Time flowed by unhurriedly, silently, and invisibly.
The night mist shrouded the Borderlands like thick ink, and the valley ahead was blurry and indistinct, appearing and disappearing fitfully.
The elite troops of the Bloodhoof Clan moved forward in silence. The mounts of the Heavy Armored Rhino knights stepped over damp moss, and silencing cloth woven from spider silk allowed the multi-ton beasts to move as silently as ghosts. The shamans on the backs of mammoths gripped Silence Totems tightly, their movements and sounds swallowed by magic.
"The target valley is just ahead."
The White-Mane Shaman frowned and lowered his voice, saying, "Something's not right. We're very close now, but there's no trace of any sentries."
Dragon Valley was only a few miles away from their troops.
At this distance...
The White-Mane Shaman was already prepared to be discovered, his Spells ready to be unleashed.
But as time passed and the troops advanced step by step, the valley ahead remained unresponsive, like a sleeping giant beast crouched upon the earth.
There were no patrolling wyverns or giant eagles in the sky, nor were any hidden sentries discovered.
There were no howls from Gnoll patrols, and no light from Kobold arrow towers.
The Bloodhoof troops' approach was so smooth it was inconceivable.
"Are the Dragonkin so stupidly arrogant that they've left themselves completely undefended?"
A leader scratched his horn and asked in confusion.
"No, if that were truly the case, it would go beyond mere stupidity."
The White-Mane Shaman flicked his tail irritably and said, "I'm a bit uneasy. It feels like something bad is about to happen."
Riding atop a giant mammoth, the Bloodhoof Chieftain stared expressionlessly at Dragon Valley.
He didn't speak, but simply made a gesture to a Minotaur leader.
The main force of the Bloodhoof Clan halted, and five agile scouts, led by a lean Minotaur, rushed toward the narrow, easily defensible valley entrance like arrows released from a bow.
They were somewhat cautious at first.
Especially when they saw the watchtowers standing on the valley cliffs, their tension reached its peak, fearing a rain of arrows would come at any second.
However, what made them even more nervous...
—Was that those watchtowers were completely empty.
They charged into Dragon Valley without any hindrance.
The scouts quickly returned to the troops.
Their expressions were tense and their breathing hurried as they reported to Baal: "Chie-Chieftain, the valley is full of empty tents, and the campfires are all cold. No enemy warriors were seen, only some elderly, weak, and disabled who lack combat skills."
At this moment, Baal was standing on the ground, lightly patting the mammoth's trunk.
When he heard the scouts' report, his movements froze.
We've been tricked!
Cunning Evil Dragon!
Baal's face darkened. He stepped down, crushing the ground, and amidst the flying debris, he leaped back onto the back of the tall mammoth.
Before Baal could issue further orders...
A Minotaur warlock at the end of the line suddenly had a drastic change in expression. He pulled a cracking crystal ball from his robes, and through the rapidly fading light, the silhouette of a Dragon soaring over their home base could be faintly seen.
This seemed to be a signal.
The faces of even more warlocks and shamans shifted slightly.
The White-Mane Shaman pulled out a miniature, model-like totem. The runes on it were flashing, and the desperate shouts and roars of his clansmen could be heard coming from it.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
"The Dragon is here!"
"Watch out for the Ogres and Centaurs!"
"Call for reinforcements, quickly!"
"..."
By now, even the slowest Minotaur understood the situation.
The Young Dragons hadn't waited in the valley for the Bloodhoof Clan to arrive; they had no intention of a frontal confrontation. The actions of the Red Dragon and White Dragon were merely a ruse. The Bloodhoof Clan thought they had lured away and dispersed the forces of Dragon Valley, but in reality, they were the ones who had been lured away.
The Bloodhoof Clan, which had wanted to conquer Dragon Valley and hunt the Dragons in one fell swoop...
Was now paying the price for their own cleverness and their prejudice against Dragonkin.
"Return. Return to the tribe."
Baal ordered without hesitation. His voice was steady, but frighteningly low.
The Minotaur were bound together by Bloodline and totem faith.
They valued their clan, tribe, and families. They could not abandon their territory, nor could they abandon their people.
With their defensive forces at their weakest, the tribal territory was under attack and in critical danger. Every Minotaur was consumed with anxiety.
The Bloodhoof troops, which had come in a grand procession, now turned back just as grandly, moving even faster than when they arrived.
But unlike the excitement they felt on the way there, every Minotaur's heart was now tight with tension. The warlocks and shamans no longer cared about concealing the troops, focusing solely on boosting their speed, which caused a massive commotion.
Let us return to a few minutes prior.
The Bloodhoof Clan home base.
Garros circled in the sky, the chilling gale he generated tearing the Arcane Heavenly Eye to shreds.
Before the Minotaur began their march, and before the Red Dragon and White Dragon occupied the two outposts, he had already taken action once he realized the Minotaur's plan. His warband moved in secret, bypassing the main path toward the Bloodhoof Clan's home base. Samantha and Tereshi, who had stayed at the outposts to deceive the Minotaur, had both received the message and were on their way.
"Arrogant, conceited, foolish."
"Go ahead and project those prejudices onto me."
At first, Garros felt annoyed by these prejudices and discrimination, but as he grew, he gradually realized it was a natural camouflage. It allowed his enemies to underestimate him, which was actually a good thing for him.
He didn't immediately attack the brightly lit, sizable Minotaur territory below.
