Chapter 16 The Escaped Gnolls

Snowflakes began to drift through the skies of Stormy Ridge as another half-month passed.

The Rock Fortress stood tall before the entrance to the "Ashen Nest," blocking all creatures who sought to invade.

The goblins, not fond of the cold, hastily built crude camps in the valley, huddling together for warmth, while ogres, fairing slightly better, occupied several large caves, snoring away their slumber within.

Cassius, too, was hibernating within the Giant's Mouth Cave, yawning lazily at the moment, his breaths exhaling sulfurous hot air, filling the cave with a smoky haze.

The Red Dragon naturally enjoyed warmth, and the geothermal heat of the cave made it reluctant to leave.

A few Bipedal Wyverns shamelessly occupied the cave entrance to rest, ostensibly to keep watch and guard their master, but in reality, they were also basking in the heat from within the cave.

However, seeing their devoted behavior, the Red Dragon turned a blind eye.

Ramp, meanwhile, chose a warm and secluded cave as his library, spending his days immersed in those books, daily lamenting to Cassius about how weak the goblin army was, unable to rob new books from human caravans.

"Awooo—"

A cry from a Bipedal Wyvern circling the sky.

That sound signaled—someone had arrived.

Cassius's spirits lifted, and he slowly rose to his feet, stretching his wings before stepping out of the cave and flying into the sky.

Over the past half-month, he hadn't been doing much in the cave beyond sleeping and studying spells.

Food-wise, the Great Goblin had led a squad of elite hunting teams to encircle several mammoths, even delivering one directly to the Giant's Mouth Cave.

The Red Dragon lived a life where clothes were handed to him and food was open-mouthed.

Just when he was getting a bit bored, worrying about how to squander his excess energy and destructive desire with nothing to do, trouble conveniently found its way to him.

The wyverns piled up at the cave entrance saw Cassius wanting to leave and quickly got up in fear and respect, bowing their heads to make way for him, and then followed closely behind him.

But when Cassius flew to the valley entrance and looked down, the sight of the uninvited guests before Rock Fortress dampened his interest somewhat.

Below the castle gate was a group of scrawny, short-statured humanoid creatures, around a hundred in number.

They were covered in scales ranging in color from dark brown to black, with dragon-like heads mixed with canine features and two small, light-colored horns on their foreheads—these were Gnolls, cave-dwelling reptilian humanoids, who often worshipped evil dragons as demigods.

These Gnolls were clearly not in good shape; many bore wounds and bloodstains, clustering in panic below the gates, making a racket.

Cassius could tell they were speaking Draconic, but the sounds coming from their mouths were like noisy barking.

"It's... it's the Great Dragon!"

"It really is a Dragon!"

Only when one of the Gnolls strained to lift its head and saw the Red Dragon in the sky did it let out a cry.

"We are saved!"

Suddenly, all the Gnolls, like devout believers witnessing a miracle, knelt down en masse, mumbling indistinct Draconic.

"Boom—"

The Red Dragon descended from the sky with a thunderous crash, causing the thin layer of snow before the gate to scatter.

"Why have you come here? (Draconic)"

Under the intimidating presence from its bloodline, the Gnolls continued to kneel, not daring to raise their heads.

It was only after a long while did a somewhat stronger Gnoll push through its kin, laboriously making its way out.

It threw itself at the feet of the Red Dragon, and with a sobbing tone in its bark-like Draconic, said, "Great Dragon, we have come to seek refuge with you—"

The Red Dragon coldly gazed down upon the diminutive creature before it, giving off the sense that it could turn it into a pulp with a mere twitch of its body.

These Gnolls were said to carry a trace of dragon blood in their veins, with an innate inclination to flock to the evil dragons. However, their strength was negligible. Since Goblins could be used in their stead, their value to him was quite limited.

Seeing that the Red Dragon remained unmoved, the Gnoll stealthily raised its head, its expression one of utter sorrow, "Our kind have all been devoured by that Monster, leaving only a few of us. Drawn by your formidable presence, we have come to seek your refuge..."

Cassius started to show a flicker of interest at the mention of the so-called "Monster" from the Gnoll's mouth.

"If I take in your weak pack of Gnolls, what can you offer me?"

The Gnoll, seeing a glimmer of hope, quickly retorted, "Gold! We can bring you lots of gold!

"Our entire tribe used to live in the mining caves, enslaved by Human smugglers to mine gold for them. We are familiar with the place, know the veins of the mines, and are aware of where the most gold can be found."

The other Gnolls behind him quickly nodded in agreement.

"Yes, yes."

"Indeed, I used to mine gold as big as my head every day."

"Great Dragon, you must take us in."

Cassius became more intrigued.

Gold was universally valuable everywhere, and with enough of it, he was confident that he could procure all sorts of contraband from Humans, including but not limited to weapons, armor, and Magic tomes, thereby rapidly expanding his influence.

If it couldn't be bought, then it simply meant the gold offered was not plentiful enough.

Moreover, there was the alluded "Monster" within the Gnolls' tale.

Cassius continued to inquire, "This Monster you speak of, what exactly is it?"

Upon hearing this question, the leading Gnoll's face instantly showed an unmistakable fear, and the other Gnolls behind him were thrown into disarray, with some of the more cowardly ones even breaking into tears.

The Gnoll chieftain patted its chest to calm itself before slowly saying, "Master, you must believe what I'm about to tell you."

The Red Dragon didn't dwell on its form of address but gave a slight nod.

As if still lost in its nightmarish recollections, the Gnoll spoke with an immersive tone, "It was a truly terrifying Monster; its body was larger than a hill, and its mouth, oh... it was bigger than a cave. With one bite, it could swallow ten Gnolls whole."

At this point, its voice could not help but quiver.

"Down in the mines, it was like a shadow everywhere we went, and no matter where we fled, the Monster could find us. Our tribe, more than seven hundred strong, was all eaten by it, without even spitting out the bones."

The Gnoll seemed to be shaken.

"It took all my wits to lead just over a hundred of my kin out through the mine's secret passages." Only after saying this did it finally take a deep breath of relief.

After it had finished speaking, the Gnolls behind it huddled together in fear, too frightened to make a sound.

"This Monster you speak of, it's bigger than me?" the Red Dragon asked with keen interest.

The Gnoll leader's head instantly broke out in cold sweat, and for a moment, it did not know how to respond.

In its memory, the Red Dragon was the proudest and most brutal of all creatures; perhaps a single slight would lead to an unmarked grave.

"Speak the truth," Cassius said impatiently.

"Yes, yes, it is," the Gnoll stammered, its eyes even closed.

"What is your name?"

"Jin Ya."

Not receiving the expected claws, the Gnoll leader immediately heaved a sigh of relief, forcing a servile smile on its face that revealed its unusually prominent golden tooth.