Mystical Journey

Garen looked at the man in black nearby. He wasn’t one of Jess’ men from this area.

He had used the Derivator before to check information about all of Jess’ subordinates, but he wasn’t one of them.

Brr...

In the air above the inner city, far away, a sphere of black light was continuously expanding, like a growing fireball.

The sky and the ground began to tremble. The surface of the light ball kept shooting out pillars of black light, each light pillar accurately hitting the totem users in the inner city.

Vaguely, everyone could see the bird-like creatures sprawling their wings and chirping within the light ball. They had long and sleek black tail feathers, graceful wings, and a peacock crown shining with silver light.

Brrr!!!!

The black birds once more made a loud, jolting cry.

The black ball of light instantly scattered into a halo of black ripples, throwing all the nearby totem users away into the air.

Garen didn’t turn back to look at the black light ball’s terrifying attack, his gaze quietly fixed on the green-eyed man before him.

"You’re not one of Jess’ men," he said suddenly.

The other party’s green eyes gave an abrupt jolt.

"Who the heck are you!?"

"Devour him, White Dragon!"

Garen spoke those words calmly.

Whoom!!

A large white shadow fell from the sky, and rushed towards the man in black.

The Petrifying White Dragon immediately sprayed a large cloud of grey-white mist, covering this entire area.

It was as though the grey-white mist had a life of its own, gathering towards the man in black en masse. As soon as this mist touched the ground, be it the grass or the rocks, the dead bodies and carcasses, the blood stains... everything would be quickly petrified, turning into grey-white stone.

The swarm of Green-eyed Giant Wolves rushed towards Garen madly, with total disregard for their lives, but were completely surrounded by the petrifying mist in mid-air. They howled, their bodies quickly turning into grey stone, and they fell to the ground one by one. But these then morphed into puddles of green liquids, which meant none of them was the real thing.

The man in black wanted to raise his hand, but realized in shock that his actions were more than a little stiff. He tried to draw tactics in the air.

Boom!!

A huge amount of grey-white petrifying mist swept past where he stood.

The man in black was immediately petrified into a human-shaped statue.

Garen turned his head to look into the distance.

The Dual Headed Salamander slowly pointed its head out of the ground, holding a Green-eyed Wolf as big as a calf in its mouth. The Giant Wolf’s body was shriveling up, fast enough for the naked eye to see.

Ker... Ker-chak!

The Dual Headed Salamander broke the Green-eyed Wolf’s body in half with one bite.

At the same time, the petrified man in black also broke apart. With a whoosh, he became a pile of meaningless rubble.

Garen looked at the corpse of stones that had been killed instantly.

"A totem user outside of Jess’, interesting."

He turned around to look at the sky of the inner city. That giant mass of black light was madly sweeping shots at the totem users inside the city. Several small platinum dots were circling the light balls and attacked non-stop, but in the end they could only wander outside, held away by the light.

"Goth, this is as far as I can help you..." Garen murmured as he looked at the inner city. "Don’t die..."

He stood alone amidst the swarm of monsters. Countless monsters walked past him, but none at all attacked him. He was like a coral in the current, they split and went around him as though it was natural.

*******************

The giant black light ball floated mid-air.

The Grand Duke was wearing platinum armor and riding the Platinum Dragonhawk King, avoiding the black laser light pillars with the speed of the lightning.

He gripped his giant gold-colored Dragon Spear, pointing the spike on the sharp end towards the black light ball.

Hiss!

A pillar of black light brushed past his face, making his Totem Light tremble and shake.

"You alright, Reid." A woman’s voice came from the platinum-colored Dragonhawk. There was already a large silver abrasion wound on its stomach, dripping slowly with silver blood.

"I’m fine." The golden hairband behind the Grand Duke’s head had been blown away, and his long golden hair blew about in the air behind him. "After so many years, it’s been so very long since I fought together with you. Thinking about how we used to conquer together back in the day, my heart still palpitates even now."

"The opponent this time is far more challenging than any battle before, you and I might die in battle here," the Platinum Dragonhawk King said calmly, her silver eyes shimmering with a human-like light.

"That’s fine, I’ve long wanted to join her down there. I’m just sorry to trouble you, to make you come with me." The Grand Duke’s expression showed a hint of gentleness. The black light of the light ball shone on his face, as though plating him with a layer of holy light.

"Why are we still talking about this? Your son has already awakened the Blackfield Bird, why don’t you ask him to let you temporarily merge with his totem, so you have a higher chance of finishing off the enemy?" the Platinum Dragonhawk King asked softly, confusion in her voice.

"I’ve already made him leave the core area here. That way, I can protect the lineage for my family." The Grand Duke suddenly paused. From above in the air looking down, he could already feel that familiar aura rapidly approaching.

"Didn’t I ask him to leave here!?" He frowned for the first time.

Suddenly he heard the waves of cheers from below.

"Blackfield Bird!! It’s the Blackfield Bird!"

"As long as it merges with the Platinum Dragonhawk King, it can create the legendary strongest King of the Skies!!"

"We won’t lose!!"

Many of the totem users below them were well-read, and instantly recognized the black bird with its wings outstretched.

Once the Blackfield Bird merged into the Dragonhawk King, the strongest King of the Skies would appear once more. When that happened, they would definitely be able to finish off that strange bird in the air!

