Chapter 648: Damn Evil Dragons, Unforgivable!
Halden, the Sky City.
The light was dim today. When it streamed through the stained glass windows, the reliefs of past heroes lost their former luster, leaving only blurred, heavy outlines.
Fafnir still sat at the head of the long table.
His appearance and posture had changed little from before.
His hands were placed flat, fingers interlocked, and his bright eyes slowly swept across every face present.
But on closer inspection, one could see that the grooves on his brow were deeper than a few years ago, and fine lines had appeared at the corners of his eyes.
The pressures of these years had not been kind to his face.
"Sacred Aola has issued a protection declaration to the Vophal Dragon Domain. You all already know about this matter."
"The Brass Dragon King and the Copper Dragon King still exist. The Dragon Domain has not lost all its guardians. But the Red Emperor still chose to step forward at this moment, offering his empire as a shield for the Dragon Domain."
Fafnir paused, his gaze flickering slightly.
"I want to hear your judgments."
"Does Sacred Aola truly see itself as the dragon champion, taking it upon itself to protect its kin? Or... has this Dragon Empire already set its sights on the Metal Dragon Domains, intending to swallow them all whole?"
After a brief silence, a deeply sunken-eyed Mandate-level being spoke first.
"Your Majesty, I believe it is the latter."
He lifted his gaze, sweeping a look across his colleagues present.
"Please recall, everyone, what this great dragon has done over the years."
"What did he do first? In the name of an emperor, he gathered those on the Continent of Atlan who were called evil dragons, uniting these ferocious beasts under his command."
"Whether they were strong enemies or allies, they all ultimately became nourishment for his expansion."
As soon as he finished speaking, someone immediately chimed in agreement.
The speaker was another Mandate-level being seated in the middle of the long table. "I agree."
"During the Red Emperor's slumber, we made some moves, but to be honest, we didn't fully kick him while he was down. That was our best chance to eliminate him. Unfortunately, we missed it."
His tone carried a hint of regret as he continued.
"Now he's awake, and his power has soared. Naturally, he won't take anyone seriously anymore."
"Annexing the Dragon Domains is just a matter of time. After the Dragon Domains, his gaze will turn elsewhere."
"Elsewhere where?"
Someone asked quietly.
Fafnir did not interrupt the discussion.
He listened quietly, his hands still folded on the table. Only when the last voice had fully faded did he lift his chin slightly, retaking control of the conversation.
"Sooner or later..."
"The gaze of that beast, Sacred Aola, will shift from the Lesser Land to the sky. The balance between the City in the Clouds and the Kingdom of the Lesser Land will eventually be shattered."
"A great dragon, already equivalent to an Immortal, will not allow anyone to hover above its head."
His gaze slowly swept over everyone present. "And now, the only reason we can still sit here peacefully is because the Abyss's danger remains."
"We are blocking the demons for the Red Emperor."
"In his eyes, Halden is nothing more than a free line of defense, a mere shield. That's all."
As these words fell, the atmosphere in the meeting room grew even heavier.
In the shadows of the long table, a Mandate-level being spoke quietly. "Halden has sacrificed life and limb to resist demons for all of Atlan."
"And what about Aola? It reaps the rewards from the rear, growing stronger while we're too busy to pay attention, step by step, unhurriedly."
"It's unfair."
"Of course it's unfair!"
Another voice suddenly took over the conversation.
The speaker was the War Knight, the Grand Warlord of the Halden Empire, commanding all matters related to war.
"How many of our warriors have died on the front lines?"
"For what? For what?"
"Is it so that Sacred Aola can develop comfortably on the ground? So that the Red Emperor can leisurely gather the dragon race, annex Dragon Domains, grow stronger step by step, and when he thinks the time is right, turn around to deal with us?"
"Is the blood we've shed, the price we've paid, all just to pave the way for him?"
He turned and looked directly at Fafnir, his gaze burning like fire.
"Your Majesty, I have something to say."
"Let's simply withdraw from the front lines! Pull the battle line back to Atlan, expose the Abyssal Rift's exit directly into the Material Plane! Let the demons flood out, and let all of Atlan see what kind of hell the Abyss truly is!"
His voice grew louder and louder, his chest heaving violently.
