Evolving by devouring from a young dragon

A dark golden figure tore through the clouds, Alduin's wings folded tightly as he hovered above the crater.

The heat wave hit us, the smell of sulfur grew stronger, and the stench of blood intensified.

His vertical pupils were fixed on that figure.

The Salamander King, dragging its broken body, charged headlong towards the crater.

The distance is constantly decreasing.

800 meters...

500 meters...

Three hundred meters.

Although it is unknown why it rushed to the crater, Auduin would not allow it to do as it wished.

Deep within the crater lies the orcs' totem fire, the very source of embers, and their hope for a comeback. Alduin is uncertain what will happen if it rushes in.

But uncertainty itself is the biggest risk.

His tail was raised high, and the scales at the tip of his tail suddenly opened. Three dark golden scales peeled off from his tailbone, their edges glowing with a scorching red light, and emitted a low buzzing sound.

Two hundred meters.

The tail tip suddenly flicked.

Three dark golden streaks of light tore through the air, hurtling towards the Salamander King with a sharp whooshing sound.

The first scale struck the base of its left foreleg.

The blade rotated, slicing through the scales, tearing through the flesh, and embedding itself into the joints.

The Salamander King's body suddenly tilted to the side, its left foreleg instantly losing power, and its entire body tilted to the left.

The second scale followed closely, embedding itself into its right shoulder.

The third film—

As the Salamander King fell, it suddenly turned its head, opened its massive jaws, and bit down on the third scale blade.

The teeth and scales collided, sending sparks flying. The scale blades sliced ​​half of its lower jaw open, and blood spurted from between its teeth. But it held on tightly, refusing to let go, and let out a muffled roar from its throat.

It's still rushing forward.

Its two hind legs were already useless, and now its two front legs were also half useless, but it was still charging forward.

It used its broken forelimbs to support itself on the ground, plowed through the rubble with its chin, and used every part of its body that could still move to push itself toward the crater.

Blood and gravel mingled together, leaving a horrifying trail behind it.

We were less than fifty steps from the crater.

A hint of pity appeared in Auduin's eyes.

What a tenacious...and pitiful fellow.

He stopped firing scales—a capability he had acquired from his mech, supersonic beyond-visual-range scale strikes.

Each launch consumes scales. Although the regeneration speed is fast, the tailbone is exposed during the few breaths of regeneration, and the sensitive nerve endings are directly exposed to the air. That feeling is very strange.

It wasn't pain, but a feeling of emptiness, a sense of loss as if something was missing, that made him instinctively want to curl his tail up and hide it in his arms.

More importantly, he didn't want to waste any more scales on the Salamander King.

The beast was already dead; it was just waiting for its moment to fall.

He preferred the body intact.

Alduin abruptly folded his wings, his dark golden body swooping down from the sky. The wind whistled in his ears, and a wave of heat rushed towards him. The figure of the Salamander King rapidly magnified in his vision.

Thirty meters.

Twenty meters.

ten meters...

His four claws opened simultaneously, and his dark golden body slammed heavily onto the Salamander King's back.

boom--

The rocks exploded, and dust flew everywhere.

The Salamander King was pressed against the ground by the sudden weight, letting out a painful roar.

Its limbs thrashed wildly on the ground, its claws crushing rocks and sending sparks flying, but Alduin's weight and the momentum of its dive rendered it completely immobile.

"Don't bother." He lowered his head, his breath brushing against the back of the Salamander King's neck.

The Salamander King's struggles grew weaker and weaker.

Its four legs were all useless, it was bleeding almost dry, and its breath was as weak as a lamp about to go out.

It lay on the rubble, panting heavily.

Its left eye, the one that was still intact, was staring intently at the edge of the crater.

It's just a few steps away.

It can see the red glow of magma overflowing from the edges, feel the temperature of the flames, and smell the familiar scents of the nest.

It was just a few steps away.

Auduin sensed it.

The magic within its body was fluctuating violently, as if something was swelling, struggling, and trying to break out of its chest cavity.

Self-destruct.

The thought had barely crossed his mind when Alduin's tail lashed out, striking the Salamander King directly in the temple.

The edge of the scales grazed the skull, cutting a half-inch deep wound from which blood gushed out.

The Salamander King's head snapped to one side, the magic power it had just gathered vanished instantly, and its body deflated like a punctured balloon.

"That's a really low-level tactic," he said calmly.

"And, as I said," his voice was low and calm, "if you pass through my territory, you either pay a toll or you die."

Auduin jumped off its back and stood to the side, its tail swaying gently, the scales at the tip of its tail beginning to grow again.

This lizard is huge, measuring forty meters in length, while even with its wingspan extended, Auduin is only thirty meters long.

If it weren't for its current weakness, Alduin might not have won so easily.

An eerie silence fell over the crater.

The magma churned deep inside, making a gurgling sound.

The remaining Emberfang Orcs stood at a distance, unsure whether to lower or raise their weapons.

The children hid behind the old orc, watching all this with wide eyes.

The great shaman stood on the gravel slope, his bone staff planted firmly in the ground, his expression complex.

He stared at Alduin for a long time before finally speaking.

"You are no ordinary black dragon."

Auduin turned his head, his vertical pupils meeting the eyes of the great shaman.

He did not answer.

The high shaman's brow furrowed even deeper.

His gaze lingered on Alduin's tail for a moment.

The brand-new scales gleamed with a dark golden luster under the red light of the lava, arranged neatly and perfectly fitted, showing no signs of having just grown.

"You are not of this land." The great shaman's tone was not a question, but a statement.

Alduin neither denied nor admitted it; he simply tilted his head, a fleeting, unfathomable look flashing in his vertical pupils.

"Are you done talking?"

The great shaman shook his head; he knew the dragon wouldn't answer, at least not in front of him.

He took a deep breath, pulled the bone staff from the ground, and turned to walk towards the Salamander King.

Name your terms.

The high shaman looked at the corpse of the Salamander King with a complicated expression.

Alduin didn't speak, but his ears twitched. Eleven heat sources rapidly approached, the one in the lead being enormous and radiating intense heat.

That was Ironbone, the chieftain of the Emberfang Orcs.

He was covered in blood, a broken bone chain wrapped around his left arm, and his right stone axe was stained with dark red bits of flesh.

Behind him followed ten Emberfang Warriors, each bearing wounds, their eyes burning with a weary yet excited light.

He stopped and looked at Auduin, then spoke to the high shaman.

"Prophet," Ironbone's voice was furious, "why is this dragon... here?"