Defeating the World with the Power of One Dragon!

When Garoth's attack order was given,

the Molten Iron Tribe's war beast abruptly woke, unleashing a roar that split the skies, and took heavy steps that made the earth tremble as it surged toward Echo Rift.

"ROAAAAR!!!"

The Purple Crystal Lion King's roar coalesced into an almost solid tidal wave of sound.

The towering cliff faces on either side of the rift shuddered under that force, sending rocks tumbling and choking the air with dust.

About ten high-ranking lion beasts had already leapt onto the rift's rim; their muscles tensed, claws digging deep into the rock. Though they glared savagely, they restrained their boiling warlust, holding their ground against the dragon host circling overhead that blocked out the sun.

At the same time,

responding to the lion king's command, the entire lion legion erupted like a breached dam, launching their full-scale assault just as the Molten Iron Legion did.

The distance between the two sides was already short, and it shortened rapidly now.

The ground quaked violently beneath iron hooves and giant claws, issuing groans of unbearable strain.

The mammoth lion herd's charge hit like an avalanche, each heavy paw shattering rock and leaving a spiderweb of dense fissures in the ground.

These colossal beasts dwarfed ordinary elephants; knotted muscles bulged like granite, curved fangs glinted like scimitars, and their momentum could batter down the sturdiest walls.

On their flanks, the Shadow Rite lions blurred into sinister black silhouettes, claws tearing the air and shrieking with a piercing keenness, moving with ghostlike swiftness.

The very air was ripped and howled.

The Wind-Blade lions unfurled semi-transparent elemental wing-blades, furiously churning the airflow. Their wings whipped up gale-force winds that darkened the sky, whipping sand and jagged stones into a blinding haze to try to obscure the defenders' vision and create a lethal window for the ground forces to strike.

But waiting for them was the Molten Iron Legion's brutal artillery, already primed and ready.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Alchemical heavy cannons belched deafening, violent thunder, volley after volley.

Scorching alchemical rounds tore through the sky and detonated inside the charging lion ranks, spraying horrific blossoms of ripped flesh, shredded limbs, and searing flames.

The lions quickly reacted.

Their magical beasts unleashed ranged attacks, some conjuring wind blades to intercept the screaming shells, others forming fireballs or spitting barbed projectiles to strike back.

The fiercest beasts at the front were especially tough-skinned.

Unless hit directly by a shell, even when mangled and drenched in blood, most could struggle to their feet again, roaring in pain and fury to resume the charge.

The slaughter did not halt the tide.

Before long, the vanguard units of both sides collided with a thunderous crash, entering a brutal phase of close-quarters combat.

Individually, the lions' average life level was significantly higher, their strength, speed, and constitution surpassing ordinary soldiers of the Molten Iron Legion.

However, unlike the patchwork frontier garrison troops with mixed gear and uneven training,

every Molten Iron warrior gathered at Echo Rift was a veteran forged in countless bloody wars. Day after day of training had made tactical coordination and synchronized maneuvers instinctive — they were elite soldiers who truly knew how to wage war.

On such a vast, chaotic battlefield,

unless an individual life level was so high they could rout a thousand on their own and ignore formations, coordinated teamwork between warriors still decided outcomes.

"Form up!"

The Warlord's roar hit like a war drum across the field.

The heavily armored ogre warriors answered with an earthshaking unified cry, slamming their giant shields into the ground.

Amid the ringing clang of steel, an immense, cold iron wall rose in an instant.

Spells — resist the impact!

Spells — protect against physical harm!

Spells — shield magic!

...

The cohort of legion sorcerers calmly waved their staves in perfect unison.

They did not waste precious magical energy on offensive spells, instead pouring everything into buffs for the front line bearing the brunt.

The ogre heavy infantry, already as sturdy as hills, seemed to swell anew under layers of spelllight; muscles bulged, skin took on metallic sheens, and they became a true indestructible bulwark.

!!!

The mammoth lions' furious battering struck the shield wall like a sledge, dents appearing across the shield surfaces. The shield-bearers convulsed as massive forces twisted their thick arms and blood splattered from their mouths and noses.

