Chiron stood atop the hill, gazing towards the mountains. Above the dim sky, the massive sun cast its final glow, sinking below the peaks.
Lady Selene's Moonstone was rising on the other side of the firmament, and the Moon Maiden's mysterious veil gradually enveloped the entire sky, cool, hazy, serene, and elegant.
Legend has it that under the devout prayers of believers, those who believe in the Moon Maiden will see the sacred and mysterious Moon Gate at the moment of their death.
The purest souls can pass through this Moon Gate and arrive at the Garden of Jose, where the Moon Maiden resides, finding the solace and peace of their souls.
In the past, many Centaur Warriors of the Centaur Tribe believed in the Moon Goddess, but now their Lord of Faith has become the Red Monarch who rules the wilderness and forests, the earth and the sky.
Therefore, the loyal Centaur Warriors, the heroic souls who died in battle, should serve by the Red Dragon's throne and belong to the True Dragon's Temple.
The wind of the grassland carried the evening mist, sending the living's memorial songs afar and guiding the dead's devout souls to their resting place.
"Through the boundless forest, over the endless long river, through the graveyard where countless warriors are buried, ascend that sacred peak,"
"The True Dragon's Temple is located atop the peak, that is where loyal and brave souls find their eternal rest,"
"Oh, souls unwilling to perish, then return to the Temple of Heroes! You shall enter this temple with the most loyal of souls, to enjoy eternal peace and forever accompany the throne!"
The armor on this strong Dragonkin monster was already dented, its inner plating pierced, and the blood scales exposed outside the armor were shattered. Blood stained his dark armor a dark red, like a thick layer of rust.
But Chiron's body still stood upright, the Royal Banner of the Orc Alliance serving as his crutch, propping up his heavy frame from behind.
The powerful Great Orc Chieftain Dettan's head still had wide, angry eyes, but the dense bloodshot veins in the Great Orc Chieftain's eyes had dimmed.
Because his head had been cut off by the Centaur, held in his hand, and together with the Centaur, he gazed upon the entire battlefield.
Chiron looked at the countless bodies on the now silent battlefield; one by one, the bodies of the Steel Knights, though long dead, still stood unyielding.
The spears and swords that pierced these warriors' bodies supported their frames.
The Steel Knights' spirit, unyielding to death, supported their spines.
Their loyalty and faith in the True Dragon supported their high heads.
In front of each Steel Knight, several times their number of enemies had fallen, their bodies shattered by the Steel Knights, and the Steel Knights' broken blades were still embedded in these enemies' bones.
All the Orc cavalry lay here, their bones scattered, not a single one escaped, and not a single one survived.
The living Steel Knights stood beside the dead, singing the memorial song.
Chiron was also moved by this tragic and desolate atmosphere, drawn by the memorial song, and hoarsely hummed along.
Two True Dragons lay prostrate in the center of the battlefield; their iron scales were broken, their True Dragon skin seeped blood, their membrane wings were fractured, and their long tails were bent.
But these two female True Dragons still stretched their long necks, held their True Dragon heads high, and sang loudly, their deep and resonant Dragon Language echoing the song of the living, carried by the evening wind into the distance, crossing space and time, reaching the peaks of the mountains.
The Grey Wolf Knights herded the fleeing Orcs together, like masters tending to cattle and sheep. Even though their arrows were exhausted and their ammunition spent, no Orc dared to resist these weak Kobold and Green Goblin.
These Kobold and Green Goblin drove the wild wolves, herding the Orcs, while chanting along with the song in the evening wind.
Thousands of logistical and support infantry legions were composed of voluntarily conscripted warriors.
Although they had not yet undergone long training to form effective combat power, they still rode the warhorses from the beast park, swinging long whips in their left hands, like driving home reluctant chickens and ducks, intercepting the routed Orcs on the grassland.
Each human soldier could stop one or two Orcs, and some brave warriors even herded more than ten Orcs forward at once; if any Orc slowed down even slightly, these warriors' long whips would fall upon their bodies.
Thousands of soldiers, facing the last rays of the sun, herded over twenty thousand fleeing Orcs back to the battlefield, and their voices joined the increasingly loud song in the evening wind.
The song was loud, but the life of the former Centaur Tribe leader, the powerful Centaur female warrior Kari, was nearing its end.
A battle spear forged from the spine of a Shadow True Dragon, the weapon of the powerful Great Orc Chieftain Dettan, pierced through the body of this Centaur Warrior, pinning this Centaur to the battlefield.
But as this powerful weapon penetrated Kari's body, this brave and formidable female warrior also gripped the battle spear tightly, causing the Great Orc Chieftain Dettan to lose his most powerful weapon and meet his destined end.
Yet, even a Centaur with strong vitality, a powerful warrior who had entered the extraordinary realm, was about to face the end of her life with this one blow.
