Free Web NovelThe clouds seemed to be ignited by blazing flames, dyed with a fiery red light.
The broken orc army was continuously retreating.
Their battle lines had completely collapsed; scattered flags and weapons littered the scorched earth. The retreat turned into a rout, while the Nausil army, with morale soaring and legendary warriors serving as their spearhead, pursued in the direction the orc forces had fled.
Soon, the army entered a region filled with lava-filled ravines and deep pits.
The air temperature here was extremely high, every breath felt like swallowing flames.
All that met the eye were scorched earth and death; dark red magma surged in the fissures of the cracked ground. Gray-white particles constantly rose and fell, landing on armor and skin, bringing a burning pain.
The scene was as silent and dead as a purgatory.
If not for the protection of the military formation, the radiating heat waves and the ubiquitous smoke and dust would have been enough to take the lives of ordinary soldiers within a short time.
Most of the lower-level warriors couldn't even cross this place on their own.
Only within the formation could they barely withstand this purgatory formed by the residual power of a dragon's breath.
And it was precisely by walking through here themselves that they more deeply realized what the orc army had faced earlier.
A cataclysm-like annihilation.
Countless scorched marks remained on the ground; some were twisted into shapes that once seemed human, others were completely unrecognizable.
Even the most resolute elite warriors, upon walking through this scorched purgatory, breathing in the mixed scent of death and sulfur, couldn't help but raise their heads and gaze upward at the dark giant shadow still hanging high in the sky.
That dragon was still there.
Its massive body blocked out a patch of sky, its shadow covering the earth, as if it contained the power to destroy everything within.
The red iron dragon felt the weight of countless gazes upon him.
Some filled with awe, some with fear, some with gratitude, and some simply stunned by the sheer power.
But he had long grown accustomed to this and remained unmoved.
While observing the surface and the surrounding situation, confirming there were no other abnormal fluctuations on the battlefield, he inwardly pondered and reviewed the previous battle.
"This form's combat performance... is indeed exceptional," he thought to himself.
The Deep Freeze Tyrant had been an excellent whetstone.
The chrome dragon's fighting style was fierce and cunning, especially extremely threatening in close-quarters combat. Against any other Mandate-level being, even a Mandate great dragon of the same race, they would inevitably suffer greatly under his fangs.
At the same time.
This battle allowed Garoth to clearly verify the various effects of the Ember-Annihilating Form.
"Overall, it's indeed much stronger than the Rift Form."
He wasn't denying the value of the Rift Form.
Its speed and maneuverability were irreplaceable in specific tactical scenarios. But in terms of overall pure destructive power, discussing the effectiveness of suppression and finishing, the Ember-Annihilating Form was undeniably superior.
What pleased Garoth the most was that after his Dragon Breath directly hit the chrome dragon, the battle was basically declared over.
If the chrome dragon hadn't fled at the end, with his condition at that time, if he took another direct hit, he would most likely have died here completely.
Not even his corpse might have remained intact.
After all, a Mandate great dragon's physical attributes weren't much inferior to his.
The chrome dragon's own defense wasn't weak, and the Deep Freeze Tyrant was even one of the best among them. But even so, he couldn't withstand the Ember-Annihilating Breath at all.
"If it had been the previous normal state, or the Rift Form..."
Garoth estimated in his mind.
He guessed that he might have needed to activate the Radiant State to cause truly significant damage to the Deep Freeze Tyrant.
And even then, he would have had to endure considerable damage in close combat. He couldn't have been as composed as he was now; it would have been a hard-fought battle. He would still have won in the end, but the cost wouldn't have been small.
In contrast, this battle was completely under his control from start to finish.
The only time he took some initiative to close the distance was in the middle of the fight, when he wanted to test the Ember-Annihilating Form's performance in close combat. This gave the chrome dragon some opportunities, allowing him to leave a few wounds on Garoth's body.
But these wounds were very shallow, not even truly affecting his movements.
The test conclusion was also very clear.
The close combat capability in the Ember-Annihilating Form was indeed slightly weaker than before, but it was far from being considered a weakness.
Although defense, reaction speed, and strength had decreased, they remained at a considerable level.
This was a perfectly acceptable cost.
Claudia certainly deeply understood this.
That chrome dragon was probably desperately replaying the fight in his mind while escaping, trying to find a way to deal with him. But Garoth didn't think the other party could find any real breakthrough.
In fact.
If Garoth had maintained his distance from the very beginning, unhurriedly pressuring the chrome dragon's living space through breath attacks and Dragon Qi Bombs, steadily whittling down his condition...
In this battle, he might even have achieved a flawless victory.
Defeating an opponent of the same level without injury usually required an enormous gap between the two.
And the Ember-Annihilating Form gave him this possibility.
"Unfortunately, mutation forms can't exist for a long time," Garoth sighed inwardly.
He had already pondered this issue many times.
"As time passes, my body will directly adapt and correct it. Even if I actively consume mutation value to maintain it, I can only slow down this process, not completely stop it."
