Chapter 33: A Direction Already Chosen Long Ago 5200
In worlds where civilizations were not yet developed, ancient dragons were not seen as creators of all things, but rather as natural disasters.
The immense power of these primordial beings could cause volcanoes to erupt and the earth to tremble. With a single thought, they could summon lightning and storms, alter ocean currents, and churn the tides. The cities built by civilizations were as fragile as paper before them, easily razed to the ground.
But this did not mean that ancient dragons were born for destruction. It was simply because their power was too great.
In reality, those seemingly catastrophic forces were actually the source of life.
Volcanic eruptions provided warmth to a cold world, bringing elements from deep within the earth to the surface, and even forming new continents in the sea. Lightning and storms promoted the synthesis of material particles, increasing the probability of large organic molecules forming—an essential condition for the emergence of primitive life. Powerful magnetic fields could both disrupt celestial phenomena and block the energy radiation projected from the high heavens, protecting newly formed microscopic organisms. Crustal movements were also an important step in fully integrating surface elements to create the primordial soup of life.
For the world itself, natural disasters were merely ordinary phenomena, as common as rain and snow. It was only because of the existence of intelligent life that disasters were called "disasters." It was only because of their own weakness that they viewed these forces that gave birth to life as synonymous with destruction... But not all civilizations thought this way. Long, long ago, there were beings in the multiverse who recognized the power of ancient dragons and attempted to harness it for their own use.
The beginning of it all could be traced back thousands of years.
"When our ancestors were still herding fish in the seas, the war between the Dragon God and the darkness had already begun at the other end of the multiverse. At first, this darkness of unknown origin could not harm the Dragon God in the slightest, and the Dragon God thought it was just a minor nuisance, not paying it much attention."
"But as time passed, and technology advanced generation by generation, the once-harmless child grew into an adult wielding a sharp blade. Gradually, that darkness could fight the Dragon God head-on."
Deep within the underground ruins of the Chronos Central Mountain Range, light footsteps echoed. An elderly Dragonman, holding the silent Lisa's hand, walked along a translucent crystal corridor, descending deeper into the earth.
He stared straight ahead, speaking softly of the secrets passed down from the Dragonman race since ancient times, his tone calm and without fluctuation: "After hundreds or even thousands of years of struggle, the Dragon God could no longer drive the enemy away. Harassed beyond endurance, the God could only choose to retreat into the void. But that darkness followed like a clinging bone, chasing to the other side of the multiverse."
What happened next, even Lisa already knew: The darkness pursued the Dragon God to the vicinity of the world where the Dragonman ancestors lived. Fearing the threat of the darkness to itself, the Dragon God joined forces with the Chronos civilization to completely crush the pursuers. But the Dragon God itself was severely wounded. The Chronos world, whose mother world location was accidentally exposed, was also completely destroyed by annihilation magic. The continent collapsed into broken rock, the oceans dried into deserts, and the entire plane gradually fell into the abyss.
The Chronos civilization was thus destroyed, with its living races nearly extinct, leaving only the remnants of a single fleet surviving.
"Out of guilt and gratitude, the Dragon God decided to connect itself with the entire dying world to repay our ancestors' help... It fell asleep in the center of what was once the ocean, now the heart of the God's Desert, assimilating itself with the entire world. In this way, when the Dragon God healed its own wounds, it also healed the foundation of our entire world—in the Dragon God's words, the rebirth of Steel Force."
"The Chronos Mountain Range where we now live is the source of this rebirth. When the Dragon God fully recovers, the entire world will also have its foundation reshaped and regain its vitality. To wait for that day, the ancestors who lost their civilization chose to accept the Dragon God's bloodline, gaining its power to thrive in these mountains and sustain the race's existence."
The members of the Dragonman Elder Council did not follow the elderly Dragonman to the deepest level of the ruins. Most of them went to other corners to maintain and adjust this ancient relic. Only this aged Dragonman elder continued to lead Lisa downward, deeper and deeper, as if there were no end.
The Dragonman elder's face was covered in wrinkles. His hair and beard were white, and even his dragon horns were beginning to pale, with fragments peeling off at the edges. But his voice was very clear, without any of the slurring common in ordinary old men. The elderly Dragonman held Lisa's hand, walking downward while murmuring ancient secrets as if talking to himself.
"But the rebirth of the world comes at a cost... When the Dragon God connected itself to the world, it became the world's heart—how can a heart leave the body? Before the self-healing is fully complete, the Dragon God cannot leave our world. It is bound by the covenant, forced to remain on the earth, forever unable to rise to the high heavens, forever unable to fight its enemies."
By now, Lisa had no idea how many meters underground she was. Even Syndicate couldn't determine it. She felt she must have passed through the thick rock layers and entered beneath the earth's crust. The Flame Demon also noticed, unconsciously, that on both sides of the translucent crystal corridor, they could already see specks of golden-red magma, flowing and spreading like blood vessels beneath the earth.