The Red-Iron Dragon simply gazed down quietly, letting his subordinates play their roles while he conserved his energy for the more intense battles to come.
At the same time.
A wisp of night wind swept past the totem poles.
The Minotaur sentry on the watchtower only had time to let out half a warning cry.
An Explosive Magic Arrow from a mixed-blood Centaur had already pierced his throat, blowing the sentry's body and most of the watchtower to pieces.
Roar!
An adult Gold Dragon, nearly twenty meters long, majestic and powerful with every scale gleaming, appeared in the air and let out a high-pitched, resonant dragon roar.
A Gold Dragon?!
Thinking of the power of Gold Dragons recorded in ancient texts, several sentries' hearts stopped, and they were literally scared to death. Many Minotaur also nearly forgot to breathe, their hearts filled with horror and their minds going blank.
Fortunately, the terrifying Gold Dragon dissipated like a phantom illusion, seemingly not a physical entity.
Almost simultaneously.
Thirty ghost-like black shadows darted up the battlements along the shadows of the city walls.
Hodge the Gnoll stood at the very rear, his feet planted within a crimson Overseer Aura. The Gnoll hunters before him bulged as if filled with pitch and oil, their claws and fangs baring simultaneously as hoarse growls escaped their throats.
"Tear open their throats!"
"For the Molten Iron Clan!"
Chaos descended.
The Bloodhoof Clan fell into a state of turmoil in an instant.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
All the scales on the Dragon-vein Gluttony Demon Karu lit up bright red, like a burning flame.
This majestic monster, only slightly shorter than the city wall, sprinted forward. Every step shook dust from the walls, and the short spears and arrows fired at him could not stop his advance.
Immediately after.
He slammed into the city wall like a battering ram.
Crash!
The stone wall collapsed and shattered, but what awaited Karu were twelve poisoned spears.
But the moment the poisoned tips struck his body, sparks actually flew!
"Meat..."
Karu grinned with a drooling mouth, his fan-like giant palms grabbing two Minotaur heads and smashing them together. Red and white fluids splattered onto his face. He didn't mind the filth, but instead stuck out his tongue and licked it with relish, a sight that made one's skin crawl.
To the west, a Minotaur warlock waved his staff.
Earth and stone rose, attempting to create a surge under the warlock's control.
—But he was interrupted by a dense rain of arrows.
Silvermane reared up his upper body, the muscles in his arms twisting tight like steel wires. He drew his bow and fired, the arrow accurately pinning itself into the warlock's eye socket and piercing through the bone.
The cavalry he led swept across the top of the wall, their arrows falling like rain, pinpointing warlocks and shamans for attack.
Among the cavalry that followed the White Dragon, there were no Centaurs this time.
The ground split open.
The totem poles of the Bloodhoof Clan rose on the battlefield, standing tall and majestic. The runes on the poles lit up one by one, shooting out interwoven Chain Lightning, whistling frost arrows, and exploding fireballs.
Elemental magic surged wildly across the battlefield.
At times it turned into a destructive torrent rushing toward the enemy, and at times it became a healing drizzle falling upon the Minotaur warriors.
Whoosh—whoosh—!
Elvie hovered in mid-air, her wings spread as her arrows flew like shooting stars.
The Magic Warrior, who had elven blood, was extremely skilled in archery.
Her arms became a blur as one explosive arrow after another, infused with magic, streaked through the sky, striking the totem poles like precision-guided missiles.
The magical shields vibrated violently under the continuous bombardment, and the frequency of their counterattacks visibly weakened.
Not far away, the Dragon-vein Gluttony Demon Karu grinned as he tore a Minotaur leader in half.
He casually pulled out a spear stuck in his shoulder, wiped his blood-stained giant palm over the wound, and bit down on an arm. The wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The monster, as strong as a dragon, took heavy steps and charged toward the nearest totem pole.
Heavy-armored Ogres arrived at the same time, along with a few equally strong trolls.
"Hammer the skull, drink the blood!"
"Shatter the bones into song!"
They shouted their warband slogans in gruff voices. Their voices were unpleasant and raspy, and they weren't in unison, sounding more like growls and roars, but they possessed an unstoppable momentum.
Clad in steel armor infused with adamantine, they withstood the attacks from the totem poles, wielding giant axes, war hammers, and maces like a moving city wall, advancing step by step.
As the most elite Star-Shattering Hammer Warband of the Molten Iron Clan...
They enjoyed the best equipment and food, and they also took on the most difficult frontal assault tasks.
The sky suddenly grew dark.
With a burst of noisy shrieks and a roar like a volcanic eruption, the flock of wyverns led by Red Dragon Samantha crashed into the battlefield like meteors. Wherever the dragonflame passed, vegetation was reduced to ashes.
The White Dragon was a step slower, but she also arrived with Giant Wolf Knights, Hyena Knights, and other swift cavalry, pouring into the gaps in the battlefield like a tide.
As the silhouettes of the two dragons rampaged over the Bloodhoof Clan, the outcome of the battle was no longer in doubt.
One totem pole after another collapsed with a roar, and the Minotaur's defensive line melted like snow under a hot sun. The ruins and scorched earth were strewn with corpses, and blood gathered into streams.
The Molten Iron Clan.
This 'Vicious Beast' led by the Red-Iron Dragon showed its sharp edge in the Borderlands for the first time, revealing its lethal talons.