Deep within the Silvermoon Forest, the Gnolls had established their own tribe. They cleared a wide area by chopping down trees and used the timber to construct simple wooden huts.
They had no allies—or rather, if they were hungry enough, allies could also serve as food.
As Su Nian approached the Gnoll tribe, he keenly picked up the shouts and calls echoing within the settlement.
The voices of these Gnolls were peculiar, neither the barking of dogs nor the howling of wolves. It was more like a guttural growl, a combination of a beastly rumble and a clicking tongue, which was rather unpleasant to hear.
The moment Su Nian and his Kobold followers appeared, they were immediately spotted by the Gnoll patrols outside the settlement.
The Gnolls, moving in groups of three to five, quickly surrounded Su Nian and the Kobolds. Their fierce eyes gleamed with greed and a hint of caution.
Standing roughly two meters tall, the Gnolls appeared incredibly robust.
Their heads resembled those of hyenas, with yellowed teeth, bloodshot eyes, and thick, dark-yellow fur covering their bodies. The fur on their faces and backs was even darker, leaning toward a deep brown, and some had black leopard-like spots on their pelts.
The weapons in their hands were surprisingly decent, many of them standard-issue equipment looted from humans.
Among every five Gnolls, at least one elite Gnoll carried three or four human skulls hanging from its waist and held a snarling mountain wolf on a leash.
[Elite Gnoll]
[Level: 12 (Tier 2)]
"Vile Kobolds! This is the territory of the Gnolls. Either crawl out of here or crawl into our bellies!"
An elite Gnoll stepped forward, dragging its mountain wolf along. Its savage eyes glared at the group of Kobolds, issuing a low warning. Foul-smelling drool dripped from its fanged mouth.
The axe in its hand was already raised, its body slightly crouched, and one foot stepped back half a pace, ready to attack.
Had it not been for the terrifying black dragon standing behind these Kobolds, the Gnolls wouldn't have wasted any words on such trash.
Bolikri, though intimidated by the towering Gnolls, quickly steadied himself, for he knew his master stood behind him.
The great master who was invincible in battle!
"I'll count to three. Get your chieftain out here, or today will mark your return to Erysnul, the god of hatred and slaughter!"
Bolikri pointed at the elite Gnoll's nose, trying to sound fierce but clearly lacking confidence. His comical display was like a child challenging a burly adult to a duel.
To his credit, Bolikri had done well to hold his ground. If it had been goblins or hobgoblins in his place, they would have been paralyzed with fear by now.
"Kobold, do you even know what you're saying?"
The elite Gnoll's gaze grew even more menacing, and the surrounding Gnolls crouched lower, their crimson eyes brimming with killing intent, awaiting the command to attack.
Bolikri gritted his teeth and shouted, "Three—!"
"Two—!"
"Attack! Kill these insolent fools! The chieftain has never tasted dragon meat before. Tonight, every Gnoll will feast on dragon flesh!!"
"Awwooo—!"
The elite Gnoll interrupted Bolikri's countdown, raising its rusted axe and lunging at the diminutive Kobold.
But in the next instant, a shadow streaked through the air.
The elite Gnoll felt a sharp pain in its chest. With a resounding crack, it was sent flying backward, crashing through two or three trees before collapsing lifelessly on the ground, its legs twitching briefly before it died.
Truly a chaotic and evil race.
They wouldn't learn their lesson until they faced death itself.
Su Nian was like a wolf among sheep. His sturdy dragon claws grasped a Gnoll's head and crushed it amidst its pitiful howls, sending red and white matter splattering onto his jet-black scales.
His arms, horns, and even his tail had become deadly weapons.
The sheer ferocity of his strength meant that any Gnoll he struck was either dead or gravely injured.
These reckless Gnolls couldn't even scratch him. The occasional hit from their blades left nothing more than a faint white mark on his scales.
By the time Bolikri and the other Kobolds came to their senses, the entrance to the settlement was littered with severed limbs. The pungent stench of blood and urine permeated every inch of the air.
From time to time, the corpses of Gnolls with grotesque expressions were hurled from within the settlement, landing like trash outside the wooden fences.
The scorching greenish-blue dragon breath formed a fiery line, producing thick black smoke. In no time, the entire Gnoll settlement was in chaos, a scene of utter pandemonium.
Inside the Gnoll settlement, Su Nian sat cross-legged on the Gnoll chieftain's beast-hide cushion. His powerful, pitch-black dragon claws, bulging with muscles, gripped the chieftain's head and lifted it into the air.
"I heard you wanted to taste dragon meat?"
His raspy, coarse voice, speaking in Draconic, sounded like the roar of a demon from the abyss. His scythe-like dragon horns pointed directly at the Gnoll's eyes, as if ready to pierce through and churn its brain to mush.
"Your... your Excellency, the true dragon, I... I would never entertain such a ridiculous thought."
"The Gnoll tribe is willing to surrender and become your vassals! No, your slaves!"
The Gnoll chieftain was utterly terrified. Moments ago, it had been enjoying itself on its beast-hide cushion with a few female Gnolls. Before it could react, a fearsome and majestic black dragon had stormed into its settlement.
It had never seen a black dragon like this before.
In its memory, black dragons were usually scrawny and ugly, foolish and arrogant, with emaciated bodies that squatted in swamps, feeding on rotting fish and shrimp.
Such black dragons didn't intimidate the Gnoll chieftain. If it were willing to pay a price, it believed it could lead its tribe to kill a Tier 3 juvenile black dragon.
But this dragon was different.
He had a body as imposing and muscular as a red dragon, with demonic, menacing horns.
He could even breathe greenish-blue corrosive flames.
Moments ago, just a slight touch of the flames had instantly burned its hand to a crisp. If it hadn't decisively severed its hand, its entire body might have been consumed by now.
"Kehehehe..."
"Give up resisting, or the next second, I'll crush your skull!"
Hearing this, the Gnoll chieftain obediently went limp, hanging in the air like a corpse, not daring to resist. It silently opened its mind, realizing that the black dragon intended to form a Dragon Blood Contract with it.
Once a drop of dragon blood merged into the Gnoll's forehead, Su Nian felt a faint bloodline connection and finally released the chieftain.
"From now on, your name is Greyback."
"Starting today, you and the remaining Gnolls under your command will run ten kilometers every morning and evening. During the day, go to the Spearboar's territory, lift them up and put them down, repeating this five hundred times."
"In addition, you'll also do a thousand burpees and push-ups... hmm... that'll be all for now."
Greyback knelt on the ground, touching the black scales on his neck, and respectfully asked, "Great Master, what are burpees and push-ups?"
"Bolikri will explain it to you."
Su Nian kicked away a Gnoll corpse blocking his path and strode confidently to the center of the settlement. He leaped onto the highest point of the bonfire rack, spreading his formidable dragon form and glaring down at all the Gnolls.
"Surrender or die!"
The dragon's roar thundered over the settlement.
The battered and bruised Gnolls exchanged glances, then looked at their now-submissive chieftain. In the end, they could only prostrate themselves on the ground, trembling in fear.
Su Nian could have directly forced the Gnoll chieftain to sign the contract, but with such a chaotic and evil tribe, he couldn't possibly contract with every single one of them. Therefore, a show of violence was necessary to establish his dominance.
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