GOT King of Dragon

The plan was in motion, and time ticked by, moment by moment.

Soon, night fell.

In the clearing, the three groups of troops munched on dry rations, setting up camps as if they weren't there for battle.

*Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle...*

As night descended, bonfires were lit one after another. The wildling army grew rowdy, cheering and dancing together.

Since they were acting as bait, they had to make it convincing.

Amid this chaotic scene, the interplay of firelight and shadows created an earthy, primitive atmosphere, accompanied by rustic wildling songs.

Suddenly, beneath a group of dancing wildlings, the shadows began to distort and twist in the flickering firelight.

The twisting rhythm of the shadows didn't match the dancers' movements.

One particularly vigilant wildling immediately sensed something was wrong. His face filled with alarm as he shoved the companion next to him.

Everyone knew exactly what kind of monster they were dealing with.

They snapped out of their singing and dancing at once, stopping in either fear or shock.

"Send the signal! Quickly!" 

Baolan, a wildling who had joined the patrol, noticed the abnormality. She grabbed an arrow from her quiver, dipped its tip in the fire, and lit it. 

She pulled back her bowstring and shot the flaming arrow into the night sky above.

At her shout, the other wildlings reacted.

Archers fired flaming arrows into the air, while the warriors unsheathed their weapons.

Meanwhile, the shadow seemed enraged by their movements and began stretching and distorting wildly.

*Swish, swish, swish—*

Shadowy tendrils, like inky vines, emerged and stabbed into the throats of nearby wildlings, snuffing out their lives.

"Scatter! The curse is here!"

With people dropping dead, the remaining wildlings fell into panic, retreating in disarray.

But the shadow monster had no intention of letting them escape.

Its ink-black, fluid-like form writhed out of the ground, taking the shape of a grotesque, tentacled abomination that launched an attack on everyone.

"Light the oil! Use torches to fight back!"

In the chaos, Baolan continuously lit flaming arrows and shot them at the shadow monster, trying to direct the counterattack.

She was a brave girl, but her efforts weren't enough to inspire confidence.

In the end, it was Trangol, the "Crab Claw," who stepped up. He swung a solid wooden club, scattering a pile of burning firewood and forcing the rampaging monster to retreat.

He roared in fury, "Everyone, stand your ground! If anyone dares run, I'll twist their head off and shove it up their ass!"

At the savage bellow of the towering, two-meter-tall brute, the nearby wildlings reluctantly steadied themselves and stopped their panicked fleeing and screaming.

Meanwhile... 

Rhaegar sat atop his gluttonous dragon, patiently waiting as he nibbled on a sour wild fruit to stay alert.

Suddenly, a faint streak of light shot across the night sky.

Rhaegar quickly looked up, wondering if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Moments later, clusters of firelight flared to life.

"It's time! Gluttonous One, let's go!"

Rhaegar's spirits lifted as he urged his massive dragon forward.

*Screeech!*

The Gluttonous One, already restless from waiting, let out an irritated shriek. It spread its wings and dove down the mountainside, heading straight for the fire-lit clearing.

The two sides were only a few kilometers apart.

The Gluttonous One reached its destination in an instant.

"Light the oil! The curse fears fire! Dip your weapons in the oil!"

From the chaotic clearing below came frantic shouting as more firelight appeared.

Rhaegar gazed down, spotting the increasingly massive shadow monster.

"Gluttonous One, ignite the perimeter."

Rhaegar wasn't in a hurry to attack. He followed the plan.

The Gluttonous One soared to the edge of the clearing and breathed a jet of dragon fire onto an unoccupied patch of ground below.

*Boom!*

The green flames ignited the oil-soaked ground instantly.

Within moments, the fire spread in both directions, forming a blazing ring around the entire clearing. The fiery circle was so bright it illuminated the night sky.

The raging inferno startled all three factions.

They looked up and saw the massive black dragon circling overhead. A surge of confidence rose in their hearts.

In this battle, they had a dragon on their side.

