Leader Contention

Leader Contention

After nearly a month of recovery and reorganization, the Red Dragon's territory was flourishing.

Under Lang Pu and the Hobgoblin's command, the Goblins and Ogres had already piled up a crude stone fortress within Giant's Valley.

The walls stood over five meters high, with watchtowers positioned on the higher ground. Lang Pu, whose reading covered a wide range of subjects, had named it "Stone Fortress."

This made the already easy-to-defend, hard-to-attack valley even more impregnable. Even if a human regular army came to attack, the Red Dragon was confident he could keep them outside.

"Get back to work! No slacking off!" The over-three-meter-tall Ogre stood atop a watchtower and roared down below.

Yet beneath the Ogre's huge, fat body, the wooden watchtower looked terribly fragile. The wood even creaked and groaned—as if wailing beneath half a ton of weight.

"Heave-ho!"

The Ogres carried massive logs on their shoulders, laboriously hauling them upward to serve as the framework for Stone Fortress's watchtowers.

As close relatives of giants, Ogres possessed extraordinary strength. Aside from being gluttonous and lazy, they were excellent laborers.

Goblins already had a habit of building camps. With more than four hundred Goblins, immensely strong Ogres working alongside them, Lang Pu's Intelligence of 17 directing them, and the Hobgoblin commanding them, building a crude fortress was fairly easy.

Below the more-than-five-meter-high walls, a group of Goblins swung their hoes and vigorously chipped away at the stone.

"Hurry up!"

"You hit my foot!"

As creatures prone to cutting corners, they had often slacked off in the past. But ever since an angry Ogre overseer had smashed a Goblin pretending to sleep into meat paste, such things had never happened again.

After all, Lang Pu's "knocking" only meant temporary pain to dim-witted Ogres, but for Goblins, it meant the end of a lifetime. They understood that very clearly.

"Awoo—"

"What is that?"

The working Goblins all looked up, startled by the enormous shadow in the sky.

Several huge figures flew in from the distance like a massive black cloud—more than a dozen Wyverns.

They had merely sensed the summons of the Dragon Bloodline within their bodies and arrived in a flock, to see whether there was a being worthy enough for them to pledge themselves to.

The largest of these Wyverns was over seven meters long. It bared its fangs and claws with fierce majesty, nearly matching Keosius in size, though it was far slimmer than the Red Dragon.

Unlike True Dragons, they did not possess four Limbs and Wings. Instead, they had two scaled legs and a pair of tough wings.

A Wyvern's tail was strong and powerful, ending in its most formidable weapon: a venomous tail stinger.

This highly toxic Wyvern Venom could burn the victim's heart, arteries, and veins through the returning blood. The Wyvern's lethality often made hunters and adventurers covet its venom, using it for alchemical mixtures and weapon coatings.

The Wyverns' forelimbs gripped the ground, their Wing Membranes drawn tight behind them.

They landed and hissed.

Calling for the master of this place.

The nearby Goblins panicked, terrified of being eaten or trampled flat by the Wyverns. They called to one another and fled from the area.

They were simply too weak. Even the slightest movement from those powerful creatures could kill them.

Meanwhile, the Ogre Mage stood ready atop the fortress walls, already beginning to form the model for Fireball.

The Chimera in the cliffside cave also grew alert, its three heads each wearing a different expression.

"Master, there's a group of Wyverns!"

"Roar!"

The Red Dragon flew out from the Giant's Maw cave, let out a long, distant Long Cry, and descended before the flock of Wyverns.

"Submit to me. (Draconic)"

Keosius said.

The Wyverns let out a cacophony of hisses, then bent their long necks and lowered their heads in submission.

But the largest Wyvern, seeing that the Red Dragon before it was only in his juvenile stage and nearly the same size as itself, unexpectedly chose to let out a challenging roar.

Clearly, the rare opportunity to become the leader had gone to his head.

Leader Contention? An ancient tradition among dragonkind.

The two would duel. The victor would become the leader of the group, while the loser would be driven out.

But for a proud pure-blooded Red Dragon, having such a challenge issued by a lowly Dragonkin Wyvern was an immense humiliation.

Had Keosius been an original Red Dragon, he would probably have been so furious that steam rose from his head, itching to tear it apart.

"You have made the worst possible choice. (Draconic)"

Keosius was also furious, though what truly angered him was his own size—how much longer would he have to wait before he could stand like an adult Red Dragon and make these monsters bow with a mere shudder?

"And I grant you—death! (Draconic)"

With a beat of his wings, the Red Dragon soared high into the air and looked down at the Wyvern beneath him.

[Based on your own strength, you can observe the following information]

Wyvern
Large Dragon, unaligned
AC: 13 (Natural Armor)
Speed: 20 ft., fly 80 ft.

Strength—19
Dexterity—10
Constitution—16
Intelligence—5
Wisdom—12
Charisma—6

Skill Proficiencies: Perception +2, Hunting +4
Senses: Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 14
Languages: Can understand Draconic
Actions: Multiattack, Bite, Claw, Stinger

Challenge Rating: 6 (2300 XP)

Evaluation: "Sometimes, travelers in the wilderness look up to see Wyverns flying overhead, carrying prey in their talons. These close relatives of dragons also hunt in tangled forests and caves. They are cruel hunters, and when they appear in groups, they often send waves of panic through the borders of civilization."

The Wyvern on the ground slightly curved its long neck, raised its ferocious head, and let out a challenging hiss. The sound was hoarse, more like that of some serpent.

"Hisss—"

Immediately afterward, the massive Wyvern also flapped its forelimbs and rose into the air. Its powerful tail swayed behind it, and the sharp tail stinger gleamed with a cold glint.

"Flame Breath!"

Yet before it could fully leave the ground, the Red Dragon spewed a blazing cone of fire from his mouth, surging directly toward the Wyvern's body.

The Wyvern hurriedly adjusted its body midair, tilting its Wings as it tried to clutch the ground with its forelimbs and escape the attack. But it still could not avoid being struck by the roaring fiery breath.

Most of the scales on its chest were scorched black, and the flesh beneath had been ravaged by the searing flames, leaving it in a miserable state.

"Ao—"

The Wyvern let out a pained wail, but immediately braced itself against the ground with its forelimbs and took off again unsteadily.

It did not have much time left. The Red Dragon's next breath attack was about to arrive; orange-yellow fire already glowed deep in his throat like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

"Boom—"

Another roar of flames burning through the air rang out, and another crimson blaze descended from above, charging along the Wyvern's flight path.

The flames made the air nearby sear and warp, filling the Wyvern with terror.

It could only desperately flap its wings and flee, twisting and turning through the air, with no means of fighting back.