Serre Wilderness, Dragon Ridge Mountains.
The Red Iron Dragon's majestic body stood tall among the mountains, wings folded at his sides, and his long, thick dragon tail hanging loosely.
The tip of his tail lightly tapped the ground, causing the earth to tremble slightly. As he breathed, scorching air currents sprayed from his nostrils, forming two visible streams of breath that twisted and rose in the air like rolling heatwaves.
At this moment, the Red Iron Dragon lowered his head slightly, looking down.
Dozens of meters in front of him was a slender yet upright figure.
Elvie, the Ranger General of the Aura Kingdom.
She maintained the unique half-kneeling posture of the Centaur race: her upper body was elegantly straight like an Elf, with hands folded over her chest; her powerful equine lower body had its knees touching the ground, with all four hooves firmly planted on the hard earth.
At this time, Elvie had removed her armor and weapons, wearing only a simple white linen war robe.
Her long hair fluttered wildly in the wind, revealing an elegant and beautiful face that also possessed a heroic spirit from leading armies in battle.
Most striking was the pair of pure white wings on her back.
Currently, the wings were not fully spread but were slightly folded like a cloak, covering the sides of her horse body, their white feathers shimmering with a soft halo under the sunlight.
"Elvie."
The Red Iron Dragon looked down at the Centaur, his voice low like distant mountain thunder, echoing through the peaks.
"I am here, Your Majesty," Elvie replied softly.
"Stand up and raise your head."
Elvie rose as commanded.
She raised her head until she could clearly look up at the dragon's face, covered in hard scales and spines, seeing the unfathomable majesty contained within those vertical pupils.
However, in her eyes, there was no fear, only deep awe and even devotion.
In fact, in the hearts of Aura's citizens, the great His Majesty Ignis was not just an emperor, but a deity walking the mortal world.
It was he who had united the scattered tribes into a kingdom; it was he who led them from poverty to prosperity, and from weakness to strength.
"In the Ashen Plain, during the initial raid on the Iron Wall Fortress, you seized the opportunity provided by the heavy rain and the enemy's laxity to break the city on a rainy night, laying the first foundation stone for the war's victory."
"On the eve of the general offensive against the Unyielding Wall, you led the Crimson Iron Cavalry in crisscrossing maneuvers, harassing multiple key points simultaneously, forcing Xio to split his forces and run himself ragged, greatly relieving the pressure on various regions."
"In the battle of the Cui Luan Mountain Range, among the Dependents under my command, your performance was second only to Karu."
"..."
The Red Iron Dragon's voice was steady as he stated one fact after another.
He did not hide the look of favor in his eyes toward Elvie.
This Centaur general had the triple Bloodlines of Elf, Pegasus, and Centaur flowing through her, inherently possessing extremely high potential.
Now, after years of tempering in the fires of war, her life Aura had reached the limit of mortal beings, and she was not far from the Legendary Rank.
Once Elvie breaks through to Legendary, he will have another great general under his command.
She started as a Magic Warrior and later multiclassed as a Ranger; she was skilled in magic and swordsmanship while also being a Master Archer.
Although in terms of pure frontal combat power, she might be weaker than a pure war beast like Gluttony Demon Karu, her skills and methods are undoubtedly richer and more comprehensive, allowing for more room to maneuver.
In particular, Elvie possesses the holy attribute, a gift from her Pegasus Bloodline.
When dealing with evil creatures, her greatsword and arrows can deal massive damage.
Fighting against human kingdoms actually limited the display of her true strength; if her opponents were other Evil Dragons, or demons from the Abyss and devils from Hell, Elvie would be a massive threat to them after reaching Legendary.
The Red Iron Dragon slowly leaned forward, his massive head approaching Elvie, the shadow he cast completely enveloping the Centaur.
"Elvie, my Ranger General."
"In the war that decided the kingdom's fate, you showed your value, your bravery, your wisdom, and your loyalty—I have seen all of it."
