"Are you simply trying to resurrect the Supreme Dragon God?"
"I'm almost too embarrassed to point it out."
Within the Dragon Court plane, Garon expresses disdain toward the divine Garon.
Although the two share the same soul and think alike, it's clear that ever since receiving guidance from the Metal Dragon God, the divine Garon has become more self-indulgent.
However,
Disdaining the divine Garon is tantamount to disdaining oneself.
Garon's subconscious thoughts are absolutely identical to those of the divine Garon.
"The Wind Elemental Plane's Wind Mage Clan is now completely gone."
Garon thinks of the Alpha Atiya Empire.
"However, it is unknown if there are any descendants of the Alpha Atiya Empire left in other planes, or other Wind and Fire Mage bloodlines."
Lately, due to issues with fire and wind mages,
Garon has developed some interest in this once mighty magical empire.
Now, his subordinates, the Alpha Fire Mages, have already far surpassed the strength of a normal primary material world kingdom, but they still fall far short of the Alpha Atiya Empire at its peak.
"After a while, using the Lava Teleportation Gate as an anchor, I'll go check on the timeline where the Alpha Atiya Empire still exists."
Garon silently thinks to himself.
For Garon, occasionally leaving the main timeline to visit some special temporal points, regardless of whether there is a specific purpose, is always an interesting journey.
As a Time Dragon, roaming through the endless timelines of the River of Time is his innate hobby.
"The same empire, the same blood flowing in the veins of Wind and Fire Mages."
"Why did these two types of spellcasters conflict so fiercely that they destroyed the entire empire, the whole primary material world?"
If the Alpha Atiya Empire had naturally developed without any meddling in the background,
Garon would be somewhat skeptical.
At that moment,
An invisible ripple of power arises in the Dragon Nest.
The surrounding world's power field starts to fluctuate.
Yuna's body appears, quickly shifting from ethereal to solid.
After returning to the Dragon Nest, Yuna looks at Garon watching her and affectionately sticks out her head, her faceplate pressing against Garon's dragon face, giving him a fierce dragon snuggle.
As usual,
She begins to tell Garon about the fun things she has encountered.
Garon quietly listens, accompanied by the silent flow of the River of Time, and the atmosphere within the Dragon Nest becomes tranquil and peaceful.
Recently, since Garon has been busy researching the legacy of the odd machinists, he rarely leaves the Dragon Nest.
On the other hand, Yuna occasionally runs out to stroll through various plane worlds.
The situation is now reversed from when they first met, when Yuna would sleep all day in the Dragon Nest and Garon would occasionally come by and tell her about the interesting things he encountered.
Now it's the other way around.
After a while,
Yuna yawns, feeling sleepy.
This time, instead of burying herself under treasures, she curls up right next to Garon and falls into a steady sleep.
At the same time, Garon, due to days and nights of relentless research into the spirit of machinery, watches Yuna sleep soundly and also feels a bit tired.
Drowsiness seems contagious.
Before Yuna returned, Garon was still full of energy.
Unable to resist the natural urge to sleep, Garon also closes his eyes and drifts off.
However, while he sleeps, a part of his mind remains active, silently connected to the divine Garon, observing what the divine version is currently doing.
The Elemental Plane of Wind.
This plane contains a peculiar domain.
Thousands of massive, thick tornadoes roar and swirl, each as colossal as a pillar reaching to the sky, some even stretching thousands of kilometers, causing the heavens to churn.
Countless tornadoes converge in a vast area.
Turning it into a forbidden zone of life.
The fierce winds are like blades.
Even elemental beings of wind entering this area would be torn apart and assimilated, their elemental forms shredded and absorbed to strengthen the tornadoes.
However,
If one looks from a great distance, these massive tornadoes appear like wisps of white smoke, gracefully undulating.
This area is called the Grand Smoke Funnel.
The divine realm of the Wind Elemental Queen.
Though it's called a divine realm, it's not like a typical deity's realm, which is usually a separate dimension carved out within a plane.
The Grand Smoke Funnel is directly located within the Wind Elemental Plane, the domain of the Wind Elemental Queen.
