A strong wind, carrying torrential rain, howled and swept beneath the heavy leaden clouds.
The entire world was a shade of gray.
Garros circled within the thick clouds, his gaze looking down at the earth submerged in a curtain of rain. He could clearly see a frozen, frosty white trail extending across the gloomy, waterlogged surface, and at the end of that trail stood a giant beast.
It was generally humanoid in shape, with fangs on its face and white, snow-like fur covering its body.
Most terrifying was its size; it walked upright upon the earth, standing a full twenty meters tall, like a white hill.
Compared to this giant beast...
...even Garros appeared much smaller.
Even some adult dragons could not match this giant beast in terms of size.
"A Behemoth. It's just as the Legacy records describe; its size is more massive than even Dragonkin and giants. It truly lives up to its reputation as a biological weapon used for war."
Garros shook his thick neck and spoke.
Iron Dragon Sorog was also staring at the Behemoth. He gave a light snort and said indignantly:
"Size is their proudest advantage. But for us Dragonkin, it is merely one of many strengths. Any dragon of equivalent weight could easily defeat it."
Garros shook his head slightly and said, "You're right, but the problem now is that our weight is far less than its." He looked at the Iron Dragon, paused for a moment, and then continued, "There is no shame in acknowledging an enemy's strength, Sorog. Don't let arrogance rule your heart."
The Iron Dragon was startled, realizing he had unconsciously fallen back into his old habits.
He nodded. "I will be careful."
Since following Garros, the Iron Dragon had discovered that his proud ability to restrain his natural desires was not worth mentioning compared to Garros.
Whenever they were together, if the Iron Dragon unconsciously displayed arrogance or other emotions, Garros would remind him. Over the years, his emotions had become much more stable.
"I wonder which Frost Giant Tribe it belongs to."
"For such a biological weapon to be wandering the earth alone, something must have happened to its original tribe."
The Iron Dragon calmed down and spoke after some serious thought.
Garros narrowed his eyes, calculating in his mind.
The Frost Behemoth was a Vicious Beast, not an intelligent lifeform. It wandered the ground, and though its direction wasn't fixed, it was vaguely heading toward the Quenchfire Highlands overall.
Actually...
...fighting such a Vicious Beast carried higher risks than benefits.
Behemoths were naturally hateful toward Dragonkin and could not be tamed; they could only be killed.
It wasn't like the Diamond Giant from before, whose body was high-quality Ore and whose crystal core could continuously produce diamonds. Aside from carving it up for meat and taking some fur, fangs, and bones, it wouldn't bring any subsequent profit.
However, it had to be dealt with.
Garros estimated that it was likely the residual scent of the Stone Giants from the Gravel Camp that had attracted it, causing the Behemoth to instinctively head there. This explained its current trajectory.
If left alone, it would likely go to the Gravel Camp and cause damage to the Symbiotic Pool.
This was something Garros could not tolerate.
If it were his past self, his first thought might have been to lure the Behemoth away to avoid a fight.
But the current Garros already had a certain level of confidence and the power to contend with powerful Vicious Beasts in the wilderness. Moreover, his caution was primarily for survival, not for the sake of being cautious itself.
The Frost Behemoth could not fly and lacked powerful skills to restrict the flight of Dragonkin.
It wasn't accompanied by a Frost Giant legion, so there would be no Giant Warlocks to interfere.
This meant Garros held the upper hand.
Under these circumstances, the Frost Behemoth would be a large punching bag. There was no need to worry about death while fighting it, and it could serve to test his own strength.
"Sorog, stay back a bit."
"I will stop the Frost Behemoth here."
Garros said.
The Iron Dragon was not quite at ease and said, "It's still some distance from the Quenchfire Highlands. Why don't I call Samantha and we fight together?"
Garros shook his head.
"Just leave it to me. It'll save you and Samantha from getting seriously injured and delaying the territory's development."
That's what he said, but deep down, he actually felt that these three years had been too peaceful. He wanted a little combat stimulation and didn't want Sorog or Samantha to interfere in this fight.
Garros felt his personality was somewhat contradictory now.
He truly liked a peaceful life, but when life really did become peaceful for a long time, he would feel a bit bored and want some excitement. Yet, when risks, accidents, and setbacks came in succession, he would long for peace again.
But thinking about it carefully, this seemed quite normal.
The thoughts and personalities of intelligent beings are always unpredictable, changing in different states and stages.
They are not set in stone.
Perhaps one day, Garros would completely shed his cloak of caution and fully reveal the formidable edge belonging to Dragonkin. Or perhaps one day, he would become even calmer, completely discarding the negative emotions in his personality and possessing absolute rationality.
None of this was certain; it would require the test of time.
As for now, Garros wanted a fight.