Hearing this, Elvie's heart skipped a beat.
She took a deep breath and said, "To be able to fight for Your Majesty and ride for the glory of Aura is the greatest honor of Elvie's life!"
The Red Iron Dragon looked at her quietly, his vertical pupils reflecting the Centaur's figure.
After a moment of silence, he spoke slowly: "Very well."
"Then, Elvie, are you willing to offer up your will and Soul, and then be linked to me by blood, becoming both vassal and kin from this day forward?"
Elvie's pupils contracted slightly.
She understood the Red Iron Dragon's meaning.
Dragon Vein Transformation was the highest honor a Dragon could bestow upon a Dependent, and also the deepest bond.
If it were many years ago, when she was forced to submit for the survival of her tribe, she would have certainly hesitated or even resisted when faced with this choice.
While Dragon Vein Transformation indeed brought power, what was lost was a complete independent will.
The Soul and Bloodline of the transformed would be forever branded by the Dragon, and they could never truly be independent again; the price was severe.
But now... Elvie had followed the Red Iron Dragon and witnessed the entire process of this Dragon becoming the Emperor of Aura step by step, starting from the Borderlands. She witnessed the establishment of the first city on the wilderness, the proclamation of laws, and how the Aura Kingdom grew into the powerful force that now dominated the region.
And she herself had grown from an obscure ordinary Centaur warrior to the Ranger General commanding the Crimson Iron Cavalry, gaining honor, status, and the respect of the people.
All of this was achieved under the banner of the Red Iron Dragon.
Hesitation? Resistance?
No, those were things of the past.
Thus, Elvie did not hesitate at all.
Her tone was resolute as she said solemnly: "My sword points only in the direction of Your Majesty's enemies; my iron hooves trample only those who defy Your Majesty; my wings fly only to carry out Your Majesty's will!"
"This body, this heart, this Soul, and this blood already belong to Your Majesty, and to Aura!"
"Where Your Majesty's claws point is where my blade strikes!"
"Please, Your Majesty, grant me this honor!"
Galos watched the determination in her eyes and slowly nodded.
"As you wish."
The Red Iron Dragon raised his front claw and made a light slit at his wrist with a sharp claw-tip.
Dark red Dragon blood immediately surged out, but it did not drip to the ground; instead, it began to burn the moment it left the Dragon's body.
It was true fire, appearing as a deep blood-red, churning and twisting in the air, emitting staggering heat.
The Dragon Vein Transformation ritual required the blood of a Dragon as a medium.
And for a creature like Elvie who had already reached the mortal limit, the quality of Dragon blood required for transformation was extraordinary; Galos directly used his own Legendary blood.
By now, he no longer cared about the loss of this blood.
Besides his own boundless life force, after founding the kingdom, the resources of the entire realm were tilted toward him, giving him ample supplies to recover his losses. More importantly, Elvie was worth such an investment.
As time passed, more and more blood surged from the wrist wound, and the burning blood-flames intensified, finally condensing into a massive fireball over five meters in diameter in front of the Red Iron Dragon.
Inside the fireball, the dark red blood churned like lava.
"The process will be somewhat painful, but I believe you can endure it."
Galos said.
Elvie stood tall and spread her wings: "I am ready, Your Majesty."
The next moment, the blood-flame fireball slowly floated toward Elvie, completely enveloping her.
The moment the flames touched her body, they did not ignite her clothes but directly penetrated her skin, muscles, and bones, reaching deep into her Soul.
"Ugh..."
Elvie let out an uncontrollable muffled groan.
It was a dual burning of the Soul and the physical body, a hundred times more intense than mere physical pain.
Her body instantly stiffened, her wings fully spread, every feather trembling. Her powerful horse limbs shook violently, and her hooves carved deep furrows into the ground.
The blood-flames burned within her, beginning to reconstruct her body from the inside out.
Whoosh!
Wisps of flame surged from her pores, enveloping her entire body in a blazing fire.
