The fire and smoke behind them were gradually blurred by the heavy rain.
Garros and the other dragons soared among the high clouds, already out of danger.
Samantha's scales were bulging, stuffed full of sky-anchor gems; the cyan light flickered through the gaps in her scales, reflecting in the Red Dragon's excited vertical pupils.
"Look at these gems!"
Samantha's voice almost drowned out the sound of the rain. She spread her dragon wings and did a somersault in the air, showing off a gem and shaking her spoils of war.
"Every single one is enough for us to exchange for a lot of gold!"
Iron Dragon Sorog glanced at the Red Dragon, his iron-gray scales still stained with the blood of the warehouse guards.
"Only a fool would exchange magic gems for gold."
As he spoke, he flicked his tail.
The Iron Dragon's tail was wrapped around a huge piece of uncut Sky-Anchor Stone ore, as big as an adult human's head, with patterns of wind-element magic flowing on its surface.
"The purity is good, but unfortunately the cutting technique is too crude."
He tapped the surface of the gem fastidiously with his claws. "These people simply don't know how to handle true treasures."
Garros flew at the very front. Half a crossbow bolt was still stuck in his black and red scales. Rain washed over the shaft, carrying away streaks of dragon blood, which were quickly evaporated into mist by the high temperature.
Snap!
His claws snapped the shaft. He bared his teeth and pulled out the barbed arrowhead, leaving a bloody hole in his body. Garros had many such wounds, large and small, all over him.
A regular army equipped with weapons of war was far beyond what a noble's private army could compare to.
The power of those ballistae was formidable, extremely fast and accurate. The quality of the Alchemy Golems was also exceptionally high, impossible to destroy with just one or two strikes.
While creating chaos, Garros had activated his Frenzied State in advance.
But amidst the dense attacks, he was still inevitably hit by a few.
The Spell-like Ability of Body Hardening was quickly broken, and his scales could not fully withstand the fierce attacks of the heavy crossbows and Alchemy Golems. They left obvious scars on his scales—not quite severe injuries, but not negligible minor ones either.
Fortunately, it was Garros.
If it had been any other ordinary Young Dragon...
The anti-air heavy crossbows here could have directly pierced through their bodies; the consequence would have been far worse than just getting stuck in the flesh.
There were also things like the Anti-Air Pillars.
It couldn't completely strip Garros of his flight ability, but it did make his body suddenly feel heavy at the time. It was only because Garros's wings were so powerful that he could still bear the weight.
If it had been Sorog or Samantha, they would have plummeted straight to the ground. That was why he destroyed the Anti-Air Pillar immediately; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to loot anything afterward.
Facing a regular legion, one still cannot let their guard down and must take it seriously.
Garros thought to himself silently.
This raid on the mine garrison was not only to snatch a haul to recoup losses before leaving but also to test the strength of a regular legion.
During his Young Dragon stage...
Regardless of the scale, he would always give such garrisons a wide berth.
The current Young Dragon Garros, though bearing some injuries, was able to retreat unscathed from a fierce frontal conflict.
He had truly grown a lot.
"The harvest this time is more than expected." The Red-Iron Dragon looked back at his two companions. "Samantha, don't just focus on showing off. Tighten your scales and be careful not to let the gems fall out."
The Red Dragon reluctantly tightened her scales, hiding the cyan light.
Sorog also tightened his tail, clutching the largest sky-anchor gem tightly. "If there was a caster skilled in Formations, this gem could serve as a core to set up a powerful barrier," he said.
Garros nodded slightly, then narrowed his dragon eyes and looked back toward the distant horizon.
Through the curtain of rain, the mine garrison was faintly visible.
Though he couldn't see clearly, Garros was certain that the defenders there were already reporting the emergency of being attacked and robbed, and perhaps even calling for reinforcements.
"They won't let this go."
Garros's low voice sounded exceptionally clear in the rain. "We must be extra cautious in the coming days to avoid being hunted and pursued."
Samantha curled her lip in disdain. "Let them come and chase us! I'll let them taste Dragon Breath."
