The Journey of the Rainbow Dragon.

The two gazes met in the air, as if the entire universe was meeting. Time seemed to stop at this moment, leaving only the gazes between them intertwined.

Looking at the white-haired old man in front of him who was wearing a white robe and had an ordinary appearance.

At that moment, Ron felt as if he saw endless history and destiny in those eyes, and his soul seemed to be touched at this moment.

"Ron." The old man's voice seemed to come from ancient times, full of vicissitudes and depth.

"Io?"

Ron narrowed his eyes and stared into those same eyes, feeling a surge of turmoil in his heart.

There was no fluctuation of divine power in the other party's every move, as if he was just an ordinary old man.

If it weren't for the other party's dragon eyes that were sparkling with invisible starlight, on normal days, even if he was placed directly in front of Ron, it would be difficult to attract his attention.

Ron carefully observed the legendary ancestor of dragons and confirmed again:

"The legendary nine-faced dragon god who has disappeared, the ancestor of dragons, Io?"

The old man, whose identity was exposed, smiled and nodded, without any displeasure at being interrupted.

"If you mean the astral realm, of course."

Hearing this, Ron tilted his head in confusion and said:

"What do you mean? Is there another Io somewhere else?"

Io smiled, without further explanation, and asked, "Are you ready to talk here?"

Ron looked at the grass around him and became even more confused:

"Talk here, what's the problem?"

The old man pointed down:
"Look at your feet."

Hearing this, Ron quickly lowered his head.

Only then did he realize that, at some point, his dragon palm had become stuck to the ground below as if it had melted!
Ron was startled and couldn't help but exclaimed:
"What the hell is this!"

He raised his legs to try to break free from the soil that had unknowingly covered his finger bones, but to no avail.

The nine-colored pupils shrank slightly
Then Ron spread his dragon wings without hesitation. At the same time, he clenched his right claw into a fist, slightly bent it backwards, and then smashed it towards the ground with all his strength like a meteor.

"boom!"

A loud bang shook the entire grassland.

The terrifying power of the Dragon God was fully revealed, and the terrifying force seemed to shake the entire grassland.

At this moment, Ron did not hold back at all. He unleashed the power of the guardian rune with all his strength and blessed himself with endless divine power. His glass-like dragon fist fell down with a bang as if it was going to smash through the planet.

The terrible wind from the fist made the old man's white hair fly, but the smile on his face did not change at all.

It was not until he saw the green fluorescence flashing on Ron's body that a hint of nostalgia appeared in Io's eyes.

But it was only for a moment, and this unnecessary emotion was dispelled by him.

"boom!"

The almost materialized white circular gale spread out in all directions from Ron as the center at a speed visible to the naked eye.

But no matter how hard he tried, Ron couldn't pull his feet out of the seemingly soft soil. Instead, he was like a traveler trapped in a swamp. The more he struggled, the tighter the soil became and the deeper he sank.

Just as Ron was about to try other methods to escape, Io's voice suddenly sounded in his ears:

"Memories of the past always make people indulge in them, but not all memories are good."

There was unfathomable wisdom in the old man's eyes.

Ron felt a chill. He understood that this old man was no ordinary person, and the predicament he was in at the moment might be far more complicated than he had imagined.

When Ron heard this, he frowned slightly and felt a chill in his heart.

He took a deep breath, stared at the old man in front of him, and asked:
"What exactly do you want to tell me? You dragged me into this place with great effort. It's not just to tease me, right?"

Ron pointed to the mud that had covered the entire dragon's paw and snorted coldly.
"Since you want to communicate, why not be frank? I think it will be good for our communication. Otherwise, even if I die, I will not let you achieve everything you want."

Io sighed softly, with a complicated look in his eyes:

"Child, there are some things you need to discover and understand by yourself. Whether it is the past or the future, only you can find the real answer."

As he spoke, he walked slowly towards Ron, bent down and casually grabbed a handful of loose soil.

Under Ron's gaze, Io gently spread out his palms.

