Bone-chilling winds swept across the grey sky of The Borderlands time and time again, with sporadic snowflakes swirling as they drifted down from the leaden clouds.
Red Dragon Cahill's scarred body trembled slightly in the cold wind. Among the crisscrossing wounds, the most shocking was a piercing injury—a heavy alchemy bolt with barbs and blood grooves had stabbed into her lower abdomen and exited from her right rear back. Dark red blood grooves on the arrow shaft were still constantly oozing warm dragon blood.
This alchemy-enhanced weapon was stuck between her muscle tissues like a living thing, and every flap of her dragon wings triggered new lacerations.
"Vile Dwarf mongrels!"
Cahill squeezed a hoarse curse through her teeth, her vertical pupils churning with almost tangible fury.
She made a blood oath in her heart: If she could survive this time, she would surely extinguish every furnace in the Blackrock Duchy with dragon flames and let those Dwarves who loved forging weapons sleep forever on the steel anvils they had crafted themselves.
This vow was so resolute that she even used Reincarnation as a White Dragon—a curse that Red Dragons abhorred—as the price for breaking the oath.
After making the vow, the Red Dragon silently flapped her gradually stiffening wings, flying laboriously alone in the vast sky. The bone-chilling cold and boundless loneliness surrounded her, causing her mood to sink continuously into an abyss of despair.
The high ambitions she once held seemed so ridiculous now.
When The Dragon Flight, which had escaped from the Cliff Strait several months ago, first arrived at the Serel Wilderness, the seven Young Dragon Clan members had been full of high ambitions.
Like most Young Dragons that had left their nests, they were prepared to make a great showing in this new world.
However, reality soon gave them a harsh wake-up call.
—While scouting the environment separately, an inexperienced young Blue Dragon wandered into the territory of a Vicious Beast, and by the time reinforcements arrived, only remains were left all over the ground.
The enraged two Young Dragons led their companions to surround and kill the Vicious Beast, and in doing so, shed their innocence and began to act cautiously.
They subjugated some weak monster clans, attempting to advance steadily, but in a battle for territory, they misjudged the enemy's strength, leading to the total annihilation of their kin.
After this.
The somewhat disheartened Dragon Flight decided to lay low and develop, hibernating to grow until at least everyone had become a Young Dragon before emerging.
However, weakness was the greatest risk. They wanted to lay low and develop, but danger and accidents always sought them out, forcing The Dragon Flight to wander constantly, unable to settle down.
Only then did they realize that surviving alone in the outside world was no better than enduring exploitation within the Blue Dragon community.
Slowly.
Due to various unexpected situations that followed one after another, two more dragons died, leaving only four of the original seven.
—A young Blue Dragon, a young Red Dragon, a young Black Dragon, and a young Green Dragon.
After careful consideration, they decided that the Serel Wilderness was too dangerous and it would be better to change places and start over. However, during the migration, because they passed through the airspace of a mineral vein, they were noticed by the stationed legion, which followed them and launched a surprise attack when they were careless.
The Black Dragon and Green Dragon were heavily injured and captured almost instantly.
The Blue Dragon and Red Dragon also fell into a bitter struggle.
In the end, with its dragon wings shattered and no possibility of escape, the young Blue Dragon fought to the death, covering for Red Dragon Cahill, and at the cost of being heavily injured and captured itself, gave her a chance to escape.
Recalling the back of the Blue Dragon spreading its tattered wings for the last time, unprecedented complex emotions churned in Cahill's chest.
The proud Red Dragon had never thought that she would survive by relying on that Blue Dragon kin with whom she was at odds daily.
This emotion, intertwined with anger and shame, scorched her heart. For a moment, she almost turned back to meet her death, but the obsession with revenge ultimately overcame the impulse, allowing her to retain a sliver of clarity amidst her fury.
Time passed slowly.
The sky gradually darkened, and the night shrouded the earth.
Under the cold moonlight, Red Dragon Cahill flapped her wings unevenly.
Due to the long flight and her injuries, she unknowingly flew lower and lower, her speed slowed significantly, and her consciousness became somewhat dull. Although she was determined to escape and live for revenge, her own severely injured state made her unable to keep up.
Rip!
A harsh, piercing whistle suddenly sounded.
The Red Dragon subconsciously dodged to the side, then felt a pain in her dragon wing as it was pierced by an alchemy crossbow bolt.
