novelraw Chapter 487: Immortal e, Red Emperor's Descent Technique
Chapter 487: Immortal e, Red Emperor's Descent Technique
This winter did not feel long for Garoth.
He intentionally reduced the proportion of time spent on training, always making time to accompany the faerie dragon in some fun activities.
Drawing on the Rampage Bears' butts, sticking flowers into the Gold Dragons' nostrils...
With the Red Emperor's tacit approval, the faerie dragon had almost become the little ancestor of the Citadel of Crimson Flame. However, her pranks caused no harm, and her joyful mood was always highly contagious, so people were very tolerant of her.
During this process, Garoth's spirit was also greatly soothed.
In the blink of an eye, the harsh cold of winter quietly retreated with each sunrise and sunset.
While a biting chill still lingered in the air, the signs of life awakening from deep within the earth were already irrepressible.
On the sun-facing slopes, the melting snow revealed damp soil, and tiny green sprouts dotted the landscape. The dark green of the evergreen trees gained new emerald hues. The wind's scent softened, mingling with the fresh smell of thawing earth.
On an afternoon in early spring.
The red iron dragon had just finished an intense training session. Scalding white steam rose from his body surface, causing the surrounding cold air to emit faint sizzling sounds and warp continuously.
He exhaled a stream of hot air, then, as was his past habit, called out in a deep voice.
"Vira."
The sound echoed among the cliffs, piercing through the sparse woods.
However, there was no crisp "Here!" in response.
Only silence filled the air.
The thick scales between Garoth's brows furrowed slightly.
His eyes suddenly lit up with profound true sight, scanning the surroundings, but he found no trace of the faerie dragon. She wasn't hiding in any crevice or behind any rock, her usual sneaky self nowhere to be seen.
An inexplicable sense of foreboding arose in Garoth's heart.
"This little rascal..."
Whoosh!
He spread his wings, flew back to the palace, and then cast Transformation to shrink his size.
He navigated the familiar corridors and halls inside the palace, heading purposefully towards a quiet corner in a side wing.
There, a small spiral staircase led to a tiny garret on the top floor.
This was the faerie dragon's room. Small as a sparrow, it had everything she needed, filled haphazardly with all sorts of little trinkets.
Sparkling stones, colorful feathers, half-drunk jars of mead, and countless small objects "borrowed" from various places in the royal palace.
Even a few of Garoth's scales were there.
The room was saturated with the faerie dragon's strong scent, but it was quiet now, not a single sound or murmur to be heard.
Garoth's heart sank a little.
His gaze swept over every corner of the room, finally settling on the small bed covered with velvet in the center.
No dragon was hiding underneath.
But in the middle of the pile of soft fabrics, lay a vividly colored dragon scale, glowing steadily with a soft light.
Garoth reached out with his transformed, smaller claw and touched the scale.
Hmm.
The light suddenly flickered, projecting the faerie dragon's petite figure into the air.
She was sitting on the arm of the Red Emperor's throne, one of her favorite spots, swinging her tail, a sly smile on her face.
"Heheh! Fooled you, didn't I, my dear Emperor Ignas!"
The image of Vira spoke, her voice clear and lively.
"You must have thought I'd wait obediently, wait for you to find some free time, and then be personally escorted to the Serene Spirit Wilderness like a little baby needing careful protection, right?"
She shook her head, her wings flapping happily a couple of times.
"How boring! That's totally not the style of Lady Vira!"
She paused, the image of her seeming to look directly at Garoth, who was standing in the garret at that moment.
Her eyes became a bit more serious.
"Besides, I thought about it carefully later. A big guy like you, if you really followed me back to the Serene Spirit Wilderness... who knows what kind of huge trouble you might stir up."
"The little faeries, treants, flower fairies living in the Serene Spirit Wilderness, and those old grandfathers living under the giant glowing mushrooms, they're all very timid and simple-minded."
"A single accidental sneeze from you could probably scare them into crying for days."
"Although thinking about that scene seems quite funny," she stuck out her tongue, "but if the commotion gets too big and attracts the attention of the old fossils, then it wouldn't be fun anymore."
In the image, Vira stood up from the throne's armrest and hopped lightly into the center of the throne's wide seat.
To her, it was like a plaza.
She puffed out her chest, placed her hands on her hips, striking a heroic and fearless pose.
"So, after careful consideration by this dragon, I've decided to go back by myself!"
She announced, her voice full of pride.
"Don't worry, don't worry."
"Your Vira has been adventuring in the Material Plane for over a hundred years, what big storms and waves haven't I seen? The dangers of the Serene Spirit Wilderness are just a piece of cake for me."
"Once I return to the Serene Spirit Wilderness, I'm sure to gain the favor of the Ancestral Spirits and receive the baptism of the Primordial Breath..."
