Chapter Summaries

Garos defeated Lamorien in their long-delayed duel, then rejected Tiamat’s offer and destroyed the weakened body she formed to seize him. The chapter ended with Garos victorious, though his campaign and the wider conflict remained underway.

• Garos and Lamorien fought across the sky and coastline, with Lamorien’s growing thunderstorm power initially putting Garos at a disadvantage.
• Lamorien transformed into a colossal Weather Life, but Garos used his Shining Form to seize and break his tail, then repeatedly pierced his body until he collapsed.
• Garos offered Lamorien the choice of loyalty or death, and killed him when Lamorien refused.
• Tiamat contacted Garos and tried to tempt him into accepting her as Mother, then revealed a body formed from her power to drag him into Hell.
• Garos revealed that his weakness had been an act, activated Second Shining, and destroyed Tiamat’s five-headed body before returning to the sea.

Garos wiped out nearly all the Evil Dragon Guards, declared that the Helmode Dragons must revere him as emperor, and secured their allegiance. As his Second Shining faded, he returned to his safe zone, leaving Aura’s forces and the converted Helmode Dragons to handle the aftermath.

• Garos left after destroying the Storm Dragon’s incarnation, while Xia’er fought a nearly unkillable Evil Dragon Guard near a Temple.
• Garos streaked across the battlefield and destroyed the Evil Dragon Guards in an instant, gathering their blood mist into a trail behind him.
• Garos ordered the survivors to worship no deity and revere him as their emperor.
• Alvia and Terragon submitted to Garos, and the other Helmode Dragons followed; Garos then ordered them to destroy the Temples they had built.
• Garos told Sorog and Gordon to oversee the aftermath, then entered a rift and returned to his safe zone as Second Shining faded.

After killing Lamorien, Garos recovered in the Wave-Subduing Dragon Realm and told Nereus he was willing to make peace with Sheffield if they could work together. In Avernus, Tiamat turned her fury at Garos into a new scheme and began treating him as a worthy opponent in a game she expected to win.

• Garos arrived weakened at the Cold Sacred Spring, where Nereus learned he had killed Lamorien and heard him threaten Sheffield if the Bronze Dragon King returned to Atlant.
• Nereus warned Garos that Sheffield’s hostility came from past betrayal and urged him to avoid a deadly conflict; Garos said he would make peace if Sheffield could put aside his prejudices.
• Garos submerged himself in the spring to recover while exaggerated accounts of his battle with Lamorien and Tiamat spread through Atlant, earning him the title Blasphemer.
• In her Divine Kingdom, Tiamat relived Garos’s humiliation of her avatar and rejected plans to attack him directly because of the risks and Bahamut’s watchfulness.
• Tiamat decided to approach a Demon Lord who wanted Bernardo and raised her attention toward Garos, declaring that their game had only just begun.

In Verdant Gardens, Garos watched Vera perform as the Red Emperor, shared an affectionate moment with Deborah, and later returned to the Fae, whose attention helped soothe him. After Vera decorated his scales and secretly dusted his nostrils, Garos left for Bernardo to regroup, while Vera looked forward to copying his new form.

• Vera performed a play in which she portrayed the Red Emperor defeating Evil Dragon Guards, while Garos watched with Deborah.
• Garos told Deborah that he would eventually silence the gods, and she admitted that she liked his overbearing confidence before Nasha teased them and Garos carried her after the fleeing Deborah.
• After a month away, Garos returned to Verdant Gardens, where the Fae welcomed him and enthusiastically polished his scales as he rested.
• Garos woke to find Vera had painted narcissus patterns on his scales, sneezed out a cloud of dust, and listened as Vera denied putting it in his nostrils.
• Vera studied Garos's new form, and he opened a rift and departed for Bernardo to regroup.

Claude’s post-escape emptiness led him to seek out Garos, where he discovered that he wanted recognition and belonging more than freedom alone. He pledged himself as Garos’s vicious hound, while Garos continued preparing Aura for future threats.

