In an unknown prime material world.
Under a gray metallic firmament, a crystal dragon named Nicolynna, with scales shimmering in translucent brilliance, and a silver dragon named Luna, with a slender and symmetrical body covered in silver scales, sped through the air, one after the other.
Their conditions appeared grim; their normally bright and shiny scales were marred by scorch marks from high-temperature rays, and their breaths were weak.
Luna glanced back.
Behind them were several unusually shaped metallic dragons.
Not metal dragons, but mechanical dragons built entirely of metal.
The mechanical dragons had glowing red eyes and chests pulsing with dark red luminescence. Their deep engine roars mimicked the sounds of dragon roars, growing louder and closer.
Following the mechanical dragons were more mechanical beings, swarming like a dark tide—winged humanoid creatures, spherical-bodied mechanical spiders with metallic limbs, shuttle-like metal ships, and more. A barrage of energy cannons, metal bullets, and particle beams attacked like a torrential rain, targeting the two dragons.
"This is terrible, what kind of place is this?"
"Why are there so many mechanical constructs?"
The crystal dragon flapped her wings vigorously as she dodged swooshing projectiles, but she couldn't widen the gap between her and their pursuers.
"Think of something, Luna."
"I'm too young; I haven't even had dragonlings yet. I don't want to die here," Nicolynna whined, narrowly evading a laser but getting hit by an energy cannon, shattering her scales and exposing scorched flesh.
Beside Nicolynna, Luna, with a grave expression, had an epiphany amidst the crisis. In a break between the blasts, she turned to Nicolynna and said, "Nina, let's pray together to the Time Dragon God. He will surely answer our prayers."
"It seems that's the only thing we can try now."
Luna's gaze became focused as she began to pray silently. Despite knowing that the gaze of a dragon god rarely lingered on one world and seldom answered the prayers of its followers, she believed that the Time Dragon God, once he heard their prayers, would not ignore them.
In fact, Luna would not have considered praying to Garon for help if they weren't utterly desperate.
She always wanted to regard Garon as a friend. If she kept relying on Garon's help without being able to reciprocate, the friendship forged on the continent of Noa would gradually erode. Garon might not mind, seeing it as a mere effort, but Luna was not comfortable with this.
After hearing Luna's words, Nicolynna's eyes brightened, and she prayed earnestly in her heart.
"Great Eternal and Time Dragon, Lord of Time,"
"Your children are in a crisis of life and death. Please hear and respond to my plea, and descend here."
"For this, I am willing to give everything in return for your divine mercy."
As she prayed, Nicolynna regretted taking Luna to the Prism Pool.
During the War of Glory, Garon learned of Nicolynna's presence in the celestial battle zone but did not seek out the crystal dragon. After the war, he simply left the celestial realm.
Meanwhile, Luna traveled to the celestial realm and found the crystal dragon.
As Luna was new to the celestial realm, Nicolynna took her sightseeing, showing her the unique sights of the realm.
Until a month ago, they encountered a special terrain in the celestial realm.
The Prism Pool.
The Prism Pool in the celestial realm, formed by the dense stacking of celestial conduits, looked like a two-dimensional colorful disc with the ability to teleport randomly. Stepping into the Prism Pool could result in being transported to any prime material world or even to planes like Hell or the Abyss.
Although Nicolynna had lived in the celestial realm for a while, it was her first encounter with the Prism Pool.
Out of curiosity, she recklessly approached the Prism Pool for a closer look.
Then she was sucked into the pool.
The Prism Pool possessed a legendary suction force that no one could resist—not just a harmless wonder.
In a moment of urgency, Luna also jumped into the Prism Pool.
Within the strange powers of the Prism Pool, the two dragons were transported together to a prime material world.
Neither dragon expected that this prime material world seemed a bit off.
The skies in all directions were covered by a metallic canopy, and the world was filled with metal and machinery. In this prime material world, disrupted by unknown energies, their ability to teleport between planes was blocked.
They were soon discovered by the native mechanical beings and plunged into relentless pursuit.
And now, cornered, they prayed to their old friend, now the Time Dragon God, for help.
Meanwhile, in the first layer of Mount Celestia, Lunia Celestia, the Silver Heaven.
This layer was a vast ring surrounding the Silver Sea of the Silver Heaven
, with towering mountains, temples, churches, celestial arenas, and other structures standing tall.
Islands dotted the Silver Sea, inhabited by many good-aligned creatures living on Mount Celestia.
