Under the Red Dragon.

Chapter 453 Hope
“I pray with tears in my eyes, and my Lord hears me,”

"My Lord, the Emperor of the True Dragons, the Holy Gog'mora,"

"Until that day of return, my lord!"

"I will embark on that sacred final journey, to suffer, may my faithful soul return to the throne of my Lord, the Dragon King, the Temple of the Dragon King!"

Solemn prayers echoed through the dark, deep underground cave, carrying an aura of holiness.

The dim, flickering lights illuminated the prayers of people and dragons.

He was a warrior whose full-body armor was almost completely embedded in his body, and the broken greatsword and the nearly shattered dragon helmet he held in his hands revealed his identity.

The other dragon praying was a young female black dragon, Cecilia.

Cecilia, as the first dragon to surrender to Chris Tiana, the silver dragon who made the declaration of allegiance from the ancestral golden dragon Erikson, has always followed Chris Tiana, never abandoning her.

The fake succubus lures people with her beauty, while the real succubus draws her followers into a frenzy with her own ideology.

As the first emperor of the five dragonflights in the world of Ekania, Kalon Goggmora brought unprecedented glory to the dragonflights.

Even the dominant empires of the Central Plains and the various prosperous kingdoms of the Southern Continent held the emperor of the Five-Colored Dragon in high esteem, not only for his power but also for his wisdom and rational order.

The ideas of the true dragon emperor, Caron Gogmora, were preached by Chris Tiana and attracted many of the five chromatic dragons who had been ruled by the original golden dragon, Erikson.

Cecilia was no different, becoming a fervent follower of the Dragon Emperor's ideals, especially after following the silver dragon Chris Tiana to the Golden Empire.

But the silver dragon Chris can be considered a mentor to many of the five-colored dragons on this path.

So even though many dragons chose to stay in the Golden Empire, Cecilia and several five-colored dragons stayed by the side of the silver dragon Chris, never leaving her and becoming her steadfast companions.

Even now, when they have reached the end of their rope, Cecilia's black dragon nature has not been able to prevail, causing the young black dragon to abandon the silver dragon Chris and his companions and escape alone.

“Our Lord Gogmora, He will see our loyal souls,”

Cecilia's small, skeletal head looked at the warrior beside her and said softly.

“Of course, I’m not worried at all,” the pale-faced soldier said hoarsely.

"A soldier's death on the battlefield is an honor for his loyalty!"

Cecilia's fangs opened and closed slightly, but she remained silent.

The world ruled by Lyponus, whose name no one cared about before, is now called by Lyponus.

Cecilia and the silver dragon Chris have been trapped in the world of Lipunos for a long time. Although thanks to the talent of the Shadow Charon, the dragons and humans have been able to escape the pursuit every time.

But each time they paid a heavy price. Even Salena, the young green dragon who had once been ruled by the golden dragon Erikson, died at the hands of an avatar of Lypunos.

Although the green dragon is a mid-tier race among the five-colored dragon species, a mature green dragon can unleash unparalleled power when it fights desperately.

But the legendary chosen one, Lipnos, with a single strike, shattered the young green dragon Salena into pieces, utterly annihilating her in the mortal world.

Fortunately, Lipnos is currently tied down by other powerful figures and can only send his warriors and tribes to hunt them down; otherwise, they would have had a hard time holding out until now.

While the abilities of the Shadow Charon allow them to hide in the hidden underground and remain undetected, even the avatar of Lyponos cannot easily discover their whereabouts.

However, the Silver Dragon Chris Tiana's injuries were too severe, and she needed to be replenished for a period of time to maintain her vitality.

Moreover, because it was suppressed and worn down by the rules left by the legendary chosen one, the silver dragon Chris could not even enter a state of slumber to repair her injuries like other dragons.

Such suppression without self-awareness would only cause the Silver Dragon Chris to lose control of her injuries, ultimately leading to her being completely infected by the rules of Lipunos and thus exposed to Lipunos's eyes.

Therefore, each time it appears in the world, it will attract a siege and interception, and countless mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

The five-colored dragons that followed the silver dragon Chris and the warriors of the Golden Empire were also gradually consumed, until now they are almost all gone.

