The sky was clear for thousands of miles, with occasional white clouds, and the vast grasslands were filled with beasts running in all directions.
A giant white Dragon stretched its wings and flew from high in the sky, the winds it commanded shattering the clouds, and its massive body cast a rapidly moving shadow on the ground.
Centaur Warrior Chiron led the Centaur cavalry galloping across the grasslands, as if chasing the shadow cast by the giant Dragon from the sky.
Each of these strong Centaur Warriors was an elite warrior selected from the tribe, with an average height of three meters, bulging muscles in their limbs, and full, powerful muscles that demonstrated their formidable strength.
Led by the Dragonkin Centaur, these warriors' four hooves trampled the grasslands, their wild and fierce aura causing all the beasts on the grassland to scatter and flee.
Even the ferocious Savage Beasts had to keep their distance from this large group of Centaur cavalry. These Savage Beasts, which had begun to develop intelligence, knew that the Centaur, clad in fine armor and wielding sharp weapons, could trample them into a bloody mess with a single charge.
Scattered around the swiftly galloping elite Centaur Warriors were over a hundred Kobold warriors and Green Goblin Warriors riding Grey Wolf.
These relatively strong warriors, carefully selected from their respective tribes, rode the captured and tamed Grey Wolf, accompanying the Centaur cavalry on their rampage.
Although these Grey Wolf were not as fast as the Centaur Warriors, they excelled in endurance and could keep up with the Centaur Warriors'Team.
However, these Kobold Warriors and Green Goblin only wore leather armor and tough beast hides, and their weapons were just a short bow made from a tough wood found in the forest and a few short-handled hunting spears.
"Halt!" The Centaur Warrior Chiron, whose body was covered in fine, reddish scales, shouted from the front. The refined iron spear in his thick right hand was raised high, and his trampling hooves gradually slowed.
All the Centaur Warriors also slowed down with Chiron's rhythm, stopping in place within a few steps. These Centaur Warriors were still in the process of practicing coordinated discipline, but their reactions were very quick.
Just this point alone would require elite human cavalry to train for a long time, and this was even with these Centaur Warriors needing to familiarize themselves with their commander's commands.
Chiron walked forward. A giant beast carcass lay across the grassland. It was the body of a grassland giant elephant, its long tusks nearly two meters long.
The gnawed clean skeleton was almost eleven meters from head to tail, and the scattered flesh and bones emitted a fierce aura. This was a Savage Beast, and it was the leader of the elephant herd.
"Woof woof, Chirp,"
As the Centaur cavalry team stopped, the Grey Wolf Knights following behind also gathered around. The Kobold, appointed as the captain of the Grey Wolf Knights, pulled on the fur of his Grey Wolf and approached, communicating with Chiron, who was crouching on the ground inspecting the situation, in Dragon Language and Kobold language.
"Speak Common Tongue," the Centaur Chiron said with a serious expression. "As scout cavalry, you Kobold will not only communicate with Dragonkin. In the future, Lord Kalon's subordinates will not only consist of these racial dependents."
"More and more other races will pledge allegiance to the Dragon. Every one of you scout cavalry needs to learn the Common Tongue. Those who cannot learn it will go back to the dark caves to mine."
"Yes, Lord Chiron," the Kobold scout captain stammered in Common Tongue to the Centaur, "Wh-what should we do n-next?"
"You take these Grey Wolf Knights, form teams of three to five, and spread out to scout the surrounding area," the Centaur Warrior Chiron said with a solemn expression. "We have already found many giant elephant carcasses along the way, and now we've even found a powerful Savage Beast giant elephant. This is the leader of the elephant herd, so there must be creatures or tribes more dangerous than this giant elephant nearby."
"Report back immediately if you find anything, and if you encounter danger, fire a whistle arrow. I will come over immediately."
The current area was already on the edge of the Dragon Clan Territory, surrounded by undulating low hills. This was Chiron's first time leading these Centaur Warriors out for training, and he could not afford any mistakes. Therefore, he chose to have the galloping Centaur cavalrystop in place to rest and recover their strength, in case of any danger that might arise at any time.
"Yes, Lord Chiron." The Kobold captain received the order and, riding his Grey Wolf, relayed the command among the Grey Wolf Knights. Amidst barks mixed with Common Tongue, these Grey Wolf Knights quickly formed teams of three to five and spread out in all directions ahead.
Chiron and the other Centaur Warriors remained in place to rest. He looked up at the sky and saw the massive body of the White Dragon appearing and disappearing among the distant clouds, which greatly reassured him.
"Captain, these Kobolds and Green Goblin may not be reliable. Should we send out more warriors to scout the situation?" Kari, the leader of the Centaur Tribe, stepped forward and asked.
The elite warriors selected this time were the strongest group of warriors in the Centaur Tribe, so the Centaur leader Kari and her mate, the male Centaur Trogdor, were also among them.
Except for the Centaur girl Sunia, who was difficult to spare as the town's peacekeeper, almost all the elite warriors were here.
