Light's Dawn of Azeroth

Chapter 561, Section 22. Hello everyone, I am the new Earth Guardian, "Dog's Leftovers Presto". Please take care of me.
The arrow of the sun fell without warning.

But all the inhabitants of every city across every continent of Azeroth witnessed this moment.

The brilliant sunlight transformed into arrows that descended from the sky, cleaving the heavens and landing somewhere in the world as if by divine revelation. Devout believers also swore that they saw the holy light transform into a dazzling giant sword, piercing into the world.

But almost no one believes this crazy claim.

If such a huge holy sword were to pierce down, wouldn't the whole world be doomed?
That was a beam of light so large that the entire world could see it, and it lasted for a full thirty minutes before dissipating, yet even the shamans did not feel any pain in the world, indicating that it did not cause any harm to the world itself.

Therefore, it was nothing more than a "miracle of holy light".

This is certainly true, at least for the followers of the Holy Light in Azeroth; even the Church of the Holy Light of humanity and the Sun Cult of Quel'Thalas are planning to immediately send explorers composed of their followers on a pilgrimage.

But for the guardian dragons, this was by no means a simple revelation of faith.

Because after that "arrow of the sun" fell, all the guardian dragons of the entire world felt a familiar aura erupt in their spirits at the same moment.

That's the "taste of home".

The seal on the Dragon Islands has been broken!
The light struck right on Dragon Island, shattering the hidden barrier created by the magic of order, freeing the dragons from having to wait for the seal of their homeland, formed ten thousand years ago, to open from the inside.

But the question now is, if the Dragon Islands are where the Sword of the Sun fell, then were the Dragon Islands themselves affected and damaged?
"That's the power from the sun! It was compressed and solidified into a physical form, and then thrown into the celestial body, which will definitely have some impact on the continental shelf itself."

We must get there as soon as possible!

Alexstrasza, the Red Dragon Queen, leaped from the Wyrmrest Temple, transforming into a majestic and enormous dragon in the air. She flapped her wings and led the dragons that circled the tower toward their homeland.

Her shouts caused the oldest dragons in the Red Dragon Legion to nod repeatedly.

As they flew out of the Northrend coast, the blue dragons that took off from the Nexus joined the dragon "migration." Not only the adult dragons joined, but even the young dragons flapped their wings and followed behind their elders.

They were born outside the Dragon Islands, and their homeland was merely a "concept" existing only in the words of their elders.

However, when the Dragon Islands were truly released from the mist, not only the dragons themselves, but even the newly hatched dragons became restless.

Clearly, something in the Dragon Islands is attracting the guardian dragons.

"It's the Oath Stone! Alexstrasza, the 'Oath Stone' that protects the dragons is calling us."

Malygos flapped its wings and approached its sister, calling out to the Red Dragon Queen in the biting winds of Northrend:
"Where is Nozdormu? Didn't it come back?"

"The Bronze Dragonflights are cleaning up the filth left by the Infinite Dragonflight in the Caverns of Time, but believe me, Malygos, Nozdormu will only move faster than us, for he can see the ripples of time after all."

The Red Dragon Queen flapped her enormous wings, creating a trail that helped accelerate the dragonflight's young, allowing them to speed across the floating glaciers of the frozen sea below. Amidst the screams of penguins who had fled into the water in fright at the dragons' appearance, Alexstrasza responded:
"The problem now is that the sunlight that broke through the seal of the mist is too dazzling, and the whole world knows about the appearance of the Dragon Islands! There are many things there that cannot be touched by mortals."

It's not just a secret, it's dangerous.

We must mobilize all the forces under the Dragon Aspects and return to Dragon Isle as quickly as possible to regain control of those dangerous lands. Malygos, have you informed Ysera?

This question made the weaver curl his lip.

It whispered:

"Ysera is now the World Guardian, Alexstrasza. What we see with our own eyes, she will only learn of sooner with the World Mother's prompting. I estimate that Ysera is already waiting for us at the edge of the Dragon Isles."

And be prepared, it's likely that not only Ysera will be there, but also 'that person'.

The Red Dragon Queen fell silent.

It knew that Malygos was referring to "Neltharion".

The Black Dragonflight's return to purity and its rejoining the World Mother's command was done very secretly. However, because this matter was closely related to the Guardian Dragons, Ysera, acting as an "intermediary," informed the Dragon Lords of it.