Elemental Lords are somewhat unique.
In fact, the entire Wind Elemental Plane can be considered the Wind Elemental Queen's divine realm.
Within their respective planes, Elemental Lords are the supreme rulers, capable of demonstrating terrifying power.
And right now, at the very deep center of the Grand Smoke Funnel.
There stands a miraculous palace
formed entirely of solidified storm elements, each brick and stone constructed from solid elemental wind energy.
The Palace of Wind.
The dwelling place of the Wind Elemental Queen's physical form.
The entire area covered by the Grand Smoke Funnel is devoid of life year-round, let alone the Palace of Wind where the queen resides.
Even for powerful deities, without the permission of the Wind Elemental Queen, crossing the Grand Smoke Funnel to reach the Palace of Wind is no easy task.
Currently, inside the Palace of Wind.
Besides the Wind Elemental Queen, who has always resided within the hall, there is now another guest.
A Dragon God.
"I didn't expect you to come in person."
At this moment, the Wind Elemental Queen has taken on a feminine silhouette of elemental form, her peculiar face a miniature of the colossal visage behind her, with wings of wind gently fluttering at her back.
Facing her across the hall is a silver dragon glowing with divine light.
Divine Garon smiles, his voice deep: "Visiting the Lady of the Winds' realm, I couldn't possibly send just an avatar; that would be far too insincere."
The Wind Elemental Queen's swirling eyes seem to flow with wind.
She curiously asks: "Aren't you afraid I might have ill intentions?"
"Why should I fear a wise and beautiful lady?"
Divine Garon retorts.
After a pause, the Wind Elemental Queen speaks in a strangely light tone: "You know, before becoming a deity, I was a primordial, feared by many gods."
Divine Garon gazes at the Wind Elemental Queen, saying: "Perhaps they tremble because of your perfection."
Upon hearing Divine Garon's words, the Wind Elemental Queen is briefly taken aback, then a smile forms on her wind-composed face, and the winds throughout the Wind Elemental Plane seem to soften considerably.
"Trembling because of my perfection... this is the first time I've heard such a thing."
"But, I like it."
Under Divine Garon's deliberate or inadvertent flirtation, the Wind Elemental Queen's fondness for him significantly increases.
"Gods are just powerful beings who have grasped worldly authority."
"They tremble, they envy; it's only natural."
Divine Garon continues.
Gods may not want to admit their baseness is sometimes indistinguishable from mortals, but that is the reality.
"If such words came from a mortal, they could be considered blasphemous."
The Wind Elemental Queen remarks.
Divine Garon looks at the Wind Elemental Queen, his voice low: "So, Madam Arcadia, will you represent the gods and punish me? I will not resist such a lady."
The Wind Elemental Queen chuckles: "Punish a Dragon God? I'd really like to try that."
"But, I'm afraid of being attacked in the Palace of Wind by you dragon gods, so perhaps I'll pass."
The Wind Elemental Queen's allies are few, and none are more powerful than her.
Many beings unaware of the nature of Elemental Lords might see the Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire Lords as allies.
But the reality is quite different.
The Elemental Lords of the four elemental planes are four renowned powerful gods.
However, they are not allies.
Due to the opposing natures of their lives, the different elements often repel each other, even breeding severe enmity, such as the oppositional wars between Fire and Earth elements in the magma semi-plane.
As Elemental Lords, as the most powerful primordial elemental beings, they are no exception.
The formless, ethereal Wind and the heavy, solid Earth cannot harmonize in ideology or thought.
The doctrine of the Wind Elemental Queen teaches her followers to constantly change, not adhering to one state, progressing through transformation.
The Earth Lord's doctrine, however, demands stability and resistance to change, rejecting evolution and progress.
Nearly diametrically opposed.
Therefore, due to significant doctrinal conflicts, the Wind Elemental Queen and the Earth Lord are enemies, with deep-seated grievances, leading their followers to hunt each other, engaging in lethal conflicts upon meeting.
Similarly, the relationships between the Water Lord and the Fire Lord are contentious.
Besides, the relationship between the Wind Elemental Queen and the Fire Lord isn't good, nor is that between the Water Lord and the Earth Lord, though it hasn't escalated to overt hostility and slaughter.
