1 Snow on the Mountain Top

The long war between the Tersi Empire and the Sland Empire had caused the new recruits driven onto the battlefield to transform from rookies whose legs went soft from the sight of bloody, mangled limbs to real warriors that were numb toward life and death.

Here, the term 'veteran' only referred to the soldiers that had survived for three months and had not yet died. The soldiers recruited by the major provinces of the empires were constantly gathering toward the mountain ridge of the Hailar mountain range, rushing head over heels toward the area where weapons and death intertwined.

A few months ago, after entering the battlefield, the surviving veterans had already become true humanoid killing weapons. Without exception, their fierce eyes were full of coldness and heartlessness. After killing the last enemy and retreating from the battlefield, they fell asleep even before arriving at the barracks. When they woke up, they ate and waited for the horn to signal to rush out to fight again.

They were willing to drag another down with them even in death. Even so, many veterans lost themselves to the slaughter, failing to retreat safely and collapsing on the battlefield forever.

The top-brass of the two countries had long been fed up with this war that had lasted five or six years without any outcome. From countless large and small battles had emerged in an endless stream of various strategies and tactics, and various legions had come in turn one after another. In the end, it evolved into the most direct and simple war of attrition.

Offense and defense had lost all meaning. The command headquarters went through the mechanical motions of issuing the command to charge every day. Without the need for the law enforcement teams to drive them forward with their dark-red, blood-stained swords, the soldiers were conditioned to rush in formation toward the enemy camps and fight like meat grinders. Pain and death could no longer make them feel that they were still alive. Only by being killed by the enemy would they finally be freed.

The mages, whose statuses were equal to the nobles, had lost their elegance of the past. They desperately cast spells and then meditated with their ashen faces.

The previously precious magic crystals and magic cores were now constantly sent from the rear and then extravagantly squandered. There was no time to appreciate the beautiful and magical crystal shapes or marvel at the surging magical fluctuations before the immense energy contained within was consumed, causing it to disintegrate into worthless scraps of powder.

Almost the entire rear of the battlefield was full of the unique scent of magical spices that lingered in the air to raise the success rate of casting spells. Even the air that was free to breathe did not require the sprinkling of these expensive spices to still have the effect of assisting with concentration and stability. They only needed to chant mechanically to cast spells successfully.

The sky above the battlefield was even more dangerous. As the most advanced military forces of both empires, the emperors of the sky, the Dragon Knights that were rarely seen were now frequent visitors here.

Becoming a Dragon Knight required not only passing various trials and tests but also strength, perseverance, and luck. Only the strong who met these conditions could generate a resonance with their souls in front of the Dragon God Contract and have the opportunity to obtain their own dragon partners and sign the equal partner contract to share glory.

Sometimes, even though capable warriors passed all the tests, they were incapable of generating a soul resonance and still failed to become Dragon Knights.

In the end, only one or two people out of a hundred thousand were lucky enough to receive the honor of becoming a Dragon Knight. Such harsh screening conditions resulted in the number of Dragon Knights remaining low. The honing of battle aura could improve by leaps and bounds due to the resonance with their dragon partner's aura.

There were also those who used their powerful strength to defeat Giant Dragons and force them to become their mounts, but they had to consider that they would bear the anger and endless pursuit of the dragons in the future.

Up until now, few dared to challenge this, and the few who did were quickly eliminated. There were no real advantages in the honing of battle aura when forcing a Giant Dragon to be a mount, which was the biggest advantage of being a true Dragon Knight. Given time to grow, knights with Giant Dragons would eventually become the most powerful existences.

Ordinary people who were able to take a look felt that they could show-off to others for a lifetime.

The central Hailar mountain range had now almost become a dueling field for the two countries' Air Riders. Looking up occasionally, the ferocious and massive Giant Dragons were visible crossing the sky while roaring. With the advantage of the high altitude, the dragons attacked with their breaths, causing a continuous stream of screams on the ground, or they collided fiercely with enemy dragons and other aerial forces in the sky.

Huge bursts of magical shock waves erupted continuously in the sky, causing clear ripples in the air.

Even powerful Divine Mages and Sword Saints perishing here was not surprising, and the invincible reputation of the Dragon Knights also ceased to exist.

Almost every month, at least one Dragon Knight and their dragon mount fell on the battlefield, or were killed by an opponent of equal strength, or unfortunately fell into the enemy camp with injuries. Then the light armored infantry, whom they despised, swarmed and killed them at the cost of piling up immense casualties. This was a live example of ants biting an elephant to death.

Among the 105 Dragon Knights registered in the Sland Empire, 61 of them had gathered on the battlefield of the Hailar central mountain range, and the remaining 44 stayed in the imperial city to guard the imperial court.

