Chapter 373

Chapter 373
## Chapter 373

Dragon’s Child (1)

“Ah…”

A low breath escaped Zhuge Hyemi as her eyes remained locked on the firmament.

The grand presentation of the majestic dragons, cleaving through the tempestuous heavens,

Combined with the sudden appearance of the demons stepping through dimensional fractures to descend upon the warzone and engage the demon jiangshi…

It was a scene of sheer magnificence.

‘The demons, who traditionally lurked in the darkness for hundreds of years… ’

…had finally stepped into the light,

Uniting with humanity to confront this apocalyptic crisis.

‘Then again, they share this reality, so it makes sense.’

They had previously interfered in continental matters, such as their secret pact with the royal court two decades prior, but those maneuvers had been buried in shadow, hidden from the public eye.

This marked the first instance in generations that they openly manifested before the common populace.

‘So those are actual dragons. I harbored doubts even when reading the oldest scrolls in the archive.’

Swallowing hard, her pupils dilated with reverence and astonishment, completely trapped by the sight of the magnificent beasts gliding across the sky.

If a direct descendant of the renowned Zhuge Clan could be this spellbound… how would ordinary citizens react, those who only knew of dragons and ancient guardians through folklore and fables?

It was entirely natural that the vast majority of the Murim Alliance combatants, including the veteran master-level figures, stood frozen while gazing upward, their cognitive faculties completely paralyzed.

Even the Vanguard of the Demonic Cult had paused their onslaught.

Yet, a singular detail continued to gnaw at her focus…

‘…Why does the Yellow Dragon possess such an alien morphology? The historical records never detailed this.’

The Yellow Dragon, positioned at the apex of the draconic vanguard, looked altogether… anomalous.

Extravagant wings, a heavy midsection, and highly developed claws…

It completely diverged from the conventional depiction of a sovereign dragon. Its form mirrored… a colossal reptile.

In this realm, the Yellow Dragon was revered as the sovereign of the Five Dragons, the ultimate symbol of strength and divinity.

Yet its physical traits shared no common ground with its peers. A profound explanation had to exist.

‘Could our clan documents be flawed? Or perhaps there is some hidden… ’

While trapped in her speculation,

“Young Miss Zhuge, we have arrived at the core of our vanguard. You may relent now.”

“Ah!”

…a masculine tone shattered her reverie.

Brought back to her senses, she spun around to face the speaker. Ha Seung-hoon, the man who had rescued her.

“My apologies, Young Master Ha. I was… entirely entranced by the sky.”

“Haha, think nothing of it. I found myself equally distracted. For now, please cease your internal energy circulation.”

“Understood!”

With their brief exchange concluding,

She severed her connection to the technique she had been sustaining. As her Ki stilled, the draconic manifestation of energy that had transported them—which still hovered even after their descent—gradually dissolved into nothingness.

“Whew—”

“Are you unhurt? Keeping such an advanced formation active for that duration must have drained you immensely.”

“I am perfectly well! Though the credit belongs to you, Young Master Ha. You supplied the massive reserves of Ki. My role was merely… giving it structure.”

“Do not worry about me. I could maintain that output indefinitely if required. It succeeded due to your unique empowerment.”

“My enhancement was minor at best… Your raw capability carried us through. Moreover, managing a seamless distribution of energy is no simple feat.”

“Even so… Well…”

“…Pfft.”

A pair of self-conscious smiles broke out, their mutual attempts at praise dissolving into a warm, slightly awkward quiet.

An immense amount of peril had transpired since their breakout from the ceremonial altar.

They had faced relentless ambushes from Demonic Cult operatives and walking corpses, carving a path directly through hostile zones.

They would have succumbed long ago if the primary strength of the Demonic Cult hadn’t been deployed at the external fringes, alongside the strict mandate to capture the Dragon’s Children unharmed.

Throughout that grueling trek, their companionship had solidified—an inevitable result of navigating existential perils while relying solely on one another to survive.

“…I cannot remain idle. The arrival of these forces may have provided a glimmer of optimism, but the conflict rages on.”

“In that case, I shall join—”

“Please remain in this position to look after the rest, Young Miss. Even within the nucleus of our forces, safety is not promised if the enemy launches a concentrated breach.”

Zhuge Hyemi found herself unable to counter his words.

Ultimately, the Dragon’s Children represented the pivot point of this entire war.

The Demonic Cult desperately sought to reclaim them to finalize the dark rite, while the Murim Alliance could not permit their demise, viewing them as the solitary salvation for a dying world.

‘…Indeed, fleeing the clutches of the Demonic Cult does not mean we are secure.’

Neither faction desired their destruction, yet their ultimate destiny was already written.

The remaining uncertainty was… for whose side would they lay down their lives? And toward what end?

‘…Perishing for the salvation of existence is far better than becoming instruments for the Demonic Cult.’

She refused to watch this domain descend into oblivion.

Too many things remained that she held dear.

Her relatives, the practitioners of her house, who had shielded and nurtured her despite her physical limitations…

Clenching her teeth, her eyes tracked the retreating back of the young warrior.

