Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 951 - 950: The Dragon’s God

Heragor quickly noticed Gawain’s gaze, but his good manners kept the Dragon Priest’s face from showing any displeasure. He merely stepped slightly aside and asked with a hint of curiosity, "What is it? Is there something inappropriate about me?"

Gawain quickly regained his composure from his shock, forcibly suppressing the amazement and continuous speculations in his heart, and just slightly smiled apologetically, "Sorry, you might resemble someone I once knew—but I must have mistaken you for them."

"Really?" Heragor nodded, "With so many people in the world, it is understandable that similar faces might appear, even on the continents of Talronde and Loren. If possible, I would love to meet the person who resembles me."

As he spoke, the Dragon Priest gestured an invitation and turned to lead the way. Gawain followed him while casually saying, "That’s unlikely to happen—due to certain personal reasons, most of the people I knew died centuries ago."

This backdrop of rising from the grave can be quite handy sometimes, especially when wanting to spin a lie related to lifespan, time, and acquaintances—Gawain couldn’t help but reflect while beginning to silently count how many virtual friends created for plot purposes in his "resurrection" had subsequently perished in the river of time...

"...is that so; it is truly regrettable," Heragor apparently had no doubts. The Dragon Priest leader merely nodded slightly while leading Gawain deeper into the corridor. "I have never left Talronde, so I seldom interact with outsiders. If any racial or cultural differences cause offense in our conversation, please forgive us."

"But your command of the common language is excellent, Heragor," Veronica suddenly said. "On our way here, we heard the true ’dragon language’ of Talronde, and I realized then that the human imagination of dragons is far from accurate. They never even considered the language barrier between the two races—the passing civilizations on the Loren Continent likely didn’t provide a language worth learning widely for dragons, correct?"

"Indeed," Heragor replied with a tranquil tone, "But with Omega’s assistance, mastering a new language is not difficult. Compared to learning a language, understanding the thought processes of another race is more challenging."

"You say you never leave Talronde?" Gawain watched the Dragon Priest walking ahead and decided to subtly gather some intelligence. Although he couldn’t rule out the possibility of "face similarity," he was hesitant to confirm whether the face he saw in the temporal rift of the Eternal Storm was indeed this Dragon Priest. But intuition told him it was unlikely a coincidence. "Not even once?"

"Is that strange?" Heragor’s steps seemed to pause briefly but soon continued forward. "Many dragons are like this—for us, Talronde is a sufficiently abundant home, there’s no need to leave."

He didn’t answer directly!

Gawain realized this instantly, but he chose not to press further because his doubts lingered heavily over the chaotic space-time at the center of the Eternal Storm. Moreover, he deeply feared someone tampering with that experience after leaving the storm. Before discovering the truth behind it all, he decided not to recklessly delve deeper.

Gawain refrained from further questioning, Veronica was inherently silent, and Amber uncharacteristically refrained from speaking aimlessly in the unfamiliar setting. This silence made the subsequent journey seem extraordinarily quiet and awkward, but fortunately, it didn’t last long—after passing through a corridor and an elevator that Gawain thought could be described as a "hall," they finally reached their destination.

The Sanctuary at the top of the Council Headquarters, a residence of the god—the Upper Sanctum.

After stepping off the elevator platform, Gawain and his two companions first arrived at an open-air bridge. From this vantage point, they could see almost the entire temple, and the scene before them immediately awed everyone. They saw the splendid starlight illuminating a glorious building with a dome and hundreds of pillars. The temple stood silent and sacred in the night sky, and they observed the divine radiance flowing from the temple, intertwining with the starry glow of the Arctic Region. They also heard some indistinct, difficult-to-discern singing and chanting, sounds that quietly reached their ears, moving even the carefree Amber’s heart.

"It’s so beautiful..." Amber couldn’t help but exclaim, her eyes reflecting the temple’s light, her face bursting with a smile. "It’s like... stepping into the starry sky... the person who designed this building must really like stars, right?"

