Chapter 1185: The Devil Shadow Dragoons
A Devil Shadow Dragoon?!
Xia Fei was puzzled after hearing the name, so he asked, “Devil Shadow Dragoon? What is that? Is there a purpose for you all to go to the effort of creating the Collapsed Expanse of Founders, involving millions of warriors?”
Soza shook his head, “I wouldn’t go so far to say that. The Collapsed Expanse of Founders is an even higher level universe that inspects the potential and strength of lower-level warriors. As for this tower of ours, it is nothing more than just a very small portion of The Collapsed Expanse of Founders. Since its inception, you’re only the fourth person that has made it through the Devil Shadow Dragon Tower.”
Xia Fei did not really understand what was being said, so he continued along his line of questioning, “What happens after you make it through? Others have gone to other places to grab treasures and martial techniques, but you s.n.a.t.c.hed me to this place and made me undergo a series of crazy trials. How is that fair?”
Soza smiled. Xia Fei could tell that it took quite the effort to smile, but his blue face lit up with a strange smile nonetheless.
“There are a total of nine universes in existence. One of them has sealed an ultimate creature, called Dragon,” Soza explained softly.
Xia Fei was startled. The Evil Dragon was something Xia Fei had already learned about, and he was also aware that it was the most powerful of the Three Supreme Evil Beasts. It was a monster that claimed to stand at the top of the biological food chain, an existence that superseded everything else.
Unfortunately, everything Xia Fei had heard along the way had just been rumors. Perhaps it was because Xia Fei was not yet at a sufficient level, so he had never been able to hear any more information regarding the Devil Dragon.
But now that Soza had mentioned the Dragon, Xia Fei instantly had plenty of thoughts. Without a doubt, this mysterious and distant creature was ultimately a threat to everything in known existence!
Swoos.h.!.+ Soza swung his arm grandly, and pulled out a star map.
…
There were five stars on the bottom of the star map that were in a formation together, then two stars above, and they were all linked.
Soza pointed to the map and said, “Look here. Every star represents a universe. The five below that are connected to each other are called the Lower Five Stars. The Alpha Universe you reside in is one of these important nodes. Through Alpha, you’re able to enter a higher plane, the Gemini Stars, which refer to the two stars above. I’m from the left, the one s.h.i.+ning brightly. It’s called the Annihilation Universe. The dim star next to it represents the Dragon Valley where the Evil Dragon resides, also known as the Dragon Universe.”
Xia Fei was startled after hearing Soza’s words, “The legendary Evil Dragon is in the Dragon Valley?! You’re actually so close to Dragon Valley?!”
Soza folded his hands behind his back and nodded, “That’s right! The Annihilation Universe is the closest to the Evil Dragon, and is just a legend where you’re from. There are countless ruins and ancient battlefields that the Evil Dragon left behind in the Annihilation Universe, as well as the descendants of those war G.o.ds from the ancient past.”
Xia Fei shook his head in disbelief, “That’s too outrageous! You previously said that there are a total of nine universes in existence, and there are only five depicted here on your star map! I have no idea what the rules are for the sequence of universes, but your universe seem to be the only one that has a direct connection to the Dragon Valley, which also means that if the Evil Dragon were to ever to emerge once more, it will be the Annihilation Universe between the Gemini stars that would be the first to suffer!
...
“Meanwhile, the Annihilation Universe has countless paths that lead to the plane below, so if the warriors of the Annihilation Universe fail to fend off the Evil Dragon, catastrophe will soon descend upon the Alpha Universe, and my old home of the Law Realm!”
Soza looked at Xia Fei with grim satisfaction and nodded slightly, “That’s right! Annihilation is the first line of defense against the Dragon Valley, and it is the only one, as well! We have a very heavy responsibility.
“As for the Universal sequence, because of how much time has pa.s.sed, it is already impossible to calculate. No one can figure out just why those super experts that were victorious over the Evil Dragon back then arranged it like this, or whether the structure is something completely beyond their control.”
Xia Fei lit a cigarette. This conversation he had was very stimulating. This was the first time Xia Fei had learned where the terminal point of existence was. He’d had no idea it was actually so close!
There were many paths from the Annihilation Universe, all leading to the Lower Five Stars. They had always been completely exposed to the Evil Dragon’s firepower from the very beginning! As long as it could break past that first and last line of defense, then there was nothing else to stop its rampage!
“Then what about the final two universes?” Xia Fei asked again. Whether it was the Triclopean Fiend Race’s legacy, or Soza’s description, both had verified that there were only nine Universes in existence, so Xia Fei was very curious about the two universes that were not shown anywhere on the star map.
Shaking his head, Soza answered in a solemn tone, “We lost contact with the other two universes eons ago. No one has any idea if they still exist.”
The situation was becoming more and more mystifying. Xia Fei recalled the Cosmic Gate he went through when entering The Collapsed Expanse of Founders, and how there was an image of five connected stars on it. Xia Fei had originally thought it was five connected planets, but to think it signified the five universes, each of them inextricably connected to each other through the Cosmic Gate!
Rubbing his chin with one hand, Xia Fei suddenly burst into laughter.
“What are you laughing for?” Soza asked curiously.
“Of course I’m laughing! At the very least, I’ve now learned the entire structure of existence! Thinking back to when I first set foot off Earth, I had believed that the Alliance was a grand and encompa.s.sing domain. Honestly, even I am quite surprised to find myself to have reached the point that I am currently standing at right now,” Xia Fei replied as he reminisced.
