121: Dragon Descends Upon the Great Wilderness

At dawn the next day, the Star Sea Territory army, having rested for the night and now exuding an even stronger aura of slaughter, set out under Angus's command. They brought with them nearly five thousand dejected and closely guarded Orcs captives, marching grandly toward the vast jungle valley where the Wild Boar Kings Court was located. Clay and Elise also led the basically recovered Griffin Knights and Mage Corps to accompany them; they would be the primary reliance for deterring and clearing any potential resistance.

News always travels faster than an army's pace. When the banner of the Star Sea Territory appeared on the outskirts of the King's Court, panic spread like wildfire through the massive Pig-Headed People tribe. Some quick-witted or cowardly Pig-Headed People, carrying limited belongings and dragging their families along, fled the simple shacks and caves they had inhabited for generations, scurrying toward the deeper and more dangerous parts of the forest, leaving behind only messy footprints and scattered discarded items.

Angus did not order a pursuit of these escapees. His goal was clear: to completely control the core area of the King's Court, eliminate unstable factors, and obtain actual population and resources. Those stragglers who fled into the dense forest, having lost their leader and organization, would find it difficult to form a threat in the short term; they could be slowly cleared out in the future or left to fend for themselves.

Ultimately, about twenty to thirty thousand Pig-Headed People who didn't have time or the ability to flee far—mostly the old, weak, women, children, and some young adults who harbored a glimmer of hope—remained within the King's Court. They gathered in the open space at the center of the tribe, terrified, surrounded by the cold spears and sharp arrows of the Star Sea Territory soldiers.

There were no lengthy proclamations and no hypocritical reassurances. Angus sat on his warhorse, looking down at the group of otherworlders with eyes like ten-thousand-year-old ice. He raised his hand.

“Execute the purge order.” Four words decided the fate of tens of thousands of lives.

The various units of the Star Sea Territory, having already received clear instructions, acted immediately. This was not a chaotic massacre but an efficient, cold screening. The soldiers rushed into the crowd like wolves among sheep, roughly dragging out those Pig-Headed People who were clearly old and frail, diseased, physically disabled, or those who dared to bare their fangs in resistance, taking them to designated areas.

Screams, pleas, curses, and the dull thud of weapons entering flesh instantly shattered the deathly silence of the valley, and the air quickly filled with a thick scent of blood. Elise frowned slightly but did not look away; most of the Mage Corps members behind her also looked solemn but remained silent. Clay's Griffin Knights circled in the air on alert, preventing any large-scale riots or accidents.

The purge process lasted about two hours. When everything finally settled, the once-crowded open space was strewn with corpses and blood flowed in channels, while the number of surviving Pig-Headed People had drastically decreased to just over ten thousand. These were mostly relatively young, physically strong, or women and children with offspring; they huddled together, trembling, with only the most primitive fear and numbness left in their eyes, no longer daring to harbor even the slightest thought of resistance.

The Star Sea Territory soldiers began systematically cleaning the scene, confiscating any wealth, food, and crude tools that might exist within the King's Court, and putting temporary marks on the “qualified” Slaves who had been screened out.

Including yesterday's captives, nearly twenty thousand Orcs were surrounded by the Star Sea Territory army.

Karl looked at this land soaked in blood and dotted with occasional weeping, then at the boundless jungle and mountains in the distance, and couldn't help but remark: “After this battle, the Wild Boar King Tribe exists in name only, and the Minotaur have also suffered a great loss of Origin Qi. Within these surrounding tens of thousands of kilometers, I fear there is no longer any opponent that can threaten our Star Sea Territory.” His words resonated with many surrounding generals, and a sense of post-victory relaxation and pride in looking toward the future began to sprout in some people's hearts.

However, at the very moment when these reflections and cleaning work were happening simultaneously, and everyone's guard was slightly lowered!

“Ang—!!!”

An indescribable dragon roar, as if coming from the ancient Great Desolation, resounded through the clouds without any warning! This sound did not come from any known Demonic Beast; it was vast, majestic, and immense, carrying a weight of pressure that transcended all things, striking the depths of every living creature's Soul like a physical giant hammer!

“Thud! Thud thud!”

The Pig-Headed People, who had just become Slaves and were still shaken, had no ability to resist in the face of this pure Dragon Might. They collapsed to the ground in swaths; many had their eyes roll back, foamed at the mouth, and fainted directly, their bodies twitching uncontrollably.

The Star Sea Territory army's formation also fell into chaos! Warhorses neighed in fright, soldiers turned pale, their hearts pounded wildly, and they instinctively gripped their weapons, looking up at the Sky in terror. Even powerhouses like Karl, Shirei, and Ocean Jack felt a heavy pressure descend, and their Battle Qi involuntarily began to circulate to resist.

