The two giant dragons caused more than two thousand kobold casualties.
Relative to an army of tens of thousands of kobolds, this number was far from a devastating disaster.
However, the attitude of the giant dragons represented by the blue dragon Azra left these kobolds feeling infinite bewilderment.
At this time, Number Ten and Number Four jumped out with that relatively mild dragon might and gave the kobolds another round of sweet-talking, finally getting Svirgis to lead the remaining kobolds to temporarily set up camp outside Dragon Roar Valley to wait for the outcome of the Dragon Strife.
Furthermore, Number Ten not only magnanimously provided medical assistance to those injured kobolds, but even patted its mushroom cap and took on the responsibility for the kobolds' future food needs, merely asking them to guard Dragon Roar Valley and not let the dragon-beasts inside run around randomly.
For this, Svirgis was deeply moved.
Number Ten then took the opportunity to invite Svirgis to visit the Puchi Underground City, saying it was to let him meet its master and see the dragon being fed.
Svirgis thought these two phrases were referring to the same thing.
In his heart, to be able to bestow [Dragon Might] and [Dragon Breath], Number Ten's master had to be a powerful giant dragon.
Furthermore, looking at Number Ten's appearance, its master had not abandoned it because of the Dragon Strife.
A thought couldn't help but pop into Svirgis's mind—could Number Ten's master also take them in?
This thought uncontrollably took root and sprouted in the bottom of his heart; they were too eager for a dragon master!
Regarding Number Ten's invitation, he quickly agreed, as if afraid the other party would go back on its word.
The United Kingdom could not possibly let a kobold army enter the country, but with a small number of kobolds under the supervision of Lady Inanna, who had just resolved a crisis, naturally no one would jump out to say anything.
After settling the main kobold force and distributing the large amount of mushrooms Number Ten sent over, Svirgis picked a few kobolds with more speaking authority to accompany him to the Puchi Underground City.
Very quickly, Svirgis discovered that the situation was exactly as Number Ten had said; traces of dragons were everywhere.
During this journey to the underground city, they saw giant dragons fly past overhead more than once.
However, not a single giant dragon would land because of the calls of the kobold servants below; all the dragons were busy looking for opponents and increasing their strength, wanting to gain the upper hand in the Dragon Strife.
Naturally, the United Kingdom would not like these dragons flying back and forth over their territory, occasionally attacking granaries and livestock to feed.
Fortunately, that was all it was.
Those giant dragons who liked to directly eat people or attack cities were either subjugated in the initial stages or took advantage of by other giant dragons and killed after being injured.
Those who remained now were all giant dragons who wouldn't waste their energy on things unrelated to the Dragon Strife.
As for the behavior of eating livestock and attacking granaries...
In the past, this was a major problem that would cause regional famines, but now—it just meant the types of food available recently would be a bit monotonous, consisting only of mushrooms. "Starving to death" seemed to have become an unfamiliar phrase, far out of reach.
Along the way, having been ignored by giant dragons several times, these kobolds' moods grew increasingly low, while at the same time, they placed more and more importance on this opportunity to meet Number Ten's master.
Finally, after half a month of trekking, they arrived at the deep sector of the Puchi Underground City.
Looking at the massive spatial rift in front of them, the kobolds didn't have much of a reaction.
The space in the Dragon Cliff underground city was variable, and they had heard of many kinds of spatial anomalies even if they hadn't seen them with their own eyes. Naturally, they wouldn't have much of a reaction to a slightly larger spatial rift.
Svirgis had already lifted his foot, preparing to step across and meet the giant dragon, but was pulled back by Number Ten.
Following the tentacle wrapped around his arm, Svirgis looked at Number Ten in confusion.
"No rush, it's cold over there; have something hot to eat first."
"?"
As Number Ten spoke, a Puchi ran over carrying bowls and spoons. Its mushroom cap split open into four petals, revealing the body completely full of mushroom meat broth.
Seeing this, the kobolds each filled a bowl.
"What kind of meat is this? Although it's very tough, the texture is quite unique!" Svirgis said.
Recently, they had eaten many things from the outside world, a lot of which they had never tasted in Dragon Cliff. Every time they ate a new kind, they would habitually inquire about it.