Yet their legs were planted like cast iron pillars, refusing to budge!

Moreover, under the sorcerers' ongoing chants and amplifications, that wall of steel began to emit a low, resonant roar, and instead of collapsing, it advanced step by grinding step, forcing the hulking mammoth lions to stagger and retreat.

— —

At the precise moment the lion charge faltered, the alchemical golems — the Steel Rippers — activated.

Their chest engines roared; chain-saw blades shrieked as they spun at nauseating speeds and their heavy steps rushed into gaps in the line.

Once the high-speed serrated blades contacted a lion's body, they carved horrible rending wounds.

Fur, flesh, and bone exploded in a spray amid the ear-splitting grind.

On the flanks, centaur knights charged with hooves pounding the earth,

their long steel lances powered by speed to pierce the air, slicing through lion ribs and necks with deadly precision, leaving geysers of blood.

In the air, Wind-Blade lions tried to compress wind blades and lock onto centaur knights and sorcerer arrays below.

"Fire!"

The centaur marksmen centurion barked the order, and the trained archers immediately volleyed in response.

Specialized alchemical armor-piercing bolts rose and rained down like a storm, blanketing the airspace where the winged lions hovered. The razor points targeted eye sockets, throats, and wing joints.

The Wind-Blade lions were forced to abort their attacks, strafing and dodging midair, but unlucky ones were still struck by arrows, shrieking before tumbling into the dense masses below, igniting chaos and trampling.

Meanwhile, the Shadow Rite lions appeared from the darker corners of the battlefield.

Their claws struck like lightning, skimming Molten Iron armor and sparking showers, but they could not break through those heavy defenses in a single strike.

Then, several battle-axes and curved blades came from coordinated angles, forcing the nimble hunters to abandon their strikes and rapidly withdraw into shadows.

Gnoll warriors formed hunting teams; their hooked blades struck viciously at joints and tendons.

When successful, even a mighty lion could instantly lose balance and speed, becoming a slaughtered lamb.

Slash!

An exceptionally strong high-ranking lion roared in fury and swung a massive claw, the force flinging a heavy armored ogre and his shield aside, toppling several warriors behind him.

Before the lion commander could capitalize on this, a giant wolf-tooth club screamed down like a battering ram and smashed into the lion's temple.

Its skull cracked, blood pouring as it collapsed with a howl of pain.

Karu, the Gluttonous Ogre who had just snapped a lion's neck barehanded, barreled in like a human projectile, colliding with the wounded lion commander in a violent, close-quarters slaughter.

After a brief grapple,

Karu's claws tore out the still-beating heart of the lion commander.

Standing atop its carcass, Karu chewed the hot, bloody heart with huge bites, his savage gaze sweeping the field until he locked onto the next easy prey and lunged again.

Elsewhere, Russell the Dragon-vein Werewolf's frame was inconspicuous among the battlefield giants, but his agility was unbelievably deft, leaving dizzying afterimages as he moved.

Where he passed, he severed carotids and inguinal arteries with surgical precision, blood geysering forth.

In the heat of battle,

the werewolf suddenly stopped, lifted his head to the sky, and let out a resounding howl.

His once upright, humanoid torso bowed low; muscles ballooned like bellows as bone joints cracked like popping seeds... in an instant he transformed into a terrifying dragon-wolf comparable in size to a giant lion, claws gleaming metallically, and pounced into the densest lion cluster, unleashing a massacre.

At the same time,

the heavily armored ogre shield wall maintained its tight formation, advancing like a steady tide and compressing the lions' operating space.

No matter how fast or nimble a lion, it could not weave freely through the close forest of spears and battle-axes.

Moreover, negative spells — oil slicks, entanglement spells, weakening rays — fired from support spell arrays behind continually hindered and restrained them.

............

The lion horde was by no means weak; their individuals were powerful and fearlessly fierce.

But their large-scale legion coordination remained primitive, relying more on individual bravery and hunting instincts.

When they struck scattered frontier posts earlier, their mobility and suddenness were advantages.

Facing the battle-hardened Molten Iron Legion in a head-on clash, those advantages vanished.