• Claude hunted a sea monster but remained empty despite eating, then abandoned his plan to attack an Elf fleet after hearing the Elves praise Red Emperor Pale Star.
• Claude realized that hearing about Garos’s achievements had filled him with pride, and he returned to Atlant instead of seeking slaughter.
• Garos named his new mutation the Hyperflash Overlord Form and decided to train in it rather than risk another mutation, while planning to strengthen it before reaching Destiny Rank.
• Sorog reported that Aura had taken control of the Western States and dispersed most of the Helmode Dragon Brood, then warned Garos that enemies might attack during his next slumber.
• Claude reached Red Emperor Royal City in jackal form and confronted Garos, demanding an end to the emptiness that freedom had not cured.
• Claude pledged the loyalty and strength of a Destiny Dragon to Garos in exchange for recognition and belonging, and Garos welcomed him as Aura’s vicious hound.

Garos secretly recruited Claude, the Destiny Chromium Dragon, as a hidden ally and ordered him to live disguised in the Red Emperor Royal City until he was needed. Years passed as Aura expanded its influence, new developments reshaped the wider world, and Garos grew into an old dragon by New Calendar Year 643.

• Claude pledged loyalty to Garos, and Garos brought him to a lake of Black Oil, which Claude learned to enjoy after Garos praised him for drinking it.
• Garos ordered Claude to obey Aura’s laws and conceal his true identity; Claude transformed into an ordinary gnoll and was placed in the Red Emperor Royal City.
• Claude was mistaken for a weak newcomer by Aura’s gnolls, carried to a training ground, and gradually blended into the city while secretly observing it.
• In New Calendar Year 598, the Bronze Dragon King learned of events involving the Red Emperor but returned to the Abyssal Front without attacking Aura, aiming to reach the Immortal Realm first.
• By New Calendar Year 603, Garos discovered that his mutated traits could be inherited after Deborah gave birth to an Emperor’s Child with Silver Dragon blood.
• By New Calendar Year 643, Aura had prospered under Garos while Holden held the skies, and Garos had grown into an old dragon.

Garos prepared to sleep on the Lain Plateau, expecting to reach Destiny Rank when he awoke. After swallowing the Tear of Immortality, he entered his deep slumber, while Seroel came to guard him and promised to remain by his side in the Dream World.

• Garos surveyed the Ser Wilderness and reflected on how he had grown from a young dragon into Aura’s Red Emperor.
• Garos told Sorog, Samantha, and Gordon that his next sleep was near and that he expected to reach Destiny Rank, while Sorog warned that enemies might target him during it.
• Garos decided to sleep early within Aura’s borders on the Lain Plateau rather than seek refuge in the Wave-Subduing Dragon Realm.
• Garos visited the Fey Wilds and the Silver Dragon King, then entered his prepared Dragon Lair and swallowed the Tear of Immortality.
• Garos met Seroel in her Dream World, where she said she would sleep alongside him there and travel to Atlant to guard his physical body.
• Four years later, Garos succumbed to drowsiness, and the Tear of Immortality began merging with his body as his deep slumber started.

Holden’s emperor, Fafweil, approved a plan to unleash demons on the Aura Kingdom and disrupt the slumber in which the Red Emperor, Garos Ignas, was expected to reach Destiny Rank. Meanwhile, Kantum’s Saints sought divine permission to attack him, while Nausir’s queen weighed whether to send aid.

• Holden’s Fatecaster predicted that Garos Ignas would reach Destiny Rank after his slumber and could rival an Immortal One in Fate Weight, though not initially in strength.
• Fafweil rejected an open attack on the Aura Kingdom and approved sacrificing a Floating City to unleash demons near Lain Plateau and interrupt Garos’s slumber.
• At the Kantum Empire’s encampment, the Red Tide Saint and Gnawbone Saint prayed to Bagchu for authority to take vengeance on Garos.
• Talamond asked Yise Zeya for permission to support the sleeping Red Emperor, and she promised to send him if circumstances allowed while considering Nausir’s interests.

Claude lived peacefully as a Gnoll in Aura until the falling Holden Floating City unleashed an Abyssal invasion, forcing him to reveal his identity as the Destiny Chromium Dragon and defend Red Emperor Royal City. After Aura defeated the Archdemons, the Silver Dragon King contacted Odhos about the coming danger, and an unseen force moved through time toward the sleeping Red Iron Dragon.