Compared to the Sland Empire, the Tersi Empire only had ten-odd Dragon Knights. The only major forces that could compete with the Sland Empire were the six-hundred-plus Griffon Knights and Thunder Eagle Knights. Although their individual combat power was not as great as that of dragons, they won in their large numbers and exquisite battle formations.

Woo!

The height of the central mountain range of the Hailar Mountains was above the snow line. A strange and long sound came from the peak that was covered by ice and snow for thousands of years.

A man in black armor stood at the top of the snow peak, playing a strange flute that was more than seven inches long. As the cold wind, like a sharp blade, hit his Dark Steel Mystic Armor, the scarlet cloak behind it rustled in the wind, resembling a battle flag waving.

A wave of water-like ripples burst in the sky above his head. With sharp dragon horns on its head, dense steel scales covering its body, and a pair of giant wings that stretched out in the sky, a fierce giant creature emerged.

"Roar!" This roar representing supreme majesty thundered over a hundred meters above the peak.

The substantive angry roar caused a sonic boom that rippled out like water, sweeping away the cold white mist around the peak. The deafening roar stimulated the thick accumulated snow on the neighboring peaks to roll down the mountains, spreading and amplifying to become earth-shaking avalanches.

A young Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon less than one thousand years old revealed its ferocious figure. Its body of more than thirty meters long was not clumsy at all.

After circling around the snow peak for a while, without any signs of slowing down, it gathered its dragon wings and rushed to the top of the snow peak. However, upon nearing the peak, where the layers of ice and snow near the top were as fine as steel, it let out a low dragon roar and suddenly stopped in the air for a moment before smashing into the snow peak.

The countless snowflakes and ice particles rising from the summit hit the ice and exposed rocks, causing loud echoes, and the peak nearly collapsed.

The sudden strange stagnation effect was the Void Magnetic Field unique to only Metal-Attribute Giant Dragons. They were born with a unique anti-gravity effect to hold up their bodies that were as heavy as that of Earth-Attribute Giant Dragons.

This ability was almost an innate talent of every Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon. Otherwise, the ordinary ground would be incapable of withstanding their heavy weight. It would be like having one foot stepping into tofu or sinking into soil, or like being caught in a natural Quicksand spell.

The seven-inch long flute was a testament to the contract between the Dragon Knight and the loyal dragon partner. One hundred thousand years ago, the sages of both the dragons and humans reached an ancient alliance against the alien races. They combined the power of dragons and the creativity of humanity to develop strength and wisdom to the extreme.

Every dragon flute was made by the alchemists and craftsmen of both the dragon and the human races, who spent innumerable precious materials and magical crafting to forge them.

Once a Giant Dragon and a Dragon Knight signed the Dragon Knight Contract through the dragon flute, they would obtain an eternal resting space and the ability to pierce through space to respond to the summon. The Giant Dragon could recuperate within the space, and when the flute sounded, it could break out of the space or pierce through space from a distant place to reach the Dragon Knight.

The dragon flute was not only the proof of the contract but also a magic treasure of spatial coordinates and storage space for living bodies.

Each dragon flute had its own unique flute sound. Therefore, each dragon that signed the Dragon Knight Contract could only hear the unique sound of the dragon flute in its knight's hand.

This Metal-Attribute Giant Dragon was a dragon full of sharp weapons. The dragon wings behind it were like countless sharp swords, and the natural metal armor protected every part and joint of the entire body. Even the greatest craftsmen could not create such beautiful and sharp protective equipment, let alone the mysterious black lines on the surface.

The dragon claws were as sharp as remarkable weapons, and they could easily smash the ten-thousand-year-old ice comparable to refined steel.

The dragon horns seemed to contain the faint power of thunder, with lightning flashing from time to time. The bloody smell of killing around its body was like a substance. A pair of big crimson eyes were staring at the knight in front of it, seeming as though it would rush forward at any time to tear the other into pieces.

"Gold Coin, how's your restoration going?"

With his entire head covered, there was only a slit for looking through. Under the helmet of the mystic armor, thick white mist exhaled from the cross slit, and a young man's voice came. He did not seem bothered by the Giant Dragon's impolite or even bad intentions.

"Hmph! Really annoying! I can't wait to find those Tersi Empire flies to fight again. Heh heh. Little Molin, you better make sure you don't die. I'll be very sad."

The dragon tail that had lost its perfect shape seemed to have life. The incomplete parts were twisting and growing at a speed visible to the naked eye, slowly reshaping and restoring the complex structure. Although it could recover quickly, it would greatly affect the strength.