Pillars of Ita

As the magic circle activated, Loren clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead. He almost hallucinated, as if he saw countless people walking past him.

Dressed in black robes with indistinct faces, they stood before the carcass of a wild beast, slit its throat with a knife, and drank the blood that flowed from the wound.

When the dragon's golden blood surged into his body, the phantom pain was almost unbearable—it felt like an awl peeling away muscle, scraping through bones, and slicing open blood vessels inch by inch.

Then pour in molten iron, enough to melt metal and dissolve bones.

A vast and chilling will enveloped him.

The next moment, he seemed to be thrown into a deathly, deep darkness.

That space had no up, down, left, or right, nor any beginning or end. Loren could only feel his gradually dissipating consciousness sinking into a deep sea, falling deeper and deeper, like a helpless drowning person, until he sank into that boundless abyss.

But it wasn't until a hand grabbed him and pulled him back that Loren suddenly opened his eyes and found that it was the tall lion-man holding him, looking at him with a serious expression.

He broke out in a cold sweat, but it was impossible to tell whether the sweat or rain was on his pale face.

At that moment, it seemed as if something new had entered his mind.

He raised a hand blankly, and the sword stuck in the ground not far away wobbled and flew into his hand—Loren held the sword firmly in his hand, a tremor running through his heart—it was certainly not the power that originally belonged to him.

But he could feel a violent force surging within his body.

That force seemed to be transforming into a sharp voice, echoing repeatedly in his mind, "They're just using you."

"You are certainly not just a shadow in history."

"I can make you truly exist in this world."

Don't you want to create your own future?

Loren closed his eyes.

Fang Zheng and the big cat-man exchanged a glance. Not everyone can drink dragon blood. It is called madness because the power in this blood can dominate people's hearts.

But having chosen each other, they could only trust each other, especially since there was no better alternative here. The big cat, however, knew Loren's background and remained calm.

"Is he okay?"

Fang Zheng's voice sounded strained.

Even though he used a clever method, controlling the magic circle left by the Numerin elf was still quite mentally taxing, not to mention the heavy burden of the Hailin Crown.

“He can’t be in any danger,” the big cat-man shook his head gently, glancing at the latter with even more concern. “But you are.”

"Don't worry, Mr. Reed... I'm confident."

The big cat-man sighed. "You know what? This is something that even Beryl, Serwin, and that great explorer from the Gulf never accomplished."

"But I am not traveling alone."

The mortals' eventual victory over the dragon was not achieved in a single generation.

Loren listened to the conversation between the two in a daze. The cat-man's tone was somewhat ambiguous. Loren felt that the other person was very familiar with him, but he did not recognize him at all.

However, he could hear the boundless confidence in Fang Zheng's words.

Are those the people chosen for them by the just lady?

That chilling will seemed poised to replace him and devour him completely at any moment, yet it was like a reef standing firm in a storm, unable to shake him in the slightest.

Loren opened his mouth slightly:
"...Get out of my way."

Golden cracks extended from where he gripped the sword, all the way to the blade—until the sword turned red-hot and then bent.

It finally broke in response.

Rain fell from mid-air, pouring onto the red-hot metal, making a hissing sound, and turning into a cloud of mist.

Loren opened his eyes again, a golden light emanating from them, but the intense golden flames were gradually fading, leaving only a deep, dark shadow.

He inherited a portion of the dragon's memories—its name was Toragothos—and he saw it fall into darkness, sink into the mud, and finally disappear without a trace.

Only a pair of dark golden pupils remained, coldly watching over him from the depths of his consciousness.

"You finally woke up."

Fang Zheng breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that he had controlled his strength.

In the entire plan, this was the only part that was beyond his control, although he believed that the other party was unlikely to be manipulated by Toragotos.

But since it concerned the dark Dragon King, he couldn't help but be cautious.

But a hint of doubt flashed in Loren's eyes.

One lives, the other dies—after drinking the dragon blood of Toragothos, his sensitivity to the aether has become a thousand times more acute, and because of this, he can sense that the plan seems to be only halfway done.

Because the power of the Dragon King Livegard's bloodline has disappeared.

He couldn't sense the past of the other dark dragon, the one Fang Zheng had told him about, the king of dragons, Livegard's power was like a hazy shadow, just a blank space.

He raised his head.

Amidst the torrential rain, the barrier enveloping the city had not completely disappeared; it remained, constantly radiating a threat.

Loren wasn't worried about the threat itself, but he was puzzled that the threat wasn't directed at him or this place.

Its center, however, lies atop that mountain peak—a massive barrier hangs over the temple of Tririel, its trigger held firmly in the hand of Fang Zheng before him, poised to strike.

What the hell does this happen?

Shouldn't the power of the dragon's blood be transferred to him, and then, here, in him, end this twisted history?
Before he could even speak, Luo Hao, who had rushed over, asked the question for him.

