Several days later.
Boiling Sea, Raging Tides Dragon Domain, an isolated island far from the continent.
Waves struck the gray-black rocks and soft sand with a relentless roar, white foam churning and leaving twisting marks on the damp shore before being ruthlessly smoothed away by the next surge.
Along this coastline, two figures walked against the salty sea breeze.
The man’s face was as stern as an ice carving, silver-white hair whipping wildly in the wind, skin the cold pale tone of soone who rarely saw sunlight. He wore exquisite jewelry of mythril and star-diamond at his earlobes and neck, which flashed with a faint brilliance.
The woman’s features were delicate, honey-toned skin glowing with health, a few playful freckles dotting her cheeks. Her copper-colored curls were bound by a slender, durable tal hair-band that swayed slightly with each step.
They were the silver dragon Edrian and the brass dragon Serena, appearing in human form.
“The atmosphere within the clan is heavy, like lead pressed beneath the deep sea.”
Serena’s voice was very low, almost drowned out by the waves, threaded with worry as she murmured, “Could it be... a failure?”
She looked over at her companion.
At that mont a more violent surge crashed onto the beach.
Before the previous wave had completely receded, the next one ca driving forward with titanic force, one after another, never ceasing, roaring thunderously.
Edrian did not pause. His deep gaze dropped to the froth that ford and vanished at his feet in an instant.
This cycle of rising tides and falling waves—how much like the rise and fall of eras it was.
Mighty empires tower like great waves, magnificent at their height, yet ultimately dood to collapse and beco but a speck of dust in the river of ti.
Even those deities that mortals look up to as eternal.
Before broader dinsions and far greater beings, who’s to say they won’t one day fall and perish?
Often, sentient beings are not ignorant. Even when they foresee signs of decline, when they would like to withdraw at their pinnacle, they are frequently unable to do so. They can only watch themselves swept by the era’s great waves, step by step toward inevitable ruin.
The silver dragon was silent for several seconds, then slowly shook his head.
“The older dragons who know the inside story are tight-lipped about it.”
His voice was low as he said, “But that silence in itself is a kind of wordless proclamation.”
“The one who has sheltered so many dragon domains, the twenty-four-winged Gold Dragon King who has protected the tal dragons for so long... his current condition is likely not good at all.”
Decades ago, the major dragon domains urgently recalled all tal dragons abroad.
Their aim was singular and unmistakable.
To concentrate the strength of all tal dragons, to exhaust the clan’s power, to help the twenty-four-winged Gold Dragon King—the symbol of the tal dragons’ greatest power—break into immortality.
Over the years, dragons like Edrian and Serena lived atop the ritual nodes at the core of the dragon domain.
Through ritual formations painstakingly crafted by the domain lords, they would extract a portion of their pure life-source energy and continuously channel it to the hoped-for king.
Placed before self-interested chromatic dragons, such a thing would be unthinkable—an impossible feat.
But the tal dragons’ unity and spirit of sacrifice exceeded outsiders’ imagination.
Aside from a rare few dissenters, the vast majority of tal dragons willingly paid the price.
In fact, it was not rely one-sided sacrifice.
If the Gold Dragon King succeeded in his breakthrough, the entire tal dragon clan would gain imasurable benefit; that splendor would even extend to all dragon-blooded lineages flowing on planet Bernardo.
At first, the ritual proceeded smoothly.
However, a long-planned ambush launched by a white dragon of thods forced the ritual to be interrupted for a considerable ti.
Since then, the formation’s efficiency in drawing life energy declined steadily, eventually... failing altogether.
This implied two very different outcos.
One: the Gold Dragon King had succeeded in breaking through, his power self-generated, no longer needing external sustenance.
Two: the Gold Dragon King had failed in his attempt, his condition deteriorated to the point that even energy extraction was useless.
Which one was true, the dragon domain leadership refused to say.
But by tal dragon tradition, if the Gold Dragon King succeeded, the whole clan would celebrate for months.
Reality, however, was different. After the ritual was declared over, the domain elders—those older, more powerful dragons—rely announced the closure’s end to all domain mbers, and then said no more.
No grand feast, no victorious dragon song, not even a comforting explanation.
This abnormal silence hung over every great dragon like a storm cloud.
Even the once-chatty, optimistic brass dragons beca taciturn for a ti.
“The worst result is that the Gold Dragon King has perished. He’s been in decline for a long ti.”
Serena gave a long sigh, worry deepening on her honeyed face.
If the dragons’ greatest pillar collapsed, the consequences would be unimaginable.
