noveldepot Chapter 76 Gnolls and Goblins
Chapter 76 Gnolls and Goblins
The wilderness, the mountains, and the valley with its tire tracks flashed through Thor's mind, instantly making him decide to make it his next nesting place.
With his wings flapping vigorously on his back, he began to accelerate towards the mountain range. At the same time, the magic power within his body surged, ready to deal with any possible sudden attack.
If I'm not mistaken, that canyon is likely a passage connecting the wilderness to human civilization. Although it may not be a main road, there are still quite a few convoys traveling through it.
Greedy merchants brought salt, ironware, refined flour, and spices from the human world to trade with various tribes in the wilderness in exchange for animal hides, jewelry, magical materials, and various precious herbs.
This is a highly profitable business that relies on human productivity; a single trip can yield at least 10 times the profit.
However, just as humans are full of cunning in this transaction, the wilderness inhabitants, who worship strength, are more enthusiastic about seizing things by their own strength than about obtaining what they want through exchange.
As a result, barring any unforeseen circumstances, this mountain range is likely already teeming with bandit races such as goblins, gnolls, and orcs.
If that's the case, it's good news for Thor—he has a suitable nesting site, and a ready-made group of followers waiting for him to tame.
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As the saying goes, "looking at a mountain makes a horse run itself to death," the mountains and hills ahead seemed close at hand, but it still took Thor several tens of minutes to finally reach his destination.
After seeing the entire mountain range, Thor couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed.
This place was not the majestic peaks thousands of meters high that he had imagined. Instead, there were rolling hills stretching out in a continuous line, their rocks a dark gray color, with many places covered in yellowish-brown sand, and their heights were all around one thousand meters.
Thor decided that he should first find the intelligent beings here and get more specific information from them.
The enormous young dragon soared in the air, its wingspan exceeding 26 meters, casting a large shadow that symbolized death.
Following the principle of proximity, Thor first flew towards the valley that ran across the mountain range. Low hills swept past behind him, and soon the faint sounds of fighting reached his ears.
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Kagal, the gnoll, swung his flail with all his might, striking the goblins before him head-on.
Survival in the wilderness is always difficult, with harsh environments, scarce food, and competition from various evil creatures.
Large tribes like centaurs and minotaurs are better off; they have their own pastures, thousands of cattle and sheep, and thick clothing that protects them from the cold wind.
However, most races that do not engage in production and rely on primitive hunting for survival can only struggle to survive in the cracks of the wilderness, just like wild beasts.
The Bloodfang Clan is a large gnoll tribe with nearly 100 members, including the cubs.
As the leader, Kagal possesses a challenge level close to four, making him a formidable opponent among the lowly wilderness creatures who lack formal training and rely solely on instinct to fight.
Not long ago, they successfully robbed a caravan passing through the canyon, extorting over a thousand kilograms of dried meat and grain with their formidable "strength".
Unfortunately, before they could even use these supplies to satisfy their hungry stomachs, another group of bandits living in the mountains arrived after hearing the news.
Under normal circumstances, Kagar wouldn't even consider goblins a threat. Standing nearly two meters tall, with sharp claws and teeth, they could easily crush these green-skinned dwarves who were barely a meter tall.
In previous encounters, these cowardly fellows merely used their numerical advantage to seize some spoils of war.
But recently, for some reason, a group of huge creatures have appeared among these goblins—they are also nearly two meters tall, but they are much more robust, and their skin has a strange blackish-green color.
They seemed to lack reason and the sense of pain, their eyes bloodshot. Once they entered the battle, they fought with reckless abandon, driving the jackals into a series of defeats.
But Kagal absolutely refused to give up the supplies he had looted this time—the precious food was enough to feed many cubs.
Just as Kagal was becoming increasingly violent, his hair almost completely stained red with the stench of goblin blood, a terrified scream suddenly rang in his ears.
"Look what's in the sky!"
"Dragon! It's a red dragon! Run!"
His eyes were already bloodshot with rage, and he couldn't help but feel ashamed of his cowardly companions. He had lived in this land for decades and had never seen such a legendary creature.
Besides, dragons are only powerful when they fly in the sky. If they dare to come down, he'll taste dragon meat today.
With this thought in mind, it raised its head, and what came into view was a giant, scarlet hand—this became the last thing it ever saw in its life.
The goblins and gnolls nearby clearly saw the red dragon descend from the sky. Several goblins and gnolls who couldn't dodge in time were trampled under his feet, their bones shattering inch by inch, turning into a pile of mud in the blink of an eye.
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Thor felt something sticky under his feet, as if he had stepped on something. He shook his paws in disgust and turned to look at the dumbfounded gnolls and goblins around him.
These guys were either short, green-skinned creatures covered in tattered leather or cloth, or stray dogs with matted, filthy hair that stank.
Are these the familiars that the five-colored dragons most often subdue in their youth? They're so disgusting that they make any dragon want to vomit.
The stench around him made Thor sneeze, and two jets of flame, like tornadoes, shot out of his nostrils.
His wings spread slightly on his back, the shimmering patterns on them resembling rising flames, as he roared loudly at the goblins and gnolls around him.
"Submit! Or be destroyed! I'm giving you only three seconds!"
The deep, resonant voice echoed through the valley, startling the surrounding monsters and making them react instantly.
Some monsters turned their heads and fled without thinking; others lay prostrate on the ground.
Among the goblins, some giant goblins with eerie crimson eyes and drool dripping from their mouths, amidst the incredulous gazes of the gnolls, raised their rough wooden clubs and charged towards Thor.
Thor was filled with rage as he looked at the fleeing monsters and the giant goblin that dared to attack him.
These ungrateful creatures! Heaven knows how much determination he had to make before deciding to take these lowly beings as his followers, out of respect for the essence of spiritual power, and yet they dared to refuse his favor!
He raised his right claw and stomped it hard on the ground. A large amount of magic power in his body rushed into the ground and merged with the earth element, turning into sharp fangs that broke through the soil and strung together the giant goblins that rushed up like candied hawthorns.
Through his slightly parted lips, one could see the blazing light emanating from Thor's throat. The next instant, a dazzling beam of light shot out, followed by a twist of his head that swept across the surrounding area.
"The time has come. All who stand will die!!"