“I’m not at all surprised. Given your extreme personality, I doubt you’ve ever suffered a loss,” Soza said, shaking his head. This Blue Blood warrior from the Gemini Stars felt a great headache when he considered Xia Fei’s personality. Sly to a fault, and brutal to boot! It was as if every extreme element could be found in him!
“I’ve suffered some losses here and there, but not much. Most of the time, it is those who provoke me who end up losing out,” Xia Fei replied, not in the least bit humble. “Oh right, I almost forgot if you hadn’t mentioned it. What is the Fiend Race you speak of? And the Devil Shadow Dragoons?”
Soza lifted his head up to look toward the skies and frowned. “I’d have told you even if you had not taken the initiative to ask. A very, very long time ago, sapient lifeforms all worked together and stood up against the Evil Dragon. Back then, the Fiend Race was one such affiliate, and they shared the same battle-lines as the Hero Alliance. They were comrades, completely equal.
“The Hero Alliance was very strong. Humanity had a balance of warriors with both wisdom and strength. Blue Bloods had outstanding energy users, Fiends were the most cunning and unusual hunters, and there were countless other sapient lifeforms of every shape and size. Everyone worked together, and while we were no match for the Evil Dragon alone, we were able to emerge victorious because of our numbers.
“After countless years of extended fighting, the Evil Dragons’ weakness in fecundity gradually had them at the disadvantage, and so the Hero Alliance began to make preparations for the ultimate battle, all in an effort to completely eradicate the Evil Dragon!
“The battle started at dawn. The Hero Alliance split into two groups, with humanity taking charge of the main force, while we Blue Bloods acted as the reinforcements to the main force. The other group was led by the master strategists, the Fiends. They were in charge of the encirclement.
“That battle was an unprecedented fight of calamitous proportions! The Hero Alliance was so named because it comprised the strongest warriors from the various life forms. No, every single one who had the qualifications to see this fight could be called war G.o.ds, each and every one of them!”
At this point, Soza was getting animated. It was almost as if that ancient battle was happening right before his eyes. Meanwhile, Xia Fei realized that the battle situation Soza described was similar to the memory the Three-eyed Fiend war G.o.d had left, so it appeared everything was true.
Countless war G.o.ds were killed every second, and while it was grueling and tough, every one held an immense pa.s.sion and hope inside them. That was because each and every one of them firmly believed that the most maverick battle tactician of the Fiends would come in swinging at the most crucial moment! He would then lead the entire Alliance to their ultimate victory!”
“Alas, the war G.o.ds did not end up hanging on for the Fiends to arrive, but were all met with disaster! It turned out that the Evil Dragons also had warriors waiting in ambush, and it was a black, super-ma.s.sive dragon that no one had ever seen before in their entire lives! Right at that point was when it suddenly dawned on the war G.o.ds of the Hero Alliance that they had been betrayed by the Fiends!”
The Fiends were not only outstanding warriors and strategists, but they also possessed a fiendish personality that the average being could not comprehend. They were at times crazy, at times crafty. No one could make sense just what those people were thinking, and the Hero Alliance should not have trusted them in the first place!
Taking a silent drag of smoke, Xia Fei asked, “So the Fiends were actually that powerful, huh?”
Soza nodded, “Powerful and immoral. Finally, as the number of men on the Hero Alliance’s side dwindled and they were left with no other choice, they could only resort to the most extreme method, paying the price with their lives in the process. They severed the universe, and sealed the Evil Dragons beyond the battlefield.
“Because the Fiends were traitors, the entire Hero Alliance was wiped out! The price they paid was insurmountable, and most importantly, after all the super-experts had died, they still failed to completely vanquish the Evil Dragons. All they did was seal them in the seventh universe. There will come a day when we will have to face off against the most evil beings across these Universes, while the super experts that could fend them off are no more, any longer.”
With that, Soza’s expression revealed a hint of misery and sadness. After all, he was someone from the Annihilation Universe, and was aware of what had actually happened. What he was feeling was only normal.
“So what about the Devil Shadow Dragoons?” Xia Fei asked again.
Soza coughed and perked up, “There were several squads who made up the main force for the Hero Alliance back in the day, and they all shared the ‘Dragoon’ name. For example, the human squad are called the Holy Light Dragoons, and we Blue Bloods are called the Destiny Dragoons. Meanwhile, the Devil Shadow Dragoon was the original designation for the Fiends.”
Xia Fei was shocked, “The Fiends’ designation?! The Hero Alliance were betrayed by the Fiends, so all of you ought to hate them deeply. Why would you still keep their name alive?!”
Soza chuckled bitterly, “Of course we hate them to the core, but no one could deny that the Fiends were the greatest strategists and tacticians among all sapient lifeforms. Without the Fiends, it’s hard to imagine just how we could have faced off against the brutal and savage Evil Dragons.
“As such, people thought of a solution, which was to pick out the mavericks of all the different sapient life forms, and let them take on the codename of the Devil Shadow Dragoons. Unfortunately, the various sapient lifeforms have all kinds of talents, but how many true mavericks are there? The Devil Shadow Dragon Tower’s secret has been hidden in the Collapsed Expanse of Founders for such a long time, and you’re only the fourth that has fulfilled its criteria!”
Xia Fei was left speechless after hearing everything Soza had told him. After all that, Soza and his people had gone through all this trouble all for the sake of letting him, a human, take over the vacancy left by the Fiends?!