Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1411 - 1410 - Rule one of Dragons: Never Anger a Matriarch

Lind saw prismatic beams of energy carve out one hole after another. The arrays guarding the Stonehide Clan underground lair were destroyed with ease. Annabelle's lesson on formations had 2 benefits.

Evaluation of arrays for quality and also to quickly find their weak points. Ethry was clearly doing the latter. It served 2 purposes.

One was obviously weakening the protections on the Clan lands but the other was survival. Peak Sovereign Tiers were lethal to them both.

That fact could not be changed but the Stonehide Clan had many enemies watching. Now that the defenses were down, the other Sovereign Tiers were coming! In other words, Ethry neutralized her greatest threat while wreaking vengeance.

He saw several dragons at the mid and high Sovereign Tier try to stop her but in her current state they would be better off committing suicide.

It would be kinder.

She ripped apart their wings, and broke limbs while shattering beast cores like it was easy! He smirked at the disbelief on their reptilian and human faces alike.

A low Sovereign Tier was shredding her betters like so much chattel?

It could not go on but the mystery would give them pause. Lind simply saw the truth. Ethry did not rely on weapons or artifacts to fight. She never had.

She also was not quite the same as other dragons.

She did not cultivate like normal due to what he did to save her life. He had transformed her far earlier than was possible for any aether beast.

It was not just the partial transformations as he had seen in the recent Throne of Living Fire but a true human form.

She learned from the beginning how to use both her forms to fight and in that aspect, they learned just how much he had changed her.

Where most dragons relied on their body or breath as their primary weapons, she relied on Qi. Specifically, his harmony and soul had given her an instinctive grasp of all the natural elements.

It was not just about power but precision! No matter how powerful a cultivator or beast felt they were, there would be flaws.

The most perfect technique or Art did not exist. Ethry possessed the rare ability to shred those weaknesses apart!

Even Lind, despite studying all 3 elemental sets, could only ever reach a stalemate with Ethry if she fought seriously.

Because she had faced someone like him, no demon or Celestial could stop her either. The fact she was angry just made it worse for the enemy in the current circumstances.

Dragons were hierarchical creatures and there was a single rule all dragon clans generally accepted as immutable.

Never, ever, anger a matriarch.

A father is a powerful beast but his rage and pride could act against him even in protecting his family.

A mother, on the other hand, would exceed all her limits if her family was threatened but even that state would pale in comparison if the mother was angered for no good reason.

Using her as bait? Taking advantage of a child's foolish beliefs as part of a trap to mislead them? Locking her up?

Lind calmly drank his tea as all the stress fell away. He had rushed because he was not certain of her situation but it seemed their focus truly had been him. Fools.

Did they think he was a human that stole draconic power to have a harem or something? It was not even his idea!

He just wanted to save Ethry and stay with the people he loved. He had been naive, without a doubt, but his old Earth morals had clung on until they forced the issue. Still, from the outside, who would believe it?

Certainly not fanatics that hated beast souls in the first place. Lind felt auras wash over him but while some were worrying, none made a move as no doubt they were confused.

The weakest Sovereign Tier was currently demolishing a power as if it was easy. They did not understand how it worked so they worried about what he could do as her husband as well.

He narrowed his eyes as he finally felt movement he could not ignore.

Over ¾ of the city had been exposed and turned to ruin. Blood ran like rivers and the horrific bodies were twisted lumps of flesh. No souls had been spared either as she had shattered them on emergence.

An oddity there was that he sensed hardly a shift in her karma. He was sensitive to it but slaughter on such a scale would be felt by the most dullard of a cultivator.

The fact there was not even a crack of black lightning anywhere nor golden either meant the current situation was neutral.

They must have done a lot of vile things but Ethry was not fully justified either.

He tore through space as massive auras closed in from all sides. There were 6 of them!

So many but they were not in the official count he knew of.

Lind transformed above the devastated city. His massive sinuous form cast a shadow none could miss but the auras he felt ignored him.

He roared across the lands. Whether beast or another race, a command was given.

[STOP!] The instant his roar finished, 6 figures stumbled out of tears in space at random points around Ethry. She was the only one unaffected by his command.

He had tried to stop her as well but her rage seemed to give her some immunity or he had unconsciously not wanted to be added to her list of targets.

"Foul thief! You dare use your usurp–" An impossibly tall man with fine muscles screamed up at him but Lind did not care.

[SILENCE! None shall speak until I wish it.] His Authority slammed into them. It seemed to work once more except on Ethry. He was about to address the fallen Sovereign Tiers when a throbbing pain hit his chest.

His Authority shattered! Gravity reasserted itself as he plummeted out of the sky. His Qi was fine but for some reason, he could no longer access it!

His body felt far heavier than it had in many millennia.

A pair of blooded arms caught him as Ethry stared at him in fear.

"What is wrong?" He tried to answer but pain lanced him once more. It was only then his brain realized he was human but he did not recall transforming!

He looked up when a shadow passed overhead and shock filled him.

A massive sinuous emerald dragon was rampaging above! It had 4 limbs that ended in golden claws and 3 horns on its head. A massive mane of emerald also flared up as tiny spears shot out in all directions.

What was going on? A loch of his hair entered his vision and he saw it was dirty blonde! The pieces came together and true confusion filled him.

Human and dragon separated? How?! He had fully transformed long ago and even made a new body based on his soul! How could he be separated now?

"It worked! The dragon is free! The True Lord can now act unimpe–" The Stonehide Dragon peak Sovereign Tiers were celebrating when emerald flames disintegrated them!

"Lind, that is you but you are here. What is going on?!" He had no idea but the pain was still in his chest. He closed his eyes and realized he was still an Immortal!

His crystal was still there but he frowned at how it felt. It was like it was far away and he slowly pieced together what might have been done to him.

"Ethry, what would happen if someone wanted to extract the race memory?" She looked at him like he was an idiot.

"Nothing. It would fail because the ancestors–" She froze as realization struck her. Lind was a progenitor! He was the first of his line. He WAS his race memory.

"How could they–? It is not possible! It would kill you!" He agreed as the pain was increasing. The Stonehide Clan likely thought they could extract his humanity and leave the dragon behind.

They really believed he stole a dragon's soul.

He watched the power of his body with no restraint left and just an instinctive mind to control it. They could not even get close!

He looked up at Ethry when he thought of something.

"Get mad." Her prismatic eyes snapped down to him in confusion but he simply smiled as he cupped her cheek. "They imprisoned you and then did this to me. Let it flow through you, my love. Let your anger fly."

She was looking frustrated but her eyes became pinpricks as he felt her body heat up. Every dragon in all directions froze, including his body in the sky.

The emerald maw turned and unlike its rampage, Lind recognized fear on its face.

"Get down here now!" Her voice echoed across the land and the giant emerald dragon swiftly obeyed. Lind then saw it.

Right over where his heart was as a dragon was a small disc with claws dug into his scales. How had it gotten so close?

Regardless he weakly pointed to it and she torched it. The instant it shattered, a feeling of dislocation washed over him before his body was light and powerful again.

He also felt the ache fading in his chest as the charred artifact fell away but he smiled with his giant maw at his wife.

[Rule one: Never anger a Matriarch.]