[The low-hanging gloom stretched across the sky like a gaping wound, ferocious and cruel]
[The setting sun bled like crimson, an endless tide of undead drowning the Dragon Realm]
[As the power of undeath seeped deeper, the dragons’ own strength began to serve their enemies]
[Then one day, the Corpse Dragons appeared]
[Resistance held for a month, but even the full might of the Dragon Realm began to run thin]
[At first, some dragon clans refused to join the fight, convinced this was some scheme of the Flame Dragon Clan]
“I think he just wants us to charge to our deaths so he can rule the entire Dragon Realm!”
So spoke Ice Dragon Queen Aisha.
She wasn’t the only one who thought that way. Many dragons shared her suspicion.
But with such a dire enemy at their doorstep, their selfish doubts were soon drowned beneath the endless tide of foes.
The Flame Dragon warriors led the first wave of resistance. Fire proved devastatingly effective against the undead.
At the start, the Flame Dragons even thought these creatures were easy prey, confident of certain victory.
They never saw the Favored of the Evil God. That monster had already been slain by Ailin the Sword Saint using a red-quality weapon.
Back then, the dragon clans were still dreaming of peace.
They had never flown beyond the Dragon Realm to witness the horrors outside.
It wasn’t until the warriors realized these undead could never be fully wiped out that they understood things weren’t so simple.
The early battles ran on a shift system. Flame Dragon warriors fought in a Three-Shift Rotation, and those off duty would gather together to relax and play.
But things only got worse. The three shifts became two, and eventually there wasn’t even time to rest.
The edge of the Dragon Realm belonged to the Earth Dragon Clan.
They held the same views as the Ice Dragons, watching the Flame Dragons fight and die on the front lines without lifting a single claw to help.
You once tried to speak with York, the chieftain of the Earth Dragon Clan, but his reply was curt.
“You’d best keep your distance from our territory. A few undead are nothing we can’t handle on our own.”
York was an extremely conservative chieftain. He didn’t even want you fighting anywhere near their lands.
“The danger we face now threatens every dragon clan. I’m not asking you to join the battle today, but please allow our warriors to resupply here and help you defend your territory.”
Your words were sincere, but York’s face immediately darkened. His entire body was already earthen gray, and now it grew even more shadowed.
“You listen here, you whelp of the Flame Dragon Clan. I don’t care what trick you used to take down Garrod, but we Earth Dragons won’t bow to you like those lowly Forest Dragons!”
“Resupply? Defend territory?”
York leaned back, looking at you with eyes that claimed to see through everything.
“The moment your kin set foot in our lands, I suspect this place won’t stay rock for long. Before a few days pass, the throne beneath me will turn from stone to magma.”
“We Earth Dragons fear nothing from you Flame Dragons, boy. If you want to enter my territory, you’ll have to walk over my corpse.”
Faced with York’s aggressive stance, you set aside any thought of persuasion.
“Fine. Then face the undead on your own. I’d love to see just how hard that shell of yours really is.”
“We’ll build our defensive line right behind your territory. When the time comes, don’t come crawling back with your tails between your legs begging for our help.”
You spat out the harsh words, but York remained unimpressed.
“Hmph—beg you? When I won my duel against Garrod, you weren’t even born for another few hundred years. I suggest you mind your own affairs.”
Seeing that this Earth Dragon was completely impossible to reason with, you finally gave up trying to persuade him and left them to their fate.
“Father, Lai En was right. If we refuse to cooperate, we’ll be the first to suffer…”
After you left, York’s daughter stepped forward to plead with him.
“Ah, my child. I know you fancy him, but I’m thinking about our future!”
York said, somewhat irritated.
“When will you ever understand the good intentions behind my decisions?”
York’s daughter said nothing more. She knew her father was stubborn beyond measure, and that was exactly why the Earth Dragon Clan had been relegated to the edge of the Dragon Realm.
But she had seen the Flame Dragons’ battles before. This disaster was different. Her father’s obstinacy could doom them all.
Yet York was York. He never listened to anyone.
He even felt rather pleased with himself. But the situation soon took a sharp turn for the worse.
Reports of losses streamed in from the front lines.
The Earth Dragons were never skilled at offense, relying on their heavy Carapace to crush enemies.
Against such overwhelming numbers of undead, their weaknesses were exposed for all to see.
Only three days after the Flame Dragons withdrew, York came looking for Lai En.
His attitude was completely different from days before. He was nearly on his knees, begging you to save his clan from extinction.
The Earth Dragons were hardly the only case. The dragons were scattered like loose sand, and incidents like this happened more than once.
But you understood that even if everyone united, it would only slow the world’s destruction, not stop it.
In the end, the only place in the Dragon Realm that hadn’t fallen was the land of the Dragon Ancestor.
Hundreds of Corpse Dragons wheeled through the sky, wielding the strength they had in life, now amplified by the power of undeath.
You and Winteria pressed close together, gazing at the hellish scene before you, knowing the end was near.
“The Dragon Ancestor left a barrier of energy here, but it can only hold for a few more days at best.”
Mei Wei Si finished inspecting the barrier and delivered her conclusion.
The remaining elites inside the barrier heard the news. Each of them wrote their final words and buried them in the Ancestral Dragon Shrine.
“Lai En, how cruel this world is. I finally got the life I dreamed of, and now it’s being taken away from me.”
Winteria carefully set down two unhatched Dragon Eggs, her face heavy with grief.
One night, Mei Wei Si confessed her feelings to you.
“Dali’ang, I must be honest with you. Back in the Tower, I had already fallen in love with you.”
“The image of you standing before Nuha that day—no matter how many years pass, I can never forget it.”
You looked at the hellish scene outside, then at Mei Wei Si, who seemed to have found some peace, and let out a sigh.
“After you left the Tower, where did you go? Have you ever heard of a place called the Kingdom of Tianyue?”
“The Kingdom of Tianyue?”
Mei Wei Si thought for a moment, then showed a puzzled expression.
“I know of that kingdom. It was the first to be invaded by the undead…”
Her words struck you like a revelation. Could it be that the source of this catastrophe lay in the Kingdom of Tianyue?
“After I left the Tower, I wandered with no fixed home, traveling across the world.”
“Dali’ang, would you… hold me?”
Mei Wei Si said, a little shyly.
An embrace wasn’t a betrayal of Winteria. You shifted into human form and held her beneath the sky shrouded in Corpse Dragons.
Destruction descended only days later.
Several Favored of the Evil God broke through the Dragon Ancestor’s barrier.
The final battle had begun.