Chapter 628: Blizzard, Great Demon, Time
New Calendar 653.
Winter. The first heavy snow.
This snow had started the night before, and by early morning, it had already piled into a thick layer, wrapping the entire Red Emperor Capital in a blanket of silver-white.
Streets, rooftops, city walls, high towers—every sharp edge was covered by the soft, accumulated snow.
Looking out, everything was a vast expanse of white.
Before long, cooking smoke rose from various places, drawing thin lines against the gray-white sky.
For the citizens of Aola, this was a very ordinary day.
Although the Emperor had been in slumber for some time, the kingdom operated normally under the control of the three Royal Dukes. All affairs were handled in an orderly manner.
The iron dragon Sorog was responsible for the military and finances. The red dragon Samantha managed the kingdom's industry. The iron dragon Gordon oversaw the vassal states.
The division of labor and cooperation among the three had been honed to perfection through years of working together. The boundaries of their powers and responsibilities were clear and distinct, and there was almost never a situation of conflicting orders tripping each other up.
Aola was thriving in every aspect, and the aura of an empire was growing stronger.
The citizens truly felt that life was gradually getting better.
All kinds of resources were abundant within the country, with everything one could need.
Ore transported from the northern lands, spices brought from the south, aquatic products shipped from the west coast... all could be found in the markets of the Red Emperor Capital. Prices were also kept within a range that ordinary families could easily afford.
On the snow-covered streets, a group of gnolls was having a riot.
They tumbled, chased each other, and threw snowballs, letting out rough, joyful howls.
The snow was trampled into a mess, snowballs flew back and forth, and occasionally one hit some unlucky face, triggering even louder laughter.
A young gnoll was wrestled into a snowdrift by three or four companions, with only a brown tail sticking out, wagging furiously.
The surrounding gnolls laughed their heads off.
Citizens of Aola from other races would push open their windows, glance out at the commotion, shake their heads, and retreat back inside to continue warming themselves by the fire.
Among all the major races of the Aola Kingdom, the gnolls had the most exuberant nature.
In the age of the wilderness, every race had largely abandoned their hobbies and interests in order to survive, dedicating all their energy to hunting and competing for resources.
But now, ordinary Aola citizens didn't need to worry about making a living.
They had ample food, safe shelter, and a stable income.
Their true natures were thus gradually emerging.
Take the gnolls, for example.
They were naturally bursting with inexhaustible energy.
In the age of the wilderness, this energy was used for raiding and hunting. Now, it was channeled into all sorts of activities that let them burn off that energy.
Snowball fights, chasing, wrestling, or simply running around the streets.
When there was a heavy rain or blizzard, while citizens of other races hid indoors, gnolls would often sprint through the rain, howling nonstop.
They were... quite unique.
Ogres were the other extreme.
In the age of the wilderness, ogres had a terrible reputation, hunted and driven away everywhere.
The reason was simple: when they were hungry enough, they truly ate anything.
But after joining Aola, food was no longer an issue.
The kingdom's abundant resources were enough to keep any ogre well-fed. Their old habit of doing anything for food gradually faded, replaced by a rather lazy hedonism.
After filling their bellies, what most ogres wanted to do most was lie down and bask in the sun.
They would never stand if they could sit, never sit if they could lie down.
They loved soaking in hot springs, sunbathing, and napping in the afternoon. An ogre could lie motionless on a rooftop all afternoon.
But don't mistake this for uselessness.
Once an enemy invaded, these usually lazy giants, picking up their weapons, were still the most terrifying warriors on the battlefield.
The situation with the kobolds was different again.
They had an almost obsessive love for digging.
In the age of the wilderness, this was a survival instinct for building lairs and escaping predators. In peacetime, it directly evolved into a nationwide frenzy.
The areas beneath kobold-populated neighborhoods were almost entirely hollowed out, with tunnels radiating in all directions, like a maze.
Later, the Aola Kingdom specifically enacted regulations forbidding kobolds from digging beneath public roads and important buildings. Violators had to fill in what they dug and pay a fine.
The most incredible change happened with the ogre elites.
They possessed an extremely strong regenerative ability.
In the age of the wilderness, this meant they could withstand damage that other races couldn't.