Gawain noticed that as soon as Amber spoke, Heragor, who had been silently standing, suddenly quivered. Then the High Priest broke the silence: "Quite the opposite, He does not like the starry sky."

"Huh? Really?" Amber seemed to overlook the use of "He" by the interlocutor for a moment, only blinking in surprise. "But this building seems designed precisely for star gazing... look at those terraces and windows; even if they weren’t intended for star gazing initially, they must be quite suitable for it now..."

"Alright," Gawain interjected, "You speak as if you’re a professional in architecture. We’re here as guests, not to critique others’ homes."

"But... ah, okay," Amber glanced at Gawain and shrugged, "You’re the boss."

"Sorry for the interruption; she just likes this place," Gawain turned to Heragor, "Please, lead the way, Heragor."

The Dragon Priest nodded expressionlessly, "Please follow me."

Under the High Priest’s guidance, Gawain and the others crossed the bridge and entered the golden hall adorned with domes and splendid pillars. A gentle, bright, non-glaring radiance filled this inside and outside of this building. They passed through the main entrance and a small connecting bridge adorned with running water, then finally stopped in a circular hall.

The expansive hall had only a single seat elevated at the center, seemingly bearing endless light and glory. Before that seat, a figure with long golden hair reaching the floor stood there quietly.

Dragon God, Enya.

A deity lingering in the mortal world.

Upon entering the hall, Veronica immediately heightened her guard, fully prepared to deal with spiritual pollution from the deity. However, as she confronted the Dragon God, the anticipated mental pollution never arrived. This unexpected development took her by surprise, prompting her to glance more at the deity—who was dignified and graceful, with an appearance as flawless as the limits of mortal imagination. Wearing what seemed woven in silk yet far cleaner and more supple, the light gold gown hardly needed embellishments to showcase the "goddess’s" radiance. Within the brief eye contact, even as the leader of the Defier, Veronica inadvertently thought—

Indeed... perfection as a god.

As Veronica’s gaze lingered on the Dragon God, the latter’s gaze simultaneously settled on Veronica. A hint of a smile seemed to appear on the deity’s face, even subtly nodding towards Veronica. Soon, the gaze shifted, finally landing on Gawain.

"You have finally arrived," the deity broke the silence with a surprisingly gentle voice, "A mortal I have invited twice... just this alone, the surprise you brought me has already surpassed the total surprises brought by this entire season of human civilization."

"Is this an inquiry disguised as praise?" Gawain laughed. Though he had tensed up entering the hall, it didn’t affect his calm façade — Dragon God Enya didn’t cause an intuitive warning, which seemed like a good sign.

"No, you can consider this as praise — for me, unexpected things are much more precious than having everything under control." The Dragon God revealed a slight smile, then, under the astonished gaze of Heragor, He took a step forward, unhurriedly walking down from the platform where the throne was situated. As He left, the throne vanished inch by inch into the air, and by the time He stood before Gawain, the entire high platform, along with the throne on it, had completely disappeared.

"I think a face-to-face conversation like this would improve the atmosphere — and make your nerves less tense," the Dragon God said, then made a move that surprised everyone — He extended a hand with a smile, looking at Gawain, "A handshake — this should be the newest etiquette among mortals?"

The atmosphere in the surroundings instantly turned a bit odd; likely no one expected the attitude of this deity lingering in the mortal world to be this amiable. Gawain stared at the hand extended towards him, hesitating, but the hesitation was brief. After two seconds, he steadied himself and reached out his hand.

He touched the fingertips of Dragon God Enya — softer and warmer than imagined, almost akin to a human.

