Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 1131: Chapter 174: Overwhelming Victory and the Comedic Red Dragon Drake (4)

Demster’s sharp whistle and the pronouncement of ”Mole Foresees Death” became the final straw that broke the camel’s back. Drake scanned the surroundings—eight mighty, unharmed Divine Chosen warriors encircled him like an iron wall, their eyes filled with cold murderous intent; in the sky and on the ground, nearly a hundred Champion Knights mounted on fierce raptors, their poison-coated armor-piercing crossbow arrows and heavy lances glinting sharply, aiming at every potential flaw he might reveal; further away, Su Li rode an unbelievably large Griffin, gazing down calmly at the battlefield like watching a predetermined farce.

Its proud scale armor was covered with scorch marks, cracks, and had even been sheared off in chunks; its right claw severed entirely by the Dwarf’s terrible axe, leaving a bloody stump behind; its wing membranes were burned by Holy Light, creating holes that brought searing pain with every flap; Death’s Claw circled it, greedily sucking its vast vitality; what frightened it more, those golden shining human knights with each charge made its vision flicker with gold light and its movements lethargic as if inebriated! This battle couldn’t be fought!

”Gr-r-r... ugh...” a roar meant to be furious turned strangely midway into a sound mixed with whimpering and suffocation. Drake’s enormous head suddenly lowered, its massive body awkwardly adjusted its stance in the air, and then... slowly, unwillingly descended toward the ground below.

It carefully avoided those hostile-eyed Divine Chosen warriors, especially diverting from the Dwarf Sogard wielding that frightening axe and eyeing its other claw, eventually thundering down on a relatively flat patch of lava not far from Su Li. The immense impact made the ground shudder once more.

Then, under everyone’s gazes of shock, disdain, or concealed laughter, this Red Dragon which minutes ago boasted of turning everyone to ash made an utterly unbecoming gesture — it laboriously, extremely awkwardly, with its remaining huge left foreclaw, carefully... covered the gruesome wound on its chest that still smoked and bled.

The enormous golden eyes, where fury was replaced by a mix of intense hurt, suffocation, and a hint... of flattery?

”Uh, cough, cough...” Drake’s voice grew much lower, carrying hoarseness and awkwardness, its gaze dodging unable to look at Su Li, instead it glanced at Aeliria who watched the spectacle with great interest, seemingly seeking some ”kin” recognition, only to be met with the Green Dragon’s blatant, mocking eye-roll. It cleared its throat, trying hard to make its voice sound less timid:

”Esteemed... uh... Supreme Ruler of Mountains and Forests, Slayer of Dozens of Divine Chosen Monsters, Terminator of Legendary Knights, Imprisoner of Emperor Dragon’s Progeny, Magnificent General Favored by the Sun Goddess, Resplendent Lord of the Hesse Territory, Su Li, Lady Bauhinia!”

This series of prefixes it called out with extraordinary fluency, as if it had thought it through in the air just before.

”Earlier... earlier it was I Drake... uh... blind! Didn’t recognize the true dragon! Uh... nope, didn’t recognize the true Lord!” It rambled incoherently, its enormous tail nervously sweeping the ground, raising a spray of rocks. ”Your majesty... like... like this lava, fervent! Your power... like... like these Dusk Mountain Range, mighty! Your... your conditions! I find... very reasonable! Very foresighted!”

It paused as if using its lifetime’s courage to shout out the most crucial sentence, yet the voice came with a cry: ”Treasure! Half! I... I yield! Right now!”

Finished speaking, as if fearing Su Li would change mind or others act again, it swiftly lowered its head, its massive dragon mouth almost hitting the ground, using its sole remaining foreclaw, extremely clumsily and with great reluctance, from its belly’s most precious treasures, scraped out several large lumps of gleaming crimson precious metal and a few sizable, uncut flame gemstones, pushing them onto the empty ground in front of Su Li’s mount. Its movements were so cautious as if cutting its own flesh.

”This... this is the first batch! The... the best!” Drake’s voice muffled, carrying a thick nasal sound, with its huge dragon eyes seeming to have hot liquid swirling inside, ”The rest... I’ll sort out right away! Promise... promise they’re all pure gold and substantial goods! About... monster cleaning! I’ll cover it! If anything happens downhill again... feel free... free to dock my pay!”

Its huge body trembled slightly, trying hard to curl itself into a ball, aim to minimize presence, gone entirely was the previous ”Lava Tyrant” might, resembling a poor hedgehog stripped of its spines. Only the claw covering the wound, and occasionally stealing glances at its treasure pile, revealed the heart-rending pain within.

The entire battlefield fell into silence. Only the bubbling sound of the lava lake and the whistling of the cold mountain wind from afar. All the warriors of Hesse Territory, including those usually stern Divine Chosen Knights, had smiles on their faces now. This comedic dragon really turned out like Demster said before the battle.

Su Li sat atop Death’s Claw, looking at the giant red dragon below clutching its chest and with a face full of pain, yet pretending to be docile, couldn’t help but subtly twitch a corner of his mouth. He lightly coughed, suppressing the inappropriate laughter, his voice regaining calmness but carrying indisputable authority:

”Very good, Drake. Seems you’ve finally understood what ’knowing the trend makes one wise’ means. Remember what you said today. Henceforth, the ’dragon’ of Dusk Mountain Range can only be under the order of Hesse Territory as a compliant ’dragon.’ Hilude!”

”Yes, sir.” Hilude held back the laughter, stepped forward.

”Lead your men to receive the treasure and count it into storage. Also,” Su Li’s gaze swept over Drake’s terrible chest wound and severed claw, ”treat its injuries. After all, it’s our Hesse Territory’s newly appointed ’mountain cleaner,’ let’s not let it bleed out and die in its own lair.”

”By your command!” Hilude answered loudly, finally couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile. She waved her hand, several military chaplains carrying Healing Potions and bandages cautiously, with curiosity and vigilance, approached the new ’colleague’ clutching the wound and looking mournful.

Aeliria made an extremely loud, mocking snort nearby, elegantly turning her green dragon body, lazily spiraling down onto a towering Obsidian pillar, with great interest watching the ”Red Dragon’s Suffering Tale” below. Drake’s submission was actually more swift than hers.

Who said red dragons have entirely nonfunctional brains? Once beaten into submission, they seem more receptive than other giant dragons to the law of the jungle.