Translator: AnubisTL
The massive figure leaped across the river, crushing an unfortunate hyena-man underfoot.
"A Dragon Blood Glutton?!" Solgorn's heart jolted.
It didn't know the origins of the Dragon Blood Glutton, nor could it quickly discern the creature's relationship with the stone giant.
But that didn't stop Solgorn from recognizing this beast as the ogres' leader.
At that moment, the ogres seized the kobolds harassing them from underwater, tore them apart, waded through the blood-stained river, and, enduring the hyena-men's poisoned arrows, stormed the opposite bank.
Faced with such overwhelming power, the iron dragon's commands had some effect, but only barely.
"Retreat!" Solgorn ordered decisively, abandoning the beachhead.
Instead of engaging the Dragon Blood Glutton directly, it led its chosen in a retreat not backward in a straight line, but downstream along the riverbank, using dragon breath to harass and impede the Gluttony Demon and ogre mages.
A minute later:
Splash!
The ogre vanguard stomped down, sinking more than half its shin into the soft ground.
Unbeknownst to them, the ogres had been lured into a stretch of loose sand and mud. Their massive, heavy bodies now became a liability, each step sinking deep into the muck and requiring tremendous effort to pull free.
Hyena-men moved across this terrain as easily as walking on solid ground, while kobolds could burrow directly into the sand for rapid movement.
"Halt! Counterattack!" Solgorn barked, his orders concise and decisive.
His hyena warriors encircled the ogres in the sandy mire, harassing them with poisoned arrows, javelins, and spears. Exploiting their superior speed and agility, they launched a counterattack against the ogres mired in the mud.
Watching the ogres struggle through the muck, their movements clumsy and desperate, Iron Dragon Solgorn's lips curled into a cold smile, his dragon eyes burning with a premature sense of victory.
He fixed his gaze on the Dragon Blood Gluttony Demon.
The demon's massive body was half-sunken in the mud. Though it could likely break free with brute force, its movements had been significantly slowed.
"Mere ogres dare to oppose the mighty Iron King?" Solgorn thought to himself.
His initial intention had been to retreat and temporarily avoid confrontation.
But after gaining a slight advantage, he began to consider annihilating the ogre force.
Giants and dragons were equally formidable creatures.
Ogres, however, were insignificant. Even the Gluttony Demon posed no threat to him.
Solgorn felt that being forced to retreat by ogres would be the ultimate humiliation. The great Iron King would bury these insolent ogres in the swamp.
The iron dragon folded its wings and swooped down on Karu like a sharpened arrow.
Its dragon claw aimed for the Gluttony Demon's neck.
Just as the claw was about to strike, the iron dragon suddenly swerved, avoiding the dangerous frontal assault. Instead, it tore open the Gluttony Demon's shoulder from the side, sending scalding blood spraying into the air.
The first strike had been a probe.
Solgorn remained vigilant.
Locking onto the Gluttony Demon, he continued his probing attacks. His claws and fangs, combined with blasts of dragon breath, left a trail of wounds across the demon's body. Yet Solgorn evaded every counterattack the Gluttony Demon launched.
"Slow reflexes, and utterly foolish. Its attacks are direct and inflexible, lacking any adaptability."
The Gluttony Demon's behavior perfectly matched the ingrained stereotypes recorded in Solgorn's inheritance.
Pride swelled within Solgorn's heart. Eager to secure a swift victory, it widened its attack range while gradually lowering its guard.
Whoosh!
The iron dragon spread its wings, its steel-like body once again diving toward the Gluttony Demon.
This time, the dragon claw targeted the Gluttony Demon's neck, and this was no mere probing attack. The strike was faster than any previous pounce.
Yet, in the instant before the claw made contact...
The Gluttony Demon grinned, revealing its fangs.
With an impossible upward swing, its wolf-toothed club lashed out with savage force, slamming into Solgorn's chest and abdomen. Diamond-tipped teeth tore through the scales, carving a gruesome wound.
A crushing weight and searing pain erupted from below.
The iron dragon was sent flying, its ten-meter-long body tumbling across the sandy ground, carving a deep, furrowed trail.
Worse still...
As Solgorn rose to his feet, barely flapping his wings, the two-headed sorcerer completed his incantation. A beam of acidic liquid and a freezing ray struck the iron dragon's wings with pinpoint accuracy, as if preordained.
The acidic liquid corroded the wing membranes, while frost crystallized into brittle ice at the joints.
Solgorn staggered, struggling to take flight again.
The Gluttony Demon, having broken free from the mud's restraints, hurtled toward him like a cannonball.
Boom! The wolf-toothed club slammed into the iron dragon's hardened skull, driving it back into the mud.
As the Gluttony Demon pressed its advantage, the iron dragon thrashed wildly, roaring and slashing with its claws, leaving deep gashes across the demon's arm.
