Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 296 Dragon Tomb
Tomb of the Dragon of Galide.

Legend has it that at the beginning of the forbidden war, the "Mother of Flying Dragons" Guior followed the Dragon King and the Dragon God to fight the evil god Esti in the sky. She was seriously injured in the war and fell to the land of Gelid, and has fallen into a deep sleep ever since.

In that most brutal battle in the history of the border area, eighteen of the twenty original flying dragons bred by Guior himself were killed, leaving only the first "Ice Dragon" Borelius and the sixth "Steel Spear Dragon" Gustav alive.

After the war, the two original dragons buried the remains of their eighteen brothers and sisters together with other dragons who died in the battle in the land of Gelid, hoping that they could find eternal rest beside their mother. After that, Polyreus returned to the Arctic ice field, while Gustav stayed and has been guarding it ever since.

This is the origin of the Dragon Tomb recorded in the Sky City Great Library, and it is also the version that Lucia is most familiar with.

Following his order, the royal carriage stopped ten miles away from the Dragon Tomb. He jumped off the carriage, asked the two Storm Knights driving the carriage to rest on the spot, and drove forward along the ancient road with Anasia alone.

I don’t know if it’s because the surrounding trees are too tall, but the sky here seems to be much lower and more depressing than other areas in Gaileed. The gnarled pine trees on both sides of the ancient road are like swords and spears rising from the ground, cutting the gloomy sky into pieces, leaving only a solemn purple in the center.

Walking forward through the layers of fallen leaves and sand and gravel accumulated over thousands of years is like turning over a thick history book covered with dust, and step by step walking into the deepest part of time.

About half a minute later, Lucia saw the expected figure.

He was a middle-aged strong man over two meters tall, with a body that seemed to be made of steel and filled with powerful strength. His bronze skin was slightly rough on the surface, just like the facial lines that were chiseled by a knife and an axe. He looked tough but exuded an ancient vicissitudes of life.

An ancient dragon who has gone through countless life-and-death battles, survived the most terrible hell, and accompanied his former relatives, now the dead, for thousands of years - this should be Gustav, right?

When he was ten steps away from Lucia, he knelt on one knee, humbly bent his broad and strong body, and said in a low voice: "'Steel Halberd Dragon' Gustav, I pay my respects to my Lord Lucia Sanx!"

Perhaps because he was a man of few words all year round, Gustav's voice was vigorous and a little stiff, just like his nickname "Steel Halberd", strong and sad.

Lucia's lips moved slightly, but for some reason, the many words of comfort she had prepared could no longer be uttered at this moment.

He just walked forward in silence, solemnly and slowly lifted up the body that had carried so much, grabbed the other's arms with both hands, and shook them heavily.

"Come on, take me to see her."

Gustav turned and walked ahead, while Anasia still followed silently behind her master, and the three of them continued to walk deeper into the forest along the only path in the forest.

Gradually, hills appeared in the field of vision. The shortest of them was ten meters away. In front of each hill stood a small sword monument made of obsidian, engraved with a few brief lines of deeds.

"The next generation flying dragon Obulres killed sixteen fallen star beasts outside the third level floating city, but was pierced by the evil god's star rays and died in battle."

"The third generation flying dragon Ariel was surrounded by hundreds of evil gods in the second floating city. She killed nine Falling Star Beasts and eleven Falling Star Beasts, and died of exhaustion."

"'Fire Dragon' Rodriguez, one of the twenty original flying dragons, fought three corrupted incarnations head-on, wounded one, and killed two. He was then eroded by the curse of corruption and died in flames before his mind collapsed." "."

This is the Dragon Tomb. It has never been a holy place where the victors of wars erected monuments and wrote biographies to sing their praises for posterity. Instead, it is a mound of ruins formed by the surviving losers dragging the corpses of their relatives. It is the last ray of light from the past engraved in blood.

Among the tombs that were as dense as stars, Lucia saw many old men in simple clothes. They wandered aimlessly on the barren hills. Even if their eyes occasionally met with the three people, there was not a trace of fluctuation in their dull pupils.

"Please forgive their rudeness, Your Highness," Gustav explained, choosing his words carefully. "They are all ancient flying dragons that survived the war. Aside from their half-destroyed bodies and wills, most of their lifespans have also come to an end."

"Thirteen years ago, I led the last group of flying dragons that could still fight to participate in the Dragon Tree War, but only one in ten returned. To this day, as you can see, these dying dragons can only replay that war and the final defeat over and over in their minds, wandering aimlessly in this land like ghosts until they die."

“No—” Lucia shook her head and said to Gustav’s puzzled look, “You are not losers, you are heroes.”

"It was a battle for the fate of our country that I was not able to participate in. It was you who took up arms and stepped onto the battlefield, defeating an enemy that was impossible to defeat. What reason do I have to blame a true hero for some insignificant etiquette?"

He looked ahead and saw a giant dragon almost as tall as Gulanshanks crawling on the ground at the end of the dragon tomb. Its body was like the ridge of a high mountain, and its spread wings were covered with vines and vegetation that had accumulated over the years, like the two foothills of an endless mountain range.

Further away, Lucia could vaguely see the Pharos Fortress built in the 37th year of the Golden Calendar. The nominal function of the fortress was to assist the Ancient Dragon Dynasty in guarding the dragon tomb and prevent it from being destroyed by those with ulterior motives, but anyone with a discerning eye knew that it was an outpost used to monitor the condition of the Dragon Mother Guior.

However, in front of such an unparalleled dragon, the military fortress born from the unspeakable dark thoughts of the Golden Dynasty was as small as an insignificant ant.

"I will wait here for Your Highness," Gustav bowed, "No one will disturb us from the front."

Lucia nodded slightly at him, asked Anasia to wait there, and walked forward alone until she came to a position close to Guior.

Just like the remains of Gulansanks in the center of the Golden Temple of Rodel, only at this distance can one most intuitively feel how huge Guior's body is. The head in front of him alone is much larger than an ordinary medium-level flying dragon.

Countless crisscrossing wounds have not healed after thousands of years, and are scattered like ravines on the surface of this mountain. However, unlike Gulansanks which has been completely turned into rock, Guior still maintains a regular and long breath, and occasionally one or two low dragon roars like thunder in the mountains can be heard.

Lucia stretched out her hand and gently stroked the cold, hard and rough rock dragon scales on the surface of Guior Dragon's head.

He was about to say something when suddenly, an unexpected soul shock penetrated his mental barriers and went straight into his mind!

He looked up and saw that Guiol had opened his eyes, which had been closed for a thousand years, without him noticing, and was staring at him deeply with a look that he could not understand.

(End of this chapter)