Darkness dripped from the cavern ceiling like thick tar.
Raen knelt on one knee, his fingertips digging deep into the ground. His left eye still emitted a faint emerald glow, but his right eye had completely transformed into a vertical slit of a dragon's. Two utterly different powers clashed within his veins, the bulging veins beneath his skin writhing like living creatures.
"Old relic, you look like you've been dosed with Old Nick's experimental potion for three days straight," Ravenna squatted beside him. The purple-golden patterns on her runed arm had yet to fade, flickering like breathing flames in the dim cavern. She teased him with her words, but her fingers gripped Raen's shoulder armor so tightly the metal groaned under the strain.
"Elven crystal… is rewriting my…" Raen's Adam's apple bobbed as he forced out each word like it was squeezed from between clenched teeth, "…life structure."
Beneath his collarbone, the mark of the Elven Mother Tree visibly grew, silver-blue branches crawling up his neck and cheek, intertwining and eroding with the emerald patterns of the Life Ancient God. More terrifyingly—at the tips of those patterns, a dark red color gradually stained them, as if a third force was silently harmonizing this battle.
Ironbeard's warhammer slammed heavily onto the ground; the clash of metal and stone made pebbles fall from the cavern ceiling. The old dwarf's mechanical eye continuously adjusted its focus, scanning Raen's transformed pupils. "The Ironroot ancient tree has only freed four chains; the Council could strike at any moment—"
A sudden murmur from the infant interrupted the warning.
The little one curled up at Ravenna's feet. His originally pale skin now glowed an unnatural pale gold; flickering specks of light leaked from his trembling eyelashes. His lips moved, uttering an ancient language, syllables crisp and cold as metal clashing.
Raen's vertical pupil suddenly contracted—he understood.
"The shackles are broken in four, the vessel will awaken."
The cavern suddenly shook violently, the remaining chains of the Ironroot ancient tree stretched with a nerve-wracking tension. Countless fine cracks appeared on the silver-gray trunk's surface, golden light rushing through the tree's veins like blood. The corpses of dwarf priests nailed to the roots all lifted their heads simultaneously, eerie blue ghostly flames flickering in their hollow eye sockets!
"Ancestors above…" Ironbeard's beard trembled; runes on his warhammer lit up automatically. "Is this the awakening of the corpse spirits?!"
Ravenna snatched up the infant and tucked him into her arms, her dagger already drawn. "I knew it wouldn't be this simple!"
Seven dwarf corpses broke free from the roots simultaneously, their decayed finger bones clawing toward the nearest living being—Ironbeard. The old dwarf roared and swung his hammer; the rune-energized shockwave blasted three corpses to pieces, but the remaining four already surrounded him. Their movements were too quick for dead things, their joints bending unnaturally as they crawled, their jawbones splitting open to the ears, revealing writhing black worms inside.
Raen forced himself to stand, the Frostspeak sword hovering three inches above his palm. He tried to channel elven magic, but the turbulent energy inside made even the simplest spell fall apart. The ice crystals forming on the blade shattered into mist, but those dark red patterns suddenly came alive, crawling from his wrist up to the blade—
Dragon's Breath.
Crimson flames burst from the sword's edge, instantly engulfing the two closest corpses. The black worms screamed as they turned to ash in the blaze, but the flames surged onward, rolling toward Ironbeard!
"Move!" Raen shouted, trying to control the direction, but the Dragon's Breath was completely uncontrollable.
Ironbeard rolled awkwardly to dodge the fire tongue, his warhammer scraping the ground and sparking. "Control your new toy, elf!"
"I… can't control it…" Raen's temple dripped with cold sweat, his right eye's slit pupil contracted to the extreme. The dark red patterns frantically moved beneath his skin, as if another nervous system was taking over his body.
Suddenly, Ravenna lunged forward and pressed her purple-golden runed arm firmly on his chest. The moment the two forces collided, she grunted softly, a trickle of blood escaping her mouth, but the glow of the patterns forced back part of the dark red.
"Listen, you bastard." She panted heavily, her heterochromatic eyes locked onto his. "You've got three 'guests' inside you now; either make them coexist peacefully, or—"
The infant's small hand suddenly pressed against Raen's brow.