Above the Silver Sea, in a space imperceptible to ordinary creatures, deity Garon's Eternal Divine Realm was beginning to take shape.
Within the divine realm, the environment mimicked that of the prime material worlds—balanced elemental energies, various terrains, lush forests, bone-chilling glaciers, smoke-billowing volcanoes, and continuous mountain ranges.
If one were inside the Eternal Divine Realm and looked up, they would see a magnificent hall radiating brilliant light like a mountain across the canopy of the divine realm.
Deity Garon now resided within this temple.
The silver dragon lay across the divine throne, his gaze calm as he looked at the figures kneeling in the grand hall.
To deity Garon, these figures were unique creatures enveloped in radiant holy light, shining brightly like torches and emitting intense heat.
Some appeared as glowing orbs, some humanoid, all differing in appearance.
However, the most powerful among them were the humanoid figures with wings of light.
These were the native residents of Mount Celestia.
The celestial beings.
Often referred to as holy messengers, celestial beings were common in many outer planes.
For example, celestial apostles in the celestial realm and the Gedin celestials in the paradise realm.
Due to deities generally residing in the outer planes, perhaps due to their proximity to the gods, these celestials, apostles, and celestials inherently have a fanatical desire to serve at the side of deities.
They are often collectively known as extraplanar holy messengers.
For instance, in Mount Celestia.
When deity Garon announced that his divine realm would be established in the Silver Heaven, and as soon as the divine realm was ready to accommodate holy messengers, celestial beings came to serve, drawn by the tales of the Eternal and Time Dragon and admiring Garon's power.
Moreover, not only celestial beings lived within Mount Celestia.
Some holy messengers born in other outer planes also settled in Mount Celestia.
At this moment, in deity Garon's temple, besides celestial beings, there were also a few seraphic messengers.
These messengers were mostly of legendary strength, but there were also a couple of demi-gods.
Among them, celestial beings were the most numerous, with over a hundred present, while there were only about twenty seraphic messengers and a few celestial apostles.
"Rise."
"I accept your service."
"From now on, you are the messengers of my divine realm."
Any deity would welcome such voluntarily committed messengers. In the Metallic Dragon God's divine realm, there were also numerous extraplanar holy messengers.
"Thank you, my lord, for your recognition."
After hearing deity Garon's words, the group of extraplanar messengers stood up, their inherent brightness making deity Garon's temple a sea of light, as if transformed into an ocean of light.
If there were creatures like liches here, those of lesser strength would turn to ash in an instant.
The silver dragon lowered his gaze to a female seraphic messenger and a male celestial messenger.
"Suzanna, Morgan."
"In the Eternal Divine Realm, power is respected. You two, being the strongest, will temporarily serve as the chief messengers."
"Morgan will lead the celestial beings, and Suzanna will oversee the seraphic messengers and celestial apostles, together guarding my divine realm."
Morgan, a demi-god level celestial messenger, had silver-white long hair and eyes that seemed to flicker with white flames. He stood about three meters tall, with two pairs of energy wings formed from holy light hovering behind him.
However, unlike a human, Morgan had a mastiff-like head, distinctly black and white, glossy and formidable—a celestial being with the appearance of a dog, reminding deity Garon of a canine species from Earth.
Suzanna, another demi-god, was a seraphic messenger.
She was human-sized, around 1.7 meters tall, with golden skin, golden eyes, and flowing golden hair that shimmered intensely, much like the Solar Princess.
Suzanna's biological level was even higher than Morgan's, reaching fifty-one, well beyond the threshold of demi-godhood.
The other seraphic messengers also generally had higher biological levels than the other messengers.
Among all extraplanar messengers, seraphic messengers were the most powerful. Sufficiently powerful seraphic messengers could ascend to godhood alone but chose to serve gods voluntarily instead of receiving worship.
"Your trust will not be betrayed."
"Any evil daring to invade the Eternal Divine Realm will be turned to ashes in the holy fire."
The two messengers solemnly stated.
Deity Garon nodded slightly, his gaze sweeping over the group of messengers, his
expression pleased.
The most messengers resided in Mount Celestia, and establishing a divine realm there brought the benefit of these god-following messengers. If the divine realm were in realms like the paradise or mechanical realms, far fewer messengers would follow deity Garon.
If a divine realm were built in lower planes like Hell or the Abyss, it would be impossible to have messengers follow, except perhaps for fallen ones, as normal extraplanar messengers inherently repel evil.