At this moment, the soil that was strong enough to trap a rainbow dragon god was now like ordinary soil, falling easily through his fingers.

“It’s like this morass of memories.”

Io raised his head, took a deep look at the rainbow dragon in front of him, and said softly:

"It's not someone else who is trapping you, it's your past self."

"What!?"

Ron was shocked.

Then, in his sight, the whole world seemed to have undergone a huge reversal.

As Io finished his words, the fallen soil suddenly disintegrated and turned into living things under Ron's gaze.

Tina, Vivian, Shirley, Setsuna, Hermione.
One by one, the people or dragons who had a bond with Ron passed quickly in front of his eyes. All the joys, sorrows, anger and happiness of the past were replayed in an instant, and then like a drop of water falling into the sea, they quickly merged with the ground below.

Then, the whole grassland changed!
Ron was horrified to find that the weeds covering the ground had turned into human shapes.

Each of them had divine light shining and divine power surging on their bodies. They were all powerful gods!
And what was firmly grasping Ron's feet was no longer the soil, but pairs of hands!

Ron could even clearly see the familiar yet unfamiliar faces passing beneath the palms through the gaps between the densely overlapping palms.

Those countless hands intertwined and overlapped, entangled with each other, tightly grasping his dragon palm, as if to imprison him in this quagmire forever.

Every finger and every nail on these hands carried a different breath of life, as if all life in the world was reaching out to him for help.

Humans, orcs, elves, demons, elemental creatures.
Almost all the visible and invisible life in the astral world emerged under his feet, and at the same time, sharp wails drilled into his cochlea.

"Ron, please, don't leave me!"

"No, don't leave Tina alone again!"

"Asshole boss, you are not allowed to run away by yourself!"

"Master, we are still..."

"Father, are you going to abandon Hermione again?"

Ron looked down and saw familiar yet unfamiliar faces flashing alternately under those palms.

Tina, Vivian, Shirley, Hermione, Setsuna… Their eyes were filled with pain and despair, and each of them was shouting silently.

Ron's heart was beating wildly and he felt a myriad of emotions coming from the touches.

Every cry and every face carries endless pain and hope.

They stretched out their hands desperately and grabbed Ron's dragon paw tightly, like a drowning man grabbing the only straw above the water.

Except for the black shadow that appeared at the end.

It was a worried face that Ron was very familiar with, flashing through the cracks of everything. The snow-white hair was twisted into a long braid, hanging down on the black gauze skirt, and the pair of eyes as bright as black crystals gently looked at the rainbow dragon in front of him.

Her appearance illuminated Ron's world like a ray of light.

Ron's mind suddenly became clear, as if a purification spell had been cast on him. His heart, which had been gradually immersed in fear, suddenly calmed down.

"Goddess of Death?"

Recalling the figure that flashed by just now, Ron's heart froze.

"enough!"

Ron roared, and the divine power in his body burst out. The surging colorful divine power formed a dazzling halo around him.

“I will never forget, but I will never be bound by the past!”

"I must move forward, for you and for myself!"

As he finished speaking, those familiar faces suddenly froze, and the hands that were holding him quickly loosened. Then everything seemed to be petrified, quickly turning back into the form of soil and disintegrating into the air.

Ron felt the restraints on his feet disappearing and his body became lighter.

"Roar!--"

The next moment, he raised his head sharply.

A dragon roar mixed with endless anger instantly shattered the surrounding scene.

Forest, grassland, sky, earth.
Everything turned into a white light again under the dragon's roar, just like the void space that Ron had just experienced.

Only this time, the white space was no longer empty.

Ron's pupils dilated sharply as he looked at the scene in front of him.

"crash"

Countless metal chains filled with various rune powers swayed gently, and the metal surface was like a living thing, breathing and emitting colorful fluorescence of different colors.

