[Vol. 7] Chapter 110: The Sea That Burns the Starry Sky
“[Dragon Emperor's Ring]…? What’s that?”
Hearing the conversation between the two, Lenka couldn’t help but ask curiously. However, the moment she spoke, the golden-haired girl shot her a sharp glare, making her shrink back pitifully and poke her fingers together.
“Fine, fine… If you don’t want to say, you don’t have to… No need to be so mean about it…” she mumbled.
Suppressing the emotions that had been stirred up by Lucine’s words, Xiao Guang turned her attention back to the girl sitting cross-legged on the altar. Despite looking about the same age as them, this elegantly dressed loli carried herself with a level of composure and maturity that felt far beyond her years. Xiao Guang frowned slightly.
“How much do you actually know?”
Lucine simply smiled and shook her head.
“Relax, little one. Like I said, I’m not your enemy. In fact, I can offer you the help and protection you need the most right now. Of course… before that, we need to deal with the situation at hand first.”
“So this is your condition for cooperation?”
Seeing that Xiao Guang was still on high alert, completely unwilling to trust her, even the vampire princess’s patience was starting to wear thin.
“If thinking of it that way makes you feel better, then sure, consider it a deal.”
Lucine’s voice remained calm as she continued, “Little dragon, and you too, Lenka, help me clean up the mess that Timos Young left behind, and I will give you exactly what you need the most right now. How about it?”
Xiao Guang fell silent for a moment, considering the offer. Then, she tilted her head slightly, glancing toward the tree line beyond the ritual site before nodding.
“Fine. But let’s be clear. I can’t break through this barrier right now.”
Lucine nodded back with a smile.
“Naturally. This thing was created by temporarily summoning a fragment of the God of Subversion and Paradox's authority at the cost of countless sacrifices. It is real divine power. Unless you are a god who also controls the laws of the world or possess a divine artifact, no living creature can break through it by brute force alone, not even a dragon."
She glanced at Xiao Guang and added meaningfully, "And especially not a hatchling."
"Back to the main point. I infiltrated this place alone to stop Timos Young from summoning a creation of a certain Foolish God and expanding the [Eternal Night Forest]."
"Although your unexpected arrival has already disrupted his plans, that cunning old man had a backup move. Instead, he trapped me here and is now trying to use the divine power of this place to transform me into a servant of his master, the God of Subversion and Paradox. You could say I'm in quite a dire situation~"
The vampire princess, despite her loli appearance, pretended to wipe away nonexistent tears, trying to look weak and helpless. However, all she got in return was a blank stare from Lenka, who clearly didn’t understand much, and an eye-roll from the dragon girl.
"Cut the nonsense and get to the point."
"Heh, you're quite impatient, little dragon. Aren't you supposed to be a White Dragon of the Light attribute? Why do you act just as hotheaded as those dumb Red Dragons…?"
"Fine, fine~" Lucine finally continued, her expression turning more serious.
"This ritual magic is called [Reversed Eternal Night Sky]. The principle behind it is to create a Shadow Realm modeled after the God of Subversion and Paradox's divine realm, extract large amounts of 'Reversal' law from the souls of living beings, and then inject it into untainted children, transforming them into vessels capable of holding the power of divine creations."
Her dark red eyes gleamed with focus as she explained.
"Timos Young initiated this ritual here so that, once the summoning succeeds, he could easily open a rift in the [Eternal Night Forest], allowing its influence to spread further. His goal is to replace and merge it with the real world, turning it into a true shadow divine realm. This would greatly aid the God of Subversion and Paradox in gathering more power to interfere with the physical world."
"The God of Subversion and Paradox is an erratic, chaotic-side deity who disregards the well-being of normal life forms to achieve its goals. If we let it succeed, several provinces in the southeastern region of the Austre Empire will be swallowed by the Shadow Realm, leading to unimaginable disasters."
"That's why I rushed here as soon as I got word, to stop that bastard. Right now, I’ve used myself as an anchor, replacing the ‘Saint’ originally required for the ritual. This has sealed off as much of the God of Subversion and Paradox's power as possible, making it harder for it to descend into this world."
"But… a god is not something I can truly fight against. The God of Subversion and Paradox has already taken notice of this place and is trying to use its authority to forcibly make me one of its followers. These shadow beasts you see? They're just its pawns, sent down to interfere."
"Little dragon, I need you to find all the nodes of the Shadow Realm and destroy them. Only by cutting off the God of Subversion and Paradox's influence over this space can we truly put an end to this event."
As she spoke, the vampire princess once again smiled.
"Sounds simple enough, right? Timos Young has already fled, so there shouldn’t be anything in this space that can threaten. Wait, what are you doing?"
Before Lucine could finish assigning the task, she and Lenka watched in shock as the golden-haired girl walked straight toward the altar.
She pressed her small hand against the glowing force field surrounding the altar, and in an instant, brilliant golden flames erupted from her palm. The fire spread rapidly, like a spark igniting dry wood, expanding outward, surging into the sky, and shooting straight toward the heavens, toward the very source of the light pillar!
Then came the dragon girl’s calm but resolute voice.
"That's too complicated. Your method, in the final analysis, is simply to drive that so-called God of Paradox back, but compared to destroying our side's interface, there's a much simpler and more direct method... isn't there?"
As an ancient vampire princess, Lucine had lived for countless years and understood immediately what the little dragon meant. Her deep red eyes widened in shock.
"Wait… you're not actually planning to fight the God of Subversion and Paradox head-on, are you?! That’s insane! Even a fully grown dragon can’t directly contend with a true god!
"Even if you have the [Dragon Emperor's Ring], you’re still just a young dragon! You can’t even break through the divine spells it’s already cast, STOP!"
There was real urgency in Lucine’s voice now, but the dragon girl ignored her completely and continued what she was doing.
The golden flames rushed skyward at an alarming speed, illuminating the night as if they were about to set the entire sky ablaze!
Somewhere beyond the heavens…
Beyond the world where the true God resides, even though Its true form was blocked by the world's barriers, and even though only Its divine consciousness and power were projected here, coming into direct contact with It this way was no different from facing a god head-on.
Against a true deity, even a dragon, even in just a single exchange—
"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!"
The moment the golden flames reached the sky, the reversed constellations in the night ignited one by one. This wasn’t the real starry sky but rather a reflection created by the god’s power, one of Its many constructs.
And now, this meant their powers had truly collided.
"WOOOM——!!!!"
In the next instant, a vast and overwhelming shadow rose from beyond the distant horizon, consuming everything in its path. Its form was impossible to define, beyond description, an existence so massive that even the reflected stars and the moon itself were swallowed whole.
The True Form of the [God of Subversion and Paradox].
Faced with a living being attempting to challenge the gods, the God of Subversion's power instantly crashed down like a giant hammer. The golden flames that had risen into the sky rapidly contracted back as if being rewound, and were even reversed into a distinct kind of gray flame, rushing down the light pillar straight toward the little dragon girl who had extended her single hand!
"Ugh...!"
The sheer pressure of a true deity’s power was unimaginable, yet the golden-haired girl only clenched her teeth and pressed her other hand forward as well. Brilliant golden flames erupted from her body, flaring wildly as she poured everything she had into resisting the encroaching gray fire.
Even though she still couldn’t completely stop the god’s power from pressing down, she had successfully slowed its advance.
Anyone could see how this battle would end. No one knew what the little dragon was thinking. The moment she made contact with the divine power, her presence had been locked onto. Even if she let go now, the devastating attack would still strike her without fail.
Yet in the depths of her golden slit pupils, there was no trace of fear. Only a faint, enigmatic smile.
She wasn’t the only one who was trapped now.