Translator: AnubisTL
Tears blurred Samantha's vision, her heart heavy with regret and resentment.
Suddenly, through the haze, she glimpsed a black and crimson dragon silhouette soaring skyward from Hemlock Hills.
The Goblin Wolf Riders pursuing from behind also saw the black and crimson dragon shadow. Their hearts leaped in terror, their bodies trembling violently.
Leaving aside the great goblins and bear goblins, ordinary goblins possessed decent intelligence. However, their reputation for bullying the weak and cowering before the strong was well-deserved. Lacking strong combat organization, they tended to swarm enemies when victory seemed assured, but would scatter and flee at the first sign of overwhelming resistance.
Goblin Wolf Riders were more courageous than ordinary goblins, but their fundamental cowardice remained.
When they first saw the black and crimson dragon silhouette rising into the sky, they couldn't make out its form clearly and mistook it for an adult dragon, nearly dying of fright.
But upon closer inspection, they noticed its smaller size.
Their fear and dread vanished instantly.
It was just another young dragon.
Excellent! Two young dragons in a single hunt! When we hand them over to the tribe's alchemists, they'll surely forge many powerful alchemy items, making our tribe even stronger.
The situation stabilized.
The Goblin Wolf Riders stood in tight formation, gazing up at the dragon's shadow soaring overhead.
"Goblins bully the weak and fear the strong, but their thirst for revenge is relentless."
"Now that we've committed to action, not a single Goblin Wolf Rider can be spared."
Garos narrowed his eyes, making his decision in an instant.
He dove from the sky, the metallic structures along his wing membranes flashing brilliantly in the sunlight like a colossal, unsheathed executioner's blade, slicing through the air with a piercing shriek.
Five poison-tipped arrows shot through the air toward Garos's chest and abdomen.
The red iron young dragon didn't flinch. The razor-sharp arrowheads struck his pockmarked, black-red scales, sparking and ricocheting off as if they had struck an anvil.
The physical constitutions of dragons vary greatly. Garos's scales are far tougher than those of ordinary young dragons, rivaling even those of adolescent dragons.
With a powerful flap of his wings, Garos generated a gale-force wind, accelerating his descent.
In the blink of an eye...
Garos descended with astonishing speed, far exceeding the goblins' expectations.
"Scatter! Scatter now!"
Faced with the black iron young dragon's dive, its wingspan resembling a fifteen-meter-long blade, the Goblin Wolf Riders sensed imminent danger and scattered to avoid the dragonkind's assault.
But their reaction was a fraction too slow.
The frontmost Goblin Wolf Riders didn't even have time to look up.
Garos's dragon wings swept through the air like a guillotine.
Helmeted heads and bodies encased in leather armor were cleaved in half, limbs soaring into the air as crimson blood sprayed from the severed edges, staining the rain-soaked mud a dark red.
One dive.
Half the Goblin Wolf Riders were dead.
Blood cascaded from his wings as Garos spiraled upward, twisted mid-air, and plunged down again.
His initial assault had shattered the goblins' morale, sending them fleeing in terror, unwilling to confront him.
Yet every group has its outliers.
One Goblin Wolf Rider, seemingly realizing escape was futile, roared, "Don't panic! Don't panic!"
Its shouts were drowned out by the gale-force winds generated by the young dragon's flapping wings, failing to rouse its comrades. Even the gray giant wolf beneath it tucked its tail between its legs, cowering under the dragon's might and refusing to charge.
Gritting its teeth, the elite Level 5 Goblin Wolf Rider leaped from its mount.
Instead of fleeing, it drew its warblade and charged toward Garos, leaping high into the air. Gripping the metal-forged blade with both hands, it swung down at the young dragon's head.
"Great Magnubier, witness my courage and grant me strength!" it roared in goblin language, praying to the goblin deity.
Splat!
Garos casually swatted the goblin with a single claw.
The devastating force crushed the goblin mid-air, splattering its remains and viscera across the ground in a gruesome, radial pattern.
The surviving wolf riders completely broke ranks, scattering in chaotic disarray.
One minute later, the shadows solidified with terrifying speed as Garos descended from the sky. With a single claw, he crushed the goblin's head, pulverizing both rider and mount—the gray wolf—into the earth.
