Translator: AnubisTL
"Samantha, Treacy, do you crave battle?" Garos asked, turning to the red dragon and white dragon.
No evil dragon could resist the call of battle. Without hesitation, both nodded eagerly.
"I suspect the Bloodhoof Clan is deliberately feigning weakness to deceive us," Garos said. "Therefore, we won't rush to attack their main camp. Instead, each of you will lead your familiars to raid the Bloodhoof Clan's mines and ranches."
Since the minotaurs had chosen to retreat and feign weakness, Garos decided to tighten the noose step by step. He wanted to see if the Bloodhoof Clan would continue their charade or finally retaliate when their resources were plundered beyond endurance.
"Samantha, take the wyvern flock to raid the rhino ranch."
"Treacy, lead the Crimson Iron Cavalry's chosen to raid the mines."
Garos issued more specific orders.
Hearing his words, the red dragon raised her head and exhaled a wisp of flame. "I will make those horned vermin scream in the inferno."
The white dragon spread her massive wings. "I will freeze them into blocks of ice."
The fairy dragon suddenly darted forward, declaring with mock seriousness, "I will scare them to death!"
"No, you have a more crucial task—guarding Dragon Valley," Garos said, his expression serious and earnest. The fairy dragon, feeling valued, straightened her small face and declared, "Vera promises to scare away any monsters that try to sneak into Dragon Valley!"
Immediately afterward, the red dragon eagerly led the wyvern flock out of Dragon Valley, disappearing into the horizon.
The white dragon also mobilized the swift Crimson Iron Cavalry, marching toward the Bloodhoof Clan's mines.
As they departed, Garos opened the black oil barrel, dipped the tip of his tail into the oil, and gently licked it.
Hiss— It felt like a fiery line had surged from his throat into his abdomen.
Flames erupted from Garos's nostrils. The 95-percent pure black oil was indeed superior to anything he had consumed before—faster absorption, greater energy, and less strain on his body.
Resisting the urge to gulp down the entire barrel of 95-percent black oil, Garos opened his massive jaws and placed the entire barrel inside.
He didn't bite down, yet the barrel vanished in an instant.
At the base of one of the red-iron dragon's fangs, what appeared at first glance to be a tooth ring shimmered with a crystalline luster. In truth, it was a space ring Garos had fitted onto his tooth.
It was a space ring offered by Nick, capable of changing size.
It could even be worn on a dragon claw.
However, during intense battles, wearing it on the dragon claw—the most frequently used attack appendage—made it vulnerable to damage. Therefore, Garos wore it on his tooth instead.
The storage space within his stomach was limited.
Moreover, each retrieval required regurgitation, which took time depending on the item's size. Retrieving items from the space ring was much faster.
He stowed away the black oil barrel.
Having fully recovered his physical condition over the past few days, Garos didn't rest further.
Using a massive iron anvil crafted by Samantha, he honed his wings and tail, sharpening the blade-like scales and wing bones to razor sharpness.
Garos had performed this sharpening ritual countless times.
His wings showed no signs of evolutionary change.
However, he sensed something unusual in his tail, particularly the scales on its sides. They had become denser, overlapping tightly and protruding slightly outward, as if beginning to evolve into a bladed shape. The process was still in its early stages, far from complete.
Scritch! Scritch.
The dragon's tail and wings scraped against the iron anvil, emitting ear-piercing sounds and showering sparks.
Not long after.
Bloodhoof Clan, Armored Rhinoceros Ranch.
The sun lazily bathed the grassland in its golden light.
Minotaur guards stood watch around the perimeter, vigilant for any threats in the surrounding environment.
Nearly a hundred armored rhinoceroses grazed peacefully on the hardy grasses, their massive bodies leaving deep footprints in the earth. Their thick, black hides gleamed like polished metal in the sunlight, and their horns occasionally brushed against the bushes, knocking down ripe berries.
Several young rhinoceroses playfully butted heads, their collisions producing dull thuds.
Shaman Grino, one of the Bloodhoof Clan's minotaur leaders, was collecting rhinoceros dung.
Several armored rhinoceroses had recently become unusually lethargic, even showing signs of weakness. By examining their dung, Grino could determine whether they were ill or if some other factor was at play.
Grino's thick fingers pinched a few undigested grass stems, his bushy eyebrows furrowing in concentration.
The dung contained abnormal mucus, indicating digestive issues in three or four female rhinoceroses.
"Fetch some wormwood," Grino ordered his assistant, looking up.
Just as he spoke, a young rhinoceros's terrified bellow pierced the air.
The sky suddenly darkened.
Twelve figures tore through the clouds, led by the red dragon Samantha and the flying dragon leader Tasha. Their massive wings cast deep shadows across the ground, engulfing the rhinoceros herd and the minotaurs.
"Enemy attack! Light the signal fires!"
