The sky hung low, and the sea wind howled.
A multicolored rainbow tore through the thick clouds, plummeting from high altitude directly into the isolated island deep in the North Sea.
That was Forbidden Isolated Island—Neltharion's former laboratory and training ground.
The five-colored streams of light gradually faded, revealing two massive dragon shadows slowly descending.
The former glowed intensely, his scales shimmering with red, blue, green, bronze, and black hues under the sunlight; this was Obsidian's incarnation, Ekseltus.
The latter was pure deep black, the edges of his scales faintly gleaming with a cold, hard, dark silver metallic luster—the "Black Dragon Prince" Nefarian.
"This...is my father's old laboratory?" Nefarian folded his wings, landing heavily beside Ekseltus.
The sea wind tore fiercely, bringing with it a pungent, salty smell mixed with an indescribable scent of decay.
"Yes," Ekseltus said in a deep voice, surveying his surroundings, "What you see before you is the entirety of Forbidden Isolated Island."
The entire island resembled an ancient dragon bone shattered by immense force.
Towering mountains formed its skeleton, with peaks rising in layers, piercing the clouds like a dragon's spine savagely emerging from the deep sea.
Between the mountains, dense mist surged relentlessly, and broken cliffs interlocked like jagged teeth.
Dull thunder intermittently echoed through the peaks and valleys.
Only the areas near the coast and inland rivers were relatively flat, scattered with the ruins of circular, domed buildings, clearly draconic in style, eroded by the long years.
"This place...doesn't look much like a laboratory; it's more like an abandoned graveyard," Nefarian murmured, his voice suppressing indescribable complex emotions.
"Deathwing completely abandoned this place after losing control of the Dracthyr Titan artifact," Ekseltus's gaze was calm and unwavering as he raised a foreclaw and pointed towards the west side of the main island—a small subsidiary island shrouded in a hazy sea mist, "There's a treasure vault left by your father over there; you can go check it out first."
Nefarian paused slightly, his gaze shifting between the main island and the subsidiary island: "You're not coming with me?"
"I have other things to do." Ekseltus offered no explanation, waving a dragon claw to etch a profound luminous pattern on the ground.
The pattern instantly expanded into a deep portal.
He stepped in with his foreclaws, his voice carried by the wind: "You're an adult dragon now; you don't need me to accompany you all the time, do you?"
Nefarian's dragon wings instinctively spread slightly, his sharp claws gripping the ground's rocks.
The annoyance of being left alone intertwined with the thought of being "tested" by his mentor, and he let out a low snort: "Hmph, just as I intended."
Just then, an elegant blue figure silently glided out of the thick mist from a nearby cliff, hovering a hundred meters in front of Nefarian's right.
This was an adult blue dragon, his scales like ice condensed from the deep sea, his physique lean and fluid.
He did not land, maintaining a cautious distance, his ice-blue vertical pupils sharply scrutinizing the unfamiliar black dragon.
"Unfamiliar visitor," the blue dragon spoke, his voice calm yet majestic like a cold wind, "This place is a forbidden zone jointly designated by Neltharion and Malygos. State your purpose."
Nefarian's eyes narrowed slightly. This place had been sealed since before the War of the Ancients, and this blue dragon clearly had not learned the truth after the War of the Ancients, still considering his father one of his loyal allies.
Complex emotions churned within his chest. He took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound calm and authoritative:
"I am Nefarian, heir to the Black Dragonflight, and the bloodline of this island's former master. I have come here to follow my father's footsteps, to understand the legacy he left behind and...the truth."
The blue dragon was clearly unfamiliar with the name, his brow furrowing slightly, but he did not immediately react.
He pointed to himself: "Rabisargos." He stated his name, the wariness in his tone undiminished, "Even if you truly are a black dragon descendant, you have no right to trespass here. Sealing this island was a joint decision by Malygos and Neltharion."
Nefarian's mind raced.
Forcing his way in was clearly unwise, and he also needed more information about this island.
"I understand your duties," he softened his tone, "but the purpose of my visit is not invasion or seizure, but inheritance and understanding."
"Perhaps we can reach some agreement, allowing me to explore my father's legacy without violating the Forbidden Isolated Island's seal?"
The blue dragon was silent for a moment, seemingly weighing the gravity of Nefarian's words.
"I cannot decide this matter alone," Rabisargos finally said, "If you wish, you may follow me to the northern valley to speak with Andestrasz and Vinagosa. If they also agree, we may consider opening certain areas for you to explore."
"Alright." Nefarian agreed readily.
The two dragons then unfurled their massive wings and flew together towards the island's northern valley.
Crossing the steep ridge, the valley landscape suddenly opened up.
The northern valley was low-lying, tightly embraced by cliffs on all sides, with a deep, inky blue lake at its bottom.
At the center of the lake, dozens of magnificent arcane crystals quietly floated, emitting powerful magical fluctuations.
These energies intertwined into intricate blue Context, enveloping the entire valley in a powerful energy field.
On the steep rock face in the northwest corner of the valley, stood a massive stone platform, its surface covered with glowing blue-silver runes.
Behind the platform, a several-hundred-meter-tall alloy gate stood ajar, with magic visibly swirling like mist through the gap.
"Beyond that gate is the area Andestrasz is responsible for," Rabisargos reminded him in a deep voice as he lowered his altitude, "He is the strongest among us three dragons; you had best be cautious."
Nefarian nodded in acknowledgment, following closely behind.
As the two dragons folded their wings, landed on the platform, and stepped through the alloy gate, an extremely strange aura assailed them—
It was not the scent of death, but a viscous, sickeningly sweet, and putridly fishy suffocating sensation, so heavy it seemed to clog a dragon's respiratory organs like mucus.
The arcane glow that should have been bright within the passage was now extremely dim, the air permeated by a sickly gray-yellow hue.
Countless tiny, dense insects, like living dust, swarmed frantically in the murky air.
Below the passage was a relatively open cavern, which should have been Andestrasz's dwelling and monitoring center.
However, the sight before them made Rabisargos let out a roar of shock and anger, and Nefarian's vertical pupils abruptly constricted!
In the center of the cavern, the largest blue dragon, Andestrasz, lay on the ground.
His once brilliant blue scales, like deep-sea jewels, were now dull and lifeless, large areas of his body covered and gnawed by countless writhing small insects.
Most horrifyingly, these tiny insects were densest around his massive head and neck, forming a thick, mucous-like suffocating membrane that tightly enveloped and blocked his mouth and nostrils.
Andestrasz's massive chest was rising and falling with extreme difficulty and weakness, each breath squeezing out painful hissing sounds from beneath the insect membrane, his life force flickering like a candle in the wind, on the verge of extinction.
"Don't move!" Nefarian suddenly stretched out a dragon wing to stop Rabisargos, who was about to rush in recklessly, his voice low and urgent, "These insects are extremely dangerous!"
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