Slaying the Dragon

"I can only hope the Dragon-slaying Sword truly lives up to its name," Roland sighed.

As a type of dragon-kin, the Earth Drake was infinitely close to true dragonkind, its bloodline second only to wyverns. It inherited the dragon race's ferocious melee prowess and scorching Dragon Breath, capable of easily destroying a small army.

Roland couldn't just wait for death. He quickly led his warhorse out of the cave, slung the saddle onto its back, and as for the horse armor... he could only pray he'd survive first.

One saving grace: the trained Shire Warhorse wasn't intimidated by the dragon-kin's Dragon Might, ruling out the possibility of the horse suddenly losing its nerve in battle. Perhaps this was what made Roland feel he could take on the Earth Drake head-on.

"Hyah!" Roland squeezed his legs against the horse's flanks and thrust his sword forward.

"Roar!" The Earth Drake opened its massive maw and lunged at Roland.

"Holy crap!" Roland yanked the reins, turning the horse's head, narrowly dodging the gaping jaws that brushed past his shoulder.

"You beast! Take this!" Roland swung his sword back in a foolish reflex.

"Ow!" With a Dragon's Roar, a splash of searing dragon blood was drawn out along the sword's tip.

"Not bad! I can actually pierce dragon scales!" Roland exclaimed in surprise.

"Ow!" A backhanded slash opened another gash on the dragon's leg.

Stung by the pain, the Earth Drake roared and twisted its body, its thick steel tail lashing left and right. The Shire Horse nimbly dodged the sweeping tail.

"Boom!" The massive dragon head whipped around, and a thick pillar of flame grazed past Roland.

"Damn! I almost got cooked!" Roland shuddered in fear. Even through his Adamant Plate Armor, he could feel the lethal heat.

"Ha!" Roland gripped his sword with both hands and blocked hard. A tremendous force came through the hilt, nearly making him lose his grip.

"What a beast! What a sword!" Roland said in shock. It turned out the Earth Drake's sweeping steel tail had been instinctively blocked by the Dragon-slaying Sword, and the tail was cleanly severed in two.

"Oww!" Enraged, the Earth Drake was provoked by this ant on horseback. It began furiously attacking with blanket Dragon Breath, the scorching Dragonflame igniting the surrounding dead trees, lighting up the area. Roland finally got a clear look at the colossal creature—at least ten meters long, with a door-sized head full of a gaping maw lined with dagger-length dragon teeth, thick and powerful limbs, and a body covered in hard dragon scales...

"It really is huge!" Roland marveled at the wonder of creation.

"Thud!" Lost in thought, Roland was struck by the severed tail, which sent him flying off the horse. The moment he hit the ground, he rolled sideways to dodge the dragon's mouth, then rolled several more times to avoid a claw stomping toward him. After this flurry of moves, Roland was delighted to find he had crawled right under the Earth Drake's belly.

Overjoyed, Roland thrust his sword upward and then slid his body along the ground. Gushing dragon blood drenched him.

"Damn! Not good!" Roland's face suddenly changed. He remembered the Earth Drake weighed several tons. If it came down on him... Roland broke out in a cold sweat.

After scrambling out from under the dragon's belly, Roland finally confirmed his results. Lucky him—he had successfully carved a nearly three-meter-long gash in the dragon's belly. In other words, this dragon was done for!

Far from the dying Earth Drake, Roland found his warhorse nearby. The horse stood quietly, waiting for Roland, not fleeing in the chaos. This pleased him greatly.

"Dragon-kin Hunter: Completed. You have successfully proven your courage and strength. Reward: Wyvern Knight*1. Summonable at any time." The One Ring did not fall silent.

"Wyvern Knight!" Roland's pupils contracted. This should be the second strongest flying unit, right? The first was the Dragon Knight, no contest. He just didn't know what kind of wyvern it was. As the lowest tier of pure-blooded dragons, wyverns had many varieties. For example, Smaug from the Hobbits was a Giant Fire Wyvern, with a body even more exaggerated than a true dragon's. True dragons weren't particularly huge in size, but if the two fought, Smaug would definitely be crushed...

"Summon!" Roland's mood was like opening a blind box.

"My lord! Caslo reports for duty!" A young blond knight appeared before Roland. Even Roland, who had lived through the information explosion era, couldn't help but admire how handsome he was.

"How old are you?" Roland asked, looking at the unfamiliar face.

"Respected lord, I am 18 years old!" Caslo said respectfully.

Good grief! Older than me! Roland had only been 16 before his transmigration. Everyone here was a big brother!

"By the way, your rank, and most importantly, where's your dragon?" Roland asked curiously.

"Respected lord, I currently possess the strength of a Great Knight. As for my dragon, he is in the Dragon Flute!" Caslo said respectfully.

Damn! An 18-year-old Great Knight. In the future, he could definitely touch the position of Knight Commander, and might even reach another level—Hero! Just as a mage's pinnacle was Sage, a knight's pinnacle was Hero!

"Summon your dragon! Let me take a look," Roland commanded.

"Yes, my lord." Caslo pulled out the Dragon Flute from his collar and played it. Soon, a green wyvern about fifteen meters long burst into the air.

"Hmm, a Wind-aligned Four-legged Wyvern! Not bad, at least it's not a bottom-tier Two-legged Wyvern," Roland said with satisfaction.

Four-legged Wyverns, as the name implied, were wyverns with four legs. They resembled true dragons, considered a decent bloodline among dragonkind, mastering simple Draconic Magic and melee combat. Their breath and melee abilities were slightly weaker than true dragons. The way to tell them apart from true dragons was by their head crests—they lacked the complex dragon horn decorations of true dragons, having only simple bone crests. People unfamiliar with them often mistook Four-legged Wyverns for young true dragons... though to ordinary folks, the destructive power was about the same.

"Alright, put him away," Roland said flatly.

Having a Wyvern Knight was something to be proud of, but in this modified Middle-earth, caution was still needed. Without a fixed territory or power base, exposing that he had a Wyvern Knight under his command too early would have consequences too sour to imagine. The biggest risk was that major powers would hunt down his Wyvern Knight to seize the Dragon Flute. Wyverns weren't rare, but why were Wyvern Knights and Dragon Knights so scarce? Humans could steal plenty of dragon eggs, but they could never train many Dragon Knights. The reason was the Dragon Flute! The Dragon Flute was the most important tool for contracting with dragons. Without a Dragon Flute, a contracted Dragon Knight wasn't a true Dragon Knight. The Dragon Flute gave the knight the space to carry their dragon mount, allowing them to summon their bonded dragon across space to their side. These were all the magical effects of the Dragon Flute, and the method for making them had long been lost.

"You'll have to walk for now..." Roland sighed. He found himself jealous. Caslo was a true knight—Adamant Dragon Armor, an Adamant Dragon Shield, a Mithril Longsword, an Adamant Dragon Lance, a Dragonbone Wood Longbow, and a warhammer made of Star Silver Iron. Fully armed in every sense. As for himself, aside from a set of plate armor, he only had a sword and a shield...

After dealing with the Earth Drake's corpse, stuffing all the useful materials into the Endless Space of the One Ring, Roland led his horse back into the cave and lay down to sleep again. After all, under the intimidation of Dragon Might, no magical beast or wild animal would dare to cause trouble.