Bones were being reshaped, muscles reorganized, blood boiling, and her Soul accepting the brand—this was a process of Rebirth, a transformation from a mortal being into a Dragonspawn.
Elvie grit her teeth, the veins on her forehead bulging.
She could feel her body cycling between death and Rebirth, feel a strange power germinating within her, and feel something being established in the depths of her Soul.
Aside from her initial muffled groan, Elvie made no further sound.
The resilient will forged by war sustained her, allowing her to endure a level of pain unimaginable to ordinary people. Though her body trembled violently, her spine remained straight.
The Red Iron Dragon looked away and began his daily training.
Dragon Vein Transformation takes time; the more powerful the creature, the longer the process requires.
A being like Elvie would need a significant amount of time to complete the entire process.
Days passed by, one after another.
In the deep pit where Elvie lay, blood-colored flames burned fiercely. Initially, the faint silhouette of the Centaur could be seen flickering within the fire, but by the third day, she was completely engulfed, leaving only a blurred outline. By the fifth day, even that outline had vanished, leaving only a sphere of blood-red fire that continued to burn.
The ground melted under the high temperature, forming a massive crater.
The bottom of the pit took on a texture that looked like a mixture of lava and some kind of crystal. Dark red light flowed within the crystals, resembling magma surging through ley lines.
On the morning of the eighth day, the blood flames began to weaken.
Galos stopped his magic practice and turned his gaze toward the deep pit.
The blood flames that had burned for eight days finally extinguished completely. At the bottom of the pit lay only a spherical, charred object, its surface covered in cracks, looking like the fossil of some giant beast or a massive, scorched eggshell.
At first glance, it appeared as if something had gone wrong with the transformation process.
But Galos could clearly sense a powerful life energy pulsing inside the charred shell. That energy was more vigorous than Elvie's before her transformation, and it was mixed with a distinct Dragon Aura, sharing the same source as his own.
Under his watch, the charred shell emitted a slight cracking sound.
Crack, crack.
Fissures began to spread from the top, branching out like a spiderweb.
As more cracks appeared, the charred shell began to peel away, falling to the ground in pieces and turning into black ash.
Whoosh!
A pair of massive wings were the first to break through the shell, stretching out proudly and exposing themselves to the morning sun.
The wings maintained a pure white base color, but their texture was entirely different. The edge of every feather possessed a hard, sharp metallic quality, shimmering with an iron-black luster in the sunlight.
Her wingspan approached ten meters; when fully unfurled, the shadow she cast covered nearly half the pit.
Immediately after, the shell shattered completely, dispersing into the air as black dust.
At the bottom of the pit, the new life form stretched its body and slowly stood up.
Elvie still maintained her Centaur form, but her overall appearance had undergone a distinct change.
Her upper body retained its graceful, Elf-like lines, but it was now covered in a layer of tight, powerful muscle, like steel tempered a thousand times, containing explosive power. Her skin had taken on a healthy wheat-colored tone.
On either side of her forehead, a pair of horns had broken through the skin, growing upward in a winding curve.
The horns were steel-gray with a metallic sheen, their shape elegant yet majestic, adorning her head like a crown.
Fine, orderly iron-black dragon scales had grown on her forearms, shoulders, and the critical joints of her four legs.
These scales did not cover her entire body; instead, they were dotted over vital areas like finely crafted armor plates—pauldrons, bracers, greaves, and a breastplate. They provided extra protection without hindering her flexibility.
Among all the changes, the most striking were her wings.
The edges of the white feathers glinted with a cold metallic light, appearing capable of both flight and use as weapons; those edges were sharp enough to cut through steel.
The elegance of an Elf, the resilience of a Centaur, the sanctity of a Pegasus, and the cold austerity of an Iron Dragon... many traits achieved a harmonious unity within her.
She looked like a work of art born for war, possessing both strength and beauty, majesty and grace.
By contrast, the Dragon Vein Gluttony Demon Karu was more like a savage, primitive beast of war, filled with pure destruction and a sense of oppression.