• Claude spent a quiet winter day with Holly and reflected that his former identity and appetite for battle still lingered beneath his ordinary Gnoll life.
• Sorog, Gordon, and Samantha suspected Holden's drifting Floating City threatened Red Emperor Royal City, so Aura blocked its path and gathered Legends and troops.
• The Floating City broke apart in a blizzard, and its Abyss-tainted wreckage opened a Rift from which Demons and three Archdemons emerged.
• Aura's Legends trapped two Archdemons, while a third flew toward Red Emperor Royal City and attacked the terrified residents.
• Claude transformed into a Chromium Dragon, swallowed the Archdemon's Destruction Orb, and helped defeat the invaders and seal the Rift without awakening the Red Emperor.
• Nereus asked Odhos to leave the Radiant Dragon Realm, but he declined to act directly, and an invisible force flowed through time toward the sleeping Red Iron Dragon.

After more than thirty years of sleep, Garos awoke to face Gnawbone Saint, who had crossed the sea to avenge Cantum’s defeat. Garos drew on Aura’s faith, became a towering divine being, and killed Gnawbone Saint before his sudden transformation ended.

• Iseramathus sensed that faith in Garos had spread across Aura and wondered whether Garos would accept the power it offered.
• Over the following years, Nausir drove Cantum from Orotara, the Bronze Dragon King disappeared into the Abyss, and the Red Emperor remained asleep as Aura grew into an empire.
• Red Tide Saint sent Gnawbone Saint to Atlant to kill Garos and avenge the destruction of Bagchu’s avatar.
• Gnawbone Saint attacked Garos at the Lain Plateau, but Garos emerged from his sleep and fought him while recovering from his weakened condition.
• Garos invoked Aura’s people and gathered their faith, transforming into a thousand-meter divine dragon and killing Gnawbone Saint with one claw.
• Garos declared himself Aura’s Lord of Victory and Glory, then shrank back to his ordinary form as his divine radiance faded.

After killing Gnawbone Saint, Garos rejected relying on faith-fueled Ascension to Godhood until he could control its influence, while deciding to proclaim Aura an empire. As he recovered and examined his new traits, he discovered that a crystalline anchor stabilized his transformations and supported his battle adaptations.

• Samantha and Gordon celebrated Garos's victory, but Sorog warned that faith had dangerous effects; Garos explained how it nearly overwhelmed his will and decided not to use Ascension to Godhood unless absolutely necessary.
• Garos ordered his relatives to remind him if faith altered his decisions, and told Gordon to make clear that he was Aura's emperor rather than its god.
• Garos asked about his accelerated awakening and realized that someone might have affected his perception of time, possibly Gold Dragon King Odhos; he planned to investigate in the Radiant Dragon Realm.
• Garos agreed to hold a feast and invite Atlant's rulers, announcing that Aura would become the Sacred Aura Empire, Bernardo's first Dragon Empire.
• Garos replenished himself in the Dragon Court treasury and examined his new Giant Slayer, Dragon Succubus, Mutant Body, and Battle Dragon traits.
• Garos discovered a layered crystalline anchor beneath his scales that stored his mutant forms, stabilized his transformations, and recorded the damage needed for Adaptive Evolution.

After Garos rejected Godhood and revealed the Sacred Aura Empire, Holden and Nausir sent envoys to congratulate him, but Garos rejected Holden’s offer of alliance and demanded it answer for bringing Demons to Atlant. The empire’s founding was celebrated across Aura, while the Red Tide Saint received Bagchu’s command to prepare for the god’s descent.

• News spread that the Red Emperor had ascended to Godhood, and Fafweil convened Holden’s Destiny Ranks to discuss the threat.
• Dark Star revealed that Garos had rejected Godhood and chosen the Immortal Path, but Fafweil still ordered Marcus to prepare an envoy mission.
• The Red Tide Saint prayed to Bagchu and received an oracle commanding Kantum’s Orcs to sacrifice their lives and souls to summon the god.
• The Elf Queen sent Talamond to Atlant to congratulate Garos, while Aura celebrated its founding as the Sacred Aura Empire.
• Marcus apologized for Holden’s Floating City and offered an alliance, but Garos accused Holden of bringing the Demons and refused cooperation until it took responsibility.
• Garos accepted Talamond’s thanks, and celebrations spread throughout the new empire.

