Chapter 622: The Dragon Queen’s Game
The moment the rift closed behind him, Garoth felt his body grow heavy.
The rose-gold radiance gradually faded from his surface, the sense of power that had filled every inch of his muscles rapidly receding, as unstoppable as the ebbing tide.
He beat his wings, looking out at the vast ocean around him and the massive, sharply outlined island in the distance.
The Vophal Dragon Domain. He had arrived.
The heavy rain did not fall here.
The sky was clear, the clouds hung low, and the sea surface was as calm as a gray mirror. Garoth folded his wings, and his body began to descend.
As before, many metal dragons noticed him.
But unlike the very beginning, although the great dragons cast glances of awe, respect, or curiosity, they were not overly surprised.
They had become completely accustomed to the red iron dragon's repeated appearances and the drastic changes in his form that occasionally occurred.
No legendary-tier metal dragon stopped Garoth either.
With a single flap of his wings, he flew straight into the Vophal Dragon Domain, heading for the Cold Sacred Spring.
Soon after.
He landed by the edge of the spring. The sound of his four limbs hitting the ground was somewhat heavy, splashing up a small spray of water.
At the same time, the lake's surface swelled, and the half-head of a gigantic silver-white figure emerged from the water.
Her silver scales were thick, her expression calm. It was none other than the Silver Dragon Queen, Nereus.
Her eyes narrowed slightly, sweeping over Garoth's body. She noticed the changes on his surface and perceived his clearly weakened aura.
"What happened?"
Nereus spoke lazily. "What great deed have you done now? Worn yourself into such a weakened state."
Garoth looked at her and did not hide anything, speaking directly: "I eliminated the Storm Dragon."
"Lamorein?"
The Silver Dragon Queen was momentarily stunned, her tone gaining a hint of seriousness. "That Apostle of the Dragon Queen?"
"Yeah."
Garoth nodded slightly.
The Silver Dragon Queen was silent for a few seconds, then slowly said, "As I recall, you told me you planned to keep him to hold Sheffield in check."
"Why the sudden change of heart?"
She knew about the time the Bronze Dragon King had gone to Atlan, attacked the Storm Dragon, and was eventually driven back by the three great dragons together. She also understood Garoth's attitude and thoughts toward the Storm Dragon.
Across from her, Garoth's expression did not change.
"The Bronze Dragon King, Sheffield?"
His tone was flat, yet it carried a distinct contempt. "A self-righteous executor of justice. He should count himself lucky that he isn't in Atlan right now."
"Otherwise, after Lamorein, it would have been his turn."
Hearing this, the Silver Dragon Queen's eyes widened slightly. She stared at the red iron dragon for a few seconds, then a strange expression appeared on her face.
Just like before, the red iron dragon's personality after the mutation had shifted somewhat.
The first time, it was sharp and aggressive. The second, filled with a desire for destruction. And this time...
It seemed to have become much more domineering and arrogant.
The Silver Dragon Queen's gaze grew deep, and her tone carried a hint of testing: "Since you have that idea, I can take the lead right now and have Sheffield return to the Material Plane, giving you a chance to fight him."
The red iron dragon remained expressionless.
"There's no need to trouble the Dragon Queen with this matter."
He said solemnly, his tone leaving no room for hesitation. "Sheffield chose to hide in the Abyss because he fears me. I allow him to live a little longer."
The Silver Dragon Queen blinked, then let out a silent laugh.
Although Garoth had become much more domineering and arrogant in his speech, like a traditional red dragon, it was clear his thick skin and steady foundation had not changed—he was just much more stubborn with his words.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, the Silver Dragon Queen's smile gradually faded.
She was silent for a moment, then said, "You may not know this, but Sheffield once had friendly dealings with evil dragons. He wasn't born hostile to all evil dragons."
"It's just... some past filled with betrayal and pain that created the person he is today."
After listening to her words, Garoth was silent for a moment.
"I'm not interested in the Bronze Dragon King's past."
He said, his tone calm. "Everyone has a past. Sheffield has one, you have one, and I have one."
"The other Metal Dragon Kings, every five-colored dragon and iron hybrid dragon that has reached Mandate of Heaven..."
