Beneath the Red Dragon

Crack,

Blood spattered, dyeing the adult Gray Dragon’s fangs red, and also dyeing the Juvenile Blue Dragon Sesha’s cheeks.

This fierce Blue Dragon whelp actually froze for a moment at this time.

The landed Gray Dragon Naka’s four limbs sank slightly, as if recalling its innate instinct to fly; its huge wings slowly spread open, just about to pounce up again.

”Damn big guy, over here,” a young man’s figure appeared at the second-floor window of a building by the street. He drew his Bow and Arrow and loosed the string in his hand.

Whoosh,

The Arrow shot toward Gray Dragon Naka, but a mortal’s Arrow only clanged against the fine Scales on Gray Dragon Naka’s closed eyelids.

”Go, go, you little Dragon, hurry and go, find those powerful Giant Dragon Lords,” the young man gripped the Steel Fork he used for hunting Beasts, vaulted out from the second-floor window, and faced this adult Giant Dragon whose thigh was almost thicker than his body.

The Juvenile Blue Dragon Sesha gave this young man a deep look, then suddenly beat his wings and flew off toward the distant sky.

Gray Dragon Naka let out a Furious roar, its immense wings spread wide as it was about to spring into the air, but the brave youth was already running and leaping up, his sharp Steel Fork stabbing straight for the adult Gray Dragon’s eye.

Clang,

The closed eyelids once again blocked the young man’s attack; the adult Gray Dragon’s immense strength drove its wing in a sweeping cross-cut, like a gigantic cleaver slicing the youth’s body in two.

Blood drenched, and the Beast’s triumphant hiss of delight.

Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash had once heard a True Dragon from the Gogomola Dragon Group say that if a person has not undergone the test of storm and rain, has not been tempered by setbacks, but only relies on a few books and a few inspiring words to establish an aspiration and embrace a creed,

then such a person’s faith and convictions are unreliable.

When life goes smoothly, they can still cling to their ideals, but once they encounter setbacks and blows, they often change their tune and seek another branch to perch on.

Yet when Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash stood upon the dome of the heavens, his chaotic and shaken mind miraculously awakened.

Obilash’s eyes bulged to the point of tearing; a deep sorrow of the bloodline was born in his heart.

This Ancestral Golden Dragon did not feel his vague thoughts being shaken; instead, they began to sprout and grow like seeds in the spring soil, branches and leaves flourishing.

Boundless grief turned into boundless rage; it was not the rage induced by the Dragon Madness Curse Skill, but an infinite heart-flame born from his true heart, turning all the desires of his bloodline into fuel and soaring into the sky.

”Roar...”

Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash raised his head to the sky and roared. In this furious, awe-inspiring roar, searing pure white Flame and wildly dancing lightning surged from the gaps in his golden Scale Armor, spraying and scorching.

Bang, bang, bang,

Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash’s massive body leaped rapidly across the tall rooftops of the city; his four powerful, thick claws stamped deep depressions into these broad roofs built of volcanic rock slabs.

At the edges of the depressions on those stone-structured roofs, white-gray liquid slowly melted and flowed, with charred black marks left by tongues of lightning and Flame.

Thud,

The enraged Golden Dragon Oblash abandoned all external power; his colossal body slammed straight down, his massive Dragon Horns ramming directly into Gray Dragon Naka and sending him flying.

The Golden Dragon did not stay his hand; his Furious power made him like the most primitive Dragon Race, grappling with the maddened Gray Dragon Naka in a savage brawl.

The two Giant Dragons swung their claws with a force beyond mortal imagination or comparison, baring their fangs, biting and tearing at each other’s bodies.

Scales shattered, flesh and blood sprayed; every brief, heavy breath carried fountains of Dragon Blood spurting out.

Compared to Gray Dragon Naka, who had degenerated into a Beast, Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash’s attacks were far more powerful; the violent lightning coiling around the Golden Dragon and the blazing white Dragon Flame carried incomparable destructive power, driving the Beast-like Gray Dragon back step by step.

In the end, Gray Dragon Naka’s slender neck was locked by the Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash’s powerful foreclaws, while the Gray Dragon’s sharp teeth tore open the Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash’s wings.

But Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash’s claws sank deep into Gray Dragon Naka’s Spinal Bone, crushing his bones and finally depriving this Beast-like Gray Dragon of all mobility.