"We have the Platinum Star! We have no fear of demons in the Material Plane!"
"We can absolutely defend Halden's territory. But at the same time, Sacred Aola will be forced to taste the bitterness of demons. Then, they'll have no choice but to fight the Abyss alongside us."
He paused, a more dangerous glint flashing in his eyes.
"If they're unwilling..."
"Then so be it. In the end, we'll all go down together. At this rate, by the time Sacred Aola is strong enough, we won't escape being devoured anyway. Rather than waiting for death, it's better to gamble."
His tone was as forceful as clashing metal, stirring up a massive wave in the meeting room.
The expressions of the Mandate-level beings on either side of the long table shifted slightly.
But no one immediately spoke to refute him.
Several of them had a faint glimmer in their eyes, and deep within their gaze, a hint of genuine consideration for the feasibility of the idea surfaced.
Fafnir frowned slightly.
"The demon calamity began with Halden."
"Admittedly, it was the inevitable price of development, not our fault. But there's one thing I must make clear: the demon calamity ultimately started with us."
His gaze finally settled on the War Knight.
"This is Halden's responsibility."
"The demon calamity started because of us, so it should end by our hands. No matter the cost, this is something we must bear."
"Don't bring up this issue again."
The War Knight's lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing.
In truth, Fafnir's stance on this issue hadn't always been this way.
Previously, to trip up Aola, he had issued an order without any psychological burden.
Using a Sky City as bait, he lured demons to attack Aola's territory.
That incident seemed to contradict the words he was speaking now.
But Fafnir understood the difference in his own heart.
He didn't mind taking risks, not even employing methods that others might deem almost insane.
But risk-taking had its conditions.
He could bear the cost of a single Sky City.
If the situation spiraled out of control, he was confident he could drive the demons back into the rift, at the cost of a certain number of casualties.
But completely abandoning the front line?
Pulling back all defenses and bringing the battle to the Material Plane?
That was an entirely different matter.
It meant total loss of control. The risk was too great. Fafnir had never entertained the thought. The War Knight's proposal sounded satisfying, but implementing it would only lead to one outcome: an irreversible disaster.
But beyond this strategic consideration, there was an even more thorny issue.
The Platinum Star.
Halden's national guardian mecha, the steel beast carrying the hopes and trust of countless imperial subjects, the empire's ultimate weapon...
It had developed some problems.
Not minor ones.
Like other Sky Cities whose engines had been corrupted by Abyssal energy, the Platinum Star's core structure had undergone a certain degree of mutation.
Exposing it to an environment with a high concentration of Abyssal energy could very likely cause it to lose control entirely.
This assessment existed only in a sealed report, seen by only three people.
Fafnir himself, and the empire's two Immortals.
Even the Mandate-level beings present knew nothing about it.
The meeting room fell into a long silence.
After a while, someone asked quietly, "Your Majesty, then... do we just let Sacred Aola develop like this? Watch him grow stronger step by step, until one day, he becomes so powerful that even the Platinum Star can't check him?"
Fafnir remained silent.
He couldn't answer.
The situation was far less optimistic than the empire's subjects believed. The Abyss front line was like a beast that could never be satisfied, devouring all of Halden's mobile forces.
They couldn't spare enough manpower or resources to check Aola.
This feeling of helplessness was harder to bear than defeat on the battlefield.
Just then, the War Knight suddenly seemed to receive some news.
His expression froze, and a subtle change appeared in his eyes. In a few short seconds, his face shifted several times.
Fafnir noticed his anomaly and asked, "Has the front-line situation changed?"
The War Knight snapped back to reality and took a deep breath.
"Your Majesty, our legions on the front line have spotted the figure of the Bronze Dragon King."
"He's not dead."
The War Knight continued. "And... without a doubt, he has broken through. He has returned in an Immortal body, making his way back from the front line to Bernardo."
The people present all showed expressions of surprise.
How long had it been since this planet had seen an Immortal dragon?
They couldn't remember.
They had always felt that among the current dragon race, Aola's Red Emperor had the most potential to become an Immortal. He was too dazzling, like a blazing volcano. Everyone could see his power growing.
Under a normal growth trajectory, he would inevitably break through to Immortal.
