BOOM!!!
The blinding blast instantly swallowed the Yellow Emperor's head.
At such close range, the force far exceeded anything before it. A shriek followed, so piercing it sounded nothing like a cry from any living creature.
As the flames receded, the Yellow Emperor's face was revealed as a mangled ruin of flesh and blood. Its claws had been blown apart, viscous black fluid oozing from the remains, and several tentacles had been torn away. It looked utterly battered and wretched.
It seemed to finally grasp the terror of the golden dragons. With a hiss filled with fear and fury, its enormous body twisted violently, trying to plunge back into the Bleeding Sea that sheltered it below.
Escape?
Lo Quen wasn't about to repeat his past mistake. He would never again let Euron slip back into the sea to recover.
Lo Quen sneered inwardly. He was no longer who he once had been. His massive forelimb claws clamped down hard on the Yellow Emperor's body as it attempted to dive.
"Up you come!"
The golden dragons let out a thunderous roar. Muscles bulged as terrifying strength erupted, and with a brutal heave and swing, they dragged the creature upward.
Gravely wounded, the Yellow Emperor had no hope of resisting. Its colossal body was ripped from the edge of the Bleeding Sea and slammed viciously onto the hard black stone ground of K'Dath.
BOOM!!!
The impact blasted a deep crater into the ground as the Yellow Emperor convulsed in agony.
Lo Quen did not hesitate.
While it's weak, finish it!
Another Explosive Dragonfire Projectile instantly formed in his mouth and slammed straight into the Yellow Emperor's barely recognizable body.
BOOM!!!
This explosion was the final blow.
The strange yellow markings across the Yellow Emperor's body flickered wildly before fading into complete darkness. Its twisted form crackled and sizzled under the relentless Dragonfire as its vitality drained away at a terrifying speed.
Golden flames mercilessly consumed its shell.
At last, something was exposed within its nearly burned-through chest.
An enormous black stone.
With one final, feeble hiss, the Yellow Emperor's massive body went completely still. Dragonfire engulfed it entirely, reducing it to a heap of charred remains.
Just like that… it was over?
Lo Quen reverted to human form and landed on the ground, staring at the blackened wreckage with a strange look on his face.
The battle had been intense, yet the Yellow Emperor hadn't displayed the overwhelming pressure he had expected. It was nowhere near the sheer terror of the true Yellow Emperor, Hastur.
Lo Quen couldn't help but wonder whether he had grown too strong, or whether this Yellow Emperor had always been an incomplete abomination.
In the next moment, his doubts were replaced by surprise.
From the charred remains, a brilliantly radiant orb slowly floated upward.
A Dragon's Soul!
The system notification rang out at once.
[Detected death of high-level magical entity. Absorbing 100,000 Dragon's Soul…]
So that's how it works!
Realization dawned on Lo Quen. "Monsters that consume Blackstone and form ties with certain Outer God forces are what the system defines as high-level magical entities."
Without the slightest hesitation, he absorbed the massive Dragon's Soul.
In an instant, the Dragonblood within him surged like molten lava, his power skyrocketing once more.
[Dragonblood Purity: 90%]
His bloodline purity had reached 90 percent!
Only one final step remained before reaching the ultimate 100 percent.
Lo Quen's heart surged with anticipation as he imagined the earth-shattering power he would gain once his Dragonblood reached completion.
But at that moment, a muffled, suppressed sob drew his attention back to the exposed black stone area.
Jon's face was soaked with tears, his eyes filled with boundless anguish.
Both his hands gripped the Dark Sister. At some point, the blades had ignited on their own, blazing with searing white flames as they plunged into the woman's chest.
"I'm sorry… Ygritte… I couldn't control it… I couldn't control myself…"
Jon's voice was hoarse, filled with grief beyond words.
His legs seemed bound by invisible chains, firmly anchored to the Blackstone beneath his feet. An ominous red glow flickered across his body, as though he had become part of some vast ritual.
Opposite him, the moment the flame-wreathed longsword pierced Ygritte's chest, the icy blue light in her eyes dimmed slightly, revealing a trace of release.
She looked at Jon, at the guilt and torment etched into his face. Her breathing was weak, yet she still spoke in a faint voice.
"No… Jon… do you remember? Beyond the Wall… when you asked me… why I was called 'kissed by fire'…"
Her gaze seemed to pierce time itself, returning to that warm cave, to the night when they held each other close.
"…Now… you should understand…"
Hearing this, Jon broke down, sobbing until he could barely breathe, tears blurring his vision as he stared at the scene before him.
The flaming longsword was buried in the chest of the woman he loved.
This was the "kissed by fire."
Yet when fire kissed her, it did not grant the rebirth of legend. It brought only eternal death.
Brilliant, daylight-bright flames spread rapidly across Ygritte's body. Within the fire, her form gradually became transparent, then began to dissipate.
In the end, she turned into countless points of icy blue light, like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind, vanishing completely into the air.
All that remained was Jon, kneeling atop the massive Blackstone, clutching the burning Dark Sister as he let out a cry of utter despair.
In the next moment, the flames on Dark Sister slowly died away.
The dark rippling patterns along the Valyrian steel blade transformed, taking on a hue like milky white crystal glass.
Lo Quen watched the scene, regret stirring in his heart that he had been held back by the Yellow Emperor and hadn't been able to stop Jon in time.
Now that it had happened, there was no undoing it.
Chai Yiq, seated atop Seaheart, murmured, "So that's how it is. That sword is most likely Dark Sister. Your Grace, you once told us of the words of the Old Gods, and of what the Amethyst Empress of Stygia told us as well. Behind light lies darkness. The so-called Dark Sister is exactly that. The bringer of light is darkness, and the dark sister is light. From its very name, that sword was destined to become the bringer of light this time."
Lo Quen nodded in sudden realization.
So the true bringer of light bore the name of darkness.
In the Great Sand Sea, the Bloodstone Emperor had told him that only a sword that completed the ritual could be called the bringer of light.
That blade, now transformed into milky white crystal glass, was just like the greatsword Dawn, having drawn upon the powers of ice and fire alike.
At that moment, the blood-red runes carved into the Blackstone beneath Jon flared with blinding brilliance. Resonating with the red glow flickering across his body and his sacrificial act that fulfilled an ancient ritual, they suddenly ignited.
The Blood Sea of K'Dath began to boil in response.
In the blink of an eye, dense magical power surged across the entire sea of blood.
That vast magic gathered into a colossal pillar of light, which shot straight toward the star-filled sky.
Everyone was left stunned.
A terrifying will, far greater than that of the Yellow Emperor, seemed to be awakening in response to the completed ritual, slowly casting its gaze from the boundless depths of the Blood Sea…