Number Ten didn't answer, but instead asked: "Do you still like it?"
Svirgis chewed up a piece: "It's not bad."
"As long as you like it."
After finishing their meal, Number Ten finally led them through the rift. The kobold shaman in the group cast a temperature-regulating spell on his companions.
Svirgis found it somewhat strange. Along the way, they had encountered existences of various races bringing Puchis with them, bustling back and forth, but they didn't really seem like they were serving a certain giant dragon.
Several times he wanted to ask about Number Ten's master, but the other party changed the subject every time.
"Just follow me, and you'll know."
Number Ten didn't take them to the Mushroom Fortress, but instead went directly through a tunnel to the modified northern underground ruins.
—Or rather, the current Giant Dragon Colosseum.
"Lord—Nagarosa?"
As soon as they entered, they saw a terrifying scene.
A giant dragon covered in wounds was continuously being attacked by a blurry black figure.
That figure was not only fast but also familiar with the terrain. Every time it drilled into the passages of the colosseum, it could charge out from unexpected angles, adding another new wound to the giant dragon's body.
The giant dragon roared angrily, but was already powerless to parry; its defeat was only a matter of time.
The kobold who had called out the giant dragon's name took a step forward, seemingly wanting to help his master, but was stopped by Number Ten extending a tentacle.
"What are you doing? Do you wish to defile the sacred Dragon Strife?"
"Dragon Strife?" The kobolds looked at that black afterimage in shock and doubt.
BOOM—
With a violent crash far exceeding the previous ones, the giant dragon Nagarosa let out a mournful cry, its body smashing heavily onto the ground.
Its kobold servant slumped weakly onto the ground.
Only then did the kobolds see clearly what exactly that streak of black was.
"A Dragonkin?"
Some kobolds recognized Little Black.
"Isn't that—isn't that the Svirgis who often followed behind the great Major Dragon? She isn't a giant dragon; why can she participate in the Dragon Strife?"
"What nonsense are you babbling about?" Number Ten snorted coldly. "Open your dog eyes wide and see clearly for yourself!"
They saw Little Black skillfully dig Norris out of the rubble, grabbing him tightly, as if afraid he'd be kidnapped again.
Little Black had already figured it out; all these dragons were coveting Norris's beautiful scales. She had to better protect the shiny-producer.
And in the eyes of the kobolds, after Little Black killed the giant dragon, her scales became more lustrous, her aura became stronger, and even her wings had grown a bit larger.
These were all proofs of participating in the Dragon Strife and experiencing an increase in power after victory.
Only then did Number Ten say to the kobolds who had questioned it earlier: "Her name is Little Black, not some Svirgis. The [Ancient Dragon Path] has already recognized her qualifications. What are you? And you dare to question it?"
The crowd of kobolds had no way to refute. The corner of the dragon-scaled kobold Svirgis's eye twitched in the group, and he asked weakly: "The dragon you serve, could it be—"
Before his words fell, they saw Number Seven rush into the colosseum, first congratulating Little Black on her victory, and then skillfully feeding itself into her mouth.
Svirgis remembered Number Ten saying earlier that they were responsible for feeding the dragon—was this how they fed it?
Although they would sometimes be used as a snack by giant dragons to satisfy their cravings, no kobold would ever proactively crawl into a giant dragon's mouth.
There was still a tiny bit of difference between being a giant dragon's servant and being a giant dragon's dinner.
"Do not get hung up on the so-called dragon body. The Black Evil—Lord Little Black is the sole future giant dragon, the Ancient Dragon!"
Saying this, Number Ten jumped into the colosseum, refused Little Black's request to eat it too, and used a wind blade to cut a large chunk of meat off the dragon corpse.
Subsequently, it threw this lump of dragon meat toward Svirgis.
The latter subconsciously took a step back, and the dragon meat fell onto the icy ground.
Flicking the dragon blood off its tentacle, Number Ten said: "What are you staring blankly for? It's a gift for you. Didn't you say you liked the texture of it? Keep it well. Next, I'm going to introduce our Fungal Lord to you! Of course, you'll have to change a little bit to be able to communicate with the
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