Chapter 1213
The Day the Lover Was Shot
The roar, like thunder, grew more urgent. The white smoke in the sky churned violently, streaks of blood-red becoming increasingly apparent.
It was as if several spoonfuls of strawberry jam had been added to swirling ice milk. As it stirred, the originally pure white sky gradually seeped into a pink hue—much like the color of blood diluted with water.
The frequency of the meteor shower also intensified. Dragon scales, engulfed in ice and fire, fell to the ground, bringing gifts to the people… or perhaps disaster.
One such dragon scale landed at Eivass’s feet.
After crossing the boundary between the Dream Realm and the Material Realm and burning intensely in the air, its size seemed to have shrunk slightly. This scale, as translucent as white crystal, was about the size of a mask. On its back, there were faint blood-red markings like the veins of a maple leaf, while the front resembled a piece of transparent ice.
Holding it brought an unusual chill. Even though Eivass’s physical body had been strengthened to the Fifth Tier by his Path of Authority, holding this dragon scale sent chilling cold, like wriggling worms, burrowing into his flesh and blood. It was only the warmth from Eivass’s bloodline that resisted it from penetrating further.
If an ordinary person were to pick it up, they would likely be frostbitten or even frozen to death in an instant. If they tried to carry it, they might freeze solid within minutes.
This was one of the reasons Eivass said it could be a disaster.
When they landed on the ground, they were like comets—buildings not reinforced by the Preservation Technique were utterly incapable of withstanding such impact. Those structures would be destroyed by them… and if people, without caution, picked them up, they would be harmed or even killed by the residual divine power.
Once people realized “what this is,” possessing a Crown Lord’s scale would invite a fatal calamity.
As long as there was a Fourth Tier demon craftsman—or even less than that. With materials of this caliber, even the “blacksmiths” below the Third Tier who hadn’t yet ascended to demon craftsman could forge “Extraordinary” grade weapons, armor, and accessories.
In other words, a First Tier blacksmith would forge equipment of at least purple quality using these scales. This was the same level as the Dragon Lance forged by Fafnir from her own dragon bones, and the treasures passed down through generations by the Eagle Eye organization.
—In the past, this was equipment that Fifth Tier hero units could only be equipped with in multiples!
And now, these scales, falling like rain, numbered in the hundreds?
Just then, Eivass suddenly heard the pained cry of a great dragon.
Immediately after, the white mist in the night sky churned violently, seeping with red.
It was a scene that evoked the execution of a sailor—shot in the back while standing on a plank, then falling into the sea. The sea would then be stained with blood… as if being crushed and having its sweet juices squeezed out by this monstrous sea.
“That’s…”
Eivass’s eyes widened.
He immediately covered his left eye, as if conducting an eyesight test. He strained his right eye to look at the sky but could only see vague outlines and shadows.
“That’s Morgan.”
The Lord of Scales and Feathers replied leisurely, “Arthur miscalculated after all.”
“…Miscalculated?” Eivass turned back and asked.
“That’s right,” the Lord of Scales and Feathers let out a hearty laugh. “Or rather, Eivass—if you were an absolute dictator, a monarch ruling over all things. If you had the ability to solve all matters, if your power was so immense that it could not be defied, if you had a lifespan so long it was nearly infinite… would you share your power with others? And would you designate your successor?”
“I would,” Eivass replied without hesitation. “Otherwise… it would be too lonely. Humans are social animals. If one is too high up, they tend to feel lonely. If everything can truly be solved, then the subjects should also be living happily. If that’s the case, wouldn’t the one in the high position be the one without holidays, the one who toils, the lonely one?
“If so, why not increase one’s own kind? Even if there is only one person you can trust, it adds a lot more ‘humanity’.”
“Haha, I knew you would answer that. That’s why you have no suitability for the Path of Authority, Eivass.”
The Lord of Scales and Feathers chuckled, “Let me tell you the correct answer—for a truly qualified monarch, they cannot share power. Especially when that power itself, when formally exercised, poses a threat to their absolute rule. Not to mention, what Arthur gave was not just power itself… but even the right of succession.”
“…You mean,” Eivass realized what the Lord of Scales and Feathers was implying, “the Heavenly Envoy of Rebellion?”
The Heavenly Envoy of Rebellion of this generation is named Lan Maloch.
He is the apostle of the Silver Crown Dragon and King Arthur’s Knight of the Round Table.
Relying on the Heavenly Envoy Fragment of the previous generation’s Heavenly Envoy of Rebellion, Antaeus, Lan Maloch inherited the position of Heavenly Envoy with the help of the Silver Crown Dragon. He transformed his power from the Path of Authority into the Transcendent Path, thus becoming the Heavenly Envoy of the Transcendent Path.
And now, it seems…
“That’s right, I did it.”
The Lord of Scales and Feathers nodded cheerfully. “Not long after this reincarnation began… around the time before you met Arthur during the Ascension Ritual, I gave him a prophecy.
“I told him—you will be betrayed and die. This is probably why he gave the Heavenly Envoy Fragment of the Heavenly Envoy of Rebellion Antaeus to Lan Maloch.”
“…Does the Crown Lord want to preemptively seize the position through the loyal and just Lan Maloch, so that the position of ‘Heavenly Envoy of Rebellion’ will not become a position for traitors to ascend?”
Eivass understood.
So in previous reincarnations, Lan Maloch was always the “Heavenly Envoy of War.” Only in this reincarnation did he become the Heavenly Envoy of Rebellion.
So it was the Boss pulling the strings from behind the scenes…
“That’s right. Betraying the Lord of Authority in broad daylight would definitely be a fulfillment of the principle of betrayal—after all, the Silver Crown Dragon operates on such a large scale. As long as he succeeds in the assassination, he can naturally obtain the resonance of the Heavenly Envoy Fragment and become the Heavenly Envoy of Rebellion.
“And according to the future I saw… the one who did this was Morgan.”
So said the Lord of Scales and Feathers.
In the Dream Realm, Morgan slowly drew her bow.
It was a crimson dragon scale bow, clearly a gift from the Calamity Demon Dragon.
A previous pink arrow had already pierced the White Dragon’s right wing. The Silver Crown Dragon, which was tearing at the Calamity Demon Dragon, was thus exposed to a huge flaw, almost tearing off half its wing.
—That was the “love” Morgan had harbored for these past few centuries.
As she drew and nocked her bow, a second, blackish-purple arrow shot out, piercing the Silver Crown Dragon’s left wing.
—That was the “hate” Morgan had long felt, unacknowledged by the Silver Crown Dragon.
Then came the third arrow.
It was an amber arrow—
Five hundred years of waiting.
Five hundred years of stillness.
Five hundred years of willful ignorance.
Five hundred years of silence.
—All converged into this arrow.
The Calamity Demon Dragon roared, grabbed Arthur, and slammed into the shattering ice berg with him.
At that moment, the earth shook—volcanoes in the Material Realm erupted simultaneously!
And Morgan’s arrow was shot.
The broadcast from the Dream Realm was immediately cut off and terminated.
In everyone’s heart, a thought emerged, vaguely realizing that sense of tragic sorrow.
—The Pillar God had fallen.
And the Calamity Demon Dragon did not, as expected, grant authority to Morgan.
It was even simpler than Eivass had anticipated—he didn’t need to elevate Morgan first. He directly devoured and merged with the Silver Crown Dragon… and then directly ascended to the position of Pillar God.
Its name was “Calamity Red.”
The new Path of the Seventh Origin River was named—War.
(End of this chapter)
