"You winged giant lizards! Do you dare come down and take a sword strike from me?!"
General Evil Wolf slaughtered the surrounding monsters, his angry war cry pouring out from the gaps in his helmet, the sound waves surging into the sky, carrying undisguised provocation and Battle Intent.
At the same time as this sound was heard.
Three pairs of cold Dragon pupils instantly locked onto the small yet exceptionally conspicuous figure on the ground.
It was not out of anger from being provoked by a lower life form; the Ignas Dragon Flight had long since ceased to be affected by such petty tactics. Their attention was drawn because they had reached a consensus in their hearts.
The strength displayed by this Rune Knight far exceeded that of an ordinary boss, and his threat Rank was extremely high. If left unchecked, he could cause incalculable losses to the Molten Iron Tribe's army of kin. Moreover, Dragonkin did not reject battles of soldier against soldier and general against general; mindlessly slaughtering mobs made them feel bored.
"I will deal with him!"
White Dragon Tereshi's eyes flashed with a sharp light, eager to try, and she volunteered.
The combat power displayed by the Rune Knight was certainly formidable, and dealing with those lower-level monsters was like cutting vegetables, but that did not change the fact that he was still a human. Furthermore, as of now, he had not shown himself to be that powerful compared to the Dragons.
Tereshi believed that her ecological niche was higher than that of the Rune Knight, and she should naturally form an overwhelming force.
Whoosh—!
She abruptly folded her wings, like an arrow of frost released from a bowstring, and dove toward the Rune Knight on the ground.
On the ground, facing the White Dragon diving down while carrying a bone-chilling cold current and terrifying wind pressure, the Rune Knight Rhode took a deep breath.
The armor covering his body, the greatsword in his hand, and the great shield on his back.
The runes inscribed on all his equipment and weapons suddenly lit up, turning into a scorching flame color, like burning metal.
Flame Rune!
Great Body!
Along with all the equipment on his body, Rhode's physique began to swell and enlarge step by step.
Surging flames erupted from his skin, wrapping around him, and the greatsword in his hand also became crimson and hot, like a branding iron just taken out of a furnace.
In the blink of an eye, he seemed to transform into a Fire Giant, rather than an ordinary human.
His gaze was murderous, his muscles tensed, and he gripped the burning greatsword tightly, striving to deliver a fatal blow the moment the White Dragon dove to its lowest point, or at the very least, severely injure it and completely cripple this Dragon's combat capability!
However, something that left the Rune Knight completely stunned and utterly unexpected happened.
At the very moment his Aura was wildly surging and he was transforming into a Fire Giant through the Giant Rune and Flame Rune.
That White Dragon, which had been aggressive and seemed as if it wanted to crush him, did not hesitate for even a second, abruptly pivoting its wings to one side, tracing an incredibly agile and sharp arc in the air, and then... it decisively retreated without looking back.
"That was close! This guy had been hiding his strength the whole time!"
"His ecological niche suddenly elevated to this level; I estimate I'm no match for him."
White Dragon Tereshi flapped her wings to gain altitude with lingering fear, silently rejoicing in her heart that her reaction was fast enough and her intuition accurate enough; otherwise, if she had rushed down rashly just now, she would probably have been in real trouble.
Red Dragon Samantha's dissatisfied roar came like rolling thunder: "White Scale trash! To be scared off by a human and flee without fighting, aren't you ashamed of losing Face for our Dragon Clan?!"
Not ashamed—White Dragon Tereshi responded in her heart without hesitation; preserving one's life was much more important than Face.
"This human is indeed not simple; we cannot be careless. Let's attack together and slaughter him!"
Iron Dragon Sorog's calm yet murderous voice sounded in the hearts of both Dragons at the same time.
The next moment, the Iron Dragon and the Red Dragon, one on the left and one on the right, like two guillotines of death, tacitly attacked General Evil Wolf on the ground simultaneously from different directions.
Seeing that they had all made their move, White Dragon Tereshi suddenly felt her own ecological niche elevating step by step, and courage instantly filled her heart.
She let out a loud roar and followed closely behind, joining the Ranks of the siege once again.
Under the deep night sky, the three Dragons were like a guillotine of judgment hanging in the firmament, their cold gazes locked onto the figure burning with flames on the ground.
Iron Dragon Sorog made the first move.
It folded its giant wings, its massive body tearing through the airflow, imitating the meteor-like combat style of a certain blood-kin brother from its memory, using its own heavy body as a weapon, and smashed down ferociously.
Red Dragon Samantha followed closely behind.
She lowered her altitude and flew rapidly close to the ground; her scorching Dragon Breath was not spat out directly, but instead, following the trajectory of her body, she drew a crazily burning ring of fire on the ground like a paintbrush, trapping Rhode in the lethal high temperature of a furnace.
