Chapter 165: Nether Panther

This primitive celebration awakened the primal instincts buried deep within the White Dragon Lord's bloodline. Amos joined in, adding his roar to the rest.

Amid towering trees in the primeval forest, the massive beasts threw their heads back and roared in excitement. Their cries swept out in every direction, echoing through the thick woods and rolling mountains.

Every transcendent creature that heard the noise turned to look. They knew the overlords of this territory—the Land Dragon Clan—had crowned a new leader.

A long while later, this unconventional welcoming ceremony finally came to an end.

The White Dragon Lord gazed at the land dragons staring back at him with wide eyes. He raised his massive head high, spread his enormous wings, and unleashed his overwhelming dragon might.

An ancient and powerful pressure flooded the jungle. The insects and birds that had hidden deep in their burrows to escape the land dragons' roars instantly fainted.

Caught off guard, most of the land dragons whined and collapsed to the ground. Their bodies went completely slack, leaving them unable to move a muscle.

Under the crushing weight of his dragon might, the gap in individual strength became instantly clear. Out of all the land dragons present, aside from Kemosg, only twenty-three managed to withstand the pressure and remain standing.

The White Dragon Lord produced several Scales, converting every land dragon still on its feet into his subordinate.

With that, the White Dragon Lord took absolute control over the land dragon flock.

He then slightly retracted his dragon might. The paralyzed land dragons slowly picked themselves up from the dirt, their eyes now filled with fear and reverence for the White Dragon Lord.

The crushing pressure hadn't just broken them physically; it had also awakened the deep-seated worship for True Dragons buried in their bloodlines.

The flock stared up at the White Dragon Lord. His majestic frame towered several times taller than their own, and his fully extended wings delivered a powerful visual shock. Paired with the mental oppression of his dragon might, the psychological impact was absolute.

The White Dragon Lord noticed the shift in their gazes. The way they looked at him was already bordering on fanaticism.

Amos nodded to himself. This was exactly the result he wanted.

Land dragons were a sub-dragon species with fairly low intelligence. If the White Dragon Lord had tried reasoning with them, their pitiful brain capacities wouldn't have understood a word.

Flaunting raw power—the most primitive method—was the simplest and most effective way to bring them to heel quickly.

In the cruel natural world, worshiping a strong leader was a biological instinct hammered into all living things through millions of years of survival of the fittest.

Only a powerful leader could guide a pack to conquer more territory and secure enough food to guarantee their survival and growth.

The White Dragon Lord perfectly fit the land dragons' ideal of a mighty ruler, and so he earned their complete devotion.

Amos soon finished counting the flock. This massive land dragon pack boasted 521 adults, 82 juveniles, and several unhatched dragon eggs.

Once he had a rough grasp of their total combat strength, the White Dragon Lord dismissed the ordinary land dragons.

He then turned to Kemosg, who was standing submissively to the side.

"Scan!"

[Name]: Kemosg

[Level]: Level 22 Sub-Dragon

[Strength]: Legendary Rank

[Alignment]: True Neutral

[Description]: A land dragon currently transitioning from the Adult Stage to its prime. Blessed with extraordinary talent, he broke through the bloodline limits of the sub-dragon species to step into the Legendary Rank Realm. He has grasped a sliver of the profound laws of the earth, making his already absurd defense even more monstrous. However, aside from his durability and physical strength, his other attributes are unexceptional.

Through the Gold Finger's scan, the White Dragon Lord gained a solid understanding of his newest underling.

When it came to taking a beating, Kemosg had no equal. He was the perfect tank-type subordinate to charge straight into enemy lines.

Though the White Dragon Lord had defeated the land dragon leader with ease, it wasn't because Kemosg was weak; it was simply because the White Dragon Lord was far too strong.

As an Ancestral Dragon, his racial lineage was superior to the vast majority of legendary dragon species. Even if he hadn't taken up the Mage class, he would still easily serve as a flawless super-boss with no obvious weaknesses.

Furthermore, higher-tier dragon species held a natural, overwhelming advantage when fighting their lesser kin.

As a mere sub-dragon facing the crushing pressure of an Ancestral Dragon's might, Kemosg managing to exert even half his normal combat strength was an impressive feat.

With such a vast gap in raw power and the innate suppression of their biological hierarchy, the land dragon leader had been easily defeated by the white dragon.

Had it been an ordinary Legendary Rank combatant instead, breaking through the land dragon leader's defenses would have been far from guaranteed.

Strong as the land dragon leader was, Amos had no immediate use for him. The White Dragon Lord decided to let the pack stand by for now.

