Chapter 1283: Chapter 1031: Changing Faith
Slite had been tensely watching the battlefield, so much so that he hadn’t even noticed the rain, only now realizing that its fragrant scent had come upon him quite suddenly.
So that was it!
The Toxic Giant Beast slowly descended from the clouds, pulled by two White Dragons. This cursed potion was ineffective against the ordinary members of the Dragon Clan, but it was specifically potent against the Black Dragon people. Under the effects of the potion, these Black Dragon people had completely transformed into ordinary creatures. They were stronger than the average human, they could emit a limited Dragon Breath, but, they were no longer able to fight.
As the clouds dissipated, Long Yi smiled, watching as the troops of The Divine Auffa Empire surged forward, then secured all the Black Dragon people.
"Victory, much simpler than I had imagined," Long Yi said.
Slite was escorted to Long Yi’s presence, the old dragon man now displaying a wry smile as if he had always known it would come to this.
"You don’t seem surprised," Long Yi remarked.
"You are a Giant, we are Dragons. I saw such a scene a thousand years ago, and today is but a reenactment of the past, nothing surprising," Slite said.
"If you knew something like this would happen, why didn’t you stop them?" Long Yi asked.
"It’s futile. If a thousand years ago we fought out of loyalty to the Dragon Emperor, now, what drives us to battle is the fear of losing our power. We must fight to lift the curse, so the voice told us," Slite explained.
"What a pity, if you all had come directly to me, it might have saved a lot of trouble. As someone who still harbors a bit of fondness for the Dragon Clan, I really didn’t want to end the battle this way," Long Yi said.
"Ah, a loss is a loss. What do you plan to do with us? Execute us all?" At this moment, Slite was just an ordinary old man, having lost all his power, he even found the shackles on his hands unbearably heavy.
"No, a thousand years ago the Giants didn’t do that, and I don’t suppose I should either. Though you genuinely haven’t caused me much trouble, what decision the Emperor of The Divine Auffa Empire will make, I do not know."
Long Yi! To have captured! The Black Dragon!
Twenty thousand!
These key phrases spread throughout the entire plane almost instantly, an unimaginable victory that yet seemed within the realm of reason.
After all, Long Yi was a Giant.
Indeed, the secret that Long Yi was a Pioneer Giant had become an open secret known to all. Perhaps at first only a few clever ones knew, but soon, the knowledge that only those few clever ones had known spread across the whole plane. After all, the battle between the Black Dragons and Long Yi was increasingly out in the open; it would be truly foolish not to recognize what was happening at this point.
The old Mages who initially challenged Long Yi now nearly stood hair on end, whereas those who maintained a cordial relationship with him from the start, even those who had just a single encounter with Long Yi, now started to pride themselves as friends of the Giant.
Now, more than twenty thousand Black Dragon people were imprisoned on a secluded small planet, suitable for habitation with mountains and rivers, only devoid of any other people. It’s called imprisonment, but in truth, no one watched over them, because they had been cursed anew, stripped of all power. No matter what they wished to do, they could not leave the planet.
However, the Black Dragon Elder Slite was not among them. In fact, two other Black Dragon Elders had come to this place with him. The three Elders, including Slite, had now become ordinary people. They resided in a mundane residence in the suburbs of the Imperial City of The Divine Auffa Empire, surrounded by heavily armed guards. These Elders were smart enough that Long Yi didn’t want to risk them causing any trouble.
After all, everything he had arranged was proceeding smoothly.
When the battle involving Long Yi had just begun, the two captured Black Dragons at the rear had stealthily slipped away. Since they possessed Mana, they often used magic to observe the surroundings. When they realized Long Yi and his companions had left, they immediately used magic to unlock their prison, then disguised themselves as ordinary humans and left the realm of the Sanctuary Empire.
But when they returned to The Divine Auffa Empire, what they saw was something they could never have dreamed of. Over twenty thousand Black Dragon people, under the control of Sanctuary Empire soldiers, were leaving the Imperial City in an orderly fashion! At the same time, the Emperor of The Divine Auffa Empire, Saint Jialin, declared that the occupation by the Dragon Clan had ended, and the Emperor had returned to his throne!
This turn of events was entirely unacceptable to the two Black Dragons, but they restrained the impulse to rush out and tear everything apart because Long Yi had not yet left, and those White Dragons were still circling in the sky. Now, these two Black Dragons, having partially lifted their curse, still considered themselves weaker than the current White Dragons, especially since there were now two hundred White Dragons.
Thus, these two Black Dragons had no choice but to leave temporarily. Even though they were disguised in human form, the unique senses of the Dragon Clan would still detect them.
Once everything had quieted down, they tried to locate the Black Dragon people but had no idea where they had been sent.