"All of them have twisted pasts."
The Silver Dragon Queen did not refute him, simply watching him quietly.
"My past was also filled with malice and hostility."
Garoth continued, his gaze falling on the ripples spreading across the spring.
"They were like winds from all directions, trying to drown me, twist me, and turn me into what they wanted me to be."
"But look at me now. The storms and tempests did not break me. They only made me more resilient, made me sharper with every tempering, and made me cling even more tightly to my own heart."
He paused, his tone firm: "Whatever doesn't kill me only makes me stronger."
Garoth had not forgotten the malice and hostility of the past.
But they had not changed him either. Instead, he had left them all behind or trampled them underfoot.
The Silver Dragon Queen's gaze flickered slightly.
She rose a little higher from the spring, revealing more of her silver-white body, and her voice became clearer: "Garoth, just as you told me before, for dragons, every Mandate of Heaven is precious."
"I'm not some kind of compassionate saint."
"But I have also seen too many stars that could have illuminated an era, extinguished prematurely because of avoidable conflicts."
Garoth looked at her, waiting for her to continue.
The Silver Dragon Queen organized her thoughts, then continued, "To be honest, I don't want to see you and Sheffield tear each other apart."
"You are both pillars of the dragon race."
"The loss of either one, regardless of who wins or loses, is a loss for the entire dragon race."
The red iron dragon turned his head back, looking at the Silver Dragon Queen once more.
"A king like me is naturally not one to hold a grudge over every little thing."
He said calmly. "If possible, I am willing to make peace with Sheffield."
"In fact, if he could let go of those prejudices and hostilities, we could fight together for Bernardo. This world faces more than one danger. Having other strong individuals share my burdens is a good thing."
These words came from the heart.
The current Garoth believed that, starting from the Atlantis Continent, the entire Bernardo would belong to him, sooner or later, and he would not allow other evils to defile it.
As for the Bronze Dragon King.
As long as he posed no threat to him and did not affect his plans, then Garoth would not care about his existence.
In many cases, Garoth considered himself to have a broad mind.
The Silver Dragon Queen sighed softly.
She could feel that Garoth was telling the truth.
"If only Sheffield could be like you..."
She said, with a hint of regret, "If only he weren't so fixated on the scars of the past, so stubbornly believing that all five-colored dragons and iron hybrid dragons are untrustworthy... how wonderful would that be?"
Hearing this, the red iron dragon shook his head.
"Actually, the Bronze Dragon King and I are very similar. We are both extremely stubborn and rigid."
He was very clear-headed about his own nature. "It's just that the point I'm stubborn about is different from his."
"He is stubborn about the past, stubborn about the betrayals and pains that have already happened, stubborn about using his sense of justice to judge every existence he deems 'evil.'"
"But I..."
The red iron dragon paused, his gaze growing profound: "I am stubborn about moving forward."
The Silver Dragon Queen was silent.
She said nothing more.
The water's surface reflected two massive figures, one silver-white like the moon, the other red like a branding iron, gently swaying on the calm lake.
After a long time, the Silver Dragon Queen slowly sank back into the lake.
"Come on," her voice came driftingly. "Rest and recover well. You still have to keep moving forward."
Garoth did not hesitate. He also walked into the water, submerging himself in the cold spring.
The spring water was icy, soaking into his scales and muscles, seeping deep into his body. The feeling of weakness was being replenished bit by bit, slowly, but tangibly.
The place gradually returned to calm.
Meanwhile, in Atlan.
In other cities of the Aola Kingdom, amidst the noise of taverns and markets, the news from the front lines was spreading at an almost unbelievable speed.
The information initially came from those who had personally witnessed the entire battle.
But the fight between the Red Emperor and the Lord of Thunder was too intense. Witnessing it firsthand did not mean having a clear view of all the details. People embellished, exaggerated, and filled in the parts they hadn't seen with complete details from their imagination, then told others as if they had experienced it themselves.
Thus, the news became increasingly bizarre as it spread.
The first thing that spread was the most basic fact.