If she were truly deep underground, the Dragonman girl should have been unable to survive long ago. But thanks to the creations of the Chronos civilization, the crystal corridor—which occasionally flickered with magical micro-currents—perfectly shielded the surrounding high temperature and pressure, allowing Lisa to continue steadily forward.
"The connection to the world was the only way for the Dragon God to save our world, but it also bound the Dragon God in a cage called the world... When enemies came, the Dragon God couldn't even fight back."
The elderly Dragonman elder seemed to come here often. He calmly held Lisa's hand, walking toward the depths of the mantle, now completely wrapped in magma, as if he wanted to reach the earth's core.
But that wasn't the case. Just as Lisa felt she had fully entered the depths of the mantle, they arrived at their destination—a massive hall made entirely of pale silver crystal.
This hall was filled with a mysterious aura. It was dodecagonal in shape, with each wall engraved with completely different complex runes. On the pale silver walls, pale blue arcs of electricity danced along patterns like circuit boards. The walls also had numerous grooves and runes of unknown purpose, flickering with the glow of magical power.
In the center of this hall stood a massive altar, shaped like a pyramid. It was entirely silver, with crystal veins like blood vessels flashing red light. On the altar's top was a cylindrical tray, and above that tray floated a faint blue ball of light, flickering like a candle flame.
"The recognition of the earth, the promise of steel, the trial of the atmosphere, and the covenant with the gods, the world, and the Dragonmen. This is the center of the Chronos world, the place where fire once burned."
"The Dragon God is indeed bound to our world, but fortunately, our ancestors foresaw this long ago. So they designed this altar and this ritual."
—What ritual?
Lisa was about to look up at the elderly Dragonman and ask what this hall and altar were for, but at that moment, the aged Dragonman released his grip on Lisa's hand.
He walked slowly forward toward the altar, treating the magma, molten steel, and distorted high temperatures before him as nothing. The elderly Dragonman's clothes began to burn, but the flames could not destroy his body. Instead, they revealed the old man's aged form—covered in wrinkles, spots, bulging veins, and countless scars.
How many battles had he fought to leave so many scars? Lisa was momentarily stunned by the sight, even forgetting that the old man was walking on magma.
The elderly Dragonman's clear voice continued.
"As long as several Dragonmen with pure Dragon God blood use their bloodline power as a guide to condense a false illusion, they can temporarily deceive the world and briefly release the Dragon God from its chains. With the power of pure-blooded ones as a guide, the Dragon God can not only gain temporary freedom but also receive the empowerment of our entire race's power, becoming stronger."
His shoes had long been burned away. The elderly Dragonman stepped barefoot on the boiling magma like blood. Azure-blue lightning protected his horns, but the smell of cooked flesh could still be detected. The aged Dragonman paid it no mind, shaking his head and saying, "Unfortunately, the original ritual required at least twelve pure-blooded ones, standing beneath the twelve walls, using the runes to jointly calm this restless magma, molten steel, and hot wind—to calm the manifestation of this world's dying rage."
Otherwise, the burden would be too great, likely causing casualties. Now, the numbers are severely insufficient.
"If it weren't for that, the burden would be too great, likely causing casualties. But now, the numbers are critically low. Forget twelve."
Saying this, the Dragonman elder, still climbing toward the top of the pyramid altar, sighed: "We don't even have half of half."
Hearing this, watching the Dragonman elder, whose body was beginning to jump with restless arcs of electricity to withstand the surrounding high temperature, Lisa's lips moved slightly. She whispered, "Because the numbers are insufficient... you need me?"
"So, a sacrifice is needed."
Having reached the top of the pyramid altar, the aged Dragonman stopped. He didn't turn around but said with a smile, "We have failed our ancestors' expectations. We lost the method to awaken the bloodline, so in this generation, only two pure-blooded Dragonmen have awakened naturally."
"Two?!"
Lisa suddenly looked up toward the old man, murmuring in shock. Then, her eyes widened. She stared at the Dragonman elder, whose hair and beard were beginning to burn, turning into flames. A guess had already formed in her mind.
"That's right. It's me. Lisa, I am the pure-blooded Dragonman who awakened naturally in the previous generation."
Still not turning around, the aged Dragonman had arrived before the cylindrical tray. His skin, under the roasting of the surrounding purple-red lightning and flames, had turned to something like charcoal, covered in black scorch marks. The surrounding temperature had reached a terrifying level, even though the old Dragonman possessed ancient dragon blood and had awakened most of his power.
But even so, the old Dragonman's voice remained utterly calm. He stared at the tray before him, and the pale blue light sphere floating above it, speaking with perfect composure: "Thank the ancestors for not letting me die so quickly. Otherwise, even the minimum requirement for the ritual couldn't be met. This is all too rushed. I don't even have time to explain everything to you."