The Iron Dragon glanced at her. "Foolish. If a professional Dragon Slayer team comes, your little bit of fire won't even burn through their magic-resistant shields."
Just as the Red Dragon was about to retort, Garros suddenly raised a claw to signal for silence.
The keen hearing of the Dragonkin had already captured the thunderous roar of engines coming from afar.
The sound did not come from the mine garrison, but from a territory of the Lothern Federation garrison to the east.
Garros felt a chill in his heart and turned to look toward the east.
As the engine roar grew more distinct, the clouds were torn apart. A pair of metal wings with a wingspan exceeding forty meters was the first to appear, assembled from 3,200 quenched steel feathers, each edge engraved with wind-breaking and levitation runes.
This Alchemy Golem, codenamed "Heavens Fury," soared at high speed, chasing after the Young Dragon.
The steel body, 19.8 meters tall at the shoulder, tore through the wind, rain, and air, creating a suffocating howl.
Its head was designed in a streamlined shape like a falcon. Pale blue light pulsed in its eye sockets. As the hydraulic rods in its neck extended and retracted, the pupils on its metal faceplate locked onto the three Young Dragons simultaneously.
The Duchy of Raymond garrison, which had been attacked and robbed, had requested assistance from the nearest Federation garrison for this high-energy-level golem.
For the Young Dragons, fighting was not a good choice because there might be other golems and experts pursuing them later; they couldn't afford to be bogged down.
"Split up."
Garros's expression was solemn as he gave a brief command: "Rendezvous at the Quenchfire Highlands."
Both the Iron Dragon and the Red Dragon knew the situation was bad and responded with action.
Samantha was the first to turn south, her red scales carving a vivid trail through the rain. Sorog silently dove into the clouds, his iron-gray figure quickly merging with the dark clouds.
Garros estimated the speed of the Heavens Fury and took a deep breath.
Cold rain and howling winds surged through the Red-Iron Dragon's throat into his lungs.
Garros turned and spat out Electric-Fire Dragon Breath. The dazzling Dragon Breath pierced through the wind and rain, shooting toward the Heavens Fury.
All the runes on the steel feathers lit up.
The heavy and massive steel body carved a vigorous arc in the sky, evading the Dragon Breath. Then, blue flames surged from its back as it accelerated, smashing through the curtain of rain. It locked onto Garros and pursued him in a straight line.
It determined that Garros was of a higher Rank and prioritized hunting him.
Garros didn't rush to accelerate. He maneuvered with the Heavens Fury for a while. Once the distance between them closed and the other two Young Dragons had moved away in different directions, he grinned. He squeezed a black oil canister from his storage stomach, crushed and swallowed it, and then licked some fairy scale powder he had taken from the inner layer of his scales.
From the tips of his silver wing bones, a thick, churning dark-red aura instantly erupted, like oil being poured onto a fire.
Frenzied State!
He activated his Frenzied State at the same time, with golden lightning dancing across his body.
Boom!
With a flap of his wings, the Red-Iron Dragon instantly broke the sound barrier. A circular shockwave radiated outward around him, leaving a long red-gold trail behind.
In an instant, he had surged seven or eight hundred meters away, smashing an empty path through the curtain of rain.
The Heavens Fury pursued in vain.
It was an aerial-type combat golem equipped with a flight module, and its speed was not slow. However, compared to Garros's supersonic dash, it paled in comparison.
Strength and defense were even secondary.
Garros's speed and maneuverability were his greatest assets and advantages now.
For creatures below the Legendary Rank, even if their Rank was much higher than his, it was very difficult to keep up with his speed unless they were naturally gifted flyers or specialized in speed.
A few minutes later.
The Heavens Fury could only see a faint, flickering light gradually disappearing into the thick, deep curtain of rain.
It had lost him.
Meanwhile, in the clouds of the distant sky.
The golden lightning on Garros's body gradually faded. He was breathing heavily, and every flap of his wings carried a tremor that had not yet subsided.
He looked back at the pursuer who had long since vanished over the horizon, the dragon heart in his chest still pounding violently.
Not out of fear, but a certain indescribable thrill.