The holiness of the Holy Spirit Deer, the eerie malevolence of the Beholder... The Red-Iron Dragon's gaze swept in turn over the most powerful creatures on the battlefield below.
Finally, his gaze settled on the leader of the firebirds soaring above the flock of eagles and birds, and a flash of pure astonishment crossed his eyes, impossible to suppress.
The Dragonkin's ability to transcend the general aesthetic limitations of race allowed him to fully appreciate the beauty of the Phoenix at this moment.
This was a female Phoenix.
It is no exaggeration to say that its beauty and splendor surpassed any creature Garros had ever seen to date.
It was not a soft, reserved beauty, but an ostentatious beauty—extremely gorgeous, dazzling, and eye-catching, as if it had gathered all the light in the world unto itself.
Every burning feather radiated a deadly attraction unreservedly; it was charismatic and unforgettable.
However, compared to this world-toppling beauty, Garros cared about something else.
He wanted to see for himself the Nirvana of the Phoenix recorded in the dragon heritage.
To him, this was far more valuable than appreciating beauty.
The Phoenix opposite also noticed the most conspicuous presence among this group of uninvited guests at the first opportunity.
The Red-Iron Dragon's incomparably strong physical structure, the scales as thick as if cast from tempered steel, and those rugged, horn-crowned Dragonkin features, full of primitive, violent aesthetics, caused the Phoenix's eyes to brighten suddenly.
The Phoenix did not possess the Dragon Clan's peculiar cross-species aesthetic talent.
But looking purely at its appearance and sense of power, any creature with eyes could see that every inch of the Red-Iron Dragon's anatomy interpreted the meaning of violent aesthetics.
This direct and intense visual impact won the Phoenix's instinctive appreciation.
However, the moment their eyes met in the air.
The Phoenix keenly captured a hint of hidden meaning in the Red-Iron Dragon's gaze.
It was appreciation of beauty, but at the same time, it was more like evaluating a precious piece of prey, or as if examining a test subject with research value.
This gaze made the Phoenix's heart tighten for no reason, and a faint sense of unease quietly spread.
Roar—!
Just then, a loud and deep lion's roar rang out like a war drum, breaking the brief stare.
The Amethyst Dragon-Lion Ennus flapped its strong wings, leaping out from the dense jungle like a purple bolt of lightning, and landed steadily on a giant rock.
Its powerful aura as a former map king spread unreservedly, causing the several powerful creatures present to look over.
"It is rare for several map kings of the Northwest Region to gather here... This is somewhat unexpected for me."
The Red-Iron Dragon parted its massive jaws, revealing a smile.
Initially, it was just a dispute between the Deer King and the Beholder, but clearly, the King of Molten Iron and that Phoenix, upon receiving the news, had the same idea and arrived with their armies almost simultaneously.
Thus, the four most significant map kings of the Northwest Region appeared on the same battlefield in this manner.
This seemed to make the situation unprecedentedly chaotic.
But in Garros's eyes, it was quite the opposite.
He felt that things had suddenly become much simpler and clearer.
It saved him from having to find them one by one.
"My luck seems to have really improved a lot recently."
The Red-Iron Dragon thought happily to itself.
At this moment, the newly appeared Amethyst Dragon-Lion suddenly let out a deep roar.
The roar carried powerful psychic abilities, sweeping through the air like an invisible wave.
As a ripple of psionic energy spread, a blurry figure sneaking away in the distance was forced out.
And the illusion it had used to confuse everyone at its original position shattered and dissipated at the same time.
It was the Beholder attempting to flee!
With its disguise broken, the Beholder glared angrily at the meddlesome Amethyst Dragon-Lion, bloodshot veins filling its main eye.
Immediately, to create maximum chaos and buy itself more opportunities to escape, all its intact eye-stalks, like wildly flailing tentacles, issued a final command through mental imprints to all the enslaved creatures under its command.
The next moment.
Those enslaved creatures under its command let out twisted, unnatural roars in unison, completely abandoning defense and formation, and like mad demons, launched indiscriminate, frantic attacks against all creatures in every direction, regardless of their own lives.
"Evil creature! Don't think you can escape!"
The Holy Spirit Deer reacted extremely quickly, her clear voice filled with anger as she immediately gave chase.
Some loyal monsters and servants of the Beholder tried to block her, but she was not fighting alone; the powerful Vicious Beasts and monsters under her command erupted in power, intercepting these interlopers.
