Food-Seizing Operation

On the towering cliff, the Iron Dragon dragged a jagged trail of claw marks across the ground before being hurled violently into the rock wall. Amid a thunderous crash, the cliff face crumbled and cracked, and shattered stones came pattering down.

Ladon shook his head. Blood Frenzy enhanced his body in every aspect; his chest roared like a furnace, and scorching currents of air burst from between his scales.

With almost no sign of gathering strength, the Archaic Species merely sank his limbs slightly before instantly drawing out a flashing black shadow. In a blink, he reached his opponent, leaping like a wrathful beast and tearing viciously upward.

His opponent retreated, crouched, and swung her claws.

Ladon slammed into the rock wall again, blood seeping from between his fangs.

"That's enough for today."

Jiazhuosa withdrew her claws. "Once you reach adolescence, I probably won't be your match."

Ladon breathed heavily. "Juvenile stage."

Jiazhuosa smiled, unconcerned. "Go do what you should be doing."

Ladon withdrew from Blood Frenzy. Staring at the Young Dragon's clawed toes, he fell silent for a while, calming his breathing and heartbeat before slowly walking aside.

"I know you like them better. You don't like me."

Ladon's expression remained blank. "You devised these rules to make them rise up, yet you don't truly dare send them to their deaths. In the end, it's still nothing but a farce. Heavy-Metal Dragons raised in this kind of environment will never be able to compete with Exotic Dragons and Chromatic Dragons."

With that, he leaped down without waiting for Jiazhuosa's reply.

Jiazhuosa did not answer either. She walked to where Ladon had stood, gazed at the scattered scales and bloodstains around her, then at the claw marks on the ground and the cracks in the rock wall, and gave a faint nod.

The autumn sunlight was pleasantly warm. Around noon, Kobolds pushed flatbed carts, hauling cartload after cartload of butchered Kodo Beast meat into the gathering grounds before running far away.

After the food-seizing period began, their lives suddenly became quite leisurely. They no longer needed to distribute food to the Dragon Hatchlings, nor did they need to clean scraps and chunks of meat from the gathering grounds. Every day after sunset, many Dragon Hatchlings gathered there, and when they woke the next morning, they found the grounds cleaner than they had ever been before.

Ladon swept his gaze around. As usual, the Dragon Hatchlings merely hid in the distance and watched in secret; none dared step forward.

He shook his head and began eating on his own.

After a long stretch of silence, faint rustling sounded. Ladon shifted his pupils and saw a yellow-and-black Dragon Hatchling approaching cautiously from behind and to his right.

A Lesser Dragon?

He sneered coldly inside.

Yet the Lesser Dragon did not stop. Though exceedingly cautious, it continued slowly forward, gradually entering Ladon's attack range. It looked as though hunger had driven it mad, food luring it until it had lost all reason.

Ladon narrowed his eyes. In his view, no dragon in Ochre Valley had the right to eat beside him. As for food, he did not truly care about it, and he had followed the Nurturer's wishes by leaving leftovers for the Dragon Hatchlings.

Yet under such circumstances, it still dared approach. That was undoubtedly a provocation.

Ladon raised his head, and the Thunderclap Dragon stopped in its tracks. As if sensing danger, it immediately turned and fled.

At the same time, Ladon pounced savagely.

The Iron Dragon lacked the Chrome Dragon's agility, but he was still incredibly fast. Driven by extreme power, he was like a roaring war chariot, instantly cutting out a straight black streak.

Yet Ladon's first pounce unexpectedly missed. The Thunderclap Dragon seemed to have anticipated his trajectory; the instant it turned to flee, it shifted direction and accelerated, racing madly outward.

At the same time, other Dragon Hatchlings joined in from another direction, charging into the center of the gathering grounds at top speed. One had already clamped its jaws around a huge chunk of Kodo Beast meat and dragged it backward.

Snatching food from a tiger's jaws.

"Interesting."

Ladon reacted and abruptly wheeled back.

From the spectators' perspective, everything happened in an instant. The dragons crossed paths for only a few seconds. Ladon merely pounced, then immediately turned back.