He raised a hand to stop Lisa, who was about to step forward. The elderly Dragonman raised his index finger and used its sharp nail to cut the blood vessel in his wrist. He pressed his wrist onto the altar's tray, letting purple-black blood, crackling with arcs of electricity, gush out.
Only then did the aged Dragonman slowly turn his head. He looked at the young girl with kind eyes, smiling softly: "Fortunately, I'm still alive, so you don't need to sacrifice yourself... Lisa, you are so young and already possess such power. You are undoubtedly the future hope of our Dragonman race."
So, it's enough for me, who has no future, to make the sacrifice.
The old Dragonman turned back, staring directly at the altar. At that moment, strange numbers began to flash on the light sphere floating above the altar's base—12.47%, 24.91%, 37.32%, 49.11%... The numbers rose like flying, while the old man's blood gushed out rapidly. The terrifying bloodline power of a pure-blooded Dragonman, inheriting ancient dragon blood, could be sensed burning.
Even so, the aged Dragonman was still dissatisfied. He took a deep breath, and then arcs of electricity began to flash all over his body. He closed his eyes, revealing a final smile.
Goodbye, my kin. Continue moving forward, live well, and watch the hopeful future of the Dragonman race for me.
Bang. A sound like something shattering. Accompanied by the violent trembling of azure-blue arcs of electricity, in Lisa's eyes, shocked beyond words, the old man's body instantly turned into a cloud of blood mist. Then, as if alive, it surged toward the tray at the top of the altar—an immense, terrifying bloodline power erupted, one that even made the current Lisa tremble. This power was refined by the magma along the way, sublimated by the boiling molten steel, and forged by the distorted high-temperature atmosphere. After passing through the triple trials and purification of earth, steel, and atmosphere, the blood mist formed from the old Dragonman's entire power could be seen transforming into a silver lightning bolt, mixed with azure.
This lightning seemed to come from ancient times. It caused primordial matter to fuse in electromagnetic storms, allowing high-molecular polymers to merge under pure energy impact, forming the first life. And this lightning surged into the depths of the altar, igniting a gentle light.
The earth began to tremble.
The purple-red lightning seemed to fade. The boiling metal began to cool. The hot wind that scorched all things, gathered around the altar, gradually ceased. The magma turned into black rock. As if the world's anger had subsided, silver light could be seen converging from all directions, vaguely forming a silver metal chain around the altar.
In the distant center of the God's Desert, the furious ancient dragon suddenly froze. It felt the constraint connecting it to this world gradually weakening. The power binding it was receding. It turned its head toward the Chronos Mountain Range. The Dragon God knew that the ancient covenant was being fulfilled. The Dragonmen were unlocking its shackles, allowing the primordial dragon to ascend to the high heavens and fight its sworn enemy.
Deep within the earth, Lisa stared at the silver-blue arcs of electricity still lingering above the altar, and the remnants of blood mist—the last remains of the aged Dragonman, whose name had never even been spoken, in this world. Her mouth fell open. She wanted to say something. She wanted to hear something. But now, there was no one to listen to her, no one to explain the world's secrets to her. Once again, she was alone, in the depths of the earth, who knew how many meters underground.
At the end of the day, the girl was only a little over ten years old. For a girl of this age, death, sacrifice, the fate of a race and a world, the possibilities of civilization and the future—all of this was far too heavy. Lisa's furthest plan for the future had only been to explore the distant God's Desert. Now, this incomprehensible reality made the girl feel like she couldn't breathe. The weight of responsibility, like a mountain, threatened to crush Lisa completely.
Fortunately, she wasn't truly alone.
"Step forward, Lisa."
In the silent hall deep underground, Syndicate spoke softly within the girl's mental link: "That old man has done the hardest part. Now it's your turn to complete this final step."
"You have no way back, and neither do I. Don't freeze. Wake up quickly."
"Is that so... It's my turn now."
Hearing the Flame Demon's words, the girl woke from her daze. She looked up at the pyramid altar not far away. Lisa slowly took a step forward, stepping onto the stone floor of the altar hall. She took another step forward, her face still showing confusion and fear, bewilderment and distress.
But Lisa kept moving forward, step by step, without stopping.
—Yes, she was still confused.
Lisa still didn't understand what all this was about, why she had come here, why she had to bear such a heavy responsibility... But even though there was still confusion in her heart, still incomprehension, still hesitation and sorrow, still fear and worry, she kept moving forward.
Lisa stepped onto the black stone path formed by solidified magma. She crossed the silver ramp formed by solidified metal. She passed through the now-gentle lightning and the lingering blood mist, striding toward the top of the pyramid altar.
Even though the path ahead was a heavy responsibility and an unknown she had never understood, Lisa still had the courage to face it all. She knew the hardship of this road, but she didn't know if she could complete it. Yet, since the girl had begun to step forward, she would never turn back, never look left or right, and never stop in place.
She would move forward, and only forward.
Because this was the direction she had chosen from the very beginning.