Dragon Gods Reign

[Beneath the castle]

Reaching the end of the stairway, Darganth was the first to step into the empty room at the bottom. Momentarily furrowing his brows, he quickly noticed the spells inscribed along the walls and just waited.

The other four followed shortly after him and when the last one of them, Vika, stepped into the room, the inscriptions suddenly lit up with a red glow.

A fraction of a second later, a massive flame lit up at the center of the room. In an instant, the simple stone walls vanished, giving way to a sea of orange flames. The previously identical ceiling was simultaneously replaced with a starry sky.

Though compared to a real one, the speed at which stars disappeared in a minuscule explosion and new ones formed was drastically increased, with it happening in gaps of barely a few seconds.

Only the ground beneath them was largely unchanged, with the processed stone being replaced by a more natural one.

Amidst this change, all five of them felt a strange tingling, though only Darganth could recognize its source. So while the others were looking around the space they found themselves in, he directly turned towards a specific spot amidst the flames.

“I wouldn't have expected less from you.”

Suddenly hearing an unknown voice out of the sea of flames, the four women spun around. As soon as they did, they saw the flames all around congregating at the spot where Darganth had been looking. In the process, a diverse range of environments was revealed, with everything from oceans to deserts surrounding the stone below them that they now realized to be a mountain.

Manifesting in the clear blue sky above this scenery was the form of a massive flaming phoenix. But in contrast to the pure flame constructs that the bloodline sorcerers could conjure, this being had a physical body with flames dancing across its feathers.

As soon as the phoenix appeared, Vika's eyes widened in fear. Feeling an existential dread rivaling the one she had felt from Darganth, she instinctively took a step backward only for her leg to give in.

“B-B-But I c-conquered th-the sun.” She stammered.

Hearing her incoherent words, the phoenix turned its head towards her. Studying Vika for a moment, it shook his head in disappointment.

“If your ascended relatives could hear you they would tear you to pieces for these words. All you did was steal the ability to survive normal sunlight, but even the instinctual fear of it still remains. To them, conquering the sun means being able to drink my kind's blood and live to tell the tale, so be happy that you didn't.” The phoenix said, its voice sending shivers across Vika's back.

Seeing the phoenix move closer to Vika, Alicia decided to intervene. Stepping forward, she stood protectively before Vika.

“This is enough.” Alicia said resolutely.

Stopping in response to her words, the phoenix looked at her with interest.

“You certainly are his sister, though I am not sure whether it is bravery or stupidity that allows you to oppose me. And you're in luck, nearly all other beings of my status would have at least taught you a lesson for opposing them.” The phoenix said.

“They would have tried to. This is still Irsyr's territory even if I don't like to rely on it.” Darganth interjected calmly.

Pausing for a moment, the phoenix nodded in amusement.

“And they wouldn't have gotten far, yes.” The phoenix said with a nod.

Turning towards Darganth, the phoenix put out the flames covering his body, revealing the pitiful state he was currently in. The once imposing orange and red feathers had lost all their majesty and color, turning into washed-down versions of themselves. Some were even worse off, having partially rotted, with the edges of those spots having turned blackish-gray.

In addition, some spots were already completely ruined, with enough flesh missing that the underlying bones were visible. Those wounds were also covered in small green bloats and other infections that were slowly producing more substances that ate away at his body.

Upon seeing the state his body was in, even Darganth reacted in shock. But before any of them could voice their thoughts, the phoenix's body burst into flames before being replaced by a man in his thirties.

Just like in his true form, he was covered in wounds and traces of corruption, though a majority were hidden by the luxurious clothes he wore. In contrast to the impression of aloofness and royalty they gave, the tired look on his face portrayed his state better.

“You look worse off than I expected.” Darganth said.

“Then you should have seen my state when Irsyr had saved me, it was bad enough that I considered sacrificing myself to drag the four eldritch gods down with me.” The phoenix said, shocking Darganth.

“Due to just these four?” He asked in disbelief.

Seeing the phoenix nod in response, Darganth didn't know how to react. For a completely unknown being to fight someone of such a status to a draw, even when four against one, was exceedingly rare and cause to look further into them and their origins.

“Not to sound rude, but what exactly is so surprising about your defeat?” Alicia asked.

Turning towards her with a raised eyebrow, the phoenix's expression was unreadable as he mustered her.

“It just interests me, if you don't want me to know-” Alicia said in response.

“No, it's fine. And don't worry about angering me, you didn't when you were protecting her and you shouldn't now.” The phoenix told her.

“As for your question, it's my fault for not introducing myself properly. I'm Ceretar, one of only nine divine phoenixes, my kind's equivalent to Irsyr and the other dragon gods. And though we lack someone like Darganth who can give us true immortality without submitting to Vunreon's whims, each of us still possesses power rivaling or even surpassing that of an elemental god.”

Listening to his introduction, Alicia and Vika stared at him in surprise. Jennia and Allaire reacted less strongly in comparison, with both having expected something like that. After a moment Alicia's reaction also calmed down, having come to a similar conclusion after thinking about it for a moment.

“So three upstarts manage to seriously wound one of the multiverses to powers, that is definitely suspicious.” Allaire murmured in thought, drawing five bewildered gazes onto her.

“Darganth didn't recognize them, so I assumed.” She explained.

“Of course.” “Why didn't I think of that.”

Hearing Jennia's and Alicia's words, Allaire smiled softly.