The Chrome Dragon flung the Kodo Beast meat outward. There was unexpectedly another companion behind it, taking the meat away so it could retreat more easily.

But at the same time, Ladon had already arrived.

Ladon stood around two and a half meters tall. He was not larger than the Cobalt-Blue Overlord, yet his ferocious presence far surpassed that of any Dragon Hatchling. The force of his pounce was like a mountain collapsing.

The Chrome Dragon's body tensed. It dug its clawed toes into the sandy ground, then used Finger-Bone Rebound to instantly slide sideways.

Ladon descended through the air, both claws striking downward and smashing into the spot where the Chrome Dragon had just stood. The impact nearly made the ground tremble. Then, ignoring the recoil entirely, he immediately swung his tail in a sweeping strike.

The Chrome Dragon lowered its body. In an instant, its chest, shoulders, and forelimbs caved inward, its clawed toes twisting together into a spear aimed directly at that enormous iron-chain-like tail. As black and white crossed, spraying sparks burst forth.

Before they could analyze the result of the collision, their powerful battle instincts drove them to react at once. After their bodies clashed, both almost simultaneously lifted their heads and unleashed their breaths. A cruel freezing current collided thunderously with blazing lightning fire.

The deadlock lasted only a second. The next moment, the lightning fire completely overwhelmed the freezing current. But the Chrome Dragon seemed to have anticipated the outcome; using the time gained from their several exchanges, it had already rapidly retreated and escaped.

"Xilong."

Ladon watched that nimble, bounding figure and quietly spoke the other dragon's name. Many times, while overlooking the land from the towering cliff, he had seen Xilong climbing another cliff.

Ladon looked around, the corner of his eye twitching as he saw the three dragons retreating in different directions.

Their plan had been to snatch food away right beneath his eyes. There was no denying they had succeeded, and done it well—far more interestingly than Jelierion's encirclement.

But they had forgotten one thing: he was not a beast guarding treasure, and the game would not end simply because they had taken the food.

In Tas was passing through Ironwood Forest, preparing to gather at Bay Lake.

He felt both exhilarated and worried. The food-seizing plan had succeeded, but perhaps he had not done well enough, forcing Xilong to exchange two blows with Ladon. He did not know how badly Xilong had been injured.

Then a tremendous crash erupted ahead of him.

Ladon vaulted down, practically falling from the sky. With savage force, he crashed into the ground, knocking down swathes of Ironwood Forest and kicking up a massive wave of dust.

"Your coordination was excellent."

He slowly emerged from the dust. "But this is not over yet."

In Tas tensed his body. "What do you want to say?"

"Jiazhuosa has raised you too well. So well that you have no awareness of danger and not the slightest reverence. Did you think provoking someone powerful like this meant you would not have to bear any consequences?"

Ladon said, "I intend to kill you here."

His voice did not rise or fall much, yet killing intent bared its fangs in every word.

"What?"

In Tas's pupils widened.

"I have already weighed Xilong's strength. He has the right to live, but Lesser Dragons like you are worthless in my eyes."

Ladon said, "Don't bother talking to me about Lineage rules. Rules cannot stop me, because my value is great enough to disregard them. Now, you should kneel, beg me with your head lowered, and pray for my forgiveness. Only then can you live."

Ladon's eyes shone fiercely, like pools of flowing lava. In Tas felt unable to stop himself from wanting to kneel. The bloodline suppression of an Archaic Species descended layer upon layer, his body issuing commands that he had to submit.

"No."

In Tas's voice trembled. Grinding his teeth, he gasped violently before releasing a furious low roar.

He was nearly unable to hold on, but before he lost control, In Tas moved first, launching an attack against the majesty of the Archaic Species.

"I will not kneel before my enemy, no matter what you are."

Thunder boomed and lightning flashed over the Thunderclap Dragon's body, erupting in brilliant blazing light.

Ladon suddenly struck, catching the pouncing In Tas. After looking at him twice, he said, "It seems not everything Jiazhuosa raised is useless trash. Good. At least you still have some dignity as a dragon."

He closed his massive claws, but did not kill him as he had claimed. He merely crushed the Thunderclap Dragon's bones, tossed him aside, and turned to leave.