Tears blurred Samantha's eyes, and her heart was filled with regret and grievance.
Suddenly.
Through her blurred vision, she vaguely saw a black-and-red dragon silhouette soar into the sky from the Iron Fir Hills.
The pursuing Goblin Wolf Cavalry saw the black-and-red dragon silhouette as well. Their hearts jolted, and they trembled all over in fright.
Setting Hobgoblins and Bugbears aside.
Ordinary goblins were not unintelligent, but their tendency to bully the weak and fear the strong was widely known. They lacked organization in battle. When the situation favored them, they liked to swarm forward, but if they found their enemy formidable, they would scatter and flee at once.
Goblin Wolf Cavalry were braver than ordinary goblins.
However, their nature was still to bully the weak and fear the strong.
When they saw the black-and-red dragon silhouette rising into the sky, they failed to see it clearly at first and mistook it for an Adult Dragon, nearly dying of fright.
But after taking another careful look and noticing its size.
Their fear and dread instantly vanished.
It was another Hatchling Dragon.
Wonderful. Hunting two Hatchling Dragons in one expedition and handing them over to the tribe's Alchemist would surely yield many powerful alchemical items, making the tribe even stronger.
The situation stabilized.
The Goblin Wolf Cavalry readied themselves and stared up at the dragon silhouette in the sky.
"Goblins bully the weak and fear the strong, but they are also extremely vengeful."
"Since I've decided to act, not a single one of these Goblin Wolf Cavalry can be left alive."
Garos narrowed his eyes and made his decision in an instant.
He dove from the sky. The metallic structures along the edges of his wing membranes flashed with dazzling light beneath the sun, like a massive unsheathed executioner's blade cutting through the air with a shrill howl.
Five poisoned arrows shot through the air toward Garos's chest and abdomen.
The Red Iron Dragonet neither dodged nor evaded. The sharp arrowheads struck his pitted black-and-red scales, yet sparks flew as though they had hit an anvil, and the arrows bounced away.
—Dragon bodies could not be compared so broadly. Garos's scales were far tougher than those of a normal Hatchling Dragon; even an Adolescent Dragon might not compare to him.
His wings beat, kicking up a fierce gale and accelerating his dive.
In almost the blink of an eye.
Garos was already close to the ground, his speed incomprehensible and far beyond the goblins' expectations.
"Scatter! Scatter now!"
Faced with the Black Iron Dragonet diving at them, its wingspan like a fifteen-meter-long giant blade, the Goblin Wolf Cavalry sensed an immense threat and immediately scattered to avoid the dragon's charge.
But their reactions were still a step too slow.
The Goblin Wolf Cavalry in the front row did not even have time to look up.
Garos's dragon wing swept across them like a guillotine.
Helmeted heads and body parts wrapped in leather armor flew into the air. Blood sprayed from the severed remains, staining the rain-soaked mud a dark red.
With a single dive.
Half of the Goblin Wolf Cavalry died.
Blood poured from his wings like a waterfall. Garos spiraled upward, twisted his body around, and dove again.
His first attack had already frightened the Goblin Wolf Cavalry out of their wits. They scattered in every direction, fleeing without daring to resist him.
However, every race had its exceptions.
One Goblin Wolf Cavalryman seemed to realize that fleeing was meaningless and shouted, "Don't panic! Don't panic!"
His cries were swallowed by the gale kicked up by the Hatchling Dragon's wings. They failed to rouse his kin, and even the gray Giant Wolf beneath him tucked its tail in fear of Dragon Might, not daring to charge.
Gritting his teeth.
This level 5 Goblin Wolf Cavalry elite leaped from his wolf's back.
Instead of fleeing, he gripped his saber and rushed toward Garos. He leaped high into the air, tightly clutching the metal-forged saber in both hands as he slashed at the Hatchling Dragon's head.
"Great Magnubie, bear witness for me and grant me courage and strength!"
He shouted in Goblin, praying to the Deity of the goblin race.
Smack!
Garos casually swatted the goblin with one claw.
The terrifying force crushed him utterly, smashing the goblin apart in midair. Chunks of flesh and organs splattered across the ground in a radial pattern, leaving him in a miserable state.
The surviving Wolf Cavalry completely collapsed, running and fleeing in disorder.
One minute later.