"Kemosg, take your flock and carry on with your usual routines for now. Wait for my further instructions."

"Yes, Chief."

The White Dragon Lord kicked off the ground and gave a powerful beat of his wings. Like a loosed arrow, he pierced through the dense forest canopy, took to the sky, and flew toward his Dragon Brother and Dragon Sister.

The emerald forest blurred past beneath him. The White Dragon Lord headed straight for the mountain ranges in the heart of Kumlinge. His siblings' target—the Wyvern flock—lived on the far side of those mountains.

Several minutes later, the White Dragon Lord left the Muxue mountains behind.

After flying a bit further, Amos spotted a soaring peak in the distance. It stood completely alone above the verdant landscape like a solitary pagoda. That was the home of the Wyverns—Wyvern Peak.

The Wyvern flock lived on the cliffs on the far side of the mountain. The White Dragon Lord charted a course straight for the snow-capped summit of Wyvern Peak.

Moments later, he braked in midair and touched down on the peak. His sharp claws dug into the rock, firmly anchoring his massive body to the steep ridge.

Shaken loose by the impact of his landing, snow and weathered rock tumbled down the side of the mountain.

The White Dragon Lord padded along the ridge and stretched his neck over to look at the far side. He locked eyes with Willy, who was already staring up at him.

"Brother, are you finished on your end?"

The White Dragon Lord looked down at Willy, who was boredly nestled in a snowdrift.

"Yes. Why are you here alone? Where did Felicia go?"

Willy stood up, threw his head back, and let out a massive yawn.

"Felicia told me to stay out of it. She wanted to handle the Wyverns by herself."

Well, that perfectly matched Felicia's arrogant nature.

The White Dragon Lord asked in confusion.

"But where did they go?"

Willy flapped his wings and flew up to join his brother.

"Ala and Scarlett took the Wyvern flock to attack a gnoll tribe. Felicia went along to oversee them."

The White Dragon Lord furrowed his brow.

"What happened?"

Willy answered.

"The Wyvern leader refused to cooperate and angered Felicia, so she tore him into eight pieces. Ala and Scarlett became the flock's new leaders. To test the flock's combat strength, Felicia decided to use a gnoll tribe they stumbled across as a test."

Amos cast a glance down the cliff face and sure enough, he spotted several mangled chunks of Wyvern carcass clinging to the rocks. A sliver of worry toward his Dragon Sister's temperament crept into his heart.

In truth, this was precisely how proper Chromatic Dragons operated.

The Dragon Race were natural superiors. From the moment they hatched, they knew they would eventually reign at the absolute apex of the world's food chain, giving them an innate arrogance when dealing with other races.

There was nothing inherently wrong with that, but the Dragon Inheritance of the Chromatic Dragons was packed with records of their ancestors' atrocities.

Influenced by those memories, young dragons were frequently led astray. They became ruthless and cruel, treating slaughter as something entirely trivial—no different from eating or drinking.

Grounded by the memories of his past life, the White Dragon Lord refused to be ruled by bestial instinct. While maintaining strict discipline over himself, he also purposefully guided his siblings, trying to steer them away from their ancestors' influence so they wouldn't treat murder like a game.

Elena and Willy had actually changed under their elder brother's subtle guidance; they no longer killed just for the sake of killing. But Felicia, heavily influenced by the Five-Headed Dragon Queen, still thought and acted like a traditional evil dragon.

The returning Wyvern flock in the distance pulled the White Dragon Lord from his thoughts.

The White Dragon Lord lifted his head and focused on the white silhouette at the very front of the Wyvern formation.

Felicia also spotted the two white dragons on the summit. Putting on a burst of speed, she left the Wyvern flock behind and shot toward the peak.

The Dragon Sister landed next to the White Dragon Lord, pointing a claw at the incoming Wyvern flock with a smug, self-satisfied look, practically begging for praise.

"How about it, Amos? I took care of the whole thing all by myself!"

The White Dragon Lord didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He finally realized that her insistence on handling the problem alone was purely so she could brag to him about it later.

At the same time, it brought him a deep sense of relief. While he hadn't managed to completely overhaul her mindset, he had successfully taught her to cherish the bond between their four siblings. His efforts hadn't been entirely wasted after all.

After all, ordinary evil dragons were utterly heartless creatures who would turn on their own family without a second thought.

"Oh, Felicia, you did incredibly well. Though, it would have been absolutely perfect if you had captured the Wyvern leader alive."

Felicia completely ignored the second half of her brother's sentence. Throwing her head back, she let out an excited roar from the top of the snowy mountain.