In peacetime, the ogre citizens transferred this endurance to the mental realm, becoming Aola's finest scholars and record-keepers.
Nearly one-third of the texts in the Aola Kingdom's library were compiled by ogre scholars.
One elderly ogre scholar even spent a full sixty years compiling an *Atlas of Atlantis Plants*, recording over thirty thousand types of plants. Each was described in detail with illustrations, and it was recognized as an authoritative work in the field.
This fact stunned many people.
Who would have thought that these creatures, appearing savage and brutal in the wilderness, would become prolific scholars in an age of civilization?
In the age of the wilderness, the habits of these races were once seen as flaws and rejected.
But in Aola, they were not suppressed. Instead, they were guided in constructive directions, jointly building this uniquely Aola-style dragon kingdom of multi-racial integration under the rule of a great dragon.
Just then, the gnolls' play continued.
Snowballs hitting bodies shattered into slush, sticking to fur before quickly melting, only to be hit by new snowballs.
Among them, a figure with grayish-brown fur was fighting back fiercely.
Claudia held a snowball in each hand, baring his teeth, ears flattened back, eyes narrowed into slits as he stared at his opponent.
His gnoll form was a bit more robust than when he first arrived. There was more muscle on his arms, his shoulders were slightly broader, but compared to the strong, strapping gnolls around him, he was still one of the weaker, thinner ones in the group.
A snowball hit him with a smack, scattering into powder.
He bent down to pack another snowball, fumbling. He had just looked up when another snowball smacked him right in the forehead. Slush dripped down the bridge of his nose, cold and biting.
Claudia let out a low growl and hurled his snowball back with all his might.
It missed its target, flying right over the other gnoll's head.
Before he could pack another, a snowball hit him right on the back of his head. He stumbled forward and face-planted into a snowdrift.
The gnolls around him laughed even harder.
"I'm done."
Claudia sat up from the snowdrift, spat out the slush in his mouth, shook his snow-covered ears, and bared his teeth at the still-laughing gnolls in annoyance.
In truth.
All he needed to do was release a tiny shred of his true power, and those snowballs would become cannonballs capable of piercing city walls. Those laughing gnolls wouldn't even leave bones behind.
But that was in the past.
Now, he was an ordinary, relatively weak gnoll who couldn't even win a snowball fight.
The sky gradually darkened.
The gray-white sky turned to a deep gray, but the snow didn't stop. Instead, it fell more densely.
Fine snowflakes swirled in the wind, landing on the piles of snow already lining the streets, on the tiles of the rooftops, on Claudia's fur, which was covered in snow slush.
A pretty female gnoll walked over from the street corner.
Her figure wasn't tall for a gnoll, and her features were softer than those of the other females around her. Her fur was neatly groomed, clearly well-maintained.
But the most eye-catching thing was her highly prominent belly, stretching the fur on her abdomen taut.
"Time to go home for dinner."
Holly stopped at the edge of the snow, looking at Claudia, who was covered in snow. Her tone held a hint of helplessness. "You're about to become a father, and you're still rolling around in the snow with them?"
Claudia climbed out of the snowdrift, brushed the snow off himself, and walked towards Holly.
He swore by some inner conviction.
He had absolutely zero interest in reptilian-like, weak gnolls. It was only for better camouflage and integration that he had gone with the flow and found himself a gnoll partner here.
As for what his partner thought of his physique, that was another matter.
The female gnoll muttered all the way back home.
"Eight months. It's been eight months already."
"A normal gnoll gets pregnant for seven or eight months and gives birth. You've been at it for eight months now. Why isn't there any sign of labor?"
Claudia walked beside her. Hearing this, his eyes narrowed, his ears perked up, and he said slowly, "Because our offspring are destined to be extraordinary."
Holly glanced up at Claudia's frail-looking frame.
She said bluntly, with disdain, "Extraordinary is fine, as long as it's not as scrawny as you."
Claudia dropped his smile and stopped walking.
He turned to face Holly directly, and said with utter seriousness, "Scrawny? There's a great dragon hidden inside this body of mine. I could swallow a whole mountain in one bite."
"One day, you'll see how formidable I am."
