Chapter 1363
Chapter 1363: The Dragon Vanguard Arrives!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Xia Fei and Mu Feng approached the dragon outpost.
Whoosh! A dark silhouette flew out. It was a Dragoon mounted on another Night Owl.
This warrior waved at Mu Feng, indicating for them to follow. Together, the three people and two mounts entered a cloud of violet-red star dust.
This stardust was as thick as fog, making it difficult to see, but these scouts were very experienced, and the Night Owls they rode were able to swiftly dodge the large rocks in space.
The party quickly came under the shadow of an asteroid. That warrior said grimly, “We can’t get any closer. It seems like there’s been some sort of incident at the dragon outpost.”
!!
Mu Feng asked in shock, “What happened?”
The warrior shook his head. “I’m still not sure, but starting several hours ago, the dragon outpost became abnormally quiet, very different from usual. A dragon general might be coming.”
Afraid that Xia Fei didn’t understand, Mu Feng explained, “The outpost normally only has scouting Night Owls and puppets. The real dragons don’t usually come to the front line, choosing to rest in the rear.
“Night Owls and the Hell Brigade don’t have rules like our people, and the outpost is normally very chaotic. Only when a dragon comes to inspect the place will those guys fearfully get in line.”
Xia Fei nodded and asked, “Where are the four Soul Familiars?”
Mu Feng replied, “They’re even closer. They seem to have some sort of special ability that lets them get closer to the outpost without being detected. Perhaps it’s because they’re not actually sapient lifeforms? But we’re different; if we get any closer, we’ll definitely be discovered. Trust me. After many years of battle, the Dragoons understand how to interact with the enemy.”
Xia Fei said nothing, but he dispelled any thoughts of moving ahead. While the Dragoons were still getting ready, Xia Fei had no plans of inciting an early battle.
But Xia Fei was still very uneasy about Wing, Gale, Sea, and Calamity. They were the Soul Familiars of the Sky Devils, and their actions were strange. Just because Xia Fei didn’t want to start a battle didn’t mean that those fellows would be as cautious!
After some thought, Xia Fei asked, “I know an ocular cognition technique from an ancient era. It is able to penetrate through the stardust and see what’s happening over a great distance. Do you know if it will draw the attention of the dragons?”
Mu Feng was startled, asking curiously, “Ocular cognition? What kind of ocular cognition?”
“The Triclopean Fiend Race’s ocular cognition, Origin of Heaven!” Xia Fei answered.
Mu Feng and the other Dragoon were stunned. Mu Feng’s eyes widened as he repeated in shock, “The Origin of Heaven!? That’s the energy observation technique that only the Triclopean Fiend Race Patriarch and his successors can inherit! It’s the highest level of ocular cognition in the universe! How did you learn it!?”
Xia Fei truthfully told them what he had experienced, how he had encountered that Triclopean Fiend Race expert who still bore some resentment, and how he had inherited the ocular cognition.
Mu Feng sighed when he heard this. He said in wonder, “You encountered the former Triclopean King, Ba Huang! I never expected his death to be so tragic. The Triclopeans only had Fiend added to their name because their race had many marriages with our Fiend Race.
“This was something the Sky Devils gave special permission for, saying that the Triclopeans and the Fiends had compatible genetics. This was very rare among other sapient races. Later on, people started adding Fiend to the Triclopeans, a name which they were very happy to accept.”
After a pause, Mu Feng added, “I don’t know about anything else, but you can definitely use the Origin of Heaven! I really didn’t think that the precious legacy of the Triclopian Fiend Race would end up in your hands. In a little while, you must give us a detailed breakdown of the energy distribution. This will help fill out the blanks in the information of our reconnaissance squad.”
“No problem!” After saying that, Xia Fei crawled up to the top of the asteroid and laid down.
“Origin of Heaven, activate!”
Whoosh! Xia Fei’s eyes became extremely bright, and his gaze became like that of an extremely long-range telescope, penetrating through the stardust and falling upon a small asteroid.
This asteroid had been hollowed out, and its insides were full of tunnels and a massive barracks. Countless enemies were garrisoned here, and numerous Night Owls flew around the asteroid, howling constantly.
Xia Fei used his ocular cognition to search for traces of the four Soul Familiars and also observe the activity in the dragon outpost.
“How many enemies are present at the dragon outpost?” Mu Feng asked.
Xia Fei made a quick mental estimate and said, “If it’s on the outside, there were not a lot; only around one hundred thousand Hell legionnaires and several hundred Night Owls. But inside the base, there are many Hell legionnaires who seem to be in hibernation, numbering at least one million.”
“One million!” Mu Feng was stunned, cursing, “Normally, we can only observe the perimeter of the base and can’t see inside. So it turns out they were hiding most of their forces!”
The Devil Shadow Dragoons plus the warriors that Xia Fei had brought and Sunlight’s beast army only had one hundred thousand men in total, but the Dragon Race’s forward outpost alone had a garrison of more than one million. This was enormous pressure for the Dragoons!
Suddenly, Xia Fei exclaimed in shock, “It seems, it seems that dragons are coming! The Hell Brigade has started lining up, and the Night Owls have widened their defensive perimeter!”
