Chapter 988 - 478: Dragon Roars in the Mountain Forest

Closer and closer.

He could almost feel the cold, metallic chill of its steel spikes. For some reason, in this life-or-death moment, a flurry of thoughts suddenly flooded his mind. Scenes from his past flashed rapidly before his eyes.

He remembered.

He remembered how, before his departure, his wife—no longer young, yet still gentle and elegant—had gently pressed her forehead against his, making him promise to return safely.

He thought of his disappointing daughter, who had twice rejected the promising young men he had carefully chosen for her. It would have been fine if she had found a more outstanding lover, but instead, she had her eyes set on those idle opera actors, spending all the allowance he gave her on gifts to court those frail performers.

He thought of his son, currently serving as an attendant to the Baron; the boy’s shoulders were not yet broad enough to bear the heavy burden of supporting the family once he was gone.

But even in this momentary flashback, where time seemed to nearly stand still, the end was inevitable.

"CRACK!"

His arms, after holding out for so long, suddenly gave way.

It was over!

The instant his grip weakened, the battle-hardened Warrior knew that the Wolf Fang Club—taller than he was—would instantly smash him and his Armor into the ground. If he were lucky, he would lose consciousness immediately, his body shattered into pieces without feeling much pain. But if he barely survived with half his life remaining, it would be terrible; he would suffer agonizing torture far more terrifying than death itself.

The steel spikes on the Wolf Fang Club drew closer, almost obscuring his entire field of vision. The Warrior’s pupils rapidly contracted as he fought the urge to close his eyes. In the final moments of his life, he didn’t want the last thing he saw to be pitch black.

Perhaps it was an illusion, but through the gleaming surface of the dense steel spikes on the Wolf Fang Club, he seemed to see the reflection of numerous golden lights. That golden light was both dazzling and sacred. So much so that even he, who had never been religious, couldn’t help but wonder in this moment if angels were opening the gates of heaven for him at the end of his life.

"BOOM!"

The moment this thought surfaced, his vision was completely enveloped by a Platinum radiance.

"CLANG!"

A pair of massive, gleaming dragon wings folded together in front of him, forming an incredibly solid barrier that shielded him securely. The troll, having struck with all its might, seemed to have slammed into an outer shell that appeared thin but was actually indestructible.

A powerful rebounding force traveled from the Wolf Fang Club that struck the dragon wings straight back into the troll’s body. The webbing of its hands instantly split open, and blood spurted from its arms. The Wolf Fang Club flew backward out of its grasp at an even greater speed!

"Bigby’s Hand!"

A Platinum hand suddenly materialized beside the troll. It was noticeably different from a normal human hand; the knuckles were more sharply defined, the surface was thickly covered in keratin, and the fingertips were sharp—it looked more like the claw of a Giant Dragon.

"Vajra Palm!"

The giant hand, or rather the giant claw, slammed down violently. Before the several-meter-tall troll could even react, it was crushed into the dirt by the palm. As the palm clenched tight, the troll oozed crimson blood like a tightly squeezed wet wipe.

The Warrior had only just witnessed this when the scenery before his eyes rapidly shifted. Amidst a dizzying spin, he was set down on the ground twenty meters away. The golden light brushed past him. In a blur, did he just see the figure of a person?

However, everything happened so fast that he was still in a daze.

"BOOM!"

In the distance, the ferocious, sinister expression on the high-leaping goblin assassin’s face was still frozen in place. The next instant, its body was sent flying backward like a ragdoll, soaring dozens of meters through the air before finally crashing to the ground. After tumbling a few times, it stopped moving completely.

Its facial expression remained entirely unchanged, still holding that look of murderous intent and twisted excitement. Except, the chilling, gaping hole right through its chest already told the tale of its fate.

Numerous Missiles sped through the forest as if they had eyes, landing with precision on one monster after another just before any tragedy could occur. Gale-force winds, Missiles, screams, and explosions echoed continuously through the mountain forest.

Some soldiers were locked in fierce combat with their opponents when a sudden, powerful gust of wind caught them off guard. They instinctively raised their arms to shield their eyes, but by the time they lowered them, the formidable enemies they had been facing had vanished into thin air. Only a blurred puddle of mush remained on the ground in the distance.

They wondered, "What just happened? Was it a ghost?"

Still shaken, they gripped their weapons tightly. It was the only thing that could provide a final sense of security to their blank minds.

The fierce wind swept through the mountain forest, and the monsters besieging the soldiers rapidly decreased in number at a visible rate.

As he flew at high speeds, Gauss not only slaughtered the monsters with Magic but also took the opportunity to test his physical strength. That pair of dragon wings acted like speeding Steel Blades, slicing through the bodies of the monsters. Even level-four or five trolls couldn’t withstand their sharp edges; in an instant, they were cleaved in two, collapsing to the ground in halves.

Boulders and giant trees alike appeared incredibly fragile beneath the dragon wings.

He gained a clearer understanding of a Giant Dragon’s physical capabilities. This was a difference on the level of physiological structure. Even with equal Attributes, the body of a Giant Dragon could unleash several times the destructive power.

They were natural-born war machines!

It was no wonder that the trolls, Jackal-Wolf People, and goblins felt their legs turn to jelly the moment they laid eyes on his dragon wings. The fear and reverence toward Giant Dragons left in their bloodlines by their ancestors were not unfounded; it was a bloody lesson forged through thousands of years of countless horrors and bloodshed.