Holly froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.
She stood on tiptoe, reached up, and patted him on the head. "Stop talking nonsense. A great dragon hidden inside your puny frame? You can't even compare to me in strength."
Claudia didn't argue. He just grinned and followed her footsteps.
They pushed open the wooden door, and a wave of warm air, mixed with the aroma of food, rushed out to greet them.
A fire blazed brightly in the fireplace inside, the wood crackling, filling the entire room with warmth.
The small space was clean and tidy. On the wooden table in the center, dinner was already laid out: a large pot of steaming hot meat stew, and big chunks of roasted meat, still sizzling with oil and browned to perfection.
Back in the age of the wilderness, such a meal was something only a tribal chieftain could enjoy.
Claudia and Holly sat down at the table.
They didn't pick up their utensils immediately. First, they clasped each other's paws.
The female gnoll Holly closed her eyes. Claudia also lowered his eyelids.
The flames flickered in the fireplace, their light casting down on their slightly bowed heads. Outside the window, snow fell silently. Inside, warmth flowed.
"Praise the Emperor. Praise Aola."
"Praise the Emperor. May his slumber be peaceful and undisturbed. May his awakening come like the dawn. Praise Aola. May her lands enjoy eternal peace. May her people be fearless and brave."
"Praise the Emperor. With his flame, he forged our home. Praise Aola. With her vastness, she accommodates the coexistence of all races."
They murmured softly.
In the Aola Kingdom, the people revered and worshipped the Emperor like a deity, their recognition of the nation itself coming second.
This simple prayer before every meal was an unshakeable habit in the vast majority of households.
After the short prayer ended, Holly ladled out a full bowl of meat stew for Claudia.
Claudia took the bowl, blew on the steam, and then began to gulp it down heartily.
The thick soup slid down his throat, carrying the rich flavor of fat and spices. He tore off a piece of roasted meat and stuffed it into his mouth. The juices overflowed between his teeth, filling his mouth with the aroma of char.
"Slow down."
Holly frowned at him. "You always eat like you're about to starve to death the next second."
Claudia slowed down a bit, but only for a few seconds. Soon, he was back to his old ways, tearing at the meat and slurping down the soup.
Holly sighed and picked up her own bowl.
The night deepened.
The fire in the fireplace slowly died down. The charcoal was still red, occasionally spitting out a few sparks.
Soon, Holly was breathing evenly in her bed, fast asleep. Claudia lay there, his eyes open, staring at the ceiling for a while. Then, he gently pushed back the covers and quietly got up.
He pushed open the door and stepped out into the night.
The snow hadn't stopped, but it had lessened.
Somewhere, a crack had appeared in the thick clouds overhead. A few faint stars peeked through the gap, casting a weak light onto the snow-covered streets.
In the distance, the footsteps of patrol guards changing shifts could be faintly heard.
Further away, the city walls of the capital outlined a silent silhouette in the night.
Claudia leaped lightly, landing on the eaves of a house.
He looked up, gazing at the night sky through the gap in the clouds.
To be honest, his life now was pretty good.
Peaceful, stable. Every day, there was hot soup and roasted meat. There was a roof over his head to keep out the wind and snow. There were companions to play and roughhouse with.
Memories of cruelly tearing apart prey, of days hiding in swamps while being hunted by elves, of nights spent licking his wounds alone in the rain...
All of that felt like a past life.
The Deep Freeze Tyrant. The Mandate Chrome Dragon.
A being that once made the intelligent creatures of Arotala tremble at the very mention of its name—what did that have to do with him, this weak gnoll who couldn't even win a snowball fight?
He had almost forgotten what he once was.
But.
Almost was, after all, just almost.
Claudia knew the Emperor had fallen asleep.
This also meant a storm was brewing.
Claudia withdrew his gaze and looked down at his own rough paws.
These paws hadn't torn through a prey's scales in a long time, but they still remembered the sensation.
The vibration of shattering bones traveling up the forelimbs. The warmth of blood splashing on his face. And the sound from the prey's throat in its dying moments...
These memories had never truly disappeared. They were just waiting for the moment to be reawakened.
The hunger within him had never truly subsided, either.