The bloodied dragon head lowered, ramming savagely into the Gluttony Demon and dragging it across the muddy ground. The iron dragon's horn tore through the demon's chest scales, leaving a mangled mess of flesh and blood.
But these efforts proved futile.
The Dragon Blood Glutton possessed vitality rivaling that of true dragons.
Karu, facing the iron dragon head-on, coordinated with the sorcerers' concentrated fire, quickly turning the tide of battle. More ogre warriors swarmed forward, ignoring the harassing hyena-men and kobolds, and encircled Solgorn completely.
After a time...
Solgorn collapsed under the ogres' relentless assault, utterly exhausted and bound by alchemical chains.
The hyena-men and kobolds scattered in panic, only to be captured one by one.
"Hey, Iron Dragon, submit to the great Lord of the Crimson Wings!" Karu, leaning on his wolf-toothed club for support, stood before the battered iron dragon after the battle.
He had led the charge against the juvenile dragon and endured the brunt of its ferocious counterattacks. The Dragon Blood Glutton's massive frame had suffered grievous wounds before finally subduing the young iron dragon.
Solgorn was stunned.
This sounded like a title for dragonkind, not stone giants.
"Aren't you familiars of the stone giants?" Solgorn struggled to ask, sensing something was amiss.
"Stone giants? Oh, you mean the ones from the Quenching Highlands? The great Lord of the Crimson Wings has already annihilated them all."
Knowing the dragon lord was watching from the sky, Ugo chimed in with praise: "The great Lord of the Crimson Wings! He is the death-bringing star, the crimson divine punishment, the supreme dragon king who will rule the wastelands!"
"Submit to the Lord of the Crimson Wings, swear allegiance to him, and that's your only chance to live."
The iron dragon fell silent.
It hadn't expected these ogres to be chosen of dragonkind, nor that the Lord of the Crimson Wings they spoke of had annihilated the Stone Giant Camp.
"Is your Lord of the Crimson Wings a red dragon?" Solgorn pressed.
Suddenly, before the ogres could answer, a thunderous roar echoed from the sky.
Solgorn instinctively raised its dragon head and saw a crimson comet tearing through the clouds, plummeting from the heavens.
No,
it wasn't a crimson comet.
At this distance, Solgorn could clearly see it was a dragon—its twin wings trailing dark red qi, leaving a long, comet-like tail in its wake.
The Lord of the Crimson Wings descended with terrifying speed.
The ogres wisely cleared a space.
Boom! Just before crashing into the ground, the giant dragon flapped its wings, unleashing a gale-force wind and a shockwave. Its massive body halted mid-air, landing steadily before Iron Dragon Solgorn.
Solgorn stared, transfixed, scrutinizing the Lord of the Crimson Wings.
The dragon was twelve meters long, roughly the same size as Solgorn, yet appeared several times larger overall. Its colossal, uniquely structured wings, thick dragon scales, massive tail, and the clearly defined musculature visible even beneath its scales formed an awe-inspiring, almost incomprehensible form.
At first glance, it resembled a red dragon clad in heavy armor, its physique unmatched in strength.
Strangely, Solgorn sensed a faint familiarity emanating from it.
But with the situation dire, he had no time to investigate the source of this familiarity.
"Mighty Lord of the Crimson Wings," Solgorn lowered his head, avoiding direct eye contact, and spoke in a low voice. "If I have inadvertently offended you, I am willing to offer my territory and familiars as compensation. Please grant me your forgiveness."
Between dragons, a defeated dragon could avoid death by submitting to the victor and paying a price.
In the absence of deep-seated hatred, dragons rarely fought to the death. Their battles typically aimed to discipline and enslave their opponents. The victor would demand loyalty and service from the defeated for a period of time, or demand a ransom sufficient to satisfy them.
Against a giant enemy, Solgorn would rather die than surrender.
But bowing his head to another dragon was not an unacceptable prospect. The worst outcome would be temporary servitude.
After speaking, Solgorn waited for a response.
A few seconds later, he heard a familiar voice, though with a subtle change.
"Raise your head and look at me closely."
The iron dragon's eyes widened in shock as he lifted his gaze.
The dragon's face, covered in thorns and fine scales, was unfamiliar.
But those jet-black eyes, that condescending gaze, and the distinctive features of a Red Iron Hybrid—all these grew increasingly familiar to the iron dragon.
No way...
No way!
A faint suspicion surfaced in his mind, yet it seemed so absurd that he refused to believe it.
"Oh, Solgorn, my foolish, pitiful, and weak brother."
"It's you? My apologies, I thought you were another dragon. My familiar got a little carried away."
Garos lowered his gaze to the iron dragon, tilted his head, offered a perfunctory apology, and then asked with feigned curiosity, "Where are your sky-darkening wings? I don't see them."
(End of the Chapter)
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