And this reappearance of the silver dragon Chris may be the final destination for Cecilia and the loyal warrior before her.

However, Cecilia was equally unafraid. This young black dragon had never felt such a sense of honor and responsibility in the first half of his dragon life, nor had he ever felt so fulfilled after his wandering dragon soul found its home.

Cecilia lived each day to the fullest, instead of drifting through the long years like a wild beast.

She was already very satisfied; her only regret was that she hadn't been able to see the emperor, the true dragon, in person.

She was also curious whether, after death, the soul of a five-colored dragon like herself would enter the divine kingdom of the Immortal Dragon Queen in Hell, or would, like the loyal warrior before her, receive the favor of the Dragon Temple.

Cecilia shook her head, clearing her mind of distractions. Then she gently patted the warrior's shoulder with her dragon claw, letting him lean against the somewhat shady cave wall and close his eyes to rest.

The female dragon left the simple prayer altar and ventured deep into her nest.

The dim, magical light flickered, as obscure and unpredictable as the life of the one who cast the spell.

A beautiful silver dragon lay quietly deep within its lair, its head resting on its forepaws with its eyes closed, yet its cold, aloof face still betrayed its weakness.

Not only that, but beneath the beautiful scales of this silver dragon, faint traces of blood seeped out. That was the blood of the silver dragon Chris, as cold as a frozen spring in a snow mountain, seeping out endlessly from under each scale.

Such injuries would have turned any other creature into a dried-up corpse, its blood drained away. Even ordinary Titans could not match the Silver Dragon's inexhaustible vitality.

However, if the Silver Dragon Chris had not already returned to its predecessor and become a powerful dragon species second only to the ancestral Silver Dragon, perhaps the Silver Dragon Chris would have already lost control of its injuries and been captured by Lyponos.

“Chris, it’s time for you to wake up,”

Cecilia gently called the silver dragon's name, "It's time, Chris."

The beautiful silver dragon blinked, slowly opening its soft, dim pupils to look at Cecilia, the black dragon.

"Hmm, it's time to go out again so soon, Cecilia. This time, it's best if you don't come with me. It's safest if we split up."

Silver Dragon Chris slowly raised her head and said sadly, "I no longer want to see you die for me. This is not the outcome you deserve."

The young black dragon shook her thin, bony head and laughed, "How can you say such nonsense, Chris? The Gogmora dragon pack has never abandoned its companions before." "Besides, we may not necessarily die this time. Lipunos is currently preoccupied with other matters and can't spare any time."

"How can we possibly take Lipnos's scattered troops seriously, even if they are numerous? Not everyone can build a mature nation through their own wisdom,"

“We just need to be careful and cautious, and we will definitely get through this. Don’t worry, Chris.”

"Ok?"

Silver Dragon Chris raised her head in surprise and slowly asked, "What could possibly hinder a powerful being like Lipunos? Our whereabouts should be the most important thing, right?"

At the top of the cave, a colossal dragon shadow, its muscles bulging and its scales shrouded in shadow, coiled. Four pairs of incredibly long and thick horns leaped from the cave ceiling, transforming into a true shadow dragon.

However, this enormous shadow dragon is now missing nearly half of its body. Countless shadows swirl around the colossal shadow, yet they are unable to merge into it and transform into a true body.

Two pairs of blood-red pupils descended, looking at the young black dragon Cecilia.

"You prayed to that guy Caron Gogmora again? Young dragon, it won't do you any good,"

The Shadow Dragon scoffed, "Don't even mention how far this world is from Ekania. It's beyond the reach of Charon Gogmora's senses alone. Even if that guy Charon Gogmora has embarked on the path of worshipping gods, it's still too far for him to reach."

“Who would believe that prayer is always answered? What we ask for is peace of mind. You don’t understand,” the young black dragon shook his head and retorted.

Although the Shadow Dragon also calls itself Kalon Gogmora, these dragons do not respectfully address it as such.

Fortunately, Charon of the Shadows didn't care about this, just as this special kind of dragon didn't care about any living being in the world.

The giant dragon sneered disdainfully, then looked at the bewildered silver dragon, Chris Tiana.

