Eternal Emerald Dragon

Chapter 1727 - 1726 - Seclusion

Lind saw the dragons soar into the sky faster than anything he could ever create. As the final flap of wings faded into the distance, the old woman slowly turned back.

She looked so frail and Lind became sad as he understood what was about to happen.

"I have endured to keep this place safe. I have killed so many of those bastards but they never stopped coming." The lack of Fiends on the Northern Continent had assumed to be due to the environment but it was actually the being before him.

Divine Authority.

Only a supremely long lived race like the black shelled tortoise could burn vitality like that for so long.

"I am so tired." She stumbled but Lind caught her. She looked up at him and smiled gently. "You need a place to grow strong with more time. I have such a place. Go to the center of the continent and you will find it. Once I am gone, it will need a new master."

He said nothing but nodded. He then flew upward with her. Karu and Qing would be fine for a short time without him.

The clouds gave way as he carried the old woman far above the restrictions. He felt a resistance but he did not care.

[I bring a defender of an entire continent. She has given all she had and I would not let that be forgotten at the end.] The resistance vanished.

The blue sky began to fade as darkness replaced it. It was not space but a boundary he approached.

The old woman smiled in wonder as her far superior senses saw far more than he could.

She looked at him then in awe.

[You have suffered so much to get this far. This old woman has not done so much.] Lind smiled at her and looked down at the massive ice covered Northern Continent.

He let his body become a dragon once more while gently holding her in his claws. He waved his tail at the now small land mass below.

[You kept that Bastard at bay. You bought us precious time which no one else could. He is not infallible and he is not unstoppable. You proved that.] His words gave her a giggle but then she became weak.

The desire to live was gone but a shaft of light descended.

{We will take her. It may not save her, but she has endured her duty far beyond what was required of her.}

The chorus of voices surprised him with how gentle they sounded but he gave her body up to them. Surprise crossed her face before she smiled down at him.

[Do not give up, Divine Lord Lind Frey. Never give up.] He bowed low with his massive head until she vanished. He was about to leave when his massive body was frozen in place.

{You have shortened the time you had left. Why?} It seemed the higher realms were not happy with him but he sneered up at them.

[You would have me sacrifice all worlds to buy more time? If I did that, he would be stronger. He is already bad enough but waiting would only make it worse. I will cut off all his sustenance and kill him now, before it is too late!]

Lind realized his other selves must have missed that fact. The Bastard was a Master Tier but his requirements were massive to advance. All life had to die for the pathetic creature to take the next step.

If they had cut off his hidden attempt to consume the lower worlds, it would have been possible they could have won the first time!

Whether they could be the Eternal Realm was a different question but a complete defeat of the current incarnation had still never occurred.

He felt certain he had to pull that off or history would just repeat itself. He had struck a blow and now he had sent out armies from one continent to wipe out the various Fiend forces isolated in the Divine Lands.

They had to strike now before the Bastard could rebuild his network to them!

The ships he had built had one purpose. To kill Fiends enmasse!

{Do you truly think you can win?} The chorus spoke as if actually hopeful but he did not sugarcoat his chances.

[I am confident of killing the Bastard here, but for the next realm–I do not know.] There was a long silence before he was released.

He flew down with no further contact. He went directly to where the old woman had told him. The heart of the Northern Continent was just a pure ice field with strong winds. He settled on the ice and let his aura spread out.

His ship was far to the north and there were very few beasts left above the Heaven Realm.

It took a week to find what she had been talking about. A slight shimmer in the air finally caught his attention and he applied his Divine Authority to it.

Space tore open and he froze at what he saw.

A massive stone temple sprawled over a massive area with the 4 Divine Guardian Beasts at each corner. A dragon, phoenix, white tiger, and black shelled tortoise stood as massive statues.

He flew in and the aperture snapped shut. He instantly felt powerful arrays activate and time slowed outside. Centuries inside would be only days outside!

Had she made it?! He doubted it. It felt old, impossibly old. He saw 4 gates but 3 were sealed to him.

Only the dragon gate responded to his aura as the western style dragon statue loomed over it on a wall of dark gray stone. There was no sun or moon in the blue sky inside the sealed space.

There was no sign of plant life at all either too so that made sense but the temple had roman style pillars on the outside supporting a closed pointed roof. Yet, he could not see inside at all.

He approached the dragon gate and saw an inscription.

{Forged in blood and hope.}

{Woven in desire and dreams.}

{Time sleeps and space abides our will.}

{Divine Blood finds a path forward.}

Lind stared at it before sighing. They could have just said 4 Divine beasts worked together to make a place their descendants could advance in peace.

He let his aura flare and the gate actually vanished! There was no grinding of stone on stone nor the slow opening of the massive entrance. It was just gone!

He flew in and found a place any dragon would enjoy. Massive mountains with all elemental powers present. He also could sense powerful Daos as well as Mystery energy abundant everywhere.

It was a good place to enter seclusion without wasting time.

He wanted to hope he could reach the Master Tier but he doubted it.

He needed to focus and grasp the opportunity as he flew deeper into the powerful mountain range. He did not detect any other living beings but he also felt like he was being watched.

He found a good place and settled down as he contemplated his next Mystery. He could only hope it would not take too long!

⬧⬧⬧⬧

The Emerald Fleet it was called. Ships moved across the Western Lament and the Southern Continent like a wave of freedom.

Emerald beam weapons as well as arrays brought ruin to various Fiend strongholds. The once horrifying forces of the ash gray race were not only turned back, but wiped out! Thralls and other artifacts were just as susceptible to the attacks as the Fiends themselves!

Fused races flooded the broken Western Lament and freed many races captured by Fiend forces. A golden monkey True Lord joined with them wielding a red staff of legend.

The Southern Continent was suddenly flooded with demon fox tribes from the Void Ocean as well as krakens and leviathans!

Those 2 races had never come ashore in living memory but now they arrived in droves! Their forces were shocking to behold and the Fiends suffered horrendous losses!

The Eastern Continent was about to explode forth to reinforce the losing Fiend powers when ice dragons, wyverns, and other powerful races descended on them! There were no safe places at all!

The Immortal and Divine realm cultivators were a boon wherever they went. The Great One was still not heard from but there was no doubt he had to be frustrated.

The Harmonic Dragons and Lind Frey's forces were not stingy as they allied with them to compound the losses for the Fiends!

The once advancing menace was reduced to a few isolated pockets. Still, it reached a limit before the emerald batteries ran out. Once those were gone, they had only the powerful potential of the ships and their numbers to keep the Fiends locked down.

The campaign was clear to all and even those forces prone to isolate and fend for themselves felt it. The time to act was now or never! If they held back after such clear victories, they would be labeled traitors at worst, or simple opportunists at best.

Regardless, the once vicious Divine Lands became unified for the first time in living memory and all swore fealty to Lind Frey!

The man in question had no idea but he had done all he could. He had to focus on his own strength to bring the final victory and that was all he could do.

Another century passed before the Bastard finally surfaced.