"God King." King Ghidorah's telepathic voice sounded, with a casual tone that said, "My ears almost get calluses when I hear this name." "I hear this name often."
He paused, and the three heads raised up at the same time, looking at the seven lowered heads of Dragon Ancestor.
Dragon Ancestor stood in front of him with a respectful attitude.
But King Ghidorah knew what Old Dragon was thinking - it was probably wondering if it was going to be sent to do something troublesome again.
"I remember," King Ghidorah's telepathy slowed down, and the distance between each word was longer than usual, "You are looking at him."
Dragon Ancestor's seven heads lifted up at the same time.
"Yes, my dear king." Dragon Ancestor's seven voices sounded at the same time, "God King... has always been under my care."
King Ghidorah nodded. "So how is he doing now? Is he still honest?"
"Quiet, he has always been quiet..."
World Abyss.
This is far from the surface.
Only by passing through layers of rock formations, through the space barriers reinforced by ancient magic, and through layer after layer of barriers jointly set up by Dragons and Administrator can we reach here.
And when you arrive here, you will find that this is not the "abyss" you imagined.
There is light here.
It's like a faint light seeping out from the space itself.
The sky - if it can be called the sky here - is dark gray, cloudless and starless.
The height of the dome is so high that the giant dragons flying in the air look like just a few moving black dots.
The earth is gray-black, and the surface is covered with a layer of fine gravel that looks like it has been repeatedly crushed. There are small cracks between the gravel, and a pale golden light shines through the cracks, as if the earth itself is glowing.
The magic is very strong.
However, compared to the times long ago, the magic here has become increasingly thinner.
At the entrance to the abyss, that is, the entrance to the teleportation array, an ancient dragon with a length of more than a hundred meters lay there.
Its body is dark brown, with large scales, each one as big as a tabletop. The edges are worn, and the surface is covered with fine scratches and scars.
Its tail is coiled around its body, with bifurcated tail tips, and each bifurcated end has a curved bone spur. The tips of the bone spurs shine dimly in the pale golden light.
"Guardian Dragon"--Woodles.
Woodles was lying on the ground, with his head resting on his front paws and his eyes half closed.
It's not asleep -- as Guardian Dragon, it never really sleeps.
It's just "resting".
It's thinking about something in its mind.
Just now, Master Dragon Ancestor went out.
"It's a bit strange." Woodles muttered in his heart.
Its voice is very low, so low that only it can hear it. It has become accustomed to talking to itself.
It thought for a moment, Dragon Ancestor-sama stood at the door of the teleportation array for a while, then came back, and now he went out again.
Woodles I don't understand what Master Dragon Ancestor is thinking.
But that's not what it needs to understand. Its job is just to "guard this entrance."
Don't let things that shouldn't go in, don't let things that shouldn't come out, and other things have nothing to do with it.
Then it felt it.
The surrounding magic is vibrating.
It came from the depths of World Abyss, passing through those ancient barriers and seals.
Woodles opened his eyes.
Look into the depths of the abyss. That direction is where the suppressed ancient beings are.
"Tsk... here we go again..."
"Hey, take care of them." Woodles's telepathy was transmitted deeper into the abyss, to the young and energetic Dragonss who were patrolling.
Then Woodles rested his head on his front paws again and half-closed his eyes again.
It's not worried. Those guys have been causing trouble for so many years, and no "person" has ever managed to escape. This time will be no exception.
The inside of World Abyss is another world.
Rays of light like the sun shone down, illuminating the entire land.
Those rays of light shine on those ancient, chain-wrapped mountain peaks, and on the ground covered with magic crystals.
Several giant dragons flew across the sky, and the sound of flapping wings echoed in the empty space, once, again, and again.
Their body size is much smaller than Woodles, and their scales reflect different colors in different lights.
They are the new generation Dragons who were born, raised and trained in World Abyss after the end of the Age of Gods.
They have never seen the world on the surface, they only know this place - this abyss covered by a rune dome, where countless ancient dangerous beings are imprisoned by chains and runes.
After that ancient war ended, Dragon Ancestor led Dragons and signed a contract with Administrator.
Dragons will always stay in World Abyss, helping to manage the ancient dangerous beings imprisoned here - guarding them, suppressing them, and ensuring that they never escape.
