Chapter 302: Do Dragon Beasts Fear Dragon Aura?

The Tuanzhang of the Flying Dragon Knights, Emo, wore a grave expression, silent. This state puzzled his deputy, who asked in a compressed voice: "You seem troubled? Lost again at cards yesterday?"

Airborne units face great difficulty communicating mid-flight, so they cannot execute the refined formations and coordinated maneuvers seen among ground knights. Their combat flow is simple: junior knights follow junior commanders, junior commanders follow knight commanders, knight commanders follow senior knights, senior knights follow the Tuanzhang, then they surge forward en masse.

At the knight commander level, there is a rigid requirement: one must reach the rank of Advanced Swordsman. Advanced Swordsmen can control their battle aura to take external form, accomplishing feats impossible for lower- and mid-rank swordsmen.

For example, compressing sound into a focused beam to transmit it directionally to a target, enabling communication during flight.

This technique is highly advanced; few can master it easily. Advanced Swordsmen are merely the baseline—they require years of practice to perfect. Most Advanced Swordsmen are as poor as ghosts, constantly scrambling for meals, and certainly won't bother honing a skill so rarely useful.

Only airborne knights train this technique from childhood; once they cross the threshold of Advanced Swordsmanship, they can use it immediately.

The compressed voice wave reached Emo's ear as clearly as if someone had spoken directly beside it.

Emo shook his head: "I never play cards before deployment, nor do I ponder anything unrelated to battle."

"Then it must be battle-related. Why the long face? Is the enemy strong?" the deputy asked curiously.

"Don't you read the battle reports?" Emo asked.

"Precisely because I read them, I'm confused. They're just some Deep Wanderers. No need to overreact, right? With our entire force deployed, who among the airborne knight squads on the rankings could possibly stop us?" the deputy said confidently.

Emo shook his head patiently: "If they weren't worth worrying about, would His Majesty have ordered our full force into action? Do you know how much grain and pay it costs to mobilize everyone? And how many personnel are needed to support our deep desert incursion—or even a detour? Such massive expenditure for a raid—do you really think the enemy is insignificant? You're being careless."

The deputy inwardly scoffed, but his expression hardened: "Yes, Tuanzhang, you're right—I was careless. The battle report was brief. An enemy requiring our full force must be formidable. Has Tuanzhang analyzed anything useful?"

Emo shook his head: "These Deep Wanderers are truly strange. What I'm about to say isn't in the report."

The deputy instantly perked up—he knew Emo was an heir of an old noble family, with far better intelligence than a minor noble like himself who rose purely through merit.

"The leader of this Deep Wanderer group is Ang."

The deputy's eyes widened: "The Ang the elves are searching the world for?"

"Yes. The last time the elves mobilized en masse, triggering our Level Four Alert for a month—they went right here."

The deputy frowned: "That doesn't make sense. The elves' posture back then clearly signaled vengeance. I thought they were preparing for a dimensional war. If their target was here, why did they later spend months begging Ang for forgiveness? Did they lose that fight and now apologize?"

Even as he spoke, the deputy realized how absurd it sounded. Elves lose?

Emo nodded: "They didn't just apologize—they paid compensation. Did you see the War Tree in the report?"

The deputy's mouth opened involuntarily, then he swallowed a mouthful of wind and snapped it shut: "No way. Aren't War Trees rented out? Maybe they just leased it."

"No. Only low-grade War Trees are rented. The one in Meishencheng is a Super War Tree, solely tasked with guarding the Tree of Life. In human terms, it's like the Royal Knights or the Capital Garrison."

The deputy burst out laughing at the analogy: "Those shiny dragon-dung eggs?"

Emo's cheek twitched in embarrassment—he realized his analogy was inappropriate. Every nation's Royal Knights or Garrison units were essentially places for noble Zidi to gain prestige: well-equipped but combat-ineffective, like shiny dragon-dung eggs—glittering on the outside, reeking within.

"Super War Trees aren't dragon-dung eggs. They're the elves' strongest force—capable of standing toe-to-toe with dragons. Most notably, their firepower is ten times greater than low-grade War Trees. You've seen low-grade ones, right? One equals ten."