"Ed, what happened?" The latter had witnessed the entire process of the magic circle being activated and naturally knew what the problem was. "The creation magic circle has been activated, but Livegard's power has disappeared."

He walked up, carrying a large shield, his face grave. "Lifgard has fooled us all. It has escaped?"

But Fang Zheng gently shook his head, "Don't worry."

He looked up at the temple atop the mountain, “Lifgard is still there.”

"But how could this be? Isn't this barrier sealing it? Even Toragothos was tricked into it, so how could it, as the main target, be completely unharmed?"

"Because this barrier doesn't seal it."

"What!?"

Luo Hao and Loren were taken aback.

Fang Zheng looked at the two of them: "Do you remember what I told you about the curse of dragon blood?"

……

The plague spread across the land, the filth of dragon's blood had stained every inch of the fjord, and people were inexplicably afflicted with all sorts of strange diseases.

They might experience hallucinations, skin ulcers, or cysts, but without exception, they all eventually die from coughing up blood.

Hundreds and thousands of people died in that 'plague,' but many more saw it as a curse, a 'gift' of suffering from a cursed family to the world.

But fate is so strange, and only this cursed family can bring back the fountain of youth from the mist, thus curing the disaster.

In order to stop the plague, the council of the Bronze Bell had to send a person on a journey to the unknown seas to find the legendary Fountain of Immortality.

That person's name was Kazimir Geos.

That was his father.

But on the very night he brought back the spring water, at the celebratory banquet, his father died in a bizarre and horrific accident.

Ah, the prophecy has already come true. In that ancient family, there will always be a generation that dies mysteriously, and only the eldest son can survive.

That is the origin of the plague.

"So it's all that cursed family's fault!"

"They are the ones who brought all this suffering to us!"

"How can we treat him like a hero?"

People cursed and swore, but history always repeats itself mercilessly. Many years later, when the plague spread across the land once again, the officials who had broken their promises had no choice but to come knocking on the door again.

“Sel, your father was a hero, and now the fate of Perahvin has once again fallen on your shoulders.” “But what I want is not fate, but responsibility. Please restore my father’s honor.”

The determined young man gained fame, but also lost his closest relatives.

"So... don't you understand?"

The black-haired woman gently lifted the end of her hair, revealing the coiled, jet-black dragon horns beneath, and looked at the two with her golden, prismatic eyes. "There has never been a fountain of youth."

"That immortal spring is nothing but flowing blood."

In the past, Lifgard planted a curse with his own blood, cursing those who drank dragon's blood to repeat a tragic fate for generations, either to submit to slavery or to die in agony.

Until a mortal hero, wielding a holy sword, stepped into the Numelin elves' scheme, and with only his sword, he beheaded the evil dragon in the city of warriors.

The holy sword shattered into a thousand pieces, and golden blood flowed down the long steps.

The blood poured over him, and the hero endured pain that ordinary people could hardly bear. From then on, the seed of the curse was deeply attached to that hero's lineage.

And the descendant named Gios was actually the one who wielded the sword.

“…So,” Alice finally understood the reason for the story, “Cassimir and Geos, they didn’t bring back the Fountain of Youth?”

“They simply went into the mist again and again to kill another person who became a dragon, thus stopping the plague from spreading.”

"...until Livegard's power awakens within them, transforming them into another monster, will this cycle begin anew?"

She looked up at the woman in front of her. "You are... Alessa?"

The black-haired woman nodded slightly, her golden, prismatic eyes narrowing into slits, burning with a flame more dangerous than ever before. "This is my true form, for the closer one gets to this place, the closer one gets to the very source of my bloodline—"

“Lifgard, after all, is my father.”

Alice gripped her long dagger tighter, pointing the sharp end at the dragon queen, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "Ms. Alessa, can I trust you?"

“I have dealings with your people,” Alessa began. “If I didn’t want you to know about this, I wouldn’t have had to be here.”

She shook her head slightly, looking with some disgust into the depths of the temple. "I'm already tired of living like a stray dog. Why should I go back to that desolate world?"

“Aetaria has everything I want: land under the sun, pure ether, even starlight,” she said, looking at Alice. “While I’m not so sure he can rewrite the final outcome of this world, at least until then, I can enjoy all of this—”

"And your people?"

“Has no one told you that dark dragons are all selfish creatures?” Alessa chuckled. “They will only corrupt this world. I would never share this with those worms.”

Alice then put down the dagger. "I thought you were treating the captain differently."

“He is indeed different,” Alessa said thoughtfully, “but you don’t understand what fate awaits you. Do you really think that just because the Noumelin elves won a war, you can replicate that victory?”

She suddenly realized something and cautiously stopped talking. "Alright, let's get back to the main topic."

Alice glanced at her. "But what you said is still not very clear. You said that Kazimierz and Sel Gios inherited the power of Livegard and stopped the spread of the plague..."

"...But why did the 'plague' of dragon blood disappear for so long after Sel Gios?"

“No,” Alessa shook her head, “it was not Cel Gios who stopped the spread of the plague, but his sister, Netali Gios.”

