Translator: AnubisTL
Garos extended his thick dragon claw and seized Alberto's golden tail, which hung limp and scorched black.
With a powerful beat of his wings, he stirred a howling gale.
He dragged the young gold dragon, who slept as soundly as a dead pig, and carelessly tossed him into a relatively soft pile of sand within Dragon Valley.
Thud!
A dull sound echoed as dust billowed into the air.
This rough treatment failed to rouse the sleeper.
Instead, a colossal snore, like continuous rolling thunder, reverberated through the entire valley. It rose and fell in a rhythmic cadence, echoing endlessly across the vast, open space.
Garos's imposing form landed softly in the center of the valley.
He stretched his massive body, covered in cold, black-red dragon scales, causing his bones to creak slightly. Then, he turned his gaze to the Red-Silver Dragon, Deborah, who stood elegantly beside him.
"Something's not right with Alberto," he said.
Deborah let out a soft laugh.
The tip of her long, lithe dragon tail curled around a massive boulder, then whipped it forward with a sudden, violent flick.
With unerring precision, the boulder slammed into the side of Alberto's golden head.
CRASH!
The massive rock shattered instantly into countless tiny fragments, exploding like a firework of stone dust.
Yet the gold dragon, half-buried in the rubble, barely reacted. The magic scales on his neck flashed once before dimming again.
"Tsk, tsk. He's a tough one, isn't he?"
Deborah tilted her head with interest, then casually swept her dragon claw through the air.
Cold air condensed, forming sharp ice crystals out of thin air.
Like a dense hail of bullets, the crystals rained down on Alberto's defenseless body, striking with dull thuds.
Deborah played this target practice game with a thoughtful expression.
"Strange," she murmured. "Could this guy have sworn some bizarre or ridiculously harsh oath?"
Garos nodded his massive head. "It's highly likely."
"The Holy Dragon path's skills are indeed all-encompassing and comprehensive, but they also come with a massive, unavoidable drawback."
His gaze fell upon Alberto.
"Oaths grant Holy Dragons resilience and berserk strength far beyond common reason, but they also bring an inevitable side effect."
"Sometimes, Holy Dragons—driven by impulse or an excessive pursuit of perfection—accidentally swear oaths that are too harsh or so bizarre they defy comprehension."
"Looking at him..."
"It's almost certainly a case like that."
Although Garos didn't know the exact nature of the young gold dragon's oath, Alberto's strange reaction suggested it was having a significant impact on him.
Furthermore, while the fierce battle with Alberto had given Garos a long-lost thrill and the pleasure of a good workout, it was far from enough to fully satisfy him.
He had indeed activated the frenzy state of his power liberation.
However, as his own strength grew and he repeatedly activated and adapted to the frenzy state, the cost and burden of this power had undergone a drastic transformation.
In the beginning, using the Frenzy State was like an anaerobic sprint—a suffocating, violent burst of power that could not be sustained.
Now, it was more like a high-intensity but sustainable "aerobic" exercise.
He could maintain the state steadily for an extended period, no longer limited to a few fleeting moments of explosive power.
After a brief conversation with the Red-Silver Dragon, the Red-Iron Dragon, still eager for more, turned and flapped his wings, flying toward the super-heavy training ground built specifically for him.
Whoosh!
Garos's chest expanded as he drew in a massive breath of air.
Immediately after, a sound like drumming, thunder, and a roaring engine erupted from his chest. Frenzy Lightning crackled across his body, placing an immense strain on his heart.
The little dragons nearby felt their hearts race just from hearing the thunderous booms. They were mentally shaken by the invisible pressure, finding it hard to believe that the sound was merely the Red-Iron Dragon's heartbeat.
After exhaling another breath of searing air...
Accompanied by the rhythmic thump, thump, thump of his heartbeat, the red-iron dragon rolled across the ground, executing a series of movements that seemed defying of logic yet possessed a strange beauty—a perfect fusion of strength and skill.