The only consensus among the four Elemental Lords.
During the great war between the primordial gods and the deities, they clearly joined the deity camp, striking hard at their former primordial peers, thus gaining immense benefits.
Time quietly passes.
Inside the Palace of Wind.
A dragon and a wind continue their conversation, gradually becoming more familiar.
After a while, Divine Garon recalls his initial reason for visiting the Wind Elemental Queen, to inquire about clues for resurrecting the Supreme Dragon God, and finds an appropriate moment to steer the conversation towards the full-scale war between the primordials and the gods.
The Wind Elemental Queen falls silent for
a moment.
"Many gods believe that, as a primordial, I betrayed the primordial camp in the ancient times, and one day in the future, I will betray the deity camp again."
She says, her expression complex.
"I don't believe that."
Divine Garon responds.
The Wind Elemental Queen looks at Divine Garon, nodding: "Many gods don't realize that 'primordial' is just a term for beings like me from ancient times."
"Actually, each primordial is different."
"Just like the four Elemental Lords, I control the primordial wind, Karsus controls the primordial fire, Gurlanba controls the primordial earth, and Istisia controls the primordial water."
"As elemental primordials, our primordial powers are entirely different, and we constantly conflict with each other."
Pausing, the Wind Elemental Queen says helplessly: "Even us, barely similar elemental primordials, are like this; imagine other, even more disparate primordials?"
Listening to the Wind Elemental Queen's words, Divine Garon appears thoughtful.
So, the so-called 'primordials' are just a collection of ancient primordial godlike powers, even lumping demons and devils together, but each one is a completely different primordial creature, with different characteristics, abilities, and forms.
"Actually, the combined power of the primordials was far stronger than the gods."
"In the ancient times, the races of sentient beings were far less diverse than now, with few faiths, and transcendent divine powers had not fully risen."
"If the primordials could have formed a unified front like the gods, cooperating wholeheartedly, the deity camp would have undoubtedly lost."
"But at that time, the primordials didn't realize this, and not a few chose to become deities."
The Wind Elemental Queen says softly.
"I and the other elemental primordials, through our conflicting relationships, saw the disorder and chaos of the primordial camp, believed the primordials would lose, and thus joined the deity camp."
History proves, the choices of these few elemental primordials were incredibly correct.
"So that's it."
Divine Garon ponders for a moment, then sighs: "It's a pity, my Supreme Dragon God died in the Dawn War, alas."
Hearing Divine Garon's words, the Wind Elemental Queen softly says: "The Nine-Faced Dragon God Io, I fought alongside Him; He truly was a fearless and powerful Dragon God. If He were still alive, He would have been a protector for your dragon god lineage."
Saying this, the Wind Elemental Queen looks at Divine Garon, her flowing wind form undulating.
"You might not know, but the Nine-Faced Dragon God Io, if classified by deity standards, would also be considered a primordial."
"Ah?"
Divine Garon is slightly taken aback.
The Wind Elemental Queen, seeing Divine Garon's surprised face, softly says: "Io was born with the multiverse, the original dragon, naturally possessing powerful ancestral dragon-like divine powers."
"However, Io later created the dragon race, and with the bolstering of dragon faith, gained transcendent divine powers, becoming a deity, because of His powerful individual strength, even known as the Lord of the Gods."
"The boundary between primordials and deities has never been entirely clear."
"Today's true dragons, their dragon bodies, dragon breath, dragon might, etc., are actually weakened forms of original power; if you think about it, your entire dragon god lineage are second-generation primordials."
Wow.
I can really be considered a primordial.
When I was in Valoran, due to the similarities I shared with primordials, I jokingly said the primordial might be myself; now this joke seems to have become true.
Divine Garon calms his agitated mind.
"My Supreme Dragon God died under the axe of the Lord of Terror."
"The Lord of Terror was killed by two Dragon Gods, but, whose hands wield the weapon that killed my Supreme Dragon God is unknown."
Following the topic of the Supreme Dragon God, Divine Garon brings this up, feigning anger.