Claudia sat on the eaves for a long time until a layer of snow had accumulated on him.
He shook off the snow, jumped down from the eaves, landed softly in the snow, pushed open the door, and returned to the warm bed. Holly mumbled something in her sleep, turned over, and draped her paw over him.
Time continued to flow.
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
Winter hadn't ended yet.
The cold wind still blew from the north, occasionally bringing another heavy snowfall.
The snow on the streets was shoveled away, only to accumulate again, over and over.
The people of the Red Emperor Capital had grown used to such winters. They did what they always did: the bakery still lit its lamps at dawn, the blacksmith's shop still clanged from morning till night.
But some things were different.
The three Aola Royal Dukes, bathed in the falling, swirling snow, stood on the dragon court platform.
A thin layer of snow covered their scales. Their breath condensed into white mist in the cold air, only to be quickly shredded by the wind.
Their gazes pierced the curtain of snow, all fixing on a single direction in the sky.
A black dot was slowly growing larger.
It was an entire city.
It drifted in from high altitude, following a slow but stable trajectory, heading straight for the direction of the Rhen Plateau. Its massive outline was faintly visible through the clouds and snow curtain.
The iron dragon Sorog gazed at that floating city and spoke slowly.
"I called you here because this Sky City deviated from its trajectory several years ago."
"It has been moving slowly, imperceptibly drawing close to the edge of the Rhen Plateau, and it is still drifting towards the airspace above our heartland."
The iron dragon Gordon flicked his tail.
He squinted, staring at the approaching Sky City, and said, "What is Halden up to again?"
"Maybe they've run into another problem and are urgently relocating the Sky City. Those guys up in the clouds never give advance notice, and when trouble happens, they act like it's none of their concern."
Beside him, the red dragon Samantha extended her head forward slightly.
She stared at the floating city for a good while, then suddenly bared her teeth, revealing her interlocking, sharp dragon fangs. "This city... it isn't heading for us, is it?"
As her words fell, a brief silence settled on the platform.
Sorog slowly nodded his head.
"This is exactly what I'm most worried about."
He raised a forelimb, pointing at the Sky City. "According to its current speed and angle, if it continues on this trajectory, it will pass directly over the Rhen Plateau, meaning it will pass right over the Red Emperor Capital."
He paused, then finished his thought.
"At that point, if it falls... our capital city will bear the brunt of it. Garoth's slumber will be affected. And I strongly suspect it could crash directly into the place where Garoth is sleeping."
Gordon's pupils contracted into thin vertical slits.
He immediately became alert, his tail also stopping its sway and hanging straight down.
"That might be a coincidence."
"Halden's Sky City. It doesn't have problems early or late, but chooses to have problems precisely when Garoth is asleep. And coincidentally, it drifts towards the Rhen Plateau?"
"The probability of this is lower than being hit by a meteor. It might be coming for Garoth."
Samantha let out a low growl, a wisp of flame leaking from between her teeth.
"Not 'might.'" The red dragon's tone was decisive. "It is coming for Garoth."
"Ordinary people think Halden is lofty, detached from the mortal world, like a heavenly kingdom."
"Hmph. Those cloud cities might indeed fool a lot of fools with their appearance in the sunlight. But this empire is rotten to the core."
"Before Aola rose and unified the surface, didn't Halden secretly manipulate the conflicts among the various nations of Atlantis?"
"They are nothing but a pack of insidious reptiles draped in the cloak of an empire!"
"Back then, the war between Reebos and Lothrian had their shadow behind it. If it weren't for the threat of the Abyss, Halden would have made a move on Aola long ago."
Samantha was both furious and clear-headed at this moment.
She knew the status Halden held in the eyes of ordinary people.
A kingdom in the clouds, full of mystery, a place people yearned for. Many even saw it as some kind of ideal.
But the dragon Royal Dukes of Aola knew very well that this was nothing but an illusion.
The Halden Empire would stop at nothing to maintain its reputation and hegemony.
For example...
Using the excuse that a Sky City had been corrupted by the Abyss and gone out of control to smash it into Aola's Red Emperor Capital.
Things like this, Halden would absolutely do.