*Screeech!*

Sensing countless eyes on it, the Gluttonous One's green, vertical pupils flashed with arrogance. It raised its head and let out a triumphant roar.

"Gluttonous One, dragon fire!"

The dragon-rider directed his beast toward the shadow monster below, his eyes gleaming with excitement as he gave the command.

*Boom!*

A stream of green dragon fire skimmed the ground, leaving a trail of scorched earth before crashing into the writhing shadow monster.

In the next instant, the shadow monster was split in two by the dragon fire.

The change happened too quickly for anyone to process. An indescribable thrill surged through everyone who witnessed it.

The sight of the powerful dragon inspired wild cheers among the troops.

The Bren family and the Kleiber family, who had set up camp separately from the wildlings, sent over a thousand soldiers rushing to the scene. Led by a few torch-wielding cavalrymen, they charged toward the "remains" of the shadow monster.

Just as everyone thought the curse had been defeated, a sudden change occurred.

The shadow monster, split in two, began to writhe and twist.

Each half moved on its own, forming two smaller, grotesque creatures.

The surface of the body stretched for a moment, unleashing a burst of shadowy black smoke that engulfed the charging cavalry head-on. 

"Ah!..." 

The charging cavalry, unable to stop, plunged straight into the black smoke. 

The smoke infiltrated their ears, noses, eyes, and mouths, instantly claiming their lives. 

"Screeeech..." 

A dragon's roar echoed through the battlefield, and a spray of green dragon flames shot out, once again slicing through a shadowy creature. 

This time, Rhaegar noticed the peculiar behavior of the shadowy creature. 

Its splitting wasn't caused by the dragon flames. 

Instead, it was a survival tactic—sacrificing parts of itself to escape. 

Any surface that came into contact with the dragon flames would be annihilated, with some portions melting into viscous liquid that dripped to the ground. 

By tearing itself apart, the shadowy creature abandoned the parts engulfed in dragon flames, preserving a larger portion of its form. 

"What a cunning fiend! Glutton, intensify the dragon flames!" 

Rhaegar tightened his grip on the scales on the dragon's back, issuing the command for an all-out attack. 

Glutton lowered its posture, its throat brewing dragon flames. 

When the distance was right, a torrent of green dragon flames, like a waterfall, surged forth, drenching an entire shadowy creature as if flooding it. 

Sizzle... 

Amidst the billowing black smoke, the shadowy creature twisted and writhed as viscous droplets fell to the ground, only to burn away completely before landing. 

And so... 

Under the relentless assault of the dragon flames, the shadowy creature had nowhere to hide. Its body rapidly shrank and was on the verge of being obliterated. 

"Roar..." 

At that moment, a low, eerie growl suddenly echoed, stirring a whirlwind across the clearing. 

Rhaegar glanced toward the sound, his expression freezing. 

Unbeknownst to him, the fragmented pieces of the shadowy creature had merged into one. 

Its irregular shape twisted and morphed like a lump of foul sludge. 

It formed into a dragon-like monstrosity with two legs and two wings. 

The creature's body was covered in writhing tentacles, and its wing membranes, like black mist, displayed countless terrified human faces. 

Its head was not that of a dragon. 

Instead, it was a grotesque visage of a one-eyed goat. 

The shadowy half-dragon, once formed, immediately swept aside the surrounding humans with its tail and wings, roaring as it lunged toward Glutton. 

Sensing a foul stench from the approaching shadowy half-dragon, Glutton's slit pupils filled with rage, locking onto the opponent charging at it. 

The shadowy half-dragon appeared to be a mockery of Glutton. 

Its deformed legs pounded the ground for a running start, and its wings flapped desperately as it struggled to ascend into the night sky. 

Glutton abandoned the nearly-vanquished shadowy creature, unleashing a blast of dragon flames at the crude impostor before him. 

Boom! 

The dragon flames struck the shadowy half-dragon with precision. 

The powerful impact shattered its head, causing viscous liquid to splatter and drip, leaving the creature staggering, barely able to keep its balance. 

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*(End of Chapter)*