Now that the insect had mutated into a terrifying monster, the child could no longer treat this as a game. He unleashed his full strength to kill the enemy before him.
A rain of fire fell, merging with the cage. An enormous, blazing sphere formed inside the hall, sealing Lu Mingfei within it.
The entire hall had ceased to exist. Only slowly melting ruins remained. Every trace of moisture had been scorched away, leaving nothing but pure radiant heat that warped the air and light.
The Dragon King stood amid this hellscape and turned around, apparently intending to retrieve his torn-off bone wings.
Suddenly, a figure glowing red all over burst through the lava. With his arms crossed over his head, Lu Mingfei slammed into the Dragon King again, tearing through his body with razor-sharp claws.
Ye Sheng and Jude Jiqu huddled inside a hollow chamber. They had followed the passable routes forward, only to encounter some terrifying creature. Ye Sheng had detected it in advance through Word Spirit: Serpent and led Jude Jiqu into a chamber with a narrow entrance. There was plenty of oxygen inside, but the frightening creature kept swimming around outside, blocking their escape.
Ye Sheng tried to contact Mans through his "serpents," but some terrifying consciousness within the city made them go berserk before they could travel far.
It was not hard to guess that this was the Dragon King.
Yet the fearsome creature seated upon the dragons' throne seemed to be raging and terrified. In the last messages his serpents sent back before losing contact, Ye Sheng thought he heard furious roars and howls of pain.
A thought occurred to him that he scarcely dared entertain. Could Lu Mingfei actually be beating the Dragon King senseless?
Even thinking of the junior who was normally quiet and reserved, yet whose terrifying Golden Eyes lit up at crucial moments, Ye Sheng still could not believe he had driven the Dragon King to such a state. Had he used that sword called Red Skies? Norton was a master of metal and flame. The gun attached to his diving suit? It only held ordinary bullets. Surely he had not used his fists?
He stopped dwelling on it and continued using his serpents to probe the enormous creature outside. His prolonged use of his Word Spirit had left him deathly pale, his body temperature dropping dangerously low.
Jude Jiqu sat behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist.
This time, Ye Sheng discovered something new. The creature outside suddenly grew restless, turning with impossible speed and at an impossible angle before rushing toward the depths of the Bronze City.
A trap?
Ye Sheng decided to venture out and take a look anyway. The sooner they escaped, the sooner they could return with reinforcements to save their junior. He had committed every new route the Bronze City had generated along their journey to memory, not daring to forget a single one.
Chapter 33: A sweet dream
The battle was nearing its end.
Lu Mingfei was drenched in blood. Enormous wounds exposing his bones and organs were slowly healing, but the Dragon King's poisonous blood impeded their recovery. He staggered to his feet and approached the fallen Dragon King.
The entire bronze hall had become a spherical cavern, its floor covered in red-hot bronze that had barely solidified.
The slender young Dragon King had nearly been snapped in half at the waist by Lu Mingfei. It was the fatal wound inflicted when they traded their final blows. The Dragon King clearly lacked skill in unarmed combat, while Lu Mingfei wielded his sharp claws like a vicious whirlwind that slipped through every opening.
"You won, brother." Lu Mingze walked beside Lu Mingfei.
His little black evening suit was spotless. Even its hems remained still in the violently convecting air.
Lu Mingfei said nothing. He could still hear the Dragon King's faint breathing, though more than half the air he inhaled leaked through the holes in his lungs.
He had to get closer and make sure he destroyed his heart, spine, and windpipe.
The descriptions of First-Generation Dragons in the Cassell College library were far too frightening: eternal beings that never died, only fell asleep again, awakening repeatedly since the age of myth and surviving to the present.
Even if Lu Mingze said this one was incomplete, he still had to be careful.
"Honestly, brother, you've exceeded my expectations by severely injuring Constantine in his abnormal state while possessing next to no authority."
"But you're almost spent yourself, aren't you? Even unleashing your power with the utmost 'will to slaughter,' that body can only go so far."
"Brother, killing him won't help. He's only a vessel for strength. His brother possesses wisdom. In a fight, he wouldn't use a freshly awakened human body to go head-to-head with you."
"Constantine's Dragon Servant is almost here. Can you still fight? That beast is fiercely loyal. After tearing you apart, he'll kill those two little mice scurrying around this city. The weapons aboard Cassell's ship won't even be enough to avenge you."
Lu Mingfei reached the Dragon King and finally answered the incessantly chattering Lu Mingze with displeasure. "Don't call people mice."
