The bitter cold of The Borderlands failed to cross the natural barrier to blow over the territory of the Serel Wilderness.
Influenced by recent climate changes and the intangible aftermath of the earth-shattering battle between two Legendary kings, the vast wilderness, apart from the brief rainy season, saw a slight drop in its year-round sweltering temperatures, but looking around, one still could not see the trace of even a single snowflake.
Only in the sporadic areas at the northernmost end, closest to the edge of The Borderlands, could one occasionally see some thin, flying snow drifting in the wind.
Whoosh—!
The Red-Iron Dragon flapped his wings, flying and soaring wantonly in the high skies of the Serel Wilderness. He easily tore through the strong air currents, dragging long vortices behind him.
And amidst the flapping of his wings, time passed quietly.
Below Garros's field of vision, the landscape constantly changed like a flowing scroll.
He gradually flew over the lush, vibrant primeval forests below, swept past a huge lake as clear and green as emerald, and looked down upon the boundless, vast plains overgrown with drought-resistant shrubs and hardy grasses.
Finally.
His massive body began to slow down gently, like a steady dark cloud, landing on the top of a rugged, steep cliff.
His sharp Dragon claws tapped into the hard rock, firmly gripping the mountain.
As he folded his broad wings, he lowered his Dragon head to look down.
A deep land so huge it seemed to have been formed by the violent impact of an extraterrestrial meteorite suddenly came into his view.
It was his birthplace, the Sinkhole Territory ruled by the Iron Dragon Mother, Leticia, a vast and sunken unique basin.
Garros's gaze moved slowly.
He could vaguely see that beneath the steep cliff opposite, there was a patch of land that looked exceptionally pitted and rugged, and even on the adjacent cliff walls, there still remained some deep cracks and huge claw marks.
Despite decades of weathering and natural changes, which had left many unfamiliar traces.
But he could still clearly recognize that those were the masterpieces left behind during his youth when he had engaged in day-after-day training here.
An emotion mixed with unfamiliarity and extreme familiarity spontaneously welled up from the bottom of his heart.
"Very good, the scent of the Iron Dragon Mother is still very strong; she is clearly still living in this territory and has not left."
Garros lifted his craggy Dragon head slightly, no longer suppressing his own power, and a massive Dragon Might, like an invisible tide, spread toward the territory ahead.
In the customary social rules of Dragons.
Entering their Domain area rashly without the explicit permission of the territory owner was undoubtedly extremely rude, even a serious offense carrying strong implications of provocation and declaration of war.
Although Garros was born here, this was, after all, the territory of the Iron Dragon Mother, Leticia, and not his own direct jurisdiction.
Releasing his own unique Dragon Might first, letting the other party clearly perceive his existence and location, rather than rudely breaking directly into the depths of the Dragon nest, was a greeting method that expressed basic goodwill and indicated that this trip had no hostility.
As Garros's undisguised Dragon Might swept past like a storm.
In an instant, many creatures living within this Sinkhole Territory, regardless of strength, felt an invisible, heavy sense of oppression stemming from life's instinct, and they all became restless or silent in fear.
The first to react to this uninvited guest was a group of startled Manticores.
A group of ferocious-looking Manticores, exuding a strong evil aura, flapped their huge, leathery wings similar to those of a Dragon, and quickly rose from the steep cliff caves below like a dark cloud.
Their characteristics were very distinct.
They possessed humanoid heads but topped with a mane of messy hair.
Their bodies were as strong and agile as a male lion.
On their backs grew a pair of huge, tough leathery wings similar to Dragonkin.
The most iconic feature was their flexible scorpion tail, covered with hard keratin and bearing a cluster of highly poisonous spines at the end.
Manticores were not a race with superior intelligence; their intelligence level was roughly equivalent to that of an Earth Rampage Bear.
They could conduct basic language communication, had evil blood flowing in their bones, and were willing to serve powerful lords who treated them well enough, could intimidate them, and regularly allowed them to satisfy their desire for slaughter during hunts.
Evil Dragons of the lawful alignment, brutal Hobgoblin warlords, cold-hearted giants... were all their common employers.
The Manticore pride that could appear in the core territory of the Iron Dragon Mother, their allegiance was naturally self-evident—they were exactly Leticia's kin guards.
The leading Manticore leader was particularly huge in size, almost not inferior to an ordinary young Dragon.
What was even more eye-catching was.
On its scarred forehead grew a pair of thick, short, and sharp black Dragon horns. Between the gaps of its thick mane, one could also vaguely glimpse individual black Dragon scales embedded under the skin, shimmering with a dark metallic luster, and its whole body exuded a faint but unquestionable Iron Dragon aura.
This was a Dragonblood Manticore strengthened through the Dragonblood Transformation ritual.
Manticores were naturally addicted to fighting and slaughter.
When they first sensed the approach of a powerful intruder's aura, they flapped their wings and approached rapidly, with low, threatening roars rolling in their throats, their ferocious fangs completely exposed.
However.
When they truly saw the majestic silhouette of the Dragon hovering above the cliff top.