And for convenience of management and command, these excellent warriors were appointed as squad leaders by Chiron. Each squad leader commanded twenty knights. Kari, Trogdor, and Aoni, the Centaur Tribe's warrior chief, each commanded twenty knights.
However, this effectively divided the power of the Centaur Tribe, and in the long run, Chiron's position would inevitably replace the original Centaur leader Kari.
But Kari seemed to have no objection to this. On one hand, these loyal Centaur Warriors had always regarded the Red Dragon's will as their guiding principle, with no intention of resisting.
On the other hand, Chiron was also a Centaur, and as the young king of the orthodox Centaur Tribe, a direct descendant of Chiron, the Centaur's most powerful hero, his bloodline was nobler than that of ordinary Centaur Warriors. He also brought the missing heritage to this Centaur Tribe, so he was not resisted, but rather much supported.
"No need. As the strongest warriors, our task is to maintain our energy and fight with all our might," Chiron shook his head and said. "We must learn to utilize and trust our other companions; only then can we unleash our greatest strength."
After years of war with the Catha Empire, Chiron now had some of his own insights. He began to learn some human training and combat methods, no longer like the simple and chaotic tribe he once knew.
Whoosh!
A whistle arrow shot up into the sky from behind the distant hills. The sharp sound immediately startled the Centaur resting in place. Without Chiron's reminder, these elite warriors had already stood up, gripping their weapons tightly.
"Go, let's go see," the strongest Centaur Warrior Chiron remained at the very front of the cavalry formation. Two hundred Centaur cavalry spread out in a formation under his command, with two cavalry per group, forming an offensive triangular wedge formation, galloping towards the source of the whistle arrow.
The Centaur cavalry, having rested briefly, had recovered some of their strength, so their speed was extremely fast. Their four hooves trampled the ground, and they quickly rushed over the hill.
Chiron immediately saw the Kobold scouts riding Grey Wolf and desperately fleeing back. The scouts, who were originally in teams of three to five, now only had two lucky Grey Wolf Knight scouts left, and following them was a pack of Hyenas.
These creatures, resembling hyenas, were not particularly tall, even smaller than Grey Wolf, but their nature was extremely fierce and cruel.
Driven by their Wolf King, this pack of over fifty wolves clung tightly to the Grey Wolf Knights' backs, intending to tear these two scout cavalry to shreds.
With a wave of Chiron's thick arm, the rest of the Centaur cavalry, under his command, changed from a triangular wedge formation to a single-line formation. Then they took out the longbows hanging on their waist and back, aiming at the pursuing Hyena pack.
"Fire!" At Chiron's command, these elite archers, comparable to elves, released their bowstrings. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Countless arrows fell like a rain of arrows.
These iron arrows cut through the air resistance, carrying a strong whistling sound, and easily pierced into the bodies of the still-running Hyenas. Not a single arrow missed its mark, and each Hyena was struck by at least two arrows; a lucky Hyena might even be rewarded with five or six arrows.
These Hyenas were mostly pierced through the eyes or ears by the arrows, falling to the ground without even a single cry of agony. Only the powerful leader, hiding behind the Hyena pack, lay among the Hyena corpses, emitting a low wail.
Kari galloped out from the ranks, retrieved the Hyena leader that still had a breath left, and threw it at Chiron's feet.
Thud! The arrow in the Hyena leader's head hit the ground, instantly piercing through both ears. Its faint wailing stopped, and its limbs twitched once before it died.
But the rope collar around the Hyena leader's neck caught Chiron's attention. He bent down, broke the collar off the Hyena's neck, examined it carefully, and then sniffed it with his nose. A peculiar putrid smell assaulted his nostrils, causing Chiron to frown.
"These Hyenas were enslaved by other creatures. Judging by the collar on its neck, it should be a humanoid race," Kari also concluded.
Chiron nodded and said, "This putrid smell indicates either Trolls and Gnoll, or Orcs and Ogre. From the marks on this Hyena, it can be seen that there should be spellcasters within this race. We need to be careful."
"Should we find their lair now and launch a direct attack?" The strong Centaur Warrior Trogdorstepped forward. These Centaur Warriors were all warmongers, aiming for bloody battles and indulgent pleasure.
Chiron looked up at the gradually setting sun, shook his head, and said, "Night is falling, which is disadvantageous for us Centaur Warriors. The dark night will cause powerful Centaur Warriors to stumble, and our bows and arrows will not be able to exert their maximum advantage."
"Let's come back tomorrow. We can head straight here, but we can leave some Grey Wolf scout knights to monitor from a distance."
Trogdor nodded. These warriors were accustomed to obeying their leader's commands; this was a necessary rule for survival in the wilderness.
"Oh, by the way, take these Hyena carcasses back. Their fur can be stripped to make winter clothes, or sold to the humans in the town. Their bodies can also be used as food, although we don't like to eat such dirty creatures, those Green Goblin don't care about that."
The Centaur Warrior Chiron had his cavalry take all the Hyena carcasses. The Centaur, who once managed the Dragon's dependents, knew how to conserve food. Although Centaur enjoyed pleasure and indulgence, they never wasted anything.