But no one expected the Bronze Dragon King to do it first.
The Abyss had not devoured him.
Not only had he crawled out of the Abyss alive, but he had also crossed the threshold that countless lives could never touch, reappearing in the world as an Immortal dragon.
Having an additional Immortal dragon was theoretically not good news for Halden.
But if this Immortal dragon was the Bronze Dragon King, Sheffield, the situation was completely different.
This wasn't bad news.
This was good news.
Fafnir's eyes gradually brightened, the gloom deep within them swept away.
He leaned forward slightly, his voice filled with energy.
"The Bronze Dragon King struggled in the Abyss and refused to die, instead breaking through the limit of the Mandate realm... Now, there's another Immortal in this world."
"In his eyes, the Red Emperor has always been an undeniable evil dragon."
"A good show is about to begin."
Everyone present knew the Bronze Dragon King's character.
Now, returning in an Immortal form, what would be his first move?
Fafnir was almost certain of the answer.
Furthermore, regarding the Red Emperor, the empire's scholars had spent a great deal of time studying the mechanism and consequences of ascending to godhood. Although the conclusion wasn't one hundred percent certain, it had already reached a fairly high degree of credibility.
The Red Emperor could ascend to godhood.
For a true god walking in the Material Plane, Halden would do its best to avoid directly confronting his edge.
Fafnir was well aware of the price of directly clashing with a true god and was unwilling to pay it.
But ascending to godhood didn't mean one could do whatever they wanted.
On the contrary, ascending to godhood was a kind of restraint.
According to the empire's scholars' simulations and studies, if the Red Emperor ascended again, at most two times, he would be completely swallowed by the flood of faith.
A true god could no longer remain in the Material Plane indefinitely.
Like the deities in the heavens, he would be pushed to the higher planes, raising his divine realm in the outer realms, forever cut off from the Material World.
By then, Sacred Aola would no longer threaten Halden.
There was another possibility.
If he couldn't end the battle immediately after ascending... then this emperor's remaining time in the Material Plane would be even shorter. One fierce battle, one ascension, would be enough to turn him into a page in Bernardo's history.
The Bronze Dragon King might be able to force this emperor to choose ascension.
No matter which direction it went, there would be an opportunity for Halden to exploit.
So, should the empire get involved in this matter?
Should they take this chance to give things a push from the shadows?
This was a matter of great importance. Fafnir couldn't make the decision alone. He needed to discuss it with the empire's other two Immortals.
He quickly ended the meeting. Then, he sent a message to the empire's Immortals about what had happened and his own thoughts.
...
The Boiling Sea, Raging Tides Dragon Domain.
Beneath the radiant light of Sacred Aola, the sea breeze between the island chains had become a little more pleasant.
The Gold Dragon, Fenoris, landed on a rocky beach of an outer island.
The tide had just receded, and strings of water droplets still clung to the rocks, glistening in the faint light.
Before him stood a Blue Dragon.
Her scales were the color of the deep sea before a storm, deep and heavy, her size only slightly smaller than Fenoris's.
A Crown-level Blue Dragon, Alvia.
Once, as a dragon of Helmod, she had clashed with the Gold Dragon Fenoris on the battlefield many times.
Their history of conflict could be traced back centuries, each encounter leaving behind scars deep enough to breed hatred.
But now, everything had changed.
The Blue Dragon stood here, as a dragon of Aola, conversing calmly with her former enemy.
Her posture was relaxed, her wings half-folded at her sides, showing no signs of defense or vigilance.
This was something utterly unimaginable before.
"To be honest, I never thought this day would come back then."
Fenoris said in a low voice.
He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the surrounding seas and islands.
In the distance of the rocky beach, several adult dragons were diving and hunting in pairs. Several were soaring in the air, and it was clearly visible that chromatic dragons and metal dragons were mixed together in natural formations.
On a nearby reef, a Red Dragon and a Silver Dragon were conversing.
They were very close, their postures relaxed, occasionally flicking their tails.
"Under the glorious light of Sacred Aola, the minds of the Maelstrom dragons are gradually changing."
Fenoris withdrew his gaze from the distance and settled it on Alvia.
"At the beginning, under the Emperor's influence, the dragons were willing to accept Aola's guidance, but in their hearts, they hadn't fully turned the corner. But now..."