Almost from the first engagement, the lion forces slid into passive, isolated fights, steadily pressed into disadvantage by the Molten Iron Legion.

Roar!

Surveying the rapidly deteriorating, one-sided battle below, the Purple Crystal Lion King squeezed a low growl of anger and agitation from its throat,

its gaze sweeping to the dragons still out of the fray as it scraped the rock beneath its claws anxiously.

Claw tips struck stone, sparking brilliant embers.

Seconds later, it growled again.

The dozen or so high-ranking lions guarding the king seemed to receive an order and could no longer hold back; their battlelust surged. They sped across the jagged rift cliffs as if on flat ground to reinforce the retreating lion ranks.

Their life levels were very high.

Among them were two commanders reaching level 16, exuding savage momentum.

"Sorog, Samantha."

Garoth turned his head and said in a low voice to the two kin beside him: "Take care of those two level-16 lion commanders."

Iron dragon Sorog nodded steadily: "Understood!"

Red dragon Samantha let out an ecstatic roar that sent sparks flying from her dragon muzzle: "I'll make those lowly crawlers remember with their lives what true dragon might is!"

The two powerful young dragons beat their wings and dove in crossed arcs.

Sorog's iron scales gleamed with a metallic hardening; Samantha's armored hide shimmered with dense runes, and dragon might rolled outward like a tidal surge.

Garoth's gaze then swept to the two eager adolescent dragons, issuing a brief order.

"Heriam, Kahir, you two strike as well. Clear the other high commanders and support the ground forces."

The Storm Dragon and the Wild Dragon answered with ear-splitting warcries, beating their wings impatiently and diving like bolts of released arrows to join the fight.

Only then did Garoth withdraw his attention and refocus on the Purple Crystal Lion King standing arrogantly on the mountaintop.

Now, all distractions were removed.

Huff! Huff! Huff!

On the other side, the lion king's purple-flame mane roared like a blaze, its broad wings beating with force, lifting it steadily into the air.

Its aerial posture was practiced and lithe, a true sovereign of the sky.

Those immense dragonlike wings were not mere ornament.

Four eyes met in midair, and the invisible clash of aura seemed to freeze the air itself.

In the next instant, Garoth and the Purple Crystal Lion King simultaneously beat their wings and detonated into astonishing speed, like two comets tearing the sky and dragging energy trails, bearing apocalyptic force as they charged straight at each other!

The air itself seemed compressed and rent open by their two terrifying auras.

— —

Psychic Shock!

The moment they entered attack range, the Purple Crystal Lion King's eyes widened as spiritual light flared from its pupils.

An invisible mental shockwave ignored physical distance and slammed into Garoth's mind.

Like an unseen bomb detonating deep inside his skull, Garoth's dragon pupils constricted, his racing thoughts blanked for an instant, and his flight movements stiffened and lagged.

The Purple Crystal Lion King, battle-hardened and opportunistic, seized the moment; its claws ripped the air and slammed a crushing blow onto Garoth's heavily plated faceplate.

A dull, teeth-grinding impact cracked out, and Garoth's head snapped to the side as fragments of broken scale and sparks sprayed.

Yet the blood that spattered out belonged to the Purple Crystal Lion King.

Garoth's head structure was unusually massive; the towering horns and sturdy faceplate formed nearly impenetrable protection. On that faceplate grew many short, sharp black spines.

Although the Lion King's decisive claw left white gouges and hairline cracks across the faceplate, the soft pads of its paw were shredded by those hard spines, and it bled profusely.

Thud!

The Purple Crystal Lion King's claws whipped up a storm of afterimages, striking Garoth's head, neck, and chest at speeds hard to follow with the naked eye.

Garoth's body trembled and his scales cracked.

Still, each strike the lion made also met violent reverberations and was continuously slashed by Garoth's hard scales and spines,

a case of hurting the enemy at great cost to itself.

Meanwhile, Garoth's clarity of mind quickly returned.

His counterattack was lightning-fast: a muscular dragon claw tore the air and aimed precisely for the lion king's throat, attempting a killing grip.

Spiritual Step!

