Chapter 85: The Gods' 'Blessing

The Overseer's skills mainly lie in strengthening the warriors under its command; it dislikes personally entering the fray to face danger, even though it is far stronger than ordinary warriors.

This is hardly blameworthy.

Although there is a suspicion of cowardice, the role it plays in the rear is indeed greater than if it charged forward directly.

At the same time,

Facing a pack of jackal warriors rushing forward, the Rot-Claw Priest's face showed shock and rage as he slammed his bone staff heavily onto the ground.

"Those who betray the gods must suffer the punishment of eternal sores!"

Black blood seeped out from its seven orifices, transforming into a mass of cursed brands that fell upon the jackal warriors, causing their fur to fall out and pustules to sprout one after another on their bodies.

Yet these frenzied warriors feared no pain, and their weakness failed to stop their steps.

They surged forward like a tide.

The first jackal to pounce reached the hem of the Rot-Claw Priest's robe, stretched its head to bite directly at the priest's neck, but was grabbed by the neck by a Jackal Guard at a faster speed and snapped with a crack.

More claws followed in quick succession, yet in such a short time they still could not break through the Jackal Guard's defense.

The two Jackal Guards were originally the most valiant warriors, and after ritual strengthening, they were even more powerful.

After entering combat mode, their bodies expanded, their height reaching a full three meters, making them taller and more ferocious than the jackal warriors frenzied by the Overseer.

The Jackal Guards, silent and few in words, drove back one by one the kin attacking them.

Those blade edges and sharp claws fell upon their bodies, tearing fur and skin to leave bloody marks, yet in the blink of an eye they healed and regenerated; they were like two unkillable monsters, holding back the wave of frenzied jackals.

Protected by the Jackal Guards, the priest fought while retreating, waving his bone staff and chanting prayers rapidly in his mouth to brew a spell.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Two dragon scales rotated through the rain curtain in mid-air, landing precisely on the Jackal Guards; the erupted flames blasted them apart, shattering them into pieces, and also interrupted the spell the priest was brewing.

Seizing this opportunity,

the frenzied jackal warriors rushed up all at once, surrounded the priest, and tore him to shreds with chaotic blades and claws.

The frail priest, having lost his guards and being engaged at close range, had little power to resist; his pleas to the gods before death received no response or protection.

Garos watched this scene silently.

The gods' perception is cast across countless worlds and cannot cover every detail.

Unless it is a top-tier priest of great importance, they will not pay too much attention, nor will they carefully investigate the cause of death or track down the killer; under normal circumstances, it is merely a casual curse cast directly to kill the creature that slew the priest, and even that is only a low probability.

"I wonder what the gods' curse feels like."

Recently, Garos felt that his 'Blessing of Fire' was gradually becoming insufficient; the weakening of his fire resistance had become increasingly sluggish, and the enhancement of his fire resistance had become slow.

The reason for this,

Garos felt, was that his own curse resistance was also improving, slowly rendering it gradually ineffective.

He thought, if he deliberately provoked the gods, hunted down god priests, and obtained the gods' curse,

would it also evolve into another kind of 'blessing'?

The effect of such a blessing would surely be a thousand or ten thousand times stronger than the blessing of the Serpent Dragon, right?

But this can only be a thought.

The danger is too high; the gods' curse might kill him directly, giving him no chance to adapt at all.

Suddenly,

Garos narrowed his eyes slightly and looked to the right.

With a rustling sound, broken limbs attracted each other and gathered together, forming a mass.

Under Garos's gaze, the two Jackal Guards who had been blasted apart stood up again.

Their bodies were covered in bloody, charred black marks, scattered with cracks like broken porcelain, yet no matter what the injury, they were healing and sealing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Such strong regeneration."

Garos shook his entire body of dragon scales.

He was somewhat curious: how many exploding scales would it take to completely blast the two Jackal Guards to death, or if he used the Dragon-Wing Blade to chop them into minced meat, could they still regenerate?

To what degree of tenacity could the life of these monsters, transformed through sacrifices to the gods, reach?

The Jackal Guards, silent and few in words, had flesh buds surging over their bodies like small worms.

They turned their heads, their gaze locking onto the dragon that had attacked and injured them earlier.

They felt no fear; their broken bodies, healing and regenerating, began to move, then they strode forward with great steps, running swiftly toward Garos.

"The hatred has been drawn to me."

Staring at the two Jackal Guards, Garos did not take to the air.

He casually flicked his dragon wings; the sharp wing bones, like guillotine blades, emitted a cold, chilling gleam in the drizzle. Raindrops hitting them were first split in half, then shattered into fragments.

