Chapter 18: Danger (Begging for monthly tickets, begging for follows)

Tears blurred Samantha's eyes, her heart filled with regret and grievance.

Suddenly.

Through her blurred vision, she faintly saw a black-and-red dragon shadow soar into the sky from Iron Hemlock Hills.

The goblin wolf cavalry pursuing from behind also saw the black-red dragon shadow, and their hearts jolted, trembling all over in terror.

Setting aside the hobgoblins and bear-goblins.

Normal goblins aren't stupid, but their bullying-the-weak-and-fearing-the-strong nature is notorious far and wide, and they have poor combat organization—when the battle goes in their favor, they like to swarm in all at once, but if they find the enemy too powerful, they'll scatter in an instant and immediately flee.

Goblin wolf cavalry are braver than ordinary goblins.

But their underlying nature is still bullying-the-weak-and-fearing-the-strong.

When they saw the black-red dragon shadow soaring into the sky, they didn't get a clear look at first, mistook it for an adult dragon, and nearly scared themselves to death.

But after looking more carefully and noticing its size—

Fear and dread vanished in an instant.

It turned out to be another juvenile dragon.

Excellent—one hunt, two juveniles. Hand them over to the tribe's alchemists, and they'll surely forge many powerful alchemical tools, making the tribe even stronger.

The situation stabilized.

The goblin wolf cavalry stood ready, gazing up at the dragon shadow high in the sky.

"Goblins bully the weak and fear the strong, but their desire for revenge is also extremely strong."

"Since we've decided to strike, not a single one of these goblin wolf cavalry can be left alive."

Garos narrowed his eyes slightly, the decision made in an instant.

He dove down from the sky, the metal structures along the edge of his wing membranes slicing dazzling streaks of light in the sunlight, like a great executioner's blade drawn from its sheath, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek.

Five poison-tipped arrows shot through the air toward Garos's chest and belly.

The Red Iron juvenile dragon neither dodged nor evaded; the sharp arrowheads struck his pitted black-red scales, and bounced off like sparks flying from an anvil.

—Dragon to dragon, constitution cannot be generalized. The hardness of Garos's scales far surpasses that of a normal juvenile dragon; even a young dragon might not necessarily compare to him.

His wings swept, raising a great wind, accelerating the dive.

In the blink of an eye—

Garos was already near the ground, his speed beyond comprehension, far exceeding the goblins' expectations.

"Scatter, scatter now!"

Facing the diving juvenile dragon whose wingspan resembled a fifteen-meter-long great blade, the goblin wolf cavalry felt an enormous threat and immediately scattered to dodge the dragon's charge.

But their reaction was still a beat too slow.

The goblin wolf cavalry in the front row didn't even have time to look up.

Garos's dragon wings swept across like a guillotine.

Helmeted heads, half-bodies wrapped in leather armor—limbs split open flew skyward, and blood spraying from the severed surfaces dyed the post-rain mud a dark red.

One dive.

Half the goblin wolf cavalry were dead.

Blood cascaded down both wings like a waterfall. Garos spiraled upward, twisted his body to turn, and dove again.

His first wave of attacks had already scared the guts out of the goblin wolf cavalry; they scattered and fled, not daring to face him.

But in any group, there are always exceptions.

One goblin wolf cavalryman seemed to have figured out that fleeing was pointless, and shouted: "Don't panic! Don't panic!"

His shouts were drowned in the gale raised by the juvenile dragon's wings, failing to rouse the others; even the gray giant wolf beneath him clamped its tail in fear of dragon might, not daring to charge.

He gritted his teeth.

This elite Level 5 goblin wolf cavalryman leapt from his wolf's back.

He didn't flee, but instead gripped his war-blade weapon and charged toward Garos at a sprint, leaping high, both hands tightly clutching the metal war-blade, hacking down at the juvenile dragon's head.

"Great Magnubyie, bear witness for me, grant me courage and strength!"

He shouted in Goblin tongue, praying to the god of the goblin race.

Crack!

Garos casually swatted this goblin with one claw.

Terrifying force swept all before it, instantly smashing the goblin to pieces midair; chunks of flesh and organs splattered across the ground in a radial pattern, a gruesome death.

The surviving wolf cavalry completely collapsed, running and fleeing in utter disorder.

One minute later.

