Chapter 78: Clearing the Battlefield

"I will..."

The White Dragon Mother bared her fangs, about to utter some threatening words.

But under Garon's gaze, she suddenly remembered that she was no match for him and, considering Garon's performance on the battlefield, realized the gap between them was widening rapidly.

"What kind of monster did I give birth to?" Realizing this, the White Dragon Mother shrank her neck while looking at Garon.

"Next time you ask for my help, I just might not come."

The White Dragon Mother reluctantly changed her phrasing.

After speaking, perhaps knowing her words lacked convincing power, she couldn't help but add softly, "Look, I did take quite a beating, and I was at the forefront during the fight, taking on who knows how many attacks for you."

"If we just count the kills, I didn't kill as many as you and your kin, but I exerted myself no less."

For once, the White Dragon Mother, usually so fierce, resorted to reasoning.

Garon's spells wiped out swathes of enemies in a single blast, far more cleanly than the White Dragon Mother's efforts, and many armored knights had perished in his fireball spells. According to the previous spoils distribution, the White Dragon Mother wouldn't receive much.

The White Dragon Mother, under her hopeful gaze, watched as Garon pondered for a moment before slowly nodding, "You can take half of the human knights' magical equipment, provided all the magic gems are mine."

Garon valued the magic gems over bulky, less useful, ordinary magic items.

The White Dragon Mother hesitated.

Magic gems were Garon's favorite, and she loved them equally.

The White Dragon Mother had also killed some casters and could find some gems among the spoils, but the number would be limited because most were with Garon.

After hesitating for several seconds, the White Dragon Mother tentatively asked, "Can you give me just a few magic gems?"

"Next time you need me, I definitely won't turn you down."

Rarely seen pleading and cautious, Garon was in a good mood and mused, "Alright, but only one gem."

This one would be as if returning the one he had borrowed before.

Getting gems from his stash was no easy feat.

The White Dragon Mother, seeing Garon agree so easily, thought he was more responsive to soft tactics and immediately put on a pitiful face, batting her eyelids and saying in a miserable voice, "One is too few, just give me a little more."

"I was driven out of your territory, suffered so many injuries, and still have three annoying hatchlings to feed."

As she spoke, she casually waved her dragon claw to show Garon the wound inflicted by Murphy.

To gain more gems, the White Dragon Mother didn't mind shedding her usual harsh demeanor and appealing to her son's sympathies.

Garon:

He wondered if giving her more spoils would make her call him dad.

"Stop, or I won't give you even one."

Garon cut off the White Dragon Mother's pitiful act.

Her voice stopped abruptly, and her pitiful expression switched to a scowl, "Garon, you really are a heartless and greedy dragon."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even exist in this world!"

Garon, face lined with irritation, shifted his dragon claw.

The White Dragon Mother's expression shifted, and she quickly flapped her wings, flying away from Garon to collect the promised spoils.

Garon looked up at the sky, watching the goose-feather-like heavy snow fall as usual from the sky, gradually burying the thick bloodstains below.

Meanwhile, the kin pursuing the remaining troops began to return.

"Master, some casters have disappeared using some trick. Should we continue searching this area?"

Ugga Smashbone, carrying a blood-stained black mace, approached with large strides.

Garon nodded, "They probably used some invisibility spell. Take some white hounds to sniff around."

White hounds, known for their keen sense of smell, were excellent trackers.

Some kin were dispatched by Garon to chase the escaping casters, while others were ordered to start cleaning up the battlefield and collecting spoils.

Garon flew to a snowy peak, folded his wings, and stood silently amid the swirling snow, watching his busy kin.

The war ended in his victory, but his kin had suffered considerable losses; sixty percent had perished here, nearly all the rest were wounded.

Apart from Ugga Smashbone, of the original four ogres with dragon lineage, only two remained, one with a severely injured arm. If not for their robust vitality and reduced sensitivity to pain, it would have passed out from the pain.

Since Garon had preemptively slain many of the opposing casters, only twenty percent of the ice spirits died in exchanges with the casters, and another ten percent at the hands of some assaulting armored knights.

Cas

ualties were highest among the lesser kin like the terror lizards and white hounds, who were deeply involved in the fray and not as powerful.

Of the over four hundred white hounds, only a few dozen remained, and one in ten terror lizards survived.

Garon's spells also killed many white hounds; they had little resistance to fire attacks.

Transmutation spells were known for their broad range and powerful impact, hard to differentiate friend from foe, and fireball spells were particularly notorious. In the chaos of battle, it was inevitable that some allies would be caught in the magical assault.

"Some human adventure teams, if they have a transmuter mage, have to be careful not to get hit by friendly fire," he mused. "This way, I'm going to go hungry."

"I need to gather more kin."

Garon felt no pity or sorrow for the heavy losses among his kin.

They lived under his wing, and it was only right that they sacrifice their lives for him when the time came.

This was essentially a transaction.

Thinking of gathering more kin, Garon first thought of the pack of winter wolves.

"After I consume the dragon soul stone and sleep to grow, I'll go there and see," he decided.

Soon, the battlefield was cleared.

A large amount of rune-inscribed magic armor and greatswords and shields piled up like a metal hill, the relatively scarce magic gems had already been stored separately by Garon in a spatial ring.

He handed over a magic-infused white crystal to the White Dragon Mother under her resentful gaze, similar in appearance and size to the one he had originally taken.

Because the spatial ring's capacity was limited and couldn't hold so much magic equipment, Garon ordered his kin to transport it back and forth, while he watched to prevent anyone from stealing his things.

These elementally glowing magic items, when piled up, also functioned to some extent as elemental energy collectors.

Although the effect was minimal, far inferior to magic gems, it was better than nothing and filled the space impressively.

Since the White Dragon Mother had no kin, she herself carried a large pile of magic equipment to her lair and before leaving, told Garon, "I've counted everything here; I'll notice if even one item is missing."

"Don't try to pocket any while I'm gone. I'll be right back. Half of this is my spoils, mine!"