Garos rejected Nausir’s invitation to join the war against Holden and investigated the Purification Potion that Nausir was using against the Fury Curse. He discovered that the potion only suppressed the Frenzied Flame while creating new Mutation Power, and suspected that the Calamity of Rage was about to worsen.

• Garos told Talamond that he intended to bring Holden down, and Sorog said Aura needed legendary fighters more than supplies.
• Talamond offered Nausir’s material support but said Nausir could not send troops because it was still recovering from its war with Cantum and fighting the Rage Calamity.
• Talamond gave Garos twelve Purification Potions and explained that Nausir had developed them using meteorites, which were now exhausted.
• Garos asked Seroel about the potions, and she confirmed that infected Dragonkin and followers had seemingly recovered after taking them.
• Garos tested a potion and found that it made the Frenzied Flame dormant but also generated new Mutation Power, leading him to warn Seroel to keep the treated infected isolated.
• Garos concluded that the apparent calm in Orotara could precede a greater disaster and recognized that he might have to protect others himself.

Talamond returned from clearing a Rage Beast nest and learned that the Aura Emperor had warned Nausir that its widely used Purification Potion might be dangerous. Yise Zeya chose to continue using it while investigating, and Garos later visited the Radiant Dragon Realm, where Kalwus agreed to show him around.

• Talamond led twelve Legendary Elven knights in clearing a Rage Beast nest, and the team took Purification Potions afterward to guard against the Fury Curse.
• Talamond reported the successful mission to Yise Zeya, who told him that the Aura Emperor had warned of hidden dangers in the Purification Potion.
• Talamond and Yise Zeya agreed to keep using the potion during the Rage Calamity while scholars investigated its effects and long-term users underwent regular examinations.
• Kalwus recalled losing to Garos in a Dragon Realm Championship and told two young dragons that Garos and the Gold Dragon King were both examples for the Dragon Race.
• Garos arrived at the Radiant Dragon Realm, greeted Kalwus with respect, and invited him to visit Aura for another match.
• Kalwus accepted Garos's invitation and agreed to show him around the Radiant Dragon Realm.

Odhos stopped time in the Radiant Dragon Realm library to examine Garos, but Garos’s Adaptive Evolution let him resist the freeze and confront the Gold Dragon King. Odhos praised Garos’s strength and unusual progress, while Garos challenged his habit of touching others while time was stopped.

• Odhos sensed Garos’s arrival and prepared to meet him, while Garos and Kalwus discussed the Sacred Aura Empire and ways for young dragons from the Dragon Realms to exchange with Dragons of Aura.
• Odhos froze time throughout the library and studied Garos, noting his rise to Destiny Rank and the cost of his accelerated growth.
• Odhos examined Garos’s powerful humanoid body and reached to poke his chest.
• Garos’s chest glowed and ring-shaped scales spread across his body, allowing him to move despite the stopped time.
• Odhos praised Garos for resisting the time freeze, and Garos remarked that the Gold Dragon King’s habit of poking people was unusual.

Odhos brought Garos to his hidden, time-slowed refuge and explained his obsession with studying alternate timelines. After discussing Garos’s unusual age and time resistance, Odhos received Garos’s ring-shaped scales for research, and Garos returned to the Dragon's Rest Corridor before leaving for Atlant.

• Odhos transported Garos from Dragon's Rest Corridor to his void refuge, where time flowed ten times more slowly than in the outside world.
• Odhos explained that he used the refuge to prolong his life and study time, convinced that countless alternate timelines were real and could eventually be explored.
• Garos learned that the time experiments had pushed his actual age beyond six hundred years, placing him within the range of a Venerable Dragon, and asked whether Odhos could create a space where time flowed faster.
• Odhos asked for Garos’s unusual ring-shaped scales to study, and Garos gave him the remaining scales in return for Odhos’s help and the chance to experience time’s power again.
• Garos returned to the library, reassured Kalwus that Odhos was ancient, wise, mysterious, powerful, and noble, then left the Radiant Dragon Realm for Atlant.

