Chapter 617: One-Armed Overlord Garoth, Mutation
On the Rhein Plateau, within the Aola Kingdom.
An unremarkable hilly area, with low, rolling hills like the spine of a sleeping giant. The slopes were covered in drought-resistant shrubs and gray-green lichen. Several dry creek beds wound through the valleys between the hills, scattered with loose rocks and gravel.
This place was rarely visited by people.
A gust of night wind swept through, bending the low shrubs flat against the ground.
At the same time, the ground suddenly began to tremble.
A dull, rhythmic vibration, as if something was pushing its way up from underground.
At first, it was just a slight tremor, with fine gravel rolling down the slopes. Then, the shaking grew stronger. A dry creek bed suddenly burst open, rocks and soil splitting to either side, revealing a dark metallic luster in the fissure.
The soil layer was torn apart from within.
Large chunks of rock shell rolled down the hillside, snapping shrubs, crushing lichen, and carving deep gouges into the slope.
A claw of black iron burst through the earth.
The claw was enormous. Every joint was covered in fine, forged-looking iron scales. As the tips dug into the ground, they produced a harsh, scraping sound.
The soil continued to crack open, the fissure expanding.
Then, an entire dragon rose from the depths of the earth.
The Iron Dragon pushed aside the final layer of rock covering him. As he emerged, his wings instantly snapped open. Soil and gravel slid from the wing membranes, crashing to the ground and raising a massive cloud of dust.
His scales showed the deep black of quenched iron ore, like a weapon fresh from the forge.
Moonlight falling on them showed no luster at all. It was as if the light itself was absorbed by the scales, leaving only a silhouette darker than the night itself.
The Iron Dragon raised his head, taking a deep breath.
His lungs, after years of dormancy, were filled with air again. The night breeze, mixed with the scent of grass and trees, rushed into his nostrils. His chest expanded to its limit, the scales stretched slightly open, then slowly contracted.
Once. Twice. Three times.
The Iron Dragon's body, after awakening in the deep night, once again tasted the fresh air.
Then, he pushed off the ground.
The moment all four claws left the earth, a shallow crater was stamped into the ground. Cracks spread outward from the pit's edge. His wings beat together, producing a sound like a clap of muffled thunder. The black-iron dragon body shot up, flying straight into the night sky.
He flipped half a turn in the air, his spine emitting a series of crisp pops.
His wings fully extended, the moonlight outlining his broader shoulders and sharper spikes compared to before his slumber.
The Iron Dragon was familiarizing himself with his body.
The sleep had been too long. Muscle memory was still there, but his joints were a bit stiff.
He made a sharp turn, the tips of his wings screaming as they cut through the air. Then he followed up with a series of dives and climbs.
The movements were a bit stiff at first, but quickly became fluid.
Unlike most dragons who had just awakened from deep slumber, Sorog did not roar excitedly. Instead, he circled silently.
He felt the subtle sensation of the airflow sliding across his body's surface.
He felt the changes in his body.
Compared to before he slept, his size had increased significantly.
From head to tail, his length had grown by at least a quarter. His life level had also completed a leap. The power flowing within him was denser and more substantial than before.
Although this growth rate was certainly no match for his brother's.
Among ordinary dragons, however, he could be considered an outstanding one.
The only fly in the ointment was that, due to the long period of sleep, this body was now somewhat empty. While the muscles were stronger, the energy reserves within him were nearly depleted.
More than twenty minutes later, the Iron Dragon paused.
He hovered high in the sky, his dragon head slowly turning. His gaze swept over the sleeping plains under the moonlight, over the faint lights of the Red Emperor Capital, and over the sparse clouds on the horizon.
"I feel like something is missing."
Sorog frowned, the scales between his brow ridges creasing, feeling that something was off.
A subtle sense of dissonance had existed since the moment he broke through the earth. It made him a bit uncomfortable.
He scanned his surroundings.
The curve of the horizon, the direction of the mountain ridges, the silver lines of the rivers reflecting the moonlight. Everything looked normal.