Iron Dragon Sorog flapped his wings and retreated to a distance that was far enough but still close enough to provide support at any time, then watched quietly.
And under his gaze...
...Garros did not attack the Frost Behemoth directly.
Whoosh! The Red-Iron Dragon charged straight into the thick dark clouds, drawing the lightning from across the sky to gather upon himself.
He tumbled through the thunderstorm as countless silver snakes danced around him, intertwining with the golden lightning erupting from within his body. They transformed into a ball of gold and silver lightning. At a glance, it looked like a small gold and silver sun suspended within the dark clouds, its radiance illuminating the gloomy curtain of rain.
The world suddenly turned white.
The Frost Behemoth sensed the anomaly in the sky.
It stopped in its tracks and looked up at the sky. Its gaze pierced through the rain, clouds, and lightning to see the shining dragon silhouette.
After a brief moment of hesitation, the Frost Behemoth spread its arms and let out a deafening roar toward the sky.
The hatred for Dragonkin etched into its Bloodline was unforgettable.
From the first moment it spotted Garros, the Frost Behemoth's killing intent surged like boiling water. However, it could do nothing against the dragon high in the sky and could only let out provocative roars.
The Red-Iron Dragon's wings fully extended as he held his head high and chest out.
The final gap within his body was finally filled. The sensation of electricity passing through his muscles suddenly became clearer than ever before, as if a tight network had completely formed within him.
The evolution was complete at this moment.
Immediately after, Garros responded to the Behemoth's roar with action.
The golden lightning was all pulled back into his body. He flapped his wings, churning out dark red aura, and dove at high speed, tearing through the heavy curtain of rain. The torrential rain exploded into rings of white mist on either side of his wing blades, only to be evaporated into steam by the high-temperature aura.
Due to the previous lightning strikes, the Explosive Scales all over his body were already scalding and glowing red.
Now, with the further high-speed friction against the wind and rain, they became like red-hot iron.
As the rain poured down, Garros dove. Red flames and white steam billowed behind him. When he was within a few hundred meters of the ground, his body shook, and one Explosive Scale after another shot out, carving dense, glowing red trails through the rain as they blanketed the Frost Behemoth.
The Frost Behemoth roared at the sky, crossing its arms to protect its head. A three-meter-thick layer of ice armor instantly condensed among its fur.
The moment the swarm of Explosive Scales hit the ice armor, the chain of explosions turned the surrounding hundreds of meters into a sea of fire. The shockwave sent clods of earth flying like cannonballs, shattering the rocky tops of several low hills.
The Behemoth stumbled back, its ice armor blown to pieces and its white fur covered in charred marks.
Some scale fragments were embedded in its body, piercing the skin.
"Its defense is inferior to the Diamond Giant's."
Garros made his judgment.
The injured Behemoth let out an angry roar. Veins bulged on its muscular giant arms as it pressed and pulled at the ground, hurling a twenty-meter-long sharp rock pillar wrapped in frost toward the sky.
The Red-Iron Dragon's right wing flapped violently as he banked to the side. The rock pillar grazed past his jaw.
Whoosh!
A frost breath of minus one hundred degrees erupted from between the Frost Behemoth's fangs. The ice-element damage made Garros feel a slight threat. He had trained his ice resistance, but it was still not as high as his other resistances.
However, it had to actually hit him.
The Red-Iron Dragon's left wing tilted and pressed down. His body carved a tricky angle in the air, making a nearly ninety-degree turn to avoid the frost breath and easily circling behind the Frost Behemoth.
He exhaled Flame Dragon Breath.
The stream of flames condensed into a pillar, surging toward the Frost Behemoth's back.
The ice-element damage made Garros wary.
Similarly, his fire-element Dragon Breath made the Frost Behemoth unwilling to take it head-on.
Sensing the temperature behind it, the Frost Behemoth's massive body suddenly lunged forward. It tucked its limbs against its torso, turning into a ball and rolling repeatedly across the ground. It actually displayed impressive movement techniques, causing Garros's Dragon Breath to only graze it without dealing effective damage.
The mutual crushing of flames and frost caused the area to be filled with steam.
When the Frost Behemoth stood up, it did not see the dragon's silhouette in the sky.
The danger came from below.
It looked down.
The Red-Iron Dragon was flying almost flush with the ground, approaching at extreme speed.
The Frost Behemoth slapped the ground with its long arms that could reach the earth, causing dense ice spikes to erupt one after another, stabbing toward Garros.
Most could not keep up with Garros's speed and were avoided. A few were shattered by his left claw. In the next moment, he flew through the forest of ice spikes, the aura behind his wings surging to boost his speed as his dragon wings performed a great spinning slash toward the Behemoth's ankle.
Roar!