Beneath the Red Dragon

Chapter 31: Chapter 30: Carlette’s Choice

Karon lay prone in the underground cavern he had just re-excavated, his consciousness sinking into his Sea of Spirit. The energy accumulated in the Heart Energy Vortex had been used up in his last enhancement, leaving nothing behind.

Karon discovered that there were two more strands of Power of Thought connected to the Heart Energy Vortex, but he wasn’t sure who had established these Heart Energy links. These two strands of Power of Thought were faint, barely capable of drawing any Heart Energy.

The connections of the Power of Thought with the Dragon Group and Dogman’s Beloved mostly still existed, but possibly because of the great distance, Karon couldn’t perceive the objects these strands were connected to, so he couldn’t determine the exact situation of the Juvenile Dragons.

Karon once again immersed his consciousness into the information that had solidified into Bloodline Talent after his enhancement, displayed in a form he could understand.

[Bloodline Solidification - Superlimit State Growth]: Your body’s overall qualities will grow to the maximum extent within the growth range of your bloodline, with your potential being fully developed.

[Bloodline Solidification - Mental Overclocking]: By using powerful Mind Control, you enter a certain overclocking mode, freely exerting all your strength and abilities.

He was very satisfied with these two enhanced bloodline ability talents. The former made him a tank-like Warrior among the Giant Dragons, with every aspect being the best possible solution currently allowed; in the face of this bloodline capability, all potential became a tangible talent, an extremely powerful growth ability.

The latter allowed him to fully exert his combat abilities when necessary, a capability he attempted and achieved after some contemplation. It is important to understand that for any creature, the ability to exert all of their capabilities depends on many factors: courage, willpower, and even bodily health.

This ability enabled Karon to maintain combat ability even when at a disadvantage in certain aspects. In his eyes, this was far more useful than any extra piece of Magic.

Lastly, he was pleased to find that this attempt proved that the direction of the Heart Energy enhancement could be controlled by himself, which was most important.

He clenched his flexible left paw with his right, opening, extending, grasping, and moving his Dragon Claw freely, clearly more dexterous than before. Ever since using Mental Overclocking, he retained a vivid impression of that sensation, vaguely feeling that his bodily agility had also improved somewhat; perhaps frequent use of this ability might bring an unexpected surprise.

Just then, Karon’s awareness shifted, and he detected a visitor outside the caverns.

Centaur Suniya arrived outside the cave with several half-human warriors who had accompanied her a few days prior. This time, they bore no weapons but offerings from the Centaur Tribe to the Giant Dragon.

Suniya, being the most powerful warrior of the tribe and the son of the tribal leader Kali, was already highly regarded among the Centaurs. Moreover, she was one of the strong contenders for the next tribal leader.

Hence, upon returning to the tribe and reporting the appearance of a Red Dragon in the Centaur territory, the Centaurs took it seriously. These Centaurs were not like the crazed Ogres; tribes that could survive and develop in the Wilderness Forest had their own ways of survival, not relying solely on force.

Thus, the Centaurs decided to befriend this unfamiliar Giant Dragon. On one hand, because according to Suniya, the Red Dragon wasn’t particularly difficult to deal with, and on the other hand, they hoped to use the Dragon’s strength to combat the Ogres who constantly sought to enslave and annihilate the Centaur Tribe.

At the very least, they couldn’t allow this Giant Dragon to cause trouble within the Centaur territory and could also monitor its actions.

Exhaling deeply, Suniya, recalling the task entrusted to her by the tribe, took a deep breath to ease her tension before facing the Dragon, calling out, ”Great Dragon, are you there?”

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The condition of White Dragon Gomot was wretched; now tailless, he was bound by sturdy vines hanging from a tall wooden frame, limbs tightly bound, head facing downward, only a pair of wings able to move and struggle.

Maybe those Ogres just wanted to see the Dragon’s helpless struggle. Orsus, with his guards, hid in the tent, peeking outside. He didn’t want the Dragon to know that the idea was his, to avoid issues later with the Juvenile Dragons.

Ogre Tyrant Moergo lashed at Gomot with a venom-soaked whip made by Wizard Sahet, shredding the fine scales on the White Dragon’s body, his skin flayed, while the venom on the whip caused excruciating, bone-deep itching and pain, uncontrollably twitching muscles, the intact scales constantly opening and closing.