Too normal.
But it was this very normalcy that made him more alert.
He stopped familiarizing himself with his body. He just hovered there in the night sky, beginning to think.
Just as the Iron Dragon was deep in thought, a section of a plain further away suddenly exploded.
The ground was breached from within by heat and force. The soil and rocks, before they could even be flung out, were melted into orange-red magma. They traced parabolic arcs through the air, landing in the surrounding grass and igniting patches of flames.
A wave of scorching air expanded outward, curling and smoking the low shrubs.
A Red Dragon burst forth from the magma.
Her scales were the fiery red of volcanic rock heated to its limit, like molten iron freshly poured from a furnace.
It was Samantha.
She had gone into hibernation a few years later than Sorog.
However, by the end of a dragon's long sleep, they are already in a semi-awake state. Their subconscious is constantly adjusting the body's condition, so that upon waking, they are not entirely unfamiliar with their own form.
A Red Dragon's talent for body control was second to none.
Samantha was a prime example of this.
Her subconscious had felt the adjustments were nearly complete. Added to this was the sensation of a blood relative awakening, their powers pulling at each other. So, she too opened her eyes and woke from the long slumber.
"Sorog!"
Samantha's roar overpowered the wind.
She beat her wings and shot into the sky, dragging a trail of dark red flames behind her. She charged straight at Sorog with brutal speed, the wind behind her tearing into turbulent currents, carrying a scorching temperature.
As she got close, the Red Dragon leveled her wings and stopped short right in front of Sorog.
The wing membranes beat backward to cushion the momentum, stirring up a hot wind that blew into the Iron Dragon's face.
"We're finally awake!"
Samantha growled, incredibly excited the moment she woke from her slumber. Her tail whipped behind her with a cracking sound.
Thinking about how Aola had carved out a quarter of Atlan and still had vast territories to conquer, the Red Dragon couldn't help but spew flames from her nostrils, raising her head in a roar.
"Sorog, I can't wait!"
"We'll make those wavering kingdoms in the Eastern Alliance kneel before the Red Emperor Capital, offering their letters of surrender! We'll let the nations of the Southern Domain know who rules Atlan. Whoever defies us, we'll destroy them!"
"Aola will eventually rule all of Atlan, every inch of land, every city!"
Sorog waited for her to finish roaring, a spark of excitement flashing in his eyes.
Deep down, he was actually more fanatical about expanding territory than Samantha was.
It was just his habit to suppress his emotions, presenting a calmer exterior.
He nodded, his voice steady. "It's time."
"After all these years of development, our claws and fangs must surely be sharp enough."
"And Garoth... with his growth rate, he's probably long since had the confidence to suppress multiple Crown-levels by himself by now."
"We don't need to wait any longer."
The flames in the Red Dragon's eyes burned even brighter.
She circled in the air, already starting to calculate which direction to attack first.
But then, the Iron Dragon furrowed the scales between his brow ridges again.
That unsettling feeling was still there, and it was becoming clearer.
His gaze swept over the surroundings once more.
Horizon, mountain ridges, direction of the rivers... everything normal, too normal. But then, a thought struck him. He suddenly looked up at the distant night sky.
No, that's wrong.
Sorog's vertical pupils constricted sharply. His dragon head slowly lifted, his neck straightening.
"Samantha."
The Red Dragon was in the middle of muttering to herself, calculating the order of conquests. Interrupted by the Iron Dragon, she turned her head to look at him. "Hmm?"
"Don't you feel something is wrong?"
Samantha was stunned for a moment. Her tail, which had been whipping noisily, stopped.
Prompted by the Iron Dragon, she too began to seriously look around.
The distant city lights, the river's reflection under the moon, the blurred outlines of the mountains, the night sky overhead, the clouds, the stars...
Then, she saw the solitary moon.
The Red Dragon's head snapped up. Her neck stretched to its limit, her eyes wide as saucers.