Sorog looked at the sky, was silent for a moment, and then said slowly, "Whether our concerns are accurate or not, we must prepare early now."
A few days later, ahead of the Sky City's drifting trajectory, space twisted.
The Goblin Kingdom Matna's national strategic weapon, the Gun-Fortress, squeezed itself out of space, blocking the Sky City's path.
Immediately afterwards, the Goblin Kingdom issued an emergency notice.
Due to unknown reasons, their Gun-Fortress had malfunctioned. It would attack any approaching object without regard for cost. They were in the midst of urgent repairs, and everyone was advised not to come near.
Of course, this was orchestrated by Aola behind the scenes.
The Sky City had already reached the edge of the Rhen Plateau. Under no circumstances could it be allowed to advance further.
At the same time, the legendary figures of Aola, who had been scattered across the Atlantis Continent, received their orders.
They stopped what they were doing and set out from their respective locations, converging on the Red Emperor Capital.
The residents of the capital also gradually felt the change in the atmosphere. There were more patrol guards on the streets than before. Dragons flew overhead in the sky from time to time. Inspections at the city gates had become much stricter.
The Aola legions also began to move.
Various units were dispatched to the area beneath the Sky City, maintaining a safe distance, setting up camp in the snow.
And Halden's Sky City stopped drifting further backward.
It hung silently in the sky, as if nothing had happened.
Until two weeks later.
A blizzard struck.
This snow was different from the one before.
That previous heavy snow fell quietly, silently wrapping the whole city in white.
This snow was much more violent. Gale-force winds swept dense, flying snow across the Rhen Plateau, churning the space between heaven and earth into a chaotic gray-white. You could barely see your own fingers when you stretched out your hand.
The red dragon banners crackled loudly in the wind, their poles bending into arcs, as if they might snap at any moment.
And in this weather, the change came.
The Sky City first shuddered. The movement was small, as if pushed by the wind.
But no one noticed this change, because at some point, Halden's citizens inside this city had been completely evacuated. The streets were empty, the whole city a hollow shell.
Soon, the shuddering turned into violent shaking.
Countless cracks appeared on the city's surface, spreading in all directions like a spiderweb. An ominous purple-black light shone from within every crack.
The towers on the city's edges couldn't take it first.
Fragments began to peel off, falling from the high altitude, dragging long trails of smoke before disappearing into the depths of the blizzard.
Next, the entire Sky City began to tilt.
It tilted slowly, but inexorably, starting its descent from the high sky towards the earth, aimed at the Rhen Plateau area.
The assembled Aola legends noticed it immediately.
They had been deployed at various key positions in the airspace around the Sky City, standing guard in the blizzard for untold days and nights, waiting for this very moment.
Dragon figures were the first to slice through the snow curtain.
The legendary dragons of the Aola Kingdom climbed against the wind and snow, aimed at the Sky City, and breathed out their Dragon Breath.
The other legends followed suit, attacking immediately.
Sword energies and spells crisscrossed, converging like a raging tide, striking the Sky City from all directions.
Unsurprisingly.
The Sky City was destroyed mid-air.
The massive city body, like a cracked eggshell, shattered into pieces.
Large chunks of building debris flew in different directions, tracing chaotic paths through the air.
Some fragments exploded again mid-air, becoming smaller pieces. Others crashed directly into the ground.
In the end.
The wreckage burned, dragging smoke and sparks, smashing into the barren surface of the Rhen Plateau. Each impact kicked up skyward waves of snow and earth.
Seeing this, the hearts of the Aola legends sank slightly.
Destroying a Sky City wasn't hard.
But to completely erase it with a single blow, leaving not a single piece of debris to fall to the ground, was something even a Mandate-tier being would find difficult. If they couldn't completely destroy the entire city in one blow, and debris landed, the Abyssal Rift would still appear.
This was exactly the case now.
The wreckage was attached with thick Abyssal energy. The moment it touched the ground, it began to spread using heaven and earth as a medium.
The purple-black energy, like a living thing, seeped into the soil.
The ground cracked.
At first, it was just a thin fissure, no wider than an arm's length, snaking its way along the grain of the plateau's rock layers.
