Ashen Dragon

"Silence!"

"You must submit to me absolutely."

Cassius fully unleashed his leader's aura, causing all present retainers to feel a heavy pressure from above.

Whether it was the wyverns, chimeras, or ogres, they all involuntarily bowed and prostrated themselves.

Only after all retainers had bowed did Red Dragon, Cassius slowly use his sharp claws to cut open the skin on his palm.

His palm was not covered by scales but had thick, tough skin, making it difficult even for the red dragon himself to slice it open.

The scratch widened, and warm blood slowly seeped from the wound, gathering and dripping.

"Drip...Drip...Drip..."

The bright red blood continuously dripped onto the boulder, pooling in a shallow pit.

The retainers still had their heads bowed, and the air was filled with a silent atmosphere.

No one dared to look up, not even to divert their gaze from the ground, for fear of angering the red dragon and facing a tragic end.

"Bloodline Gift,"

Cassius murmured.

As the special ability was activated under the red dragon's will.

A strange power emerged from the leader's aura, connecting the red dragon with the blood.

Instantly, Cassius felt the dripping blood was no longer a dead object but something closely linked to his body, to his own bloodline.

It was almost like an extension of his bloodline, able to extend his influence even further and deeper.

When all the blood was completely transformed, Cassius could clearly feel a part of his strength being divided.

But this act was not purely giving; it was more like a tree sowing its seeds, to be replenished when they "bear fruit."

The still warm blood in the shallow pit slowly flowed.

It contained unbelievable power.

This was the Blood of Grace.

The retainers did not know to what extent or if the ritual had succeeded, so they still did not dare to look up.

The air in the valley was nearly stagnant, with thousands of monsters crowded within, yet it was extraordinarily silent.

Finally, Cassius broke the silence.

"You may rise."

Upon hearing their master's command, the retainers in the valley heaved a sigh of relief and stood up in large numbers.

But as soon as they noticed the blood slowly flowing in the shallow pit, they held their breath again, hearts pounding.

Who wouldn't wish to be the lucky one to gain long life and great power?

"Ramp,"

Cassius called out the first name.

This ogre mage was personally chosen by the red dragon as the chief steward, a rare monster spellcaster, and a key contributor to the Ashen Nest's prosperity. Remarkably, he had been completely convinced, wholeheartedly dedicated to the red dragon's so-called grand blueprint.

Cassius needed him to maintain authority, possess greater power, and set a positive example for all the monsters of the Ashen Nest.

Ramp pretended to push his glasses calmly, as if he had long expected to be the first to be gifted.

But in reality, he had been trembling with nervousness until the red dragon named him, barely calming his erratic emotions, displaying a look of knowing exactly what was happening.

Ramp struggled to climb the rock and quietly waited.

The blood flowed backward, surging into the ogre's mouth.

The blood that entered Ramp's mouth was just a portion of it, not much for an ogre over three meters tall.

Usually, this big-bellied ogre could even drink an entire mammoth's blood dry.

But as soon as the "Blood of Grace" entered his mouth, Ramp's body convulsed violently.

His entire bulk of fat trembled incessantly.

"Ah—"

As the immense elemental energy flowed down his throat.

The ogre's eyes turned crimson, his face contorted. He opened his gaping maw, capable of swallowing a human head, looking every bit like a monster that had lost all sanity, with none of his previous pretended calmness.

But the scorching fire element continued to travel down his esophagus into his stomach, causing his abdomen to turn as red as a blazing flame burning inside him.

Ogres were known to eat anything, with incredibly strong digestive systems, but at that moment, for the first time, he felt unimaginable agony in his stomach.

"It's burning, it's burning!"

Ramp could no longer stand; he curled up on the ground, his huge body rolling and struggling, his arms pounding the ground to vent his pain.

He hammered the boulder with a loud thud, while the dragon blood churned in his belly.

Under the ogre's thrashing, the blood containing elemental power entered his bloodstream, pumped by his intensely beating heart to every part of his body, about to bring a complete transformation.

"Huff, huff..."

He panted heavily on the rock, his enormous body swelling and reddening, steam rising from his skin. At that moment, he was like an overinflated balloon, seemingly about to burst at any moment.

The dragonkin's power was too strong for this lowly-blooded ogre.

Ramp let out one low howl after another, his voice growing weaker, but his eyes gradually cleared, allowing anyone to feel his life force slowly waning.

The dragon blood greedily drained his life, transforming into immense elemental energy, filling his body.

Was it going to fail?

Cassius did not make a sound, just quietly observed.

If it failed, he would feel the loss of a valuable subordinate, but that was the extent of it.

The ogres clenched their wooden clubs tightly, tense. They didn't have much kinship among their kind, even willing to devour a fallen comrade's corpse without hesitation. But for this resourceful leader, they still wished for his survival.

On the other side, Dolores, the goblin chieftain, began to breathe rapidly.

He had been suppressed by Ramp for too long, and if the ogre died, with the other retainers not up to the task, he could seize the opportunity to rise and become the rightful chief steward of the Ashen Nest.

Thinking of this, the corners of Dolores' mouth lifted slightly.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred.

"Ah—"

The long-silent ogre let out a heavy roar.

He was on all fours in a strange posture, and his swollen body continued to expand, greedily absorbing the surrounding energy, making the nearby air dry up.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

His body heaved up and down.

His size grew from three meters to four meters, finally stopping at over five meters.

His back protruded with spiny ridges.

His limbs also became sharper, turning into a form resembling dragon claws.

His thick skin cracked open, forcibly torn apart by his own body, revealing newly grown, incredibly hard red scales beneath, like a snake shedding its skin.

Only then did Cassius realize, the ogre mage was not passively accepting the changes brought by the gift but was using the elemental power contained in the dragon blood to trigger a magic web, constructing a spell prototype similar to the "Fireball Technique" within himself to more thoroughly absorb the energy from the dragon blood.

This method was extremely risky but also highly rewarding.

Thanks to Ramp's deep research, his control over spells had reached a terrifying level.