Beneath the Red Dragon

The sun had just risen, the chariot in the sky was already rumbling forward again, and the Royal Banner billowed in the wind.

Compared to the outer wild forests, the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range appeared especially ancient and desolate, as though it still lingered in a primordial age, almost utterly out of joint with the outside world.

The Golden Empire’s Dragon’s Nest Mountain Range was already lofty and vast enough, stretching for thousands of miles.

Yet within the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range, mountain clusters and peaks like those of the Dragon’s Nest rose and fell in waves, beyond counting.

White Dragon Gomot thrust his head out of the chariot and rested it on the chariot’s edge; his first impression of the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range condensed into four characters that crashed into this White Dragon’s pupils—Ten Thousand Mountains.

Before the undulating, isolated high peaks and the forest of jagged cliffs, the newly risen sun in the heavens seemed to hang upon the crowns of the pinewoods atop those Lonely Cliffs.

The cutting cold wind of high altitude, when passing through the wind-holes in cliffs and precipices, let out a terrifying sound, and together with the howls of unknown Beasts in the thick mists flooding the mountains and forests, made the chill along one’s spine surge uncontrollably upward.

Shadowy tree silhouettes swayed faintly in the fog, making it seem as though terrible monsters lurked in every corner.

The Northern Wastelands of Aikania were a world where monsters and savage Beasts roamed rampant, yet within the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range, it was an even more ancient barbaric age.

From the moment they entered that vast, unending mountain system, the formations in the sky had focused all their attention; danger’s presence, omnipresent and incessant, plucked at the nerves of these battle-hardened Warriors.

On the bare outer peaks of the Divine Forsaken Mountain Range, beneath high mountains like sculpted, eyeless, nameless Divine Spirit statues, they saw bones of Horror Wolf packs—creatures famed for cunning and cruelty in group hunts—piled like mounds and hills, cast away in shadowed ravines.

The Hunters who had slain these Horror Wolves seemed especially fastidious, merely hollowing out the Horror Wolves’ viscera, tearing and devouring the fattest muscles on their bodies, then discarding all the remaining carcasses.

Though Horror Wolves were not that rare and precious a species, a complete pelt from an adult Horror Wolf could still fetch around two Silver Coins in the trading markets of Bay Stream City.

And the two special bone-crushing molars in a Horror Wolf’s jaws were the strongest weapons on the bodies of this Mortal World’s Beasts and monsters, whose biting force was second to none.

Some Beast Hunters would sell the Horror Wolves’ bone-crushing molars to Warriors fond of using special heavy weapons; once imbued with Magic Permanence, even ordinary-grade Horror Wolf molars could become fearsome ”Bone Breakers” that spread terror at the mere mention of their name.

In the trading markets of Bay Stream City, a pair of those special molars from a Horror Wolf could sell for an average price near ten Silver Coins.

And here, there were the skeletal remains of several hundred Horror Wolves, the flesh upon them not yet wholly rotted away.

The wealth of the outside world seemed to hold no currency in this place; the creatures here cared little for Mortal World trinkets—only for the existence of wildness itself.

Just like those few Peng Birds that suddenly dove forth from the clouds and mists on high.

The cries of the Peng Birds were shrill and piercing, carrying an extra penetrative force that faintly imposed a natural, inborn suppression upon certain beings.

On these few fierce-tempered Peng Birds, their feathers shone with a steel-like black chill, exuding the savage breath of ancient bloodlines; they spread their enormous steel wings and swooped toward the Flying Dragon Riders at the head of the formation.

These Peng Birds were, on average, actually much larger in size than the Empire’s Flying Dragons; even the natural Dragon Power emanating from more than ten White Dragons failed to frighten them.

Their sharp gazes regarded the numerous Flying Dragons before them as prey; their huge steel talons were long and hooked like scythes, clearly far beyond what the Flying Dragons’ tough Leather Armor hides could hope to withstand.

Yet the Golden Empire’s Flying Dragon Riders seemed to treat these huge, ferocious Peng Birds as though they were illusory, still driving their Flying Dragons forward without hesitation.

The training of an Aerial Knight, though not harsher than that of an Imperial Land Legion Warrior, held one first principle within the Aerial Knight’s curriculum: never panic.

For an Aerial Knight’s margin for error was smaller than that of a Land Legion Warrior; once panic struck in the face of danger, it would trigger a chain of cascading reactions.

This principle was etched almost into the very blood of the Empire’s Aerial Knights; thus each Aerial Knight’s response had to be integrated with the inherent abilities and traits of the Flying Dragon beneath them.

Just as the Flying Dragon beneath the vanguard Flying Dragon Rider, receiving the heart-linked command of its Knight, was about to quiver its gaudy whiskers to trigger the Bat-winged Flying Dragon race’s unique aerial leap ability, the White King’s Attendant standing at the front of the chariot received his order.

This Frost Giant Near Guard took down the little bell hanging from the eaves of the chariot, stepped forward, glared fiercely, and bellowed, ”A few ignorant brute Beasts dare to crash against the Imperial Dragon King’s crowned chariot!”

Surging Magic Power poured from the Frost Giant Near Guard’s Battle Armor and body into the small bell trembling in his hand, and at once formless sound waves spread outward.

The echo of an ancient Witchcraft mingled with the resounding voice of Dragon majesty; as the bell swung, they overlapped and rang out together.

Like a decree bearing the same majesty as an Emperor, an inconceivable force instantly turned the swooping Peng Birds into pigs, dogs, cattle, and sheep; the shrieks in their throats transformed into the squeals and bellows of pigs, dogs, cattle, and sheep, and in an instant they plummeted toward the ravines far below.

Complete Transformation Skill, a Nine-Ring High Tier Magic, could, from near the very root of things, use the Magic Effectiveness of a Transformation Skill to overlay the designated new life-form upon the original life-form of the spell’s target.

This change was akin to the consciousness-overlay possessed by a Legendary Being, carrying the power to entirely alter mind and inherent abilities alike.