Chapter 664 Prelude to War (1/2)

In Starfall Year 372—or four hundred and sixty-five years ago, five dragon eggs of different colors were placed in the center of a massive magical formation, in an island at the edge of the Far Southern Sea.

The formation itself was made up of five concentric circles, with millions of complex runes moving along flowing mercury. At the center of the formation were five huge Pentashade dragons that stood, encircling the divine statue of the Five-Headed Pentashade Dragon God which was placed at the center point of the circles. The dragons had long horns, while the wings on their backs appeared to have been forged from steel. The elements obeyed their command, and their incredible ability caused space around them to tremble.

However, they were also immeasurably old. Their once-sturdy scales were rotting visibly, their greying teeth and claws could no longer tear prey apart. Their maws—where their teeth were about to fall out from—could only spew enchanted curses, unable to devour or bite down on their foes any longer.

”Our path is mistaken… The Lost Three Hundred Years lost us too many classical texts and knowledge. This isn't the path to perfect being.”

The massive formation whirled slowly like combined gears, as a magical signature that would leave the gods in shock stirred the clouds over the island into a vortex of five colors. At the center of the island, the green dragon which appeared to be the oldest sighed, and hence spoke with a weathered voice in the ancient dragon tongue.

”Our time has come. Hand the Legacy to the next generation.”

The other four dragons—being specimens of different colors—shook their heads, with the black dragon speaking out, ”the Legacy ritual is about to begin. This may be the last time we would meet.”

”What, you scared?” Another dragon laughed in retort.

”Am I now? It is a beautiful thing, after all, to witness the future of the Pentashade born before us.”

Shaking its head, the aged black dragon watched the black egg placed before him. The outer shell of the egg was not actually black, but showed that hue due to excessively substantial negative energy that does not reflect light. The other eggs placed before the dragons corresponded with their respective colors as well, wherein the prodigies amongst prodigies of every Pentashade progenies since the Lost Three Hundred Years were incubated. Each hatchling in the egg would display excelling gifts and unbelievable developments, and along with their Legacies that dated back so far in the past it was inestimable, there is no determining how bright the future of the hatchlings could be.

”The Pentashade needs their own god, but more than that, they need kings…”

”My kin—”

The light of the magical formation grew. As the magical gears moved without stopping, the mercury that shaped the formation began to boil. Sheets of silver-blue vapors hence shrouded the five old dragons, linking them to the eggs as five different colors began to blaze over their bodies. Even as the old black dragon kept its eyes on that black dragon egg before it, it began to utter words of blessing.

”You would have the talons of dragons, fearless against all-powerful foes and invincible.”

A light shone.

”Child of mine—”

The withering blue dragon smiled; its wings had already begun to whiten. ”You would inherit the wings of dragons, unchained and dauntless.”

Two lights shone.

”Successor—” The white dragon lowered its head and narrowed its eyes at its assigned egg, speaking softly. ”Thou would be given eyes of the dragons, thine gaze shall pierce all things.”

Three lights Shone.

”My continuity.”

The red dragon—the largest of the five spoke so sonorously that even its muffled voice rumbled. ”You shall be given the heart of the dragons, flowing with passion that surges eternal.”

Four lights shone.

Lastly, the green dragon that was the oldest and carried the most powerful presence slowly straightened its neck. Though being near the center of the formation as well, the green dragon did not give the egg before its blessing, even as the fifth Legacy beam that linked it to its assigned egg was gradually shining. Watching the egg that was completely oblivious to what it was facing, it remembered many things—the history of the Celestial Dragons, their cousins that were distancing themselves, the burdensome past and the unforeseeable future. All of it made the green dragon unable to repress a sigh, but it still smiled as it looked at the lively dragon egg.

”Our exiled race has given up on our Mother, and yet this world accepted our ancestors without caring for bygone enmity… Even so, exiles remain exiles. What right do we have to desire more, or to demand more from our descendants?”

”There is no need for you to succeed anything… Children of ours, you just need to live well.”

The fifth light shone.

The bodies of the five aged dragons began to burn, and soon turned into dust, the purest of lifeforce and the most profound of Draconic Legacy flowing along the circles and surging into the five dragon eggs. Meanwhile, five dragon souls as boundless as mountains that trembled the skies circled around formation, glancing at the world once nostalgically before turning together and rushed toward the statue of the Five-Headed Dragon God at the center of the magical formation. Five radiances shone from within that statue, as if welcoming their return with open arms.

It was the final and eternal destination of every former dragon king, as well as their god.

***

Kanor, Dragon of the Nether Sea is flying across the Void. It did not follow the Pentashade Dragon God tightly behind, and was simply flying toward its homeland, even though it was taught time and time after by its elders that the world was not its homeland.

It was born in Mycroft and lived in Mycroft, but the Pentashade was not. Those lands and worlds would hence never be its home, and the Celestial Dragons would be eternal exiles that had given up on their own world, wandering around the Multiverse. Thousands of worlds refused them shelter, countless races saw them as nemesis: long as there was a day that the Pentashade could not wash away the sins on their bodies, they would never gain peace.

But Mycroft accepted them.

Mycroft sheltered them as if they were their own brood, and so the Celestial Dragons were able to survive at their very last breath.

Kanor could not tell what itself was thinking clearly; it never favored the thing called 'thought'. Ultimately, the blessing the Black Dragon attained all those years ago were the talons of dragons: it could only destroy enemies and that was enough. As for what it was doing now—Kanor was not even sure whether itself was trying to grab the slight chance alongside the Dragon God or simply wanted to return to its home.

After all, it was Mycroft. The same Mycroft that once sheltered the Pentashade, the Mycroft that hosted a dozen gods and Legends and the unfathomable Mycroft —the world of Mycroft, where the full might of the Pentashade could barely take a nation.

Was it here, in its desire to struggle for a brand-new day for the Pentashade, or simply was so exhausted that it now desired death?

Kanor did not mind those things at all; it had already left its legacy. Hence, that Dragon King now had no fear in its flight amidst the Void, and unprecedented calm in its heart, and never felt as powerful before.

The huge dragon let out a long draconic cry, as if an ancient song.

***

On the other side of the dimensions, Joshua turned toward the Mycroft World as it combined with the Infinite Horizon without stopping. The two massive realms emanated powerful illumination never seen before as they fused, and he knew how shocking that sight would be on the surface. It was as if the skies were shattering like glass, and unequalled holy light appeared, for the first time before the eyes of all living things, sticking the two realms like glue and holding all reverberations in the skies above. At the same time, the Marks of the gods would rain like a fiery shower of meteors down to the world.

It was the age where gods descended, the era where the legacy of the gods reappeared.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

”Could the Sacred Swordsman hold on? He is keeping the guiding beacon running for the Infinite Horizon and the world all by himself, and I could see that Ternant is guiding them to a vital point of the seal over the Steel Python.”

Joshua thought nothing of the future; he was merely watching the world of Mycroft.