Dragon Tribulation of All Realms

Chapter 244 - But her condition was better than expected.

Wu Chen saw the group of corpse demons.

The vast majority of them were dressed in tattered rags, their bodies both damaged and filthy. Clearly, they were originally barbarian nomads from north of the Wall, and their numbers were enormous.

The number is around two hundred.

A very small number of them were clad in black—Wu Chen’s hazy memories identified them. They clearly belonged to the Night’s Watch Rangers, and like the raw materials of Wu Chen’s body, they died and were resurrected, now serving as elite units among the wights, guarding the pale White Walkers.

They were under the command of the White Walkers.

They moved forward at a leisurely pace—some of them casting interested glances at the wolf carcass lying on the ground, but did not go any further, focusing their attention on the two people blocked inside the cube.

The blood magic ritual was successful.

They saw neither Wu Chen nor Hera.

The White Walkers that commanded them clearly possessed superior intelligence, yet they still failed to perceive the magical barrier Hera had conjured on the spot—their gaze fixed on the wolf's skinless body, their grip tightening on a spear made of magical ice. The wights patrolled and inspected the dead wolf according to its commands, and some of the more agile individuals were even ordered to pounce and tear at.

“It really is this world.” Hera looked at the White Walker without the slightest tension. Even though the White Walker was less than ten meters away from the cube she was in, she still spoke in her normal tone.

She turned her head to look at Wu Chen, and seeing that he wasn't particularly surprised, a hint of satisfaction finally appeared in her eyes.

"Dust, is there anything important in this world that I need to know immediately?"

She asked, and then Wu Chen thought about it—it was indeed meaningless to marvel at Hera's talent; he just hadn't expected that even without her soul, Hera would still be so outrageous.

No, that's not right. Having lost her soul, she seems to have undergone a strange transformation. Perhaps, in some aspect, her potential has already surpassed what it was before!

A thought flashed through his mind, and he saw Hera still chanting softly, continuing to draw in the snow at her feet. The rune chains that had originally just linked the cubes together had expanded, and the total number and complexity of the runes were constantly increasing!

The information immediately flowed through Wu Chen's mind. He then gathered it, summarized and categorized it.

"The theme of this world should be 'A Song of Ice and Fire.' The continent beneath our feet is called Westeros, with seven kingdoms scattered across the land. Although they are now unified, a war between the kings is imminent. And the place we are in now is the Badlands, which is even further north than the Northern Kingdoms. The White Walkers were born in the far north, and they are a force under the command of the Cold God."

"The God of Cold and the God of Red are two forces that are eternally at odds in this world. Their victory or defeat determines whether the current generation will experience a winter that lasts for decades or a summer that lasts for hundreds of years. And now, with the arrival of a red comet from beyond the heavens, representing the revival of magic, these two forces are about to clash anew."

This should be the most important intelligence in the world—and compared to this, the struggle between the Seven Kingdoms in Westeros becomes insignificant—the White Walkers will eventually breach the walls of the Forsaken, and the dead will bring death to the living. However, from a broader perspective, it can be seen that Westeros is merely the outskirts of the land where the Cold God is sealed. Even if the Cold God's forces completely invade this land, it will still be insignificant compared to the advantage held by the Red God.

“Hmm.” Hera nodded. Then she asked, “What about dragons? What place do dragons occupy in this world?”

"At this point in time, dragons in this world have become extinct. However, on another continent, three young dragons should have already been born—they are at the pinnacle of the mystical realm, suppressing all magical forces, including these White Walkers and the Wall that keeps them separated from the North."

Wu Chen paused for a moment. In his memory, A Song of Ice and Fire and the TV series Game of Thrones were two vastly different timelines. The biggest difference between these two timelines was that the TV series had already ended, while the novels were far from being completed, or even in their later stages.

“The rise of magic.” Hera raised her head, her gaze easily piercing through the sparse canopy of trees and taking in the red comet on the other side of the sky. She glanced at it, then lowered her head again to adjust the runes on the ground, until the ritual she had created on the spot was filled with an unusual rhythm and beauty.

"Judging from your tone, it seems like there's still a long time to go?" "It is a long time." Wu Chen nodded. "This land will be embroiled in war for several years. And during this time, there is no magical power south of the Great Wall—if we regain our spellcasting abilities, we should be able to get through a relatively easy period."

Her drawing hand paused slightly.

“You seem to think that losing your soul is a terrible thing.” But after a moment, she continued to draw.

"...Isn't it?"

"It's certainly bad for people who don't have much ambition. But... Dust, you know many secrets, you should know our true nature. Until we Nirn people and Oblivion creatures, and ordinary people in this world, what is the biggest difference between us?"

Wu Chen knew, of course, that a large part of his strength in the past was due to this difference.

“We are fragments of the original spirits, the remnants of the founders. The essence of every Nirn person is a nascent god.”

“Yes, nascent gods—we are born gods, as long as we can develop our own soul light.” Hera nodded, then shook her head slightly. “But while we are so powerful, we must also pay an equal price. Because the Primordial Spirits have long been the pillars of the world, and their remnants actually bear the same burdens.”

“We are burdened with destiny, Dust… We are the foundation of the world, a grain of sand on its pillars. Each of us is born with a duty, and fate will drive us to fulfill it. Just as you are destined to face a dragon priest, and I am destined to go beneath Satar.”

"...I no longer need to face a dragon priest." Wu Chen stared at the Otherworldly creature, which had circled around and was now only a few meters away from the cubic meter. "I have... a fairly reliable source of information."

“I could guess.” Hera smiled. “And now, I no longer need to go to Satar—you know, Dust, the driving force of fate is never gentle. Although there’s no direct evidence, the reason you embarked on the path of death is most likely because you were burdened with the destiny of becoming a dragon priest—”

The world will push you, drawing you closer and closer to the dark secrets of the Dragon Cult, closer and closer to the deathly power that makes dragon priests immortal. And a byproduct of this push is that those who come closer to you will also repeatedly encounter death.

"...Oh dear, so I'm the first one to die?"

Wu Chen didn't quite know how to respond to that.

However, Hera simply stood up, straightened her back, and gestured for him to pick up his weapon and prepare to join the battle.

“Fate can no longer bind us; we have gained the power to grow freely. In the distant past, there were people similar to us on Nirn. They were called the Soulless, who gradually gained the power to contend with the Demon God after losing their souls… The souls formed from the fragments of the Primal Spirit were not only our source and our aid, but also our shackles and our limiters. And now, we have successfully broken free from them.”

She raised her hand and swung it down sharply at the White Walkers that were still relentlessly approaching.

"This gave us the opportunity to take control of our destiny. However..."

The shadows of four direwolves suddenly pounced out, and the next moment, a faint humanoid illusion was torn from the White Walker's body!

It then fell, and the ghouls let out chaotic screams.

"The journey is a bit long!"

(End of this chapter)