The sky was clear. A thin layer of clouds was pulled into long, wispy strands by the high-altitude air currents. The stars were dense and bright, like shattered gems scattered on a black velvet cloth.
Everything looked normal.
But Sorog and Samantha's gazes simultaneously froze on one spot.
The place where another moon should have been hanging was now empty. Only a few stars twinkled forlornly, as if reminding them that something had once been there.
"No... where is the moon? Where did the big Nausil's moon go?"
The Red Dragon's voice rose sharply.
She did a half-turn in the air, then turned back, repeatedly confirming the empty night sky. Then she stared at Sorog. "Is a moon missing? Sorog, is a moon missing? I've counted several times, there's only one!"
The Iron Dragon was speechless.
The twin moons in the same sky were an unchanging background sound of Bernardo, like the tides, like the seasons, like the sun rising in the east and setting in the west every day.
He had lived for hundreds of years, and every night, the sky held two moons.
Now, only one remained.
Something like this could not happen naturally. The Nausil's moon could not simply vanish.
Sorog remained silent, a glimmer of thought flashing in his eyes.
During the years he and Samantha had been asleep, some incredible things had happened... He found that he seemed a bit out of touch with the times.
Samantha's tail had started whipping impatiently again.
"What the hell happened? You can't just lose a moon! How big of a commotion was that?"
Just then, a figure sped over from the direction of the Red Emperor Capital.
The newcomer flew very fast, the tips of his wings cutting through the clouds, dragging a long, slender silhouette under the moonlight.
The figure rapidly enlarged, taking on the outline of a dragon.
The Iron Dragon Gordon slowed down only when he was close to Sorog and Samantha. He hovered a few dozen meters away, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two dragons. Then he grinned.
"Hey, Sorog, Samantha, you're finally awake."
"You came at the right time." Samantha didn't wait for pleasantries. She beat her wings and rushed over, a wave of hot air blasting in his face. "Gordon, what's going on in the sky? Where's the moon? Where did the big moon go?"
Sorog also looked at Gordon, the same question in his eyes.
Under their scrutiny, Gordon straightened his back in the air.
He lowered his voice, adopting a solemn and dignified tone. "You've slept too long and missed too much."
"Aola is not what it used to be. Our great Red Emperor, Garoth Ignas, on the South Foothill Plain of Arotala, killed an Orc deity with his own hands."
"The aftershock of the battle..."
He paused, pointing with his front claw at the empty stretch of sky above their heads.
"...shattered the moon in the sky."
The wind blew from the high altitude, carrying the coolness of the night.
A twitch ran through the scales on Sorog's eyelid.
Samantha's mouth fell open, revealing a mouthful of fangs. Then she let out a roar that nearly tore through the clouds.
"A deity?!"
The Red Dragon circled twice in the air. "Garoth killed a god? Haha! Then who in all of Bernardo can stop us now? The Southern Domain, the Eastern Alliance, the West... no, not just Atlan!"
"Is Aola about to prepare to rule this planet?"
The more she spoke, the more excited she became. Her tail whipped with a cracking sound as she began to paint a picture in her mind of Aola's banners planted across every continent.
The Iron Dragon Sorog did not share in her excitement.
His vertical pupils narrowed slightly, his gaze fixed on Gordon. He was silent for a few seconds, then spoke. "Gordon, how long have we been asleep?"
"If Garoth can already kill a deity, then we must have slept for more than a normal hibernation cycle."
"Has it been two hundred years? Three hundred? Or four or five hundred?"
As he spoke, his gaze swept from Gordon's dragon head to his wing roots, from his wing roots to his flanks, from his flanks to the tip of his tail.
He thoroughly examined the Iron Dragon from head to tail.
Then, before Gordon could answer, Sorog rejected his own guess.
"Not a few hundred years."
"The change in your size is completely within the normal range, matching our growth cycle."
He paused, looking directly into Gordon's eyes. "So, you were spouting nonsense. You probably wanted to see the shocked expressions on our faces when we heard that, so you could get some satisfaction."