"Ennus, they are all in poor condition."
"Leave these remnants and defeated troops for you to handle."
Garros's gaze turned to the Amethyst Dragon-Lion.
[No problem!]
This map king, who once struck terror across the region, let out a low roar.
It leaped out and directly joined the Deer King's pursuit of the Beholder.
Meanwhile, the Molten Iron Legion on the ground also began to move, coordinating with the Amethyst Dragon-Lion lord to besiege the two map kings.
The Red-Iron Dragon slowly turned its head, his gaze once again locking onto the Phoenix in the sky.
At this moment, the aerial battlefield, apart from the ceaseless wind and rain, was left with only a few majestic dragons and, on the other side, the Phoenix hovering in the air, surrounded by thousands of eagles and birds.
"What? Have you never seen such a breathtakingly beautiful creature?"
Under the Red-Iron Dragon's oppressive gaze, the Phoenix raised its long, graceful neck and spread its breathtakingly gorgeous wings of fire, displaying its most perfect posture.
The torrential rain fell violently, but was instantly evaporated by the extreme heat as it approached a certain range around it, forming a curtain of white steam like clouds and mist.
This did not create concealment; instead, it made it appear even more like a deity born from fire.
Splendid and magnificent, not like something of the mortal world.
"It is indeed the first time I have seen it with my own eyes; your beauty fills me with wonder."
Garros frankly acknowledged the Phoenix's beauty and did not spare his praise.
This praise came from the heart.
"Very good, powerful dragon. I have started to appreciate you a little. Perhaps we can try to coexist harmoniously?"
Receiving the other party's sincere praise, the Phoenix's mood clearly became more pleasant, and the flames around its body brightened slightly.
It shook its body slightly and then said, "You see, this wilderness is large enough."
"We can mind our own business and develop separately, how about that?"
The Red-Iron Dragon opposite looked very difficult to provoke, and the initial impression it gave was not bad; it did not want to break out into unnecessary conflict with such a powerful neighbor.
"That is acceptable."
Garros's massive head nodded slightly, acknowledging the proposal.
But immediately after, he changed the subject and said, "However, before confirming harmonious coexistence, I have a small request that I hope you can agree to."
The Phoenix tilted its beautiful head and asked, "What request? Tell me about it first."
The rain shattered against the Red-Iron Dragon's hard scales. He parted his jaws, revealing a smile that seemed somewhat ferocious to the Phoenix, and said calmly, "It is very simple."
"I know that the Phoenix clan is gifted and possesses the talent for Nirvana and Rebirth."
"I am very curious about this... so, I want to see for myself that legendary firebird Nirvana."
Upon hearing this, the Phoenix was slightly stunned, as if it had not heard clearly.
Immediately, boundless rage instantly replaced the slight pleasure from before; the flames around its body surged high, and the temperature rose sharply.
"Rude! Presumptuous fellow!"
Its voice became sharp: "This is not a request at all!"
"This is a naked provocation! It is a declaration of war against me!"
Nirvana was its strongest talent. Unless absolutely necessary, it would certainly not use it, as even an ordinary Nirvana would cause it to lose a portion of its memory and knowledge.
"It seems there is a small problem between us."
The Red-Iron Dragon shook his head regretfully.
In his eyes, all gentleness and appreciation faded in an instant, replaced by a gradually rising, dangerous gaze.
Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!
As if to respond to their leader's will, the dragons all let out deafening roars.
They then flapped their wings and charged toward the Phoenix first.
The Phoenix raised its head and let out a loud cry.
In an instant, the dark mass of eagle-like Vicious Beasts and monsters, like an army receiving orders, let out noisy, sharp shrieks and surged like a raging tide toward the charging dragons, engulfing their figures in an ocean of wings and sharp claws.
"King against king, general against general."
The Red-Iron Dragon's voice pierced through the clamor of the battlefield, saying: "Come, beautiful firebird, dance for me to your heart's content, and let me feel for myself whether your power is worthy of your beauty."
As the words fell, dazzling golden lightning suddenly burst forth from the surface of the Red-Iron Dragon's body.
Amidst the crackling electric snakes, his body expanded by a circle at a speed visible to the naked eye; his muscles bulged, becoming more burly and majestic, full of explosive power, and dark red flames like substance surged from the tips of his dragon wings.
