Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 375 - 11: Because You Have Me

Duke Oak was said to have the Bloodline of Elves flowing through him,

though no one has ever seen a living Elf.

Just as nobody had seen a living member of the Dragon Clan before Cassandra appeared.

It is said that during the lost Dark Ages, the Human Clan had interacted with the Elves, but the Elves have long vanished into legends, only reachable across vast oceans—without the right course, travel was impossible.

When people come across Elves and Dragons again, they are often seen as races from the Dark Ages, carried by the wings of ballads across time.

Because the last time people of this land encountered the Dragon Clan was over a century ago—

A terrifying Red Dragon descended from the sky, wreaking havoc upon the human world. It appeared briefly, only to vanish just as quickly, like a fleeting accident.

The Dragons brought by Cassandra this time were evidently different. The Dragons in the sky were no coincidence; ancient powers had awakened, shadows began to stir. It was the era of miracles and terror, an epoch of gods and heroes.

After all, if the Dragon Clan could appear, could other extraordinary races be far behind?

Roman listened as Sanna spoke of the battlefield events.

Her face was still somewhat ecstatic, having seen the legendary creatures with her own eyes.

Sanna described the appearance of the Nine-headed Dragon, red or black in color, with hard scales resembling mountain crystals. Some Dragons were as large as mammoths, some stretched seven to eight meters in length, some had a wingspan close to ten meters.

They dominated the skies, their wings stirring currents, as if riding storms, spewing flames, displaying great might.

Unfortunately, they were still forced back by Shattered Archers and Surging Wave Knights, having to ascend hundreds of meters to ensure their own safety.

Sanna recalled the situation then, saying, "At that time, everyone on the battlefield was frenzied, but those knights could still charge forward. Lord Dick said that those war horses were fed Secret Medicine from an early age, and the specific drugs reduced their reflex reactions, making them dare to leap over cliffs if necessary... The White Steel Princess’s war horse was the best, allegedly a descendant of the Divine Steed Heavenly Pegasus, capable of pulling tens of thousands of pounds. I wondered who would use such a war horse for transportation? Ah, Roman, I didn’t mean you..."

"Neither did I..." Roman knocked on her head, "at most, occasionally."

War horses were priced ten times higher than draft horses, each having its own purpose. Using them for transportation could easily diminish their potential, and if used regularly, the whole horse would be ruined. Yet in case of emergency, it was not impossible to use war horses for carrying loads.

Roman then asked, "What do you think of those Dragons’ combat prowess?"

Roman had discussed this issue with Jet and others, now wishing to hear Sanna’s opinion.

Yet the Dragon Clan was already a hot topic among the troops, some viewpoints already taken for granted.

For instance, the River Valley Army fighting to the death with those Dragons justified that a professional battalion might not be able to take down a single Dragon, perhaps requiring two or three professional battalions.

Such figures were terrifying.

In the Wars of Kings, how many casualties did Roman suffer? Including auxiliary troops, it was only a bit over five thousand people, with professional battalion losses below two thousand.

One Dragon could wipe out two or three of Roman’s professional battalions completely, which was indeed extraordinary.

Of course, if replaced with the Shield Guard Army or Surging Wave Knights, at most thirty to fifty could take out a Dragon.

The better the comprehensive quality and equipment of the troops, the fewer the casualties.

But that was a problem too.

There’s no need for a Dragon to engage in a fight to the death with you.

Not to mention a Dragon, even a High Order Knight would tactically retreat when overmatched.

Roman’s Ninth Rank Knight theory was confined to life and death struggles with similar equipment, but if a Ninth Rank Knight fought guerrilla warfare, it wouldn’t hold.

Equipment was the main factor in this.

The Ao Steel Shields of the Shield Guard Army were of superalloy level and extremely strong in suppressing Energy Magic.

The Mountain Copper Armor was Extraordinary Equipment. Once focused, blending personal will and energy, it could enhance armor protection, even withstand shockwaves from explosives.

Facing Dragon Flame, the Shield Guard Army, even without Ao Steel Shields, relying only on Mountain Copper Plate Armor, could hold out for about ten seconds.

Of course, after these ten seconds, due to rising temperatures, their skin would slowly melt, their muscles smelling of char, ultimately suffocated alive within.

Switching to Mithril changed everything.

The Secret Silver Armor had high magic and physical resistance. Melting a hundred pounds of silver with corresponding Magic Stones into armor reduced the weight dramatically but kept the volume.

It is said that the highest-grade Secret Silver Armor was as soft as linen, light as feather, hardness surpassing steel, chilling like snowy layers yet warm, possessing extensibility and superior elasticity. Its energy conduction was excellent, far surpassing the performance of Mountain Copper Plate Armor, and maximized the wearer’s ability to mobilize their own energy.

And Fine Gold Armor required no elaboration, for its energy isolation was unmatched by other extraordinary metals.

You could try burning it; if it made me feel hot within a minute, you would win.

The prices of those extraordinary metals were astronomical too.

The manufacturing techniques of Ao Steel were lost, with Shield Guard Army using pieces dating back hundreds of years.

A five-hundred-pound set of Mountain Copper Plate Armor required thousands of pounds of copper—more importantly, once Mountain Copper Armor was formed, it couldn’t be reforged because it had undergone extraordinary transformation by embodying the spirit and will of its life force, leading to excessively high melting point and hardness.

When the Shield Guard Army received newcomers, the King of Divine Mystery had to custom-make a set of Mountain Copper Plate Armor for them. The spirit and will of the life force were secondary; the issue was finding a fit—unless an existing Mountain Copper Plate Armor matched the recruit’s body perfectly, a new one had to be custom-made.