They knew that Deathwing was truly dead, and the "Black Devourer" that existed now only possessed the wisdom and will of Neltharion; his complete personality had not been restored. The Vigilant Saint, who personally carried out this task, had assured them that Neltharion at this moment shared only the same name as the former Black Dragonflight King.

However, it is clearly difficult to get the blue dragons to accept all of this calmly.

They were nearly wiped out by Deathwing in the War of the Ancients, and such hatred cannot be easily forgotten. The Spellweaver originally intended to join forces with the Green Dragonflight, who had also suffered similar fates, but Ysera was uninterested.

This greatly angered the weaver.

The other dragons were unaware of the discussions between the dragon kings and the facts they were about to face; they were simply overjoyed at the return of their homeland.

Especially those old dragons.

They never imagined that leaving their homeland ten thousand years ago to support the ancient war would become their farewell to their homeland. Many old dragons were not even prepared and did not even pack their homes when they left.

Many of the old dragons' offspring and dragon eggs were left in the Dragon Islands. Now that they have been separated for ten thousand years, it is unknown whether those children and dragon eggs have been well taken care of.

Although the five dragons in the Dragon Islands have a complete incubation system, it is hard to say whether those dragons can maintain order for ten thousand years without any leader after the dragon kings have left.

As the dragons drew closer to Dragon Island, these doubts transformed into pressure and surfaced in their minds.

The dragons, who had been joyful, fell silent.

They flew across the sea in a vast, overwhelming manner, leaving the walrus fishermen who sailed on giant turtles speechless with astonishment. They had never seen so many dragons appear at the same time.

However, the Dragon Islands are not far from the Northrend continent, and the dragons can reach them quickly by flying. As they crossed the sea and could see the outline of the Dragon Islands, time vortexes appeared in the sky.

Led by Nozdormu, the bronze dragons who had just arrived in this timeline also joined the ranks of the dragon guardians.

"Nozdormu, why don't you come to the Wyrmrest Temple?"

The Red Dragon Queen approached her brother and said in a gentle tone:

“We haven’t seen each other for thousands of years, and you seem to be full of doubts this time.”

“I just don’t want to interfere with your judgment, Alexstrasza and Malygos.”

Nozdormu did not hide his true thoughts.

It looked at Dragon Island and said in a gentle tone:
“You have the platinum disc retrieved from Uldaman, which contains all the memories left by our mutual friend Tyr. The truth is hidden within it, and I no longer need to break my duty and oath to tell you about the covered-up past.”

I'm not hiding from you.

On the contrary, I hope that when you two make decisions as leaders, you won't be influenced by my personal emotions.

"So, you've already made your decision?"

The Spellweaver heard a “determination” in Nozdormu’s words that he had not felt for a long time.

Previously, they might have been skeptical of Nozdormu's getting lost in the Time Network, but now Malygos has come to realize that Nozdormu's getting lost is more like "self-exile."

His brother had always lived in the cracks between duty and justice, and he had always been in great pain.

Now, it no longer has to endure that pain.

Thinking of this, Malygos sighed and said:

"Thank you for your honesty, Nozdormu. I promise I will make a decision in the most rational state of mind."

"Well, I have my doubts about that."

Nozdormu shrugged and gave Alexstrasza a wink.

The Bronze Dragon King and the Red Dragon Queen flew to the left and right of the Spellweaver, ready to restrain Malygos, who was bound to fly into a rage at any moment.

Sure enough, just as the massive formation of the three-colored dragons approached the coast of the Dragon Islands, the green dragons, who had become strange after being granted "cosmetic surgery privileges" by Mother World, were already patrolling near the coast.

The direction from which we flew was the territory of the Green Dragonflight ten thousand years ago, which they called "The Shade of the Trees," where ancient buildings of the Green Dragonflight are hidden among lush woodlands.

But the most eye-catching thing is a dream gate.

That is the oldest entrance to the Emerald Dream; only by crossing this gate can one reach the true ancient territory of the Green Dragon Legion.

However, the green dragons flying around this place are not the problem; the real problem lies with the black dragons mixed among the green dragons!

Those executioners!
Those traitors!

They openly flapped their jet-black wings and, led by a strangely shaped black dragon, landed on the rocks of the Green Dragon Coast, seemingly waiting for the arrival of the tricolor dragons so they could fly back with them to the dragons' once glorious city, "Valdraken".

Just as Nozdormu had predicted, Malygos was instantly enraged when he saw the black dragons.