Torrents of fire erupted from his form, morphing into a blazing serpent that consumed the oncoming jiangshi.

The intense thermal distortion wavered before her eyes.

“…”

Blinking away the haze to restore her focus, she cast her eyes back to the clouds.

The great serpents maintained their circular paths above, executing their flight with sublime elegance.

‘What a pity that I cannot accurately pen this down. I truly wish to chronicled the appearance of these divine beasts for those who come after us.’

Her gaze lingered on the Yellow Dragon, whose architecture deviated so starkly from the norm.

Granted, with thousands of onlookers present, this monumental occasion would never fade from memory.

The intricacies of this clash, the descent of the dragons and the underworld entities, and the peculiar anatomy of the Yellow Dragon…

It would inevitably be preserved in the archives of history, transmitted down the ages, immortalized through art and verse.

…Even if her own identity faded into obscurity.

“Ah.”

For a fleeting instant, she imagined her gaze locked directly with the Yellow Dragon, though she dismissed it as a trick of her mind.

Her vision remained clouded.

She possessed the ability to clear it with a single blink, yet she chose not to.

As if this minor choice was her final act of defiance.

—

[“Precisely on schedule. A few moments later, and the damage would have been absolute.”]

A resonant, masculine echo vibrated within Horus’s consciousness as he scanned the carnage below.

[“Our arrival could have been expedited had you not raised such protests, White Dragon.”]

[“Hmm, I confess to my trepidation. Departing the sanctuary is invariably perilous, particularly during this epoch. The fabric of reality is fracturing.”]

The figure, projecting an aura of serenity and poise, offered a reply to the Red Dragon’s biting comment.

A measured and rational rejoinder, perfectly fitting for the White Dragon, the senior figure among the contemporary Five Dragons.

Despite this status, he remained remarkably young by human calculations, scarcely past his third decade.

[“Tsk, what a tedious traditionalist.”]

[“Red Dragon, mind your demeanor.”]

The Red Dragon, presenting the visage of a young woman in her early twenties, clicked her tongue in irritation at his cautious nature, prompting the Azure Dragon, who appeared of a comparable age, to softly reprimand her.

The Azure Dragon shared some of her impatience, yet recognized the necessity of proper boundaries.

[“Why must you be so incredibly inflexible? If defeat claims us here, all is lost! Without Horus, we would be facing catastrophe! And yet you casually utter ‘precisely on schedule’?”]

The Red Dragon’s frustration arose primarily because the White Dragon had stood as the most stubborn critic of Horus’s strategy to mix in mortal conflicts.

She had developed a deep fondness for Horus, mirroring the Azure Dragon’s sentiments, and could not fathom his hesitation.

[“Yet observing the current state of affairs, the timing appears flawless.”]

A youthful, delicate voice cut through the brewing argument.

It belonged to the Black Dragon, the most junior of the Five Dragons aside from Horus, having attained maturity only a handful of years prior.

[“Had we materialized sooner, the toll on human lives would have been insufficient. The optimal path would have been arriving on the brink of their total eradication… however, our own collateral damage would have escalated excessively, making this… a reasonable middle ground.”]

[“Black Dragon…”]

Her analysis, dripping with an icy detachment and a total indifference to human survival, struck a discordant note against her gentle cadence.

She clearly retained deep-seated hostility toward the mortals who had claimed hegemony over the lands, regardless of their status as progeny of the Dragon God.

Her bitterness had intensified following the passing of her elder sibling, the preceding Black Dragon, who had given his existence to preserve cosmic equilibrium while humans engaged in petty internal wars.

[“Horus? Where is your attention directed… Ah! I perceive them. Those youths…”]

The Azure Dragon, finding no words to counter the Black Dragon’s pragmatism, traced Horus’s line of sight and offered a slow nod of realization.

She identified the group instantly.

A collection of delicate mortals, clustered at the absolute center of the human lines.

The Dragon’s Children, the vital keys to salvaging this reality.

[“…A total of seven. One among them radiates an exceptionally potent resonance. With a caliber like that…”]

The Azure Dragon’s voice trailed away, unable to articulate the grim reality that they would serve as magnificent offerings.

The Red Dragon, seamlessly catching the unspoken thought, vocalized her perspective with an air of predatory anticipation.

[“Excellent. We merely need to purge those abyssal entities, and the matter is concluded. The odds favor our triumph. While we are restricted from direct engagement, we have escorted a vast number of… highly capable combatants.”]

Deploying all Five Dragons to this theater represented a massive gamble.

By all rights, their presence was required at the Dragon God’s Temple, anchoring the equilibrium of existence at a massive physical toll to themselves.

Yet they possessed no alternative. They had to manifest in person to suppress the corruptive miasma of this domain and facilitate the transit of the auxiliary forces.

They had designated alternate dragons to hold the temple fort, but their endurance would be fleeting.

‘The greater the magnitude of power a divine guardian exerts within the mortal plane, the harsher the cosmic recoil.’

It jeopardized every soul involved.