But in just a few breaths, the fissure expanded rapidly, letting out a deafening sound of the earth splitting, as if the backbone of the land was breaking.
The ground kept collapsing, debris and dirt falling down.
The rift was formed.
Countless demons surged out from the rift.
They screeched, roared, and lunged at everything around them.
The Aola warriors who had already formed a defensive perimeter charged at the demons, beginning the slaughter in the blizzard.
The legends also entered the fray.
Their opponents were the demon generals.
Demon generals were powerful, generally stronger than human legends at the same level.
But human legends only made up a small portion of the Aola Kingdom. Many Aola legends could even suppress demon generals of a higher level.
Still, the battle wasn't easy.
For some reason, this rift was larger than any before.
The number of demons pouring out exceeded all expectations, wave after wave, as if they would never end.
As the battle reached its climax, a roar sounded from within the rift.
Heavy, brutal, carrying a terrifying sense of pressure.
A Great Demon had descended.
It rose slowly from the rift, its body covered in dark red carapace, as if cast in molten lava.
Four twisted, asymmetrical horns grew from its head, each one a different shape. Six eyes were distributed across different parts of its face, some big, some small, like burning charcoal balls.
Each eye rotated in a different direction, surveying this Material Plane.
A look of pleasure spread across the Great Demon's face.
As the demon smiled, the darkness around it seemed to deepen.
No, not seemed.
The light was indeed dimming.
The Great Demon became alert, but it was already too late.
Darkness descended.
It surged out from the void at incredible speed, like a huge curtain, enveloping the Great Demon and the space around it.
The edges of the darkness closed in rapidly, forming a black sphere hanging in the sky over the battlefield in the blink of an eye.
Occasionally, a flash of light lit up inside the sphere for an instant.
Very brief, like a bolt of lightning.
It illuminated the scene inside the sphere: the Great Demon and a human figure.
It was the Red Emperor's Mandate swordsman, Reinhardt.
His domain had trapped this Great Demon.
But the rift hadn't quieted down.
From deep within the super-massive Abyssal Rift, the aura of a second Great Demon surged forth.
Soon, a Great Demon, entirely dark purple in color, appeared in the Material Plane.
Its body looked very strange, as if between a physical form and an ethereal one. Its face had only a huge mouth, no eyes, no nose.
The Great Demon opened its mouth and let out a roar.
But before the sound could travel far, its body began to stagger.
An irresistible wave of drowsiness suddenly swept over its consciousness.
The space in the area where the demon was located also began to twist, becoming soft and blurry, like a scene viewed through a watery curtain. The refraction angles of the light had changed imperceptibly.
This scene puzzled many of the Aola legends.
However, Sorog and the others knew who was unleashing their power.
Silently, reality around the Great Demon was twisted. The Great Demon itself and the wind and snow around it vanished into thin air. A rich floral fragrance lingered in the air, but it was blown away by the gale the next second.
The Dream World.
The Green Queen had dragged the Great Demon into her domain.
With this, the Aola legends' spirits relaxed considerably.
Neither of the two Great Demons could do as they pleased. Although the other demon generals were ferocious, the Aola legends had enough confidence to eliminate them one by one.
However, not long after, another roar came from deep within the rift.
A third Great Demon stepped out of the rift.
Its form was closer to humanoid. Its limbs were thick and sturdy. On its back, a pair of black, fleshy wings covered in bone spurs unfurled. On its head grew seven horns, arranged in a twisted shape, with two solidified clusters of purple-black flames burning in its eye sockets.
"Such vivid life energy..."
The Great Demon took a deep breath, making a loud sniffing sound as if trying to inhale all the air of the Material Plane into its lungs.
A look of ecstasy appeared on its face, mixed with greed.
"How wonderful!"
Then, it looked into the distance and flew straight towards the Red Emperor Capital, ignoring the other demons still fighting the Aola legends.
"Stop it!"
The Aola legends' hearts shuddered. They immediately abandoned their current opponents and rushed to intercept the Great Demon.
Attacks came at the Great Demon from all directions, but it didn't care at all.
It tanked the damage, flew past the defensive line at incredible speed like a meteor, leaving the battlefield behind, and sped straight for the Red Emperor Capital.
