章節 6: World Dragon's End
Oleandra opened her eyes, but all she saw was a black abyss. All around her was a cold darkness. She walked but went nowhere; nothing changed. All she saw was an impenetrable black.
"Where am I?" Oleandra asked before the black nothingness shifted to a deep purple with red blotches. She opened her eyes and saw giant serpent eyes staring back at her. Oleandra let out a loud shriek before clutching her blue pendant. But nothing occurred.
Seeing that she was still alive, Oleandra looked around and realized she wasn't staring at a serpent. It was Lord Seventh, and she was inside a cavern.
Images of what had occurred flashed through her mind, followed by a deep anger tainted with regret. She shouted at the dragon, "You, you liar! You tried to kill me, you lied about who you were, and now you kidnap me! What the hell do you want with me!"
Lord Seventh turned to a shadowy figure behind him. "Lord Eighth, she's woken up."
Another dragon, just as big as Lord Seventh, approached Oleandra.
Seeing another dragon so close, Oleandra's jaw almost hit the floor. Lord Eight was similar in features to Lord Seventh. The pigmentation of his scale was mostly white and grew dark green near the top of his spine, followed by brown hair.
Lord Eight's voice was just as loud as Lord Seventh's. "Does she know the condition of her ancient relic?" he asked.
"I don't know. I was originally going to kill her." Lord Seventh responded before looking at Oleandra, raising his scaly cheeks and revealing a row of glistening razor teeth. "But you know me, brother, I'm as reasonable as they come. I had a change of heart." Lord Seventh finished explaining.
Lord Eight listened and paused. "I don't think I would use the word 'reasonable' to describe you. I'm surprised you chose to bring her here to me."
Lord Seventh quickly dispelled Lord Eight's assumptions. "She's from the Kingdom of Nidorei. After establishing my presence in human form as Makarios Benoni, I didn't want to create future problems for my new human identity. Unfortunately, I think it might be too late to avoid such problems. If you want, we can get rid of her and take her ancient relic right now."
Oleandra listened to Lord Seventh's callous words. "So my blue pendant turned Lord Seventh into a man... He wants my ancient relic because he wants the ability to transform into a human!" Oleandra searched her mind to escape her situation, "Is that what this is about? You want to be stupid, man?"
Lord Seventh turned towards Oleandra. "My wants are beyond your understanding!" as he spoke, his voice created a guttural growl that made Oleandra want to collapse in fear.
Lord Seventh raised a single talon and pointed at Oleandra's head. "I was going to capture you and tear you apart limb from limb. But when your ancient relic turned me into a man..." Lord Seventh paused, lowering his finger. "My love for magic is why you're still alive. Be grateful!"
"He won't kill me because of his love for magic?" Oleandra's fear slowly loosened. Looking around, she could see huge symbols edged into the stone walls.
Lord Eight interjected, "I see. You brought her to me to decipher the magic within the pendant." Lord Seventh nodded his head. "Yes, you're more familiar with heavenly enchantments and restrictions. Most of my time has been spent studying the six magical Domains. "
Oleandra turned toward the exit at the end of the cavern. "If I give him my blue pendant, he might agree to take me home. Getting back to the kingdom, my father won't hesitate to track and kill this beast!" Oleandra thought before turning toward the dragon siblings. "Makarios or whatever you are. Can you take me home if I let you have my blue pendant?"
Lord Seventh rubbed his white hair on his chin. "I've taken a liking to Nidorei. If you can settle things there for me, I would be willing to do more for you than take you back home."
Oleandra nervously listened. "I don't see a world where my father will let you live after what you did," she thought.
Before she agreed to Lord Seventh's proposal, a small detail entered her mind. "Wait, you're Lord Seventh," Oleandra exclaimed, pointing at the red and silvery prideful dragon. "And your Lord Eigth," She added, pointing at the green and silvery serene dragon.
Oleandra hesitated to ask a question that shook her to her core. "How, how many of you are there?"
Lord Seventh and Lord Eight silently looked at each other.
Lord Eight then spoke, "There are Eight of us in total. We all hatched from our eggs thousands of years ago. Alone, we were born supreme over all creation, yet in our minds, we were never alone. We could feel each other's heartbeat from the moment we were born."
Like a record scratching, Lord Seventh chimed in. "When we dream, it is always the same. We are flying as one in the heavens, flying over the world like a marble. We are the only thing in existence."
Oleandra squinted, trying to perceive what Lord Seventh was trying to explain.
Lord Eight further explained. "The story of the World Dragon, maybe you've heard of it. It is the story of us. When the 24 wizards created the magical ancient relics, they failed to slay the World Dragon. The best they could do was separate it into 8 parts. Those parts are us."
Oleandra almost laughed at the possibility of the Legendary Wizards failing to slay the World Dragon. But she was speaking to two living dragons.
"If the Legendary Wizards failed but also stopped the world dragon, I imagine your kind must have an enmity against mankind?" Oleandra asked.
Lord Seventh laughed at her question while Lord Eight answered. "Our enmity between humanity has long died down."