Alice suddenly remembered the scene she had witnessed not long ago.

But the Dragon Queen continued to explain, "Theoretically, Kazimierz died suddenly, and the inheritance of the Dragon Blood Curse was interrupted, but something happened after that, and the plague did not immediately begin to spread."

"Later, when the plague struck again, the Council of the Bronze Bells, following tradition, approached Selgios and her sister, after which the mortal embarked on a journey to find the Fountain of Youth."

"But this time, the seed of dragon blood did not transfer to him, but appeared in his sister Nethali Geos, which is why Nethali died of illness more than ten years later—"

"Because she did not die of illness, but rather the power of Livegard awakened within her once more, transforming her into a monster, just like the story of the dragon witch you have heard."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "After that, Sergios embarked on expeditions ostensibly to find a 'new sea route,' but in reality, he was merely trying to return to Vo-Salasti.

"But the secret of why the siblings were able to stop the plague, even after Neytari transformed into a dragon, the blood plague never spread in the bay again, remains unknown to this day."

“But at the end of this history,” Alessa said, “Sel Gios did indeed kill his own sister, ending her suffering, and then received the cursed blood himself.”

"Until he was hanged by the Bell House for this matter."

“So…” Alice asked, “this is the true history, but what exactly happened in those three hundred years?”

Alessa shook her head again. "Nobody knows, but it might all be related to this thing you have."

Her gaze was fixed on the broken star tracker in Catherine's hand, not far away.

The female pirate was staring blankly at the silver light in the temple, seemingly unaware of Alessa's sudden appearance beside her.

They also failed to notice the conversation between the two earlier.

Alice followed Alessa's gaze and asked, "What is this?"

“It is the heart of this city, and a fragment of the first star to fall into the heavens,” Alessa replied softly. “The Noumelin elves once used it to forge a sacred relic—”

"This is a fragment of the Eternal Mark!" Alice finally realized what it was. "No, this is something similar to a fragment of the Eternal Mark, a part of the Holy Grail of the Elves?"

“But,” she looked at the object in shock, “if it is the core of this city, a fragment of the eternal mark, how could it be in Catherine’s hands, and how could it be the proof of the overlord?”

"Could it be... that it once appeared in the history of mortals?"

Alessa gave the girl a meaningful look.

She smiled. "Miss Alice, you've come very close."

Alice suddenly remembered something and her eyes widened. "Wait, Ms. Alessa. The Sons of the Gulf once told us that thirty years ago... there was another plague in the Gulf region..."

“Someone brought back the Fountain of Youth, which averted the crisis,” her voice trembled slightly, “That’s why they entrusted us to find the Fountain of Youth…”

But the problem is.

Only descendants of the Geos family can bring back the Fountain of Youth.

If the legends they heard are false, then who was it that retrieved the 'antidote' to the curse for the Sons of the Gulf thirty years ago?

She looked towards the Dragon Queen and realized that Alessa's gaze was fixed on Catherine, who was standing to the side.

Alice suddenly understood something and turned to look at the female pirate captain. Catherine seemed to snap out of her reverie, silently looking at the two of them, and gently nodded.
"He brought back the Fountain of Youth from Vor-Sarastil."

"he?"

Miss Nightingale felt a chill run down her spine.

According to Alessa, the Fountain of Youth was a lie from beginning to end. The real way to stop the curse was not with an antidote, but by killing the dragon and becoming the dragon himself.

But the holy sword is destroyed, and only the descendants of those who once wielded it, bathed in dragon's blood, can ensure that bloodline continues from generation to generation. However, in history, Sergios never left any descendants.

His sister never married before her death, but she left behind descendants.

Catherine was not a descendant of the Oath Keeper.

But how did her father, the pirate king, manage to bring back the Fountain of Youth from Vo-Salasti, thus preventing the disaster that occurred thirty years ago?
As if in response to her question, Catherine clasped her hands tightly together, holding the star tracker, and looked into Alice's eyes: "I'm sorry."

"In fact, this is the real reason I came here..."

"I just want to know what exactly happened when he landed on the island thirty years ago."

Alice couldn't help but gasp and involuntarily looked at Alessa beside her—she knew that Selgios had left them in this place.

The fact that the Dragon Queen appeared here at such a convenient time certainly meant more than just to answer their questions.

Alessa nodded gently. "Lifgard left another unknown timeline here. Only by killing it simultaneously in all three timelines can you truly kill this dark dragon king."

"And this third timeline is actually related to your father."

Her gaze fell once again on Catherine's hand. "If you want to go, I can send you to that timeline, but no one knows what happened there, and this fragment can only be used to mark the coordinates once."

"Do we even have time to gather the others?" Alice couldn't help but ask. "Just Catherine and I?"

Alessa shook her head and looked up at the silver light. "You don't have time. This timeline will end soon, and you must make a decision immediately."

"I am willing."

The female pirate spoke with absolute certainty.

...(End of chapter)