That was the understanding everyone reached at the time. The dozen or so remaining Form Three totem users were all staring intently at the Blackfield Bird carrying Goth. The giant black bird flapped its wings and rushed towards the Dragonhawk King, its eyes also filled with leaping black flames.

This was the last hope for all those people who could barely catch their breath under the light ball’s oppression!

The Blackfield Bird and Dragonhawk King constantly avoided the countless black light pillars and approached each other.

The Grand Duke looked at his son, who was riding on the Blackfield Bird’s back, helplessly.

"You shouldn’t have come back..." He had purposely let Goth go to the outskirts, to leave the core, just so he couldn’t come back for now, but to think... He had always felt guilty towards this pair of mother and son, towards that female totem user, who was so gentle, and who had always supported him quietly behind his back. Sadly, it was already too late to understand that now. She was already dead as well...

And now, now, all he had left was his son.

Looking at Goth flying towards him with determination in his eyes, he was suddenly and indescribably moved.

The Blackfield Bird flapped its wings, and suddenly accelerated, avoiding a blast of black light that shot towards it, and rushed towards the the Dragonhawk King.

Pff!

In an instant, the Blackfield Bird abruptly spat a gold thread from its mouth.

The gold thread pierced through the Dragonhawk King’s wounded stomach in the blink of an eye, and with a hiss, emerged from its back.

It was as though the sky fell instantly quiet. Everyone was shocked.

Silver blood poured down from the Dragonhawk King’s stomach.

No one guessed this would happen.

The smile on Goth’s face froze, his eyes widened, filled with disbelief and despair. He shook his head, his lip bleeding from where he bit it, and his expression panicked.

"No... No... It wasn’t me... It shouldn’t be like this! ...Not like this...!!" He kept shaking his head, sitting on the Blackfield Bird, the despair in his eyes so deep it was nearly madness.

The gold thread bent, and with another whoosh, it went straight through the Grand Duke’s armor, as well as his heart in his left breast.

"No!!!" He heard Goth’s angry roar of despair.

The Grand Duke looked down in shock, staring at the gold thread on his left chest. His expression went from surprise and pain, to dazed, release, and peace.

His mouth coughed out some blood despite himself.

"I’d only truly remove the Totem Light’s core defense when merging, you sure counted accurately..." He seemed to understand something.

"Reid... To think... that we really are going to die together this time..." The Dragonhawk King laughed somewhat sadly, but it was difficult.

The Grand Duke smiled sadly as well.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and slowly turned his head to look at Goth underneath him, his face already covered with tears. Even this simple movement seemed to be unnaturally hard for him.

"Don’t cry, this life of mine has already been interesting enough. This isn’t your fault." He raised his head, his face nothing but peaceful. "Life is like a show, there are ups and downs, highs and lows. I have just walked to the ending I was meant to reach."

"Father..." Goth sat on the Blackfield Bird, but was completely unable to control his own body. He could not help but grab the gold thread, and toss it hard. The sharp tip of the gold thread poked out again, and penetrated the Grand Duke’s heart once more.

Psst!

Goth’s face was covered with tears, he had no idea what he was doing. An unimaginably huge power was controlling him, making him do these completely incomprehensible things.

The Grand Duke smiled, his face already rapidly growing pale. He glanced at the strange bird’s light ball in front of him, now gathering an unprecedented black light. The overwhelming sense of danger already felt as though it could explode at any time."

"Goth... don’t blame your mother... If possible, please... protect the Dragonhawk family’s Iron Tank City for me..."

Before he could finish his sentence, he abruptly waved his hand.

A powerful invisible force field suddenly spread out, pushing Goth away. It sent him flying, towards the most important core of the inner city, the Grand Duke’s residence.

The Grand Duke faced the black light, on the verge of explosion, and an intensely burning desire to battle rose in his eyes.

"Come, Anna! Let my people witness the true glory of our Dragonhawk family!!!"

"As you wish!" The Dragonhawk King’s gentle voice reverberated throughout the sky.

"Howl of the Heavenly Arc!!!"

In an instant, a blinding ball of golden light appeared in the sky, and hung high in the air just like the black light ball. A web of black and golden electric arches wove between the two light balls, and the sound of crackling electricity was everywhere.

By now, the totem users had been forced down into the lower skies or onto the ground by this extreme force. No one could have predicted this result.

The two light balls were like magnets, rapidly attracting each other.

And then there was the soundless collision.

Goth had been blasted into the pond in the Duke’s residence. Both he and the Blackfield Bird were numb all over, completely unable to get up or move. They could only stare blankly at the dazzling golden light ball in the sky.

His face was drowned in tears, and he tried to open his mouth, but couldn’t say anything.

A flash of blinding white light instantly dazzled the sky.

Boom!

A suit of platinum armor crashed down in front of Goth, steadily sticking into the grey-white stone floorboards.

That was the Grand Duke’s legendary armor, and also the White Dragonhawk family’s heirloom. The left chest that had been pierced by the golden thread just now was presently good as new.

After a long time, the light faded, and the stiffness enveloping Goth’s body also slowly diminished.

He walked out of the pond, covering his face with his hands, and silently knelt down in front of the armor.