Chapter 255: New Start: Part 1
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Very few had seen the true form of a Shadow Dragon. For an apex being that lived within the shadows, its existence itself was a miracle.
And Yinan was now witnessing that miracle with his own eyes. His body froze as strands of black smoke started appearing all over his body. That was the signifier of his life force leaving him.
The Shadow Dragon was naturally born with the ability to consume the shadows, and the Shadow Dragonking was even more so equipped with the ability to drag a living being straight into the shadows.
Yinan’s dark powers roiled as he tried to break the hold. But no matter what he did, that powerful binding power held him in place.
“I… I can’t die here!!!”
*Ahhhhhh!!!*
Within his mind, layers upon layers of thin dark light shattered. The black light seemed to be like a gate to a tunnel, and beyond it was a vast, endless emerald ocean.
The waters were roiling as ten-meter-tall waves were being kicked up. Within the waves, a ma.s.sive black-green monster appeared as it turned into a shadow and charged toward the entrance.
*Roarrrrr!!*
An ethereal salamander appeared out of nowhere behind Yinan as it lowered its head and let out a furious roar at the Night Lord.
That instantly broke the binding and Yinan finally regained control of his body.
“Wha…?! What was that?!” His eyes were bloodshot red as he had not realized what had happened.
The moment he felt something was not right, and thankfully things had suddenly changed. Without any recourse, he had broken the gate to the ocean and materialized the spirit salamander from the Eventide.
Before he could drop a command, however, the spirit salamander, Herakles had appeared on its own volition, roaring as it protected its host.
The Night Lord had suddenly changed too. The dark shadow that had grabbed his leg was still trying to clamber upward.
*Hiss!!!* Streaks upon streaks of black lightning blasted out as the two powers collided.
The ma.s.sive amount of dark powers within the Palatinate roiled wildly and fought against the shadow in a battle of attrition. At the same time, the Eventide too had provided him with a continuous supply of dark powers, yet his Astral Projection ability was creaking under pressure.
That was the sound of it being crushed between two powerful forces.
Instinctively, Yinan took two steps back as he was about to use his dagger to cut the shadow off his body. But the variable that he had not thought would happen, happened.
*Crash!!*
The silver screen of the Astral Projection finally shattered.
“Sh*t!”
His iris shrank as he was about to dart out of the screen to pull some distance.
But he was still one step too slow.
A ma.s.sive shadow of the dragon appeared beneath him. And the shadow was getting larger and closer by the moment.
Yinan let out a menacing expression as spasms ran through his entire body, and slapped both of his hands together.
“You want to kill me?! Then, you shall die with me!!!”
A bright, crystalline light blasted out from his chest.
Within the light was an ellipsoidal tapestry with all sorts of patterns on it.
“Astral Projection: The Empyrean Tapestry!”
And in that instant, the light exploded like the sun.
The tapestry disintegrated alongside the explosion, its boundaries suddenly expanded as it tried to swallow everything within the area into it.
The pebbles on the ground, the street lamps, the mist within the air, and even half a block of an apartment nearby… Everything was being distorted, shrank and quickly swallowed into the tapestry.
However, the light and the edge of the tapestry simply just stopped before the Night Lord. Countless of dark, menacing dragon scales had appeared on his body as countless of black smoke burnt like flames. A pair of curved dragon horns formed out of smoke extended from the top of his head backward until the center of his back.
The tapestry’s edge clashed against the sea of black smoke beneath his legs, and could not advance.
Even Khadula’s ma.s.sive human face had disappeared, and what was left was a white-haired girl laying within the Night Lord’s arms.
The clash of powers sent out powerful gales, and the resulting wind sent their clothes fluttering.
A moment later, the tapestry in the air disappeared and Yinan fell onto one knee onto the ground.
He looked viciously at the Night Lord, but just as he opened his mouth, a gush of fresh blood spat out of it.
“Very well… it’s my mistake this time… just you wait…
“Ughh!!!”
A diagonal wound suddenly blasted out in his chest. A wound almost half a meter long suddenly ran through his entire body. And blood spat out like a fountain.
“Let’s go!”
Yinan staggered as he summoned a ray of green light that engulfed the nearby Reinier as he crushed something in his other hand.
With a crack, countless of snow-like marks appeared around them as a pure white pillar-like screen appeared from the ground up and covered them within it.
“We will meet again… The Night Lord, eh… Soon… Soon…”
“Ugh!”
He suddenly spat out another mouthful of blood as swarms of black smoke appeared all over him. That was the effect of being under the Dragonking’s Gaze, resulting in the loss of life force at regular intervals.
With a hiss, the two light pillars disappeared as Yinan and Reinier went along with it.
And calm soon returned to the area.
The people from the Bloodgrave had long run away after things got out of hand.
All that was left were craters and a ruined battlefield.
The night wind was chilly as it kicked up a slight cloud of dust.
The Night Lord stood motionlessly.
“Brother…” Khadula called out weakly as the Night Lord’s ma.s.sive frame fell backward and slammed hard onto the ground.
…
On the black lake’s surface.
Lin Sheng quietly looked at the Night Lord who entered the place once again.
He had not planned to let the Night Lord out… but when Khadula appeared, that made him realize that he actually cared about something.
It was almost comical that he had grown attached to a split soul of his own.
But that was what had happened.
“He’s strong…” The Night Lord stood on the surface on the lake and smiled slightly. “My apologies, I could not hold him back.”
“That’s more than enough,” Lin Sheng said. “It was my fault. If I had not been greedy about using your body, this would not have happened.
“I don’t blame you, but it’s just too bad.” The Night Lord’s body became ethereal as black particles were released from his body toward the sky.
“What’s too bad?” Lin Sheng asked.
“It’s too bad that…” The Night Lord opened up as if he was about to say something, but he stopped as he looked at Lin Sheng.
“Forget it. Smooth… sailing…”
He smiled one last time as his body disintegrated and turned into countless black particles that flew into the sky.