Once she steadied herself, she began to think it through. Anything with an aura like Ham had to be related to her in some way. If it could be linked by her Silver Authority, then it had to be Dragonkin, and the only dragon with such a deep connection to Ham would be…
That Black Dragon?
She glanced again and nearly went blind from the glare. This thing was shining gold all over, so where was the black supposed to be? If the reinforcements she was supposed to call were really that Black Dragon, then the difference in appearance was a bit too extreme.
Still, the aura kept growing more familiar, and she could basically confirm it was indeed that Black Dragon. As she stared, a strange idea suddenly popped into her head.
Back then, could Ham and Bahamut have pulled a trick, hiding their true form inside another shell to fool everyone?
"Wait, now's not the time to think about that. Ham needs help!"
Taking a deep breath, Sylvia showed a hint of unease before her gaze hardened with resolve, and she was about to speak.
"Hello, I—ah!?"
Before she could get the words out, she saw the dragon head pause, then dive down at high speed. Its massive form was enough to completely envelop Sylvia, like a golden waterfall falling from the sky. Yet she felt no pain at all, only a surge of warmth rushing into her body as that enormous golden dragon head almost entirely flowed into her small form.
At the peak of the blinding light, she faintly heard a voice.
"I have arrived."
"Has anyone shown up yet? Where's Belial? Little brother, save me!"
Crying out loudly, Ham leapt and weaved among layers of bloody bones. The sky had been torn open by Rend, revealing a massive, blood-red Rift like a grotesque eye staring down at the tiny space below, pouring out thick black malice and Abyssal Darkness. The natural landscape had long since been corrupted into a twisted, blasphemous illusion of fire, with countless corpses replacing the ground and forming a true mountain of bodies and sea of blood.
The towering pillars that once held up the sky of Dragon Valley now revealed their true form. They were not pillars at all, but the remains of a Rust Iron Dragon, stuffed full of countless masses of sticky black sludge that churned like a blood sea around a coffin. Something was using this as a trigger to complete Authority, and it was beginning to awaken.
Black lightning slashed through space as three vague, massive stone slabs lit up and assembled into a rotating disk. As it turned, phantom images of shattered marble colonnades rose from the ground of bones and blood, shifting from white marble to ancient bronze constructs and then to dark steel weapons, as if the wisdom of past civilizations was being replayed. Grass and stone bricks replaced the gore-stained earth, though the stench of blood still lingered, and towers of High Tower with sealed domes rose one after another, forcing themselves into this mismatched space.
Broken gears turned slowly, dragging rusted chains as clockwork moved up and down, and the long-lost ticking of a clock rang out. High atop an ancient bell tower, a great bell began to sway, on the verge of sounding the first chime of awakening. From the sky, countless black threads pulled massive puppet figures of different materials, each wielding various weapons and as large as mountains, as they hunted Ham.
"Stop chasing me already. This used to be my turf, so isn't it a bit ridiculous that you're hunting me now?"
While complaining, Ham vaulted over a suddenly appearing city wall, crossed mountains and rivers, and dodged the abruptly rising Mountain of Blades and Sea of Fire. She still carried half a Dragon God soul, but none of the Authority was with her, and the remaining half of Silver Authority had been given to Sylvia to stay alive and call for help. All she could do now was use small tricks like spatial Teleportation inside the Rust Iron Dragon's remains to avoid attacks, since the spells she remembered from before were gone.
"All of that is gone. Half of those memories are with that guy Edward, and I was never the type who liked or was good at fighting anyway."
"This time, I really can't win."
She continued to dart around as she talked, just as she said. Even though her memories had returned, many parts were missing and now rested with Edward and with another dragon. Her memories were split into three parts, with combat skills, secrets, and knowledge on Edward's side, while daily life and reincarnation memories remained with Ham.
Based on that, Ham guessed what kind of memories her remaining self within Belial might have. Most likely, it was the embarrassing record of repeatedly fighting Crimson God during the invasion of Abyss, getting killed over and over, and eventually grinding the enemy down through sheer retries. None of what remained was useful for combat, and the Bronze Dragon spell database she could once access had already been taken by Edward, leaving her with only experience and no actual power.
Still, not everything was gone. Bahamut's abilities were missing, but Ham's own were still there.
"Get out of my way. Change."
With a light tap of her finger, the remains of a former Great Dragon crawling out of the corpse pile turned into heaps of steaming, golden fries, while the polluted river of Abyssal Power became piles of fizzy drinks. Giant marble Shard fragments and spiked gears falling from the sky transformed into fireworks and balloons that burst overhead and rained down streamers.
After dodging attacks with rainbow illusions, strange and cheerful music began to play, and Ham even sang along as she danced. Her steps purified the spreading black mire into green grass, and she forced the dangling tentacles and armed puppets to dance together. She laughed lightly.
"I have to say, this is pretty fun. The fight's interesting."
"But the real the Lord has finally arrived. Too bad, though. No matter the cycle, I always slack off, so this is all I can do, and I can only hold out this long."
As she spoke, the ground shook violently. The authority of the Rust Iron Dragon, serving as the foundation, had been completed and reached the minimum threshold needed to awaken Fate. With Edward in the coffin and Ham present, both halves of the Dragon God soul were on site, and the slowly awakening Fate began its judgment.
Bahamut had awakened.
With the return of Fate, Divine Kingdom manifested. There was no earth-shattering explosion, but many strange things began to happen. Far to the north in Rohn Empire, a forest abruptly turned into a desert, rivers dried up, and nearby cities vanished.
A fruit tree suddenly reverted to a seed, then became a withered tree, only to bear fruit completely unsuited to the local climate. A small army in battle suddenly saw their enemies turn into familiar faces, looking just like their own fathers, and after one soldier slit his opponent's throat, he and several nearby comrades vanished as well. Countless written records began to warp and rewrite themselves, with the faint image of a figure frantically scribbling at high speed, while a house reverted to stone and wood and steel rapidly rusted away.
Countless small events in the past were altered, shaking the present. Even though some forces tried to suppress it, many changes were unavoidable. Cause and effect and Fate became a wildly spinning die, rolling out completely different outcomes, and the affected area kept expanding, with just the signs already impacting a full third of The Continent.
Edward was gradually waking up.
No, the human called Edward had long since died. The Great Dragon known as Bahamut slowly raised his head, only to realize he could not move. Countless threads and chains pierced every inch of his body under an empty contract, making even a blink impossible, and even his thoughts required permission.
The being that could grasp the past, hold the present, and decide the future finally looked back. Another head gazed into the future and saw nothing, then realized it could not see the present. The last remaining eye of the present opened, black and mixed with blood-like ink, and saw the other half of itself outside, a dragon shining with Silver light.
It was within reach. If he could swallow it, he would be complete.
"Hm? You're still typing in your account and password. Don't even think about hurting Sylvia!"
"The name isn't complete yet. Why don't you check where it is?"
He froze, as the other self in his head argued with him, filling him with rage. That should not be possible. He was supposed to be whole.
"I am Bahamut!"
"Roar… I am Bahamut… Ba… ha…"
"…?"
He stiffened again, along with the countless eyes he controlled. Everything was in place, the Dragon God soul was complete, Divine Kingdom had revived, and Authority was nearly gathered. So what was missing?
The name.
"Who am I… Bahamut…?"
"Roar… where is my other half of the name!"
The unanswered question drove him into a furious howl, a cry that tore through past and present, killing lives and twisting events once more. His instinct to become whole pushed him further into madness, and he knew he had to find the other half of the name.
So first, he would seize the present.