Compared to a wyvern, a true dragon is simply in another league—Young Grant was consumed with envy, jealousy, and resentment, unable to do anything about it.

  “Morgan, don’t get angry with people like that, it’s not worth it!” Arthur glared furiously at the jerk flying away on his wyvern, clenching his fists tightly, determined to teach that ungrateful guy a lesson next time they met. If this guy was allowed to keep acting up, the reputation of the dragon riders would be ruined by him. Still fuming, he said, “I can’t believe we ran into that guy in this battle—he’s like a disgusting fly, what rotten luck, Morgan! You’d better be careful, don’t let that deadweight drag you into trouble. He’s not much in terms of combat skills, but he’s a master at causing problems.”

  “Forget it. If a dog bites you, are you supposed to bite back? I’ll be careful!” Having grown up as an orphan, Morgan was long used to the coldness and warmth of human nature, and had experienced the oppression of nobles. As long as his own survival wasn’t threatened, he wouldn’t bother with people like that. There were good and bad people among commoners, and the same was true for nobles. Arthur was one of the few noble friends he could get close to.

  Hearing this, Arthur finally felt a bit more at ease. After all, Morgan was always the most cautious and careful dragon rider in the legion—otherwise, how could he have managed to ride a gold dragon for so long?

  Suddenly, both Gold Coin and Michael, the two giant dragons, jerked their heads up and turned to look southeast. On the horizon, a dazzling red light shot up, rising higher and higher, piercing through the clouds to an incredible altitude, then bursting into a cloud of fire.

  The playful look vanished from Arthur’s face, replaced by a blank expression. He muttered, “Something big! The Texi Empire is going all out.” This signal meant the battle had reached a critical, urgent situation—an emergency military alert.

  “Let’s go! Michael, let’s hit them hard!” Arthur was like a bandit spotting a fat, juicy caravan, impatiently shouting as he leapt onto the back of the fire dragon Michael, eager to get as far away from the dangerous gold dragon as possible. Only someone as steady as Morgan could handle having a gold dragon as his mount and still survive this long—if he hadn’t been killed, he’d have died of fright by now. It was already an unprecedented record. Whether for friend or foe, he was an extremely dangerous dragon rider—truly a test of one’s survival skills.

  The fire dragon Michael twisted its body, flapping its massive wings and stirring up a scorching heatwave. Flames surged violently along its body as it kicked off the ground with all four claws, shooting into the sky. It called back to Morgan: “Morgan, hurry up and follow! If we’re late, Commander Doyle will be furious again!”

  “Gold Coin, are you coming? Or are you staying here to recover?” Morgan turned to the gold dragon with a half-smile, wondering if this unpredictable creature would try to ditch him.

  “Cut the crap! I want those Texi mongrels to taste my power!” The gold dragon Gold Coin, still fuming from suffering a heavy loss to a ninth-level spell, couldn’t stand Morgan’s provocation. Just thinking about his recent humiliation made him forget everything else, and he roared, leaping up in fury.

  Morgan’s lips curled into a slight smile as he quickly donned his helmet and leapt onto a boulder, launching himself into the air. Gold Coin beat his wings, producing a thunderous sonic boom as he soared up to catch Morgan. With a few powerful wingbeats, he created a series of booming shockwaves, and in the blink of an eye, they caught up with Michael and Arthur, already a hundred meters ahead.

  The two dragons flew at incredible speed, and in the time it took to drink a cup of tea, they reached the sky above the signal flare. Looking down from a thousand meters up, the ground below was swarming with black masses like an army of ants, with only the occasional patch of brown earth visible. More black dots streamed out from both camps like flowing water, converging together, leaving only a narrow strip of no-man’s land between the two sides. The dense formations reflected glints of cold steel, like stardust scattered across the field.

  Warm, moist air from the distant ocean pressed against the snow line of the Hailar Mountains, piling up into thick, heavy clouds, further intensifying the oppressive atmosphere between heaven and earth.

  “Hiss!”

  Damn, they’ve stirred up a hornet’s nest. Both riders and dragons drew in sharp breaths. This was the largest mobilization since the war began between the two nations. It was like a giant powder keg with the lid knocked off—just a single spark could set off an unimaginable disaster.

Section 5: The Overturned Hornet’s Nest—The Great Decisive Battle!

  “Michael, protect your rider! Damn it, you’re spacing out again!” Gold Coin suddenly roared, beating his wings to ram the fire dragon aside, then quickly folded his wings and dropped down. Even the most arrogant dragon knew that in a situation like this, without the cooperation of their human rider, death was close at hand. He let out a long dragon’s roar to warn the fire dragon, who was only a hundred years younger than himself.

  A massive ice spear, half the length of a dragon’s body and radiating intense cold, shot past the spot where Gold Coin had knocked Michael aside, narrowly missing them and only losing momentum far in the distance, finally arcing down from the sky. Whether it would hit any troops on the ground was no longer something Morgan and the others could worry about.

  Woooo...