I Received System to Become Dragonborn Chapter 973: Bad News

At the sa ti, in a place far above the concerns of the streets below, Eccar sat alone atop the highest tower of the King’s Palace.

The wind was gentle this night and brushing his hair.

The full moon hung above like a silent observer, spilling its silver light over the tiled rooftops and winding alleys of the slumbering city below.

The stars scattered across the sky in their eternal dance, distant and unbothered.

Beside him sat a half-empty jug of wine and in his hand there was a goblet that was still half full. Eccar took another long gulp and exhaled through his nose with satisfaction.

"Peace. One of the few nights when the world isn’t screaming at to save it." he thought, tilting his head slightly to the sky.

He didn’t take such monts for granted anymore after everything he and Erend had been through. The ancient gods, the eldritch horrors, the danger beyond ti and space, or the Mage with tal. They’d faced horrors that would drive normal n mad. Or just dead.

Now, in this mont of quiet, he allowed himself to simply be a relaxed man.

He leaned on the railing, peering down. The city’s lights flickered like a sea of stars brought low and the guards still did their rounds with the discipline of trained soldiers.

The streets were mostly empty. Most decent folk were asleep by now. But a few figures still moved through the shadows. Eccar was certain that so of them weren’t out for legal reasons.

The idea of it used to bother him once. Now, not so much.

"I will just let the city deal with its own petty cris," he thought, lazily swirling the wine in his cup. "I’ve seen monsters that tear holes through ti. So thief in an alley doesn’t even bother anymore."

He blinked, realizing sothing. Was that arrogance? Or just fatigue?

Maybe both.

Then sothing happened.

His perception flared. He felt a subtle change in the air. The delicate threads of Magic around him stirred like startled birds.

He was already halfway to his feet when it appeared.

A black and gold ripple in space appeared, blood open silently behind him. A circular portal with lines etched like a clock face slowly spinning.

From it erged a familiar shape of a tall and regal man draped in robes that shimred.

Krono the Ti Dragon was here.

Eccar relaxed at first, a faint smile curving his lips. "Heh. You could’ve said your greetings first, you know."

But then he saw the expression Krono wore. Stone-cold, and terribly serious.

The kind of seriousness that ant the world was tilting again.

The smile faded from Eccar’s face.

"Hey," he said casually, though his tone sharpened beneath the surface. "Sothing happened?"

Krono stepped forward, the portal closing behind him with a soft ticking sound.

"Yes," Krono said simply. "A bad thing."

Eccar nodded, setting the goblet down beside him.

"Figured."

He folded his arms, bracing himself.

"Alright. What kind of bad are we talking about now?" he asked.

Krono didn’t smile or even blink.

He answered with a voice like thunder muffled beneath velvet.

"I think this is worse," Kronon said.

Eccar’s brow furrowed. "Worse than that?"

Krono looked up at the moon for a mont, as if weighing his words against the stars.

"There is sothing moving," he said slowly, "from outside the weave. A force that was not bound by ti. I don’t know how that happened but it was watching us."

Eccar felt the chill in his bones before the aning fully landed.

He then swallowed hard, a dry knot forming in his throat.

He looked at Krono, who remained still beneath the pale wash of moonlight.

"Explain to what you know exactly," Eccar said quietly, his voice no longer relaxed. "What exactly do you an it was watching us?"

Krono’s golden eyes flicked to him.

"I tried," he said. "I reached into the threads of ti with my power. I wanted to see where this force ca from and where it’s going. But I couldn’t."

Eccar blinked. "You couldn’t?"

"My power was blocked," Krono said. "Blinded. As if there is a curtain over ti itself when it concerns this thing. Whatever it is, it exists beyond the reach of past and future. A place I should be able to see. But now I cannot."

A cold ripple passed through Eccar. His thoughts raced.

Krono was the Ti Dragon. His gaze spanned centuries. His predictions had averted calamities. If he said he couldn’t see sothing, then...