Immediately, he flapped his wings, seemingly gently.
Boom!!!
The Red-Iron Dragon's massive, sturdy body instantly disappeared from the spot, leaving behind only a slowly expanding sonic boom cloud outline.
He approached the Phoenix at a speed that exceeded visual capture, and the deafening, sky-tearing sonic boom only rang out long after he had moved, shaking the entire battlefield.
The gale, carrying cold rain, rushed toward it, and the Phoenix's pupils suddenly constricted.
It dared not show the slightest negligence; its gorgeous wings flapped with full force, stirring up a monstrous heatwave of scorching wind, instantly evaporating the surrounding heavy rain into a vast, white curtain of steam that obstructed vision.
Just the moment this curtain of steam formed.
That terrifying dragon shadow had already shattered the sound barrier and struck fiercely.
At the critical moment, the Phoenix displayed agility matching its gorgeous appearance; with lightning-fast reaction, it suddenly flapped its wings and climbed rapidly upward.
Garros's dragon claws, tearing through the wind and rain, grazed its tail feathers.
"Arrogant dragon! You will pay the price for your ignorance!"
The Phoenix elegantly spun in the steaming fire clouds and steam, and while narrowly dodging the dragon's pounce, flames condensed like substance had already ignited on its sharp claws.
— — Scorching Destruction Claw!
Its sharp claws took advantage of the momentum to slash fiercely across the Red-Iron Dragon's dorsal scales!
However, the scene of scales tearing and flesh splitting that it had expected did not occur.
What came from beneath the sharp claws was an extremely difficult sense of resistance; in the end, it only left a few deep crack marks on those heavy scales, but it was difficult to see the flesh beneath.
As for the flames carried on the sharp claws, which were enough to melt gold and iron.
For the Red-Iron Dragon, which possessed extreme fire resistance, it basically caused no effective damage.
Clang!
Having missed the attack and endured a counterattack, Garros's dragon wings suddenly stretched out with full force like giant blades, utilizing the huge inertia brought by the previous charge to complete a lightning-fast spinning slash that was inconsistent with his massive body.
His agility exceeded the Phoenix's expectations.
The dragon wings, like giant blades, tore through the dense water mist and steam, grazing the Phoenix's gorgeous tail feathers.
However, similarly, no blood flew out.
The Phoenix's tail feathers that were hit did not break or dissipate either.
She appeared to possess a gorgeous, realistic physical form, but her essence was that of a higher-order elemental lifeform, capable of immunizing herself against the vast majority of physical and fire damage.
Physical strikes had limited effect on her.
"Foolish Dragon! Your attacks have little effect on me!"
The Phoenix let out a clear cry tinged with mockery, its form dancing elegantly in the air, tracing complex trajectories, while instantly dragging dozens of indistinguishable, real-and-fake blazing afterimages behind it.
At the same time, she raised her neck, her sharp and hard beak moving as fast as lightning, pecking quickly and precisely at the Red-Iron Dragon's body.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
A series of impacts, dense as raindrops, rang out. Each peck contained penetrating power, actually managing to peck small, albeit shallow, real bloody holes into Garros's indestructible scales.
— Astral Ego Arms!
— Visage of the Astral Self!
The Red-Iron Dragon let out a low roar, and the black-Red Dragon Qi surging around his body suddenly boiled!
In an instant, a hideous mask covering his entire head coalesced into form, and two massive dragon arms, completely composed of Dragon Qi and knotted with muscle, extended from near his shoulder blades.
The dragon eyes upon the mask were deep and profound, instantly locking onto the Phoenix's true body amidst the sky full of afterimages.
The next instant, Garros struck out with his claw.
Those two massive Dragon Qi arms did not attack separately but instantly merged and overlapped with his own physical arms.
Boom!
The speed of this strike exceeded thought.
Garros's giant claw, carrying surging Dragon Qi and intense golden lightning, pierced through the Phoenix's elemental body in an instant, causing her entire form to twist and dissipate violently. Inside her, golden lightning and black-Red Dragon Qi could be vaguely seen rampaging, fiercely grinding against the flames that composed her body.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
The Red-Iron Dragon did not let up, his pair of terrifyingly thick dragon arms continuously and violently striking the Phoenix.
The Phoenix let out a painful shriek; her beak, sharp claws, fire wings... every part of her body capable of attacking launched a frantic counterattack against Garros!
