Translator: AnubisTL
After hearing this explanation, Garos gave the Serpent Woman Chief a meaningful look.
He figured that while Charles's marriage to a Serpent Woman was certainly partly due to his own personal preferences, there was also a high probability that some subtle encouragement and careful arrangement had played a role behind the scenes.
Still, such minor schemes were harmless enough.
Garos did not object to his familiars engaging in reasonable competition or maneuvering to elevate their status and influence. Such things were inevitable within any group. Even the most core, utterly loyal dragon blood retainers had their own desires and ambitions. As long as their actions remained within acceptable bounds and did not jeopardize the overall interests of the Ironforged Tribe, he would turn a blind eye.
But if anyone dared to overstep, to betray the tribe or cause it serious harm... then the tribe's Red Dragon Executioner would be all too happy to teach those traitors the true meaning of a fate worse than death.
Soon, as the sky gradually turned a pale gray, the grand banquet that had lasted all night finally drew to a close.
The familiars began busily tidying up the aftermath and clearing the grounds.
Meanwhile, all the dragons departed Burning Steel Citadel, gathering on a vast, snow-covered plain outside Dragon Valley.
The humanoid duel between Garos and Alberto was about to officially begin.
Dragons of all sizes soared and circled in the leaden sky. The roar of their massive wings beating the air drowned out the ceaseless wind and snow howling through the valley.
Their gazes locked onto the snow-covered battlefield below.
Whoosh!
The biting wind, laced with ice crystals, whipped against the two figures.
Garos and Alberto faced each other, their dragon eyes reflecting one another's forms. Suddenly, two bursts of transformation magic erupted from within them, enveloping their bodies in light.
As the light faded, two drastically different humanoid figures stood in their place.
On one side was Alberto, his build lithe and balanced, his features strikingly handsome.
On the other stood Garos, a mountain of a man over two meters tall. He stood bare-chested in the swirling snow, his physique as if forged from steel. Beneath his skin, muscles rippled in powerful slabs, while veins and arteries coiled like writhing dragons.
They stood barely a hundred meters apart, the frigid air between them seemingly frozen in anticipation.
Alberto flexed his fingers. Ancient oath runes flowed across his arm, coalescing into the Halberd of Conquest, a symbol of power and sworn vows. He gripped the weapon firmly in his hand.
He gazed at the imposing figure opposite him, unafraid, and called out, "Garos, are you ready?"
Garos did not answer. Instead, he began to warm up.
He stretched his long, powerful arms and bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, his body swaying and springing in place like a lithe leopard. Every movement crackled with explosive power and astonishing coordination.
This unexpected agility caused the confidence on Alberto's face to falter, a sudden chill of unease stirring in his heart.
An evil dragon who had just mastered transformation magic and taken human form for the first time should have been clumsy, perhaps even crawling on all fours like a beast.
But what was he seeing?
Garos's movements were fluid and effortless, his footwork as light as if he had always inhabited this body.
"Begin."
Garos ceased his warm-up, his voice as calm as a still pool.
He bent his knees slightly, the steel-cable muscles in his calves tightening until they emitted a sickening crack.
The next instant—
Zzzzt! Zzzzt!
Blindingly brilliant golden lightning, infused with dragon qi, erupted from Garos's towering frame, churning and surging violently. The sheer intensity of the energy made his black-red hair stand on end, whipping wildly in the storm of qi and lightning.
The snow around him vaporized instantly. The frozen earth beneath his feet, unable to withstand the pressure, collapsed and shattered, blasting a massive crater into the ground.
By the time the deafening boom reached Alberto's ears, Garos—now a streak of black-red lightning—had already torn through the blizzard and closed the distance.
So fast!
Alberto's pupils constricted. Relying solely on his battle-hardened instincts, he reflexively raised the Halberd of Conquest to parry the blow.
BOOM!!!
A dull, bone-jarring thud erupted as a visible shockwave of white qi blasted outward from the two combatants, sweeping away the surrounding snow.
To Alberto's horror, two additional arms, formed entirely from condensed dragon qi, materialized behind Garos. Together with his own, the four arms unleashed a furious storm of strikes, raining down dozens, even hundreds, of fist shadows in an instant.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Halberd of Conquest in Alberto's hands trembled violently under the colossal force, nearly flying from his grasp. He stumbled backward under the ferocious assault, each step carving a deep footprint into the frozen earth.