“Correctly.” Darganth added, snaking an arm around her hips and pulling her closer before giving her a quick peck on the lips.

“Well, why did you even invite us here, to help you heal yourself?” Alicia asked into the ensuing pause.

“No. If I wanted that, I would have asked Irsyr for help centuries ago, but I already hate that I owe him for relocating this universe. The hatred between our kinds may be a fiction created by other species but I still don't want to owe any more favors to your kind unless absolutely necessary.

What I called you for instead was mainly to warn you about the matter of these four eldritch gods and their sudden appearance. Maybe you can find out how they rose so quickly or if they just hid themselves, but that isn't as important and can wait till I recover.” Ceretar said.

As soon as she heard his reasoning for declining help, Alicia shook her head with a sigh. Paying only minimal attention to the rest of his words, she just nodded in acceptance.

“I'll keep an eye open.” Darganth said in response.

“Thank you, more also isn't necessary. But as we're already on the topic of the wider multiverse, I have a few pieces of information that Irsyr may be lacking due to his self-imposed isolation.” Ceretar said.

Intrigued, Darganth raised an eyebrow expecting. Affirming Ceretar that he was listening, he did just that.

“While I don't know about the current situation, before I got wounded there had been some major movements among certain groups. Especially the legendary lineages as they are getting increasingly dissatisfied with their situations, enough that they may start a full-blown war.

And such a war may even be winnable considering how polarized the relationships between different pantheons currently are. There were even talks of finding ways to cut their relationship with the will of Vunreon among some pantheons, just to give you a scope of how bad it is.”

“What happened for it to get this far?” Darganth asked in surprise.

“The primordials, at least the half that killed you. After they imprisoned Visuria, Nemoress, and Scalladras, they no longer had the power necessary to fully project Vunreon's influence over those who rejected its offer of servitude.

Naturally, the different pantheons noticed this, though they are well aware that as long as they are bound to Vunreon, they can never hope to stand against a primordial. So the dissatisfied ones now lie in wait for the first being of legend that would openly rebel, hoping to use them to change the current to their benefit.”

Hearing the summary, Darganth momentarily fell into thought.

“What about the leaders, or at least those that matter?” Darganth asked.

“I've heard nothing, but if the entire legendary lineage of a species moves then I doubt it is happening without their approval. As for if they would join the fight, your guess is as good as mine.”

Hearing Ceretar's answer, Darganth frowned in disappointment. Without knowing what the leaders of the different species's legendary beings had planned, he would have to prepare for far more eventualities as some of them were close to being his match at his prime. Most also predated Vunreon, having arrived in the multiverse from outside just like he did.

Even though none of them made either a partial deal with it as he had done, resulting in its suppression of outsiders still affecting them, or became a god bound to it, consequently not being resurrected by it, they were easily as difficult to deal with as the primordials. In raw power they were even above the latter, the risk of death having spurred them to focus more on training.

“It's annoying, but still thank you for the information.” Darganth said.

“I have a feeling that dragons and phoenixes will be in this together so I'm happy to help. Sadly it's getting harder than expected to keep projecting my consciousness here, so if there is nothing else I would bid farewell.” Ceretar said.

“Watch out and we'll meet again.” Darganth said.

Nodding with a small smile, Ceretar's body slowly turned into red motes of light that dispersed toward the sky. As soon as he did, the space he had transported the five of them into also started to change.

Slowly it reverted into the room they had arrived from, the steppes, forests, and hills all disappearing in a raging wildfire that even dried up the oceans and rivers. Watching this process with captivated gazes, they continued to do so until the flames formed a series of walls around the mountain before abruptly receding to reveal the original stone walls.

“Is every phoenix like that?” Alicia asked when the process ended.

“Like what?” Darganth asked.

“Stubborn. He denies help with healing himself purely out of pride, that's moronic.”

At her harsh words for Ceretar, Darganth chuckled sheepishly. Recognizing his expression, Alicia's gaze became sharper as she looked at him questioningly.

“It's not just among phoenixes, it's a general problem among the powerful species. There are good reasons why people reborn into the body of such a species often rise to its top as they aren't as limited by the traditions and ingrained patterns. Older individuals have often realized it, but applying this knowledge to one's actions is rarely easy, especially when it concerns their pride.”

“So it's just because they can?” Alicia asked.

“Essentially. I do not doubt that Ceretar wouldn't hesitate to ask for our or Irsyr's help if there were an even somewhat significant chance that he wouldn't make a full recovery.”

“Get used to it, when compared to some of your brother's stories this doesn't even make it into the top ten of the dumbest such acts.” Allaire commented.

Looking at Allaire in interest, Alicia looked at her expectantly.

“My favorite was the dragon clan that settled in a world that had a natural time difference to the standard. When they noticed that it sped up their innate growth, something that artificial time flow manipulation methods can't do, they didn't use it to quickly rise in power but instead chose to leave the world and never return.”

In response to the story, Darganth just buried his face in his palm and nodded in a mix of amusement and disappointment.

“For real?” Jennia asked while laughing.

“Yes, it's real. One of the rarest phenomena in existence, one not even I can replicate, and they just gave up on it. And the thing is, stuff like that happens regularly and among essentially all species.”

“Then give us another one, I can't believe that you've never told me these.” Jennia said in amusement.

“Why not.” Darganth answered her, alternating with Allaire as they shared these stories while their group made their way back up the stairway.