Accompanied by bursts of dull rumbling, the red baleful star descended in altitude, gradually revealing its true form.
Garros's unfurled dragon wings blotted out the sky, his searing red scales evaporating the heavy rain into a white mist, within which his magnificent and towering body appeared indistinctly.
He folded his wings and dove toward the human camp, the air being compressed into visible conical shockwaves.
"Dragon! It's an Evil Dragon!"
The Knight Captain's roar was drowned out by the sonic boom.
Dense, searing Red Dragon scales tore through the wind and rain, leaving behind trails of steam as he descended upon the human camp.
Hum!
One magical rune after another suddenly lit up on the ground.
The defensive formation constructed here was activated, transforming into a bowl-like energy shield that surrounded the camp.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Thick flames exploded like the roar of an angry dragon.
The energy shield flickered unsteadily, and large-scale cracks appeared on its surface.
"Defend!"
The Knight Captain's pupils constricted as he shouted.
The fully armed knights, who were already training, raised their great shields.
Crack!
The shield shattered abruptly as if it had suffered a heavy blow.
Garros's powerful body tore through the magic shield, and a pair of Celestial Comet Wings, glinting with a cold light, fully unfurled like giant guillotines, sweeping toward the knight phalanx.
"Slay the dragon! Slay the dragon!"
The Knight Captain raised his arm and shouted.
This knight, clad in heavy armor and carrying a spear nearly four meters long, took the lead to face Garros.
Demonic Energy surged within him, and a flame-like energy reaction ignited on his body, even extending to coat his spear; with a flick of his wrist, his spear struck out like lightning toward the Evil Dragon's head.
As long as he could wound the giant dragon with a single strike, the entire knight order could then swarm it, and with the support of the Alchemy Golems, they would have a chance to take down the dragon; given his powerful physique, facing a Dragonkin directly meant he at least wouldn't die in one hit.
The next moment, the spear engraved with Alchemy Runes shattered under the dragon's claw.
Garros's left claw crushed the spear, while his right claw, carrying a torrential gale, landed on the Knight Captain.
Bang!
The armor disintegrated, and the body the Knight Captain was so proud of turned into a burst of blood mist, leaving not even a bone behind.
Garros's speed didn't diminish in the slightest as he continued his charge.
Heavy war shields, hard steel spears.
And the bodies of the knights.
The tents and weapon racks in his path.
Everything was split in two, or even directly smashed into blood mist and fine powder.
In this single instant.
The Viscounts' private knights, whom he had spent a fortune to train, lost a quarter of their number.
Garros tore through the knight phalanx like an indomitable, indestructible dragon-shaped blade, spiraling into the air and sweeping through the knight phalanx once more.
Two dives in a very short time.
Over half of the knight order brought here was dead, while the price Garros paid was merely some insignificant scratches on his scales where their spears had grazed him.
The remaining knights scattered.
Whoosh! An ice spear pierced through the air toward Garros, only to be shattered by a flick of his long, thick tail.
The Frost Giant strode forward with heavy steps, running wildly as he condensed another ice spear in his hand, assuming a throwing posture.
Garros flapped his dragon wings, pulling up in a straight line to hover high in the sky.
Vroom! Vroom! Vroom!
Several engine roars sounded almost simultaneously like thunder; the eyes of five Alchemy Golems lit up at once, staring fixedly at Garros.
The young spellcaster's face was filled with terror.
The tent he was in had been torn to shreds by the wind whipped up by Garros's wings, leaving him entirely exposed to the heavy rain; he was soaking wet, his hair plastered to his scalp, and the self-assured confidence of having everything under control was gone from his face.
Tax Collector Brent had even fallen into the mud, his legs trembling so much he couldn't stand up.
Only the middle-aged man with a cold, dark, and rough-skinned face stood before the young spellcaster like a reef weathered by ten thousand waves; his small body was as heavy as a hill, standing firm and tall, emitting an Aura so dense it felt physical.
No, it wasn't an Aura, it was 'Qi'.
"A Monk?"
Garros's eyes narrowed slightly as they landed on Bain.
The Martial Dragon class he wanted to take was derived from the Monk; it could be said to be an Advanced Monk profession belonging to the Dragon Clan, but the traditional Monk profession was its foundation after all, and it had certain reference value.