The lion king beat its wings and countered by advancing rather than retreating. The instant the dragon claw brushed its neck, it folded into an afterimage and reappeared behind Garoth in the dragon's blind spot, opening its maw to clamp down on his spine!

This blow was ruthless and swift,

yet the result completely surprised the Purple Crystal Lion King!!

Like being struck by two invisible sledgehammers, the lion king felt exploding pain across its shoulder and chest.

Caught off-guard,

its massive body could not brace or roll out of the way; it tumbled, flipping and flying backward, the shoulder and breastbones showing two clear dents, surrounding fur and muscle twisted unnaturally.

Simultaneously,

two heavy dull thuds echoed from Garoth's corresponding positions and small cracks appeared.

It was the familiar mind-arts—damage transfer.

On the other side, the Purple Crystal Lion King gritted through the pain and beat its wings to steady its flight.

Spiritual light flickered in its eyes as it noticed two colossal arms, black-and-red in energy and solid as substance, unfolding from the area near Garoth's shoulder blades.

Those giant arms had delivered the crushing blows at the very moment the lion king thought it had scored.

Boom!

Garoth did not pause. His wings unfurled wide and he pressed the advantage, diving toward the injured Purple Crystal Lion King.

— —

Psychic Shock!

A flash of shock and fury crossed the lion king's eyes as it concentrated spiritual energy to try the same trick and disrupt Garoth's inexorable advance.

But in the instant before it launched the psychic blast, black-red breath swelled across Garoth's face, coalescing into a heavy, fierce helmet.

Garoth's skull was sealed, only two deep, abyssal eyes visible.

The Purple Crystal Lion King's psychic arts were even more refined than Sorog's.

Garoth's tenacious mind could blunt the influence but not completely nullify it,

so he used Face of the Self to boost his mental attribute, heightening perception while greatly increasing resistance to mental attacks.

This time, the psychic shock's effect was reduced to a minimum.

Garoth only showed an almost imperceptible flicker of rigidity; his speed did not slow an iota.

He shrugged off the mind assault faster than before and in a blink was back before the Purple Crystal Lion King.

The lion king gave a pained, puzzled snarl and tried to Spirit Step evade again.

But as it materialized to one side, Garoth followed like a shadow and instantly re-angled, as if he had predicted the move.

Four thick arms and claws poured down like a godly net, completely sealing off all escape.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Garoth showed no mercy, launching all four arms in a storm of blows — fists, claws, and energy slams raining down like hammered iron, suppressing the lion king in the air until it was driven diagonally into the towering cliff of Echo Rift.

With a series of violent tremors, dust and rock exploded outward as if the mountainsides might collapse.

Roar!

A brilliant, agonized roar filled the dust, exploding outward with wild fury.

A massive spiritual shock burst in all directions, blowing away dust and rock in an instant.

Garoth's heavy form was hurled backward by that spiritual backlash, exposing the huge dent in the cliff and the lion king's battered state.

It was dust and its own blood that covered it; its fur dulled, the underlying muscles caved and bruised, multiple wounds so deep bone showed, crimson fluid flowing.

Even with damage transfer sharing the burden, Garoth's barrage of savage strikes had exacted a terrible toll.

Across from it, Garoth stabilized midair, beating his wings.

His outer hard scales also showed cracks and claw marks, especially across chest and back where damage transfer had left visible dents and fractures.

While the Purple Crystal Lion King had used its psychic art to mitigate damage and rebound part of it onto Garoth,

so far,

most of Garoth's wounds were ones he had suffered from his own blows.

Roar!

The Purple Crystal Lion King staggered up from the cliff dent, lifting its battered head to stare at the seemingly unscarred great dragon above. It bellowed again, a roar now mixed with anger and grim resolution.

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

The purple-flame mane around its neck surged and snapped upward.

The violet blaze swelled violently, coalescing into a vast, illusory outline.

The Purple Crystal Lion King kept emitting deep roars as its body swelled with the flame; layers of muscle bulged like forged steel beneath its fur, sinew patterns sharply defined, claws and fangs growing ever more massive and razor-sharp, until the illusory contour and its body completely overlapped and its aura climbed into a frenzy!