Looking back, the Dwarf pursuers were in hot pursuit, getting closer and closer.
Cavalry clad in light armor rode giant-horned antelopes, quickly treading over the hard soil of The Borderlands, kicking up a cloud of dust behind them. At the rear of the troop were several huge Alchemy Golems made of steel and metal, advancing with a rumble.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The light cavalry raised the crossbows they carried and shot a rain of arrows into the sky.
Red Dragon Cahill's flight altitude at this moment was only over three hundred meters, completely within the attack range of these crossbow bolts. She tried her best to dodge, but was still hit repeatedly, with one crossbow bolt after another piercing her body, blood streaming down.
Wobbling, the Red Dragon was about to fall to the ground.
"At least I must take a few to the grave with me!"
Feeling the exhaustion and pain in her body, the Red Dragon felt no fear; instead, a look of violence and cruelty flashed in her eyes. She let out a low roar, flapped her tattered wings to barely change direction, and dove toward the Dwarf cavalry.
Along the Red Dragon's trajectory, blood droplets drew a tragic red line in the cold wind.
Her tattered dragon wings tore through the air, emitting a death-rattle-like screech, and deep in her throat, she brewed a final burst of dragon flames—until the sky suddenly lit up with an unnatural red glow.
The Young Dragon looked over subconsciously.
The next moment, her pupils shrank abruptly.
Covered in black, heavy-armor-like dragon scales, with a physique so strong it was absurd, a towering Evil Dragon that made even the Red Dragon feel incredulous was reflected in her field of vision. With just a gentle flap of its wings, that majestic dragon body tore through the night sky like a comet, streaking across the horizon.
Whoosh!
In that split second of distraction, the Red-Iron Dragon had already approached the ground.
Only now did the thunderous roar that shattered the air finally arrive.
The Dwarf cavalry captain was the first to react.
His pupils constricted, and he shouted: "All units—"
Before his voice had finished, it was drowned out by the deafening roar.
Under Cahill's gaze of extreme shock, the Red-Iron Dragon smashed directly into the cavalry formation like a meteorite, turning the Dwarves and their mounts into blood and mud, and with the expansion of the shockwave and the rolling soil, sent the surrounding Dwarves flying in circles.
Boom!
The engine roared.
Three Alchemy Golems on the periphery charged into the dust-filled, murky area.
The next second, with a series of rapid clashing sounds, debris splattered everywhere like rain.
The Red-Iron Dragon played with an Alchemy Engine that looked like a heart in its claw, and with heavy, unstoppable strides, walked out of the dust slowly.
"The Borderlands forbids hunting by outsiders."
The Red-Iron Dragon's gaze swept across the surroundings and said: "Especially, hunting Dragonkin."
As this voice reached their ears, and they looked at that towering, fierce, and terrifying dragon shadow, the surviving Dwarves almost forgot to breathe.
At the same time, the Red-Iron Dragon also noticed the equipment of these Dwarves and the emblem on it.
—Blackrock Duchy.
A subtle change flashed in the Red-Iron Dragon's eyes.
After more than twenty years, Garros had once again come into contact with the Blackrock Duchy, however, the situation at this moment was completely different.
"For the Blackrock Duchy!"
In an explosive roar, the Dwarf captain burst out with his final bravery, leaped up brandishing his war hammer, and smashed it toward the Red-Iron Dragon's head, but was hit by a careless claw at a faster speed, exploding into a mist of blood on the spot.
A clever Dwarf warrior quietly retreated to the back, took out a communication device from his waist, and activated it.
However, something unexpected happened to him: the communication device seemed to be subjected to unknown interference and could not be activated.
"A death struggle is indeed more interesting than begging for mercy on your knees."
Before the Red-Iron Dragon had finished speaking, a blur had already swept across the battlefield.
After just a few dozen seconds, this land returned to silence, with only the cold wind carrying the smell of blood sweeping over the remains all over the ground, and sweeping over that majestic and strong dragon shadow.
Only then did Cahill, who was hovering in mid-air, wake up from her shock.
"What kind of powerful Evil Dragon is this?!"
"A Young Adult Dragon? Or an adult dragon?"
Looking at that terrifying figure, her heart was filled with vigilance, fear, and awe.
PS: It's power stones time.