No longer afraid of being exposed, he directly used the Life Level Detection Technique on the Monk, his eyes glowing with a faint light as he looked toward him.
However, the Detection Spell was blocked.
His gaze could not penetrate the Qi surrounding the Monk.
This meant that the Monk's Rank exceeded Garros's, being above level 10.
In Garros's eyes, the Monk's Qi was burning like fire and was quite resilient, but its thickness was limited by the human body, and it was only that much.
At the same time.
The Viscount's son suppressed his inner terror and forced himself to stay calm; looking at the powerful dragon circling in the sky, he shouted: "Dragon! There is no enmity between us, leave immediately, or do you want to draw the army to hunt you down?!"
Facing a ferocious Evil Dragon, showing weakness wouldn't work.
Using the Federation Army as a threat might actually make it retreat.
Unfortunately, Garros wasn't just passing by and attacking on a whim.
He had thought it through carefully and considered the risks.
He looked down at the tiny creatures below and said, "Humans, the tax money you wanted, I have come to deliver it personally. Do you not welcome my arrival?"
The Red-Iron Dragon's voice was low, like thunder rolling through the clouds, causing the hearts of those present to tremble.
Edmond's face stiffened slightly.
This dragon was the true lord behind that group of monsters?!
Damn it! If he had known this earlier, he should have brought a stronger Subjugation Army!
He really hadn't expected an Evil Dragon to be bold enough to lurk near the trade route; this Evil Dragon was extraordinary.
"We can renegotiate!"
Edmond shouted: "Violence is not the way to solve problems. Dragons are highly intelligent beings, not those inferior beasts. We are willing to concede some interests and enter into a formal cooperation with you!"
Regardless of whether his words were true or false.
When Garros decided to bare his fangs and reveal his true form, he had no intention of letting the people here go.
"Humble reptiles! It is too late to beg for mercy now."
"You must pay the price for provoking a dragon."
A roar like churning lava approached from a distance, but it wasn't Garros who made it.
Two more slightly smaller dragon shadows appeared, and beneath them followed a monster army composed of many Ogres, Lizardfolk, Gnolls, and Grey-mane Werewolves; they were like a dark tide surging toward the human camp from all directions.
The previous conversation was to wait for the encirclement to form.
To eliminate any possibility of these people escaping.
The Iron Dragon and the Red Dragon approached Garros.
The three Ignas brothers soared high in the sky simultaneously.
Their combined Dragon Might, supplemented by the roars of those monsters that drowned out the sound of the rain, made even the determined knights turn pale and their hearts beat like drums.
The determined and cold-faced Monk's gaze also darkened.
"Edmond, break through to the east!"
He said in a deep voice.
The nearest garrison was located to the east; attracting their attention and getting reinforcements was their only chance.
Edmond knew the situation was urgent and tried his best to calm down.
The Frost Giant, the five Alchemy Golems, and the knights regrouped, forming a wedge formation around Edmond to break through to the east.
The sky in the storm was cut into a fragmented map by the three dragon shadows.
Garros dove down from the center, being the fastest; his body was like a bolt of silk as he charged toward the human battle formation ahead of the Iron Dragon and Red Dragon.
The Hybrid Dragon's wings tore through the rain curtain, his searing red scales trailing heat through the air.
Two Alchemy Golems locked onto him, high-temperature steam from overcharging venting from their joints.
Their engine cores flashed wildly, pushing their power to the critical limit.
One of them suddenly opened its breastplate, revealing rotating serrated saw-blades inside, and leaped high, crashing directly toward the diving Garros.
The Red-Iron Dragon's sharp claws collided with the golem's saw-blades, sending out blinding sparks.
The shrill screech of metal friction made creatures within a hundred meters cover their ears in pain, but Garros's offensive didn't slow down at all; his left claw firmly clamped the golem's saw-blade, while his right claw directly pierced its breastplate, smashing it into several knights, where steel and flesh exploded into a mixture of fine debris in the rain.
As Garros's altitude dropped, more attacks followed.
The Fearless One raised a greatsword and slashed at Garros's neck.
