Beneath the Red Dragon

In Karon’s perception, the skin beneath the scales of these sand worms is much softer, susceptible to being damaged by an ordinary person’s sword.

However, what impressed Karon most was the head of the sand worm — a massive organism’s head entirely composed of a gigantic mouthpiece. When the three or four membranous segments opened, Karon could fully see an abyss-like, long esophagus, surrounded by slender, sharp teeth that grew like a grinder around the entire mouthpiece. It was grotesque enough to chill the Dragon’s scales!

Curiously though, the scent of this ugly sand worm was not as worthless as its appearance, but rather carried a fragrance that mixed flint and cinnamon, stimulating Karon’s appetite, making him very eager to taste the peculiar flavor of this strange creature.

This was not only the hunting instinct of a Giant Dragon but also the bloodline talent within Karon’s body stirring restlessly.

Because this mystical creature, the sand worm, shares characteristics with the Demon Dragon in the World of Ice and Fire, namely the ability to grow.

The sand worm before him, at twenty-five meters long, in their species, is considered merely a juvenile, akin to a dragon hatchling.

In adulthood, the sand worm’s form averages four hundred meters in length, one hundred meters in width. Even a relatively small female worm can grow to one hundred meters long, twenty meters wide.

Based on information gathered by Warrior Laban, the local indigenous Fremen have witnessed the largest sand worm reaching up to four hundred and fifty meters long.

But this is not the largest extreme size, according to Fremen legend, on the planet’s poles live sand worms that stretch a thousand meters, with lifespans spanning thousands of years.

It is due to the sand worm’s mystical properties and formidable body that the Fremen regard them as gods of the earth and Creator. In Fremen language, the sand worm is called Xia Hulu, meaning Eternal Old Father!

In front of such sand worms, even the Ancestral Red Dragon seems small, with ordinary whales in the sea, spanning over thirty meters long, appearing merely as larger insects in this sand worm’s classification, bound to be swallowed whole by them.

Yet, in Karon’s perception, there is no supernatural force within these sand worms, meaning the mystical features of sand worms do not gift them any additional magical power, at least not for the Giant Dragons.

”Truly, without experiencing the world, one cannot understand the vastness of the cosmos and one’s own insignificance,”

mused Karon, observing the trapped sand worm intently.

However, the Red Dragon still couldn’t perceive what features these creatures, capable of terraforming the entire world into a desert and producing the magical spice, possess apart from their colossal bodies.

Having researched all day long, examining the sand worm’s head and tail inside and out, Karon ultimately gave up on his ability to research independently and decided to pass this temporarily unsolvable subject to the mages for study.

After spending over a decade, the civilization and empire established by the Giant Dragon now almost entirely nourished these dragons.

As Emperor of the Imperial, whatever Karon desires, the legion warriors will find ways to bring it to the Red Dragon, and whatever goal he wishes to achieve, scholars and mages will risk balding to devise a feasible method.

The research work requiring huge amounts of time no longer needs the Red Dragon’s waste; he now only needs to focus on what he likes and must do.

So, Karon raised his claw, and under his will and the swirling magic power, metal powders and minerals in the sand separated and recombined, forming a dagger sharp enough to pierce bodies, as if being struck by an invisible Heavy Hammer.

The dagger vibrated in the air, slipping through the rock-like scale crevices, penetrating the skin of the sand worm emitting weird cries, directly piercing the sand worm’s brain, making the still struggling body’s resistance entirely collapse.

Bang,

With the magic power and spell force extracted by the Red Dragon, the walls and barriers trapping the sand worm crumbled under Karon’s will, returned to the desert’s unity.

The Ancestral Red Dragon approached to savor the taste of Otherworld creature’s flesh.

The deceased sand worm’s scales could no longer adhere tightly to its soft skin and were easily torn by the Red Dragon. Avoiding the sand worm’s unsightly head and mouthpiece, Karon began feasting.

To Karon’s surprise, beneath the sand worm’s hard scales, the flesh was incredibly tender and delicious, at least for a Giant Dragon capable of chewing gold and iron, it was a delicacy.

Moreover, there was a clear fragrance of cinnamon mixed with flint accompanying the flesh, the warm stream of nutrition absorbed by the Red Dragon as the Giant’s stomach crushed and digested the meat, made the Red Dragon unable to stop. He ceased only after consuming half the sand worm’s flesh.

This wasn’t due to reaching the Red Dragon’s stomach limit; now the Red Dragon’s stomach could hold several times his size worth of food, a mere sand worm was insufficient to fill his stomach.

Rustle,

Footsteps accompanied the sound of stomping on the desert approached, the Red Dragon erased all traces of feasting before turning around.

Two warriors clad in Magic Armor were retracting their demon-like wings, approaching the Red Dragon, stopping below the barren hill where the Red Dragon stood.

These reserve ’Burning Hooves’ legion warriors each carried enhancements of Dragon Blood or Demon’s Blood and Demon’s Blood, possessing these ancient bloodline abilities; even in Abyssal Hell, they can survive, not to mention this ordinary harsh environment.

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