By now, all the goblin cavalry had been slain.
Garos hadn't even used his quasi-spell skills, Darkgold Tail Ring, or dragon breath.
The surviving gray wolves, tails tucked between their legs, trembled like leaves in a storm, too terrified to move.
I can keep them as spare rations, Garos thought, deciding against killing the beasts outright.
With a sweep of his dragon wings, Garos unleashed a gale-force wind, scattering the gore and blood clinging to his scales into a crimson mist that swirled around him.
He turned his gaze toward Samantha, who lay paralyzed on the ground.
In Samantha's eyes, the silhouette of her brother, shrouded in the bloody mist, was reflected.
The heat radiating from his armored scales mingled with the metallic stench of blood. His wings were vast and powerful, his limbs and torso thick and muscular, the muscles beneath his dragon scales undoubtedly forged like steel. Every inch of his body exuded a primal beauty of strength, both formidable and majestic.
At that moment, the ground began to tremble violently.
Samantha twisted her head to see an Earthstorm Bear, a wild bull slung over its shoulder, charging toward the young dragon's position with thunderous strides.
"A level 8 Earthstorm Bear! We're doomed."
Samantha's heart sank into despair.
She didn't believe Garos could defeat the Earthstorm Bear, and the creature was clearly heading straight for them.
"Garos, my dear brother," she cried. "I apologize for my arrogance and foolishness."
Samantha burst into tears, shouting, "I can't fly anymore! Don't worry about me—just escape! The Earthstorm Bear can't fly; it won't be able to catch you!"
Watching Samantha's emotional outburst, Garos realized this young dragon must have endured great hardship in the wilderness, finally understanding the harsh realities of life.
"Run! What are you waiting for?" Samantha sobbed, urging him.
At that moment, Mobel, the Earthstorm Bear, first glanced strangely at the red iron young dragon, then ignored it completely. He accelerated his charge, skidding to a halt on the soft, muddy ground, leaving a long trench in his wake, and came to a steady stop before Garos.
"My lord, please enjoy your meal," Mobel rumbled, presenting the wild bull he had been carrying.
At those words, Samantha's wails abruptly ceased, like a rooster whose throat had been squeezed shut.
"Mobel is my familiar," Garos explained, his words delayed by a few seconds, whether intentionally or not. "There's no need to fear him."
"Garos, my dear brother, thank you," Samantha said, regaining her composure and bowing her head. "I will gladly follow your commands and orders from now on, just to remain under your wings."
Garos studied Samantha for a moment before replying, "You've made the right choice."
Survival in the wilderness was harsh, fraught with danger. Having an additional young dragon under his command would be advantageous for Garos.
He was happy to take in young dragons willing to obey his orders and follow him. But if they proved disobedient, brought trouble instead of benefits, or expected him to babysit, Garos would tolerate none of it, regardless of who they were.
"What have you been through these past few days?" he asked. "Tell me everything."
Samantha didn't hold back, recounting her harrowing experiences in detail.
After listening, Garos clicked his tongue, inwardly calling her a reckless fool.
No wonder she was in such a dire state.
Given the red dragon's formidable strength, even a young dragon shouldn't have been reduced to Samantha's condition—hunted by goblin cavalry and unable to even take flight.
It turned out her dragon wings had been torn early on, leaving her with severe injuries.
"Even I wouldn't dare circle near the mines. I steer clear the moment I spot them from afar."
"You're truly reckless beyond belief."
The resource-rich mines, currently under excavation, belonged to the Lothurn Federation. Garrisoned by well-equipped troops with advanced alchemy items, it was a place even the iron dragon maid wouldn't dare provoke.
In the wilderness, the greatest danger wasn't ferocious beasts or demonic creatures, but these military garrisons.
"I was too impulsive. Something like this will never happen again."
Samantha shuddered at the memory.
She had nearly been killed despite being thousands of meters in the air and at a considerable distance. Had she ventured any closer, her fate would have been sealed.
At that moment, Garos's gaze flickered. He turned his head and noticed something glinting faintly in the sunlight, clutched in the hand of a dead goblin.
(End of the Chapter)
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