A knight-type Alchemy Golem raised a pitch-black heavy spear, the energy patterns on its body lighting up like blood vessels as it lunged at Garros's heart; the other two also used their various means to attack together.
At the same time.
An ice crystal warhammer condensed in the Frost Giant's hand, carrying a bone-chilling current; while Garros was entangled with the Alchemy Golems, it took the opportunity to smash toward his back.
This strike was enough to shatter steel, yet the moment it touched the dragon scales, it was repelled with such force that ice shards flew everywhere.
Boom! The light of an explosion filled the field of vision.
Garros's body only trembled slightly; his tail swept out like a steel whip, knocking the giant back to the ground with its chest flesh split open, revealing alloy-like ribs covered in cracks, but it soon roared and lunged forward again.
A body reinforced by Necromancy and Alchemy Spells knew no pain.
Monk Bain did not strike directly but stood ready to protect Edmond, who was pale with a pounding heart and a blank, dazed mind; Edmond wanted to construct a Spell, but he couldn't concentrate at all, failing to even outline a Spell model.
In the face of life and death.
The flower in the greenhouse was exposed, its will as fragile as thin paper.
A Genius?
Just an ignorant fool destined for an early death.
The knights on the perimeter began to fight the approaching monsters.
Because they had already suffered huge losses from Garros's first wave, the remaining knights were no match for the monsters, finding themselves stuck as if in a quagmire, struggling with every step.
There was no hope of breaking through.
At the same time.
The twelve-meter-long Iron Dragon arrived.
It cut into the battlefield from the side, its muscles tensed; its steel-like body actually began to spin, its dragon wings slicing into the waist of an Alchemy Golem and knocking it flying, both of them tumbling to the ground together.
Amidst the ear-piercing sound of tearing steel, the golem's hydraulic oil sprayed out like blood.
Yet this war machine actually used both arms to firmly clamp the Iron Dragon, its chest armor splitting open as a dark cannon barrel began to charge, aiming at Sorog.
Just then, a solid-looking rune pierced through the air and landed on the Alchemy Golem.
Its movements froze, the charging stopped, and its arms clamping the Iron Dragon also loosened.
It was Samantha's Alchemy Spell that had affected the golem.
Lava-like Flame Dragon Breath vaporized the rain as it spewed from Samantha's mouth, slamming into the chest of the Alchemy Golem. Its armor rapidly turned red, resembling molten iron, and the powerful impact forced it back step by step.
The Iron Dragon let out a low growl.
Body Hardening!
A layer of deep, dark light instantly covered its body, making it appear as if it were cast from pure steel—more like a steel Vicious Beast than the surrounding Alchemy Golems.
Using its hardened body as a weapon, it launched a charge.
The moment Samantha ceased her Dragon Breath, it crashed into the Alchemy Golem.
Countless parts scattered like rain.
The armor, softened by the Dragon Breath's heat, was instantly torn open, and then countless parts scattered like rain as the upper body of this Alchemy Golem was shattered by the brute force of the impact.
"Reptiles! Feel fear and despair!"
In a short time, the two had shredded the alchemical creations that humans took such pride in. Both the Iron Dragon and the Red Dragon couldn't help but feel their spirits surge, letting out roaring dragon cries.
In their dragon lives thus far, they had rarely experienced such a fierce battle.
Having finished off an Alchemy Golem, Sorog and Samantha did not dwell on the joy of victory. They shifted their gaze, intending to reinforce Garros, who was being ganged up on at the front, hoping to make Garros see them in a new light.
But when they turned their eyes toward Garros's location...
They were stunned.
With Garros at the center, two golems had been completely reduced to parts, their wreckage littering the ground. The Fearless One's broken sword was thrust into the earth, its luster gone. Only a battered Frost Giant and two damaged Alchemy Golems remained, struggling to hold their ground before him.
Garros had also paid a price.
In the preceding battle, all of his Explosive Scales had been knocked off, revealing the inner layer of black-red scales.
Bang!
Garros's flaming claws pierced through a golem's chest and ripped outward, tearing it in half with brute force, finishing off another golem in the blink of an eye.
The Frost Giant seized a fleeting opportunity, wrapping its arms around Garros's right hind leg and heaving with all its might.