And in the next instant, an unusual feeling suddenly surged in his heart. Gawain instinctively raised his head, and he suddenly saw the dome of the circular hall becoming transparent and illusory. A layer of turbid, chaotic, twisted clouds rapidly gathered, blocking out the myriad stars in the sky. Within those murky chaotic clouds, he once again saw the unnameable entities he had previously seen above Talronde:

Countless twisted chaotic limbs combined in a nightmare-like posture, writhing flesh, crystals emitting unusual light, and pale bones intertwined in the sky. Innumerable eyes were embedded among the distorted flesh, coldly gazing at the land of Talronde. As if polluted starlight traversed amid the discordant limbs, illusory flames continuously scorched the sky!

Under this scene, Gawain felt his heartbeat skipping a beat, and in the next second, he suddenly discovered a detail he hadn’t noticed when observing from above the sea near Talronde —

He saw those chaotic twisted limbed structures interweaving, yet vaguely forming some kind of outline. His gaze swept from one end of Talronde’s sky to the other. Under such a vast span and from the perspective directly below, he finally saw... those things vaguely "stitched" together into the shape of a great dragon.

A terrifying, enormous, distorted dragon, larger than the entire continent of Talronde, filled with terror yet seemingly saturated with pain, lay sprawling on this ancient and prosperous land. Its wings shrouded the sky and shadowed the entire land, like a cage, yet also like a great barrier. Innumerable, hair-like black chains extended from its body, densely falling to the ground and reaching toward the sky.

Such a scene, if seen by an ordinary person — would drive them instantly insane.

Even Gawain, witnessing this scene from this perspective and distance, immediately felt his mental world in turmoil — it wasn’t even some "indescribable mental corruption," nor some "corruptive knowledge of the gods," merely pure visual impact and mental pressure, giving him a suffocating feeling.

But fortunately, this was merely visual impact and mental pressure, something a foreign wanderer, once isolated in the void for a million years, whose mind had long mutated, could still withstand.

Gawain painfully resisted the mental pressure, finally succeeding in withdrawing his gaze from that dreadful scene, and looking at the Dragon God standing before him.

The Dragon God remained standing there, visage serene and gentle, holding Gawain’s hand. Behind Him, countless dark chains spread out, tangled in the air, winding ceaselessly upward, becoming part of that "chaotic mad dragon."

These chains locked the Dragon God, yet the Dragon God also locked the chains. The chains were part of Him, and He was part of the chains.

All of this, all of it, formed a whole.

It was as if a realization suddenly flooded into his mind, Gawain felt he understood everything, and the next moment he felt that warm, soft hand letting go.

And so, all the phenomena vanished like smoke.

"Hey, are you okay? Why did you zone out all of a sudden?" Amber’s voice suddenly came from the side. For some reason, upon hearing her voice, Gawain felt a sudden relief — the last vestige of pressure and suffocation on his heart finally lifted, prompting him to take a deep breath, allowing his wildly beating heart to calm down.

"I’m fine," Gawain replied softly, a hint of fatigue in his tone.

"You saw," Dragon God Enya’s voice echoed, observing Gawain, the tone still gentle, yet the gaze deep and terrifying. Within those pale golden eyes seemingly lay myriad truths, yet, upon close inspection, Gawain only saw emptiness.

He nodded, speaking calmly, "I saw."

"I’m surprised that you could resist all this so easily — just needing to catch your breath," the Dragon God said lightly, "I had originally prepared several contingency measures."

"Luckily, my mind is resilient enough, and my heart is still good, not causing any life-threatening incidents after seeing something scary," Gawain spoke while surprised at how he still had the energy to jest, "So... what exactly did I see?"

"It was me — evidently, wasn’t it?" Dragon God Enya suddenly chuckled, instantly dissipating the slightly oppressive and tense atmosphere in the hall. Then He turned slightly, raised an arm and gently waved it.

A silver white round table adorned with countless intricate carvings appeared out of thin air along with several ornate gem-studded chairs, and the table was laden with exquisite refreshments.

"Now we can sit down to talk, and everyone can relax," the ’God’ invited, "Today is merely idle chatter."