The Red Emperor Capital.
The blizzard raged here too.
The snow on the streets was compacted by footsteps, only to be covered by fresh snow, layer upon layer, crunching underfoot.
When the Great Demon rushed in and approached this city.
Every Aola citizen felt it.
It was an indescribable sensation, like a huge, invisible stone pressing down on their chests, making it hard to breathe.
People looked up in fear and alarm.
In the sky to the south of the capital, the Abyssal Great Demon flew out of the blizzard.
Its form looked exceptionally huge in the snow curtain. The shadow of its outstretched wings blocked half the sky. The wind and snow swirled around it, as if some invisible barrier was pushing the snowflakes away.
"Such a vivid scent..."
The Great Demon's voice came down from the high sky. "I can smell it. I can smell how many beating hearts are in here, how much warm blood, how many fragile souls... How wonderful."
"Go on, struggle. Your struggle will make your despair taste even sweeter."
It quickly arrived directly above the capital city. Its gaze swept across the streets and crowds below, like looking at a bunch of insects about to be crushed.
In this moment of crisis, the Aola citizens began to pray.
"Great Emperor, the unfalling scorching sun."
"Your loyal and humble people beg for your protection, beg for your power."
The prayers were low, but they merged into a droning hum.
The Great Demon heard every word of their prayers clearly.
It tilted its head, as if savoring something amusing, then said slowly, "I will destroy the lives and souls of all of you. And your Emperor? Hah, he will only accept it in agony."
The Great Demon raised its wings, fully spreading them in the high sky, like a black banner blotting out the sun and sky.
It began to gather Abyssal energy.
The wind stopped. The heavy snow was pushed away by an invisible force.
Countless tiny purple light spots appeared around the Great Demon's body, growing more numerous and denser.
They surged towards the Great Demon like moths to a flame, merging into its body, then pouring out from between its arms, coalescing into a rapidly expanding orb of destruction.
If this attack landed, the Red Emperor Capital would be severely damaged.
The Great Demon had an innate fear aura.
Invisible ripples spread out from it, and everyone touched by them would have uncontrollable panic take root in their hearts.
People began to flee in panic, pushing, shoving, crowding.
The capital city fell into chaos.
And in the midst of the fleeing crowd, one figure remained completely still.
A gnoll.
Grayish-brown fur. A scrawny build. Utterly unremarkable among the strong gnolls.
He stood in the middle of the street, letting the crowd flow past him on either side, like a rock standing in a stream.
At that moment, his ears were pressed slightly back. He looked up at the Great Demon high in the sky, the corners of his mouth pulling into a grin.
It wasn't the expression of fear.
A female gnoll beside him tugged at his arm, her voice panicked and distorted with urgency. "Run! Run! What are you standing here for?!"
She pulled hard, but found she couldn't even make Claudia's body sway.
He was as heavy as a mountain.
"Holly, remember what I said before?"
The snowflakes landed on the gnoll's fur, forming a thin layer.
Claudia didn't shake them off. He grinned, revealing sharp fangs. "I told you, there's a great dragon hidden inside this body."
The female gnoll was stunned.
At the same time.
The Great Demon hurled its orb of destruction.
The purple-black energy ball dragged a long tail, falling straight down towards the Red Emperor Capital. The trajectory of its flight ignited the air, leaving a scorched black trail behind.
The flow of time itself seemed to slow down.
The Great Demon hung high in the sky, watching the orb of destruction fall towards the earth, towards the lives it was about to reap.
At that very moment, Claudia moved.
He turned around, taking a step in the opposite direction of the fleeing, panicked crowd, a step *towards* the Great Demon.
The muscles in his legs expanded in an instant. He leaped into the air.
The gnoll's body began to expand.
The grayish-brown fur turned into dark silver scales. The thin limbs lengthened. The spine extended at an unbelievable speed. A pair of sky-obscuring dragon wings unfurled from his back with a thunderous boom...
In the blink of an eye, his form had transformed into a majestic, powerful, colossal dragon.
On the street, the Aola citizens who had previously known Claudia all widened their eyes, mouths hanging open wide enough to fit a fist, utterly dumbfounded.
Claudia was already in the air.
