The sunlight poured down like a golden waterfall, yet it was sliced into countless tiny, dancing spots of light by the overlapping, lush canopies, scattering sporadically onto the ground covered in decaying leaves and moss.
At the same time.
A giant paw, covered in thick fur but concealing sharp hooked claws, stepped lightly onto a bright spot of light.
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When that soft, broad pad made contact with the ground, it didn't make the slightest sound, as if a ghost had glided past.
And this was only the beginning.
In this dense jungle located on the border of the Molten Iron Tribe, a group of agile and dangerous predators was advancing quietly.
As the pride passed through, their powerful muscles slid smoothly beneath their fur, suppressing instinctive roars and heavy breaths as they slowly pushed forward in a perfect silence.
The leader was a giant lion with exceptionally sturdy limbs and muscles that bulged like blocks of granite.
Most notably, many key parts of its body—such as the shoulder blades, spine, and joints—were naturally covered in a layer of thick, rough, dark-yellow rock armor that seemed connected to the earth.
Every step it took carried an extraordinary sense of heavy power.
High-level magical beast—Earth-Shattering Lion.
Unlike those unintelligent magical beasts that relied solely on wild instinct, it possessed Elementary intelligence similar to an Earth Rampage Bear.
In fact, it wasn't just this squad.
At this moment, the leaders of all the lion pride units attacking the border of the Molten Iron Tribe were, without exception, Vicious Beast or magical beast chieftains like the Earth-Shattering Lion, possessing a certain level of intelligence and strength far exceeding their kin.
Because of this, they could effectively suppress and lead the other lions, making the entire pride behave like an elite unit.
The leading Earth-Shattering Lion suddenly halted its heavy steps and raised a front paw.
The pride behind it, as if receiving a silent command, also gradually ceased all movement.
The giant lion chieftain lowered its massive body, its sensitive nose twitching slightly as it carefully sniffed the scents in the air.
A moment later, it raised its rock-armored head, its deep pupils seemingly piercing through the layers of branch and leaf obstacles to lock onto a flickering Molten Iron outpost a kilometer away.
Roar...
The Earth-Shattering Lion emitted an extremely low, almost inaudible commanding growl from deep within its throat.
The members of the pride behind it immediately pressed their bodies even lower, almost completely prone on the ground. Using the cover of shrubs and terrain, they moved in a stealthy manner close to the earth, approaching their prey silently like hunters.
However, just as they had crept forward less than ten meters.
The leading Earth-Shattering Lion chieftain's movements suddenly stiffened, its neck snapping around with a look of vigilance and wariness.
It turned abruptly, raising its head to stare fixedly at the low sky behind and to its side. Every muscle in its body instantly tensed like iron, and it squeezed out a low growl that rumbled like thunder from the depths of its throat.
Although the other lions were a beat slower, they also immediately sensed their leader's abnormality.
They all stopped in their tracks, baring their teeth in defensive postures, and looked in the same direction as the Earth-Shattering Lion.
"To be able to detect my presence... your perception is quite sharp."
Accompanied by a calm whisper, Iron Dragon Sorog's thick, hard black body gradually solidified and appeared in the pride's vision, as if emerging from ripples in water.
He had been using a Psionic Concealment Spell just now.
The principle of this Spell was not simple visual invisibility, but rather directly blinding the target's perception on a mental level, causing them to subconsciously ignore his existence.
But the average Rank of these lions was quite high.
Especially the leading Earth-Shattering Lion; its perception was keen. Through the slightest changes in airflow and a trace of almost imperceptible Dragonkin aura, it had ultimately seen through the Iron Dragon's concealment.
The Iron Dragon spread his massive wings, hovering in the low sky.
Facing many alone, he nonetheless seemed like the side with the absolute advantage.
And in fact, he was.
Surging psionic brilliance flowed within the Iron Dragon's eyes, clearly reflecting the figures of the several lions below.
In the next moment, without any chanting or movement.
—Psionic Manipulation!
In an instant, as the invisible psionic energy spread, a sudden change occurred.
Deafening roars, filled with confusion and Fury, suddenly rang out.
A giant Vicious Beast lion to the right of the Earth-Shattering Lion seemed to suddenly go mad. It shook its massive head violently a few times, then without warning, it turned its target and lunged toward the nearest Earth-Shattering Lion chieftain.
Not only that.
At almost the same time, a total of three Vicious Beast-type lions known for their physical strength saw their eyes instantly become dull and chaotic.