By contrast, human empires—whether they reached into the abyss for power, launched conquering wars, or explored the starry seas to negotiate with alien civilizations—showed ambition and drive.
Under such ebb and flow.
If dragons could not quickly produce a new titan to hold the sky, the future would be perilous.
“No need to be so pessimistic.”
Edrian said, “Failure in a breakthrough does not necessarily an death.”
“With the Gold Dragon King’s might and foundation, even struck by a backlash, he is very likely to survive, though weakened for a ti.”
Serena thought a mont and nodded.
“That possibility is indeed the most likely.”
Still, the gravity on their faces did not lift.
If others noticed the dragon king’s weakness and silence, probing, testing, even outright challenges from other powerful races would inevitably follow.
In any case, the tal dragons could no longer act as casually as before; they must be vigilant and cautious.
The two humanoid dragons continued walking along the shore.
Waves chased and played at their feet. After a while both of them halted.
Not far ahead in the shallow sea.
A tall, sturdy figure stood like a rock in the roiling surf, head raised, gazing at the endless, storm-pressured leaden horizon.
Sensing the glances from behind, the figure slightly turned its head.
A young yet resolute face ca into view, bronze micro-scales like natural tattoos on his cheeks and neck, shining with a cold tallic luster.
On either side of his forehead rose a pair of similarly colored, slightly backward-curving imposing horns that marked his identity.
A powerful tail covered in fine bronze scales unfurled behind him, the tip lashing the water unconsciously and sending out ripples.
This was a bronze dragon in draconic-human form.
Siano Sheffield.
A pri-phase bronze dragon with a life level of twenty.
He shared a surna with the bronze dragon king who led the Raging Tides Dragon Domain, his bloodline closely related and exceedingly strong.
Among dragons of the sa age, even gold dragons known for talent would need exceptional individuals to reach such heights in just over three hundred years.
Siano’s aptitude was thus evident.
More importantly, he had yet to undergo the crucial slumber tamorphosis of his pri phase.
If he completed that slumber, it was almost certain he would advance into the legendary tier. Moreover, he wasn’t an ordinary bronze; he possessed rare innate gifts that would make him formidable even as a legend.
The draconic-human Siano gave a polite slight nod in the direction of Edrian and Serena.
He spoke no words, then drew his gaze back to the storm-breeding sea, solemn as if contemplating so weighty matter.
Edrian and Serena made no attempt to converse.
They exchanged a knowing look, then silently altered their route to pass away from his figure.
They preferred to avoid extended contact with this bronze nad Siano.
The reason was simple: he was an extre presence even within the tal dragons.
Compared to his burning, almost obsessive sense of justice, Gold Dragon Alberto’s rebelliousness looked like childish mischief.
In the common perception, bronze dragons are the righteous war machines.
They possess a hotter, more uncompromising sense of justice than other tal dragons.
They do not balk at using their great power, preferring the most direct, brutal thods to eradicate what they deem evil by force.
Siano Sheffield was no different.
But what set him apart was the purity and extremity of his justice.
He believed in total eradication.
Evil must be rooted out completely, leaving no trace.
This extended beyond individual evildoers to accomplices, henchn, and even creatures whose blood itself flowed with evil.
This naturally included those dragons whose scales symbolized destruction and wickedness.
Whether lawful evil or chaotic evil, to Siano there was no essential difference.
In his eyes, evil dragons were tumors that needed cleansing from the land.
What made kin look askance was that unlike other tal dragons, who mainly punished or exiled allied evil dragons, Siano repeatedly killed his evil kin.
His extre ruthlessness and remorseless conduct drew much criticism within the tal dragons.
He did not care. He did as he pleased.
Every ti he enacted what he called justice, whether the target was kin or so other evil creature, the outco was always... total slaughter, leaving no trace.
Wrath of Justice—this was his title forged in blood.
Both Edrian and Serena harbored deep aversion toward this Wrath of Justice.
They firmly believed the world was not simply black and white, and one should not pass such absolute judgnt.
The chromatic dragons’ evil tendencies are certainly influenced by innate bloodline, but environnt and fate play crucial roles as well. Scale color and blood origins should not be the sole criteria for judging a kin’s life or death.
Yet despite their misgivings, they could not openly reproach him.
Siano was older and more powerful.
Though the tal dragons were united, an order of respect based on strength and seniority existed.
Faced with an elder and mighty clanmate, they at least publicly had to show basic respect and not speak rashly.
“Siano...”
After leaving the beach, Edrian glanced back at the figure that had shrunk to a black dot.