Asalia, the Hellfire Lord, planned to conquer Bernardo and rise to the rank of a Glorious Immortal, but his invasion of Atlant had stalled. An Archdemon Dragon Demon arrived with an offer from the Evil Dragon Lord: an unguarded Abyssal Rift on Bernardo in exchange for the Red Emperor Pale Star, leaving Asalia to weigh the deal.

• Asalia recalled how he had secretly grown powerful, killed his former lord, and claimed the throne of Sulfur Land.
• Asalia resolved to drag Bernardo into the Abyss and considered other invasion routes because his campaign in Atlant had reached a stalemate.
• A Vulture Demon announced that an Archdemon Dragon Demon from the Plain of a Thousand Abysses had requested an audience.
• The Dragon Demon said it carried a proposal from the Evil Dragon Lord and offered Asalia access to an enormous, unguarded Abyssal Rift on Bernardo.
• The Dragon Demon demanded the Red Emperor Pale Star in return, and Asalia considered the risks and benefits without giving his answer.

Garos considered Holden’s Platinum Star and Aura’s lack of a comparable national weapon, then assigned Alvia to bring the shallow seas under Sacred Aura’s control while forbidding an advance into the Raging Tide Dragon Realm’s deep-sea territory. After discovering that his growing power threatened to destroy the Small World, he returned to Bernardo and flew toward space to test his strength there.

• Garos assessed Holden’s Immortal Ones and legendary Platinum Star, comparing its strategic power with Aura’s reliance on him as its national weapon.
• Alvia thanked Garos for accepting the surviving Helmode Dragons and proposed expanding Sacred Aura into the Boiling Sea after the Bronze Dragon King’s disappearance.
• Garos ordered Alvia to take control of the shallow seas, sea routes, islands, harbors, and dependent sea races, but barred her from entering the Raging Tide Dragon Realm’s deep-sea core without his orders.
• Garos tested his power in the Small World, but his Dragon Aura Bombs devastated the land and revealed that the space could not withstand his strength.
• Garos tore open a rift, returned to Bernardo, and flew toward space.

Garos left Bernardo to train in an asteroid belt, using its rocks and the radiation of deep space to strengthen his body and test Ashen Annihilation Form. After sensing a watcher and catching him, Garos met Lionel, a Moon Dragon from Bernardo’s Moon Planet, who said he had followed out of curiosity.

• Garos flew beyond Bernardo and reached an asteroid belt where he practiced Sky-Rending Form by smashing through asteroids, hardening his scales and body.
• Garos shifted into Ashen Annihilation Form and absorbed stellar energy while enduring damage from radiation and high-energy particles.
• Garos sensed a watcher, used Sky-Rending Form to ambush him, and found that his target could turn insubstantial and escape his grasp.
• Garos recognized the watcher as a half-black, half-white Moon Dragon who introduced himself as Lionel.
• Lionel told Garos that he lived on Bernardo’s Moon Planet, had watched him for centuries, and had followed him because he was curious about his training in space.

Garos followed Lionel to a White Dwarf and used its hundred-thousandfold gravity to train, eventually escaping with a powerful leap. Lionel then warned that a calamity from beyond the stars was approaching Bernardo and urged Garos to flee.

• Lionel explained why he had stayed to speak with Garos and offered to guide him to extreme celestial bodies for training.
• Lionel led Garos through deep space to a White Dwarf, where Garos sent a Star-Self Clone ahead to test the surface.
• Garos landed on the White Dwarf, endured its crushing gravity, and trained by running and moving across its surface.
• Garos failed to escape the White Dwarf in Hyperflash Overlord Form but broke free using Azure Star Form and a single Flash.
• Garos left a Star-Self Clone as an anchor and asked Lionel about Neutron Stars and Black Holes.
• Lionel revealed that the stars had warned him of an approaching calamity beyond the starry sky and advised Garos to flee Bernardo.