They turned traitor together, lunging frantically at their former comrades. Their previous formation collapsed instantly, and the scene fell into chaos.
A solidified, bright yellow earth-element spiritual light lit up around the Earth-Shattering Lion chieftain. Simultaneously, it displayed an agility inconsistent with its heavy build; its hind limbs exerted force, and it lunged backward nearly ten meters.
Surrounded by the spiritual light, the earth's gravity acting upon it seemed to be significantly weakened at this moment.
Its movements became exceptionally swift and light, evading the frantic pounces from its companions.
Clang! Clang!
Claws like steel daggers snapped out from its broad pads, digging deep into the ground.
The Earth-Shattering Lion raised its head and let out a roar of Fury, its giant maw opening wide.
A highly condensed, dark-yellow ray emitting tearing and vibrating waves—the Earth-Shattering Ray—shot straight toward the Iron Dragon in the low sky, aiming for his head.
This ray was enough to easily pierce through mountain rock and tear through steel.
Iron Dragon Sorog's reaction was faster. With just a slight flap of his wings, his massive body shifted elegantly as if weightless, evading the ray's direct path.
Since the Spell-like ray was difficult to hit the target, the Earth-Shattering Lion chieftain decisively changed its strategy.
The muscles in its hind legs bulged and expanded as if exploding, and the thick rock armor around its body seemed to come alive, rolling and stacking in layers, becoming even thicker and harder.
Immediately after, it actually used the powerful reaction force of its back-kick to boldly pounce toward the Iron Dragon in the low sky, its raised claws tearing through the air with a piercing whistle.
Boom!!!!!!!!
However, what responded to it was a giant dragon claw that didn't yield an inch, striking first despite moving later.
Accompanied by the loud sound of countless rocks and soil exploding and a dull impact to the extreme, the Earth-Shattering Lion was sent flying back several times faster than it had come, like a baseball hit with full force, smashing heavily into the ground.
The rock armor that had seemed indestructible was now covered in spiderweb-like cracks, with many parts directly shattered and peeling off.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
At almost the same time, two other lions with extremely fast reactions took advantage of the tiny gap when the Iron Dragon had just completed a swing and his old strength was spent. They pounced simultaneously from the left and right, their fangs and claws already inches away from the Iron Dragon's wing membranes and flank.
Movement Like a Tide!
Iron Dragon Sorog's movements suddenly accelerated, as if breaking through the shackles of time.
His giant dragon claws carved blurred afterimages in the air, launching a new round of strikes with almost no pause.
Swift and precise slaps fell one after another, swatting the two lions attempting an ambush heavily to the ground like flies, the sound of breaking bones clearly audible.
To compensate for the relative weakness of a Psion in close combat, Iron Dragon Sorog had dual-classed into the Hundred-Battle Dragon path.
Although his Hundred-Battle Dragon Rank was not yet high, he had already mastered several basic but very practical close-combat skills.
The Iron Dragon's wings flapped violently, and his hardened dragon body, gleaming with a cold metallic luster, instantly erupted with extreme speed. Like a heavy tank charging close to the ground, he directly slammed into the other lions trying to surround him, breaking their bones and sending them rolling away wailing.
On the other side, the Earth-Shattering Lion chieftain struggled to crawl out of the hollow.
It stared fixedly at the Iron Dragon hovering in the low sky, suddenly raising a front paw wrapped in dense, earthy-yellow elemental energy and stomping it onto the ground.
Vroom—!!!
In an instant, earth spikes—highly reinforced by Demonic Energy, sharp as spears, and hard as steel—broke through the ground without warning, sweeping toward Iron Dragon Sorog at an alarming speed with a vast area of effect.
Solrog's massive body displayed incredible flexibility.
His wings vibrated as he rapidly changed direction in the air, dodging the vast majority of the earth spike attacks.
Only a few extremely tricky earth spikes hit his body, but they shattered into countless stone fragments against those dragon scales hardened like adamantine, leaving only a few shallow, white indented marks.
Meanwhile, the Earth-Shattering Lion casting the Spell below seemed to be hit head-on by an invisible attack. The rock armor at its chest suddenly caved inward, and it let out a pained groan, once again spitting blood as it was sent flying backward.
Psionic Spell—Damage Transfer.
At the moment of being attacked, the Iron Dragon had forcibly transferred a portion of the damage he should have sustained onto the Spellcaster, the Earth-Shattering Lion, through this Spell.