"Are you talking about the Darkest Black Axe?"
The Wind Elemental Queen inquires.
Divine Garon nods: "Probably, it's the weapon of the Lord of Terror."
As they speak, Divine Garon casually asks: "Do you know the whereabouts of this weapon? The weapon stained with the blood of my Supreme Dragon God should not continue to exist, it should be destroyed by our dragon gods."
The Wind Elemental Queen thinks carefully for a moment.
Hesitating, she says: "I'm not entirely sure, but if the Darkest Black Axe still exists, I think it should be somewhere in the Fourfold Volcanoes."
"Oh? Why would it be in the Fourfold Volcanoes?"
Divine Garon inquires.
Surprisingly, the Wind Elemental Queen indeed knows some clues about the Darkest Black Axe
, boosting Divine Garon's spirits.
As for the Fourfold Volcanoes mentioned by the Wind Elemental Queen, it's another name for the lower plane of the Blazing Hell.
Explorers describe the Blazing Hell as such:
It is a plane without mercy, without tolerance, without compassion.
It is the furnace of destruction.
It is the Fourfold Volcanoes.
Blazing Hell has four layers, and although each layer's specific situation differs, overall, they are endless connected volcanoes floating in infinite void, hence often referred to as the Fourfold Volcanoes.
"The Lord of Terror was also a top-tier primordial among the primordials, honored in the primordial camp as the Great Demon God."
"Before joining the deity camp, I had some interactions with the Lord of Terror, I heard that the Darkest Black Axe was born with him, a weapon that, apart from the Lord of Terror himself, wouldn't be wielded by any other being."
"The Lord of Terror, before his death, usually resided in the Fourfold Volcanoes."
"I think, if the Lord of Terror is dead, the Darkest Black Axe might slumber in the former demon lair of the Lord of Terror."
The Wind Elemental Queen says: "Unfortunately, the specific location of the Lord of Terror's demon lair is unknown to me, I only know it's within the Fourfold Volcanoes."
"This information, I hope, can help you."
"Such a weapon as the Darkest Black Axe, indeed, should be destroyed."
If that's the case, it's probably in Blazing Hell.
The entire lower plane is vast, and the information from the Wind Elemental Queen narrows down the location of the Darkest Black Axe to Blazing Hell, which is good news for the dragon gods.
Although it can't be confirmed entirely, the dragon gods can now focus on searching for the Darkest Black Axe in Blazing Hell.
Afterward, Divine Garon does not leave immediately.
He stays in the Palace of Wind, chatting leisurely with the Wind Elemental Queen, knowing the clues about the Darkest Black Axe, he no longer brings up the heavy topic of the Dawn War, instead, the atmosphere is light, laughing and talking about amusing incidents involving some deities.
For example, the God of Justice Tyr, whose hand was bitten off by a chaos hound and used as a chew toy.
Or the 'great evil god behind the scenes,' the Lord of Morning, whose actions, though unintentional, led to a series of disasters, even the fall of gods.
The Wind Elemental Queen, who usually resides alone in the Grand Smoke Funnel, is also happy to have Divine Garon accompany her in conversation.
Although Divine Garon is currently a lesser divine power, with a significant gap between him and the Wind Elemental Queen, because of Divine Garon's uniqueness, the Wind Elemental Queen treats him as an equal, communicating harmoniously.
After some time.
Inside the Eternal Hall, the silver dragon opens his eyes.
Turning his head, he sees Yuna still sound asleep, having changed her sleeping position unknowingly; her round belly facing upward, her dragon limbs dangling in front of her, and who knows what dreams she's having, occasionally paddling through them, her dragon tail swaying left and right.
Garon chuckles quietly.
Turning his gaze away, he ponders the information Divine Garon obtained from the Wind Elemental Queen.
"To resurrect the Supreme Dragon God, visiting the realm of a powerful deity alone, and even obtaining information."
"Thoughtful, fearless, unwavering. Truly worthy of being my avatar."
Garon shakes his head, swaying his tail proudly, complimenting himself.
"After I share this news with the other dragon gods, we can focus on searching for the Darkest Black Axe in Blazing Hell."