In that instant, time seemed to freeze.
Raen's vision was engulfed by pure white.
He stood in an infinitely extending white space, beneath his feet a mirror-like surface reflecting three twisted shadows—
On the left was an emerald-colored treant form, countless spheres of life light hanging among the branches;
On the right was a silver-blue elven silhouette, transparent wings of light spread behind;
Directly ahead was a coiled dragon-shaped shadow, molten lava flowing beneath dark red scales.
"Choose."
The infant's voice echoed through the space, carrying an authority far beyond his age.
Raen looked down at his reflection—his human shell was cracking, revealing the tangled chaotic energy beneath. Suddenly, he understood the situation: the integration of the elven crystal had broken the fragile balance inside, and the three great powers were vying for dominance.
"Only children make choices. Adults want all of them," he said to the void, his voice surprisingly calm. "Merge!"
He actively stepped toward the intersection of the three shadows. Emerald branches immediately entwined his left arm, the elven light wings covered his right side, and the dragon shadow directly pierced into his chest. The tearing pain made Raen collapse to his knees, but this time he did not resist; instead, he let go of all defenses, allowing the flood of energy to thoroughly cleanse every inch of his flesh.
The white space began to collapse, and the sounds of reality gradually became clear:
"—Raen! Wake up!"
Ravenna's palm struck heavily across his face.
Raen jerked his eyes open and found himself lying on the cavern floor. The intense pain inside had subsided, replaced by a strange sense of harmony. He raised his hand and saw the patterns on his skin had turned into spirals woven with emerald, silver-blue, and dark red, the three colors achieving a delicate balance at his wrist.
"Welcome back," Ravenna sighed with relief, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with her thumb. "You were flashing like a broken magic lamp just now."
The infant sat on her shoulder, his golden pupils slightly contracting as if assessing Raen's condition.
Ironbeard kicked aside the last corpse's remains; his mechanical eye emitted faint gear-turning sounds. "Interesting. The three ancient bloodlines didn't tear you apart."
Raen pushed himself up from the ground and suddenly noticed a change in the cavern—the golden light released by the Ironroot ancient tree was condensing mid-air, gradually forming a three-dimensional map: the full layout of the Dragonspine Mountains, with five particularly bright points connected by beams of light.
"The Watchers' locations…" he immediately realized, "These are the coordinates of the other five ancient trees!"
The map suddenly fluctuated; one light point flickered violently then turned dark red. Then the second, the third… as if some kind of corruption was spreading through the light bands.
The infant let out urgent cooing sounds, his small hand desperately pointing to the edge of the map—there was a moving black dot shaped like a spreading-winged crow.
"The Abyss Council's messenger," Ironbeard's one eye narrowed. "They are actively polluting the other ancient trees!"
Ravenna's runed arm suddenly stung, the purple-golden patterns pointing toward a fissure deep within the cavern. "The ancient tree is warning us—something has escaped from the root system!"
As if to confirm her words, a loud rumble of rock cracking came from afar, followed by the gurgling of flowing liquid. The sounds grew closer and louder until—
A section of the cavern wall suddenly melted.
Black slime surged out like a tide, coalescing before them into a vague humanoid shape. It had no facial features, but its head was embedded with seven eyes, each reflecting a different scene: burning forests, collapsing fortresses, crying infants…
That was—the Abyss Observer.
"Vessel," the monster's voice was like a thousand whispers spoken simultaneously, "The Council has finally found you."
Its seven eyes all turned toward the infant.
Raen's Frosttongue sword instantly drew from its sheath, and the newly fused energy caused the blade to display a strange tricolor spiral pattern. But even faster than him was the infant's reaction—the little one's golden pupils suddenly shone like a blazing sun, and a beam of light shot from his palm, piercing straight through the Observer's chest!
Black slime splattered, but the creature only shook, and new slime immediately replenished the wound.
"Useless," the Observer's eyes rotated, "I am the Shadow of the Abyss, the paradox of the laws of life."
Suddenly, it split into seven streams of black liquid, attacking the infant from different angles. Ravenna's dagger precisely intercepted two of the streams, Ironbeard's warhammer smashed one apart, and Raen's sword light cut through two more—but the remaining two were already closing in on the infant—
At the critical moment, branches of the Ironroot ancient tree suddenly swept across, its silvery-gray metallic leaves shredding the black streams like blades. The entire cavern echoed with the low rumble of the ancient tree, a sound that caused the Observer's form to momentarily disperse.