Consequently, these Black Dragons had no choice but to disguise themselves more completely as humans, to learn human customs so that they might get closer to those who truly knew the affair.
Finally, from a drunk officer, they learned about that desolate planet’s location. They immediately left The Divine Auffa Empire and set course for that planet. By this time, two whole months had passed since the defeat of the Black Dragons.
Two months is enough time to change many things.
At first, the Black Dragon Man arrived on this planet almost in a rage, spending every day in irritability, without thinking about food, water, or anything else—only the humiliation of their recent failure consumed their minds. They cursed at each other, fought one another, and destroyed everything they could lay their eyes on.
But soon, the issue of survival surpassed everything and became the only thing they had to consider. In The Divine Auffa Empire, they never had to worry about food. However, that wasn’t the case here—they had to eat.
But where could they find food? They had to catch it themselves.
Some Black Dragon Man succeeded in finding food, and some did not, so some stole from those who had, and as a result, those who were robbed no longer sought food, and everyone starved together.
Thus, order was established amidst the chaos.
Nothing was more important than survival.
And two months’ time was enough to cool down these hot-tempered beings completely.
When the two Black Dragons found this planet, they could hardly believe everything before their eyes. Large groups of Black Dragon Man had built simple shacks, some still busily constructing their surroundings, while others returned with the results of their hunts. And within a mere two months, what should have been a united group had split into dozens of tribes, large and small, scattered around, with infrequent interactions between them.
As the two Black Dragons’ vast shadows swept over the ground and eventually landed heavily, the Black Dragon Man looked at them as though they were looking at some foreign object. But soon, instinct awakened the wildness in the hearts of these Black Dragon Man, and all rushed towards their direction.
Originally, they should have been captured, but now they not only returned but had become even more powerful than before! What exactly had happened?
"Brothers, you have suffered!" one Black Dragon felt as if he could nearly break into tears—this was an experience he had never had before. But when he saw with his own eyes that the Black Dragons, once the most perfect war machines, were now living like wild beasts, a profound sense of sorrow welled up from the bottom of his heart.
"What in the world happened here?" tribe leaders gathered around and asked.
"Well, it’s like this." The two Black Dragons recounted the entire matter.
"You mean to say, you’ve started believing in the Ascender and abandoned the Gods?" said a tribe leader, frowning.
"No, you got one thing wrong—not that we abandoned the Gods, but that the Gods abandoned us. Moreover, do you really think that being who controlled the Golden Dragon on Dragon Star, counts as a God?" the Black Dragon retorted. To be honest, even he was surprised to hear himself speak these words, but somehow, it was exactly what he felt like saying now.
"Are you questioning the Golden Dragon?" Several tribe leaders around him showed anger on their faces.
"I am not questioning the Golden Dragon! But the orders for this attack didn’t come from the Golden Dragon, they came from that madwoman who claims to be a God! If it weren’t for her, we would still be in our slumber rather than being driven out onto this desolate planet, leading a life akin to primitive beings," the Black Dragon said.
In truth, those words resonated in the hearts of every Black Dragon. Black Dragons were warlike by nature, and deep down, they still relished the feeling of overpowering others through force. And now, they were a far cry from what they desired.
"Besides, that wasn’t our true faith to begin with. Look at what she turned us into—not dragons, nor humans, but these half-dragon half-human monsters. But the Ascender is different; she doesn’t require us to do anything but believe. As long as we believe in her, her power will lift the curse!"
Lift the curse!
The curse, those two words were the nightmare of the entire Dragon Clan. As long as the curse remained, the once-dominant Dragon Clan across the multiverse was nothing more than a group of powerful beasts. The greatest dream of all Dragon Clan was to lift the curse, and in fact, the reason they obeyed that madwoman’s orders was solely for the chance to break the curse, for after all, that madwoman possessed Divine Power...
But now, things were different; they had another option.
"Can the curse really be lifted?" a tribe leader suddenly asked, visibly moved, as were nearly every Black Dragon Man, though too ashamed to speak first.
"I can’t guarantee it, but if we do nothing, the curse certainly won’t just disappear on its own!"
So, some brave Black Dragon Man took a stand and relinquished their old beliefs. In fact, ever since they heard about the Ascender, their faith had started to waver, and now it was just a matter of confirming that hesitation.
Having forsaken their beliefs, the Black Dragon Man reverted back into Black Dragons. Although it was a minor change, these Black Dragons were excited for a long time, for they had truly had enough of the powerlessness of being Half-Dragon Men, deprived of their strength—for this was their true form.
On the first day, there was no reaction.
On the second day, again, no signs of anything.
Just as these Black Dragons were starting to think they had been tricked, a surge of Fighting Aura suddenly appeared on one of the Black Dragons!
It had actually worked! (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for it on Qidian (qidian.com), or give it a monthly ticket. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)