The Red Emperor had led Aola's legends on an expedition against the Helmod Dragonflight in the west. The Dragon Queen's Apostle, the Storm Dragon Lamorein, had died under the Red Emperor's claws. The remaining dragonflight had surrendered to Aola.
This version was still relatively normal.
But soon, new information appeared.
The Red Emperor had killed the Storm Dragon with his own hands and had also shattered the incarnation the Dragon Queen had descended through the Storm Dragon's body.
This version was already eye-catching enough, causing exclamations and heated discussions in the taverns.
However, the most widely circulated version was the third.
The Dragon Queen's true body had descended.
People who claimed to have witnessed the entire process swore they had seen the evil dragon god of Hell rise from the sea, cross the barrier between the Material Plane and Hell, and descend onto the battlefield with an unmatched divine might.
At that moment, the world changed color, and everyone thought they were going to die.
Then, the Red Emperor stepped forward.
He collided head-on with the Dragon Queen's divine might. The aftershocks of their clash made the world change color and the sea flow in reverse.
In the end, the Chromatic Queen was defeated head-on by the Red Emperor, humiliated and blasphemed to her face. If she hadn't fled quickly back to Hell, she would have suffered even greater indignities.
This version spread the most widely in taverns across Atlan.
People vividly described the Dragon Queen's panicked flight back to Hell, described how the Red Emperor looked down upon the defeated evil dragon god with contempt, described the claws stepping on the divine body, crushing the incarnation's head underfoot again and again.
Of course, no one cared whether this version was actually true.
People only cared if it was exciting enough, if it satisfied their malicious imagination of the deities.
In addition to the Godslayer, the Red Emperor had gained a brand new title.
The Blasphemer.
Those beings who revered and admired the Red Emperor stubbornly believed that, as long as it was in the Material Plane, even if the deity itself descended, facing the great Red Emperor, there were only two outcomes.
Be killed, or be blasphemed and humiliated.
In the taverns, people raised their glasses and shouted the Red Emperor's name, as if the name itself could bring some kind of power.
At the same time.
Avernus Hell.
This was the first layer of the Nine Hells of Hell.
Looking out, the earth was scorched black, and crimson lava rivers flowed in the fissures, cutting the boundless plain into countless broken regions.
The air was thick with the smell of sulfur and burning, every breath like swallowing fire.
The sky was a dark red, no sun or stars visible, only the occasional meteor-like fireball streaking across.
And in a place ordinary beings could not reach, stood five enormous towers.
They were colored red, blue, green, black, and white respectively.
Each one was magnificent and boundless. The towers were cast from gold and silver, studded with countless gems and the skulls of living beings.
They were both sacred and seductive, both majestic and terrifying.
At the center of the five towers, surrounded by them, was a massive hall.
This was Tiamat's divine realm.
The destination of the souls of countless evil dragon followers, the lair of the Mother of Dragons.
Her divine realm was in Avernus Hell. Like the vast majority of divine realms, while relying on the Outer Planes, it also maintained a relative independence, existing in a parallel space.
The Chromatic Queen's true body was coiled atop a mountain of gold.
The mountain was piled high with countless gold coins, gems, and magical items, radiating an alluring light.
But at this moment, Tiamat was in no mood to appreciate these treasures.
Five long necks extended from her massive body, each covered in powerful muscles and hard scales, able to turn flexibly in any direction.
At the same time, the expressions on all five heads were identical.
Rage.
A rage that threatened to set the entire divine realm ablaze.
The white dragon head's gaze was icy, the black dragon head's nostrils spewed black smoke, the green dragon head's jaws were slightly open, revealing serrated fangs, the blue dragon head's scales crackled with fine arcs of electricity, and the red dragon head's expression was the most ferocious.
Deities often watched over many worlds simultaneously.
Tiamat was no exception.
On the world of Bernardo, quite a few noteworthy dragons had indeed appeared.
But because this world lacked fertile soil for faith to develop, or rather, the soil for faith was extremely barren, Tiamat's attention to Bernardo had actually been quite limited. She had only allocated a tiny, insignificant fraction of her consciousness.
However.
A fraction of consciousness was enough for her to perceive everything.
