Fortissax.
In the stories passed down through the ages, whenever this name is mentioned, people always speak of "Godwyn's closest friend," "the one who signed the pact with the Ancient Dragons," "the bridge between the Golden Order Dynasty and the dragons." It is as if this dragon had always been the Golden People's faithful companion.
But the truth was nothing like that.
While the facts are not false—the pact with the Ancient Dragons was real, and Godwyn truly was his friend—the bond between this dragon and Godwyn went far deeper than any tale could capture.
To put it simply, the pact was forged at the height of the Golden Order Dynasty. Even when the Shattering ended and the Golden Order teetered on collapse, the Ancient Dragons never betrayed the covenant. Even as they struggled to survive, they kept their oaths. They granted Leyndell their dragon-born powers, and even Lansseax—Fortissax's elder sister—stood guard at the city's outskirts, having once met Lloyd face to face.
As for Fortissax himself, his absence was no retreat. After the Night of Black Knives, when Godwyn's soul was slain while his body lived, Fortissax sought to preserve his friend's last shred of dignity, keeping death from spreading outward.
He found Godwyn's corpse and, at the cost of his own life, poured his soul into that body. As a spirit, he battled the ever-growing death within Godwyn's inner world. It was a fight that could never be won.
Godwyn was dead—death was a fixed reality. It could not be destroyed. Under the flaw of the Golden Order's law, it grew stronger day by day. Fortissax, though a mighty Ancient Dragon, was weakened from the start—his body had perished outside, cutting his strength in half.
And within that spiritual realm, there was no sustenance, no allies. Just one dragon, locked inside the corpse of a fallen friend, struggling in vain against the death gnawing at him.
In the end, even Fortissax himself was consumed. His thunder became tainted, carrying the stench of death. He became a cursed, defiled dragon.
Yet never once did he regret his choice, nor think of leaving. Even if it meant death and the scattering of his soul, he would stand beside his old friend until the very end. If he had to die, then he would die in Godwyn's tomb.
All of this was true.
But the problem was—the story has a time limit.
In the later tales, man and dragon are bound by deep affection, their alliance with the Golden Order unbreakable. But before that...
"Yes, I was the leader of the dragons during the Ancient Dragon War. That assault was my doing."
The white dragon before him admitted this calmly.
Before allying with the Golden Order, Fortissax had another title—The Mightiest Rock.
The name "Rock" came from the dragons' stone-like scales. As for "Mightiest," no explanation was needed. Even the name "Fort" itself meant power in the dragons' tongue.
And it was not just him. His sister Lansseax, the great Ancient Dragon Gransax, and many of the dragons who would one day stand by the Golden Order until both sides were on the brink of extinction—many of them had taken part in that war.
As for the cause of the war, in short—The original Stormveil did not belong to the Golden Order, but was ruled by a king known as the Storm King. That king, while not exactly an ally, at least had ties to the Ancient Dragons. When attacked, he called for their aid.
Fortissax weighed the situation. At that time, the mightiest warrior, the first Elden Lord Godfrey, was leading his most elite knights against the Storm King.
The Land of Shadow was defended by the serpent and its elite soldiers, who had even bred specialized war beasts. Caria was outside the Golden Order's domain and at the height of its power, with the Queen, the Master, and a certain red-haired beast all present.
Looking around, Fortissax saw that after years of constant war, the Golden Order's elite were scattered, either fighting abroad or stabilizing distant fronts. Leyndell itself lay nearly defenseless.
So the idea of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" was born.
And Fortissax's judgment was correct.
As said before, though the Golden Order was in its prime, relentless campaigns had drawn away every elite soldier and powerful warrior.
As for the thought of their home being struck? It had never crossed their minds. After all, any enemy who wished to attack them would have to march overland and break through their armies head-on.
Even if an enemy army had managed to bypass their lines, the towering walls of Leyndell were specially built. Breaching them would have been difficult even for the Golden Order Dynasty itself.
In the Lands Between, such defenses could rightly be called unmatched beneath the heavens.