Before he could even regain his balance, he saw Garos pivot his hips with his left leg as an axis.
His right leg—muscles bulging, veins bulging like coiled serpents—swung out like the tail of a true dragon. It tore through the air with a terrifying howl, striking with savage force.
There was no escape!
BOOM!
Alberto felt an irresistible force slam into him. He was launched into the air like a stone from a catapult, sent hurtling uncontrollably.
Almost the same instant he was kicked away, the ground beneath Garos's feet exploded again.
His massive figure rocketed into the sky, closing the distance to the airborne Alberto who had no leverage to resist. Garos raised his right leg high, blinding golden lightning coiling around it like a battle-axe, and brought it down with the force of a mountain-cleaving strike.
CRASH—!
Alberto was smashed back into the ground like a falling meteorite, kicking up a massive cloud of snow and dust.
As he struggled to his feet, that demon-godlike, hulking figure descended from the sky like a shadow, stomping down with unparalleled might.
At the critical moment, a spectral crown materialized above Alberto's head, erupting with brilliant light. He narrowly rolled away, evading the fatal stomp by a hair's breadth.
It's over! Everything is over!
Why is he so proficient in his human form?! This is no way he's fighting like this for the first time!
I was so close! So close to finally paying off my debt! Now the count starts all over again—and it's going to be even higher!
Alberto roared and wailed in his mind, yet his face uncontrollably twisted into a grotesque, open-mouthed grimace—a desperate expression caught between laughter and tears.
He could already see his own crushing defeat.
If there weren't so many dragons watching, he would have surrendered on the spot and begged Garos to at least slash his debt by half!
Then, Alberto gritted his teeth, focusing his entire spirit. He cast aside all distractions, dedicating himself wholly to parrying Garos's relentless, storm-like assault.
Even in his human form, Garos retained his terrifying, despair-inducing strength and speed. His onslaught came in wave after wave, like a ceaseless tide, leaving Alberto with barely enough strength to defend himself, let alone retaliate.
Alberto had completely abandoned all hope of a counterattack.
He focused solely on defense, praying he could hold out just a little longer, to avoid a defeat that was too swift and humiliating, and to salvage what little dignity he had left.
As time wore on, the solid earth below repeatedly shattered and cracked under Garos's trampling and Alberto's impacts. The surrounding snow and wind were torn apart and scattered by the fierce bursts of qi.
Under the silent, focused gaze of the numerous dragons in the sky, this battle—which had become a one-sided beating—slowly approached its inevitable conclusion.
After what felt like an eternity, another few minutes passed.
Clang!
The Halberd of Conquest in Alberto's hand was finally sent flying by a heavy punch, spinning through the air before plunging into the distant snow.
Immediately after, Garos's fist, imbued with terrifying power, shattered the already-faded phantom of Alberto's sacred armor and slammed mercilessly into his bruised and swollen face, which had long since lost its former handsomeness.
Boom!
A final, exceptionally fierce and heavy straight punch struck Alberto squarely in the chest!
Whoosh!
Alberto coughed up a spray of golden dragon blood as he was sent flying backward like a kite with its string cut.
In mid-air, amid a blinding flash of magical light, he could no longer maintain his humanoid form. Forced back into his massive gold dragon shape, he slammed heavily into the ground, rolling and plowing a long furrow through the earth until he finally stopped, crashing into a small, snow-covered hill. His eyes were shut tight, seemingly knocked completely unconscious.
"So fragile?"
Garos frowned slightly, the dragon qi and lightning swirling around him subsiding. He was puzzled.
He knew his strike hadn't been light, but it shouldn't have been enough to knock Alberto out cold. With a gold dragon's constitution, Alberto should have been able to withstand a few more hits.
In fact, his assessment was completely correct.
To escape the brutal reality, the noble Gold Dragon Alberto had, after a fierce 0.1-second internal struggle, decisively chosen to feign unconsciousness.
The old Alberto—the proud, straightforward dragon who valued honor above all else—would never have stooped to such a humiliating act.
But now...
Escapism may be shameful, but it works, Alberto silently chanted in his "coma."
(End of the Chapter)
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