Elvie raised her head and looked toward the Red Iron Dragon.
This time, her gaze still held awe and piety, but it was infused with a sense of closeness born of shared blood—an absolute loyalty based on Soul and lineage.
Then, she lowered her head and bent her front hooves.
"Dragonspawn Elvie greets Your Majesty."
Her voice had become deeper than before, with a more magnetic quality.
"I wish to be Your Majesty's sharpest claws and swiftest wings, until eternity."
Galos nodded slightly, a look of satisfaction appearing in his eyes.
He could clearly perceive Elvie's current state. Her life energy had reached a new peak, but her Aura was somewhat unstable, like a volcano about to erupt, containing immense power yet remaining restless.
This meant that she, who was already close to Legendary, had entered a critical state in both body and Soul after being stimulated by the Dragon Vein Transformation.
It might take a few days, a few months, or perhaps a year or two.
But regardless, it wouldn't be long before she inevitably welcomed a Breakthrough.
This was good news for Galos.
"Breakthrough to Legendary as soon as possible," the Red Iron Dragon said. "It is already right before your eyes, only one small step away."
Elvie responded respectfully, "I will not fail Your Majesty's expectations."
Galos raised his head and looked toward the distant horizon.
The morning sun had fully risen, casting golden light upon the peaks of the Dragon Ridge Mountains, gilding the iron-gray rocks with a warm hue.
He had a premonition that he would begin his next slumber in ten to fifteen years.
Normal adult dragons usually begin their slumber around the age of one hundred and seventy, and are basically mature dragons when they wake up.
But Galos's situation was different.
His slumbers always arrived earlier than his peers, and his dormant periods were much longer than those of other Dragon members.
This allowed his Rank to increase at a speed far exceeding normal dragons, but it also meant he needed to arrange matters during his slumber more carefully.
Once at the Legendary level, increasing one's Rank becomes more difficult, and a dragon's growth rate slows down accordingly.
A single slumber within one age bracket often only allows for a single Rank increase.
However, Galos was extremely self-disciplined and had the resource support of an entire kingdom, allowing his growth rate to rival those of short-lived Legendary species.
"I should be able to reach Rank 25."
Galos estimated in his mind.
For a Legendary Dragon like him, such an estimate, based on an understanding of his own condition, usually wouldn't be wrong.
Rank 25, the Advanced Legendary level.
This was a threshold. While not as difficult as the transformation of life essence when a mortal breaks through to Legendary, it was not something that could be easily crossed.
But with Galos's training intensity, combined with the large amounts of black oil, gems, and other resources he consumed almost daily, the probability of crossing this threshold directly after his slumber was high; he wouldn't get stuck.
This was the greatest benefit of founding a nation.
As the Emperor of Aura, with the resources of a nation tilted in his favor, he possessed growth conditions that ordinary dragons couldn't even imagine.
And during his slumber, the Aura Kingdom would need more Legendary figures to hold the fort, deter external enemies, and maintain stability.
Although he was only sleeping, it didn't mean he was dead; he could still wake up and take action if absolutely necessary. Even while sleeping, a dragon's subconscious can still think and maintain a certain level of perception of the outside world, but interrupting a slumber meant interrupting a rare growth opportunity.
The dormant period is crucial for the Dragon; it is a process of deep transformation for both body and Soul.
Even the most composed Metallic Dragon would be infuriated and seek revenge if forced to wake from slumber by outside influence.
Galos had to consider all possible scenarios and the troubles that might be encountered during his slumber.
Regardless, the more Legendaries the Aura Kingdom had, the better. Their existence would provide a layer of protection for him and for the kingdom while he slept.
"I wonder if Elvie will obtain the 'Below the Dragon Throne' trait after reaching Legendary."
"If she can, even while I'm sleeping, I'll be able to perceive and observe the changes and situation of the kingdom through her and Karu."
The Red Iron Dragon thought to himself.
It wouldn't be long before he knew the answer.