Then the enemy came from the skies.
The Ancient Dragons descended, bringing with them thunder that shattered all and fire that burned without end.
But what truly drove the knights of Leyndell to despair was not their power.
It was the realization that, from the reign of the Queen of the Gloaming to Godfrey's campaign against the Storm King, the Golden Order had almost always fought enemies on the ground—giants, beastmen, sorcerers, even the Godskin. Aerial foes were rare.
And when they did appear, they were usually Deathbirds or the floating contraptions of mages—things that could be shot down with a bow.
But Ancient Dragons were different.
If their past flying enemies had been like flimsy drones, then what they now faced were heavy bombers.
Even if their arrows could pierce dragon hide, the altitude at which the beasts circled placed them beyond reach. Worse still, their sheer destructive might was overwhelming.
The walls of Leyndell, which not even the giants had ever breached, were torn open by the charge of the colossal dragons, and the buildings within crumbled into ruins.
That was the strength of the Ancient Dragons.
Before long, despair spread through Leyndell. Many soldiers fell to their knees, weapons discarded, staring up at the vast shapes wheeling overhead. Faces twisted in hopelessness, they seemed already to see the Erdtree consumed in flames.
And yet, as we now know, the Golden Order did win that war. They not only defended their capital but went on to forge an alliance with the Ancient Dragons themselves.
So how did they manage it?
The answer was simple.
Godwyn the Golden.
A prince not famed for martial might, especially when compared to figures like the First Elden Lord Godfrey or Maliketh the Black Blade. Yet in matters of governance, he was unmatched.
When the Ancient Dragons descended and the capital stood on the brink of ruin, it was he who stepped forward.
It would be unfair to say Godwyn won the war single-handedly—knights of Leyndell certainly fought as well. But as for how much their efforts truly mattered... that is harder to say.
The city did have its war golems, and Leyndell's knights who wielded greatbows. But these were the core of its defenses—the very reason the dragons, though capable of flight, dared not dive straight into the city. They could not be risked.
So it was under such circumstances that Godwyn alone led his knights outside the walls. After slaying an untold number of Ancient Dragons, he finally stood before Fortissax.
And there, gold and stone clashed.
The details of what happened remain unknown. The only certainty is that after that encounter, the Ancient Dragons ceased their assault on Leyndell.
In the aftermath, they even signed the Ancient Dragon Alliance with the Golden Order. And Fortissax himself became Godwyn's closest friend.
And so began the tales told at the start.
As already mentioned, Fortissax later sacrificed his life to enter his friend's body, fighting to hold back death itself.
So when the temporal dungeon was activated, his soul was pulled in through the lantern's skull, taking form within the Ancient Dragon boss that appeared there—his own past self.
Sensing his old friend, Godwyn naturally wished to meet him.
But beyond reunion, and the promise of greater rewards he had made to Lloyd, he also carried a private desire of his own.
"To help me resist death and maintain my final dignity, even her souls were eroded by death..."
"Even a mother would likely be helpless in such a situation..."
"But if it were His Excellency Lloyd, I believe there might be a sliver of hope..."
Godwyn rarely asked for favors. Even after being reduced to just a head, he never spoke with arrogance—nor did he ever show humility or fear. But for Fortissax, he was willing to bow his head and make a sincere plea to Lloyd.
And he did so as Godwyn the Golden, not as the head from the lantern. He bowed his head. He knew full well that even without this deference, Lloyd would assist him simply upon request. But precisely because he understood this, he chose to bow—and did so willingly.
Then, as expected, Lloyd agreed.
"Then I'll look for its souls later and see if I can extract and purify it."
Godwyn nodded.
"Thank you very much."
However, even after agreeing, the battle did not commence immediately. Since Lands Between lacked the profession of Dragon Knight, Lloyd realized the classic scene of the Souls-like Crown Prince standing atop a dragon's head to fight him wouldn't materialize. They would have to fight separately.