Mu Feng nodded, apparently unconcerned. “The dragons aren’t really in a much better state than us. Those guys have extremely low reproductive capabilities, and we’ve killed quite a few of them. Their total number can’t be more than two thousand.
“At certain intervals, a dragon will come to inspect the outpost. This isn’t some big deal. At most, it will be two or three of those wicked dragons. The key here is the four Soul Familiars. We can’t let them reveal themselves, or else the dragons will find out that we have reinforcements.”
Xia Fei swallowed and spoke in a hoarse voice, “It might not just be two or three, but two or three hundred!”
Mu Feng paled. That was a hundred times more than he had expected! Even a fool could tell that so many dragons coming to the forward base was bad news!
“Say that again! How many dragons!?” Mu Feng demanded, his eyes bulging.
“At least two hundred. I can’t have counted wrong,” Xia Fei said firmly.
“Their appearance! Tell me what these Megadragons look like!” Mu Feng asked nervously.
Xia Fei replied, “Their appearance isn’t too out there. They have wingspans of about one hundred kilometers, and their skin is gray.”
‘My gods!,’ Mu Feng couldn’t help but mentally curse, and the Dragoon next to him clenched his fists.
Xia Fei turned his head and asked curiously, “What? Is there a problem? My Origin of Heaven can observe changes in energy. The number can’t be wrong.”
Mu Feng smashed his fist on the ground and said to the other Dragoon, “Hurry and inform headquarters! The Dragon Vanguard has arrived at the frontline outpost!”
The warrior nodded hastily and flew off on his Night Owl to the Seven Star Steles.
Swallowing hard, Mu Feng said to Xia Fei, “There’s not just one species of Megadragons. They are divided according to color. The gray ones are the vanguard forces. They’re considered weaker existences among the Megadragons. During these years, they’ve always been used as cannon fodder, so there are only three hundred-some left.
“After them come the red Megadragons. Those are the main force, their numbers exceeding one thousand, and after those are the black Megadragons. They are the second echelon of the main force, and their numbers exceed five hundred. The final tier is the golden Megadragon King! He is the only one, and unlike the other dragons, he has a name: Firmament!
“It’s been more than a year since the last major battle, which is neither too long nor too short. Since the Dragon Vanguard has arrived at the outpost, it’s highly likely that a new battle will be beginning anew!”
Xia Fei was stunned. War!? Devil Shadow Dragoons versus the Megadragons! It came so quickly!
Turning back around, Xia Fei continued to observe. Finally, he found the four Soul Familiars. When seen through his Origin of Heaven ocular cognition, the four Soul Familiars seemed very ethereal. That was because they were Soul Familiars, born from the souls of the Sky Devils and not actual sapient lifeforms. It made them very easy to identify.
These four guys had gotten close to the dragon base and were lying behind a hill like sinister snakes. They had disguised themselves with sand, and it seemed like they were about to attack!
Xia Fei couldn’t help but start sweating. The four Soul Familiars were strong, but there was no way they could win against three hundred gray Megadragons. Moreover, they would also end up exposing the fact that the Dragoons had received reinforcements!
But the four Soul Familiars, after hesitating for a long time, decided to give up on the crazy idea and silently headed back the way they had come.
…
Once the four Soul Familiars had left the danger zone, Xia Fei and Mu Feng intercepted them, Xia Fei loudly questioning them over their actions. “What in the world were the four of you doing!? Why did you run off to the dragon base!?”
Wing arrogantly folded his arms and said, “We’re not your people! Are you trying to control me!?”
Gale waved his hand, indicating that his comrades should be silent. He frowned and said to Xia Fei, “The four of us have killed before, but we have never killed a dragon, so we went over to the dragon forward outpost to take a look, and if we had a chance, we wanted to take a head or two.”
“And?” Xia Fei asked grimly.
Gale shook his head and sighed. “We couldn’t win. There were more than three hundred of those wicked creatures there. We saw that the situation wasn’t good and retreated.”
Xia Fei and Mu Feng looked at each other. They had seen the whole process very clearly, and from their words, they had once more confirmed that the Dragon Vanguard had arrived! This was an omen that a great battle was coming!
Xia Fei and Mu Feng became nervous and didn’t say anything. Gale asked curiously, “Did you not know that there were so many vicious dragons at the forward outpost?”
“We knew, oh yes, we knew,” Xia Fei coolly said. “Forget it. Let’s go back. Your opportunity to kill dragons might come very soon!”
The four Soul Familiars were startled and surprised. Calamity, who had never been much of a talker, shook his head and said firmly, “Don’t say we didn’t warn you, but the dragons might be even stronger than we imagined! This might not be an easy battle.”
—
There was a suffocating silence as the four Soul Familiars, Xia Fei, and Mu Feng returned to the Dragoon base.
When they were still very far from the Seven Star Steles, Xia Fei noticed something strange. The shortest of the steles had lit up!
Each stele had the images of stars on them, and these images were uselessly dark and gloomy. Only when a warrior entered would they light up.
“Someone has entered the Seven Star Steles!?” Xia Fei said in shock.
Mu Feng also found it weird, and he hastened his Night Owl to hurry back to headquarters.
After turning off his communication device, Mu Feng turned to Xia Fei, his expression glum. “Someone really has gone into the Seven Star Steles, but it doesn’t seem to be one of our people…”