a branding-iron red hue.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The armor-piercing nails pinged harmlessly off Garoth's body, easily shattering his Explosive Scales into fragments.

Then,

With a powerful shake of his body,

Countless fragments now glowing red-hot like branding irons counterattacked the two remaining Earth-Rending Centipedes amidst the flames.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The explosive shockwaves and flames instantly swallowed both golems, sending them flying with their bodies now covered in cracks and dents.

The flames spewing from the Earth-Rending Centipedes' mouths abruptly ceased.

However,

The flames burning on Garoth's body didn't extinguish immediately.

These were formed from processed black oil's flammable liquid, with intense burning properties.

The young red iron dragon spread his wings slightly within the flames, raising his head as he stepped forward, his scales now glowing from the extreme heat, the surrounding air distorting from the rising heat waves.

Though extraordinary, these weren't magical flames.

Not only unable to harm Garoth, they instead amplified his dragon might.

As if realizing the flames were ineffective against Garoth and ranged attacks generally useless,

The three stabilized Earth-Rending Centipedes, each with varying degrees of damage, simultaneously transformed into metal wheels again, their bladed limbs vibrating at high frequency as they spun toward Garoth in wheel form.

Whoosh!

With a sweep of his wings, the flame-wrapped Garoth shot forward like a fiery meteor toward the metal wheels.

Glowing lava-like light seeped through the gaps in his chest scales.

His pupils reflected the approaching Earth-Rending Centipedes from different directions.

Garoth suddenly unleashed a blast of scorching fiery breath.

The dragon breath carried tremendous impact force, first sweeping past two Earth-Rending Centipedes to send them flying, then pinning the final one firmly against the ground.

Its black metal armor visibly turned red-hot under the heat, beginning to melt.

Both were flames, but Garoth's fiery breath far surpassed the power of the black oil flames sprayed by the Earth-Rending Centipedes.

Step by step Garoth advanced, his fiery breath pressing down on the Earth-Rending Centipede until it melted into a twisted mass of scrap metal. The other two, after this exchange, determined they couldn't defeat Garoth and promptly changed tactics, disengaging to retreat.

Burning wings tore through the night.

The young red iron dragon pursued the rightmost Earth-Rending Centipede at incredible speed. Just before it could burrow underground, Garoth abruptly twisted his body for a tail whip.

Zzzzt!

The tail ring glowed, arcs of electricity dancing along his tail to enhance lightning damage and stimulate muscle power.

The howling wind mixed with crackling electricity as Garoth's tail struck like lightning, precisely hitting the Earth-Rending Centipede with enough force to severely dent and crack its shell. Silver snake-like electricity penetrated every crevice, jumping between its interior and exterior.

Zzzt! Zzzt!

This relatively intact Earth-Rending Centipede collapsed twitching, acrid black smoke pouring from its joints.

Boom! The young red dragon descended from the sky, crashing to create a deep impact crater.

Samantha staggered to her feet, dizzy and disoriented.

She had tried imitating Garoth's diving attack on the third Earth-Rending Centipede, but lacked sufficient speed to intercept it before it escaped underground, leaving her sore all over from the recoil.

Without Garoth's daily training regimen or his robust physique,

This direct high-speed body slam attack wasn't suitable for normal young dragons.

The third Earth-Rending Centipede successfully escaped underground.

Garoth didn't pursue, lacking any quasi-spell skills for underground travel. Relentless pursuit would be meaningless anyway—these golems' appearance meant their location was likely compromised. Even destroying this one would only delay the Blackrock dwarves temporarily, as they could still locate Iron Fir Hills through underground passages.

"Dragon Lord's divine might! Your power fills me with awe and reverence!"

"These steel beasts are no match for you! What an honor to be your vassal."

With the battle concluded, Mobel the Earth Rampage Bear approached Garoth with flattery.

Garoth ignored him, quietly processing combat data.

"These three alchemical golems have no discernible life level, but each surpasses ordinary level 8 magical beasts in strength. They coordinate well and adapt strategies flexibly."

"Compared to these, the goblin tribe's alchemical golems are like crude, fragile toys."

"Had they not used fire attacks against me, this battle would have lasted much longer."

These combat-oriented alchemical golems were indeed formidable.

Garoth didn't know the Earth-Rending Centipede's exact model, but judging by size and apparent sophistication, they likely ranked below the surface-stationed alchemical golems.

"Ah! My alchemy workshop!"

Samantha shouted, hopping mad.

During the battle, her alchemy workshop had been destroyed again—this time the improved version she'd spent five months upgrading from the original simple rock-slab shed.

"Where did these damned things come from? I'll chase them down and slaughter them all!"

She fumed angrily.

Rather than dissuading her, Garoth encouraged: "They belong to garrison forces at a Blackrock Duchy oil field. I'll give you the location so you can have your wish."

Me?

Hearing this, Samantha's anger instantly cooled. She vividly remembered nearly being shot down just from flying near a different Blackrock site, coming within a hair's breadth of death.

Though not the same location—that had been a mining outpost—

Anywhere with proper military garrisons was best avoided.

"A dragon shouldn't be too reckless. Perhaps I'll let them live a while longer."

Samantha gave an awkward laugh before changing the subject: "I'll go rebuild the workshop."

"No."

Garoth shook his head, scanning Iron Fir Hills' vegetation and terrain before declaring firmly: "We can't stay here any longer. We need new territory."

Iron Fir Hills' resources had always been mediocre, with water sources gradually drying up recently and local wildlife dwindling. Garoth already had to fly far for water and hunting, planting the idea of relocating.

Now with confirmed Blackrock dwarf threats, he resolved to abandon this territory.

This also meant ending several months of peaceful routine.