White Dragon Tereshi hovered high in the air, the ice-blue cold light in her throat surging violently, her frost breath ready to go, sealing off any possible retreat.
Facing such a net of combined attacks, an ordinary warrior would have no chance of survival.
But General Evil Wolf was a powerhouse who had crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, having faced death countless times; he was by no means a mediocre person. In a flash, a countermeasure had already taken shape.
Boom—!
The Iron Dragon crashed into the ground like a real meteor, the earth collapsing in response, layers of soil waves mixed with crushed stones rushing into the sky.
However, at the very instant before the impact occurred, the Wind Rune on Rhode's combat boots flashed, his speed surged, and he narrowly avoided the devastating central impact.
He leaped up using the momentum, and the great shield in his hand that had originally been burning with flames instantly transformed into a deep ice-blue color.
The Frost Rune flickered violently, emitting a biting, bone-chilling cold.
He curled his body behind this suddenly appeared frost great shield, like a traveler braving a snowstorm, and forced his way out of the blockade of the fire ring formed by the Red Dragon's breath.
Whoosh—!
How could White Dragon Tereshi high in the sky let this opportunity pass? The frost breath that had long been charged poured down like a bursting glacier.
General Evil Wolf remained calm in the Face of danger, raised his still red-hot greatsword, and with a roar, a scorching Sword Qi condensed into substance broke through the air, accurately meeting the lethal cold current.
Ice and fire collided violently in mid-air, steaming up the sky with white mist, making a continuous, harsh hissing sound.
Relying on the exquisite and ever-changing flexible use of runes of different attributes, General Evil Wolf miraculously neutralized the first wave of the three Dragons' lethal combined attack.
But this was just the beginning.
More ferocious and continuous attacks followed one after another.
An invisible Dragon roar exploded directly deep in his mind.
The mental impact caused his movements to inevitably stall slightly.
In this instant of blurred consciousness, Iron Dragon Sorog's hard and heavy body had already approached, and the raised Dragon claw, carrying a vicious wind that tore through the air, slapped down at his head.
Rhode's pupils contracted suddenly.
The flames and frost Aura surrounding him instantly dissipated, replaced by a thick and solid earth-yellow radiance like a mountain.
The muscles in his arms bulged, and the enlarged Rune greatsword was used by him to block upward with all his might.
Clang—!!!
A metallic explosion harsher than thunder swept across the battlefield, and a visible shockwave exploded in a ring, blowing away all the creatures fighting around him, friend or foe.
Solrog's claw, which was enough to smash a city wall, was actually held back.
Where the sword and claw met, red-hot sparks splashed like a waterfall.
In the Great Body state, Rhode's figure expanded like a giant, and his strength also received a terrifying boost. Relying on a higher Life Level, he was not directly knocked flying by the Dragon, but the huge impact still caused his greaves to sink deeply into the rock layer beneath his feet.
"Ugh!"
Rhode let out a low roar, the veins in his left arm bulging, erupting with even greater strength, and that mountain great shield, carrying a dull wind pressure, slammed fiercely upward into the Iron Dragon's lower jaw.
Bang!
The sound of the hard cuticle breaking was clearly audible.
Solrog roared in pain as he was pushed backward by this great force, stumbling back a few steps.
However, almost at the same time, Rhode himself felt a sharp pain in his chin, as if he had been struck hard by an invisible heavy hammer.
Psychic Spell—Forced Pain Link.
This Spell belonging to the Psion path would not cause substantial damage, but it could perfectly synchronize and transmit the pain one endured to the target.
"Die!"
The Red Dragon's roar was already close to his ears.
General Evil Wolf had just struggled to turn around and had no time to raise his great shield or lift his greatsword again; Samantha's claw, burning with rage, had already landed solidly on his chest.
Bang!
In the dull, loud noise, the Red Dragon's tyrannical, massive strength penetrated his body.
Even with the heavy blessing of the Mountain Rune, it was difficult to completely offset it. Deep cracks like spider webs instantly spread across Rhode's breastplate, and his entire body flew backward as if thrown by a catapult.
Swish, swish, swish—!
White Dragon Tereshi's Spell chanting had never ceased, and dense, incredibly sharp ice blades descended from the sky like a storm, shooting toward Rhode in mid-air!
Rhode endured the severe pain, trying to turn around and protect his whole body with the great shield, but groups of uncontrollable, chaotic flames suddenly exploded where he had been hit in the chest.
That was the explosion mark left by the Red Dragon, one of the Alchemist's skills.
The defense was instantly exposed.
Countless ice blades seized the opportunity to pass through the barrier, hitting his body with a clanging sound, leaving a large number of deep scratches and white marks on the heavy armor.
The extreme cold freezing air and the heat remaining on the armor collided crazily, making a violent hissing sound, and white mist filled the air.