Among countless planes and worlds, this one strand of her consciousness on Bernardo had experienced the most unbearable blasphemy and humiliation, and it had even transmitted that feeling back to her true body in the divine realm.
"That worm!"
"That ignorant, lowly, damned worm!"
The roar rose in layers. All five heads spoke simultaneously, their voices intertwining, shaking the entire hall. The gold coins on the mountain of gold cascaded down with a clatter.
Tiamat's five heads swung back and forth, the scene replaying endlessly in her mind.
The red iron dragon's claws, stepping on the incarnation, dismantling and crushing it over and over again. The movement was neither hurried nor slow, as if he were savoring the process.
When their eyes met, Tiamat could clearly see the contempt in the red iron dragon's gaze.
A mortal dragon.
A mortal dragon that had not even touched immortality.
Dared to look down on her?!
Dared to call her a pitiful wretch?!
Dared to look at her with that kind of eyes?!
Tiamat could barely remember the last time she had felt this angry.
Perhaps it was during her last clash with Bahamut? No, that felt more like a rivalry between sworn enemies, anger mixed with a hint of enjoyment.
But this time, it was pure, unadulterated rage.
In the words of that red iron dragon, she was indeed "broken."
At this thought, Tiamat's fury grew even stronger.
But... she was a deity after all.
After the initial surge of anger subsided, Tiamat began to think calmly.
Her Apostle on Bernardo was gone, and the temple had been uprooted.
She couldn't really descend there in person. That would be too risky. The rules of the Material Plane naturally suppressed deities, and moreover, that old thing Bahamut was constantly watching her.
Send an Immortal-tier Apostle from another plane to crush that damned worm?
No.
Immortal-tier Apostles were precious, and crossing planes would easily attract attention.
And it was highly likely that the detestable Bahamut would discover it and strike it down. That bastard dared to descend directly into the Material Plane and had a natural advantage in this regard.
The Chromatic Queen's rage gradually receded.
She calmed down. Her eyes flickered with light, and one insidious plan after another crossed her mind, only to be rejected one by one.
Plans too simple were easy to counter.
Plans too complex had too many variables.
Plans too aggressive might attract unwanted attention...
Finally.
One idea crystallized in her mind.
In the Abyss, there was a demon lord who had set his sights on Bernardo.
Although the war between the Abyss and Hell, demons and devils, had lasted for millennia after millennia, and Tiamat's divine realm was located in Hell, with good relations with the devil lords, theoretically putting her on the devil's side against the demons,
But even genuine devils were not above making deals with demons.
She was not a devil, and she felt no psychological burden whatsoever in negotiating with a demon lord.
However, considering that she also had many enemies in the Abyss, including several powerful evil gods and demon lords, she could not go to the Abyss herself.
Negotiating with the target would likely require some mental effort and time.
The Chromatic Queen's gaze gradually calmed.
The fury she had just felt was now completely dissipated. Instead, an interested smile appeared on her draconic face.
The harder something was to conquer, the more rebellious it was.
The greater the satisfaction and pleasure gained when such a target was brought under one's command.
A deity's life was long. Many times, the Chromatic Queen did not really care about superficial honor or disgrace. What she cared about more was discovering interesting games in the long, tedious life and deriving pleasure from them.
So far, the opponent she had played the longest game with was only one.
Her nemesis, her opposite.
The Platinum Dragon God, Bahamut.
And apart from the game with Bahamut, Tiamat was also playing other games simultaneously. Among these many games, the one who could keep up with her pace and not lose so easily was the one she valued more.
The hall regained its calm.
The gold coins on the mountain stopped sliding. Tiamat coiled back on top of the gold mountain, her five heads slightly lowered, her eyes half-closed, as if taking a nap.
But if anyone could perceive her mental activity, they would find that...
She was more alert and focused now than before.
"Garoth Ignas."
"Our game has just begun. I hope you can last a little longer."
Lose?
Impossible.
She always won.
It was just a matter of when.
The Chromatic Queen allocated more mental energy to this game. Her attention to Bernardo and the red iron dragon had risen to an entirely new level.