"Gah, no wonder you ordered all heavy-load squads to carry napalm and fire bombs—you're targeting it." The deputy understood, then added: "But it's just one Super War Tree. Even with ten times the firepower, why are you so cautious?"

"Heh. Because that might be their weakest force. You know the Fallen Saintess Shamarra, right? Intelligence indicates she's allied with these Deep Wanderers."

"You know the Silver Dragon? The Bronze Dragon? Intelligence also shows Meishencheng has at least three young dragons— one underdeveloped, but at least two with aerial superiority. Plus, one adult aberrant dragon, unknown breed, but twenty to thirty meters long."

Shamarra was one thing—but dragons were another matter entirely. Their flying dragons were a type of dragon beast, and dragons exerted bloodline suppression over them. Seeing a dragon, they couldn't even fly straight, let alone fight.

Even if trained flying dragons summoned courage to attack, they were no match for true dragons.

The deputy glanced back, his gaze landing on a floating magical carriage—a vehicle without wheels, hovering in midair, its cabin shaped like an egg, thick in the middle, slender at both ends, smooth and rounded.

Four griffins pulled it, flying slightly higher than the bulk of the flying dragons, steady and graceful.

"So that's why you brought in Owenson's Arcane Master—he specializes in elemental spears, effective against dragons." The deputy understood.

Emo nodded: "They also have over twenty half-titans—likely with Thunder Titan blood—and a bunch of other oddballs."

If Lu Se and Lightning knew they'd been lumped into "other oddballs," they'd be furious.

The deputy still couldn't comprehend. They were the Flying Dragon Knights—the fifth-ranked airborne knight squad in the dimensional power standings.

Those above them weren't even human forces. Even the Starlight Mages, with the most human members, included biological and elemental entities. Thus, the Flying Dragon Knights were called humanity's strongest force.

Humanity's strongest force—couldn't they handle this enemy lineup?

"I just want you to be cautious, not underestimate them. If we truly can't handle it, I wouldn't have come." Emo said: "Combat strength isn't my biggest concern. I'm worried about who's behind them."

The deputy asked curiously: "We answer directly to His Majesty Gulianni. Who could be more powerful than him?"

"You know the Dimensional Security Council? Lord Dai Sen mentioned it twice to His Majesty—motions against these Deep Wanderers were always blocked. So clearly, they're connected to the dragon clan, the elves, even to Anthony himself. Given the elves' behavior, if we can't eliminate these Deep Wanderers in one strike, they'll likely send reinforcements—then we'll face Chimera Riders."

The deputy said confidently: "Impossible. How could we fail to wipe them out in one go? Unless dozens of dragons unleash dragon aura and terrify our young riders, the Flying Dragon Knights will sweep everything clean."

"Hahaha, spirited! Good. Charge forward, sweep it all clean—we are—" Emo shouted the final line using battle aura.

All his subordinates and the deputy who heard his voice responded instantly: "Flying Dragon Knights!"

"We are—"

"Flying Dragon Knights! Invincible! Charge forward!"

Land came into view ahead—meaning they'd crossed the hundreds-of-kilometers-wide Dragon Fall Lake. Vast, orderly rice fields lined the shore, heavy golden ears bending the stalks.

Some knights with agricultural knowledge couldn't help exclaiming: "So many rice fields? Isn't this a saltwater lake? We were warned not to drink the water—why are there so many rice fields?"

The existence of salt-tolerant rice wasn't common knowledge.

At that moment, a row of black spheres flew toward them from afar, tracing straight parabolic arcs toward the Flying Dragon Knights' formation.

Emo shouted: "Enemy attack! Scatter! These might be explosive fruits!"

Since Meishencheng had a War Tree, the thrown spheres were likely explosive fruits.

Indeed, as the spheres reached above the flying dragon formation, they exploded midair, spraying countless tiny black specks in all directions.

"Ahh!" Many Flying Dragon Knights screamed in agony as the specks struck them.

Some swift knights summoned battle aura or raised shields, absorbing the impacts—clinking, clanging sounds rang out as the specks failed to pierce their defenses.