Lu Mingze sighed helplessly and crouched opposite him beside the remains of the Dragon King Constantine, resting his chin in both hands. "What's this? Teaching your little brother proper manners?"
"Listen, demon. Right now, I'm not interested in figuring out what you, this Constantine fellow, or that Nidhogg actually are. Your powers differ from those of the Ancient Dragons I know, and Hybrids don't resemble Drakes stripped of their scales and eternal life." Lu Mingfei's expression was calm as he knelt on one knee beside Constantine, looking as though he was about to gut a dead fish on a chopping board. "But those Hybrids evolved to the extreme-you call them Deadpools, right? Thriving bodies with dead souls. Those are precisely the sort of things I dislike. So be careful. If you're another flame of ambition driven by power, I won't mind snuffing you out."
"Brother, whatever you desire is naturally what I love. Together, we can accomplish anything!"
Lu Mingze stood, spread his arms, and delivered this rousing declaration.
Lu Mingfei did not want to bother with him. He reached out to dismantle Constantine, starting with his chest.
But his hand stopped in midair.
The Elden Lord narrowed his eyes. His first thought was that his eyes were playing tricks on him. Had Lu Mingze's nonsense inadvertently reminded him of the past again, causing him to hallucinate?
"Holy shit..." murmured Lu Mingfei, who had not lost his composure like this in a hundred years.
It was an incomplete ring bearing the blazing red image of a sword thrust into flames. The ring lay deep within Constantine's body and slowly emerged after Lu Mingfei touched him.
The existence behind this thing was beyond comparison with any power he had encountered since coming to this world of dragons.
Lu Mingze looked at Lu Mingfei. He had never seen such a grim, exhausted expression on his face. It was as though a storm of blood had suddenly swept toward him from behind Lu Mingfei. In that terrifying hell, even heavenly gods would have their wings burned to cinders and plummet into the abyss, while death offered only a brief respite from a wretched fate.
Lu Mingfei forced himself to calm down.
Without question, this thing did not belong in this world. Among all the documents at Cassell College describing the world's true nature, none had ever mentioned a "ring" symbolizing power itself. The Order of the Lands Between had been left by the Greater Will, an existence above the gods, and embodied in the Elden Ring. When it shattered, its fragments became Great Runes.
And now, a Great Rune lay inside Constantine's body.
"Have you seen Nidhogg?" Lu Mingfei asked. "He's the origin of dragonkind, but is there anything above him? Something you could describe as 'greater than all'?"
For a moment, Lu Mingze felt that the person before him was no longer a cold-faced yet friendly young killing machine, but some exalted being. His voice was gentle, yet brooked no question.
"'The Dragon Emperor Nidhogg is supreme in sovereignty, strength, and virtue, ruling the entire world through fate.' There might be beings equal to him, such as a new Black King. But something above him... God?" Lu Mingze frowned. He realized Lu Mingfei had seen something critically important, but he could not see it himself.
Lu Mingfei nodded. Judging that Lu Mingze was not lying, he let out a long breath and said quietly, "A civilization untouched by outside interference. How precious. This beautiful world is probably all that many of my old friends ever hoped for in their lives."
"Then let me tell you now, Lu Mingze." Lu Mingfei stared into his eyes. "The sweet dream is over. Something far more troublesome than Nidhogg has arrived."
Lu Mingze pondered this. "An enemy of yours, brother?"
Lu Mingfei shook his head and reached out to grasp the incomplete Great Rune. "Not exactly an enemy. I used to work for him."
Before Lu Mingze could make sense of those words, he was once again struck speechless. Thousands of years had passed. He had imagined that Lu Mingfei might change the course of fate this time, but never expected something truly beyond his expectations to appear.
Long ago, humans had walked the path to godhood, yet even approaching that magnificent form of life had been an extravagant hope. Later, the path to godhood was severed, and humans who advanced could only become monsters.
Now, right before his eyes, the authority upon the throne was stripped away by an inconceivable method-a touch of the hand.
Supreme power descended from above and poured into Lu Mingfei's body.
Yet Lu Mingfei's gaze remained so grave, as though this power could not ease his mind in the slightest. Flames and fragments of metal danced slowly around him, in celebration and submission alike.
"Constantine, was it? Do you know where his brother is? This is incomplete." Lu Mingfei extended a hand. A mass of terrifyingly concentrated heat appeared in his palm, like a miniature sun.
Having witnessed a miracle that should not exist, Lu Mingze was no longer surprised that he had mastered a "king's" authority in mere seconds.
Chapter 34: Constantine
Strange changes were taking place in Constantine's body.
