Garros finished his neck-roll training and shook his body, causing the sand embedded in the gaps of his scales to fall away in a rustle.
He walked slowly toward the riverbank and lowered his head to drink deeply from the river.
After drinking his fill, he did not leave but gazed at the water's surface.
The river water rippled, reflecting his formidable dragon head as it twisted and shook; only those pitch-black eyes remained as calm and cool as ever. He did not look like a bloodthirsty, cruel monster, but rather like a warrior with a firm will, tempered through a thousand trials.
He raised his head and turned around.
Garros turned his gaze toward his busy subordinates.
The Estonia Great River was wide and its current swift, with many aquatic Vicious Beasts and monsters within; wading across directly was very dangerous, so he had the Lizardfolk and Kobolds build rafts.
The Lizardfolk selected suitable tree trunks, felling them and transporting them to the riverbank.
The Kobolds used sharp knives to scrape bark and wove the fibers into ropes.
They primarily used mortise and tenon structures, applied waterproof river mud and resin, and had sorcerers cast Spells for reinforcement. Eventually, they formed large rafts that looked crude but were exceptionally sturdy and capable of crossing the river.
If the time was right and they had blueprints and Materials,
Lizardfolk and Kobolds could build complex ferries; they were recognized as Great Masters of wilderness construction.
Once they reached The Borderlands and no longer needed to hide themselves, Garros planned to have them build a formal fortress dragon nest for him, rather than living in dark caves like wild beasts as before.
This was a massive project.
Especially given the size of Dragonkin, building a suitable dwelling for them required a lot of time, Materials, manpower, and resources.
However, a suitable nesting habitat wasn't just for enjoyment.
It made Garros feel pleasant, and a good mood helped him think calmly and rationally, so it was not without benefit.
Garros looked up at the sky.
Kora Giant Eagles and the Iron Dragon Sorog were circling on patrol, and there were hidden sentries at various locations keeping watch.
Unless it was a being exceptionally skilled at stealth, it would be difficult to approach this place; moreover, given the scale of the monster group here, no one would approach rashly unless it was an accident.
Furthermore, Garros was currently in his peak state.
The blood-like light of the setting sun fell upon him, seeping into the gaps of his scales.
It was clearly visible that the injuries he had previously sustained had now completely healed, and the used Explosive Scales had grown back, layered on his body like heavy armor. Moreover, the spikes on his body had become even harder and were continuing to evolve, with no known end to what form they would take.
"We are already far from the Thousand Snake Scars."
"After crossing the great river, further ahead is the borderland between the wilderness and the tundra."
The Red-Iron Dragon coiled and lay down on the spot, closing his eyes to doze.
The afterglow of the sunset plated the riverbank in a layer of blood-red as the twilight deepened.
The hunters of the Dragon Hunting Group moved silently through the monster group, quietly approaching the Red-Iron Dragon.
The Conjurer chanted obscure incantations in a low voice, and dark purple Demonic Energy enveloped everyone like a thin mist.
They were like ghosts wandering in the transition zone between light and dark, unable to be seen or touched; even their scent, sound, and body temperature did not leak out at all.
—Shadow Stealth Art.
This Spell allowed a group of people to briefly appear in the Shadow Realm, a dark plane bordering and parallel to the Material Plane. By sneaking through the Shadow Realm, they could achieve long-distance jumps, invisibility, and even teleportation in the Material Plane.
The Dragon Hunting Group had a specialized dragon-hunting process centered around the gladiator array disk.
First, they would approach the target using the Shadow Stealth Art, then pull the target into the gladiatorial space, use their numerical and spatial advantage to kill the target, and finally teleport away to avoid being surrounded and killed by the subsequent monsters.
They had only hunted one adult dragon before.
But for those Young Dragons, adolescents, and even younger Young Dragons, they had plenty of hunting experience.
Although they had heard news of three Young Evil Dragons wreaking havoc at the mining base and knew they were unusual, the Dragon Hunting Group also had their own confidence.
Against an army head-on, they might not be a match.
But when it came to dealing with Dragonkin, they were the professionals.
Passing through the dull Ogre groups and the alert Gnoll groups, the Dragon Hunting Group strolled through the Shadow Realm, slowly approaching the target. They had good luck along the way, encountering no attacks from Shadow Creatures and facing no risk of being forced out of stealth midway.
Only the Faerie Dragon Vera, who had the sharpest perception, faintly felt that something was wrong.
She was a Planar Dragon; although not a Shadow Dragon of the Shadow Realm, when people approached using planar characteristics, she still instinctively felt a slight abnormality.
The Faerie Dragon flapped her butterfly-like wings and flew toward the Red-Iron Dragon, who was resting with his eyes closed.
She didn't care if he would 'kill dragons in his sleep' anymore.
Vera gathered her courage to approach and then shouted: "Garros, wake up! I have a strange feeling!"
Garros opened his eyes.
"What's wrong?"
he asked.
The Faerie Dragon spun in place anxiously, but it was hard to describe an instinctive feeling.
