Ashen Dragon

North of Stormy Ridge, in the Castnail Hills.

A troop of more than a thousand Kobolds was slowly progressing along the hills, looking like a swarm of ants from afar. They were the transport team of the Ashen Kingdom.

"Hurry up, get that gold moved. This is a direct order from Lord Ramp."

"Snap!"

Jin Ya wielded a leather whip, sharply cracking it against the ground as he commanded the Kobolds at the entrance of the mine.

As retainers left on Stormy Ridge, the Kobolds were still responsible for the mining and transport work. Day and night, they diligently hauled gold out of the mines, working with surprising tenacity. The reason was that those with excellent performance would be granted the Dragon Vein Elixir, transforming them into the legendary winged Kobolds—"Urd."

With the deepening effect of the Dragon Vein Blessing, Jin Ya could now even transform Dragon Vein Kobolds himself, bestowing the Bloodline Gift.

Currently, Jin Ya's appearance increasingly resembled an actual dragon. Although he still stood on two legs, his body stretched over four meters long from head to tail. His head resembled that of a drake, and a row of bone spikes ran down his back. However, the gold tooth in his mouth looked quite diminutive due to his inflated size.

Seeing a Kobold stumble and fall, Jin Ya roared in anger.

"Roar—"

"Move faster, you brats. Don't you want to grow wings?"

Now, even Jin Ya's roar sounded less like a dog's bark and more like an infant dragon's roar.

The fallen Kobold struggled to get up and picked up the scattered gold ore, grumbling under his breath.

"Tch, just because he got lucky, acting all high and mighty."

"He's just an Urd. One day, I'll also..."

This Kobold was named Black Tooth, named after his yellowish-black teeth. Kobolds loved this kind of naming convention.

Though grumbling, Black Tooth still picked up the ore in his basket, shook himself off, and hurriedly tried to catch up with the troop.

"Wait for me—"

But the troop had already moved far ahead, and Black Tooth couldn't catch up right away.

A chilling gust of wind suddenly swept in from behind, making the cold-fearing Kobold shiver.

"Hiss—"

"Great Red Dragon above, it's so cold at this time of year..."

The cold intensified, spreading from behind him, slowing Black Tooth's movements and covering his scales with a thin layer of frost.

Just as Black Tooth was about to call for help, a massive shadow enveloped him.

He slowly lifted his head, and an expression of extreme terror appeared on his ugly face.

"This, this is..."

A Frost Giant, over six meters tall, wearing a bull horn helmet and clad in rough armor made of beast hide and bones, was looming over him, wielding a battle axe.

The Frost Giant grinned menacingly.

"Ugly little creature..."

"Crushing you underfoot will feel satisfying."

Black Tooth quickly tried to run, but the cold had already stiffened his movements. He looked up in terror as the fur-wrapped foot got larger in his vision.

"Splat!"

The sound of flesh and bones being crushed was heard, and Black Tooth was squashed into a meat patty.

The Frost Giant nonchalantly scraped his foot along the ground, looking impatient.

"Why are there so many of these little creatures along the way? They have nothing worth looting."

Behind him stood forty more Frost Giants. They were scouts from the Everfrost Tribe, sent by Clan Leader Kasa to gather information around Stormy Ridge.

"Teman, don't forget the clan leader's task." Find adventures on My Virtual Library Empire

"Don't waste time on these insignificant weaklings."

This Frost Giant's voice was deep; he was the leader of this scouting party.

This Frost Giant was different, being taller by half a head compared to his companions. He wore a suit made of scales and held a long bone pickaxe in his hand, with a Long Fang Pendant hanging on his chest.

The Frost Giants made their clothes from beast hide and bones, carved items from bones and fangs, and repurposed the armor and weapons of smaller enemies—for instance, sewing multiple shields together for armor or attaching sword blades to wooden shafts to make spears. Most of the Frost Giants' equipment was this kind of jumbled assortment.

But for them, the best trophies came from dragon-slaying battles. The great Frost Giant leaders wore armor made of dragon scales and wielded weapons made of dragon bones—this Frost Giant leader was no exception.

His name was Baya Everfrost, Kasa's brother and captain of the Frost Giant hunting party. He had also participated in the battle to kill a White Dragon.

The Frost Giant named Teman pointed forward and said:

"Captain Baya, these Kobolds are not insignificant. Look ahead, that's clearly a formation."

"We can pry their mouths open to gather information about the vicinity. After all, it's been decades since we Frost Giants last marched south en masse."

Baya responded coldly, "You make a good point. Then... crush them."

The cold wind howled, and the ground rumbled.

Several Frost Giants charged forward on Dragon Tundras, appearing like moving mountains, crushing hundreds of Kobolds beneath them.

Baya led the charge with a cold face, killing more than ten Kobolds with a single swing of his pickaxe. Those dog-headed creatures, barely reaching his knees at their tallest, were laughably helpless in his presence.

"Enemy attack!"

"Heavens, what is that?"

"Damn, it's the Frost Giants!"

"The Frost Giants are attacking! Frost Calamity is here!"

The Kobolds let out wails and cries like distressed dogs, fleeing in all directions.

The dragon blood coursing through their veins made them fierce and brave, but only against human militias. Against the overwhelming strength of the Frost Giants, all resistance was futile.

In the dire situation, Jin Ya flapped his wings and took to the sky. He was visibly panicked but still instinctively tried to stabilize the situation:

"Brats, hold the line!"

"These are just some dumb humans!"

"You must endure until the Kingdom's reinforcements arrive!"

Baya was drawn by this familiar voice. He looked up into the sky, squinting his eyes with a gleam of excitement in his icy blue pupils.

"Is this... a drake?"

The Frost Giant licked his lips.

Baya didn't recognize it as a Kobold but mistook it for a malformed drake and was thrilled by the discovery.

"Didn't expect such an unexpected prize. This dragon blood must taste excellent, likely different from that of a White Dragon."

"It will become my finest trophy!"

Baya leaped off his Dragon Tundra, picked up a rock from the ground, and hurled it into the sky.

"Whoosh—"

The rock traced an arc in the air, but Jin Ya, reacting swiftly, dodged it.

However, he had no time to prepare for what came next. Baya gripped his bone pickaxe tightly, leaped over ten meters high, and yanked the winged Kobold down from the sky with the pickaxe's head.

"Dragon, I will strip your hide!"

The Frost Giant roared excitedly, clutching Jin Ya's wing with his right hand.