Bone spurs, scales, bony protrusions, and claws withdrew into his body as his draconic transformation receded. Yet the body that should have been drained of blood was rapidly recovering. Flesh regenerated visibly, and newly grown muscles pulled displaced bones back into position.
Within moments, Constantine had become a peacefully sleeping boy again.
Lu Mingfei waved his hand. The blazing red walls, ceiling, and floor of the bronze hall rapidly cooled. All the heat gathered around Constantine, melting and reshaping the surrounding floor until it formed a cage.
He could sense that the Great Rune he had obtained was highly active, granting him access to its corresponding authority. Yet it did not feel like a true Great Rune. Instead, it maintained countless subtle connections to the unconscious Dragon King, resembling an incomplete Order nurtured through the Dragon King's body.
Dragonkind has four thrones. Could they represent four Great Runes? Does the Black King above the Four Great Monarchs correspond to a higher, central Order?
Lu Mingfei remembered Angers saying that one day, the Black King and the Four Great Monarchs would all awaken, and that Cassell College's goal was to search the world for the eggs in which those dragons slept.
With its worldwide Executive Department and powerful artificial intelligence extending its reach through cyberspace, Cassell College would be a formidable ally. His initial choice had probably been correct.
Whatever the truth of this world might be, as long as he continued climbing higher, the clouds would eventually part.
When Lu Mingfei activated Constantine's Great Rune, he could see the fire elements within his field of vision. They resembled a thin layer of flowing mist covering the surfaces of things.
An enormous being, rich in fire elements, was approaching the bronze hall at tremendous speed. It slammed into the cooled, solidified bronze with a heavy boom, like a cannonball striking a city wall.
Lu Mingfei happened to want to conduct an experiment. He raised his hand and lightly flicked his fingers. At his gesture, the bronze twisted with a teeth-grating screech, as though invisible hands had torn apart the mass of bronze weighing dozens of tons, opening a hole.
The creature outside swam in, dragging his enormous body behind him. He looked far more like a dragon than Constantine did, with a powerful, streamlined body resembling an enormous shark covered in dragon scales. His head, however, was unmistakably that of a dragon, and fury and grief flowed through his golden eyes.
He twisted his body, the jagged, rocklike ridge of his spine cracking along his back.
Dense fire elements gathered inside his mouth.
Lu Mingfei snapped his fingers, using a symbolic gesture and sound to convey the will of the authority's holder to the elements. The elemental power the monster had gathered immediately dispersed, transferring to Lu Mingfei's fingertip and becoming a fireball.
The monster possessed intelligence. He showed no fear, but uncertainty flickered in his eyes.
Lu Mingfei walked straight up to him.
When he had attempted to breathe fire, countless bronze spikes had surged from the floor beneath him, piercing the weak points in his scales and threading through flesh and muscle, even enclosing his heart. Now, beside that vigorous heart, several sharp bronze spikes writhed like little snakes flicking their tongues before striking.
Lu Mingfei pressed his hand against his head. The fearsome bone was harder than ordinary metal.
Nothing happened.
"Do I have to bring him to the brink of death before I can extract runes?" he muttered.
"Brother, are you experimenting?" Lu Mingze became a picture of curiosity, peering around the spot beneath Lu Mingfei's palm. "So runes are the power you came into contact with?"
Lu Mingfei was absorbed in his thoughts. He felt that the Great Runes appearing in this world differed from those in the Lands Between. They seemed to use the dragons' bodies directly as vessels and had yet to separate into independent existences.
Then could ordinary lesser dragons possess the power of runes bestowed upon them through the cycle of life? In the Lands Between, every living being could possess runes. In a sense, they were the power of life.
I'll have to take him apart and see.
As Lu Mingfei formed that thought, the body of this "lesser dragon," powerful enough to annihilate every force Cassell College had deployed on this mission, burst apart.
A dense mass of dark, greenish metal severed every connection between his tendons, bones, and muscles from within.
The dragon gave only a brief wail, for his brain and spine had been crushed at the same instant. Yet a faint golden light still pulsed in his lifeless eyes.
Lu Mingfei found nothing.
Apparently, only Dragon Kings possessed Great Runes. Ordinary dragons did not even have common runes he could plunder.
"Brother, he was only a servant. You won't find the sort of power Constantine possessed." Lu Mingze had guessed what he was thinking and offered an explanation.
"If Dragon Kings are so much stronger than humans, why don't they all awaken together, instead of waiting for humans to find them and defeat them one by one?" Lu Mingfei asked.
"Because that is fate." Lu Mingze sighed.
"What is fate?"
"That is fate." Lu Mingze shrugged.