Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1412 - 1411 - Purification Artifact

Lind confirmed his condition and felt no issues. Still, he picked up the broken pieces of the artifact as the surviving Stonehide Clan were clearly disturbed. It took him a few moments to piece together what was missing and he understood what they were trying to do.

[Idiots. You thought I possessed a dragon? I died! A beast soul means Heaven and Earth acknowledge an act of supreme sacrifice!] His words boomed but the dragons seemed unconvinced.

Did they think all beast souls were stolen by humans and demons?

Lind narrowed his eyes but then a mark on the artifact stood out to him. It was a sun rising from a small hill. He had seen such a mark before but not in a long time.

It was a dead artificer sect.

Their work was near legendary and considered a gold standard for healing or defense.

[The Gentle Sun Sect. That would make this some kind of purification artifact. You meddled with the array here.] His eyes glowed as an area on part of the disc lit up. The dragons shivered but gave only silence.

Lind sighed at their stubbornness.

[Even if you thought I possessed a dragon, I am a True Lord. Surely, you know what that entails. I faced the 3 Divine Inheritance trials and was proclaimed by a priestess of the temple.] Those words finally garnered a reaction.

[Impossible! The Shale Clan Inheritance collapsed long ago! Even before the Fiends destroyed the Celestial Fields, it had become a Ruin. None knew where it fell!] Lind smiled as he let his aura flare.

[I met her. Her Clan had come for her in the Ruin before it collapsed. She joined me on my journey for a long time and taught me many things. I faced the trial of combat and lived in the Divine Memory.] The surviving 5 peak Sovereign Tiers dropped out of the sky.

They were a fallen clan but even they knew the trials set for True Lords. Dragons did not just accept the judgment of Heaven and Earth. They made their True Lord candidates endure trials far harsher.

And only a real True Lord that overcame them could relay them so accurately.

[It took you out, we saw it–] A Stonehide Dragon with bright red scales tried to deny the truth but Lind held up the artifact in his claws. He pointed at the same place he had indicated before.

[I started as a human. While my body and soul are most definitely dragon, my mind retains my origin. You extracted my intelligence and a mental projection of me. Just like an Immortal Soul, I had enough substance to be caught by my wife.] His explanation sounded absurd to many but Immortals knew better.

The anger of the Stonehide Clan felt hollow but the 5 looked up and Lind knew it was not over.

They could not accept him. He as good as admitted a part of his mind would forever remain human. Even if he was a real True Lord of Dragons in body and soul, a human mind would never be accepted.

Three more circular artifacts flew at him, but now that he knew what they were, Lind felt no fear.

He had been caught off guard but as the claws dug into his flesh, he only felt a bit of discomfort.

[Purification, eh? You modified it to forcibly purge non-dragon presence too.] He had not realized how strongly he had held onto his human origins mentally but since it was only a mental aspect, it was easy to resolve.

His Harmonic Dao made it far more solid since it should have just been a projection. The imbalance with the lack of his mind left only the draconic instincts he had normally tamed.

"Lind?" Ethry appeared next to him but he smiled at her as he casually removed the artifacts.

[Time to end this.] His Authority swept outward once more. The dragons all knelt to him but he had no desire to command them beyond holding them in place.

While most dragon clans did not keep records like humanoid powers, Lind knew the Stonehide Clan was different.

[Haro.] His ring spirit appeared and his rage was evident to all. [Do as you will for your former master.]

Everyone was shocked but before the words could be fully absorbed, the skies rumbled before he looked up and waved his tail with the glow of his harmony.

The rumbling stopped and the sky cleared up. Haro bowed low and his aura skyrocketed.

"You do not recall what you have done, but I do not care. My Master has allowed me something I thought impossible to achieve. Vengeance!" Haro shifted before their eyes.

Spirits appeared solid to most as they became more profound but they did not breathe nor sweat like normal people no matter the weather they were summoned into.

Haro now looked alive! He took a breath and a scent entered both Ethry and Lind's noses.

Their reactions, however, were drastically different.

Ethry felt reverence and a desire to bow before Haro while Lind felt something fall into place inside his mind. His emerald eyes absorbed all that was happening as the Laws seemed to vanish from around them.

[Sever!] Haro's voice shook the world and Lind was stunned to see the peak Sovereign Tiers turned into a fine bloodmist!

Their souls were shattered at the same time. Haro lost a lot of his solidity and seemed exhausted.

He returned to the ring and the remaining dragons trembled as their final defense was gone. Lind, however, narrowed his eyes as something changed.

Anger rose as he looked down into the ruins before his emerald flames slammed into it and disintegrated the area.

Rather than leave a hole in the ground, a vile black dome appeared!

The previously hidden entities all appeared with various weapons and armor on them. Other beast races also hovered in the air.

Ethry and Lind were disturbed. His harmony had not hurt a Fiend construct?

That was not their experience but then the aura was clear to all. A grade 8 ward?!

Lind glanced at the 2 artifacts in his claws and swiftly infused them with his Qi. He launched them at the dome.

Unlike his attack, the 2 artifacts reacted instantly. Heaven and Earth rumbled and returned to the skies.

Black clouds filled the air and all felt the terror of a Heavenly Wrath. Yet, Lind felt a chill go down his spine.

[Everyone run! Get out of here!] His instincts were screaming at him before 2 massive wings appeared as the dome collapsed.

A heavily scarred dragon exuding vile Qi far above all of the Immortals terrified the group floating. Only then did they heed Lind's call.

It was too late.

A beam of Fiend Qi slashed outward and any it struck shriveled to dust.

"What is that?" Ethry screamed as they flew away. Tearing through space failed but unlike the dragons they left behind, all the others could fly away.

[A Divine Fiend! I do not know how but they turned a thrall into a true Divine Fiend in a dragon's body!] It was a new technique as it was not a thrall obeying commands but a Fiend actually in control without sacrificing the body to manifest their power!

The sky continued to rumble but it was now confused. So long as the Divine being did not exert itself too far, they were all going to see death on a scale few could understand.

"Can you stop it?" Lind shook his head immediately.

[This is not a soul nor a pure Fiend. My advantages are few to none] His sinuous body cut through the air but he then stopped suddenly. The air shimmered with an all too familiar draconic aura.

"Those bastards sealed us in!" Even in death, the peak Sovereign Tiers betrayed them to their true masters.

{My Ancestor demands your life, Lind Frey. Become sustenance for our Lord.} A voice that grated on his soul pierced his brain.

[Old news, anything new to tell me?] He responded with sarcasm. Ethry was trying to find a way out but a Divine Fiend was not going to be so easy to escape. The rumble above drew his attention but now it felt like a trap.

Trying to escape towards the sky seemed to make sense but it was too easy. He also noted the massive dragon had not moved.

Whatever process it had been going through was clearly interrupted.

More dragons were reduced to dust as the Fiend was clearly enjoying itself to the limit it could reach.

{Your frivolous nature is known to us. You and your family will sustain our Great Lord as he rules over all soon.] Lind felt blood flow from his ears at that moment. His harmony purged the lingering effects.

His mind raced with possibilities but nothing came to him. A Divine Fiend was simply beyond him!

Ethry suddenly tugged on his arm. He looked down and saw her smiling up at him.

"There may be a way, Lind." Hope bloomed and he beckoned for her to speak as he quickly began to engrave wards to buy them time.