"Once those elven demi-gods are properly trained, my divine realm will have a fine group of guardian messengers."
Deity Garon thought silently.
Suddenly.
Amid the prayers of his followers, deity Garon heard familiar voices.
All deities possess a unique ability.
Merely by invoking a deity's name or praying directly, regardless of whether one worships them, the deity is immediately alerted—though most of the time, the deity ignores it, as such occurrences are too frequent.
"Nicolynna, Luna."
Deity Garon closed his eyes briefly, tracking the source of the prayers, and saw the crystal and silver dragons being chased by numerous mechanical beings.
"Hmm?"
"These machines... mechanical constructs?"
"No, they're slightly different from the Imaskar Empire's mechanical creations."
Deity Garon frowned slightly.
He recognized the patterns on the mechanical bodies; they were somewhat familiar.
After a brief recollection, deity Garon's eyes widened.
"The ancient Imaskar Empire's 'Seed of Metal'."
With a dragon's formidable memory, it only took a moment for deity Garon to remember.
During his first time-travel to Faerûn, coveting the Seven Artifacts, Garon had seen, through a time imprint, the Imaskar royal family send out a life-pulsing metal cube in their final moments amidst their downfall and hatred towards the gods.
The Imaskar royals referred to it as the "Seed of Metal."
Garon remembered the pulse of the metal seed, its patterns at the time, and those he now saw on the mechanical beings were nearly identical.
"It seems that the ancient Imaskar Empire in the main timeline still created this seed."
"Unexpectedly encountered by Nicolynna and Luna."
Deity Garon licked his lips.
"Truly fated with me."
When he saw the metal seed sent into the spatial rift, Garon was deeply upset, feeling like he had lost a treasure.
But now, fate seemed to play its tricks.
In the main timeline, the metal seed reappeared before Garon in such a manner.
However, this was actually related to deity Garon's authority over fate.
The authority of fate links the fates of related people and objects to oneself, leading them towards beneficial outcomes.
Though not a core authority, it had its effects.
Deity Garon opened his eyes, his gaze deep.
With a thought, he was ready to descend in will, entering Luna's body.
Luna was stronger than Nicolynna, and using her body as a vessel, deity Garon could exert more power.
But then, something unexpected happened.
Thump!
Deity Garon's will descended into the prime material world, but as it passed through the planar barriers, it felt like entering thick glue, facing significant resistance.
At the same time.
The metallic canopy enveloping the mechanical world, right above Luna's head, suddenly burst into azure light, flowing through mechanical patterns and circuits, forming a perfect cubic pattern imprint.
"This can hinder my transcendent divine power?"
"It seems to have formed its own climate."
Deity Garon remembered.
The Imaskar Emperor had once said that the core of the metal seed bore hostility towards the gods, aiming to stir a metal frenzy to eventually overthrow the gods on high.
Gods are not omnipotent.
In the prime material world, gods face the greatest suppression.
Deity Garon estimated that his will and divine power could break through the opponent's barrier, but after breaking through, the weakened divine power, coupled with the inherent suppression of the prime material world, might not ensure a safe retrieval of Nicolynna and Luna.
Luna had little faith, not being a follower of deity Garon.
Using her body in the prime material world, deity Garon could at most exert high-level legendary strength.
"Suzanna, I have a task for you."
"Descend into the prime material world and bring these two dragons back to the Eternal Divine Realm."
Deity Garon displayed the target location and the appearances of Luna and Nicolynna with divine power.
Deity Garon could descend in the form of a saintly avatar.
However, such an act would consume too much divine power. Now, with demi-god enforcers like the seraphic messengers available, there was no need for deity Garon to personally descend for everything.
"As you wish!"
The seraphic messenger stepped forward.
Her expression solemn, her radiance intensifying, she stated earnestly.
Then, amid
blinding light, Suzanna's form disappeared.
"The 'Seed of Metal.'"
"Since it's in the prime material world, after bringing Nicolynna and Luna out, I'll leave the metal seed to the original to handle."
Deity Garon thought silently.
Deity Garon's combat effectiveness in the prime material world was not as strong as the original's divine power. In the brief contact, he keenly sensed that the metal seed seemed to have developed abilities targeting deities.
Instinct told deity Garon that the world, now mechanical and metallic, was not a good place for a divine avatar.
At the same time.
In the Dragon Court Dimension, within the Eternal Hall.
Garon opened his eyes.
"After all this time, you still end up in my hands."
The long-resting silver dragon's eyes sparkled with a sharp light.