His body regarded the mutation state as some kind of deviation that needed to return to normal.
Like an immune system clearing foreign objects, it persistently tried to pull it back to its original track.
This should have been an advantage, but in this situation, it became a limitation instead.
Garoth gazed into the distance thoughtfully, the light in his eyes flickering.
What he wanted most right now was to be able to retain the mutation forms he desired and quickly switch between them in combat.
For example, first use the Rift Form to create distance with extreme speed, then switch to the Ember-Annihilating Form in a safe position and bombard freely. When the enemy, having paid a heavy price and covered in wounds, finally got close, he could instantly switch to a mutation form strong in close combat and deliver a devastating blow.
Achieving this level.
It would be very difficult for anyone to counter or suppress him.
"How can I retain mutation forms and make them controllable to a certain degree?"
Garoth had thought about this problem many times.
If he relied only on his own adaptive evolution, he didn't have a good idea.
This was, after all, an instinctive mechanism of the body, not entirely under the control of subjective will. Whether he could obtain relevant traits in the next evolution depended entirely on his own luck, with no guarantees.
However, besides his own adaptive evolution, there was another possibility.
"The Tear of the Immortal, condensed by the Slaughter Great Demon, Abaddon."
Garoth's thoughts drifted back to that battle with the Slaughter Great Demon.
The Slaughter Great Demon switched between different forms with ease.
Sometimes ferocious like a wild beast, sometimes mysterious like a shadow, each transformation was extremely fluid, as if the forms were just clothes it casually changed into.
"Absorbing the Tear of the Immortal when being elevated to Mandate has a certain probability of condensing the original owner's traits, or rather, the form of their Potency, into one's own trait system."
This was the knowledge recorded in the inheritance.
Abaddon's trait system was undoubtedly shaped around rapidly switching states.
Moreover, each time it drastically changed its form, it also gained an attribute enhancement. If he could obtain similar traits, he would have a greater chance of making mutation forms controllable to a certain degree.
"This kind of trait inheritance is almost entirely dependent on luck."
"And my luck..."
"Is actually pretty good."
Or rather, any being that could reach the crown-level wouldn't have bad luck.
After reaching a certain level, this kind of luck could even be called a mandate of fate, an inevitability formed by the convergence of countless factors in the unseen.
Those who managed to survive were all darlings of fate.
Reinhardt, whom he had defeated and subdued, the Giant King he had killed, etc. Before they met him, they were also fiercely advancing, existing as if the entire world revolved around them.
Garoth's mandate of fate certainly wasn't low.
The Luckbringer's 'blessing' added more fuel to his fire.
The fact that the second mutation directly granted him the Ember-Annihilating Form was proof. Even earlier, obtaining Abaddon's Tear, whose represented trait direction happened to be highly compatible with multi-form transformation, was also potential proof.
Whoosh!
The sound of dragon wings parting the air came from afar, bringing with it a slight disturbance of the air currents.
Garoth withdrew his scattered thoughts and raised his main head, seeing the Green Dragon, Cerora, flapping her wings as she approached him.
She hadn't followed the army to pursue the orc legends and had turned back.
The Green Dragon's wings stretched out, tracing elegant arcs in the air as she gradually approached, her movements unhurried, like an emerald green leaf carried by the wind.
She hovered to a stop beside Garoth, her tail tip swaying to sweep away the ash floating before her eyes.
"An absolutely brilliant performance. No, like a performance, not a battle."
"Scarlet Emperor Cangxing, the Annihilator of All Things."
She repeated the title Garoth had proclaimed on the battlefield, the corner of her mouth slightly curling up.
"Your declaration... sounds like a thoroughly evil dragon giving a victory speech, not a law-abiding great dragon fighting for order on the continent."
There was a hint of teasing in her tone, but no malice.
"Should have told me you liked this style earlier. I could have refined it for you," Cerora continued. "For example, I am the Cataclysm, the Flame, the Scorched King of the Earth, the Twilight of the End... that would be more complete, rhyme better, and have a full sense of pressure."
Garoth's main head tilted slightly, his gaze falling on her.
"The Ember-Annihilating Form has some subtle effects on my personality," he said.
"For example, right now, I lean towards release and destruction, wanting to turn everything to ash. This tendency seeps into my way of expression, making me more... flamboyant than usual."
Cerora blinked and replied without hesitation, "You could also say arrogant."
"Just superficial arrogance." Garoth didn't deny it, adding, "I know what I'm doing. And it only happens shortly after a mutation. Over time, the influence gradually decreases."
"I know."
Cerora nodded lightly. "After your first mutation, your whole being became incredibly sharp. I noticed it back then. This time just completely confirmed it."
"However, your core hasn't changed."
She paused, her tone becoming a bit more serious.
"This is actually a good thing."
"Hmm?"
Garoth looked at her, tilting his head, waiting for her to continue.