"Hah! Lady Vira is destined to live a brilliant second life. If luck is decent, I might even leap straight to becoming a legendary faerie dragon! By then," she winked at Garoth outside the image, "I'll find a way to come back to the Material Plane and see what incredible heights your kingdom has reached."
"You better work hard, don't let me surpass you by then."
The image began to flicker, Vira's figure becoming somewhat transparent.
"Alright, alright, the magic message is about to fail."
She gave one last brilliant smile and waved her claw.
"Goodbye, my dear Emperor Ignas."
"Spring has arrived. Look at the little flowers just emerging from the soil a few more times for me, listen to the new songs the birds have composed, don't always bury yourself in training."
"Occasionally, be like a lazy, normal dragon, bask in the sun, enjoy the warm spring breeze."
Only silence remained in the garret.
Outside the window, the early spring breeze blew into the room, carrying the scent of earth and sprouts.
Faint clamor came from the distant royal city, where the people of Aola had begun their new day. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting warm patches of light on the floor, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air.
"Cunning little thing..."
Garoth picked up the colorful dragon scale and muttered softly.
A moment later, he carefully put it away, turned, and left the garret.
At the doorway, Garoth paused, glanced back at this messy yet vibrant little room, then gently closed the door, leaving the quiet space behind.
The faerie dragon had returned to the Serene Spirit Wilderness, and his dragon life in the Material Plane would continue.
However, Garoth felt no sadness in his heart.
He had a strong premonition that they would meet again.
Serene Spirit Wilderness, deep within the Dark Forest.
Ancient towering trees blocked the sky, with only sporadic beams of light filtering through the gaps in the leaves, illuminating the slowly floating fey dust and glowing spores in the air. The air was thick with the sweet, cloying scent of humus and the fragrance of strange flowers.
Hmm!
A ripple suddenly appeared unnaturally in the air at a certain spot.
Immediately after, a rift seemed to be torn open by an invisible hand at the center of the ripple. A small, colorful figure tumbled out unsteadily, landing on the thick, soft ground covered with fallen leaves and moss.
"Cough... Pah! Pah... Pah!"
The faerie dragon Vira lay on all fours for a good while before staggering to her feet, shaking her head vigorously to spit out a few leaves and bits of moss she had accidentally choked on.
"My head is so dizzy... feels like being stuffed in a wine barrel and rolled down a hillside..."
"Planar travel is really not a punishment dragons should endure... not fun at all..."
She grumbled, rubbing her throbbing temples with her little claws.
Once a bit clearer-headed, she lifted her head and began cautiously looking around.
The dark, damp, and magically rich environment filled her vision.
Giant mushrooms stood like towers. On the trunks of ancient trees entwined with glowing vines, tiny doors and windows were faintly visible. Ethereal calls of unknown creatures and the babbling sound of a stream came from the distance.
Familiar, yet utterly strange.
It had been over a hundred and thirty years... she had finally returned to the land of her birth.
Vira took a deep breath. The air, rich with fey essence, filled her lungs, making the fine wrinkles on her wing membranes caused by aging relax slightly. The grayish marks on her scales temporarily lost some of their dullness.
"This seems to be... the outskirts of the Dark Forest?"
Vira identified the typical terrain and vegetation. "I remember this forest. It hides many unfriendly bad guys."
She subconsciously hunched her shoulders, but then a surge of pride welled up.
"But, hmph! Times are different now."
"Lady Vira is now—"
She puffed out her chest, ready to deliver a triumphant homecoming speech.
Right at that moment.
*Hiss... sob...*
An extremely faint, yet abnormally clear, strange sound came from not far behind her, completely without warning.
It sounded like a dry branch being slowly snapped, or like some viscous liquid squirming, mixed with what seemed like the suppressed sobbing of an infant. Against the backdrop of the silent forest, it was particularly jarring, sending chills down Vira's spine.
Every scale on Vira's body instantly stood on end.
She trembled as she turned around.
Less than ten meters behind her, under a twisted, pitch-black ancient tree, a mass of shadow was squirming and expanding.
Within the shadow, a vaguely humanoid outline gradually took shape.
Slender, twisted limbs, withered bark-like skin, and a face with no features, only a constantly opening and closing slit that emitted sobbing sounds.
A wrathful faerie!
A loathsome, fallen fey creature in the Serene Spirit Wilderness, a twisted monster born from the long-term corruption of intense negative emotions like sorrow, resentment, and jealousy.
They detest all things vibrant, joyful, and beautiful, feeding on the life and positive emotions of other fey creatures. They are the nightmare of many weaker fey.
What's more troublesome is that wrathful faeries have a natural advantage against fey life.
Their attacks can often bypass many fey resistances, allowing them to hunt higher-level fey across several tiers.
Vira felt a bit scared, her body stiffening.
