CHAPTER 65: THE RULER OF NIGHT AND SHADOWS

At first, it might sound to many that Holdrake’s goal was like Jett’s. Both wanted humans and dragons to work together, so only the extinction of Light Dragons in Holdrake’s plan seemed like a problem. But Jett did not think it this way. He could not expect someone whose existence was born through resentment and death to have ambitions similar to his.

"You want dragons to be dependent on humans, and vice versa, don’t you?!" Jett shouted back, raising his guard coated in Iebo.

Holdrake smashed his battle‑ax at him and replied, "Dragons are born through eggs. Even though they are mammals, they hatch eggs! This ensures they’re born in dragon forms, but my son wasn’t born from an egg! This disgusted Light Clan the most, even though we had such a beautiful miracle!"

Where is he heading with this? Jett thought as he exchanged blows with the man.

Holdrake screamed, "I will use Dragon Guardian privilege to make dragons no longer hatch eggs and make them unlock their dragon forms through dragonslayer magic from the hands of humans! Humans who help awaken dragon forms will create a natural bond with the dragons and strengthen themselves this way as well, but also become dependent on the dragons for strength, mana, and powers!"

In the long run, dragons would not be able to reach their full potential or keep their culture without humans. Similarly, humans would not be able to learn anything other than dragonslayer magic. Or rather, this magic would be naturally the strongest in their hands, so learning other types of magic would be too difficult and useless.

Holdrake also had more plans for that. He wanted humans and dragons to reproduce together naturally, so those with both human and dragon bloodlines would be the truly strongest. No longer a miracle, he wanted what happened to his son to be the norm.

"You want to weaken dragons and humans!" Jett replied.

"Only at the beginning, they would be weaker. In the long run, they will become even more invincible!" Holdrake barked back.

He looked at the skies where the other two dragons were brawling. It went without saying that Skytianeus did not truly want to fight, and so he was on the defensive mode all the time, but that only cost him severe wounds. His porcelain scales had been ripped off by the Dragon Empress’ Void powers and his blood dripped down like waterfalls. He hadn’t let out so much as a groan, but it was clear he was in a lot of pain.

When Jett followed Holdrake’s line of sight, the strongest dragonslayer revealed his real objective. His body gleamed in golden light that morphed him into a golden beam, which went past Jett in a flash. On his track, no one stopped Holdrake, so he easily went past maids whose orders were not to do anything. Mia did not show anything on her face. Noctlisa narrowed her eyes and tracked the man’s wake with her eyes, turning her head around. Eleonora narrowed her eyes and remained calm, though she inwardly hated the new development of this situation. It just... took time, did not it? All in all, Holdrake entered the Dragon Guardian’s Palace. His whole existence was a huge miracle, so Jett did not doubt he had much more up his sleeve and could truly achieve what he wanted despite Skytianeus still being alive. Perhaps, if Skytianeus were to get even more wounded, it’d be easier for Holdrake to claim control over the palace.

Jett stole a glance at the Dragon Empress’ prominent and terrifying dragon form. You are fucking lucky that I am here, Dragon Empress.

He sped up toward his maids.

"Follow me," he said.

And with that, the Warden stepped into the Dragon Guardian Palace.

—

Inside, Jett was greeted by gigantic statues of previous Dragon Guardians. Their intricate statues depicting their miniature dragon forms displayed all around the palace’s grand hall made it seem like they were alive and glaring down at him. Their forms were sculpted from bronze, and the entire palace carried the same color and mood. The air here was different, but it had been stained by Holdrake’s presence, so Jett could easily follow him.

Soon, they went underground and entered a special place that even Skytianeus did not often visit. Holdrake broke open the gates with his strength and dragon roar amplified by dragonslayer magic. Jett entered after him through a hole in the gates, his maids following after him. Inside that place, Jett momentarily froze as he saw a dragon‑scaled wall with various colored veins throbbing on it.

[You have found out the Dragon Lineage Origins.]

Each color represented a specific dragon clan. Red, blue, golden, and purple were the colors that shone the most on this peculiar vista, whereas colors like white or silver had the thinnest veins and lacked prominent luster, seemingly here out of pity. It was exactly for that reason that Skytianeus did not come here often. He could not bear to see how unpopulated and weak his bloodline was despite all his efforts.

As for Jett, the right corner of this wall caught his attention. It was blacked out, as though waiting for a new bloodline to sprout here. He could not tell what caught his attention here, but soon he realized something related to the Warden was present. He willed to know more, and that part responded to his wish. It suddenly shone with a dense violet light, drawing new, intricate veins. Then, black chains sprouted out of nowhere, shackling those draconic veins until their light entirely disappeared. After that, the chains also blended with the dark background.

[You have found the seal cast by the Ruler of Night and Shadows, the 17th Warden.]

What were you plotting, 17th?

Jett did not get to learn more about this seal, for Holdrake raised his ax and was about to smash it straight into the middle of the Dragon Lineage Origins.

"Stop him," Jett ordered.

In a flash, Noctlisa and Eleonora vanished from sight and jointly flanked the man, thrusting their weapons at him. That alone forced Holdrake to lose his balance and retreat, forcing him to put distance between himself and the ancient wall.

Just then, another heavy presence entered the room. Jett and the others were so familiar with it that they immediately knew the Dragon Empress was on her way. Soon, she blasted open the gates of this ancient room and strode forward. In her human form, she had her tail low and coiled around wounded Skytianeus, who had momentarily lost focus due to Holdrake’s intrusion into the palace. His state was miserable and in jeopardy, but Jett needed to remain calm.

He clenched his arms and properly surveyed the situation. Meanwhile, the Dragon Empress bore down her stare into the purple veins on the ancient wall before lifting her gaze to the blackened part. Her heart throbbed, and what the Harbinger told her resurfaced in her mind.

"She was correct. The Warden has... weakened us," she muttered.

Her words were a command to Jett’s system, and he received an explanation from it.

[The 17th Warden, the Ruler of Night and Shadows, stopped the sky war between the dragons and the winged demons, whose casualties threatened to drive both exalted races into extinction. In that sky war, he learned about the potential of the Void Dragon—the Dragon Emperor at the time—and feared his lineage would repeat the ambitious war again. Moreover, he also saw through the true potential of the Void Dragon, which could erase existences such as the Warden, the Harbinger, or the Chronicler for longer than the world could endure. In collaboration with the Dragon Guardian, the 17th Warden made a contract with him and sealed the Void Dragon bloodline by sacrificing the Sky Dragon bloodlines, whose numbers and strength were the greatest at the time due to their command of the skies, which helped them dominate the war.]

Fucking hell. So the reason Skytianeus can’t restore his bloodline to its former glory is because of the 17th Warden? He sacrificed that bloodline to seal the Void Dragon. And now, the current Dragon Empress is the Void Dragon... and she’s seen through this scheme.

"Chains of night and shadows..." the Dragon Empress muttered. "If history is right, those belong to the 17th Warden who stopped our war against the winged demons. The cowards’ Sky Dragons were the most prominent race in that war, even more than the emperor at the time, the Void Dragon. Word has it that the Void Dragon Emperor died with regrets and secrets he could not share with his people."

...stop talking, Jett inwardly begged.

The Dragon Empress’ expression grew even colder. She turned her eyes to Skytianeus and spoke to him. "The chains of night and shadows suggest that the 17th Warden surely tinkered with our lineage. Your race at that time was the strongest, and now, eons later, it’s the weakest. Surely, you do not think it’s a mere coincidence, Skytianeus?"

All this time, she had called him coward like everyone else.

But now, she used his name.

And that resonated deep in Skytianeus’ heart.