The head of the Centaur Kari was gently cradled by her mate, the equally powerful Centaur Warrior Trogdor.
The male Centaur had removed his gauntlet, his broad palm cushioning his mate's head, to prevent the evening dampness and dew from chilling his beloved.
Although Centaur indulge in pleasure, they are loyal to their partners, and every Centaur will accompany their partner until death.
"Trogdor, my love, do even strong warriors like you shed tears? Do not let your tears wet my heart,"
Kari's beautiful face had lost its color, the flower of life withering, but she still raised her hand and stroked Trogdor's resolute face.
Trogdor remained silent, but tears welled in his eyes, feeling the temperature of his mate's palm, which was already nearing coldness, chilling his own heart.
"Do not be sad, Trogdor, though our Lord's body rests deeply, his will accompanies us. I have already seen the light of the sanctuary, that is our Lord's guidance, he will grant me eternal rest,"
Kari's voice was exceptionally gentle at this moment, devoid of the authority and sternness of a leader.
"I will wait for you in the sanctuary, Trogdor, my love, my mate, come, do not let me suffer any more pain!"
The Centaur Trogdor nodded, his trembling hands becoming exceptionally steady at this moment. He gently grasped the battle spear that had pierced his beloved.
He whispered, "Go, fly to the Dragon clan's hall, my love. I will use this battle spear to stain it with the blood of our enemies. We shall drive the enemies from our Lord's lands, and then, with supreme glory, I will meet you in the sanctuary."
Clang!
The next second, Trogdor gripped the battle spear tightly and pulled it out, the flower of life withered, and the will of flesh and blood perished.
But in the loud song in the evening wind, Trogdor suddenly raised his head, Chiron also raised his head, and countless soldiers and True Dragon all raised their heads.
The words of the dead are not heard by the living, and the spirits of the dead are not seen by the living. But at this moment, everyone, in a trance, saw that at the impossibly distant mountain peaks, that tall sacred hall opened its doors.
A light unseen by the living shone within, guiding the wandering and lost souls on the battlefield. Layers of illusory stairs descended from the void, connecting the sacred hall with the souls.
These fallen souls looked up, and in that sacred hall, countless heroic warrior spirits awaited. They stood in formation on either side of the hall's great doors, welcoming the loyal and brave souls with the most respectful ceremony.
These souls did not hesitate; they sang the True Dragon song and entered the True Dragon's sanctuary. Trogdor saw that Kari's soul was among them.
Even the most intense light will eventually fade, and songs too have an end.
When the singing across the entire battlefield ceased, the commander of the reserve corps and the leader of the Beast Knight Order came before the Centaur Warrior Chiron.
In Chiron's hand, the Great Chieftain Dettan's head was particularly grotesque. This deceased Orc had also enjoyed renown among the tribes on the grassland, being one of the strongest warriors, yet now he lay dead at the hands of this Centaur.
This made the already highly esteemed Dragonkin monster appear even more powerful, earning him exceptional respect from others.
"Lord Chiron, most of the fleeing Orcs have been rounded up, and there are still nearly twenty thousand Orcs. What should we do next?"
Currently, almost all adult combat-oriented Dragonkin have been organized into legions and various reserve corps. The leader of the Beast Knight Order is a strong Kobold; the new generation of Kobold has already surpassed the strongest human youths.
"Have those Orcs identify their leaders and those holding power, then behead them on the spot. Cut off all enemy heads; they will serve as offerings to the heroes and a warning from the Dragon clan,"
The Centaur Chiron subtly shifted his body away from the battle flag behind him, and said in a chilling tone, "Make those Orc prisoners carry our fallen warriors back. Anyone who dares to escape or cause trouble will be executed!"
...
Night enveloped the Golden Land, and the bright moon hung high, but even Lady Moon's moon could not overshadow the towering mountain that perpetually spewed endless flames and magma.
During Kalon's slumber, this mountain peak grew at an almost visible rate each day.
At this time, the Red Dragon's True Dragon Nest, the figure of the Red Dragon, was no longer seen in the boiling magma lake. The scorched island that was originally in the center of the magma lake had long been submerged by the rising magma, and the Red Dragon sleeping upon it was naturally submerged in the scorching magma.
Now, the Red Dragon's True Dragon Nest is filled with cracks to sub-planes, these cracks are wide enough for an adult human to pass through freely.
But the elemental spirits and essences of those lower sub-planes kept away from these terrifying cracks; for elemental spirits, these cracks were hell and abyss, capable of devouring their lives.
Countless condensed elemental magic power transformed into various mineral essences, floating and sinking in the magma lake. Through a large amount of magic power and energy supplementation and catalysis, this Red Dragon finally reached the critical point of transformation.
The sleeping will of this Red Dragon still habitually suppressed the Evil Dragon Blood within him, doing so with such ease and simplicity.
