In the morning, the relic fidgeted in my hands all night, the spark of fire inside the dragon clan relic flickering with a hint of golden firelight. Upon reflection, I realized that what I could remember now was probably all I had left - the old dragon era did not have me, and the new dragon era did not have me either. I only lacked recalling how to split Marutian, also known as Monet Gauss, into two. There must be something special about being able to cut him in half.
The power that the relic could contain seemed endless; I had been pouring my power into it continuously, yet there was no apparent change. No wonder it could serve as the pillar of the new world.
"We plan to leave after you depart; we want to see you off as well as see you return," Zi Sirou had gotten up early, afraid of missing me.
"Brother, I will learn how to make cakes, and you will be the first one to taste it when I return."
"Wenxin, please don't make cakes. Do you remember how many disastrous dishes you've made since childhood? When you come back, I'll buy you one from that shop I often visit."
"Forget it, brother. That dessert shop has closed down. Business was tough after the war started." Wenxin was fond of the cakes from that dessert shop, and its closure saddened her.
"No worries, it will reopen in the future."
Not long after that, the mechanical dragons appeared alongside Coyalu.
"Father, your injuries should have healed by now."
"Don't worry, Wenxin is a good healer."
"Lin Wenxin is Father's 'elixir of life,' enviable, but sadly cannot be taken beyond the gates," Coyalu also understood that Wenxin was not suitable to go to the "Gateway of Gods and Demons," where a battle could commence at any moment.
Seagulls skimmed the surface of the sea, and the entire scene of them foraging made me feel that this world was still beautiful. Since last night, black holes of "world expulsion" had begun appearing one after another in The Human Realm, suggesting that time left was indeed scarce. It seemed that the states of the three realms had met Marutian's requirements for destroying and reshaping the three realms.
World, please endure a little longer.
2
Under the watchful gazes of Wenxin, Zi Sirou, as well as Jiang Moana and Situ Liyao standing in two different dark corners, we departed from that logistics island. As we left, we heard that Hisa in The Divine Realm, with the help of the rescued elder generation of the god race, started reforming The Divine Realm, which might delay the war in The Human Realm. After all, if the god race could not achieve victories for an extended period, the leaders might face doubt.
Beneath the gates, the transit city was now just half a ruined empty city. The sea water was washing over the remnants of this artificial steel and iron island metropolis, and the once bustling scene of people and goods flowing no longer existed. Some scattered goods and debris floated to the surface, likely with people buried underneath.
We landed on some remaining flat ground in the transit city, where Geirerofi and Elena had been waiting.
"What is that guy doing?" I asked, my gaze fixed on the upside-down Hong muttering to himself now and then.
"Geirerofi fused Hong and Xiang's half-souls together, helping them adapt; likely the two brothers share the same consciousness," Elena explained.
"They were not originally the same individual; this might be too much for them to handle."
"So far, they seem to be getting along harmoniously," Elena felt that since things had come to this point, there was no reason to separate them again, hoping they would be fine.
Geirerofi asked, "Reisgolo, are you ready to fight now that you're back?"
"Even if I'm not ready, there's not too much time left."
"This world, which I, Geirerofi, have not had the chance to thoroughly explore, is already in shambles. Is it my misfortune or yours!"
I took out the sacred item of the Dragon Clan and asked Geirerofi and Elena, "Have you regained many memories? Do you remember this?"
"The sacred item!" Elena recognized it in an instant. As the "Dragon Guardian of the Sacred Item," this object occupied the majority of her lost memories.
"Isn't this the green stone from the highest point in the New Dragon Realm?" Geirerofi's memories of the sacred item seemed vague, but he still had some impressions.
Elena reached out slowly and touched the sacred item affectionately. "There's a familiar feeling..."
"Elena, please tell me honestly, did this sacred item once store a dragon soul?" I cautiously inquired of Elena.
"Inside?" Elena focused her gaze on the sacred item, as if she could see a distant world in her eyes, a captivating sensation.
Elena slowly recounted the memories she saw: The title of "Dragon Guardian of the Sacred Item" was merely that, passed down from generation to generation among dragons inheriting the title. At that time, Elena was the third generation, and as the dragon race had a long lifespan, quite some time had passed since the third generation. The "sacred item" referred to the "Dragon Realm Core" stored in the palace at the highest point in the New Dragon Realm. In order to ensure the perpetual existence of the New Dragon Realm, no one could use the "sacred item." This was the highest law of the New Dragon Realm. In fact, it had been proven that without the "sacred item," the New Dragon Realm could not last. As for what the "sacred item" looked like and what was inside, only dragons of the rank of "Dragon Emperor" would know, and only they were qualified to enter the palace. Before the second generation's "Dragon Guardian of the Sacred Item" was about to pass away, it sensed that a new consciousness had emerged inside the "sacred item. After choosing to remain silent, it passed the item to Elena in that era. The process of the new consciousness evolving step by step captivated Elena, who believed that the "sacred item" had a life and named it in the dragon language translation as Reisgolo. She also liked to speak to the "sacred item" even though she didn't know if it could hear. The transparent "Dragon of Space and Time" eventually launched an attack on the palace. Injured, Elena was forcibly sent to the old Dragon Realm. She did not know how the New Dragon Realm met its demise, and the dragon race of the New Dragon Realm believed that the "Dragon Guardian of the Sacred Item" had already died. After losing her memories, she became the "Dragoness" who died of a broken heart, deeply in love with the sacred dragon of the Divine Realm that existed in ancient times.