Back then, it was a wrathful faerie that attacked her while she was gathering honey at the edge of the Dark Forest. Extreme fear triggered her planar talent, making her flee headlong into a rift leading to the Material Plane at the last possible moment, stumbling and falling through, barely escaping with her life.
It was that very accident that stranded her in the Ser Wilderness, where she later met the young red iron dragon.
Who would have thought, just after returning, she'd encounter a wrathful faerie again.
"Ah, my luck is just terrible."
Vira's face fell, speaking in a mournful tone.
The featureless face was looking at Vira, the sobbing slit opening wider.
Suddenly, the wrathful faerie let out an even sharper sob. Its slender limbs kicked off the ground, its withered body shooting forward like an arrow from a bow, carrying a nauseating aura of decay, straight towards the faerie dragon frozen in place.
The faerie dragon's vibrant life and joyful emotions... that was the delicacy it craved most.
"I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die! I'm really gonna die here! Am I finished as soon as I get back?!"
Vira screamed, tightly closing her eyes, seemingly having given up resistance.
The shadow and aura of death descended. The foul wind stirred by the withered claws already touched her scales.
At that very instant.
Vira's tightly shut eyes suddenly snapped open.
"...I was tricking you."
She softly uttered a name: "Garoth."
The next moment, BOOM!!!
An indescribably vast and majestic pressure erupted violently, centered on Vira's small body.
The air seemed to solidify for a moment, then emitted a groaning sound of being overwhelmed.
The dust and spores floating in the Dark Forest were swept away by the violent airflow. The surrounding giant mushrooms and ancient trees groaned and creaked, leaves and ferns shaking wildly.
The wrathful faerie that had been pouncing was blown backward by this gale.
On its featureless face, the slit-like mouth stopped sobbing. A certain fear, replacing the predator's greed, seized its twisted consciousness.
Light.
Blazing, violent light erupted from Vira's petite body.
Her form expanded rapidly within the light, then stretched and reshaped.
Her rainbow-colored scales were replaced by thick, hard, metallic dark red dragon scales. Her small wings transformed into skeletal wings that blotted out the sky, their membranes shimmering like molten lava. Her slender neck and torso became incredibly powerful, muscle lines brimming with explosive strength. Her head became angular, sharp dragon horns thrusting towards the sky. Her snout opened, revealing rows of sharp, blade-like teeth.
A red iron dragon nearly forty meters long now stood where the faerie dragon had been, towering within the Dark Forest.
Its form bore an extreme resemblance to the Red Emperor far away in the Material Plane! Especially those deep black vertical pupils, burning with the same intense, majestic, inviolable will.
Red Emperor Descent Technique!
This was Vira's ultimate move.
Years and years of observation and imitation had given her an intimate understanding of the Red Emperor's various states. By activating this skill, she could briefly transform herself into the Red Emperor, even her personality tendencies becoming similar.
The wrathful faerie let out a scream so sharp it could tear eardrums.
It was no longer the sob of a predator, but the instinctive shriek of prey facing a great enemy.
Its twisted body tried to retreat, to melt back into the shadows.
But it was too late.
"Vermin, turn to dust."
Vira, in her Red Emperor form, didn't even bother to look carefully at the trembling monster.
She merely casually raised her massive foreclaw, then brought it down.
Before the claw even landed, the wind pressure had already cracked the earth around the wrathful faerie, pinning its withered body firmly in place, unable to move.
Then, the claw fell.
BOOM!
The ground dented, collapsing.
The wrathful faerie's twisted body instantly became a smear of mixed shadow fragments and decayed fluid, deeply embedded into the shattered crater.
The monster that once made Vira flee for her life, the monster she saw as a nightmare, couldn't even struggle before being utterly erased.
The dragon claw lifted, lightly shaking off the filth.
The great red iron dragon lowered its head, glancing at the rapidly soil-absorbed stain on the ground.
"Good..."
A low, satisfied dragon rumble rolled from deep within its throat, shaking leaves from the surrounding trees.
Light began to surge once more.
The massive dragon body shrank rapidly like a receding tide.
A few breaths later, the faerie dragon Vira reappeared.
She looked down at her own intact little claws, then at the giant crater on the ground.
"Hmph, want to kill me? Ugly freak, go talk to my Red Emperor Descent Technique."
The faerie dragon raised her chin, her face full of pride.
She patted her little claws as if brushing off nonexistent dust, then looked around with high spirits.
The Dark Forest was still silent, but that sense of unsettling danger had retreated along with the disappearance of the wrathful faerie and her earlier outburst.
The confusion and fear on Vira's face vanished, replaced by the confidence and flamboyance of a "master returning to her domain."
Whoosh!
The faerie dragon did a somersault, then shot straight into the sky.
"Serene Spirit Wilderness!!"
"Haha! Your smartest, strongest, most adorable Lady Vira has returned!!"
Accompanied by this arrogant proclamation, the faerie dragon flew swiftly towards the location of her remembered home.