The surrogate dragons stationed at the Dragon God’s Temple, the entities who overextended their reserves in this realm, and the very foundation of the world, which hung in a delicate balance.

This accounted for the White Dragon’s extreme hesitation.

A single misstep could trigger the annihilation of reality before the initialization of the Dragon Heart rejuvenation ceremony could even commence.

‘Naturally, such limitations do not govern my existence.’

Horus, peering down at the sprawling warzone, flashed a grin, his razor-sharp fangs catching the light.

He existed as a cosmic Awakened, entirely disconnected from the baseline restrictions of this dimension.

His parameters differed completely from his draconic peers, who operated under strict constraints.

[“So, this constitutes a sprint against the clock?”]

[“Precisely. We must conclude this theater swiftly and retreat to the Dragon God’s Temple to mitigate the structural decay of this realm.”]

The Red Dragon answered Horus’s inquiry flippantly, but the Azure Dragon, detecting a shift in his demeanor, focused her gaze upon him with narrowed eyes.

[“Horus?”]

Before her suspicion could manifest as a question,

Flap—

[“I shall return shortly!”]

…Horus unfurled his massive wings, executed a sharp aerial pivot, and plummeted directly toward the conflict below.

[“…What?”]

[“Horus?!”]

Inaking no heed of their startled exclamations, his Dragon Orb blazed with sudden intensity as he neared the battlefield.

‘My primary milestone has been secured. Now, it is time to optimize my rewards.’

This reality was already unfolding in perfect alignment with his designs.

The volume of Karma destined for his ledger would be monumental.

Yet a path existed to elevate his profits to even greater heights…

‘By branding my mark permanently onto this epoch. A legacy so profound it will echo across centuries.’

The factions assembled on this field—mortals, dragons, and demons alike—represented the absolute zenith of power in this world.

This environment offered the perfect stage to etch his persona into their collective consciousness, to project his undisputed dominance.

For what reason would he ignore such an unmatched opportunity?

Flash—

The Dragon Orb, which had hitherto radiated a subdued shimmer, suddenly exploded with a blinding brilliance, mimicking a localized star.

Simultaneously, Horus’s Dragon Heart throbbed violently, a massive concentration of raw power gathering within his throat like a subterranean pressure vessel reaching critical mass.

‘Absolute output.’

His hardwired 「Gold Dragon」 traits, supercharged by the 「Elder Dragon’s Heart」, found further elevation through 「Dragon Language Magic」, anchored firmly by 「Ruler of All」 and 「Seeker of Mysteries」.

The passive 「Resistor of Fate」 dismantled any encroaching systemic limits, while 「Heavenly Flow Sorcery」 perfectly aligned and unified the cascading energies.

‘And to top it off…”Limit Break”.’

Crack—

An internal barrier… fractured.

Not a tangible structure, but a conceptual boundary.

A ceiling, a threshold, a systemic constraint.

His unmitigated power, unfurled to its absolute maximum for the first time since his inception, struck a resonant chord with the fabric of reality.

Whirr—

The atmospheric currents violently inverted, their trajectory snapping toward a singular focus, causing a fraction of the moderate wind sweeping across Beijing to rapidly compress into a dense point.

“Huh? The Yellow Dragon?”

“W-what is transpiring?!”

“Curse it…! Retreat! Implement defensive protocols! Raise the barriers!”

The frontline cultivators of the Demonic Cult, alongside the ranks of the Murim Alliance, devolved into panic, scrambling frantically to erect counters against the impending unknown.

Only the walking corpses, governed by cold automation and void of sentiment, pressed forward without pause.

Goooo—

An immeasurable torrent of sorcerous power, unchained from the Elder Dragon’s Heart, burst forth from his maw.

It completely transcended the parameters of a standard Adult Dragon, a limitation he had previously maintained.

The energy flooded into the Dragon Orb, creating a harmonious feedback loop that amplified the output exponentially.

More intense, more rapid, more vast, more awe-inspiring.

Then,

…a lance of pure annihilation, far exceeding what any biological entity should be capable of manifesting, lanced forward like a concentrated beam of light.

Its trajectory aimed directly at Beijing, the heart of the Demonic Cult’s power.

And—

…absolute quiet.

Rather, it was not true silence, but a solitary, deafening roar that completely smothered every other vibration in existence.

“@!%$!&*…!”

“$@$!#%&…!”

A titanic concussion wave, a ripples of unadulterated devastation, expanded outward, blanketing the theater of war and the entire sprawl of Beijing.

The ferocious struggle that had dominated the landscape a moment prior instantly ceased.

Every soul present was entirely consumed by the singular instinct to survive.

Rumble—!

The foundations of the continent shuddered violently as plumes of pulverized earth obscured the sky, culminating in a colossal, churning pillar of smoke above the metropolis.

Beijing, the grand heart of the empire, a citadel steeped in centuries of historical transitions, a place that had borne witness to the rise and fall of dynasties…

…a profound gouge upon the landscape, a scarred memory of an ancient catastrophe, left forgotten for eras…

…was utterly obliterated.

Taking with it a massive contingent of the Demonic Cult’s grand army.