All the roars and all the ferocious auras seemed to be instantly choked by an invisible hand, and after a slight stagnation, they vanished into thin air.
After a period of rest and recovery, Garros's physique had now fully returned to its Peak.
Beneath a set of steel-cast Dragon scales, there was a terrifying amount of muscle and bone density that almost no Dragon of the same size could compare to in terms of strength.
Even a Red Dragon, known for being strong, if standing face-to-face in front of Garros, would likely appear inferior by comparison, and even feel a trace of shame.
Not to mention these'slender and weak' Manticores.
Their originally ferocious and violent gazes, after seeing the Red-Iron Dragon's mountain-like physique, suddenly became much clearer.
"This place belongs to the great Steel Queen—Lady Leticia!"
The Manticore leader bit the bullet and shouted in slightly stiff dragon language, taking the lead in bringing out the name of its own Dragon Lord, attempting to intimidate the other party: "Stranger Dragon! Without the explicit permission of the Steel Queen, please leave this place immediately!"
Its voice tried hard to maintain toughness, but the trembling within exposed its inner nervousness.
Returning to his old home, Garros was in a pretty good mood, so he remained patient and responded in a low voice: "Go tell your Queen—her former offspring has now grown into a powerful existence and has come here specifically to visit today."
Hearing this, the Manticore leader's huge humanoid face revealed a look of obvious suspicion.
Although it was not very intelligent, it still had basic judgment.
The actual size of the Dragon in front of it, although perhaps slightly inferior to the Steel Queen in body length.
But that mountain-like, muscular, and physique covered with layers of metal scales and ferocious spikes brought a visual impact and sense of heaviness that even surpassed the Queen in its memory.
Such a big offspring?
What a joke!
When has the Queen ever had an offspring with such an outrageous size?
However... it twitched its nose and sniffed the air carefully, indeed catching a trace of an elusive Bloodline scent similar to the Iron Dragon Lord from the other party.
Considering that even if it assembled the entire Manticore pride, plus other kin in the territory, it probably wouldn't be able to stop this evil star in front of it, the Manticore leader finally lowered its head slightly, and its tone softened a lot.
It said: "Powerful Dragon, Her Majesty the Queen is not within the territory at the moment, please come back later."
So that's how it is.
Garros understood in his heart.
No wonder he had released his Dragon Might for so long, and the Iron Dragon Mother had not appeared to respond.
So she wasn't home.
"No matter."
Garros's voice was calm: "I will just wait here for her return."
After speaking, he ignored the Manticore pride, flapped his huge Dragon wings again, and descended directly into the inner area of the Sinkhole Territory.
The Manticore leader opened its mouth, seemingly wanting to speak to stop him.
But the words died on their lips. Looking at that massive back—something they were completely incapable of handling—they swallowed them back in helplessness.
For now, they could only nervously monitor, waiting for the Dragon Lord to return as soon as possible.
Immediately, under the nervous and guarded gazes of many followers, Garros strolled leisurely through the Sinkhole Territory like a returning king.
He walked past the clear lake where he had long dived during his youth to train his lung capacity, stepped across the training ground that had been ravaged into exceptional hardness by his day-after-day "battering of mountains and earth," and passed the mining area where he had once forced his younger dragon siblings to toil in excavating Ore... Finally, he stopped near the Iron Dragon Mother's massive dragon nest located deep within the pit wall.
Fifty-some years of time had flowed by.
The Sinkhole Territory had inevitably undergone many changes; vegetation had replaced itself, watercourses had diverted, mine tunnels had widened, and changes in followers had added new traces, blurring some old memories.
And Garros himself had changed tremendously; he was no longer the Wyrmling he once was.
"I wonder, after so long, when the Iron Dragon Mother sees me again, what kind of look she will view me with."
A trace of curiosity and anticipation couldn't help but rise in his heart.
While waiting, he didn't stay idle, performing some warm-up exercises on the spot that, in his own eyes, were only considered quite simple.
However, every movement triggered violent air currents and slight tremors in the ground, making the surrounding followers who were monitoring him closely and dared not relax feel terrified and increasingly nervous.
Meanwhile, in another area of the Serel Wilderness, quite far from the Sinkhole Territory—the Steep Stone Highlands.
A massive Blue Dragon, covered in deep blue scales with dangerous electric sparks jumping from between its scale gaps from time to time, stood like a statue on the edge of a cliff.
The Blue Dragon looked toward the steady-aura Iron Dragon in front of it, its voice sounding like rolling thunder.
"The Dominic Family never provokes difficult-to-handle powerful enemies without reason, nor do we do anything that lacks benefit or advantage. This is our survival Law."
Opposite it was the Iron Dragon Leticia, whose scales were like well-forged black plate armor, exuding an aura of toughness and strength.
"I understand your principles," Leticia said seriously. "But no Dragon understands the nature of that madman Gorthax better than I do!"
"As long as he exists on this wilderness together with your Dominic Family, he will sooner or later cast his greedy and cruel gaze toward your Domain, your treasures, and your followers."