Before they could rejoice, their flying dragons beneath them staggered and shrieked in pain.

The tiny specks from the explosive fruits had pierced the most vulnerable wing membranes, instantly crippling their mobility—or rendering them useless. Continued flight would cause the torn membranes to rip further, eventually forming gaping holes unable to catch wind.

The Flying Dragon Knights scattered like a hive stabbed with a stick.

At the other end of the parabola, the tree-man Gao Er used his other "hand" to sweep across his trunk, plucking explosive fruits as he went.

He let his "hand" dangle to the ground, then swung his trunk. Gao Er was a hundred-meter-tall War Tree-man; his trunk's swing spanned dozens of meters, and with his vine-woven arm reaching the earth, the lever reached over a hundred meters.

He swung his arm in a full circle, hurling ten explosive fruits like cannonballs far ahead.

As he hurled them, Gao Er called to Ang and the others rushing over: "So many flying dragons—run! I can't handle them. I've stored two hundred explosive fruits—ten per throw, twenty throws and I'm done. I produce twenty fruits per hour. After exhausting my stock, I'll have to wait. Run—I'll hold them off."

"Gao Er, you changed your name? Brave Gao Er? So heroic," Lightning said, carrying Ang as he stepped through the air, smirking.

Gao Er ignored it, turning to Ang: "Protect the Tree of Life."

Chatty Gao Er wasn't brave—he simply gave everything for the Tree of Life.

Lightning rolled his eyes. A former sparring partner suddenly becoming heroic? It unsettled him.

Ang pulled out a sapling, placed it atop his head, then stepped through the air to Gao Er's body, stomping firmly.

The sapling waved its leaves at him: Force—grow—force—grow—

"Huh? What did you do to me? My sap is flowing faster, fruit production accelerated—what did you do?" Gao Er exclaimed in shock.

Ang ignored him, pulling out insect-ash solution, mixing it with water, then using magic to vaporize it into mist, spraying it over Gao Er's leaves—foliar feeding.

"What kind of fertilizer? My god, such abundant life force—I'm suddenly brimming with power!" Gao Er cried out, driving his roots deep into the earth and focusing on hurling explosive fruits.

What normally took an hour to produce twenty explosive fruits now produced twenty every minute, thanks to the Speed Death Aura, the sapling, and the insect-ash solution.

If Gao Er hurled ten fruits every thirty seconds, his supply would be endless.

Under the relentless barrage of explosive fruits, the Flying Dragon Knights finally closed to within sight of the War Tree. Emo immediately ordered: "Heavy-load dragons, ascend. Drop napalm and fire bombs. Burn that tree."

At Emo's command, several flying dragons—noticeably larger than the rest—rose higher.

Flying dragons varied in size, like humans: dwarfs and giants existed among them. The larger ones were specially selected to carry heavier weapons, including napalm and fire bombs, ideal for aerial assaults.

When flown above a city, dropped from altitude, their sheer fall force could pierce defenses; then the napalm would ignite, turning the entire city into a sea of fire.

This weapon was equally effective against trees.

A silver flash and a bronze shadow plunged from above, diving toward the heavy-load dragons—Bai Hou and Nai Aili.

Now fully grown, Bai Hou and Nai Aili were ten-meter-long dragons. In dragon terms, still juveniles—but compared to seven- or eight-meter flying dragons, they were several times larger, and possessed innate dragon aura suppression over flying dragons.

Seeing them dive, the flying dragons panicked and scattered, avoiding their attack paths.

The heavy-load dragons were disrupted and couldn't reach the War Tree's height. Emo didn't care—the scattered Flying Dragon Knights pressed forward, like dark clouds rolling toward Meishencheng.

Ahead of this cloud, a human riding a pure white unicorn charged toward the Flying Dragon Knights—like a white streak piercing the dark clouds.

"Heh. Brave knight. He's mine." Emo smiled faintly, rising to stand on his dragon—then felt his mount trembling violently.

Do dragon beasts fear dragon aura? Watching the flying dragons scramble to avoid Bai Hou and Nai Aili, Ang suddenly understood—his body erupted in overlapping scales.

Would the Dragon God's dragon aura be… different?