Hitting the mark, Gordon's expression stiffened slightly.
His tail curled awkwardly behind him, his spikes drooping slightly. The solemn and dignified tone vanished instantly.
A few seconds later, he gave an embarrassed chuckle, scratching the scales on his chin with his claw.
"Ahem, well, as expected of you, Sorog. Even just waking from hibernation, your mind is still so sharp."
"You're right. What I just said had a little bit of artistic license added to it."
Hearing this, the Red Dragon slowly turned her head.
Two puffs of smoke with sparks shot from her nostrils as she glared fiercely at Gordon. "My foolish brother, are you messing with us?"
Gordon chuckled awkwardly again, backing off half a body length.
He put on a serious expression. "Don't be angry. I was just trying to liven up the atmosphere, to help you snap out of that dazed state you just woke up from."
"As it turns out, I underestimated you two."
"You don't need it at all. Your minds are perfectly sharp."
Sorog didn't dwell on such trivial matters.
"What's the truth?" he asked.
The Iron Dragon cleared his throat, organized his thoughts again, and then began to explain in detail.
He told Sorog and Samantha about how Garoth went to Arotala to participate in the Empire War, how he encountered the avatar of the Orc god descending, how he seized the opportunity when the blood moon suppressed the god's avatar to launch an attack, and how he ultimately destroyed the god's avatar on the South Foothill Plain.
After hearing it, the Red Dragon Samantha was silent for a few seconds, digesting the information.
Then, the excitement in her eyes reignited, burning even brighter than before.
She said, "It's still a deity. An avatar is still a deity. And our Emperor won!"
Sorog nodded slowly.
He was silent for a moment, then said with feeling, "Immortals, Saints, God Avatars... I never thought that just waking up from a sleep, our Emperor would have already touched battles at this level."
At this point, the Red Dragon showed a thoughtful look, then looked back at Gordon.
"Wait. Since Garoth is already this strong, can't we unify Atlan now? Who would dare stand in Aola's way now?"
"Aola is already the hegemon of Atlan."
Gordon puffed out his chest, his voice filled with genuine pride. "Over the years, the kingdom's territory has been expanding."
"The Southern Domain submits, the Eastern Alliance surrenders. Coupled with our original rule over the Northern Borders, three-quarters of the entire continent is now under Aola's control."
"Only the West remains, Lamorein's territory. It's the last piece of the puzzle."
These words made the two newly awakened dragons fall silent for a moment.
Before they went to sleep, Aola only occupied a quarter of the land.
The nations of the other three regions had a surprisingly uniform attitude towards Aola. Every single one was full of wariness for this rising dragon kingship, secretly forming alliances.
Now, all resistance had been crushed.
The Aola Kingdom, in an unstoppable manner, had ruled over them.
As for why this was possible, there was no doubt it was because of their Emperor.
But, how could Lamorein withstand it?
As if sensing their doubt.
The Iron Dragon explained. "You don't know yet. Lamorein offered his faith to the Chromatic Queen. He received the deity's blessing and has now become a Mandate Storm Dragon. He can't be underestimated."
So that's it...
Samantha let out a satisfied burst of flame from her nostrils. "A Mandate Storm Dragon. He will surely be no match for us either. Sooner or later, we will claim victory."
"The title of 'Kingdom' no longer suits us."
"Heh, I believe we will become the first Dragon Empire in the history of Bernardo."
Sorog didn't think that far ahead.
He turned his head, glancing at Gordon, a thoughtful look in his eyes. Then he asked another question.
"I wouldn't be surprised by Garoth's power. I'm surprised by something else."
"Aola controls three-quarters of the continent, but Garoth doesn't like managing the kingdom. He ran off to Arotala to participate in wars between empires."
He tilted his head, staring at Gordon.
"So, who is managing the kingdom's affairs?"
The spikes on Gordon's body stood on end.
He raised his head slightly, puffed out his chest, and spread his wings at a controlled, almost modest angle of pride, presenting himself fully to his two blood relatives.
