Chapter 85 The Ambush
"What? A human army?" Salia spat out a breath of frost, her words dripping with contempt for humans. "How dare those wretched reptiles venture into the extreme Arctic Ice Field."
Her attitude reminded Brian of what Luna had said recently: many young dragons met their end at the hands of humans due to their arrogance. Salia was one of those dragons, looking down on almost all creatures except fellow dragons, believing only true dragons were noble and exalted, while other creatures were fit only to grovel at their feet.
"To be precise, a human army capable of easily killing you," Brian added, continuing under Salia's suspicious gaze. "This army is primarily composed of cavalry, extraordinary warriors clad in runic heavy armor, not the ordinary humans you imagine."
After patiently explaining, Salia's arrogant demeanor slightly receded.
"You just robbed my territory and treasure, and now you want my help?" she asked. "Brian, given our enmity, do you really think I would agree? No matter what, I will never fight alongside you!"
Salia stared at Brian, her face showing undisguised derision, as if mocking Brian's unknown.
Brian wasn't angered, fully aware of Salia's nature.
He chuckled. "A crack force of two thousand, runic heavy armor, spellcasters' magical equipment, and the treasures they might carry... capturing them would yield rich spoils, enough to fill your little cave."
Salia wavered, her dragon wings twitching unconsciously, her neck stretching out eagerly. Her eyes gleamed with greed.
Seeing this, Brian knew she was tempted and continued, in a slightly regretful tone, "I invited you to this feast out of old times' sake. Since you're not interested, let's pretend I was never here. Goodbye for now."
As he spoke, Brian turned and left without hesitation.
Salia struggled with her emotions, finally calling out to Brian as he reached the edge of her dragon's lair, wings fluttering as if to fly away. "Wait, I've changed my mind," she shouted.
Brian stopped and asked in surprise, "Why the change of heart? You just said, given our enmity, you'd never team up with me. I decided to seek cooperation with other white dragons, so as not to trouble you."
Salia raised her head, slamming her dragon claws to the ground, causing a tremor as if to demonstrate her strength. "I am the mightiest white dragon in the extreme Arctic Ice Field. I'm willing to help you because you are my child. Just give me half of the spoils," Salia said.
The mightiest white dragon... Brian refrained from further wounding Salia's fragile ego. However, on the matter of loot division, he didn't agree to her demand for half.
"Sharing half is out of the question. We'll divide the spoils based on our contributions. The loot from enemies you kill will belong to you."
Salia thought for a moment and agreed. "Fine."
Despite being defeated by Brian, she didn't think she was much weaker than him. In fact, she still felt puzzled about how she had been defeated by Brian.
"Since you've decided to join, we should leave immediately," Brian said, flapping his dragon wings and flying away.
Salia, with excitement on her face, followed Brian closely.
As the two dragons soared high into the sky, the neglected young dragons in the nest exchanged complex glances.
In the biting cold wind, Brian flew ahead, Salia watching his slightly smaller frame with displeasure. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't surpass Brian in speed. Initially, she didn't believe it, thinking Brian wouldn't sustain such speed for long, but as time passed, Brian still stayed ahead of her.
"Damn it!" Salia flapped her wings vigorously, increasing her speed.
Yet, Brian also sped up slightly, maintaining the same distance from her. Glancing back at the gritting, struggling White Dragon Mother, Brian knew her intention clearly.
Currently, Brian's acceleration state limit was five times the normal speed, which consumed temporal power. But when using only one-fold speed, the River of Time Water surrounded him, resulting in no energy consumption at all.
Flying in a straight line at high altitudes with no obstacles, the two dragons moved rapidly.
They encountered their army still on the move toward the ambush site.
The ferocious frost tiger first sensed Brian's presence, lifting its head to look up. Noticing Salia, it immediately growled in vigilance.
Salia looked down and snorted disdainfully, releasing her dragon's might.
However, the ferocious frost tiger quickly shook it off and continued to growl incessantly.
"Brian, your subordinates lack proper respect for a true dragon."
Had Brian not been present, Salia would have shredded the insolent frost tiger.
Brian replied coolly, "It's a savage beast, not very intelligent. Respecting me is sufficient."
Salia also had subordinates with her when she left the Ice Cliff Territory, but she devoured them in a fit of rage halfway through her journey. Then she did not take in any new subordinates.
Without traveling with the slower subordinates, Salia and Brian arrived at the ambush site ahead of them.
Surveying the chosen snow mountain ambush point, Salia nodded approvingly, saying, "This place is ideal for a sudden attack. Brian, you do have some skill."
Brian remained silent, feeling she had forgotten the thrashing he had given her.
Four hours later, the vassal army also arrived, climbing the snow mountain to gather before Brian.
Simultaneously, the Arctic Ice Field favored its native creatures, bringing a significant snowfall at this time.
Initially, it was just light snow, but within ten minutes, it turned into a heavy snowfall that blanketed the area in white, with howling winds, masking the presence of the two white dragons and their subordinates.
Constant snowfall in the Arctic Ice Field was normal.
Brian looked up at the sky, in a good mood.
He and Salia exchanged glances, both activating their Cloud Fog Technique together.
Regarding ambush tactics, they shared the same thought.
The spreading mists enveloped Brian's subordinates, concealing the magical creatures' presence.
The white dragons then crouched on the snow-capped mountain, blending seamlessly with the clouds and wind-blown snow, their platinum eyes blinking occasionally as they patiently watched below.