Even though the weaver tried her best to remain calm, how could a hatred that had lasted for thousands of years be so easily erased?
With a roar, it whipped up a gust of cold wind and charged toward the black dragons. It was then pinned to the spot by the Bronze Dragon King and the Red Dragon Queen, one on each side. The Bronze Dragons, who were prepared, also released a wide-range time stop, fixing the blue dragons who wanted to rush out and kill the black dragons in mid-air.

Fighting is not an option at this time.

Moreover, those black dragons are very pure. Their sources of pollution have been purified, and the individuals have undergone the cleansing of impurities by the Void Masters, restoring them to their most primal state.

Some of the more "fashionable" black dragons also used their power from Mother World, shaping themselves into all sorts of bizarre forms like the green dragons. However, the black dragons took pride in their beautiful obsidian-like scales, so most of them were entirely black.

Their numbers are indeed small.

Even the most destitute blue dragons had over a hundred members today, including both adults and young, but the black dragons numbered only about thirty or forty. Black Horn, among the black dragons, wagged its tail helplessly on the rocks. On its large head sat a small, golden black dragon, which seemed disturbed and drowsily looked up at the distant dragons.

It let out an excited roar, flapping its wings as a fledgling dragon, wanting to take off and greet the powerful dragons, but was held down by Blackhorn's claws.

Don't go over there, you silly girl!
The blue dragons will bite you to death; they are filled with hatred and don't care how "illustrious" your origins are.

"They are furious, even without 'Neltharion' appearing."

Beside Blackhorn, Saberian, the "reserve Earth Guardian" who had been granted temporary leadership of the Black Dragons by Mother World, grinned. This gloomy fellow raised his now even more exaggerated thorny dragon horns, his eyes filled with eagerness.

It said to Blackhorn:
"Tell me, if the blue dragons attack us in this situation, can we use the power bestowed upon us by Mother World to fight back?"

"It's enough!"

Blackhorn cursed:

"We've finally achieved peace, so stop causing trouble. Don't let the wheel of hatred keep spinning; we've already shed enough blood in the past because of it."

"Hmph, I want peace, and the black dragons do need a territory to thrive."

Sabrian snorted and spewed pure lava fire from his nostrils.

It drawled out:

"I'm afraid they won't agree. Even though we've personally executed all the fallen ones, the blue dragons clearly don't intend to let us good black dragons who set things right go.

Clearly, when faced with global interests, the petty blue dragons are still unwilling to let go of past grievances.

I'm now looking forward to seeing just how furious the Spellweaver will be when Neltharion arrives.

"Uh, speaking of this."

Blackhorn asked with some confusion:
"What did Neltharion go to do?"

"Shh, don't ask."

Sabrian gave a subtle look and said:
"It's a secret! But it'll be here soon, let's wait and see."

------

"click"

The black dragon claws gripped the base of a black dragon statue, shattering the bedrock that concealed the mystery, and activating the hidden compartment as the mechanism rotated.

Under the watchful eyes of Onyxia and Lady Aegwynn, the object hidden inside the statue finally came to light.

A disc engraved with special symbols, adorned with a dull, round crystal at its center, seemed unremarkable at first glance. However, when Aegwynn reached out and took it out to compare it with the Dragon Soul in her other hand, everyone around noticed the similarities between the two discs.

They are almost identical in terms of design concept and functionality.

The only difference is that the Dragon Soul was designed to absorb the power of the guardian dragons, but the dim disc that Aegwynn obtained was a "half-finished product".

Its design purpose is clearly wilder and more dangerous.

"Heart of Darkness."

Aegwynn stroked the ancient disc in his hand and said:
"According to Xal'atath, this artifact is the prototype of the Dragon Soul. Neltharion once wanted to design an artifact that could transform all power into the void. But at that time, it obviously still had its reason and was unwilling to succumb to the temptation of the void, so it personally sealed this artifact in the stone statue on the forbidden island."

"But we've been here before!"

Onyxia looked at the Darkheart in Aegwynn's hand and asked in confusion:

"If the Watcher knew this artifact was here beforehand, why didn't he take it with him?"

Aegwynn remained silent.

She didn't know the reason either. In fact, the Star Soul Spokesperson was also startled when she learned that the Dark Heart was hidden underground on the Forbidden Island.

Since this thing can be used by the Xalatas Project to extinguish the sun, it should be properly kept instead of being left hidden in Longsil's "birthplace".

She couldn't answer without knowing Diakum's thoughts; surely he couldn't have forgotten to take it when he left in a hurry last time?
Just as they were silent, a light suddenly shone in the abandoned place beneath the island, and to everyone's astonishment, Diakum's figure appeared from the light.