However, as a top-tier fire-elemental extraordinary creature, her fire damage was almost like a tickle to Garros. Only her beak strikes, which contained powerful penetrating force, posed a certain threat, but even that was very limited and could not inflict decisive damage.
As time ruthlessly passed, the Phoenix's body became dim at a speed visible to the naked eye, losing its luster.
The golden lightning and black-Red Dragon Qi that had previously invaded her body could no longer be suppressed; they broke through to the outside, visibly leaping and flickering across her skin.
Her life aura also rapidly weakened and withered.
Suddenly, as if having made a certain decision, the Phoenix abruptly spread her massive wings, not to attack, but to directly embrace the dragon's body.
But this was not some warm embrace.
Her body, which had already dimmed, suddenly began to burn fiercely once again.
It was not ordinary fire, but the Nirvana fire erupting from every feather and every inch of flesh. Golden-red streams of light surged along the veins of her feathers. Her body gradually became transparent, as if composed of pure energy, yet those flames grew increasingly turbulent.
"Detestable Dragon! Perish with me!"
The Phoenix's cry suddenly rose in pitch, transforming into a sharp shriek that pierced through the curtain of rain.
Her body suddenly expanded as if being inflated, and the firelight between her feathers instantly shifted from glorious golden-red to a blinding white that destroyed everything.
Boom——!!!
The gloomy sky brightened in that instant, as if it were broad daylight.
The Phoenix's body had almost turned into a miniature sun, and extreme light and heat exploded instantly.
The expanding sphere of blinding white light, centered on her, instantly swallowed everything around it.
The terrifying shockwave swept frantically in all directions like a tangible tsunami, even briefly evaporating a massive, rainless and cloudless vacuum zone in the sky!
Because the distance was simply too close, Garros could not completely avoid this suicidal explosion in time.
He was engulfed by the white light. His Frostburn Scales cracked inch by inch under the dual effects of the super-high temperature and the destructive impact, then completely shattered and peeled away.
The thermal energy absorbed into his dragon jade also reached its Peak in an instant.
The Phoenix's Nirvana fire was indeed extraordinary.
Even Garros felt a burning, scorching pain for the first time in a long while. It had been a long time since he had experienced such pain.
But that was all.
As the blinding white flames slowly dissipated and the shockwave turned into mere aftershocks, the Red-Iron Dragon stretched his giant wings and stood proudly amidst the fading flames.
His Frostburn Scales had shed, leaving behind a layer of black-red scales covered in battle-scarred patterns, as if molten lava were flowing beneath them; he looked even more mighty and powerful than before.
"Nirvana fire... truly impressive."
"It is a pity, however, that you encountered me."
Garros's gaze turned forward.
He saw that the surrounding, out-of-control Nirvana flames that had not yet fully dissipated suddenly seemed to be imbued with life; they began to twist and transform unnaturally, eventually converging toward the center point like a hundred rivers returning to the sea, coalescing once more into the Phoenix's gorgeous, eye-catching silhouette.
Furthermore, its life aura had actually returned to its initial Peak state.
Her gaze was initially somewhat dazed and unfocused, as if she had just awakened from a deep dream. But upon seeing the dragon figure ahead, which appeared unscathed, all her memories instantly flooded back, and intense hostility, along with a trace of undisguisable fear, immediately appeared in her eyes.
Whoosh!
Without any hesitation, the newly resurrected Phoenix flapped her wings, the flames around her body surged, and she turned and fled without a second thought.
She pushed her speed to the limit. However, Garros's speed was faster. Creatures like him, possessing great strength and defense, usually have weaker speed, but he was an exception; speed was actually one of his strong suits.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Accompanied by continuous sonic booms like thunder, he easily caught up to the fleeing Phoenix and unleashed another round of merciless strikes.
The Phoenix tried her best to dodge, block, and counterattack, employing various fire Spells and agile movement techniques. However, in the face of such a huge disparity, everything appeared pale and powerless.
In the end, her body was forcibly stuffed with the Red-Iron Dragon's incomparably domineering golden lightning and black-Red Dragon Qi.
"Ah!!! I'll fight you to the death!" The Phoenix's cry rang out.
Rumble——!!! A second miniature sun rose once more beneath the gloomy sky. The Phoenix was forced into a second Nirvana.