In the material world of the Prime Plane, the previous generation's bloodline, which stood at the apex, became so ordinary before this Red Dragon, having already become a hindrance to this Red Dragon's progress.
In the True Dragon's inheritance, all True Dragons can understand that the True Dragon as a race originated from creatures in the Astral Plane at the dawn of the world.
The Dragon bloodlines in the Astral Plane were pure and immensely powerful, countless times stronger than any True Dragon currently residing in any material plane.
True Dragons later scattered from the Astral Plane into the endless material planes. Although those material planes also had infinitely vast territories, they were still unable to sustain the overly powerful bloodlines and massive bodies of the Ancestral Dragon.
Thus, through generations of inheritance and reproduction, to adapt to the environment of the material planes and make it easier for True Dragon to survive, the blood of True Dragon's descendants gradually evolved, becoming weaker.
So, to this day, the previous generation's bloodline, which is closest to the Ancestral Dragon, meaning the strongest offspring bloodline among the Ancestral Dragon's descendants, has become the apex bloodline in various worlds.
In the current world, the bloodline of the Ancestral Dragons hardly exists; even if it does, it belongs to the divine favor of two relatively active Dragon Gods. No True Dragon can rely on itself to compare with those powerful Ancestral Dragon that, once grown, can almost shake gods.
But Kalon could achieve it; the powerful previous generation bloodline became so ordinary under this Red Dragon's supreme will, and the desires and sins of the previous generation bloodline were so weak.
Thus, in the growth of its bloodline, a stronger bloodline began to boil, transforming into flowing flames, burning away all corrupt desires and the previous generation's dragon blood, solely to revive that supreme Ancestral Dragon Blood.
In the Red Dragon's mental sea, the earth collapsed, volcanoes erupted, and the roar of will within his bloodline echoed, giving birth to and reviving deeper primal desires.
With the birth of the Ancestral Dragon Blood, the Red Dragon's body subtly changed, and the fiery purgatory outside his body also began to boil, and the domain that had absorbed endless fire energy transformed at this moment.
Within the domain, the fiercely burning flames, wanting to turn everything to ash, twisted and transformed. These flames evolved from simple forms into complex living forms.
Beams of leaping flames transformed into elemental spirits: firebirds, fire ravens, fire oxen, fire horses, fire giants. These spirits born from flames began to run and leap like true living beings in the next moment.
These fire spirits' range of activity was limited to the Red Dragon's domain; once they stepped out of the domain, they would perish and then be reborn within the Red Dragon's domain, evidently not yet able to become true life.
But even so, these spirits began to pray and praise the Father who created them, that ignorant Red Dragon.
But their Father had long entered deep slumber, the Red Dragon's consciousness sunken into the deepest illusion.
The moment the Ancestor Blood was born within the Red Dragon's body, Kalon's consciousness seemed to flow into this illusion.
It was an infinitely distant land, a battlefield where gods and deities waged war, a realm where saints clashed with saints. Countless warriors, endless races fought in the sky, on land, in the ocean, and in the divine realms.
Grand True Dragons, with their majestic figures, clustered around a great Dragon God. These True Dragons had five distinct scale colors: red, blue, green, black, and white. Each True Dragon was at least tens of meters in size.
The aura of these True Dragon was as majestic as ancient divine mountains, as deep as an endless abyss, each one demonstrating unparalleled power.
And among them, a Red Dragon, over a hundred meters long, majestic and ferocious, soared and plunged through the sky. Countless enemies wailed and fell into the abyss of death under this Red Dragon's claws, teeth, and fiery breath.
Kalon could feel that the origin of his bloodline came from this Red Dragon. It seemed that the ancestral source that passed down Kalon's bloodline had not died, which was quite rare for the Red Dragon race.
Kalon turned his gaze to the Dragon God surrounded by countless True Dragons; that was the Dark Lady, the Undying True Dragon Queen, the Enemy of the Gods, the Chromatic Dragon Goddess Tiamat.
This Dragon God, formed by the convergence and fusion of various colors, like a multicolored Dragon, had four limbs and sharp claws as massive as a divine mountain supporting her body, which was too immense to describe. Five necks of different colors supported the fierce heads representing the Chromatic Dragon.
Red Dragon, Blue Dragon, Green Dragon, Black True Dragon, White True Dragon; each head possessed the most distinct characteristics of its respective colored Dragon, and each head was more powerful and cunning than an Ancient Dragon.
As if sensing Kalon's gaze, this indescribably grand True Dragon suddenly twisted her head back, and that strongest, most brutal Red Dragon head actually stared at Kalon at that moment.
Crack!
The next second, the entire profound illusion shattered like broken glass, as if struck by some mysterious and powerful force, scattering into Kalon's mental sea.
An invisible aura descended at this moment. Although Kalon's perception saw nothing, his intuition told him that, silently, a powerful presence had arrived.
"Tiamat," the sleeping Red Dragon opened his mouth and spoke the name.