This startled Aegwynn, who had witnessed Diakum merging into Anser's body, as she had assumed Diakum had so quickly taken possession of the sun god's remains.

But after closer inspection, the Star Soul spokesperson complained:
"You actually used the 'incarnation of faith' trick on yourself? But why create this weak divine projection? Don't tell me that you, who are just one step away from becoming a lesser god, can't even create a demigod-level power projection?"

I would definitely laugh at you if you did.

"That's not entirely true, well, how should I put it?"

Diakum scratched his head and sighed:

“I’ve run into a bit of ‘trouble.’ I underestimated the difficulty of the matter. To ensure that I can still retain some rationality in the worst-case scenario, I specifically created this ‘incarnation of faith.’”

This is an experiment, and I'm not sure if the embodiment of faith can escape the effects of the eclipse's transformation.

But if I am swallowed by darkness, Aegwynn, if all goes well, I'll need you to craft me a body of stone to house my remaining sanity.

"Then you'd better find a safe place to store this avatar, just like those liches find a place to hide their life boxes."

Aegwynn, leaning on her staff, scolded:
"Your avatar is too weak!"
I doubt whether it can even match the fighting power of a legend; it's clearly no longer keeping up with the current situation we're facing.

I once encountered a lich who hid his life casket in a dwarf dam, the one in Loch Modan. Considering that the collapse of the dam would bring catastrophic destruction to the wetlands, the dwarves would do everything in their power to protect the dam, thus protecting the cunning lich's life casket.

You might also consider using this ingenious idea.

"May I ask, what became of that clever lich?"

Diakum's avatar of faith took the Darkheart, held it in his hands, and examined it. He asked a question, and Aegwynn scoffed, "..."
"died!
The one I killed with my own hands didn't even need to fight. A simple 'Fossil to Mud' spell took the life box out of the dwarven dam, and then I smashed it in front of the despairing lich.

"Well, that was the easiest battle I've ever fought in my legendary career."

"Yes, who would want to hide their life box in a mortal artifact in a world full of strange spells?"

Dick snorted.

He wasn't in a very good state at the moment, but he didn't create this avatar for the purpose of fighting. Holding the Darkheart, he glanced back at the "man in black" who had been following Aegwynn and Onyxia.

It was this creature that broke the seal on the stone statue and extracted the Dark Heart.

"I didn't take it last time because its seal was linked to the seal of the Dragon Isles. The former Neltharion obviously didn't intend for it to see the light of day again, and it couldn't be taken out before the seal of the Dragon Isles was opened."

Most importantly, there are probably no more than five people in the world who know of the existence of the Dark Heart.

Deathwing is dead, Ilyudion the Stonescale Dragon is still in jail, and I've bound Xal'atath to the Eclipse Shards. I can't even go outside for a few steps now.

Therefore, placing it here is actually the safest way to seal it.

Diakum explained Aegwynn and Onyxia's questions, then he said to the man in black:

"How does it feel?"

"It felt like listening to someone else's story, and it was quite interesting."

The man in black replied quite gently.

Dick rolled his eyes at this attitude and said:

"Alright, let's hope you're still in such a good mood when you face your angry brothers and sisters later. Send us over there, don't keep the Dragon Kings waiting."

"I want to emphasize, Your Excellency, Lightforger."

The man in black raised his hand, causing the ground where everyone stood to "come alive," and said softly:

“Those aren’t my ‘brothers and sisters,’ I’ve never even seen them! But ‘Big Sister’ Ysera is really gentle, and she wants to train me to be a good dragon king. I also enjoy chatting with her and hearing from her about the bastards I did before I was born.”

I think that reminds me what the worst kind of life looks like!

After all, my name is just 'Neltharion'.
Actually, if you all wish, I could change my name to something like 'Dog's Leftovers' or 'Second Girl' right now, if that would appease their anger.

"Alright, Neltharion II, stop making these terrible jokes. No matter how good your jokes are, you're still going to get a beating later."

"But on the bright side, sir, it's more dignified to laugh out loud when you're being beaten than to whine and cry like a sissy, isn't it?"

Besides, it's not certain who will fight whom.

If I'm going to get beaten up for no reason just because I inherited this unlucky name, then I think this world is truly hopeless.

Ha, you laughed, didn't you? Onyxia, see, there are still people who appreciate my humor. So, what do you think of the suggestion I made last time?
You call me Dad, I'll call you Sister!
Let's each talk about our own perspectives.

(End of this chapter)