A flash of concern crossed Amos's eyes. With her personality, she was bound to stir up real trouble sooner or later.

Never mind. Even if his Dragon Brother or Dragon Sister caused a disaster, he would just shoulder it for them. They were the dragons closest to him in this world.

As an Ancestral Dragon, the White Dragon Lord had more than enough power to back that up.

If a normal dragon was the equivalent of a boss meant for a five-man party, then Ancestral Dragons and legendary dragon species were the final raid bosses meant for an entire twenty- or thirty-man raid group.

For a super-boss of that caliber, fighting above their level to crush humans with ordinary biological templates was practically effortless.

Take the current White Dragon Lord, for example: if he undid his seals and unleashed his full strength, he could fight evenly against an average High-Tier Legend.

But if he actually did that and exposed his identity as an Ancestral Dragon, the future troubles would be endless.

He had only just finished thinking about future disasters, but to his utter surprise, Felicia's first catastrophe arrived almost instantly.

The Dragon Sister's excited roar triggered an avalanche. Massive waves of snow cascaded down the mountain with a deafening crash, completely burying the Wyvern nests halfway down the slopes.

Felicia's roar cut off abruptly. She stared awkwardly at the buried Wyvern nests. The precious Wyvern Eggs were still inside!

Amos and Willy exchanged a look of pure exasperation.

Willy launched himself into the air, directing the newly returned Wyvern flock to dig out their snow-entombed nests. There was no telling how many Wyvern Eggs had been lost to the disaster.

Felicia quickly turned her head away, pretending to admire the scenery. She didn't dare look at her brother's face, which was now black as the bottom of a pot, but she still kept shooting him guilty sideways glances to gauge his reaction.

Suddenly, the White Dragon Lord's expression shifted. He sensed that the emergency distress Scale he had given the gnoll chieftain, Hogg Riverclaw, had just been triggered.

"Hogger is under attack! You two, act according to the situation!"

Having quickly explained his departure, the White Dragon Lord took out his Councilor's Badge and connected with Tower Spirit Seven, who handled internal affairs for Nordhill.

"Tower Spirit Seven, I need to teleport to northern Kumlinge. Bring up the safe teleportation coordinates."

"Greetings, Councilor Amos. Tower Spirit Seven is at your service. The safe coordinate points are..."

Amos immediately selected the coordinate closest to Hogger's location. He rapidly chanted an incantation and activated Teleportation.

Purple Magical Energy wrapped around the White Dragon Lord, and he vanished from the snowy peak.

An instant later, the White Dragon Lord appeared in the sky above a new location. When he saw the scene playing out below, rage surged in his chest.

Down in the dense grasslands, the conquering army led by Hogger was fleeing in utter panic. A dark shadow was relentlessly hunting down the gnolls and trolls under his command.

White Castle's monster soldiers often had their throats slashed by gleaming, icy claws before they could even react.

Clutching their bleeding throats, the monsters stared with wide, unwilling eyes as they collapsed into the waist-high grass.

Every time the dark shadow lunged, it claimed the life of another monster soldier.

Against the agile shadow's lethal claws, the monster soldiers were completely powerless.

It was a one-sided slaughter!

Relying on his transcendent draconic vision, Amos clearly made out the shadow's true form. It was none other than the other beast overlord of the Main Island with legendary strength—the mutated Transcendent Beast, the Nether Panther, Yuir.

The White Dragon Lord unleashed a furious roar. Tucking his wings tight to his sides, he pointed his head downward and dove straight from the clouds.

That thunderous roar startled Yuir, who was completely absorbed in his killing spree.

The 6-meter-long Nether Panther looked up and saw the diving white dragon. Sensing immediate danger, he flattened his body and slinked into the tall grass.

From the sky, the White Dragon Lord noticed a long trail of rippling movement carving through the dense grass. He instantly deduced that Yuir was trying to escape into the forest bordering the plains.

After all, only the thick forest canopy could break the white dragon's line of sight and give him a real chance to escape.

The White Dragon Lord flared his wings, adjusting his trajectory to intercept the moving trail.

Running could never outpace flying. The White Dragon Lord quickly caught up to the rustling grass, drew a deep breath, and unleashed a blast of Dragon Breath.

The icy-blue Dragon Breath crashed down onto the grass. In an instant, the moving trail and a massive swath of the surrounding emerald vegetation were frozen solid.

The White Dragon Lord landed on the grass and whipped his tail in a sweeping arc. The frozen grass shattered like crystal, sending icy shards flying in every direction, yet there was no sign of Yuir anywhere.