He landed heavily, his chest heaving violently, and he slowly stood up, supporting his body with his sword.
With a shield in one hand and a sword in the other, the Rune Knight's gaze was like that of an injured lone wolf, shifting vigilantly between the three circling Dragons, not daring to make any rash moves again.
He was a Rank 16 Rune Knight and a leader among his peers.
And the opponents before him, the three Dragons, had a Life Level of no more than Rank 13.
If the opponents were human, even if facing multiple enemies, he would have already annihilated them all by now.
However.
Three Dragons around Rank 12, relying on their innate, powerful racial advantages, had forced him into such a sorry state.
What made his heart even heavier was that—the Red Dragon, Iron Dragon, and White Dragon... all three of them had actually taken up professions, which far exceeded all his expectations.
An adult White Dragon, two adolescent Iron Dragon and Red Dragon.
In his expectations, even if he were not a match, he would certainly not be so stretched thin.
Who could have imagined that they did not just rely on their innate powerful bodies to fight, but actually each mastered tricky professional skills, each with their own characteristics.
Under normal circumstances.
Except for the adult White Dragon that might have lived longer, the other two underage Dragons should not have had professions at all.
The scariest point was—the intelligence clearly mentioned that the true king of the Molten Iron Tribe was a hybrid... Red-Iron Dragon.
Until this very moment, fighting to this point, he had not even been able to catch a glimpse of that Red-Iron Dragon.
His mood sank deeper and deeper, and he completely realized that his side had seriously underestimated the terrifying strength of the Molten Iron Tribe.
These Dragons were completely different from the chaotic Evil Dragons in the records that only knew how to destroy; they could by no means be measured by common sense.
"Crawler, your death day has arrived!"
Red Dragon Samantha let out a low roar of impending victory, flapped her wings again, and dove toward the Rune Knight.
Under the siege of three Dragons with professions and tacit cooperation, General Evil Wolf was already in critical danger and could only struggle to hold on.
The other officers and elite soldiers in the unit were anxious, wanting to lend a hand, but they were also caught in a bitter battle themselves, unable to break away.
Whether it was high-end combat power, mid-level command, or bottom-level soldiers.
This private army that the Albert Family was proud of was already completely at a disadvantage in front of the Molten Iron Tribe's formidable monster army.
Meanwhile.
On top of a hill not far away, the Red-Iron Dragon stood silently among the rocks in the shadows.
His calm gaze penetrated the noisy night sky, staring coldly at the chaotic and bloody battlefield below.
As far as the current situation was concerned, there was absolutely no need for him to take action personally.
Core top bosses like the Snake-man Sword Saint and the Dragon-blooded Ogre were still guarding The Borderlands, and the Advanced kin participating in the battle here were not the entire main force.
But even so, the Molten Iron Tribe's army had already beaten this aristocratic private army to the point of being unable to parry.
The Dragon Flight was gradually growing in blood and fire, and the edge of the Molten Iron Tribe was becoming increasingly sharp.
Garros clearly realized that his wings were gradually becoming full.
Not all wars required his personal participation.
Admittedly, if he took action, he could naturally end the battle with thunderous momentum, but he had spent his heart and blood to cultivate his kin precisely to reduce his own burden, not to act as a nanny forever.
Challenges within the scope of the kin's abilities should be faced and solved by them; this itself was also a tempering and test for them.
If the Albert Family had no other backup plans, this private army, which had been cultivated at great expense, was destined to be wiped out here.
"Only this army on the surface? No other hidden blades in the dark?"
The Red-Iron Dragon pondered in his heart, uncertain.
He remained here to hold the line, the main purpose being to guard against the opponent's possible, unrevealed trump card.
But the battle had reached this point, and no unexpected changes had been seen yet.
"Could it be... that I am overthinking?"
No!
Just as this thought arose, the Red-Iron Dragon's gaze suddenly became sharp as a blade, and then he calmly turned his massive head slightly, lowering his eyes to gaze at a shadow under the hill.
A figure was approaching at an incredible speed.
His Face was young and handsome, not even inferior to the human form of Golden Dragon Alberto; it was the Flower Knight who had been investigating in Ximu Town not long ago—Charles Hines.
Charles had intended to continue lurking and observing, especially hoping to catch a glimpse of the Red-Iron Dragon's true strength.
However, witnessing the increasing casualties and bloodshed on the battlefield, the reluctance in his heart finally outweighed his tactical considerations.
Even knowing that exposing himself at this time would instantly put him in an extremely unfavorable situation and might invite dangerous and troublesome sieges, he still chose to appear, hoping only to stop this bloody massacre.
"Respected Lord of Molten Iron."
Charles did not draw his sword, but stood in place and said in a slightly pleading tone: "I have come for the Albert Family, but I have no malice. Can we... talk?"