Shadow coalesced at blinding speed; Garos descended from the sky, one claw pressing down on a goblin's head, crushing it along with its gray wolf mount into the ground beneath.

At this point, all the goblin cavalry were dead.

Quasi-spell skills, Dark Gold Tail Ring, dragon breath—he hadn't needed to use any of these.

The surviving gray wolves each clamped their tails, trembling all over like sifting chaff, not daring to move.

"They can be kept as reserve food."

Garos thought, not intending to kill these beasts outright.

Then Garos swept his dragon wings, raising a gale that blew the chunks of flesh and blood clinging to his body into a mist around him.

He turned his head to look at Samantha, collapsed on the ground.

Meanwhile, in Samantha's pupils, the silhouette of her elder brother shrouded in blood mist was reflected.

The heat steaming from his scales mingled with the smell of blood; his wings were broad and massive, his limbs and torso thick and powerful, the muscles beneath his dragon scales surely like poured steel—every inch of him exuded a powerful, majestic beauty, mighty and ferocious.

At the same time.

The ground suddenly began to rumble and shake.

Samantha turned her head and saw an Earth Rage Bear, carrying a wild ox on its shoulder, striding powerfully toward the young dragon's location.

"An eighth-level Earth Rage Bear! It's over."

Samantha's heart was filled with despair.

She did not believe Garos could defeat the Earth Rage Bear, and the beast's purpose was clear: it was coming straight for them.

"Garos, my dear brother."

"I apologize for my arrogance and foolishness all this time."

Samantha burst into tears, shouting, "I cannot fly now; do not worry about me, just run away yourself. The Earth Rage Bear cannot fly and cannot catch you."

Watching Samantha, who was emotionally agitated, crying and wailing.

Garos pondered that this young dragon must have suffered greatly in the wilderness and had probably now come to terms with the cruelty of real life.

"Run! What are you still standing there for?"

Samantha cried out, urging him on.

At the same time.

First, the Earth Rage Bear, Mober, glanced oddly at the red young dragon, then ignored it, accelerated its run, and finally executed a sliding knee, leaving a long trench in the wet, soft ground before coming to a steady stop before Garos.

"My Lord, please enjoy your food."

The Earth Rage Bear presented the wild ox it had been carrying and said in a rough voice.

Upon hearing this, Samantha's wailing stopped abruptly, like a rooster whose throat had been strangled.

"Mober is my servant; do not fear."

Garos's explanation came a few seconds late, whether unintentional or deliberate was unknown.

"Garos, my dear brother, thank you. From now on, I am willing to obey your commands and orders, following only beneath your wings."

Samantha came to her senses and bowed her head to Garos.

Garos sized up Samantha a few times and said, "You have made the correct choice."

Survival in the wilderness is difficult and fraught with danger; having an additional young dragon under one's command is a good thing for Garos.

A young dragon willing to obey commands and follow him, he was happy to take in; but if it were disobedient, brought no benefit, caused trouble, or forced him to act as a nanny, no matter who it was, Garos would not indulge it.

"What have you encountered during this time? Tell me."

He asked.

Samantha did not hide anything and recounted her painful experiences during this period in detail.

Having listened, Garos clicked his tongue, inwardly calling her a reckless fool.

No wonder the situation was so dire.

Originally, given the red dragon's strength, even as a young dragon, she should not have ended up like Samantha, being chased by a group of goblin cavalry and unable to even fly.

It turned out her dragon wings had been torn off long ago, leaving severe injuries.

"Even I dare not circle near the mine; seeing it from afar, I would go around."

"You are truly bold."

The mine, rich in resources and currently being excavated, is the territory of the nations of the Lothran Federation; armies are stationed around it, equipped with fine alchemical gear. It is a place even the Iron Dragon Mother would not dare to provoke rashly.

On the wilderness, the most dangerous things are not fierce beasts or demons, but these stationed troops.

"I was too reckless; such a thing will never happen again."

Thinking back now, Samantha still felt a chill of fear.

She was a thousand meters in the air and still very far away, yet she almost died; if she had carelessly gotten a bit closer at that time, death would have been certain.

At this moment.

Garos's gaze shifted slightly; he turned his head and, under the sunlight, noticed something glinting faintly in the hand of a goblin corpse.

(End of this chapter)