章 26: Chapter 26: Dragon's Might
Taking a deep breath of the cold tundra air, Garon shifted his gaze from the dead dual-headed ogre, still encased in ice. Its facial expression, captured in the ice, displayed its final moments of reluctance and fear, lifelike in death. The ominous aura that Garon had deeply feared still lingered in his mind.
"How did the dual-headed ogre come to know of this Sun God?"
His brief contemplation was interrupted by an excited roar. Uga Skulbreaker came running over joyfully, prostrating himself before Garon and exclaiming, "Great Dragon Lord, you really killed Sela!"
"The Skulbreaker tribe will become your most powerful arm, clearing all obstacles for you!"
Garon looked at Uga Skulbreaker, who was holding a black spiked maul wrapped in a faint blood-colored aura. He felt the flow of elemental power around it. This was no ordinary weapon. If the dual-headed ogre had wielded this maul along with its staff in battle against Garon, it might not have been so easy to defeat.
"Come, follow me to the Skulbreaker tribe!"
Garon roared, his voice reverberating through the air, shaking the atmosphere.
He then grabbed Uga Skulbreaker and the frozen body of the dual-headed ogre, flapping his wings and soaring a kilometer high into the sky. The icy plains below looked like a beautiful miniature landscape.
In the basin-shaped terrain, the ogres of the Skulbreaker tribe gathered around a large pot as usual, picking their noses and scratching their feet.
The pot's main ingredient was a freshly hunted white-furred giant tiger, roughly chopped and thrown in with some indistinguishable plants and other meats.
Ogres primarily consumed meat but were omnivores who preferred to cook their food when possible.
Some ogres were enthusiastically debating who was stronger, Uga Skulbreaker or the chief.
In the entire Skulbreaker tribe, only Uga Skulbreaker and the dual-headed ogre had reached a height of three meters, towering a head above the others, most of whom were around 2.7 meters tall.
"Uga definitely can't beat the chief; the chief could use magic."
"Not necessarily, Uga just came of age, he might still grow taller."
"The chief was getting old."
The ogres held varied opinions, vigorously discussing around the pot.
Suddenly, a sharp-eyed ogre noticed a small white dot in the night sky, gradually enlarging.
Eh? Is that a dragon?
Rubbing his eyes as the white dot became clearer, the ogre's mouth dropped open wide enough to fit a large fist.
"There's a dragon in the sky!"
All the ogres looked up following the gaze, seeing Garon's figure.
His sleek new white ice armor, dazzling platinum dragon eyes, and fierce claws, combined with a ring of mysterious black scales around him, overwhelmed the ogres, making it hard for them to breathe.
However, ogres are inherently brave and ferocious. Realizing that Garon was not a fully-grown dragon, they grabbed their weapons—mainly large clubs, with a few wielding giant axes—and prepared for battle, staring intently at Garon descending towards the Skulbreaker tribe.
In the air, Garon noticed the ogres' reaction, his eyes reflecting a hint of curiosity.
Moments later, he descended to just a few dozen meters above the ground.
Before Garon had fully landed, an ogre lifted a giant rock, muscles bulging, and hurled it at him.
"Not bad for bravery."
Garon exhaled a frost breath, instantly freezing the millstone-sized rock in the icy-blue dragon breath, stopping it in its tracks, and then causing it to crash back down.
Whoosh! The frost breath swept over the first ogre to act, freezing him into an ice sculpture.
For his first official act, Garon decided to establish his authority by making an example, showing no mercy—the frozen ogre was dead.
"Reptiles, daring to attack a true dragon, must pay with their lives!" Garon roared in the giants' tongue.
At the same time, he threw down Uga Skulbreaker and the body of the dual-headed ogre chief.
Thump, thump!
Uga Skulbreaker got up and shouted at his dull-witted kin, "Do you want to die? To strike at a great true dragon!"
"The chief Sela is dead; now, the Skulbreaker tribe will come under the true dragon's command."
Seeing Garon instantly take down one of the tribe's strongest, and hearing Uga Skulbreaker's words, the other ogres hesitated, unsure of what to do next.
Garon, maintaining the mystique and dignity of a true dragon, landed and simply watched the ogres silently.
Uga Skulbreaker became his spokesperson, leveraging the dragon's authority to slam his
black maul heavily on the ground, "I've spoken, does anyone object?"
"If you do not wish to come under the true dragon, there is only death!"
"Those willing to submit, kneel before the great true dragon!"
"I will lead the Skulbreaker tribe under the true dragon's command, spreading his renown!"
Uga Skulbreaker, effectively acting as Garon's lackey, could help him manage the ogre tribe, as Garon had little interest in dealing directly with these brash, simple-minded creatures.
Most ogres, overwhelmed by Garon's might, hesitated briefly before kneeling, proclaiming their submission.
Garon quietly watched this unfold, and when every ogre, regardless of age or gender, had submitted under his wings, he declared, "From now on, the Skulbreaker tribe will be my followers, my claws, to remove obstacles and tear apart my enemies!"
His voice, imbued with a compelling, commanding tone, coupled with his dragon's presence, made the ogres bow even lower.
The Skulbreaker tribe had never truly fought a dragon, but ancestral tales of dragons' might were well known to them.
Though their submission was reluctant, many ogres now exhibited an unwitting deference. As a race that revered the law of the survival of the fittest, Garon's display of power made them less resistant.
As for the first brave ogre who died, no ogre spared him another glance.
.
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