“His slumber should be imminent. Once it ends and he becos a legend, given his current thods, he will only grow worse.”
Serena agreed, “Right now there are still legendary dragons who can restrain him.”
“But once he himself ascends to legend, there will be even fewer dragons in the Raging Tides domain capable of restraining him.”
“Having such an extre presence is likely more harmful than helpful to the Raging Tides Domain, especially now. He’ll attract more unnecessary trouble.”
At that mont Edrian seed to recall sothing; his eyes sharpened.
“If that red iron dragon brat appears, by Siano’s code he would without hesitation kill him on sight, regardless of what the brat had done or why.”
Serena chid in, “That’s inevitable.”
“He cannot abide a naturally evil red iron dragon.”
“However, Siano mostly operates across the wide sea, hunting evil presences in the ocean. And with his slumber approaching, he likely won’t leave the Raging Tides domain for the ti being, so he won’t encounter Garoth far away in the convergence lands.”
When Garoth was ntioned, Serena’s thoughts flew to the distant convergence lands.
She tightened her partner’s hand and said, “Edrian, the domain’s closure has ended. We can go back.”
“I miss our Deborah.”
“So many years apart, I wonder how our child has grown.”
Child... Edrian snorted coldly through his nostrils.
“What is there to miss?”
“Even without us around, she’s probably living freely and happily in the convergence lands.”
Edrian kept a stern face and spoke coolly, “I think we should stay at the domain a bit longer.”
Seeing her mate pretending to be indifferent, Serena couldn’t help but let out a small laugh.
She gave a mischievous wink and said, “Don’t keep up that act in front of , darling.”
“I see right through those little feelings of yours.”
“The more you act like you don’t care, the more it shows you actually... miss her terribly! You’d fly back now if you could, to see if your precious daughter has put on weight, if her scales shine brighter, or if so blind fool has bullied her.”
Before Edrian could rebut, she slyly added, “Besides, don’t you want to avenge that humiliation?”
“When you were sparring, being beaten by a dragon far younger than you isn’t exactly sothing to brag about. If that story spreads, it would tarnish your reputation.”
At that, the silver dragon’s brows knit deeply and a vein throbbed at his temple.
“It... was a montary lapse of attention!”
He panted out a hurried defense, then took a deep breath.
“But you’re right.”
“That red iron brat should be a young dragon by now.”
“When I return to the convergence lands, I’ll spar with him properly again!”
“Last ti I was careless and let him have so advantage. That will never happen again. I might show a bit of rcy since he is young, but even so I’ll beat him until he’s bedraggled and dazed, to teach him how formidable I am.”
He paused briefly, unable to restrain his longing to return ho.
“Pack up! We leave at once, returning to the convergence lands.”
So ti later, at the island’s edge.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two massive shapes suddenly shot from the island’s dense forest into the sky, skimming low over the surging sea. Powerful gusts from their wings carved two long white wakes, then they beat their wings fiercely and shot upward, piercing the low-hanging leaden clouds.
One silver, one brass, the two great dragons broke the sky toward the convergence lands.
On the opposite side of the island, by the deep sea.
“Evil in this world is like silt at the ocean floor, as if it can never be fully cleared.”
“Filthy, stubborn, ever reproducing...”
“Only thorough purification can hope to root out evil.”
Siano Sheffield’s figure still stood in the shallows, his low mutter clear above the waves.
“After this slumber, when I step into legend, I will cleanse this filthy ocean and land more efficiently!”
As his words fell, his draconic-human form twisted and swelled.
Dazzling bronze light erupted.
A massive, heavily scaled adult bronze dragon body, radiating overwhelming pressure, erged in full.
He made no roar, only cast one long look across the boundless sea, then his colossal form slipped silently beneath the deep water.
Wrath of Justice lay dormant for a ti.
When he returned, he would sweep the ocean and land with even greater ferocity.
anwhile.
Ser Wilderness, Tempering Heights.
The iron dragon Sorog was stationed there. He had just received ssages from his followers. His body rose slowly and an excitent he could barely suppress flared in his eyes.
He had just received critical news.
Within Marnes Dungeon, the followers exploring the ruins had discovered clues to a legendary item.
“Garoth?”
Sorog called his kinsman in his mind.
But the other end of the ntal link offered no response, only a heavy, suppressed psychic wave.
“Looks like he’s in a deep sleep, his injuries are far heavier than mine.”
The iron dragon Sorog mused.
“Wait for him to wake before investigating? No, better to continue now just in case.”
Quickly he made his decision. He would personally lead a squad of elite followers to probe the dungeon.
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