Gordon said nothing.
But his actions were the answer.
Sorog was silent for a moment, then gave unreserved praise. "Gordon, you've done very well. I knew it. Not a single one of our brothers is a fool."
The Iron Dragon nodded repeatedly, accepting his brother's acknowledgment with ease.
Then, he looked at the Red Dragon Samantha, a look of expectation in his eyes.
Under Gordon's gaze, the Red Dragon opened her mouth.
Regarding Aola's Emperor, she could express her approval and heartfelt submission without any burden. But to get her to praise another dragon, especially this guy in front of her, was really not easy.
But he really had performed quite well.
So, she finally squeezed a sentence out between her teeth.
"You... Gordon, you've got skills. You lived up to the expectations we had when we went to sleep. You did okay."
The Iron Dragon's chin rose even higher, his nostrils practically pointing at the sky.
The curiosity in Sorog's eyes hadn't dissipated.
He waited until Gordon had had his fill of pride, then spoke. "I'm not surprised Garoth could reach this point. But I still want to know the specifics of how he killed that god's avatar."
Samantha also turned her head, curious as well.
She had just been too busy being excited. Now she remembered to ask for the details.
"It's a long story." The Iron Dragon cleared his throat. "Although I know the general outline of that battle, having me retell it is far worse than you asking Garoth directly and having him tell you himself."
Sorog nodded slightly, not pressing further.
Samantha was a bit dissatisfied, puffing out a small cloud of black smoke, but she didn't force Gordon to recount it on the spot either.
"Where is Garoth?" Sorog asked.
"He went to the Vophal Dragon Domain."
Gordon paused for a beat, then said, "Dog training."
Hearing this, Sorog's expression turned confused.
His mind was sharp and clear, but he really couldn't imagine what connection there could be between the Vophal Dragon Domain and dog training.
"Vophal Dragon Domain? Dog training?"
He repeated slowly. "I can't figure out how they relate."
Gordon showed a satisfied expression.
He enjoyed this state where he knew more while Sorog and Samantha were relatively ignorant. It made him feel smarter than them. So he deliberately spoke vaguely.
Sorog saw through this.
He didn't rush him, giving Gordon enough face.
But the Red Dragon Samantha didn't have that kind of patience.
She bared her teeth, a low, threatening growl rumbling in her throat. "Gordon, if you don't explain more clearly, I'm going to beat you up. I just woke up, and I could really use a punching bag to stretch my claws and fangs on."
Gordon spread his claws.
"This... I'm really not too clear about it."
He could see that Samantha wasn't joking, but he answered truthfully. "Garoth said himself that he was going dog training, but he didn't tell me what he was actually going to do."
"He just told me to take care of the kingdom's affairs, and then he left."
Having said this, Gordon changed his tone. "However, I've already sent a message to Garoth about your awakening. He knows you've broken ground now. He should be arriving soon."
No sooner had the words left his mouth.
As if to prove his words, the space above them suddenly tore open.
A dark black claw hooked onto the edge of the rift. With a powerful shove, a great dragon leaped out from within.
Garoth had come by tearing through space directly.
Sorog and Samantha immediately looked at this Red Iron Dragon.
His physique was larger and more imposing than in their memories. His strong and powerful build was the same as always, showing no signs of age or weakness.
Strangely, his scales had turned a dark black.
Red-gold light patterns shimmered in the gaps between his scales, the overall color scheme closer to his appearance when he was young.
Sorog remembered that Garoth's scales were darker when he was younger. As the years passed, they gradually changed to his iconic fiery red. Now, this set of armor seemed like a return to the past, but not quite the same.
"Sorog, Samantha. You're awake."
The Red Iron Dragon's gaze fell upon his two blood relatives, his voice calm.
Sorog nodded in response, not showing too much excitement or agitation.
He was always like this.
The Red Dragon Samantha, on the other hand, immediately started circling Garoth.