In terms of the proportion of transferred damage, what the Earth-Shattering Lion sustained was actually far lower than what the Iron Dragon himself took.
However, the difference in physical strength between the two sides was simply too great. For the Iron Dragon, it was merely an insignificant impact, but for the Earth-Shattering Lion, it was already a heavy blow.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Roar!!!!
Amidst a series of dull thuds, the sound of bones shattering, and roars filled with pain and Fury, the woodland trembled continuously. Dust filled the air, and gravel and broken branches flew in all directions.
The disparately matched battle did not last long.
Less than ten minutes later.
The remaining lions finally could not suppress the fear in their hearts. They began to let out panicked whimpers and, ignoring the roaring commands of their leader, scattered and fled in terror.
Iron Dragon Sorog hovered in the air, looking around indifferently.
With him as the center, nine lions lay scattered across the messy ground, heavily injured and having lost their ability to fight.
Immediately afterward, the Iron Dragon suddenly flapped his wings, his figure abruptly rising as he soared into the sky.
Reflected in his vision was the Earth-Shattering Lion leader fleeing through the dense forest.
In the next moment, like a falcon locking onto its prey, he suddenly dived down.
Boom!!!
A precise and violent diving impact sent the strongest individual in this squad, the Earth-Shattering Lion leader, flying once again. It crashed through several large trees before rolling to a stop on the ground.
The Earth-Shattering Lion struggled to stand up, but its body, covered in wounds and with its rock armor completely shattered, could no longer support it.
Ultimately, it could only collapse powerlessly to the ground, letting out painful gasps.
Thud!
The Iron Dragon's heavy body landed beside it. A sharp claw mercilessly gripped the Earth-Shattering Lion's massive head, the sharp tips piercing the fur and leaving deep, blood-seeping furrows.
"Reptile, submit or die."
Solrog's voice rang out directly within the Earth-Shattering Lion's mind.
Under the Iron Dragon's indifferent gaze, the Earth-Shattering Lion's initial struggles and unwilling roars gradually weakened, finally turning into a low whimper filled with fear and submission as it chose to surrender.
The other injured lions who were lucky enough not to have died and were desperately fleeing in different directions did not manage to run very far either.
They soon ran into the elite troops of the Molten Iron Tribe, who had already received the signal and were steadily closing the encirclement from the perimeter. After a bout of futile resistance, they were first beaten into heavy injuries and eventually captured one by one with specially made steel cables and net bags.
The dragons were not hunting alone.
While locking onto the positions of the lion squads from high in the sky, they would command the nearest Molten Iron kin units to close in from the perimeter. Then, they would personally deliver a thunderous strike, coordinating with the kin's encirclement to strive for a total sweep of the lions, never letting a single one slip through the net.
Similar scenes were playing out simultaneously in different areas of the border front.
Wearing thick, pitch-black armor that made her appear even more formidable and massive, Red Dragon Samantha excitedly lashed her dragon tail, which was covered in spiked plating.
Clang!
With her movement, the armor plates on her tail, each with edges as sharp as blades, precisely interlocked and locked tight, instantly transforming into a giant blade-like structure. With a whistle that tore through the air, it slashed against the Mammoth Lion's crossed tusks, which were famous for being indestructible.
Crack—!!!
Accompanied by an ear-piercing sound of breaking, that pair of giant tusks, symbols of strength and solidity, snapped upon impact.
"Hahaha! Come on! Again!"
"Lowly reptiles! What kind of existence do you think you are making an enemy of?!"
Samantha laughed wildly.
Her own powerful strength as a Red Dragon, combined with the comprehensive amplification and protection provided by the alchemical armor, made her at this moment like a dragon-shaped Alchemy Golem born for battle, rampaging through the lion pride to her heart's content.
Every claw strike, every tail lash, and every collision carried the power to crush everything in its path.
The originally fierce lions were beaten into disarray, their morale collapsing, leaving them to flee with their tails between their legs, howling.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
In the bright sky, a very abrupt dark cloud churning with lightning descended. Within it, electric snakes danced wildly and thunder rolled, with thick bolts of lightning striking the ground continuously like the whips of a Heavenly God!
Blue Dragon Heriam hovered gracefully at the very center of the thundercloud storm.
He didn't even need to land; he simply flapped his wings, which were inlaid with lightning patterns, with composure, finely manipulating the sky full of thunder.
The violent lightning seemed to have eyes as it covered the lions below.