"Waiting passively is like sleeping beside a volcanic crater; you never know when the destructive lava will erupt."
"Instead of that, it is better to strike first! While we still possess the advantage in strength and information, let us unite to completely eradicate this deadly threat hanging over our heads."
The Blue Dragon slowly swayed its tail, which was covered in lightning patterns, its tone remaining steady.
"I understand your concerns and proposal, Leticia. However, as I have emphasized repeatedly just now, for our Dominic Family, tangible benefits are far more important than ethereal potential threats or personal grudges."
"I will convey your thoughts and proposal to our leader in their entirety."
The Blue Dragon's voice paused, and with a touch of candor, it continued, "However, I must also inform you in advance that, based on my understanding of the Family's decision-making style, the probability that the leader will ultimately agree to join forces with you to actively hunt down Gorthax is not very high."
Although both Blue Dragons and Iron Dragons belong to the Lawful Evil alignment of Evil Dragons, there is a significant difference in their ways of thinking.
The Blue Dragon race tends to be more rational and calm, placing great importance on pros and cons and long-term planning; whereas Iron Dragons are more tenacious and stubborn, sometimes willing to pay a higher price for the goals or beliefs in their hearts.
Without sufficiently attractive profit drivers, why would the Blue Dragon Family want to hunt down a powerful, crazy, and highly vengeful Mature Adult Dragon Red Dragon for no reason?
Once it fails, it will inevitably bring a terrible mortal enemy upon the Family for no reason. Even if it succeeds, apart from the Red Dragon's potentially valuable corpse, how much substantial benefit could be gained?
The Domain ruled by that crazy Red Dragon had long been ravaged into a wasteland, and its followers were mostly chaotic rabble, basically having no value to take over.
"...I will await your final response." Iron Dragon Leticia was silent for a moment, ultimately speaking no more, suddenly flapping her steel-like wings, her massive body soaring into the sky, flying toward the direction of her own Domain.
After the brief exchange, her heart actually held no great expectations for the participation of the Blue Dragon Flight.
At this moment, the night grew thicker, the boundless sky was shrouded by a deep ink-blue night curtain, with only a few sparse stars twinkling with faint light.
Leticia shook her head silently, temporarily suppressing her complex thoughts, and accelerated her flight.
As the distance closed, when she gradually approached the range of the Sinkhole Territory, an unusually powerful, unfamiliar, yet faintly familiar aura of Dragon Qi came rushing toward her like a physical substance.
Leticia's heart suddenly tightened. Before she could carefully distinguish who this complex scent belonged to, her gaze instantly became sharp, and she increased her flight speed again, returning to her Domain rapidly like a black lightning bolt.
Soon, the familiar outline of the Sinkhole appeared in her vision. She began to dive downward, while her sharp Dragon eyes immediately locked onto a massive Dragon back standing near the nest with its back to her, extremely broad and sturdy.
The astonishing muscle mass displayed by that back, the dense and sharp spines covering the entire body, the heavy scales that seemed capable of immunizing against all attacks, as well as the uniquely structured dragon wings with edges like sharp blades, the tail full of a sense of power, and those rugged, winding giant dragon horns... none of these failed to transmit an extremely dangerous signal to her.
Leticia's heart instantly rang with alarm bells. Boom! Her heavy Dragon body slammed down near the nest entrance, her limb muscles slightly crouched, the vast Demonic Energy within her body began to surge and rush, already assuming a battle stance of full alert, ready to launch a lethal attack at any moment.
"Who is it! Daring to rashly intrude into my Domain!" Iron Dragon Leticia let out a low, threatening roar from the depths of her throat, her entire body's steel scales standing slightly on end, her muscles tensed like a bow.
Meanwhile, the broad, heavy Dragon shadow opposite her, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression, heard her roar and slowly turned around.
When Leticia's vigilant and sharp gaze finally saw all the details of the other's face clearly, and upon smelling that familiar scent—a mixture of molten iron, intense fire, and a trace originating from the depths of her Bloodline—at close range.
She was first taken aback, her huge Dragon eyes frozen for an instant. Immediately after, her eyes widened bit by bit in disbelief, widening even more... An absurd thought, one that made her almost doubt if she was hallucinating, uncontrollably surged wildly from the bottom of her heart.
"Oh? My dear mother, long time no see." Garros looked at the Iron Dragon Mother before him, who was almost dumbfounded and seemingly petrified, grinned his Dragon mouth, and revealed a smile.
"You seem very nervous. Have you forgotten your own offspring?"
Opposite, Iron Dragon Leticia's eyes were wide round, her vision completely occupied by the mighty Dragon opposite her—one that was a whole circle more robust than herself and exuded a terrifying aura like a prehistoric beast.
Unparalleled shock washed over her sanity like a tsunami, filling her eyes with an expression of disbelief.
This must be fake, right?! This Dragon, over twenty meters in body length, with a weight absolutely far exceeding her own, and a stature comparable to a Mature Adult Dragon, is actually the offspring that only hatched a few decades ago?!