Protection, destiny, luck, power, death.
The power of runes, which was rarely seen in the star realm in the past, is now running through these chains like it is free of charge, as if it is endless!
What surprised Ron the most was that the chains, which were millions of meters thick, were not floating in the air, but were wrapped around an incredibly huge dragon-like creature that almost occupied the entire field of vision!
It was a nine-colored dragon.

Countless nearly circular colorful scales sparkle with endless light, as if each scale contains an independent universe.

The huge dragon body spans billions of galaxies, and its huge figure is suspended between countless rune chains, like a majestic god.

Each of these chains is as thick as a star mark and covered with complex runes, each rune exuding an ancient and mysterious power.

This is the most ancient law and power in the universe.

With every slight tremor of the chain, colorful fluorescence flowed between the runes, as if the chains themselves were living beings.

The chains were like pythons, wrapped around the dragon's body layer by layer, and each chain was deeply embedded between the dragon's scales.

Whenever the chain tightens, the rune power emits a low humming sound, as if proclaiming its unshakable strength.

These chains not only imprisoned the dragon's body, but also seemed to be devouring his divine power, preventing him from freely exerting his strength.

But even so, the nine-colored dragon's eyes were still gentle.

"You're here at last, kid."

The dragon's voice was deep and loud, echoing in the space like thunder. There was a hint of fatigue in its voice, but more of a sense of relief, as if it had finally waited for its destination.

Those huge nine-colored dragon pupils were deep and calm, as if they had penetrated the boundaries of time and space and seen through everything.

There was no resentment or anger in His eyes. Instead, they were filled with wisdom and compassion, which were the result of countless years of baptism.

"You are the Nine-Faced Dragon God Io?"

Ron asked uncertainly.

The size of the giant dragon in front of him was so huge that it was beyond his imagination. Even if the other party was the nine-faced dragon god who created the dragon clan in the legend, it was still a little unbelievable.

"certainly"

The nine-colored dragon nodded gently.

This simple action caused countless rune chains around it to leap wildly.

"Wow~~~"

As if afraid of being broken free, countless chains tightened rapidly, almost cutting into the dragon's body.

However, all these changes were not enough to cause any emotional fluctuations in the Nine-Faced Dragon God Io.

Those huge nine-colored dragon pupils were deep and calm, as if they had penetrated the boundaries of time and space and seen through everything.

There was no resentment or anger in His eyes. Instead, they were filled with wisdom and compassion, which were the result of countless years of baptism.

in the void

Two pairs of identical nine-colored dragon pupils looked at each other again.

Only this time, the situation between the two dragons seemed to have changed slightly.

"What on earth happened to you looking like this?"

Ron frowned and raised his head reluctantly.

The opponent's body is too big
It was so big that even Ron's Dragon God body, which was tens of thousands of meters long, was like an invisible ant in front of Him.

So Ron just tried his best to keep the other person's eyes visible during the conversation.

Io looked at the rainbow dragon in front of him gently:

"I'm sorry to see you like this. Please forgive me. All the things that happened before were necessary tests."

Looking at the Nine-Faced Dragon God imprisoned by billions of rune chains, Ron gritted his teeth:
"What happened just now? Why did I see those scenes?"

Io's voice was still gentle, like a wise old man, and he spoke slowly:
"because."

"I'm not sure if you still hold on to your heart now."

Hearing this, Ron breathed a sigh of relief unconsciously and asked:
"So, those are all false illusions?"

"Do not."

Unexpectedly, Io shook his head, denying Ron's guess.

He looked at Ron and said seriously, word by word:
"Those are not imaginary scenes, but real history that once happened."

"What did you say?!"

Ron's pupils trembled and he looked at the dragon in front of him in disbelief.

Looking at his performance, the Nine-Faced Dragon God sighed.

He raised his head slightly, his sight seemed to penetrate space, looking in a certain direction and meeting a pair of eyes.

"Ron, you must remember"

After a moment of silence, the Nine-Faced Dragon God who was imprisoned in the void suddenly said slowly and solemnly:
“The past cannot be changed, and the future cannot be predicted.”

"Only now!" (End of this chapter)