In exchange, Administrator will leave behind Dragons and provide energy for Dragons to maintain their survival and reproduction. This contract has lasted for an unknown number of epochs.
"I don't know what's going on lately," Blue Dragon said, his voice echoing in the empty space. "I always feel that some powerful presence seems to appear on the ground and then suddenly disappear."
Its wings flapped, its body turned in the air, and flew towards another mountain peak.
"It's okay," the dark red dragon answered, with a casual "don't worry" tone.
"As long as Dragon Ancestor and Administrator are here, nothing will happen."
The blue dragon didn't refute. Of course they knew Dragon Ancestor's strength.
The Dragon Ancestor, who has lived for who knows how many epochs, is one of the most powerful existences in this world.
In the Age of Gods, Dragon Ancestor stood at the apex of all dragons; after Twilight of the Gods, Dragon Ancestor became the only and unshakable pillar of Dragons.
As long as Dragon Ancestor is still here, there will be no big problems in this world.
The dragons flew over one mountain after another. The shapes of the mountain peaks were different, some were as sharp as swords, and some were like twisted spirals.
But their surfaces all have a common feature - they are covered with runes and chains.
Those runes are ancient, lost words, and every stroke and every stroke contains powerful sealing power.
Those chains were dark gold in color, and their surface was covered with fine vein-like veins.
The blue dragon looked in another direction.
In that direction, in the deepest part of the dome, in the darkness that cannot be illuminated by light, there is a mountain several times higher than all the other mountains.
That is not a natural "mountain", but a "object of suppression" made up of countless runes, chains, and sealing techniques.
Chains extend from the bottom of the mountain, digging into the earth, into the rock formations, and deeper into the abyss, fixing the mountain to the entire world.
There is the place where God King is suppressed.
Lan Long spoke, his voice lower than before.
"God King... once single-handedly suppressed the powerful man of that age of gods. The victor of that war - at least, he was victorious for a short time."
It paused for a moment and recalled the stories it heard from the elders, "He is very powerful, so powerful that even those old guys couldn't help but sigh - he is obviously not ancient, nor is he a powerful race, but he has a power that is comparable to Dragon Ancestor."
"Well, although it's incredible, but..." the gray-white dragon continued.
"It is said that this God King was not born that strong. In the beginning, he was no different from the current humans."
"How is that possible?" the dark red dragon's voice almost shouted, with an obvious disbelief.
"I can kill countless mortal objects with one hand. Even the legendary mortal objects - the so-called 'strongest among human beings' are just bigger ants in front of me."
"Well, I heard Master Dragon Ancestor say this before."
The blue dragon's voice did not change because of the dark red dragon's doubts, "It is said that this God King has the power to lead to other worlds.
And then through this ability, it continues to become stronger. He has many systems from different worlds - collected from different worlds and then fused together."
It paused and said, "Ultimately, He reached Twelfth Tier."
The dark red dragon fell silent.
Twelfth Tier--that is the same level as Dragon Ancestor, and even has a special name after it..."God King Domain".
"Is that the thing called 'World Travel'?" the gray-white dragon asked in a low voice.
"Really? Really?" Blue Dragon's answer was uncertain, "I only heard about it. The only people who have actually seen 'World Travel' are probably Lord Dragon Ancestor and those ancient beings who have lived from the age of gods to the present."
Just as he said that, the runes lit up and the chains rang in the vibration.
"It's okay, don't worry about it." The dark red dragon said casually, "It's happened so many times."
Blue Dragon nodded.
Indeed, ever since they were assigned to patrol this area, the mountain has never stopped shaking.
Sometimes it lasts for several days, sometimes it just rings once and then stops.
Then--
Click, click.
A subtle sound, like the sound of metal breaking, came from the depths of the mountain.
The blue dragon's flight paused.
Its wings stopped flapping, and its body slid in the air for a while, then turned its head and looked in the direction of the mountain.
"... Is there any sound?"
The dark red dragon also stopped. "Is there any?" It listened for a moment, then shook its head, "I didn't hear it."
The gray-white dragon also shook his head. "I didn't hear that."
The blue dragon was silent and listened again.
Click, click...
"It's okay." The dark red dragon spoke again, with a more casual tone than before, "What can happen? It's been so many epochs, and everything is fine. How can anything happen when we are here?"