And when her body arduously re-coalesced from the flames again, she looked on in despair as the Red-Iron Dragon opposite her, although his scales were cracked with countless dense fissures from the massive explosion, was far from being heavily injured; his aura had not dropped much and remained as strong as a furnace.
"I'm afraid... it would take at least ten consecutive self-detonating Nirvanas... to potentially truly inflict heavy damage on him." The Phoenix calculated in despair.
Ten times?
One more time, and she would exhaust all her conventional Nirvana attempts, forced to initiate the final Rebirth Nirvana and transform into an ember egg.
Nirvana teleportation might be able to escape the current fatal trouble, but it would cause her to lose the personality of this lifetime, becoming a brand new and unfamiliar self. Although her essence would remain unchanged, she was extremely resistant to this.
"Let us continue."
The Red-Iron Dragon seemed to not know what fatigue was; in the blink of an eye, he waved his dragon wings and closed in again. He wanted to experience the scorching pain of the Nirvana fire once more.
"Wait, wait! I surrender!" The Phoenix hurriedly retreated, opening up some distance, and begged for mercy: "I am willing to offer all my accumulated treasures! As compensation for my defeat, in exchange for peace."
She had a habit of collecting glowing Magic Gems and precious metals, and her accumulated wealth was quite considerable. She hoped to use these worldly possessions to escape the trouble in front of her.
Garros's movements paused slightly; he did not immediately continue his attack. He scrutinized the gorgeous yet somewhat disheveled firebird before him and said: "The knowledge of the dragon heritage tells me that Phoenixes usually have the habit of hiding their wealth in their nests."
"If I thoroughly shatter you, I can personally go to your nest and take everything. Your treasures are, in essence, things I can easily obtain."
The Phoenix's expression froze abruptly.
"Treasures cannot satisfy my appetite."
Garros's gaze swept over the Phoenix as he continued: "Change the terms; sign a contract, stay by my side, and pledge your loyalty to me for one hundred years."
One hundred years?
For the long-lived Phoenix, this was not an unacceptable amount of time. However, the Phoenix's expression still revealed clear resistance.
"I admit that your strength is far above mine, but—" She blinked those beautiful, burning eyes and found a bizarre reason: "—my beauty is above yours! I do not wish to pledge loyalty to a... hmm, creature whose level of beauty is inferior to mine."
She seemed to be trying to preserve her last shred of dignity, or perhaps bargain, in this strange way.
Garros: "..."
After a second of silence, the Red-Iron Dragon's figure vanished again in a flash.
The next moment, a ferocious attack descended upon the Phoenix once again. After a swift and merciless beating, the Phoenix's body was once again stuffed with violent Dragon Qi and thunder. Her gorgeous, dazzling feathers became twisted, messy, and dull due to the energy impact, losing the dazzling splendor they had before, becoming bedraggled and miserable, looking just like a scruffy bird.
The Red-Iron Dragon paused his attack. He said unhurriedly: "After my personal grooming, my beauty should be above yours. Whether you submit or dissipate in Nirvana, choose for yourself."
The Phoenix looked heartbrokenly at the feathers on her body that were no longer magnificent, and then felt the violent energy inside her that was about to burst. In the end, reason triumphed over pride, and she made the most sensible choice.
She lowered her once-proud, beautiful head, and the flames around her body completely receded, signaling her submission.
Garros turned his gaze toward the other battlefield, where the commotion was gradually fading, and understood in his heart.
After this battle, there would no longer be any existence in the Northwest Region capable of blocking the vanguard of the Molten Iron Tribe.
As for the regional kings rising in other parts of the wilderness, Garros did not intend to actively provoke cross-regional wars in the short term.
The Serel Wilderness was vast and boundless; simply fully digesting the Northwest Region would require a massive amount of time.
The next phase was to consolidate his existing massive territory and safely reap and digest the fruits of victory, rather than blindly continuing to expand his territory, which would lead to an unstable Foundation.
In reality, apart from the most uncontrollable Red Dragon Gorthax, Garros did not mind sharing this vast wilderness with other relatively rational regional kings.
This cake was simply too big. Given the Molten Iron Tribe's current size and stage of development, it was not yet enough to monopolize it; forcibly occupying the entire wilderness carried the risk of choking to death.
After unifying the Northwest Region, Garros could also set his mind at ease and consider more focusedly how to deal with his biological father; he had a premonition that he would soon clash with him.