Gray Dragon Naka lay on the ground gasping like a dying Beast; his body, stripped of movement, still twitched uncontrollably, beyond his control, his great exhalations rippling the pool of blood on the ground.

Drip, drip,

Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash, his whole body flowing with resplendent golden Dragon Blood, walked to the young man who had been cut in two by Gray Dragon Naka’s wings.

The young man lay weakly in the pool of blood on the ground, his gaze up at the sky already becoming unfocused. If not for Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash still detecting the faint breath from the youth before him, even a Dragon would have thought this young man’s life had long since fled.

The head of the Ancestral Golden Dragon gently lowered; he stretched out his tongue and licked the bloodstains from the youth’s face, the violent lightning and Fire transmuting into gentle Magic Power that poured into the youth’s body, sustaining the final, dazzling moment of his life.

Obilash asked softly, ”Was it worth it?”

”Cough, cough,”

The breath of the weakening youth finally steadied; his scattered gaze converged, and his black eyes shone with unprecedented light as he smiled.

”Honored Giant Dragon sir, I cannot love my country only in times of victory...”

Ancestral Golden Dragon Oblash slowly raised his head. In his life so much longer than any mortal’s, this was the first time he felt his Flame slip from his control, even burning his own eye sockets until they felt scalding hot.

”Yes, you’re right, one cannot love one’s country only in victory. That makes a great deal of sense.”

Obilash slowly lowered his head, and with great care used his claw to gently close the stubborn, regretful eyes of this youth, then placed the young man’s corpse inside this house.

”Take good care of his body. He will be a hero,” Obilash said to the women and children in the house.

The women and children instinctively nodded, but when they raised their heads, they saw only the retreating back of that immense Golden Dragon galloping down the street, and heard Dragon Roars growing ever more resounding and majestic.

...

When Green Dragon Antajena passed through Dagonia and used Magic communication to notify the young White Dragon Sloraka who had long been stationed here, she came to the Lord’s teleportation area of Dagonia, about to step onto the Magic Array before her.

A clear, melodious voice rang in Green Dragon Antajena’s mind: ”Stop, Green Dragon, do not use the Magic Array to travel any further. Now that you’ve left that Red Dragon’s lair, the Magic Arrays are no longer safe.”

”Who are you?” The question echoed in Green Dragon Antajena’s mind as she temporarily suppressed her anxiety.

”Me? You may call me Kreiska, or you may address me as the Magic Dragon God!” The clear, ringing voice sounded again.

”Why? How am I supposed to trust you?” Antajena would not easily trust another’s words, even though she knew the Ancestral Red Dragon had already forged an alliance with this being.

”Why?” The voice laughed. ”Look, under the influence of the Dragon Madness Curse Skill, even those Juvenile Dragons in your Dragon Group can temporarily resist by relying on their own will and strength.”

”Some of those fellows may not care for faith, but what you’re doing is digging up all their roots.”

”It’s one thing if it’s just some Great Dragons, but when the next generation of the Gogomola Dragon Group walks out into the world, that sort of influence is something certain fellows do not wish to see.”

”What do you think they’re truly afraid of? Not your great power, but that which can let all Giant Dragons break free from the bonds and shackles of inheritance—that thought free of Dragon Blood’s influence.”

Kreiska’s voice spoke solemnly: ”Even the Dragon Gods, because of their inherent shackles and notions, cannot research such a thing. As Gogomola said, ’Law arises from conditions.’ Even the God of Magic, who claims to command all Magic, cannot replicate such a thing.”

”As for how you can trust me—have you not seen that my statue also stands within your Divine Hall? Some fellows cannot lay down their pride, but I am not like them. My interests are the same as yours.”

Green Dragon Antajena fell silent for a moment. ”If I don’t use the Teleportation Array, it will take a very long time to fly across the entire Imperial lands to tell Karon what has happened here.”

”It’s a pity that at such a time I cannot appear openly,” the voice in the Green Dragon’s mind said. ”If you are willing to trust me, you can entrust your body to me.”

Green Dragon Antajena slowly closed her eyes and said in her heart, ”Then come!”

Magic Power’s burning Flame roared up over Green Dragon Antajena’s body. She opened her eyes and transformed into an unlookable storm, shooting toward the distance.