Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1707 - 1706 - Miracle

Lind was desperately trying to control the reaction he was feeling but it was like trying to suppress a waterfall at the source and he was an ant. He had no chance at all!

The screams were cut short and then he was engulfed in emerald light. He did not see any visions or even a glimpse of whatever version of himself had briefly appeared, but he suddenly did feel echoes of his soul.

They were not the same echoes, but familiar. It was like seeing yourself in slowly distorting mirrors. It started with nearly perfect and then became so out of whack it was just a blob to his perception.

Still, he was panicked about Earth. What would that power do to the planet?

Divine Qi, no matter how little, would wipe the entirety of the solar system from existence! It would not even last a millisecond!

Lind quickly stopped resisting the power and tried to control it. He failed.

He was not an ant, he was a mote of dust! It was like facing the Bastard when he was back in the Heaven Realm. The feeling of total helplessness as he could do absolutely nothing as Lanbao sacrificed her life for his own.

Nothing could be slowed, deflected, or even changed. His existence had meant nothing at that moment beyond being an observer.

Now, he was buried in emerald light that was both familiar and alien to him. It was only now that he grasped what Karu must have been feeling.

He was an entirely different being from his other selves. Their harmonies were nothing alike at all!

The echoes of his soul were just that too, echoes. There was nothing left to them but the fact they still existed was odd. Shouldn't they have been refined by the Bastard long ago?

Lind pushed that thought away as he simply tried the last thing he could. His Mysteries.

He only had 1 Earth Mystery but his complete Heaven Layer and all 3 Apprentice Tier layers lit up now that he had access. He fused his harmony to them and focused on a single thought.

The emerald light around him returned to his command and he became a seed. He infected the storm around him as quickly as he could. There was an intent behind it but it was focused on something far more powerful than he could cope with.

His vision finally began to clear enough to see Earth was cracking like an egg as he looked on! It was too late!

He could not save it! Even if he was able to tame the power and put it back, Earth was already dead! Anger rose in him but it was directed solely at himself.

"How stupid were we?! We thought we would shoulder the price but we came from Earth and thought it would escape any consequences?!" His rage focused his desire. He had seen a world ravaged not just by him but by the Bastard too.

A concept came to him that had a massive risk yet he felt something respond in the storm around him. He did not fully understand but it resonated with his desire.

The flames flew up around the Earth but now streams of energy were quickly connecting in space around it and contained the damage to start. Then sigils unlike anything he had ever seen appeared.

Blood burst from his orifices. He did not care. Pain was an old friend long ago and Lind felt his Mysteries strain as he looked at the planet about to disintegrate in front of him.

Some part of him knew if it happened, it would be beyond his ability to save it.

The sigils were quickly connected and the destruction stopped. The plumes of flame finally began to disperse but the energy was put to use! Reality was being reshaped!

To be specific, he saw a timeline that had been destroyed by his actions being restored! It still existed!

He did not grasp how or why he knew, but he allowed the storm to carry the load for him. Earth went from a ravaged and barely alive world to the modern 21st century when he died.

It was still in peril. Climate failure, power mad men and women, with idiotic corporate culture burning the life out of it all, yet there was more hope than ever before.

He also slammed his harmony down the newly restored Fiend array. The female FIend was burned out of existence before she knew what happened!

Lind had a little power left but he dared not do more. He was about to simply give up when a prompt appeared.

{Trial complete. Evaluation will Proceed. Notice to True Lord Lind Frey: Do you wish to see her?}

Lind narrowed his eyes but accepted before there was even a clear thought. His body vanished from space and appeared as a spectre over a house he now remembered clearly.

It was a bit rundown but had always been a comfort. His Mom never moved after his Dad died and he left for college.

He had told her she should but she always wanted a nice amount of space to welcome him anytime he stopped by. She also may have hinted room for grandchildren heavily at times too.

Tears filled his eyes at the simple blacktop driveway and small garage separated from the 2 story house. It was a bit full of stuff from their lives on the walls, but he saw her smiling as she whipped up some meal on the electric stove.

The small windows on the back of the house looked in and he noticed a new picture on the wall.

It was his most recent picture from when George dragged him to that weird bar that was full of science fiction stuff and staff dressed in costumes in the middle of July!

He was clearly drunk but annoyed! Why was that the final photo?! Was that the final photo?

Lind was not sure but he saw a rather expensive car pull up and a familiar large man with balding hair pop out. Shockingly, a very good looking middle aged dark skinned woman with 2 kids piled out too!

George got married?!

He had kids?! Why was he at his house?!

"Come on! I can smell the cinnamon rolls from here!" George bellowed and the kids zoomed to the dark wooden door at the back of the house.

They just marched in but that was his Mom's way when company was coming. He felt tears at his eyes as his mother laughed and hugged the family that arrived.

[George, you bastard. You really took my place!] There was no venom in his mind. It was purely happiness.

Oddly, George paused at the door and looked right at Lind in confusion. He then looked around before his wife called for him and he closed the door behind him. He saw George wave at his photo as he hugged Lind's former mother.

[Worth it.] Lind knew what was coming. There were no freebies in the world. As if his thought triggered it, pain lanced his body as he tumbled into golden light now.

He slammed into something but no bones broke and no further blood was ripped from him. He felt as weak as a kitten before 2 familiar figures appeared in front of him.

He smiled at the Twins.

"So, how are things?" His nonchalant words belied his current state.

Younger Twin did not seem able to speak as he looked to his brother. Older Twin pinched his nose before crouching down to Lind's face.

"The trial was just to find the cause and resolve the infection across the planet. Saving the redacted timeline should not have been possible. When I made this with the help of other Divine Lords to help increase their numbers, the vague guidelines had been bad enough, but you almost broke the thing!" Older Twin's dark hair seemed to come alive with his temper.

Lind shrugged but that movement cost him.

"I could not stop it, so I could only take advantage. What did I do, actually?" The pair looked at him as if he was ver dim.

"You know exactly what you did. You tapped into a realm you should not have been able to. Did it not occur to you that you might have released him?" Lind blanched before slowly shaking his head.

"I took what was invading, not what was focused on whatever that fog is. Thanks for letting me see my old Mom and my friend." His words made both men freeze.

Lind quickly realized they had no idea what he was talking about. He relayed what happened but both men became grim.

"Lind, that is not possible. The artifact does not have that kind of power. It would not be able to let you stay in the world after you restored it." He took that in before a slow smile spread on his face.

"The other me seems to have felt a little guilty, it seems." All 3 understood but dared not mention it. Heaven and Earth could be prickly about interference. They were back under its purview now.

Lind then felt his body finally start to recover. He had lost a LOT of vitality. It was like he had used his Authority over and over again. His lifespan had once been billions of years and now he could feel a lethargy settle over him.

He understood now why Divine Realm cultivators would choose to fade if the current sensation got far worse!

"It seems I won the battle but may lose the war. Sorry I wasted the time of the artifact on me." Lind had achieved a lot but so far as the purpose of his visit, he had failed. He went to stand up when a new screen appeared in front of him.

{Trial evaluation complete. Only 2 candidates have passed all criteria at the minimum threshold. One candidate passed above middle qualification. Finally, 1 candidate qualified for maximum reward.}

Lind saw there were 15 candidates originally. Save 1, almost 8 more died at his hands.

That was brutal. He noticed no names or species were released. It was all anonymous.

He sighed and was about to bow when a familiar black ring returned to his right hand.

{Candidate Lind Frey: You are a Divine Lord. Further: Access to the Heart of Mysteries granted.}