Lord Seventh added, "Sure, I have enjoyed torturing and killing those who steal from me, but there is no true vendetta between me and mankind."
Lord Seventh thought for a moment before deciding to explain more to Oleandra. "At first, our longing to reunite and merge back into the World Dragon was almost overwhelming. It took centuries for us to come together to reunite."
Reminiscent of the past Lord Seventh cast a spell, 96 red Hexagrams adorned the entire cave.
Lord Eight looked at his brother with eyebrows raised. Oleandra saw the Hexagrams appear, and her body tensed up, recognizing that a complex spell had just been cast.
A small flame appeared and floated in front of Lord Seventh. The small flame split into eight different directions, creating the image of eight majestic dragons. "On our first journey to encounter each other, we faced remnants and disciples of those original 24 Legendary Wizards. We were new to our dragon bodies. We were defeated and forced to retreat."
The depictions of the little flames changed, showing an army of powerful wizards fighting and forcing a dragon to flee.
"Many centuries later, we attempted again. On our second journey again, we were met by the descendants of the original 24 legendary Wizards. This time, I easily crushed my enemies, as did most of my brothers, except for one. Lord Fourth was defeated, and he was actually killed."
The little flame showed a dragon being killed and its corpse looted by a group of wizards.
"Learning about the death of one of our own, we launched an all-out war with the nation the 24 Legendary Wizards had founded, the United Kingdom of Capuut. Lord One proved to be the most capable of us."
The little flame shifted into a ferocious dark dragon.
"The United Kingdom of Capuut had become complacent. It was a shell of its former self, and we helped shatter what remained. The Kingdom under our assault was split into regions and became the current 5 Kingdoms."
The little flame depicted a land with five kingdoms split by borders.
"We learned that for our dragon kind, death was only temporary. Lord Fourth would soon be reborn. Waiting for his birth, we roamed the world for centuries. The time came when our brother had grown mature enough to merge.
"Once again, we set out to reunite and become the World Dragon. And again, distant descendants of the original 24 Legendary Wizards tried to stop us. They wielded ancient weapons forged by their ancestors. However, they had long fallen from grace, and we easily obliterated them."
Oleandra watched as the flame showed an army of weak wizards killed by eight dragons. The flames also showed 108 ancient weapons being reduced to 52.
"Finally, we were all united and ready to fulfill the most ancient and powerful instinct within us. However, Lord Sixth, for whatever reason, decided to pull back. He refused to reunite. Unable to accept his decision, Lord One chased after him and began mercilessly attacking him."
The little flame turned into two dragons. One of them overpowered and beat down the other.
"Lord Second intervened, and Lord One turned against him as well. This caused Lord Third and Lord Fifth to jump in, and Lord Eight and I followed right after."
The cave was lit brightly as the little fire depicted a single dragon fighting and easily defeating seven other dragons.
"Lord One was able to hold us all at bay, and we were forced to watch as he killed Lord Sixth and wiped his mind so he wouldn't make the same mistake again after being reborn. That day, Lord One made it clear that he could do the same to any of us."
The flame extinguished as one dragon stood in invincible might above all others.
Lord Eight approached Oleandra to explain the current situation. "Centuries have passed since the rebirth of Lord Sixth, and it's only a matter of time before we finally accomplish that ancient instinct within us. It won't be long before the World Dragon breathes the air of the world once again."
Oleandra listened to the entire history of the world, the true history of her world. "Wait, but what will happen to the people in the world? And why were the Legendary Wizards trying to stop you?" she asked, trying to work through her confusion.
"We will destroy all life on the planet and merge with the world. Our essence will give birth to a new world." Lord Eight explained while Lord Seventh looked slightly away.
"Luckily for you, there is still some time. Before we reunite, there is something I have to do." Lord Eight explained.
Lord Seventh looked at his brother before replying in a sarcastic tone. "If you wait too long, you'll get yourself killed by Lord One. As for me, I have a feeling Lord One might get some funny ideas, so I've mastered every spell within the 6 Domains. Not even Lord One himself could strike me down right now." Lord Seventh assured himself.
Oleandra looked at Lord Seventh and listened to his confident words. "If that's the case, why wouldn't you stop Lord One from killing Lord Eight?" she asked him, making Lord Seventh stare at her disapprovingly.
Lord Eight, listening to the two, clarified. "Lord One and I won't have any problems. Once I accomplish my task, I will gladly reunite with my brothers."
Lord Seventh changed the subject and stretched out his hand towards Oleandra. "Just hand over your blue pendant, and I'll take you home."
Oleandra stared at the scaly palm stretched before her, and the truth dawned on her head. "No one is going to believe this story. And even if they do, they will just try to find and kill the Dragon Lords. And that hasn't worked in a while..."
Oleandra grabbed her blue pendant and took it off her neck. Instead of giving it to Lord Seventh, she handed it to Lord Eight and changed her request. "Wait, do you mind if I stay and learn more about my ancient relic?"
Lord Seventh looked at Oleandra and then at Lord Eight. "If Lord Eight doesn't mind, I don't care what you do." Lord Seventh answered.
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