Chapter 502: Chapter 502: The Meeting of the Three Dragons (Part Two)
This sand dragon was roughly the same size as Malygos, lazily stretching its wings made of dust and earth. More sand continued to be drawn into the massive form, seemingly mixed with various glinting metal particles—this dragon gradually taking shape before Duke's eyes, its sparkle enhanced by the scorching sun.
"Ysera..." The sand-formed dragon uttered a few confused words, "Why do ye disturb my siesta with a human? Disturbing the tranquility of this place? Give me a reason not to be angry!"
Without enough respect, even without a proper title.
Duke ignored the Blue Aspect, instead loudly addressing the Timeless One, "Nozdormu, I know you can see the past and the future. Well, if you firmly believe in your eternal timeline, believing that Neltharion will die, to become one of your most cherished collectibles, then I have but two questions for you. First, have you seen your downfall? Second, have you seen my future?"
"Pitiful human, what are ye talking about!?" In the massive gem-like dragon eyes, an odd glow suddenly intensified, "I am the embodiment of time! I am eternity! No one can kill me!"
Seemingly seeing through everything, unperturbed by the world, Nozdormu roared in anger. A sandstorm instantly swirled up, filling the entire view with grit. In Nozdormu's domain, every inch of land concealed some ancient magic.
A single grain of sand could ensure that an ancient dragon never existed—from the past to the present to the future. Let alone a mere mortal mage; if struck, Duke would be wiped from existence, even his beloved Alleria would completely forget him.
The Timeless One's power was terrifying!
Duke's eye twitched, but he showed no intention of dodging or defending.
It wasn't that he didn't want to; he couldn't.
Time, space, destiny—these three were recognized as insurmountable forces in countless novels and games.
Struggling futilely against them would only make the dragons laugh.
This damned Bronze Aspect, although the power of time flowed within him, he showed no concern for the present or future events! Those collectibles were his everything. He sent his minions to gather everything—just to live in the past, ignoring the present and the future.
If Duke didn't wake him up, all three Aspects would refuse to act. Then Duke himself would be in danger; if Neltharion wasn't defeated, even if Duke saved Alexstrasza, he would only have one guardian.
Which was better, one guardian or four?
Duke could only go all in!
Before Ysera's surprised eyes, Duke stood with his hands behind him, allowing the wind to brush his face, his eyes resolute, standing tall like a strong pine in a storm, with a look of pity and disdain.
This infuriated Nozdormu even more.
At that moment, Ysera seemed to sigh softly, whether it was a sigh or just a breath through her dragon snout, the entire world wobbled, and the apocalyptic sandstorm that Nozdormu had stirred up was effortlessly erased.
Yes, as easily as erasing chalk from a blackboard.
This was Ysera's Emerald Dream; she only connected the consciousness of the two dragon Aspects. If they wanted to kill Duke through the dream, the only possibility was if Ysera allowed them to.
In any other place, perhaps Ysera would indeed do so, overlooking a human's death. Although Duke was a human hero, how many heroes had died over millions of years?
But in the Emerald Dream, it was completely different.
"Ysera—" Nozdormu's roar shifted targets.
"Nozdormu!" Duke shouted, drawing the attention of the golden sand dragon once again, "Clean your nearly blind eyes and see! Have you seen my past?"
To Ysera's surprise, Nozdormu's reaction to this seemingly ordinary statement was extremely intense.
"You... you... who are you? Why can't I see your past!? You do not belong to this time? You are not human? Who are you?" The golden dragon cried out, seemingly wounded.
Even Malygos, who had been dazed, seemed to be moved at this moment.
"I have come to guide you! Otherwise, you'll be finished in less than fifty years!" Duke was telling the truth.
If Duke's knowledge of history was correct, in the future, nearly all the Dragon Aspects would be annihilated, leaving only Alexstrasza. And the Timeless One's death was even more laughable.
One question: how could a dragon that could manipulate time die?
The answer was clear.
The present Nozdormu would end up dying with the future Nozdormu.
Duke had to bring this up for a very important reason. Bronze dragons were, in principle, the guardians of time; their duty was to protect history from being altered, and they also had the power to travel through time.
In a sense, Duke was a traveler from the future who had returned to the present Azeroth. So the bronze dragon was a hurdle he had to overcome.
Otherwise, who knew if he'd be "cleansed" by a future bronze dragon?
Duke's trump card was Nozdormu's future death. If Nozdormu did not want to die, Duke could use this card to blackmail or negotiate with the bronze dragons.
Really!
Duke was taking a gamble!
If he lost, he wouldn't have to go back to face Neltharion; he would be erased by Nozdormu here. Even Ysera couldn't save him.
If he won...
Now, Duke saw Nozdormu's struggle and hesitation.
This golden sand dragon was trembling.
Duke decided to turn up the heat.
"Yes! I once did not belong here! But my future belongs to Azeroth! Tell me, great Timeless One
, do you allow the existence of this 'variable'? Are you willing to give me, and the bronze dragons, a chance and hope?"
Nozdormu instinctively spat another cloud of sand at the diminutive Duke, but to the other two dragon Aspects, it looked like Nozdormu was being pushed back.
It was an incredibly strange scene.
Duke played his last card: "Lend me your power, Nozdormu, and I will guide you. As for you, Malygos, I can privately offer you a 'little something'..."
The hitherto dazed Blue Aspect suddenly shivered.
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Hello everyone, translator here. I believe the author is refering to the "End Time" dungeon where in everyone dies but I think they were also taking some narrative liberties with the characterization of Nozdormu and Ysera and attributing it to the 30% variance noted way back at the start of the book.
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