Due to Lloyd's Law, splitting the dragon and its rider would constitute stacking a boss—specifically, a final-stage, endgame boss. One was the leader of the Golden faction, the other the leader of the Ancient Dragons. One massive, the other hyperactive. Neither was humanly beatable.
Faced with this dilemma, after some deliberation, the opposing side proposed a reasonable, reciprocal condition.
"Do you have any dragon friends? If so, you could probably bring them in to assist..."
Dragon friends?
Lloyd pondered for a moment.
"I do know a few, but how exactly would I bring them in..."
"Just give us their names and descriptions. We'll relay the information, and if they respond, a Golden Effigy will appear on the ground."
"I see."
Lloyd nodded, then pondered for another moment.
"Well then... could you call Placidusax for me?"
"...Who?"
"Placidusax—the one with four heads. Judging by his performance, he seems pretty famous around here... You don't know him?"
Silence.
They did know him. But they certainly didn't dare call him.
"...Can I try someone else?"
Lloyd pondered for a moment.
"How about calling down Bayle? I've crossed paths with that guy a few times, so we're somewhat familiar..."
Another silence.
"Well, this one is also a bit..."
"What about Greyoll... Never mind."
Lloyd dismissed that option outright. After all, the old lady was well past her prime; calling her in for a fight seemed rather inappropriate.
But the problem was, Lloyd was only really familiar with these three dragons in Lands Between. Excluding them, then he...
Hm? Wait a minute?
"Any dragon friend will do, right?"
"Yes. Any dragon can align with this place's The Law."
"Then I know who to call."
Lloyd nodded, then snapped his fingers.
An ice-blue symbol appeared on the ground. Upon touching it, white crystals slowly materialized from the air. Moments later, they shattered with a crack.
Within the shattered crystals, a white dragonkin slowly opened its eyes, its face as cold as ice, its aura sharp and piercing.
[Eternal Dragon·Seath]
"What is it?"
Though in the lab, Seath would play snowball fights with Lloyd and act utterly shameless. But in truth, she only acted that way privately with Lloyd. In other settings, she always presented herself as extremely proper and serious, even bordering on cold.
After Seath emerged, Lloyd briefly explained the situation to her and introduced Seath to the person across from them.
But... never heard of her.
Neither Fortissax nor Godwyn had ever encountered the name Seath. Moreover, judging by her appearance, she didn't seem to be a dragon from Lands Between, nor did she appear to be connected to the Flying Dragons. Yet the problem was, she complied with the Law here, proving she was indeed a dragon... Could she be a dragon from beyond the Lands Between? That was their thought.
As for Seath's assistance, they had no objections. In truth, the reason they hadn't accepted Placidusax and Bayle's aid wasn't that Lloyd couldn't bring in powerful reinforcements. It was simply that those two held such prominent status that Fortissax couldn't easily engage them—even meeting them might prove awkward.
But this individual before them... at least they could test their strength against her... At least, that was their assessment.
With that thought, the exchange concluded, and both sides assumed their stances. Godwyn the Golden, who had single-handedly ended the entire Ancient Dragon War, stood at the very front of the battlefield, slowly raising his Claymore. Behind him, his dear friend, the colossal Ancient Dragon, spread its wings and let out a deafening roar.
The mightiest Gold.
And the Mightiest Rock.
The two sides that had clashed in the Ancient Dragon War now stood united. Tempered by time, their combined strength and coordination surpassed even their peak during that conflict. Merely standing there, they radiated an overwhelming, unmatched aura.
Opposite them stood two diminutive figures.
An ordinary Ashen One, and a white Dragon Woman glaring sideways at Ashen One.
['Godwyn the Golden']
['Strongest Rock' Fortissax]
The moment their names and health bars appeared, the battle commenced.
Then—
"Is this all you called me out for?"
As she spoke, the white Dragonclaw slowly rose. Then, she snapped her fingers.
Click.
The instant the sound echoed. Every living thing within the entire Dungeon, including the Gold and Rock before them, seemed to have been pressed into pause. Completely frozen in place. Unable to move an inch.
...
[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]
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