I took a deep breath; Yugui Qingzhen hadn't lied to me. This was the birth of Reisgolo, the birth of a new soul within an old body—a miracle among dragonkind. It was common knowledge that a dragon's body would continue to generate magic after death, but the emergence of a new soul within it was unheard of. However, the dragon carcass infused with world power might be an exception; the Spiral Three Realms could transform themselves into human form autonomously, even giving birth to Zi Liliu. The life of all things was the fundamental essence of the world power.
"Geirerofi, what about you? What do you remember?" I turned to Geirerofi, the only one among us who had experienced the destruction of the New Dragon Realm.
"The world was contracting. Some dragon races were consumed to sustain the New Dragon Realm, while others were swallowed into the cracks of time and space and could never return. In the end, we made every effort to create an 'Ark,' utilizing the limited spatial abilities of other Dragon Emperors; in the final moments before being engulfed, we left, traveling between the 'corridors' of various worlds. We had the power to leave but not to enter... I am probably the luckiest one to have ended up here; I fear that on the other side..." Geirerofi lay sprawled out in large letters on the street, unperturbed by what was dirty or clean, only concerned about the surviving members of his kin.
"I remember quite clearly, it seems that the restrictions on the Dragon clan's memories have weakened once again." Their memories were now able to outline complete information.
"Your Highness, do you remember me? I was the one guarding the entrance back then!" The mechanical dragon was very excited, waving its metallic-colored hand to beckon Elena.
Although Elena had never seen a humanoid mechanical dragon, her Dragon Soul recognition could tell her the information: "Are you... Zilomos?"
"Yes, that's my Dragon name! Initially, I made a mistake and was exiled here, and forgot everything, probably to prevent us from finding the way back." The mechanical dragon got straight to the point with his words, "to prevent us from finding the way back," that was the reason.
Elena introduced me to the Dragons she found in The Human Realm, including the Sky Dragons, Earth Dragons, and Sea Dragons, totaling six Dragon clans flying in the sky or swimming in the sea. The Ice Dragon imprisoned in the North and the Thunder Dragon brought for the black and white battle last time were all present, still equipped with the gear left behind at that time.
Apart from the Dragon Emperor, all the other dragons guarded the gate in their Dragon form, aiming to repel Marutian.
"Qin Yang, what are you thinking? Why are you asking us to remember something?" Elena wanted to know what I was truly thinking.
"Before I came here, I already knew the truth. I 'grew' inside the sacrificed body, with no parents, no siblings. What is the relationship between Marutian and me? Is he another version of me?"
"No, he is him, and you are you. He used to be the oldest Dragon in the new Dragon realm, nobody understood his thoughts or actions like you do. I understand," Elena held my face, our relationship deepening once again after the dusty memories were revealed.
"I saw Yuyuan Qing, she told me many things, not just about my origin, but also Marutian's purpose. He wants his sacrificed body back!"
"The golden Dragon body? That is no longer his, he had long abandoned it."
"I don't know what mindset he had when he sacrificed his own body, but he must have considered the Dragon clan's greater good, perhaps he was once a hero of the Dragon clan, then heroes started to change."
Geirerofi covered his eyes and said, "Who can endure transparency, the longer you live, the more you think, the more you think, the more you change."
Suddenly a sound startled everyone, but it turned out to be Hong coping with the side effects, inexplicably smashing around. We ignored him and continued chatting.
"The sacred item was originally above the gate, I am thinking of putting it back, what do you think?" I sought everyone's opinion, brainstorming.
"Go ahead, the current situation is already very bad, any worse and it can't get much worse." Geirerofi agreed.
"Be cautious, if it is of no use, Marutian obtaining the lower half of the body almost simultaneously gaining the sacred item, the reconstruction of the world from the past sacrificed bodies will happen soon."
"Elena, I think you can rest assured about this. Marutian should first obtain my body in order to start rebuilding, otherwise he would have already started, without the need for so much trouble, pushing me to complete Dragonification. Can the sacred item help me to fully transform into a Dragon without being seized?" It seemed that I needed to fully understand the sacred item in order to discover how important it was in defeating Marutian.
