Ashen Dragon

In the terrified, fearful eyes of the orcs, the Red Dragon swung the blood-stained spear, pointing its tip at Solo suspended in mid-air.

"Swish—"

A dazzling blood light shot out, striking the body of the orc.

In an instant, Solo felt his body being manipulated by an invisible giant hand, leaving no room for resistance, feeling his flesh being peeled off, bones removed, and even his soul extracted together.

The orc hovered in mid-air, watched by countless eyes, his burly body gradually shrank, strong limbs became thin and sunken, even the fur became withered.

Soon, Solo realized the Red Dragon was doing something more terrifying than killing him—extracting his strength!

"No, no—"

"Red Dragon! You can't take away my strength!"

Solo shouted silently, anger, fear, and panic filled his heart.

But under the divine power controlling the orcs, he was helpless, leaving himself at the mercy of the other party as if being manipulated like a puppet.

Eventually, Solo had transformed into an elderly orc less than 1.6 meters tall, with shriveled muscles, wrinkled skin, and nearly bald fur.

At a glance, no one would associate him with the previously spirited Great Chief of the orcs; they might even think of him as an old goblin.

Cassius finally lowered the spear, and Solo fell from mid-air, crashing heavily to the ground, spinning with dizziness, scattered, even his bones were all broken.

"Ugh..."

Solo opened his eyes, struggled to lower his head, seeing the gaunt, withered, wrinkled body that he previously despised and thought deserved death.

He moved his fingers, realizing with horror: his strength was less than a thousandth of before, even raising his hand was exhausting, not to mention fighting.

For the orcs who revered strength, this was worse than death—not just punishment severing a thousand cuts, it's the most horrifying torture!

Around, the orcs first whispered, then gradually grew louder, discussing casually.

"Chief Solo has become... so weak."

"Yes, this aura is no better than an Underworld Dwarf."

Solo painfully lifted his head, his face full of fear as he looked towards the sky at the Red Dragon, tremulously begging, "Red Dragon, no, His Majesty Cassius, please return my strength to me..."

However, Cassius merely watched with interest, as if observing a weak little ant.

"Such a guy, is he worthy to be our Chieftain?"

"He's too weak, a disgrace to the teachings of the Father God. According to tribal rules, he should be expelled by us."

"Tsk tsk, he looks like a wild dog..."

"Abandon this guy by the roadside, he'll probably be eaten clean by vultures, becoming a pile of white bones."

The orcs' discussions grew increasingly brazen, like sharp knives stabbing into Solo's heart again and again, making him feel immeasurable anger, regret, and pain.

Under people's gaze, Solo struggled to bury his head in the ground, using his forehead to hit the ground repeatedly, until blood flowed down.

His face full of blood and tears, he hoarsely cried, "His Majesty Cassius, please return my strength to me.

I... I'm willing to lead the Red Blood Tribe in submission to you, I'm willing to offer everything I have..."

However, Cassius glanced and shook his head with amusement, saying, "Now, besides a rotten life, what valuable thing do you have for me?

Chief Solo, since you made the choice—you must pay the price for it."

"Right, I had deep thinking too! This weak old thing isn't worthy to be our Chieftain!"

Suddenly, a loud roar sounded, like thunder bursting from the ground, catching people's attention, even the Red Dragon in the sky looked over.

Only to see a burly, ugly-looking green-skin orc leap out, holding sharp steel claws, stomping Solo underfoot with imposing force.

Unexpectedly, this orc was one of the two trusted aides of Solo, Galron, who participated in the "Bloody Day".

Solo looked at the flaunting former subordinate, wanting to angrily roar but could only weakly say: "Damn...low-level orc, your life...was all granted by me...

If not for me...you wouldn't even exist!"

Galron waved the steel claws dismissively, saying: "Old guy, you said the relic of the old era should be eliminated!"

"Slash—"

Before Solo could respond, the sound of blades piercing flesh arose, Galron swung the steel claw, stabbing Solo's head directly!

The old face was full of terror and disbelief—until death, he couldn't believe he would be killed by an orc he personally nurtured.

Galron easily drew the blood-stained steel claw, blood and brain matter sprayed from the head, he laughed, saying: "Old guy, goodbye."

Then, Galron raised his head, pointing to the dead Solo, his face smeared with blood showed a fawning smile: "Master Red Dragon, this old guy has been killed by me.

We orcs are all willing to follow a strong one like you, you are our boss, show us where to kill."

"Yeah, that old guy Solo didn't deserve to be our boss at all!"

"Boss Cassius!"

"Plus, I feel a familiar, intimate aura, relying on this Big Dragon Boss is certainly right!"

The green-skin orcs cultivated by Solo instantly defected, noisily pledging allegiance to the Red Dragon, while those pure-blood orcs remained pale-faced, silent.

For these simple-minded, strong-limbed green-skin orcs, as long as there's battle, it didn't matter to whom they submitted.

Moreover, Cassius not only possessed immense strength, able to easily rid the former Chieftain Solo like catching a chick, but he also emitted the aura of "Father God".

Seeing emotions in place, Galron kneeled on the ground, loudly saying: "His Majesty Cassius, please accept our submission!"

After that, he imitated those Imperial People, fervently shouting: "Long live His Majesty Cassius!"

Cassius watched this orc who's turned his back, feeling amused and thinking this guy was also quite a talent.

Galron, he also heard the name; in a previous life, he was one of the "Four Great Calamities" of the Beast Tide, responsible for several large-scale massacres, killing tens of thousands of humans, becoming a nightmare for countless Fianso Northerners.

If it were before, Cassius might indeed have recruited him to utilize this orc boss.

But now, after suffering some major setbacks, Cassius had become much more cautious.

This orc bore too heavy an imprint of the Beastman God and Mother of Fungi; who knew how many hidden backdoors were within him, rashly recruiting could pose a threat.

Even if intending to utilize the divine power in the orc domain, Cassius preferred to create a unique Dragon Vein Race without hidden dangers.

Thinking this, Cassius coldly watched the battlefield's tens of thousands of orcs, slowly raised the blood spear symbolizing orc authority in his claw, releasing a crimson divine light spreading miles.

"Orcs, hear my command—"

Cassius' thunderous voice echoed in the sky.

"Oh, wonderful!"

"The boss agreed?"

"From now on, we are Imperial People!"

Seeing the familiar blood-red divine light in the sky, the orcs instantly became exhilarated, waving spears and bone rods, cheering, Galron was overjoyed too.

However, Cassius' following words made them feel as if falling into an icy abyss.

"I shall grant you—death!"

"Swish—"

The blood-colored divine light spread blue, in an instant, the orcs fell like harvested wheat in succession.