He opened his draconic maw, and space twisted around it.
The massive orb of destruction shrank rapidly, then disappeared into the dragon's mouth. He swallowed it whole. Only a few wisps of black smoke leaked out from between his teeth, dissipating instantly in the blizzard, like a burp.
Boom!
A muffled sound echoed from within the dragon's body. The chrome dragon's belly bulged outwards once.
But that was all. The next moment, it returned to normal.
"You piece of Abyssal trash. You are not even qualified for the great Emperor to make an appearance."
Claudia gazed at the Great Demon, revealing a smile more cruel than any demon's.
"Are you ready? I'm going to snap your limbs off one by one, rip your head from your neck, and use your blood and screams as a hymn for the great Red Emperor."
The chrome dragon spread its wings and shot straight towards the Great Demon.
The fight didn't last long.
Of the three Great Demons that had entered the Material Plane, two died, one fled.
The other demons were either killed or scattered. The Abyssal Rift was sealed.
The crisis caused by the falling Sky City from Halden was resolved like this, without the Red Emperor ever showing his face.
People only then clearly realized.
Although the Aola Kingdom was strong because of the Red Emperor, apart from the Red Emperor, it had itself grown to an extraordinary scale without anyone noticing.
Beings that usually revealed neither their strength nor their fame stepped forward one after another in the critical moment.
There was more than one Mandate protecting this land.
What if there was a fourth, or even a fifth Great Demon?
The Aola citizens had no doubt that if more Great Demons really did descend, their side would still have experts emerge.
Vophal Dragon Domain. The Cold Sacred Spring.
The massive Silver Dragon coiled by the lake, her eyes closed in feigned sleep.
The war between the Aola Kingdom and the demons was over. Her mind had relaxed as well.
But the Silver Dragon King knew this might only be the beginning.
If even three Great Demons couldn't rouse Garoth from his slumber, then perhaps an Immortal-level danger would follow.
This wasn't just because Garoth himself was too prominent. It was also related to the will of the deities, to the trends of the era.
In this era unfavorable to dragons, the stronger and more exceptional a dragon was, the more risks and obstacles they faced on their path forward.
One misstep could send them tumbling into the abyss, possibly never to climb out again.
"Audothos."
The Silver Dragon King murmured softly, communicating with the Gold Dragon King coiled within the Everbright Dragon Domain.
A few seconds later, a voice came back.
"What is it?"
Nereus asked, "How long are you planning to stay stuck at the Mandate level?"
The Gold Dragon King replied, "Soon. I am gradually comprehending the mysteries of time. The potency of time is about to coalesce in my hands."
The Silver Dragon King fell silent.
Among the several Dragon Kings, she wouldn't claim to be the strongest, nor the most wise. But she was definitely the one with the clearest perception.
"Soon"... The Gold Dragon King's perception of time had long been problematic.
His "soon" could mean a hundred years, could mean a thousand years, or even mean it might never be achieved.
But the Silver Dragon King couldn't say anything.
This was Audothos's own matter, something only he himself could resolve.
The Silver Dragon King said, "Come out from the Everbright Dragon Domain. It won't take up much of your time."
The Gold Dragon King asked, "Oh? What happened?"
Nereus briefly explained the current situation.
After hearing her out, the Gold Dragon King was silent for a long time before speaking slowly.
"I am at a critical juncture right now. I cannot move rashly."
"However, I have indeed gained some insight into the mysteries of time and age. I can take this opportunity to put it into practice."
The Silver Dragon King frowned slightly. "What mystery? How will you practice it?"
There was no response.
The Gold Dragon King had directly severed the connection.
Nereus tried several more times but couldn't reach him.
"Doing whatever he wants, speaking in half-truths, never considering what other dragons think..."
The Silver Dragon King sighed. "Audothos. This terrible way of doing things is still the same as before. Not a bit has changed."
She shook her head. There was no help for it.
At the same time, on the Rhen Plateau.
An invisible force descended, using the River of Time as its medium. It quietly flowed around a few times before concentrating and coalescing towards the area where the Red Iron Dragon slept.
A few snowflakes froze in place for a single instant.
Then, everything returned to calm, restored to its original state.
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