"The resonance of the Watchers…" the Observer's eyes spun wildly, "Impossible! The shackles are not yet fully broken!"
Raen seized the opportunity, plunging Frosttongue sword into the ground. Three energies flowed along the blade into the rock, forming a triple magic array beneath the Observer's feet:
Emerald green life vines wrapped its lower limbs;
Silver-blue elven rune chains bound its torso;
Dark red dragon's breath flames enveloped its head.
"Now." Raen's pupils reflected the three colors respectively, "Answer me—why did the Council choose me?"
The Observer's seven eyes simultaneously bled black blood, but its mouth split open revealing rotating sharp teeth inside: "Because you are not the vessel…"
The slime-formed body suddenly expanded.
"—You are the key!"
The explosion's shockwave blew the three flying. Raen opened a triple shield at the last second, but the black slime clung to the energy shield like a living creature, corroding it madly. The cavern ceiling began collapsing, huge rocks crashing down on the exposed roots of the ancient tree.
Ironbeard spat blood, all the runes on his warhammer lighting up: "We must protect the ancient tree!"
Ravenna's runed arm suddenly lifted uncontrollably, the purple-golden light forming a beam shooting toward one of the unbroken shackles. "No!" she shouted, "The ancient tree is guiding us—the fifth shackle is the key!"
Raen looked toward where she pointed. Among all the shackles, the fifth one looked most ordinary but faintly pulsed with the same golden light as the infant.
The Observer's remnants reassembled on the rock wall, emitting a distorted laugh: "Too late… the messenger has already set off… the other Watchers are about to…"
Its voice abruptly cut off.
The infant, unknown when, floated before the ancient tree's trunk, his small palm touching the fifth shackle. This time, a complete illusion appeared around him—a tall man clad in paladin armor, holding a sword in his right hand and a metallic tome in his left.
The complete form of Adrian.
"In the name of protection." The illusion's voice overlapped with the infant's cooing, "Shackles, be broken."
Golden light erupted like a flood, and the fifth shackle instantly crumbled to dust. The Ironroot ancient tree let out an earth-shattering roar; the remaining two shackles broke on their own, and the entire massive tree stretched out, its canopy piercing the cavern ceiling!
Sunlight stabbed into the darkness like a sharp sword.
The Observer screamed as it evaporated in the light; at the last moment, its seven eyes all exploded, releasing seven beams of black light shooting in different directions—obviously sending messages to other messengers.
Raen's vertical pupil tracked one of the black beams' trajectories: "It went east!"
"Towards Glass City," Ironbeard's mechanical eye calculated wildly, "The largest gathering place for alchemists on the eastern continent…"
Ravenna suddenly pressed her temple, her runed arm trembling uncontrollably: "Wait, I saw it… beneath Glass City… there's a Watcher completely encased in metal…"
A shadow of turning gears flickered deep within her pupils, evidently a deeper memory triggered by the ancient tree's resonance.
The infant slowly descended from the air, the illusion dissipating, returning to the appearance of an ordinary child. But in his golden pupils, a trace of Adrian's steadiness now lingered.
The Ironroot ancient tree stretched its branches under the sunlight, its metallic leaves clinking like wind chimes. The trunk surface revealed the outline of a door, slowly opening to expose a rotating star chart inside—
A teleportation portal.
"Looks like we have no choice." Ravenna stretched her numb runed arm, a roguish smile tugging at her lips, "East Continent, Glass City, here we come?"
Raen looked down at the drowsy infant in his arms, the three energies' patterns flowing calmly beneath his skin.
"Let's go," he whispered, "before the Council pollutes the other ancient trees."
Ironbeard stroked the crack on his warhammer, his one eye gazing toward the blue sky visible at the cavern's top: "The dwarves have been silent for too long… it's time to let the Council taste the fury of the forge."
The three and the infant stepped toward the rotating light door of the star chart.
Behind them, the branches and leaves of the Ironroot ancient tree moved without wind, as if chanting an ancient prophetic poem.