"Stop!"

The Blood-Tooth Overseer, staring fiercely at the Jackal Guards who wanted to attack Garos, let out a violent roar.

"The priest is dead! I, as the leader of the Red-Eye Clan, order you: submit to the Dragon Lord!"

The two Jackal Guards, while running, suddenly fell, kneeling before Garos; they remained silent, their faces devoid of any expression, like two statues.

"Dragon Lord, once the priest dies, the Jackal Guards will be loyal to the clan leader."

"They are now also your kin, your servants; please spare their lives."

The Blood-Tooth Overseer looked at Garos, and his fierce and ruthless expression immediately turned to flattery.

The speed of the face change was breathtaking.

"Are you teaching me how to act?"

Garos said.

"Please forgive my unintentional presumption."

The Blood-Tooth Overseer hurriedly said.

Garos looked toward the Jackal Guards kneeling on the ground.

The Jackal Guards were more loyal to the Clan Chief, that is, the Blood Fang Warlord; when the Blood Fang Warlord ordered them to submit to Garos, they silently knelt, and if ordered to attack Garos, they would do so immediately.

This was typical.

My underlings' underlings are not my underlings.

Among the Dragonkind's kin, what the Dragonkind cared about and sought to control were primarily the kin leaders, not all kin creatures; even an adult Dragon with sufficient vital blood and mastery of the Dragon Vein Transformation skill would only transform the leaders, turning them into Dragon Vein creatures to gain absolute loyalty.

As for the kin beneath the leaders.

They were better managed by the leaders, while the Dragonkind were responsible for managing and driving the leaders.

Of course.

The Jackal Guards were merely an exception.

They were monsters created by the Priests, lacking their own consciousness, like puppets on strings, even less intelligent than the ferocious beasts and demons in the wilderness, knowing only to obey their creator's commands; and when their creator, the Priest, died, they would unconditionally obey the Clan Chief's orders.

Ordinary kin knew the Dragon Lord was a higher and more powerful existence than their own leader.

Even if the leader ordered disobedience, they often lacked the courage.

For instance, the Jackal People here.

They were closer to the Blood Fang Warlord, but if the Blood Fang Warlord ordered them to besiege Garos at this moment, no Jackal Person would respond; they were, after all, intelligent beings; even if they rarely thought for themselves, they understood basic self-preservation and would not do something suicidal.

The two Jackal Guards stopped kneeling.

Spare them?

No, forget it.

They were ultimately two unstable factors; there was no need to keep them.

Garos stepped forward with a steady gait, suddenly raised his Dragon Claw, and struck the Jackal Guards.

Splat! Splat!

Under his terrifying and immense power, the two Jackal Guards, who neither dodged nor defended, were turned by that single claw strike directly into radiating chunks of minced flesh.

To Garos's slight surprise,

these chunks of minced flesh were still writhing, attempting to coalesce into a humanoid form.

"Such strong life."

"These are merely two low-level Jackal Guards."

"If it were the legendary Evil Dragon Guards, and they had reached the Ancient Dragon level, who could defeat them?"

Garos felt a touch of wariness, then immediately exhaled a torrent of Flame Dragon Breath, engulfing the Jackal Guards that had just begun to take shape, turning them into lifeless ash, thus finally killing them completely.

The Blood Fang Warlord watched this scene; although pained by the death of the two Jackal Guards, he did not intervene.

Garos had ignored his suggestion and savagely killed the Jackal Guards.

This did not displease the Blood Fang Warlord; on the contrary, it made him even more devoted.

Look, how domineering, how powerful, how formidable a Dragon Lord! Only such a Dragon is worthy of my, Hodge's, loyalty and following!

The Blood Fang Warlord's tail wagged as if it might break.

Creatures like the Jackal People have always feared power rather than virtue.

They simply loved the Dragonkind's "domineering CEO" style.

If Garos had listened to him and spared the Jackal Guards, it would have made the Blood Fang Warlord think Garos was easy to talk to, leading to more "unintentional overstepping" in the future, testing his boundaries.

This was their nature; even with the absolute loyalty gained through Dragon Vein Transformation, it could not be avoided.

Loyalty did not mean they did not desire higher status, nor did it mean they did not want more benefits and treatment.

In his past life, Garos had raised a dog, a golden-and-white Border Collie, which always liked to play mind games and test the master's boundaries, unaware that all its little schemes were seen through.

The Jackal People were exactly the same.

Garos knew very well how to intimidate these monster clans rooted in the wilderness.

(End of this chapter)