"Garoth, why did your scales turn black again?"
She circled him once, leaning in for a closer look, then backed off a bit, making a face of disgust.
"No, no, no. I don't like it."
"You should be like me, with flame-like red scales. That's your signature!"
"Your titles, like Red Flame Scourge, Red Emperor, Scarlet Emperor Cangxing, even our Red Emperor Capital, all came from this scale color. Now that it's changed like this, how can we still use those titles?"
"Black Flame Scourge? Black Emperor Cangxing? Black Emperor?"
To this, the Iron Dragon Gordon had a different opinion.
"I think Garoth's current scale color is perfect."
He tilted his head and looked him over, a hint of appreciation in his tone. "Deep and reserved, imposing without being angry. It has more of a sense of pressure than the old, flamboyant red."
As he spoke, the Iron Dragon glanced at his own scales.
Not bad, not bad. The color was quite similar to Garoth's.
If Garoth was majestic and domineering, that meant he was majestic and domineering too.
He thought happily to himself.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
The Red Dragon immediately retorted. "Fiery red is the best! Now this, how does it look like the great Red Emperor?"
Just like Gordon, she wanted Garoth's scales to match hers. Sorog, however, didn't care about such trivial details.
"You have just woken from your long sleep. Your bodies are still weak."
Garoth interrupted this topic, his tone brooking no argument. "Eat first, replenish yourselves."
The Red Dragon glared fiercely at Gordon, but didn't dare to defy Garoth's wishes.
"Mm, I'm very hungry now."
She muttered. "Very hungry. I want to eat dragon meat. For example, the meat of a certain fat dragon must be tender and juicy."
Saying this, she deliberately looked at Gordon.
Gordon was long past being fat.
Because he had been overworking himself with the kingdom's affairs, he was now even a bit gaunt. The outline of his muscles was clearly visible under his scales, and his belly was no longer the round, chubby shape it used to be.
He glanced at his elder brother, then moved a few meters closer to him.
Relying on Garoth's presence.
He refused to be outdone, staring back at the Red Dragon Samantha.
"Go check your brain, Samantha."
The Iron Dragon said. "If a brain-eating beast passes by us, it will definitely stop in front of me, and then completely ignore you, because you have no brain."
Hearing this, the Red Dragon flew into a rage.
With a flap of her wings, she pounced at the Iron Dragon.
The Iron Dragon dodged behind Garoth, nimbly circling around.
The two of them, one chasing, one running, circled the Red Iron Dragon, making a game of it under the moonlight.
Garoth watched this scene quietly.
He let out a silent, inner smile. The constant, nervous unease in his heart relaxed considerably at this moment.
He knew that Samantha wasn't really going to attack, and Gordon wasn't really scared. This kind of roughhousing was a common sight when they were young.
But as they grew older, this kind of play became rarer.
He let them mess around for a while.
Then he spoke. "Alright, that's enough. Gordon has prepared a banquet for your return. Come on, let's go enjoy some good food. Let the people of Aola know that their Royal Dukes have returned."
The Red Dragon stopped.
She ground her teeth, letting out a reluctant grunt from her throat.
"Hmph. A banquet prepared by Gordon? Whoever wants to go can go. I'm not going."
Soon after.
The Dragon Court, Banquet Hall.
The Red Dragon Samantha sat at one side of the main table, voraciously devouring a huge piece of roasted meat.
She had no time left to quarrel with her foolish brother.
It was delicious.
The roasted meat had a crispy exterior and tender, juicy interior. The moment the fat burst between her teeth, she almost forgot everything she had said earlier.
On the other side.
The Iron Dragon Sorog slightly raised his head, downing a large cup of sweet, sticky honey in one go.
He set down the cup, a hint of satisfaction and pleasure flashing in his eyes.
"You're almost four hundred. You're about to become an old dragon."
Garoth took a big gulp of black oil, turning his head to look at the Iron Dragon. "Still so fond of sweets?"
