As a villain, I really don't want to be pursued by the heroine.

There is actually another option.

Leaving behind all the soldiers present, Carl alone is enough to break through the siege and escape.

But that would never be Carl's choice.

After taking a sip of the honey wine, a specialty of the elves, Carl's spirits lifted a little. He smiled in relief and said, "I really have to thank Roy. If it weren't for the gifts from his girls, I probably wouldn't have been able to hold on for this long."

The Holy Light Amulet with healing and defensive effects and the honey wine that can relieve mental fatigue and restore extraordinary strength are the two things that have allowed him to survive until now.

However, Anya's expression turned strange: "Girls...?"

The Holy Light Amulet was most likely given by Alice, but what about the mead? How close does the girl Karl mentioned have to be to give a gift directly to an elder?

"Cough cough."

After coughing awkwardly twice, Carl forcibly changed the subject: "Those dragons are relentlessly pursuing us. I think they're targeting us."

Anya nodded in agreement, "Those dragons are smarter than they were nineteen years ago."

"The descendants of the Red Blood Fire Dragon are more powerful, but not as smart. They only hunt the prey in front of them like wild beasts. They are not like them who know how to disperse and track."

At this point, Anya's expression became serious: "The pursuers behind us are more cautious than the Red Blood Fire Dragon back then."

Dragons can fly.

If it is not supported by barriers or city walls, even the lowest-level flying dragon without full scales is enough to replace more than ten ordinary soldiers.

When the numbers are equal, humans and dragons are at a natural disadvantage.

Tactics were one of the few advantages humans had, but now in front of the mysterious dragon leader, even this advantage was gone, making Anya feel even more depressed.

"Since we can't get rid of them, we might as well drag them into the forest and trap them here forever."

"Master Carl?"

"It's already difficult for us to escape and support the capital, but to put it another way, they are also tied here by us and cannot move."

Carl's eyes became sharp, and even though he had been through a lot, his edge still remained.

“Sometimes, the relationship between hunter and prey is not irreversible.”

"Since they're chasing us relentlessly and are determined to devour us, why not take advantage of this, set up an ambush, and fight to the death!"

Anya was shocked when she heard this: "This..."

The number of dragons is comparable to theirs, also around three to four thousand, but when converted into combat power, they are much stronger than them.

But as Carl said, if you can't escape, there is no better choice.

Their original plan was to hide in the mountains and fight the dragons until reinforcements arrived.

But now that so much time has passed, the supplies are almost exhausted, and I think there may be no more reinforcements.

In the worst case scenario, they might be the only kingdom's fighting force besides the main force of the royal capital that has not been destroyed by the dragon clan.

A dragon roar was heard from the distant night sky. It was the horn of the dragon clan's attack.

The sleeping soldiers suddenly woke up, grasped their weapons as quickly as possible, and regrouped.

Exhaling a breath of foul air, the wounded [Iron Blood] Knight stood up, raised his sword again and stepped forward, leading the knights forward.

It seemed that as long as he stood, the knights of the kingdom would never be defeated.

However, looking at Carl's increasingly unsteady steps, Anya felt an unstoppable sadness.

Neither Carl nor this army may be able to hold out for much longer.

In the absence of reinforcements, fighting to the death may be their only option.

----------

"Well, a trapped beast still fights... Weak but tenacious, the descendants of [Iron Blood] are still as formidable as they were a thousand years ago."

The mountains are covered with frost and cold.

Spring, the time of rebirth for all things, has now turned into a cold winter, covered by silver-blue ice and snow.

The dragons crawled on the ground again, silent as a cicada in fear.

Only in the frost and snow, the silver vertical beams were turning, and a sharp sneer could be heard.

"But it's almost time to end."

"[Silver] has been slow to arrive. Previously, two purebloods of my Frost Clan were killed by the descendants of [Iron Blood]. It hasn't come to this. It seems that the long years have eroded the pride and dignity of your dragon clan..."

The raging fire ignited, outlining a red and majestic outline.

"Frost King! Please give me another chance!"

"There's no need for you to take action against a mere Sequence 5. I, Huoyao, will personally step forward on your behalf to restore the glory of our dragon race and make puny humans bow their heads in apology before you!"

The eyes behind the frost and snow focused slightly, revealing a trace of compassion, but that compassion was directed towards nothingness, not the fire dragon in front of him.

"I remember you, Baragas's men."

"I heard that it was the descendants of the current Iron Blood patriarch who sabotaged Baragas's revival, leading to its tragic death. Why not avenge it, and let the Iron Blood bloodline repay its father's debt?"

"If you can't do it, you don't have to come back."

Huo Yao's eyes were burning: "Yes!"

Without the slightest fear, the Frost King responded with the roars of countless fire dragons.

The fall of the first dragon was deeply engraved in their souls through their common blood. Being able to avenge Balagas has long been the deepest wish of the fire dragon clan.

Taking the roar of the fire dragon as a signal, thousands of flying dragons fluttered their wings and flew into the distance following the breath that they hated so much.

Chapter 53: The Time Has Come to Die on the Battlefield

Under the guidance of the [Blood-Seeking Bat], Roy and others sped all the way.

Soon, they had a harvest.

A disappointing harvest.

The strong smell of blood carried in with the wind, foreshadowing the tragic situation ahead.