It turned around and flew towards the next mountain peak. "It's gone, the patrol is not over yet."
Blue Dragon looked at the mountain for a while.
The sound was still there, but none of its teammates heard it. Maybe it heard it wrong?
Maybe it's the normal sound produced by the runes in operation?
The blue dragon turned around and followed his teammates.
In a hollow in the mountains.
There is no light, no air, no matter that can be sensed.
There are only chains - those dark golden chains as thick as tree trunks, extending from all directions and converging at the deepest part of the mountain, forming a spherical cage woven with chains.
The surface of the cage is covered with dense runes, and the color of those runes is constantly changing - from dark gold to dark red, from dark red to dark purple - like a slow, never-stop breathing cycle.
In the center of the cage, there is a person sitting.
He was wearing a dark golden robe. The fabric of the robe looked very soft. In the darkness without any light, the robe seemed to emit a weak dark golden light.
His hair is dark brown, very long, hanging down to his shoulders, and the ends of his hair are gently fluttering in the breeze of the chain.
His eyes are closed.
He looks just like a human being.
In fact, he is a person - at least in terms of "origin", he is.
God King, Serta.
He sat there for who knows how many epochs.
From the moment the age of the gods ended,
His perception does not need to rely on his eyes - he can "see" every rune on the chain, and he can "see" the giant dragons flying past the mountains.
Can "see" the ancient dragon lying at the door of the teleportation array, as well as the major events happening on the surface that affect the fate of the entire world...
He opened his eyes.
"How many years has it been..."
He calculated the time in his mind - by "the number of generations of the dragons that flew over the mountains."
He remembered the earliest dragons, the ancient Old Dragon clan who had followed Dragon Ancestor in the age of gods. They were very strong, strong enough to fight him a few times in his heyday. But they were dead.
Not because of the battle, but because of "time".
Even giant dragons cannot escape the erosion of time. Their scales will darken, their heartbeats will become slower and slower, and then stop.
Then new dragons are born, and then they grow old, and then they die. Generation after generation...
The time has come.
His perception passed through the chains, through the runes, through the mountains, through those ancient strata covered by magic crystals, and reached the surface.
He saw a lot.
Storms, lightning, destroyed cities, the burning earth, a golden beast with three heads, a black beast with a dorsal fin glowing blue...
Oh, interesting.
The corners of his mouth curved slightly.
A micro-expression like "I saw something interesting." His perception touched something... a completely unfamiliar existence that he had never seen before.
Not of this world.
His dark golden eyes narrowed slightly.
He knows because he was once "a person who does not belong to this world."
In that ancient era, which was still called the "Age of Gods", he stepped from an ordinary human to the position of "God King".
He traveled through different worlds through "World Travel", collected different power systems, continuously strengthened himself, and finally reached Twelfth Tier.
He almost won, almost became the sole ruler of this world.
Then he lost.
He lost to the unprecedented existence that emerged from the sea and that he had never seen before.
The Administrator of the world. The guy with the head of a sea dragon and the body of an octopus, huddled in the depths of Endless Ocean, whose name he didn't know until he was imprisoned.
Apekus.
When he was about to finish dealing with War of the Gods - when his magic had defeated the will of all those who resisted, when his name of "God King" had made all creatures in the world tremble - that thing appeared from the sea.
He showed up, defeated him, and locked him up here.
Before that, he had learned about similar existences in different worlds - those existences called "World Administrator", which maintained the balance of the world and had power beyond the upper limit of the world.
He thought he was ready.
But when you really face it, you can understand how strong that guy is. Most of the spells, martial arts, enchantments he collected from other worlds are useless in front of that thing.
So he has been imprisoned until now.
And the guy knows what he's capable of.
So he was assigned to World Abyss, a place lacking in energy and far away from the rules of the world, and specially designed to prevent him from escaping.
Those chains, runes and seals - were used to "sever the connection between him and the world".
This makes him unable to perceive enough world rules to cast "World Travel".
Apekus, are you afraid that I will run away?
Serta's mouth curved again.
"Ah... I actually got into this," his lips finally moved, and his voice was hoarse, with a helplessness that said "I have laughed at myself countless times."
"I'm really sorry... senior time traveler from before."