Sorog didn't change his expression, wiping the residual honey from the corner of his mouth with the back of his claw.
"A sweet taste helps relax my mind," he said. "Besides, aren't you the same? As always, drinking black oil that other dragons find hard to swallow."
The Red Iron Dragon smiled faintly. "Habit."
The taste of black oil was very strong. Most creatures, including dragons, wouldn't even want to smell it. But he had been drinking it since he was young. From forcing it down at first, he had now completely adapted. He even found the taste and texture quite pleasant.
Now, he was over three hundred and seventy years old.
According to the age divisions of dragons, he was at the tail end of his prime.
In another few decades, he would be an old dragon.
"Before I knew it, I'm about to turn four hundred."
"Although I'm still young compared to an Ancient Dragon, in the eyes of the younger generation of dragons, I've become an old fossil."
Garoth thought silently to himself.
Just then, Sorog asked, "What's up with your scale color? Such a drastic change is not normal."
He had been observing Garoth for a while.
A major change in scale color often accompanies major changes in the body's functions. It's not a simple surface phenomenon.
Garoth thought for a moment, then asked back, "Do you still remember our father, and the frenzied flame?"
Sorog was stunned for a moment, then nodded.
He remembered, of course.
Those memories weren't pleasant.
Garoth said, "Causing creatures to become mad and irritable is just the shallowest surface of the frenzied flame. Its essence is a mutational force that causes drastic changes in a creature in a very short period of time."
He roughly explained the situation.
The Iron Dragon was lost in thought.
"So, you went to Arotala to participate in the Empire War for the chance to mutate? Judging by your current state, you seem relatively normal. Are you preparing to mutate again?" he asked.
Garoth nodded lightly. "This is currently the best way for me to become stronger in the shortest amount of time."
Originally, Garoth wanted to take the opportunity while the Ember-Annihilating Form was still active to deal with the Storm Dragon. But the Bronze Dragon King was more dangerous. Keeping the Storm Dragon alive could draw the Bronze Dragon King's attention, reducing the pressure on him.
But as time passed, and through his own training, the Ember-Annihilating Form was gradually being adapted to and corrected.
Now, Garoth had decided to undergo another mutation.
On one hand, the current situation was relatively stable overall, but he had a strong intuition that beneath this calm, a storm was brewing.
He had to become stronger to be able to deal with it calmly.
On the other hand, he had three meteorites. He had the chance to make mistakes.
"Gordon told me that the extent of your change is enormous at the beginning. Too bad I never got to see it in person."
The Iron Dragon grinned. "I'm looking forward to it."
After that, the two of them stopped talking business.
They relaxed their minds and immersed themselves in the feast before them.
A few days later, the banquet was coming to an end.
Sorog and Samantha, having replenished their depleted bodies, flew into the sky together to patrol the kingdom that now occupied most of Atlan.
Gordon flew alongside them, narrating the changes that had occurred over the years.
Which territories were newly conquered, which former enemies had been annihilated, which new threats were emerging.
Samantha listened impatiently, frequently interrupting him to ask irrelevant questions. Sorog listened quietly, nodding occasionally.
Garoth did not follow.
He tore open space and returned alone to the Small World.
The dark sky pressed down overhead, as always.
The scorched, blackened ground after the magma had cooled stretched out in all directions, crisscrossed with ravines. Occasionally, deep pits and claw marks from old training sessions could be seen.
There was nothing here that would disturb Garoth.
He circled the sky once, then landed on a flat platform and crouched down.
He took out a spatial crystal, inside which was sealed an entire, intact meteorite.
"Rift Form, Ember-Annihilating Form."
He stared at the crystal in his hand, muttering to himself. "The effects of these two mutations were both very good, and each time was better than the last. This third time... I hope it can be even better than before."
The dragon extended his front claw and crushed the crystal.
The moment the meteorite was exposed to the air, the frenzied flame surged out of it, spreading from his claw tips upwards, seeping into the gaps between his scales, burrowing into the muscle fibers, and spreading throughout his entire body.