He pointed at the Red Dragon and Silver Dragon who were talking.
"I can say with great certainty that the vast majority of our kin have abandoned their past extreme ideas."
"Including myself."
"You should know very well what I was like before."
Hearing this, the Blue Dragon, Alvia, tilted her head slightly.
"Because of the great Master of Sacred Aola, our Emperor. He possesses a power, an ability, that makes dragons willingly follow him."
"In this regard, you and I understand it better than most dragons."
"After all, like you, I was once an enemy of the Emperor."
She lifted her head slightly, her gaze becoming somewhat distant.
"I'll never forget the first time I saw the Emperor. He descended from the heavens, destroying the Evil God's temple with a single strike. Amidst the raging storm, he stretched out his body to his heart's content, the light reflected by his scales like another sun."
She had stood there at the time, trembling all over.
Like a mortal standing before a tsunami, all thoughts of resistance were scattered by the overwhelming momentum.
Alvia withdrew her gaze and looked toward the sky.
"Under the Emperor's leadership, we dragons of Bernardo are rebuilding our glory."
"Regardless of what we fought for before, now, we are fighting for the honor and future of the dragon race."
The Gold Dragon also nodded. "You're right."
"At the very beginning... I actually felt guilty."
"That was right after I chose to accept Sacred Aola. During the day, I flew normally, patrolled—everything was normal. But whenever night fell deep, those thoughts would surge up."
He lowered his head slightly, his eyelids half-closed.
"I would think of the Dragon King, Lord Sheffield."
"I'd remember the years spent under his command, remember his figure standing in the storm issuing orders. And then, I'd feel that I had betrayed the Dragon King's trust."
He lifted his head slightly, looking toward the distant horizon.
"But every time that happened, the Emperor's figure would appear in my heart. Once it appeared, my unease and anxiety would dissipate like morning mist."
He turned back, looking directly at Alvia, his gaze clear and open.
"Now, I believe my choice was completely correct."
"I no longer need to convince myself."
"Lord Sheffield is already a thing of the past. I respect him—that's true, and I still respect him to this day. But what he represents is an era that divided the dragon race into different camps."
Fenoris shook his head.
"That era has already come to an end."
"Now is the era of Sacred Aola. I am loyal to the great Master of Sacred Aola."
Almost no Crown-level dragons fear death.
The Gold Dragon did not submit out of fear or coercion.
He spent a lot of time thinking about whether his choice was truly correct. In the end, he made his own judgment and firmly believed that the path chosen by Sacred Aola was the true future of the dragon race.
"So, now, for me, anyone who obstructs Sacred Aola or defies the Emperor's will is an enemy that must be eliminated."
When he said this last sentence, Fenoris's voice was low and calm, yet contained a blade-like sharpness.
Alvia glanced at this Gold Dragon.
The Purification Faction dragons of the Raging Tides Dragon Domain—those metal dragons who swore to eradicate all evil completely—many of them hadn't actually changed much in their spiritual essence.
They had once done extreme things in the name of justice.
Now, they had simply switched the object of their loyalty to Aola, and changed the target of their purges from evil dragons to anything that obstructed Aola.
In essence, they had gone from one extreme to another.
This Gold Dragon was a prime example.
A gust of strong wind swept across the sea surface, kicking up fine water droplets on the rocky beach that pattered against the scales of the two great dragons with a soft rustling sound.
Alvia was about to say something else when she suddenly sensed Fenoris's body tense up.
The Gold Dragon's expression changed dramatically in an instant.
First, there was shock, a look of bewilderment and disbelief. Then, his pupils contracted sharply, his vertical pupils narrowing into a thin line. The muscles beneath his scales bulged one after another, his entire body suddenly tensing up, pulled taut.
"What's wrong?"
The Blue Dragon furrowed the scales on her brow, following the Gold Dragon's gaze upward.
She saw nothing.
The clouds hung low, the gray sky pressing down on the sea. Waves churned in the wind. Everything was the same as before.
But her scales reacted first.
It was a feeling that was difficult to describe precisely in words.
A presence, like a tsunami, surged toward them.
It wasn't dragon might, nor was it a sound or a smell.