“On guard! Aerial threat!” Clay shouted sharply, instantly entering a combat state along with Elise. Clay's longsword was unsheathed, Elise held her divine arrow high, and elements began to gather. The griffins lowed uneasily, circling restlessly in the air.

In the distant horizon, a silver speck of light rapidly enlarged, accompanied by the rolling sound of wind and thunder and a suffocating Dragon Might. The outline of that figure became clearer and clearer! A streamlined body covered in silver-white dragon scales that seemed to be condensed from moonlight shimmered with a cold and noble luster under the sun; broad and powerful dragon wings spread out, each flap causing the airflow to hiss; a long neck, a majestic head, cold vertical pupils... its body length definitely exceeded twenty meters!

“A Dragon! It's a Silver Dragon!” Even Elise, who had the most extensive knowledge, couldn't help but cry out in alarm, her face changing drastically. A Dragon, a creature of legend, an overlord standing at the top of the food chain across countless Planes—how could one suddenly appear here?

Just as everyone was so intimidated by this sudden terrifying existence that their minds were nearly lost, the sharp-eyed Clay suddenly stared fixedly at the dragon's back! There, there seemed to be a tiny but clear human figure!

The Silver Dragon did not launch an attack but instead hovered slowly above the Star Sea Territory army, its massive shadow enveloping those below. Only then did the people below finally see clearly the figure standing proudly behind the dragon's neck.

Dressed in simple black martial attire, with black hair and black eyes, his face was young yet carried an indescribable depth and majesty. He stood with his hands behind his back, calmly looking down at the army that was as if facing a great enemy, the messy battlefield, and the limp Slaves. In his eyes, there even seemed to be a faint hint of surprise.

Time seemed to freeze for an instant.

Immediately after, like cold water dripping into a pot of boiling oil, the Star Sea Territory camp erupted in an unbelievable clamor mixed with extreme shock and wild joy!

“Lord?! It's the Lord!!”

“Heavens! The Lord... is riding on a dragon's back?!”

“A Dragon Rider! The Lord is a legendary Dragon Rider!!”

“Our Star Sea Territory Lord is a Dragon Rider!!!”

Exclamations rose one after another, and all tension and fear were instantly replaced by unparalleled shock and fanaticism. Angus, Karl, Ocean Jack, Shirei... all the generals stared with wide eyes and open mouths at the incredible scene in the Sky, their hearts pounding so hard they almost jumped out of their chests.

The sword in Clay's hand slowly lowered, his face showing extreme astonishment at first, which then turned into realization and immense pride. He murmured, “So that's how it is... No wonder the Lord bestowed ‘Wind Wing’ upon me to oversee the aerial forces... He already possessed the true Sky Dominator...” He thought of Lord Linn's usual inscrutability and the occasional aura he revealed that was far beyond their level of understanding; everything seemed to have an answer now.

“Clatter!!”

It was unknown who was the first to drop to one knee, but then, like falling dominoes, all members of the Star Sea Territory, from generals to soldiers, knelt down toward the figure in the Sky with immense excitement and devotion. A sound like a mountain torrent or a tsunami resounded through the valley:

“Long live the Lord! Long live Star Sea Territory!”

The waves of sound rolled, filled with heartfelt fanaticism, worship, and a sense of belonging. Compared to the Lord being a Dragon Rider, the brilliant victory they had just achieved seemed not so shocking anymore. Those surviving Pig-Headed People Slaves, under this kind of formation and the yet-to-dissipate Dragon Might, were even more terrified, their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and many more fainted.

However, the shock that almost made everyone's jaw drop to the ground was not yet over.

Linn, on the dragon's back, nodded slightly to the Silver Dragon beneath his feet. That majestic Silver Dragon let out a low, affectionate cry, its massive body began to glow with a soft silver light, and space seemed to ripple. In the next moment, the suffocatingly huge figure of the Silver Dragon actually vanished into thin air!

And Linn did not fall at the moment the Silver Dragon disappeared.

Just like that, he nonchalantly stepped out from the Void Realm hundreds of meters above the ground.

Without relying on any mount and without performing any light or shadow effects of flying Spells, he simply hovered in the air. Then, as if walking down stairs, his pace was leisurely as he stepped through the air, walking down toward the ground. His robes fluttered and his black hair swayed slightly, as if the Sky was just another piece of land for him to walk on at will.

The entire battlefield was as silent as death.

Everyone from the Star Sea Territory, including the most knowledgeable Angus, felt as if their throats were being throttled at this moment, forgetting even to breathe. They stared blankly at the figure walking down through the air, and in their minds, only one term, like a thunderous explosion overturning all their perceptions, echoed frantically!

Sky Class!

Lord Linn was not only a noble Dragon Rider... he himself had already stepped into that legendary Sky Rank that was unattainable for Mortals!