The moment the Red-Iron Dragon lost its balance, the last golem launched a sneak attack from behind, its right arm transforming into a drill that stabbed fiercely toward Garros's spine.
In the nick of time, Garros's dragon wings swept back like blades, shearing off half of the golem's body.
However, the drill still grazed the dragon scales, leaving a bleeding wound.
The Red-Iron Dragon's pupils contracted into two thin lines, becoming indifferent and cold as he suddenly turned his head.
Garros was not enraged by this insignificant injury, but because he saw the monk clutching the spellcaster's neck like a chick, leaping and moving with him.
Not just the knights.
Even the golems and the giant were to be abandoned.
That thin frame contained power no less than that of a Young Dragon, and his agility was beyond imagination.
The monk concentrated his Qi into his legs, striding across the ground like a bolt of lightning. His speed even surpassed the full flight speed of a normal Young Dragon in the sky.
The monsters closed in on the monk.
Either they lost sight of him before they could even get close...
...or they couldn't see his movements at all before being sent flying by punches and kicks wrapped in thick, powerful energy.
The Gluttony Demon Karu pursued the monk with heavy steps, but his speed couldn't match the other's. He could only stare helplessly, and after a few steps of pursuit, he vented his rage on the knights.
The monster knights of the Crimson Iron Cavalry tried to pursue and intercept, but they were completely unable to keep up.
Sorog and Samantha spotted the fleeing monk and took to the air to give chase, but they couldn't close the distance; instead, the gap gradually widened.
"The speed of these monsters is inferior to mine."
"The knights and golems are all destroyed here, a heavy loss, but at the very least I can take the Young Master back alive."
Bane had watched Edmond grow up since childhood and regarded him as his own.
He extended a portion of his Qi over Edmond to ensure the boy's fragile body wouldn't be injured by his high-speed movement.
The monk was incredibly fast, and his life level surpassed all the monsters here.
Even while carrying a person...
...he quickly completed his breakout, leaving the monster horde behind as he sprinted toward the east where the garrison was located.
Just then.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
A high-pitched sound erupted, like countless bolts of lightning boiling and dancing wildly at once.
Bane's heart tightened for no apparent reason. The keen perception he had honed over years of training warned him of danger, and he instinctively glanced back.
In his field of vision.
The ferocious and powerful Red-Iron Dragon was on all fours, body crouched low.
The last golem lay beneath him, looking as though it had suffered a violent strike, twisted into scrap metal. Only the Frost Giant Puppet, formed by Necromancy and Alchemy, still dragged its broken body to launch an attack on the Red-Iron Dragon.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
Golden lightning burst from his body, snaking out from the gaps between his scales.
Dense, shining, and brilliant.
That already strong body expanded another size, covered in soaring golden lightning. His posture and Aura made everything before pale in comparison.
Boom!
The Frost Giant's upper body suddenly exploded, shattered by a dragon claw.
Bane's pupils suddenly contracted.
He retracted his gaze, squeezing his energy to the limit.
Wind Walk!
He was like a gale sweeping across the land, sprinting at high speed.
But in less than a second, alarm bells rang in Bane's heart. He paused his stride and shifted laterally.
Boom!
A Flame-Thunder Dragon Breath, resembling both lightning and fire, landed where he had previously been. It blasted a shocking crater into the ground. A large amount of electric arcs extended through the rainwater and still reached the monk, making his body go numb.
On the other end.
Garros swung his dragon wings, his claws plowing charred furrows into the ground. His body, entwined with golden lightning, launched forward like a cannonball, skimming low over the earth.
He quickly overtook the Red Dragon and the Iron Dragon.
Arriving later but striking first, he charged toward the monk with inconceivable speed.
The red-gold lightning reflecting in his pupils drew closer and closer. The monk wrapped Edmond in a ball of Qi and threw him toward the distance with all his strength.
"Run!"
After leaving that single, simple word...
...the monk turned and moved to meet Garros.
The Aura around him boiled to the extreme.
Diamond Body!
The Qi that had settled in his body through years of bitter cultivation gushed out, condensing into a thick bronze color on the monk's skin.
Still Mind.
Reflexive Dodge.
He simultaneously applied two monk skills to himself.