This silver dragon uses all its energy to suppress the injury caused by the rules within its body, so it stays in the underground cave all day long and is unaware of what is happening in the outside world.

"The news of the treasure left behind by the Dragon God Aio should have spread like wildfire by now,"

"So Lipunos fought against many legendary powerhouses who rushed to the scene during this time, causing quite a commotion," said Kalon of the Shadows nonchalantly.

"Many legends who came from the astral plane were forcefully driven away by Lypunos, or directly suppressed and captured. However, there are also the best among the legends who are able to contend with Lypunos in this world. For example, the kingdoms established by the native races of this world some time ago,"

"There was a kingdom that was utterly destroyed by Lyponos in a battle with a foreign legend."

"I also saw many dragons sneaking into the world barrier of Lypunos, including several ancient dragons,"

"They all have different scents, and you can tell they come from different material planes just by smelling them."

Kalon of Shadows curled his lip, revealing fangs that flowed like shadows, and said with dissatisfaction, "Chris, it seems that you, this silver dragon beauty, are not as well-liked by Kalon as I thought. Otherwise, why wouldn't he come in person?"

"Although with Lipnos's power, even Charon Gogmora himself couldn't face him head-on, maneuvering around him would be quite easy,"

"At least we won't have to face the difficulties we have now."

Perhaps no other creature in the world understands the true power of its original form better than the Shadow Dragon.

The Shadow Dragon was born from Kalon Gogmora's reflections on the unchangeable rules and laws of the world, as well as his deep-seated, unyielding desire for destruction and negative thoughts hidden in the hearts of other living beings.

However, the power of the Shadow Charon stems from Charon Gogmora's essential understanding of the rules of the world from a different perspective.

In the world, as long as things exist, there will be a model of those things existing in this world.

Just like a tree, there must be a standard model of a tree in the world, but all living beings only perceive the projection of this model. They can only try to perceive the projection of this model, but cannot absolutely perceive the real model.

This is the only talent that Charon of the Shadows possesses.

It can be said that Charon of the Shadow is the true projection of Charon Gogmora's model in this world, and also a projection of his understanding of the essential existence of the world.

Therefore, the existence of Charon, the Shadow, is a product of the rules; the Shadow is immortal, and so is Charon.

This is why even though the legendary, powerful Lipunos used his own laws of destiny to sever the Shadow Dragon's body, he was unable to completely kill it.

If it weren't for the legendary Lipnos using the rules to imprison the Shadow Dragon's transformation into shadow, and his attack targeting the Shadow Dragon's inability to achieve an immortal spirit, the Shadow Dragon would have already returned to its peak state.

After all, the immortality of matter and energy has become Charon's understanding and core power.

But Caron Gogmora also possesses this ability.

Even though Charon Gogmora is limited by his physical body and cannot achieve the same conversion efficiency as Charon the Shadow, only the Shadow Dragons understand how powerful the abilities wielded by this ancestral red dragon are.

Silver Dragon Chris was silent for a moment, then suddenly revealed her white fangs and chuckled softly.

These dragons cannot know whether Charon has returned to the Golden Empire, but none of them are fools.

No one will leak the news of the Dragon God Aio's treasure. Even the legendary Lipnos wants to keep it all to himself, which is why he is so determined to get the Silver Dragon Chris.

Caron Gogmora would only make such a choice if he had access to another source of information.

"It's time for Kalon to sleep now; he's about to become a true dragon."

Chris estimated the time, her face showing weakness yet great joy. The intelligent silver dragon could clearly understand the red dragon's intentions.

Although Karon's actions did not align with the original intentions of the silver dragon Chris, the beautiful silver dragon was quite pleased at this moment.

"I doubt even Lypunos expected that a dragon would reveal the secret of such a treasure. Who could refuse the treasure of His Majesty the Dragon God Aio?"

"I'm afraid only someone as arrogant as Charon could regard His Majesty the Dragon God Aio's treasure as merely a means to an end,"

Chris grinned, revealing her fangs slightly. "Cecilia, our helpers will be here soon. Take a good look at those dragons that have infiltrated this world."

"Many of them may be familiar faces we've seen in the Golden Empire!"

(End of this chapter)