Eccar let out a low and shaken sigh. "Okay... yeah. That’s bad. That’s really, really bad."

Krono nodded once, slow and solemn.

"Worse still... I don’t know what it is. No record or trace in the tilines. No na whispered through the cracks of dying worlds. It is new, or perhaps it is older than everything."

Eccar ran a hand down his face, eyes flicking toward the city lights again, the flickering peace below suddenly feeling distant.

"So we don’t know where it is, what it wants, or even what it looks like."

"No," Krono confird. "We don’t even know where to begin."

Eccar let out a sharp breath, pacing a few steps, then turned back.

"You’re serious. Sothing exists out there that your domain, which is ti, can’t touch. That’s supposed to be impossible. I can’t even wrap my head around that."

"Neither can I," Krono admitted, and there was sothing quietly terrifying about hearing that from a being like him.

Eccar rubbed his jaw, trying to contain the storm of unease swirling in his gut.

"Then what the hell do we do now? We can’t just sit here, anxious and twitching, waiting for the sky to fall."

Krono looked off into the horizon, the silence stretching a mont too long.

Then he sighed, an ancient sound, full of weight and reluctance.

"We need to start moving with our plans," he said. "We visit the others. The Dragonborns across the worlds. The ones who still live. If sothing truly ancient or alien is waking beyond the veil, then perhaps they’ve felt it too. Or maybe they’ll know sothing I don’t."

Eccar stood still, digesting the words. His thoughts drifted, briefly, to Arty who was still in this world, needing watching over.

And Erend, buried in his project to reinforce his ho world, pushing himself to the limit again.

So Erend couldn’t join him now. That left only one option.

He looked at Krono again.

"Alright," Eccar said. "But it was just the two of us then."

Krono nodded. "For now."

Krono likely already knew about Erend’s project so he didn’t say anything about it.

Eccar leaning beside the railing. He slung it onto his back with a practiced ease, the half-finished goblet of wine left behind, forgotten.

—

The next day ca with a pale gold light pouring in through the tall arched windows of Sylmirra’s chambers.

She stirred beneath the velvet sheets, groaning slightly.

Morning was not her favorite ti, and she had stayed up far too late.

As she rolled over, trying to cling to the last remnants of sleep, a firm knock sounded at her door.

She frowned imdiately.

With a sigh, Sylmirra sat up, brushing a strand of silver hair from her face.

"Who in the hell has the gall to disturb this early?" she muttered. But even as she moved toward the door, pulling a loose robe over her shoulders, she already had a guess.

Only one person would knock like that.

She opened the door and there he stood.

Eccar stood with a smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

"Can I co in?"

"Yes."

Once inside, Eccar didn’t waste ti. He turned to her, his tone shifting from casual to serious in an instant.

"I need to go," he said.

Sylmirra’s brow tightened slightly. "Go where?"

"Far," he said. "To other worlds. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone."

She nodded with a thoughtful face.

"I understand."

Eccar noddlookeded. "I need to ask sothing from you. I need you to watch over Arty while I’m gone."

Sylmirra didn’t answer imdiately. She looked at him closely now. The grim lines around his mouth, the focus behind his eyes, the tension in his shoulders. This wasn’t so errand or diplomatic visit.

This was serious.

"Can I ask what is this matter?"

"For now I can’t tell you yet."

Sylmirra studied him for a long mont. Then she nodded.

"I understand," she said. "If you say it’s sothing beyond even my reach, then I believe you."

"Thank you," Eccar said, relieved. "Arty will beco our best asset in tis of need. Please take care of her."

Sylmirra’s expression softened at the ntion of Arty.

"She’s been surprising since day one," she said. "She’ll be safe. You have my word."

Eccar smiled again, this ti with genuine warmth.

"I know she will."

They stood in silence for a mont, the morning sun warming the room.

Then, with a nod, Eccar turned toward the door.

"I’ll send word when I can," he said.

Sylmirra nodded once. "I’ll keep Arty ready for whatever’s coming."

With that, Eccar left.

—