Although they had expected this, they still couldn't help but tremble when they pushed aside the dense vegetation and saw the scene before them.

Blood flowed like a river and corpses were everywhere.

Dragons, griffins, and knights collapsed on the ground in a disorderly manner, with broken limbs and corpses everywhere. Large amounts of blood stained the entire jungle red, interweaving a picture of extreme cruelty.

Even the most battle-hardened knight couldn't bear to watch.

The blood had not yet dried, and judging by the situation, the battle had only just begun.

Among the corpses were several people Roy knew, they were his retainers.

Without time to indulge in sentimentality, Roy took a quick look and quickly confirmed that there was still a trace of survivors nearby.

"Save people first! There are still people alive!"

The knights sprang into action.

And Roy also found a figure that was so familiar at the end of the battlefield.

Anya, the head maid of the Ainblood family.

The former head maid is now wearing armor. It is said that she was also the first griffin knight to follow Carl and made great contributions.

But now, the exquisite armor was covered with horrific claw marks, and blood was oozing out of the cracks. The face that should have been pretty was as pale as paper, and it was in a state of being on the verge of death.

When she saw Roy, her eyes widened at first, then she opened her mouth anxiously to say something, but she was injured too badly. She stammered for a long time and could only spit out blood hoarsely.

"Don't be impatient yet."

Roy hurried forward, took out a can of holy water and fed it to Anya bit by bit.

The holy water produced by the Church of Holy Light is more effective than most healing potions and is a strictly controlled strategic material.

Anya wanted to shake her head to indicate that she was beyond saving and there was no need to waste such a precious thing, but she never expected that after swallowing the holy water, her cloudy consciousness would instantly become clear, the severe pain in her body would be greatly relieved, and she could clearly feel her injuries recovering, giving her new life.

Roy smiled faintly: "Don't worry, this is much more powerful than the church's usual diluted stuff, you'll be fine."

In addition to three gold-grade extraordinary items, Roy also obtained a lot of miscellaneous supplies, the most valuable of which was high-concentration holy water.

He had already distributed the holy water to the clergy so that they could treat the wounded as quickly as possible.

Although they were surprised by the concentration and quality of the holy water, considering the relationship between Roy and the saint, the clergy quickly convinced themselves that there was nothing strange about it.

Anya's complexion improved. After coughing up a few mouthfuls of blood, the first thing she could say after she could speak was to grab Roy and anxiously say, "Master, Lord Karl...he is in danger!"

The moment the words fell, a deafening roar was heard in the distance, and flames shot up into the sky.

And that was exactly the direction the [Blood-Seeking Bat] was heading.

----------

In the deep river valley.

Looking around, all around them were shadows of flying dragons, and the kingdom's army had nowhere to retreat.

In the previous encounter, they left a small number of elite troops to guard the rear and fled desperately, but they did not expect that the dragon clan had already ambushed them in front.

So Carl made his final decision, which was to escape into the valley.

If city walls and barriers are the most favorable terrain for human defense, and the wilderness is the most suitable terrain for dragon hunting, then the narrow and long river valley with limited space is the place of death where neither side can gain an advantage.

Humans have lost their cover and protection, but if the dragons want to attack, they can only attack head-on, with no room for sneak attacks.

A head-on decisive battle, to the death.

The flaming dragon saw through Carl's thoughts and sneered.

"Are you finally not going to run away, ant?"

"I don't know whether to call you foolish or brave for choosing a place like this to fight."

Carl's eyes swept indifferently over the flying dragons above his head.

The flawless encirclement was obviously planned in advance. These dragons were much stronger than the fire dragons that only knew how to kill savagely nineteen years ago.

"It seems you saw through it from the beginning."

"In that case, why don't you let the person behind you do it yourself?"

The fire dragon landed.

Even if they were on the same plane, it was much taller than Carl, just like a wild cat facing a mouse.

Staring at Carl, the Fire Dragon grinned, sparks in his mouth, and sneered, "[Iron Blood], are you overestimating yourself?"

"Even a mouse armed to the teeth cannot defeat a cat. We are superior to you mortals in both strength and wisdom!"

"To you this is war, but to us it's hunting. You don't need the Frost King to personally intervene! Fire Bite of my Fire Dragon Clan will be enough!"

Carl suddenly laughed.

It was a light laugh, but it was contemptuous enough to sting the fire dragon's nerves.

His eyes were slightly blurred and he was burning with anger.

"why are you laughing?"

"I was thinking, you dragons really haven't changed."

"what?"

"You are indeed smarter and more united than the Fire Dragons of nineteen years ago, but at heart you remain the same: self-righteous, arrogant, and always looking down on us."

Huoyao scoffed at this, its massive dragon head maintaining a height that overlooked the ants, with no intention of descending. "Do you respect your prey?"

"There's a saying that goes, 'A lion will fight a rabbit with all its might.'"

"I have to thank you. Thank you for coming forward personally instead of letting the Seven Heavenly Dragons do it."

The sword blade broke through the air, and the mithril sword was raised high and forward. The knight of [Iron Blood] glanced coldly, and a murderous blood-red spread out.

“Sometimes, there isn’t that much difference between the prey and the hunter.”

"Cat and mouse? Lion and rabbit? Ridiculous! You are nothing but ants to me!"

Carl pretended to be confused: "Really?"

"But didn't your king also suffer defeat at the hands of ants twice?"