"What, a human army?"
"These wretched insects, how dare they venture deep into the Northern Ice Plains."
After hearing Garon's purpose, the White Dragon Mother disdainfully exhaled a breath of frost, her words dripping with scorn for humanity.
Her attitude reminded Garon of something Luna had recently said: many young dragons died at the hands of humans due to their arrogance. The White Dragon Mother was a prime example of such young dragons, looking down on almost all other creatures except those of draconic lineage, believing that only true dragons were noble and exalted, with all other beings fit only to grovel at their feet.
"To be precise, it's an army capable of killing you with ease."
Garon added this detail under the skeptical gaze of the White Dragon Mother. "This human army is primarily composed of cavalry, extraordinary warriors clad in rune-armored, not the ordinary humans you imagine."
After patiently explaining the true makeup of the enemy forces, the White Dragon Mother's arrogant demeanor softened slightly.
"Hmph, you just stole my territory and treasures, and now you want my help?"
"Garon, given our past grievances, do you really think I would agree?"
"Under no circumstances will I, Salya, fight alongside you!"
The White Dragon Mother stared at Garon, her face unapologetically mocking, as if taunting Garon for misunderstanding the situation.
Garon was not angered; he was well aware of the White Dragon Mother's difficult character.
He chuckled softly, saying slowly, "An elite army of two thousand, rune-armored, magicked gear on the spellcasters, and various treasures they might carry—defeating them would yield rich spoils, enough to fill this little den of yours."
The White Dragon Mother's wings twitched, her neck stretching involuntarily, her demeanor betraying her growing excitement.
Her eyes gleamed with an unmistakable desire.
Seeing this, Garon knew he had piqued her interest. He shifted his tone to one of mild regret: "I came to invite you to this feast out of respect for our past dealings. Since you're unwilling to join, consider that I was never here. We'll meet again another day."
After speaking, Garon turned to leave without any sign of hesitation.
The White Dragon Mother struggled internally but, just as Garon reached the edge of her lair and began to flap his wings to fly away, she couldn't help but call out to him, "Wait, I've changed my mind."
Garon stopped and turned back, feigning surprise, "Why the change of heart?"
"Just now you said, given our grievances, you couldn't possibly ally with me?"
"I've decided to seek help from other White Dragons instead; I won't bother you."
The White Dragon Mother lifted her head and slammed her claw down on the ground, making the earth tremble as if to show off her power.
"I, Salya, am the strongest White Dragon of the Northern Ice Plains. I'm willing to help you out of respect for our shared bloodline. Just give me half the spoils."
The strongest White Dragon. Garon chose not to challenge her fragile pride.
However, when it came to dividing the spoils, he didn't immediately agree to her demand for half.
"Sharing half with you is out of the question. We'll divide based on individual merit. The spoils from the enemies you kill will be yours."
The White Dragon Mother thought about it and agreed, "That's acceptable."
Although defeated by Garon, she didn't really think she was much weaker than him.
In fact, she still couldn't quite understand how she had been defeated by Garon in the first place.
"Since you've decided to join, let's not delay any longer. Let's move out now."
Garon flapped his wings and took to the sky, quickly gaining altitude.
The White Dragon Mother, excited, quickly followed.
As the two dragons ascended, the den's three nearly forgotten younglings exchanged looks, their feelings quite complex.
In the cold, cutting wind high above, Garon flew ahead, with the White Dragon Mother looking resentfully at Garon's slightly smaller form.
Despite her best efforts, she couldn't outpace Garon, always remaining a few body lengths behind.
Initially, the White Dragon Mother believed Garon couldn't maintain his pace for long, but as time passed, Garon's speed didn't decrease, and he consistently stayed ahead of her.
"Damn it!"
The White Dragon Mother furiously flapped her wings, briefly increasing her speed.
However, Garon simultaneously sped up a bit more, maintaining his distance from the White Dragon Mother.
Garon glanced back at the White Dragon Mother, who was gritting her teeth and desperately flapping her wings. He was well aware of her small schemes.
Currently, Garon's top speed with time acceleration was five times normal, consuming temporal energy.
But at one times speed, the river
of time naturally enveloped him, propelling him forward without any consumption—a fixed, permanent passive ability by now.
In the high, unobstructed sky, the two dragons swiftly approached their destination.
Before reaching the ambush point, they encountered the kin army still en route.
The ferocious Frost Tiger immediately sensed Garon's presence, raising its head to the sky. Upon noticing the White Dragon Mother next to Garon, it defensively roared a thunderous warning.
The White Dragon Mother looked down disdainfully and snorted coldly, releasing her dragon's presence.
Although the Frost Tiger was momentarily subdued by her presence, it quickly recovered and continued its defiant roaring.
"Garon, your kin seem to lack proper respect for a true dragon."
Had Garon not been present, the White Dragon Mother would have torn the challenging Frost Tiger to shreds.
Garon calmly replied, "It's a ferocious breed, not very intelligent. As my kin, respecting me is sufficient."
The White Dragon Mother had once had her own kin, but after leaving the Ice Cliff territory, she had devoured them in a fit of rage during the move. In her new environment, she hadn't yet taken in new kin.
Arriving at the snow mountain ambush point ahead of the slower-moving kin, the White Dragon Mother nodded approvingly at Garon's choice of location, commenting in an expert tone, "This place is perfect for a sudden attack, Garon. It seems you do have some skills."
Garon:
He felt the White Dragon Mother might have forgotten how thoroughly he had beaten her.
Four hours later, the kin army also arrived, climbing the snow mountain to join Garon at the front.
Meanwhile, the Northern Ice Plains favored its native creatures with a considerable snowfall.
What started as a light flurry soon turned into a heavy snowstorm within minutes, the howling wind sweeping up the snow, obscuring the figures of the two white dragons and their kin.
This was typical weather for the Northern Ice Plains.
Garon looked up at the sky and thought to himself that fortune was smiling upon them.
He exchanged a glance with the White Dragon Mother, and without saying a word, they both cast fog cloud spells.
In setting up the ambush, he and the White Dragon Mother shared a remarkably similar way of thinking.
Two clouds extended out, enveloping Garon's kin and masking their magical essence.
Then, the white giants crouched on the snow mountain, blending with the cloud and snowstorm. Garon's platinum eyes occasionally flickered as he patiently watched below.