Danger (Please Vote, Please Follow)

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 figure soar into the sky from the Iron Fir Hills.

The pursuing Goblin Wolf Cavalry saw the black-and-red dragon figure as well. Startled, they trembled all over in fear.

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 strong combat discipline. When the battle favored them, they liked to swarm forward, but if they found their enemy formidable, they would scatter in a panic and flee at once.

Goblin Wolf Cavalry were braver than ordinary Goblins.

But their nature was still to bully the weak and fear the strong.

When they saw the black-and-red dragon figure soaring skyward, they failed to see it clearly at first and mistook it for an adult dragon, nearly dying of fright.

But after taking a closer look and noticing its size.

Their fear and dread instantly vanished.

So it was another Hatchling Dragon.

Excellent. Hunting two Hatchling Dragons in one go and handing them over to the tribe's Alchemists would surely allow them to craft many powerful alchemical items, making the tribe even stronger.

The situation stabilized.

The Goblin Wolf Cavalry stood ready, gazing up at the dragon figure in the sky.

"Goblins bully the weak and fear the strong, but they are also extremely vindictive."

"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 structure along the edges of his wing membranes drew dazzling streaks of light beneath the sun, like a massive executioner's blade unsheathed from its scabbard, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek.

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 and actually sparked as though they had hit an anvil before bouncing away.

—Dragon physiques could not be judged by the same standard. Garos's scales were far harder than those of an ordinary Hatchling Dragon; even an Adolescent Dragon might not compare to him.

His wings beat, stirring up a gale and accelerating his dive.

In almost the blink of an eye.

Garos neared the ground, moving at an inconceivable speed far beyond the Goblins' expectations.

"Scatter! Scatter, quickly!"

Facing the diving Black Iron Dragonet, whose wingspan resembled a fifteen-meter-long giant blade, the Goblin Wolf Cavalry felt 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 past like a guillotine.

Helmeted heads and bodies wrapped in leather armor, sliced clean apart, flew into the air. Blood sprayed from the severed surfaces, staining the rain-soaked mud a dark red.

With a single dive.

Half the Goblin Wolf Cavalry died.

Blood poured down his wings like a waterfall. Garos spiraled upward, twisted around, and dove again.

His first attack had already scared the Goblin Wolf Cavalry out of their wits. They scattered and fled, not daring to resist him.

However, every race had its exceptions.

One Goblin Wolf Cavalryman seemed to realize that fleeing was pointless and shouted, "Don't panic! Don't panic!"

His cries were drowned out by the gale raised by the Hatchling Dragon's wings. They failed to rouse his fellow tribesmen, and even the gray Giant Wolf beneath him tucked its tail tightly between its legs in fear of Dragon Might, not daring to charge.

Gritting his teeth.

This elite level-five Goblin Wolf Cavalryman leaped from his wolf's back.

Rather than fleeing, he gripped his saber and charged toward Garos in quick strides. He leaped high into the air, clutched the metal-forged saber with both hands, and 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 Goblin race's Deity.

Smack!

Garos casually swatted the Goblin with one claw.

The terrifying force crushed everything in its path, instantly smashing the Goblin apart in midair. Chunks of flesh and organs splattered across the ground in a radial spray, leaving a gruesome death.

The surviving Wolf Cavalry completely collapsed, fleeing in every direction without any order.

A minute later.

A shadow rapidly solidified as Garos descended from the sky. One claw pressed down on a Goblin's head, crushing it and its gray wolf mount into the ground.

At this point, all the Goblin cavalry were dead.

He had not even used his Spell-like Abilities, Dark Gold Tail Ring, or Dragon Breath.

The surviving gray wolves all tucked their tails between their legs and trembled like sieves, not daring to move recklessly.

I can keep them as backup food.

Garos thought, not intending to kill these beasts outright.

Then Garos beat his dragon wings, stirring up a gale that blew the clinging scraps of flesh and blood from his body into the air around him.

He turned to look at Samantha, who lay limply 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 stench of blood. His wings were broad and huge, while his limbs and torso were thick and powerful. The muscles beneath his scales had to be like forged steel. Every part of him radiated the beauty of strength—mighty and imposing.

At the same time.

The ground suddenly rumbled and shook.

Samantha turned her head and saw an Earth Violent Bear carrying a Wild Bull over its shoulder, striding rapidly toward the Hatchling Dragon.

"An eighth-level 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 its purpose was clear—it was coming straight here.

"Garos, my dear brother."

"I apologize for my arrogance and ignorance all this time."

Samantha burst into tears and shouted, "I can't fly now. Don't worry about me. Run away by yourself! The Earth Violent Bear can't fly, so it won't be able to catch you."

Watching Samantha cry, scream, and wail in agitation.

Garos mused that this Hatchling Dragon must have suffered quite a bit in the Wilderness. She had probably now recognized the cruelty of reality.

"Run! What are you still standing there for?"

Samantha urged him through her tears.

At the same time.

After first giving the red Hatchling Dragon a strange look, Mobel the Earth Violent Bear ignored her, accelerated into a run, and finally dropped into a sliding kneel. He carved a long furrow through the soft, wet ground before coming to a steady stop in front of Garos.

"My lord, please enjoy your food."

The Earth Violent Bear presented the Wild Bull he carried and spoke in a deep voice.

Hearing this, Samantha's cries abruptly stopped, like a rooster whose throat had been seized.

"Mobel is my follower. There's no need to fear."

Garos's explanation came several seconds late, whether unintentionally or deliberately.

"Garos, my dear brother, thank you. From now on, I am willing to obey your commands and orders, following beneath your wings alone."

Samantha came to her senses and lowered her head to Garos.

Garos examined Samantha for a few moments and said, "You made the right choice."

Surviving in the Wilderness was difficult and fraught with danger. Having another Hatchling Dragon under his command was also a good thing for Garos.

He was more than willing to take in a Hatchling Dragon who obeyed orders and followed him. But if they were disobedient, brought him no benefit, caused him trouble instead, and expected him to act as their babysitter, Garos would not indulge them, no matter who they were.

"What have you experienced during this time? Tell me."

He asked.

Samantha did not hide anything and recounted her painful experiences over 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 a Hatchling Dragon should not have ended up like Samantha, pursued by a group of Goblin cavalry and unable even to fly.

It turned out her dragon wings had been torn apart early on, leaving her with severe injuries.

"Even I don't dare circle near The Mines. If I spot them from afar, I go around."

"You really have a lot of nerve."

The resource-rich mines still under excavation belonged to the nations of the Lothern Federation. Soldiers were stationed around them, equipped with fine alchemical gear. Even the Iron Dragon Mother did not dare provoke them rashly.

The most dangerous things in the Wilderness were not vicious beasts or monsters, but these stationed troops.

"I was too reckless. Nothing like this will ever happen again."

Even now, Samantha felt lingering fear when she recalled 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 at the time, she would certainly have died.

At this moment.

Garos's gaze shifted slightly. He turned his head and, beneath the sunlight, noticed something faintly glinting in the hand of a Goblin corpse.