"It's just, it's just not right!"
she said.
Garros's pupils narrowed as he warily scanned the surroundings, but everything within his sight appeared normal.
The perception attributes of both Red Dragons and Iron Dragons were not outstanding and were somewhat dull; Garros's mixed blood in this regard was not positive, being naturally weaker than normal Red Dragons and Iron Dragons. Over the years, he had increased his mental attributes quite a bit using fairy scale powder, so his perception was no longer a weakness, but it couldn't be called outstanding either.
He trusted the Faerie Dragon's judgment.
Out of caution, Garros flapped his wings, intending to take off and ascend into the sky first.
However, at that moment, a sudden change occurred.
A total of eight shadows emerged from the Void Realm without warning.
The reeds of the real world eerily passed through their bodies as if the two existed in different dimensions.
Only when the Conjurer raised a stone tablet engraved with reverse-scale patterns and slammed it into the ground did their armor and robes suddenly solidify, making a dull sound of metal hitting the earth.
The surrounding monsters instantly looked toward them.
Countless gazes fell upon the group.
Samantha opened her dragon maw, about to spit out Flame Dragon Breath to submerge these sudden attackers.
At the same time,
the ground beneath Garros suddenly collapsed into a vortex.
It wasn't a physical collapse—but rather space itself was collapsing.
Like a piece of parchment being crumpled by an invisible giant hand.
A dark red light screen rose from the edge of the vortex like a closing beast's mouth; the spatial change was too fast to react to, swallowing the Red-Iron Dragon's entire body.
In Garros's perception, the scene of the riverbank first froze and then began to fade.
The ropes the Gnolls were weaving, the boulders the Ogres were carrying, and even the flames Samantha spat out all blurred and dissipated like an oil painting washed by rain.
Only that red stone tablet and several figures became increasingly clear, filling his entire field of vision.
The world reorganized amidst the distortion.
When Garros's vision cleared, he found himself standing in the center of an ancient Roman-style circular colosseum.
The stands were empty, with only the sounds of fighting echoing continuously. Garros also mysteriously understood the way this space operated, and opposite him, eight phantoms solidified one by one.
"Why does this space feel like an instance in a game?"
"Oh, I've become the boss, and these people are forming a party to raid me."
After examining his surroundings, Garros stared at the figures in front of him.
A total of eight people.
Two of them left the deepest first impression on him.
Leading them was the Conjurer leader [Shadowbinder Karios], who was thin and wore a deep purple robe woven from Demon Spider Silk; half of his face was hidden in a hood and couldn't be seen clearly, runes constantly surfaced and circled the robe's surface, and he held a Dragonspine Staff crafted from the spine of a black dragon.
Then there was the Paladin vice-leader standing beside him.
[Steelvow Leo]
He was tall and powerful, wearing heavy armor with layered black scale-like plates that carried the aura of Dragonkin, and every piece was engraved with prayers that profaned the Dragon Clan. His eyes beneath the steel helmet's visor were cold, and the Dragon-Slaying Greatsword in his hand was over three meters long and as wide as a door.
To be more precise,
he was an Oath of Vengeance Paladin.
An Oath of Vengeance is a solemn promise to punish those who commit grave crimes.
When evil forces slaughter helpless residents, when all people turn away from the will of the gods, when a certain thieves' guild becomes too overbearing, when a terrifying dragon rampages through the countryside—in such moments, an Oath of Vengeance Paladin appears to set things right.
These Paladins would uphold justice even at the cost of their own purity and honor.
No mercy for the wicked, and any means necessary for victory.
Every vengeance Paladin's oath is different.
The Oath of Vengeance Leo had taken was specifically to slay all Evil Dragons that endangered the world.
Because of this oath, all his attacks carried extra damage against Dragonkin, and he would receive comprehensive enhancements when fighting them.
In the Dragon Hunting Group,
this Paladin was the strongest front-line damage dealer, while the Conjurer leader was the control-type character governing the overall situation.
The professions of the others were also different, and they were specialized classes rather than traditional balanced warriors.
For example, a Shadow Assassin specializing in lethal sneak attacks and poisons, a Vicious Beast Hunter specializing in destroying the weak points of large creatures, a War Priest specializing in team buffs and holy strikes, a Potion Expert specializing in explosives and potions, and a Blood-Rage Berserker specializing in regeneration and combat.
With the Conjurer and Paladin as the core, these professionals who could cooperate with each other indeed had the confidence and ability to hunt dragons.
From these people, Garros felt an unprecedented danger, a situation more perilous than when he had fought the Diamond Giant.
The Dragon Hunting Group had prepared meticulously, bringing him to such a limited space; even without using means like grounding, it imposed severe restrictions on his flight and mobility.
As the party forced into a defensive position, Garros was at a geographical disadvantage.
But his mind became increasingly calm, and he did not feel anger at being attacked.
The more such a moment occurred, the more he needed to suppress negative emotions and focus on resolving the predicament and crisis.