In this way, he was tempering his heart.
Even for dragonkind, born with such formidable physiques, the heart remained the central hub that sustained life and power. Its importance was beyond question.
Garos was deeply convinced that once this heart could break through its limits and complete its final evolutionary metamorphosis, the resulting transformation would extend far beyond the organ itself. It would be like lighting a fuse for a chain reaction, igniting a series of miraculous changes throughout his entire life essence.
Moreover, based on his understanding of himself and his innate talent, he had a powerful intuition.
When his next juvenile stage deep slumber ended, he would likely be able to complete the evolution of his dragon heart as a natural progression. At that time, his life essence would undergo a massive upgrade.
As the last sliver of sunlight dipped below the horizon and the deepening night silently shrouded Dragon Valley, Garos, his training complete, slowly lowered his massive, searing-hot body into the frigid lake.
Hiss—hiss hiss hiss—
It was like red-hot iron plunged into cold water.
Countless plumes of scalding white steam erupted and billowed from his skin, instantly blanketing the lake's surface in a thick mist from his quenching-like immersion.
His eyes closed as he felt the icy water envelop his entire body, his colossal form slowly sinking to the lake's depths.
As the water pressure increased and the temperature dropped, his spirit grew calm and focused.
A thick, powerful dragon claw, covered in heavy scales, gently rested on his chest.
Even without activating his frenzy state or the Bloodburst Technique, Garos could feel the dragon heart pounding beneath his tough, thick scales and corded, dragon-like muscles.
"I'm thirty-seven this year. I've already passed the halfway mark of my juvenile stage."
"Within two years at most, I will enter the deep slumber of my juvenile stage. Based on my past slumber durations, which have always far exceeded those of my kin, I should officially enter the young stage upon my next awakening."
Garos pondered silently. This timing isn't ideal. It will inevitably disrupt my plans to seize resources during the Federation's civil war.
But on second thought, perhaps it's not so bad.
The internal fractures and wars of the Federation, that colossal beast, will never fully erupt and settle in the short term.
The duchies and kingdoms that hold sway over their respective territories each have their own interests and long-term considerations. They are wary of and check one another, and will never rashly ignite a full-scale war.
Even now, the only ones who have truly torn off their masks and formally declared war are the Duchy of Abel and the Duchy of Haltai.
I must use this precious time before my slumber to return to the Sierre Wilderness, establish a secure outpost and base on its fringes, gain a foothold, and drive in a wedge.
Once I enter the young stage and experience a leap in strength, I will be able to participate in this gluttonous feast with greater power and a more composed posture.
At the bottom of the lake.
Garos silently reviewed the path to the future in the depths of his mind once more. Only then did he fold his wings to his sides and swim upward, wagging his tail.
Finally, he burst from the lake with a massive splash, spreading his wings and flying toward Burning Steel Citadel.
Next, like the sand continuously slipping through an hourglass, time quietly flowed day by day.
With the assistance of the juvenile dragons who were gradually shedding their childishness, the Iron Dragon Solgorn methodically fulfilled his duties, managing the ever-growing legion of servants.
He feverishly summoned the most elite warriors who had been selected, meticulously counting the mountain-like piles of logistics supplies and military equipment, and preparing a massive food reserve sufficient to support an expedition.
The Ironforged Tribe, located in the Frontierlands, was now like a giant, precision-engineered war machine, brimming with a sense of power ready to be unleashed.
They were making complete preparations for the upcoming march back to the Sierre Wilderness.
(End of the Chapter)
---------------------------
📖 You are reading [304] Chapters behind.
🔥 Read up to Chapter [630] now, only on 𝕔𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕥𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝕞.
📚 Read upto [13,000+] Chapters on Site with [10,400+] Free Chapters!
🚫 Also get FREE lifetime ad-free and join the giveaway by joining our Discord!
---------------------------