"The times and the world are changing; we can't remain static either." Cerora explained. "Your core personality hasn't changed. But just changing your way of expression is enough to make enemies unpredictable."
"For anyone who wants to target you, they're probably getting a headache right now."
"They don't know which style to formulate a counter-strategy for. Is it the sharp-edged blade, or the Annihilator of All Things shouting about granting destruction?"
"An unpredictable opponent is far more dangerous than one who is powerful but has a fixed style."
Garoth nodded slightly, acknowledging this judgment.
"That makes some sense."
"Surface ripples don't matter. I don't resist changes that don't greatly affect the overall situation. Expressing the same will in different ways under different forms will make those secretly observing me expend more thought."
"Exactly."
The corner of the Green Dragon's mouth lifted slightly, revealing a row of neat, gleaming teeth.
"Well then..."
Her tone suddenly turned mischievous.
"Can I look forward to one day, your mutation granting you a completely new expression?"
"For example, instead of shouting 'Annihilator of All Things, grant you destruction,' you softly and gently, with fiery passion, say something like 'let me warm your heart'?"
Garoth: "..."
He was silent for a few breaths, then slowly turned his main head in another direction, no longer looking at Cerora.
Cerora let out a low dragon roar, a laugh escaping her.
However, she didn't continue pressing the topic.
After laughing, her expression calmed down, and she said seriously, "Enough teasing you. Let's talk business."
"The commotion from this war was huge. Nausil launched a full-scale counterattack, and you directly routed the Bloodskull Legion entrenched in the Blackrock Wasteland. Their Great Chieftain barely managed to retreat by consuming his scant remaining life. The cost they paid was undeniably enormous."
"But the Kantum Saint never showed up."
Her tone turned serious. "That's not like the orcs' style."
"Those guys, logically speaking, even if they knew they were at a disadvantage, would charge up and fight Nausil's immortals. At the very least, they wouldn't be this silent, not even leaking a trace of their aura."
Garoth's gaze deepened slightly.
During the previous battle, his attention wasn't entirely focused on destruction or the fight with the chrome dragon. He had always kept part of his mind alert, vigilant against the Saint who might appear at any moment.
However, it felt like he was outsmarting himself against the air.
Until the Bloodskull Legion collapsed, until the Deep Freeze Tyrant fled, until the battle entered the pursuit phase, there was still no sign of the Saint appearing.
"Like the calm before the storm," Garoth pondered for a moment, then said, "The sea surface is as calm as a mirror, but beneath the surface, the currents are turbulent. The orcs are definitely brewing something."
The Saint didn't act.
Either they were waiting for a specific moment, a node they believed would be enough to turn the tide, or they were preparing some extraordinary means, something capable of changing the entire course of the war.
Either way, it meant the next confrontation would be even more perilous.
"I think so too," Cerora nodded, her tone serious. "So, don't get lost in the momentary victory, Garoth. You're too conspicuous right now. Although I like it, I estimate there are many bugs or beasts that already hate you to the bone."
"I understand."
The red iron dragon's voice was steady. "In any situation, I will prioritize my own life. Victory is important, but living is more important."
"Good."
Having said that, Cerora changed the subject. "One more thing, Claudia isn't dead."
"That chrome dragon is crazy, sure, but madmen are often the most unpredictable."
"When the orcs commissioned him, they probably didn't expect this guy to so decisively switch sides on the spot, completely disregarding the Kantum Saint's fury, ignoring any conventional constraints."
"He is indeed a threat," Garoth slowly nodded.
Just then, Cerora looked him over, her gaze sweeping across his massive body.
She noticed his Star Head was still there, and blinked in confusion.
"Why haven't you reverted to your normal state yet?" she asked. "And why is this head of yours constantly turning? You haven't blinked once. Don't your eyes get dry?"
The red iron dragon's main head turned, revealing a row of interlocking sharp teeth.
"I'm watching my prey that's currently fleeing."
"Now, it's in a completely isolated state."
A threat?
Regarding the orcs, he still needed to consider the danger of the Saint. As for the Deep Freeze Tyrant, while already at odds with the elves, he had also attacked the orcs, personally collapsing his own support base.
Garoth wasn't planning to let him go.
But, kill this chrome dragon?
Garoth was more inclined to capture and tame him.
This wasn't impossible.
Character determines fate.
If it were someone like the Lord of Thunder, with grand ideals and firm will, a true schemer's personality, even if his level was a tier lower than Garoth's, Garoth wouldn't try to tame him. If they became enemies, he would have to kill him.
However, the Deep Freeze Tyrant, Claudia's personality was hardly that of a schemer.
Although he had the title of Tyrant, he was completely unrelated to a ruler or king type of figure.
In Garoth's eyes, this chrome dragon was more like a vicious hound.
And vicious hounds could be tamed.
His Infinite Gluttony mental illness, being a relatively common draconic mental illness like Spell Frenzy, had corresponding treatment procedures recorded in the inheritance. It wasn't very troublesome.