Garoth had experienced mutation twice. He was no stranger to this feeling.
Pain was inevitable.
But the pain was just the process, not the price.
He even somewhat enjoyed the pain.
The Red Iron Dragon let out a low hum, tensing his body.
An invisible flame burned inside him.
His body began to change.
The first thing to mutate was his right arm.
The scales at his shoulder blade suddenly bulged and swelled.
Muscle tissue proliferated at an unprecedented rate. Every muscle fiber thickened, lengthened, and split. New muscle fibers grew in between the old ones, layering over each other, becoming as dense as steel cables.
The scales were stretched to their limit.
The edges began to tear, revealing the dark new tissue underneath. Its color was darker than normal muscle, its surface covered in a dense network of vein-like patterns.
The bones were also growing.
Scapula, humerus, radius, ulna... they forked, spread, and thickened like tree roots. With every breath, one could hear the faint sound of bones growing. The arm's circumference increased constantly.
The scales couldn't keep up with the speed of muscle expansion. Their edges were stretched into huge cracks.
Through the cracks, muscle fibers as thick as steel bars were directly visible.
Finally.
The entire right arm expanded to nearly half the width of his torso. Every single digit claw was thick and razor-sharp to the extreme. The tips of his claws barely touched the ground, and they plowed out massive ravines and fissures.
"This power?"
The Red Iron Dragon growled, lifting his right claw.
He could feel that the power contained in this arm far surpassed that of any previous form.
He smashed it down.
Boom!
In an instant, the ground around him collapsed in layers.
The earth's crust shattered, sank, and crumbled. Countless clods of dirt and rock were squeezed outward in all directions, like a tsunami wave on the surface of the ground, forming a shocking giant pit.
The farthest cracks almost extended to the edge of sight.
The scale was so massive it was equivalent to the destruction caused by his full-speed plummet from high altitude and impact.
This meant...
The power of this single claw from Garoth was comparable to one of his Dragonfall strikes.
It could only be described as terrifying.
Even an immortal life form, faced with this claw of his, would probably have to avoid its edge.
But the price came with it.
In the collapsed giant pit, Garoth turned his head to look at his body.
His left arm, wings, hind legs, and even his torso had not been simultaneously strengthened.
Even worse, with the massive growth of his right arm, they had severely atrophied. His entire body, except for his right arm, had shrunk by a large margin.
Even standing upright had become a problem.
Only by supporting himself on the ground with his right arm could he steady his body. If he pulled his right arm back, without careful attention, he would almost topple over onto his side.
"This form focuses almost all the power into the right arm, sacrificing all other parts."
The Red Iron Dragon furrowed the scales between his brow ridges.
He tried moving his body.
His right arm was incredibly thick and powerful, while the rest of his body was withered to the point of being almost sickly. When he stood up, the weight of his right arm tilted his entire body to the right. He had to be constantly tense just to barely maintain balance.
He tried to raise his right arm again.
The movement was very sluggish.
Although the right arm had the power of an immortal, it was too slow. No one would just stand still and let him hit them.
"No. The weaknesses and flaws are too great. It could be called a deformity."
Garoth shook his head, quickly assessing in his mind.
This form was at least thirty percent weaker than his normal form, maybe even more. In actual combat, he knew all too well what the loss of balance and mobility meant.
As expected, he couldn't rely on illusory luck.
This form, like a one-armed overlord, was far from the stronger form he had hoped for.
But that was alright.
Garoth had already considered this possibility.
When you roll the dice, you can't expect to hit high numbers every time, right?
He was prepared for this. He took out another new spatial crystal.
"I still have two chances."
He stared at the crystal in his hand. "Goddess of Fortune, bless me. Let me mutate into a new form stronger than the Annihilating form."
The dragon's face was solemn. He even offered a silent prayer to the Goddess of Fortune.
Although he knew the Goddess of Fortune probably wouldn't favor a dragon, he did it anyway. Then, he crushed the spatial crystal again.