”I must say, you arrogant Dragons sure have tough mouths. Not agreeing to cooperate is just suffering needlessly; those runaway Juvenile Dragons wouldn’t dare come to save you,” Moergo’s single giant eye full of the pleasure of tormenting the opponent, his whip lashing heavier each time.

”Karon, he will have his revenge,” Gomot gasped for a breath, uttering his words with difficulty.

”If he dares come, it’ll be a good chance to show him my big axe,” the Ogre laughed off the White Dragon’s defiance, taking another heavy swing with his whip.

Not wanting to scream in agony in front of these lowly Ogres, Gomot bit down on his fangs, blood trickling from his mouth, his ice-blue vertical pupils turning red until the unbearable, deep bone pain and itch overwhelmed him, and White Dragon Gomot finally closed his eyes, losing consciousness from the beating.

”This little dragon is too weak, can’t take a beating,” the Ogre’s unsatisfied gaze turned to two similarly hung Blue Dragons, wickedly grinning as he approached, stopping in front of Blue Dragon Carlette. Moergo squatted down, patted the Blue Dragon’s beautiful head, and asked, ”Are you willing to cooperate, or do you want to try my whip?”

”Pah,” Carlette spat, had his Magic and Evil Dragon Blood not been suppressed by Witchcraft and human Mage’s Magic Potion, he would have released a Dragon Breath.

Hehe, Moergo let out an odd laugh, wiped his face, then let down the hung Blue Dragon Carlette, encircling him a couple of times before suddenly lashing out with the whip.

Responding to the sudden pain, Carlette’s head lifted, but his weak and powerless limbs were bound, unable to struggle, his entire dragon form trembling.

Moergo seemed to awaken his animalistic nature, his whip then began to swing, hitting the Blue Dragon Carlette humiliated and prone on the ground, muscles twitching uncontrolled, scales unable to move freely, constantly opening and closing.

Blue Dragon’s screams excited Moergo more, violence and animal desire emerged in his single eye, the Ogre panting heavily, he was eying the Blue Dragon’s body.

”Huff, I’d love to see what race a spawn of Ogre and Dragon would be.” Moergo mused while fiercely swinging the whip, gradually approaching the Blue Dragon.

”Ah, I agree to cooperate. Just get lost already.” Blue Dragon Carlette screamed amidst the physical torment.

Dragons didn’t hold the concept of chastity; they were more open than most creatures. Some seductive Dragons even had moments with Kobolds.

Carlette just couldn’t accept the lowly Ogre taking the dominant position to abuse him, treating him as a slave. Moreover, Blue Dragon was just in the adolescent stage, not fully sexually mature, or maybe this was an excuse to evade.

Statistically, less than one-fifth of Five-Color Dragons in the Icaria World survive to adulthood, although Good Dragons fare much better.

Most Five-Color Dragons perished in their youth, with most legendary dragon-slaying feats starring young Giant Dragons, White Dragons topping the list. On one hand, young Giant Dragons were very active, their rapidly growing strength making them reckless.

On the other hand, young Giant Dragons were much harder to control than Juvenile Dragons; once captured, they were often killed, not held. It seems that the Evil Dragon God Tiamat didn’t favor Five-Color Dragons as she claimed.

If Carlette didn’t obey, unlike the controllable Juvenile Dragons, he would be killed.

”Stop it, King Moergo, this Blue Dragon has agreed to cooperate with us, right?” Orsus and the Mage hastily intervened with the guards to calm the increasingly heated Ogre. Now was the time to earn the Dragon’s favor, his appearance was well-timed.

Moergo glanced disdainfully at the merchant, disregarding him, driven by the Ogres’ strong desires, his few wits overwhelmed, only hindered by the unfamiliar physiological differences between Dragons and various creatures.

Sahe, the elderly Two-headed Ogre with a severed arm, emerged from the quiet tent. As an aged Ogre Mage, Sahe no longer possessed the youthful vigor and Life Force, forever remaining an arm-severed Ogre.

His raspy voice conveyed opinions from the Giant Demon, ”Stop it, Moergo, Blue Dragon’s cooperation is crucial for us. We need to completely eliminate those escaped Juvenile Dragons; delaying any longer only endangers the tribe further.”