As time passed, those lion-type Vicious Beasts and magical creatures were shocked until their bodies were charred and smoking, their manes standing on end, and their limbs twitching violently as they fell to the ground, losing their ability to move.
Rumble!!!
On the other side, the young and aggressive Red Dragon Kashir chose the most direct method.
She didn't bother to dodge, allowing the lions' sharp teeth and claws to land on her body, which was covered in thick scales.
Pain was like fuel that ignited her Fury, and the boiling indignation in turn brought out even greater strength.
The lions soon discovered they were not besieging prey, but facing an erupting volcano, being unilaterally suppressed and pummeled by her!
And when her accumulated anger gradually vented through her frenzied attacks and her mind regained clarity...
The surrounding area was already full of heavily injured lions with broken bones and only gasps left, or corpses that had lost their lives.
At the same time.
Garros's gaze swept across the entire battlefield, quickly locking onto an elite unit that had the largest number and the highest average Life Level, which could be called the ace of the lion pride.
He circled half a turn high in the sky, adjusted his direction, and then, like a falling star, suddenly crashed down in front of the lion squad.
Boom!
Just the terrifying shockwave and ground tremor generated at the moment of landing threw the entire elite lion squad's formation into chaos. Over twenty lions were shaken off balance, their eyes instantly filled with alarm and fear.
Whoosh—!
The Red-Iron Dragon spread his massive wings, which seemed capable of blotting out the sun. The resulting gale blew away the pervasive dust and gunpowder smoke, revealing his grand and formidable body, which carried an immense sense of pressure.
With him as the center, a Dragon Might as condensed as a physical substance radiated outward like a tsunami, unending.
The lions were pressed down until they could barely breathe, their limbs trembling slightly.
"Reptiles, come. Use your fangs and claws to please me to the best of your ability."
The Red-Iron Dragon lowered his head, looking down at the lions, and spoke calmly.
Roar!!!
The leader, an exceptionally sturdy Vicious Beast head that seemed to be a mutated individual, crouched low, bared its fangs, and assumed a combat posture for a final desperate struggle, letting out a fierce roar at Garros.
However, in the very next second.
This fierce lion made a move that was beyond Garros's expectations.
It suddenly turned around, exploded with maximum speed, and like an arrow leaving a bow, fled madly in the direction away from the Red-Iron Dragon.
The retreat was incredibly decisive, without the slightest hesitation.
That determined posture just now was entirely a disguise to deceive the opponent.
At the same time, the other surviving members of the lion pride instantly scattered, fleeing for their lives in all directions.
When facing Garros, they couldn't even muster a shred of courage to resist. From the beginning, their goal was to escape, and they fled with incredible decisiveness and speed.
"How do you know you can't win without trying? Perhaps I should restrain my Dragon Might a bit next time."
The Red-Iron Dragon shook his head, and then his body instantly disappeared from the spot.
Even if this lion squad scattered and fled at the first moment, in the face of an absolute gap, all struggles were merely futile and could not change the final outcome.
In the time that followed, the dragons' hunt of the lions continued efficiently.
After quickly dealing with a lion squad, the dragons would leave the tasks of cleaning up the mess and binding the captives to the Molten Iron units arriving afterward, while they themselves would not linger, flapping their wings to soar into the clouds.
Relying on their advantage of dominating the sky, they quickly locked onto the next target area and then repeated the previous attack pattern.
Precise positioning, lightning strikes, kin encirclement...
Under the thrashing from the dragons in the sky, the lion squads that were previously taking the initiative and 'blooming in multiple spots' across the vast territory of the Molten Iron Tribe turned from hunters into panicked prey in the blink of an eye.
They were beaten until they fled in all directions, looking utterly wretched.
With the dragons entering the field, the situation was completely reversed.
Next, in less than a full day, the vast majority of the lions invading the Molten Iron Tribe's territory were captured. The few who resisted exceptionally fiercely and were difficult to take alive were killed on the spot. Only a very small number of individuals with great luck or exceptional cunning managed to break through the gradually tightening encirclement and flee back toward the Lion King's territory with heavy injuries.
The Lion King's first exploratory offensive against the Molten Iron Tribe ended in a complete and utter failure.
"Now, it's our turn."
As the night gradually deepened, the dragons soared and circled in the starry night sky.
"Assemble the legions, pursue the victory, and march the troops to Echo Canyon!"
Garros looked toward the direction of the Lion King's territory from afar and issued a new command.