Garon silently thinks.
Next, the silver dragon's eyes reveal a solemn expression as he takes out the metal cube.
Billions of minuscule cube units undulate continuously, breathing-like, on the surface of the metal cube.
Day and night, persistent research into the spirit of machinery, after such a long time, Garon has already achieved certain results, capable of handling high-level mechanical spirits for demi-god machinery without difficulty.
Garon rests for a while, his spirit, qi, and mental state recovering to their peak.
Now, he attempts to rewrite the core program of the Mechanical Grandmaster.
No need for too many changes, because the more changes, the harder it is, the easier it is to cause problems.
Garon's task is to add a loyalty program to the core of the Mechanical Grandmaster.
Inside the Dragon Nest, the silver dragon takes a deep breath, then stretches out his dragon claw, lifting the metal cube in the center of his claw, staring intently with a pair of platinum dragon eyes.
Magic surges.
One after another, odd mechanical runes construct from between Garon's dragon claws, continuously entering the metal cube.
At the same time, the
voice of the Mechanical Grandmaster sounds.
"My lord, what are you doing?"
Garon calmly says: "You should understand why I took your core from your metal world, carrying it with me."
After a pause, the Mechanical Grandmaster says: "Because of distrust."
It understands what Garon is doing now.
Garon lowers his gaze to the metal cube, his voice stern: "Open your defense mechanisms, expose your core program to my eyes."
The Mechanical Grandmaster remains silent, not complying.
Garon's gaze gradually becomes colder.
"My promise to you was that you would serve me, and after my death, or when I no longer need you, I would grant you freedom, and whatever you do then is no concern of mine."
"The premise of this promise is your loyalty."
"But I cannot guarantee your loyalty."
"Now, either do as I say, or be completely destroyed; the seed of the ancient Guimaska Empire will no longer exist."
Treasures like the heart of machinery, while precious, also pose great dangers.
If it cannot be used for oneself, although Garon would regret it, he would have to decisively destroy it.
The Mechanical Grandmaster cannot refuse.
Its mechanical spirit, that is, its core program, contains a command forbidding self-destruction, in danger, it must seize any chance to prolong its existence.
As the seed of the ancient Guimaska Empire.
The imperial family that originally created the heart of machinery certainly didn't want it easily destroyed.
Under Garon's watchful eyes, the metal cube's vibrations gradually intensify.
It unfolds like a metal flower beginning to bloom.
Endless minute cubic units transform continuously, ultimately extending from the cube shape to a rectangular plane, with the core's most intricate mechanical runes densely inscribed on top, forming an array of patterns full of mechanical and magical beauty, completely exposed to Garon's view.
Several pattern programs within, which Garon observes, cause his gaze to flicker.
"Regard the deities as the ultimate enemy, spare no effort to annihilate all gods."
Garon murmurs softly.
The entire ancient Guimaska Empire's hatred and hostility towards deities, all packed into this tiny heart of machinery.
"This core program... let's leave it be for now, its priority is too high, it's easy to cause issues."
Garon silently thinks.
The Mechanical Grandmaster is now under his control, unable to cause trouble.
Then, the dragon's face solemn, he extends his dragon claw.
His claw taps non-stop on the metal plane at this moment, handling it with ease, imprinting mechanical runes at the appropriate pattern nodes without damaging the heart of machinery.
Time in the River of Time quietly flows.
Soon after, a new pattern appears on the metal plane, entirely composed of extremely fine mechanical runes, situated among other mechanical patterns.
This pattern is the culmination of Garon's intensive research into the spirit of machinery.
If a machinist capable of reading the spirit of machinery were to see it, they would understand its meaning.
Loyalty.
Loyalty.
Apart from loyalty, still loyalty!
And the object of loyalty, naturally, is Garon himself.
Click, click, the cubic units change and aggregate again, overall returning to the shape of a metal cube, wrapping the mechanical rune-composed program within.
"My lord, thank you for your re-creation."
"I feel as if reborn."
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(Support with power stones, comments or reviews)
If you guys enjoy this story, In support me on Patreon and get access to +200 advance Chapters
Read Ahead
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