In an instant, Garros's dragon claws tore through the curtain of rain. The sharp talons, wreathed in golden lightning, carved several scorching vacuum trails in the air as they lashed out at the tiny human monk.
Bane's mind was as still as water. He felt no fear or trembling, nor was he affected by the Dragon Fear. He stomped the ground and sideways dodged by reflex.
Closing in on the body, his bronze fist, carrying Qi refined to the extreme, slammed toward the dragon's lower jaw.
Penetrating Strike!
Bang!
The explosive sound of energy colliding with dragon scales shattered the raindrops within a ten-meter radius.
Garros's head was knocked back slightly by the punch. He felt a penetrating force surge toward his brain, making him slightly dizzy. Meanwhile, the bronze color on Bane's right arm shattered inch by inch, revealing the bulging veins and muscles beneath. His pupils shook with shock.
The Penetrating Strike that could shatter steel had failed to cause significant damage.
Taking a deep breath, he returned once more to the state of Still Mind.
The monk gave a violent shout and struck a palm toward Garros's heart.
Heart-Shattering Strike!
This blow also carried a tricky energy that could penetrate scale armor defense, and it was even stronger than before.
However.
It only hit a golden afterimage.
Garros had a massive body, but in his Frenzied State, he displayed terrifying agility, fully capable of matching the attack speed of a higher-Rank monk.
He evaded the monk's attack and countered with a claw as fast as lightning, striking the monk's body.
Bang!
Like a kite with a broken string.
The monk flew backward, coughing up blood and fragments of internal organs, more than half of the bronze color on his body shattered.
Even with a life level higher than Garros's, he could not bridge the gap between their races.
Garros being hit was inconsequential, yet his single strike had directly left the monk heavily injured. That it hadn't killed him was only because the monk was proficient in Force Redirection techniques and possessed deep, enduring energy.
The monk did not stay down upon landing.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, steadied his body, and began to burn his life and the energy he had cultivated for decades, to the point where a layer of illusory Aura appeared around him.
"Evil Dragon, come."
With a flash of his body, Bane took the initiative to close in on Garros.
Seemingly using a secret technique similar to Blood Burst, he had now surpassed his previous limits. Moving faster, he formed over a dozen afterimages around Garros, launching a fierce assault aimed at joints, scale seams, eyes, and the cloaca, pushing his skills to the absolute limit. A few attacks even caused Garros to feel pain.
Speed, the nimbleness of a small frame, and keen reactions.
These were the monk's advantages.
He played his advantages to the extreme.
However.
This could not compensate for the gap in raw stats.
Furthermore, Garros himself was proficient in combat techniques.
One afterimage after another was destroyed, and the monk's stamina began to plummet. His movements slowed slightly, revealing a flaw that Garros instantly seized upon.
Both flames and lightning ignited on his claws.
The dragon claws, wreathed in flame and thunder, were as explosive as fire and as swift as lightning.
After too many reflex triggers, he had gradually become sluggish and could no longer dodge in time. The monk condensed all his Qi into his fists to clash head-on with the dragon claw.
Boom!
His body shook violently as his protective Qi was completely dispersed. The skin on the monk's arms split inch by inch, his bones letting out overburdened cracks until both arms finally exploded.
They separated as soon as they touched.
The monk's broken body tumbled to the ground, eventually barely supporting himself in a half-kneeling position. His arms were shattered, and blood pooled beneath him into a small lake, mixing with the rain.
By now, he had burned out. His body had become exceptionally withered, his skin covered in wrinkles like an old man on the verge of death, rather than the lean, middle-aged man he had been before.
Garros, on the other hand...
...this Hybrid Dragon still had a heavy Aura, his life force as vigorous as a furnace, with golden lightning soaring around him like a mane.
"Impressive skill."
Garros looked down at the monk and offered a word of praise, but the monk had already died in silence.
"No, don't kill me!"
In the distance, Edmond let out a cry of terror.
The Red Dragon and the Iron Dragon were in front and behind him, batting him around with their sharp claws as if toying with an insect.
Without the monk's protection, a spellcaster so terrified his legs had turned to jelly—one who had never faced danger and couldn't even focus his mind—had absolutely no chance of escape.