If one had to describe it accurately, it was closer to a pure, irresistible sense of existence, sweeping in from beyond the horizon, rolling over the waves, the islands, brushing past every dragon's scales and bones.
Beside her, Fenoris's expression was shifting violently.
He was far too familiar with this feeling.
The Gold Dragon's whole body was tense, muscles bunched as he slowly raised his head.
The sky was gray and low.
At some point, a storm had silently swept across the Raging Sea. Lightning split the clouds, its flash illuminating the entire sea surface for an instant, and also illuminating a figure flying in from the distance.
Cyan.
This color was strikingly conspicuous in the sky, like the cross-section of the hardest reef in the deep sea after being split open, or like a blade formed from seawater, piercing through the curtain of the storm.
He approached from far away, his speed neither fast nor slow.
But the dark clouds and wind and rain all seemed to part and yield before him, as if the entire sky was orchestrating its rhythm to make way for him.
The Bronze Dragon King, Sheffield.
He had returned.
The dangers of the Abyss had left no visible trace on him. Instead, they had tempered him, making him even colder and sharper, like a sword drawn from the darkness.
In the sky above the Raging Sea, Sheffield took a deep breath.
The salty astringency of sea salt, the biting chill of the storm, and the fishy smell of seaweed and fish.
The scent of home.
This was the unique smell of the sea he had guarded for thousands of years.
In this moment, all the hardships had become worth it.
He had returned.
Sheffield opened his draconic maw, and a roar rang out like thunder across the sky.
"Dragons of the Raging Tides, your King has returned!"
In the Abyss, he had imagined this moment countless times.
When he returned, his subjects would rise from every island, scales gleaming, the sound of wings beating the air merging into an ocean of noise.
They would unleash deafening roars, louder than his own call.
Because they had waited for this day for far too long.
They would swarm around him from all directions, welcoming their King in the most fervent manner. At the center of the dragon host, a space would be reserved for him. He would descend there, surrounded by his subjects.
The Bronze Dragon King closed his eyes slightly, spreading his wings in the storm, letting the sea breeze brush over every scale.
He waited.
He waited for his loyal subjects to surge forward, to pour out their years of waiting and perseverance to him.
Yet, what answered him was silence.
Sheffield furrowed the scales on his brow.
Then, he caught a scent.
The scent of evil.
He lowered his head, looking down more carefully.
Then, the expression on the Bronze Dragon's face froze.
Within his Raging Tides Dragon Domain, the sea he had guarded for thousands of years, the sacred ground where he had sworn to purge all evil...
A great number of evil dragons were roaming!
He saw red ones, blue ones, green ones, black ones, and even white evil dragons, entrenched on the territory of his Dragon Domain.
The evil dragons moved at ease, their demeanor completely natural.
As if this were the territory of evil dragons.
And the surrounding metal dragons were completely indifferent to their presence.
Not only that, but Sheffield also saw something even more unacceptable.
At the edge of his vision, several metal dragons stood shoulder to shoulder with evil dragons, their postures suggesting a very close relationship.
His dragon claws unconsciously tightened.
A searing rage surged up from the Bronze Dragon King's chest, spreading through his body like magma along his veins.
He had thought he would return to a Raging Tides Dragon Domain that had held fast to its beliefs.
He would embrace his subjects, tell them everything would be alright, and lead them to thoroughly purge the evil.
But now, what did he see?
Evil, in his own Dragon Domain, mixed in with his subjects, crawling over every island like parasites.
These damn evil dragons, the claws and fangs of the Red Calamity, had actually invaded his Dragon Domain while he was away, seducing his subjects!
They must have used some despicable means!
These evil dragons had corrupted the wills of his subjects with lies and deception, making them abandon their former oaths.
Unforgivable!
The Bronze Dragon King's gaze swept over the figures of those evil dragons below, his killing intent spreading through the air like a tangible force.
Then, it took him several seconds to calm himself down.
He needed to find out what had happened.
How these evil dragons got in, why his subjects hadn't resisted, and what role the Red Emperor had played in this matter.
But there was one thing he didn't need any thought to determine.
Evil must be eradicated completely. No matter what had happened, no matter the reason, these evil dragons had to die. Not a single one could be left alive.