A shadow rapidly solidified as Garos descended from the sky. One claw pressed down on a goblin's head, crushing him and his gray wolf mount into the ground.
At this point, all the goblin cavalry were dead.
He had not even used his Spell-like Ability, Dark Gold Tail Ring, or Dragon Breath.
The surviving gray wolves all tucked their tails tightly between their legs, trembling like sieves and not daring to move.
I can keep them as spare food.
Garos thought, not intending to kill these beasts outright.
Then Garos beat his wings, raising a gale that blew the clinging bits of flesh and blood from his body, scattering them through the air.
He turned to look at Samantha, who lay limp on the ground.
Meanwhile, Samantha's pupils reflected the outline of her brother shrouded in a mist of blood.
Heat steamed from his scales, mingling with the scent of blood. His wings were broad and enormous, while his limbs and torso were thick and powerful. The muscles beneath his dragon scales had to be forged like steel. Every inch of him carried the beauty of strength—powerful and majestic.
At the same time.
The ground suddenly began to rumble and shake.
Samantha turned her head and saw an Earth Violent Bear carrying a Wild Bull over his shoulder, rushing toward the Hatchling Dragon in great strides.
"An level 8 Earth Violent Bear! It's over."
Samantha's heart was filled with despair.
She did not believe Garos could defeat an Earth Violent Bear, and the creature was clearly heading straight for them.
"Garos, my dear brother."
"I apologize for my arrogance and ignorance all this time."
Samantha burst into loud sobs and cried, "I can't fly right now. Don't worry about me. Run for it yourself! The Earth Violent Bear can't fly, so he can't catch you!"
Watching Samantha cry and wail in agitation.
Garos mused that this Hatchling Dragon must have suffered greatly in the Wilderness. She had probably finally recognized the harshness of reality.
"Run! What are you standing there for?"
Samantha cried as she urged him on.
At the same time.
After first giving the red Hatchling Dragon an odd look, Mobel the Earth Violent Bear ignored her, accelerated into a run, and finally slid to his knees. He carved a long furrow through the wet, soft ground before coming to a steady stop before Garos.
"My lord, please enjoy your food."
The Earth Violent Bear presented the Wild Bull he had been carrying and spoke in a deep voice.
As if someone had squeezed the throat of a rooster, Samantha's crying abruptly stopped.
"Mobel is my follower. There's no need to fear him."
Garos's explanation came a few seconds late. Whether that was unintentional or deliberate, no one knew.
"Garos, my dear brother, thank you. From now on, I am willing to obey your commands and orders, asking only to follow beneath your wings."
Samantha came back to her senses and lowered her head to Garos.
Garos looked Samantha over a few times and said, "You made the right choice."
Surviving in the Wilderness was difficult and fraught with danger. Having another Hatchling Dragon he could command was a good thing for Garos as well.
He was more than willing to take in a Hatchling Dragon willing to obey his orders and follow him. But if she disobeyed, brought him no benefits, only caused trouble, and expected him to babysit her, then no matter who it was, Garos would not indulge her.
"What have you encountered during this time? Tell me."
He asked.
Samantha did not hide anything and recounted her painful experiences of this period.
After listening, Garos clicked his tongue, inwardly calling her a reckless fool.
No wonder she was in such a miserable state.
Given the strength of a Red Dragon, even as a Hatchling Dragon, she should not have ended up being chased by a group of goblin cavalry to the point where she could not even fly.
It turned out her dragon wings had been torn apart early on, leaving her severely injured.
"Even I don't dare circle near The Mines. The moment I spot them from afar, I detour around them."
"You truly have no fear of death."
The resource-rich mines still under excavation belonged to the nations of the Lothern Federation. Soldiers were stationed around them, equipped with sophisticated alchemical gear. Even the Iron Dragon Mother did not dare provoke such a place rashly.
The most dangerous things in the Wilderness were not ferocious beasts or monsters, but these stationed armies.
"I was too reckless. Nothing like this will ever happen again."
Even now, Samantha still felt lingering fear when she remembered it.
She had been a thousand meters in the air and still far away, yet she had nearly been killed. If she had carelessly gotten any closer, she would have died without a doubt.
At this moment.
Garos's gaze shifted slightly. He turned his head and, under the sunlight, noticed something faintly glinting in the hand of a goblin corpse.
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