The shaman's shout was drowned out by the chaos of the stampeding rhinoceros herd.
The red dragon swooped down, her hurricane-force descent flattening the tall grass. She skimmed low over the ground, unleashing a torrent of flaming dragon breath. Instead of targeting the minotaur guards first, she attacked the rhinoceros herd directly. The dragon breath struck the armored rhinoceroses, their black hides glowing crimson like molten iron.
The wyverns followed closely behind the red dragon, spitting corrosive acidic liquid.
The attacked rhinoceros herd scattered in panic, but the dragon pack did not pursue.
The armored rhinoceroses, their massive bodies crushing the earth, charged forward with unstoppable momentum. The minotaur guards tried to halt them, but they were tossed aside like rag dolls.
"Deal with the evil dragons first!" Grino roared, his bull-like eyes burning crimson.
The elite minotaur warriors abandoned their attempt to stop the rhinoceros herd, focusing instead on the attacking dragons. They hurled their short spears at the wyverns and the red dragon.
Flying Dragon Tasha deftly maneuvered through the air, evading the short spears. She swooped low, her powerful hind claws snatching up an elite minotaur warrior. Hoisting him into the air, she plunged her tail stinger through the gaps in his armor, piercing flesh and injecting venom before flinging him back down to smash into the other minotaurs.
A barrage of short spears rained down on Samantha.
Samantha dodged most of them, swatting down the rest with her tail and claws.
But as she dove to knock aside several minotaur guards, a short spear, moving with lightning speed and utter silence, pierced through the air and slammed into her rune-reinforced scales, embedding itself in her flesh.
Baring her fangs, Samantha twisted her head to see a fully armored, exceptionally tall female minotaur.
The minotaur warrior wielded a spear, a row of short spears strapped to her waist, and radiated potent magic energy, her life grade clearly high.
The minotaur warrior stomped her hoof heavily on the ground.
The earth cracked instantly as she charged at Samantha like a cannonball, magic energy surging through her spear, locking onto Samantha's wing membranes.
Whoosh!
The red dragon flapped her wings, soaring higher while unleashing a blast of dragon breath at the minotaur warrior, forcing her to retreat to the ground.
Under Garos's tutelage, the red dragon had gradually come to recognize its own advantages. Unlike other reckless juvenile dragons who would abandon flight and crash to the ground during combat, it remained airborne.
"Crawling vermin, the sky is not your domain," the red dragon hissed, flames flickering between its teeth.
At that moment, Shaman Grino knelt on the ground, pressing his hands firmly against the earth. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground before him.
A massive totem pillar rose from the center of the rhino ranch.
"Ascend!" Tasha's pupils constricted as she let out a piercing shriek.
In the next instant, the totem pillar unleashed a chain lightning attack, sweeping across the wyverns. Thanks to the flying dragon leader's earlier warning, most of the wyverns had already ascended, escaping the lightning's range.
The few struck by the lightning were momentarily paralyzed, their movements sluggish.
Minotaur spearmen seized the opportunity, raining short spears down on the stunned wyverns. The spears pierced their bodies, leaving bloody wounds. Despite taking some injuries, the wyverns managed to ascend and escape the totem pillar's attack range.
"This totem pillar... the Bloodhoof Clan and Garos were right—it's no ordinary artifact," Tasha thought.
No ordinary shaman could create such a thing.
"But I have some tricks of my own."
Samantha grinned, her claw brushing against the scales on her neck as she retrieved three crimson orbs. She hurled them at the totem pillar.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Chain lightning struck two of the orbs, detonating them mid-air, while the third landed to the right of the pillar, unleashing deafening explosions and towering flames.
The runes etched into the totem pillar flickered, forming a magic shield that temporarily halted the chain lightning attacks.
"Wyverns, attack!"
Samantha continued to bombard the totem pillar with her high-explosive flame orb, disrupting its defenses. These single-use projectiles had a longer range than dragon breath and didn't drain her magic energy.
Under her cover, the wyvern flock pressed their assault.
After a relentless barrage, the totem pillar cracked, its runes losing their luster.
The red dragon, having exhausted its high-explosive flame orb, swooped down to join the wyvern flock in the attack.
As time passed,
Under the minotaurs' counterattack, the increasingly wounded dragon flock began to retreat, showing no desire to linger. They left behind a scene of devastation and the corpses of many minotaur guards.
(End of the Chapter)
------------------------------------------------------
What happens next? Find out on CinderTL (just search it on Google!). You can read the free chapters up to [Ch206] without even needing to sign up, or unlock up to [Ch307] by becoming a member.
👉Also guys, don't miss out on the mega giveaway, our 2nd anniversary is coming up so join us on discord to enter the giveaway. Details can be found on our site. Go to CinderTL for more details.
🏆Giveaway Grand Prize: 2 Months UNLIMITED Reading + Download and 25 More slots.
------------------------------------------------------