I, the Lord of the Fifth Throne, am the source of all things!

Within the spirit of Duanmu Lian, who was being transformed into a dragon, he stared blankly at the countless versions of himself floating above the sea of ​​blood.

He wanted to be different from any version of himself he had ever been; only in this way could he truly find himself.

But does becoming a dragon make me different from them?

Dragons are very strong; their very existence is equivalent to power.

At this moment, a deep voice responded to Duanmu Lian. It was a Duanmu Lian floating in the sea of ​​blood, with a pair of dragon horns on her forehead.

He looked at Duanmu Lian with the indifference of a dragon.

But in our view, dragons are not some unique power.

With eyes as if cast in gold, another Duanmu Lian, with dragon-like golden vertical eyes, sneered at Duanmu Lian amidst the sea of ​​blood.

He is also a dragon, and a dragon king at that.

The power of the dragon is wondrous, its abilities dazzling; its innate strength is unimaginable to others.

Duanmu Lian, with one eye of mercury silver and a clock-shaped pupil similar to Tokisaki Kurumi's, looked down at Duanmu Lian in a mysterious and elegant time dragon posture.

He is an extremely rare dragon species, and a legendary dragon from ancient times that can be compared to the Dragon God.

One by one, the dragons who were Duanmu Lian stood up in the sea of ​​blood, all looking at Duanmu Lian with mocking and ridiculing eyes and expressions.

The Azure Dragon, Yinglong, and Five-Clawed Golden Dragon, all resembling creatures from the East...

Black dragons, golden dragons, and time dragons with Western appearances...

So many, so many, one after another, dragon seed Duanmu Lian stood up in the sea of ​​blood.

Having traversed countless worlds, there are far too many Duanmu Lians in the body of dragons.

The dragons in Fairy Tail, the purebloods in the Dragon World, the dragons in World of Warcraft, the dragons in Dungeons & Dragons, the Elder Dragons in Monster Hunter...

As dragons, they looked at Duanmu Lian with different eyes, but even though their eyes were different, they all conveyed the same meaning.

[Becoming a dragon changes everything? Don't be naive!!!]

"boom----!"

In the real world, to the Dragon God's incredulous gaze, the wings that were about to materialize behind Duanmu Lian began to spontaneously combust!

The scorching flames instantly burned the wings into charred ashes.

"Go away——!"

Duanmu Lian, who was bowing her head before the Dragon God, suddenly let out a low shout.

Then, the blood that was spreading from all directions on the ground and was about to converge on him was immediately repelled and splashed away by this low shout.

It wasn't force that pushed away the blood, but rather a willpower carrying a strong sense of rejection.

The shape of the blood that was pushed aside on the ground around Duanmu Lian, when viewed from the sky, resembled a sun symbol formed from blood.

"My heart, soul, and life belong only to me."

Duanmu Lian slowly raised his head before the Dragon God, revealing his bright, burning eyes that shone intensely in the shadows. A sinister, twisted smile curled at the corners of his lips as he said:

"The power of dragons is indeed immense, wondrous, and incredibly alluring, but don't be ridiculous, I absolutely won't do it! What's mine is mine—a single hair, a drop of blood—I am who I am... I am who I am!!!"

For Duanmu Lian, the power and body of a dragon were like changing into a new set of clothes.

He can use a dragon's body when creating a husk, and a dragon as a new body when creating an avatar.

But he would absolutely not allow someone to transform him into a dragon, inside and out.

Wearing only the skin of a monster, yet becoming a monster in its own right—how pathetic and laughable!

"And also, the 'freedom' I want, you can't give me!!!"

With a roar from Duanmu Lian, he unleashed the Nine Deaths Hell Claw, tearing the Dragon God in front of him to shreds.

What is freedom?

This has different definitions for different people.

Although Duanmu Lian is trapped in the Eternal Return, he can actually escape at any time.

What's trapped isn't him as a person, but his own mind.

If the heart is trapped, the whole world is a cage.

Where the heart finds peace, even a humble dwelling can be paradise.

The idea that the Dragon God's power alone could set Duanmu Lian free is ridiculous.

"You're a really strange person."

After the Dragon God disappeared, he reappeared behind Karula and looked at Duanmu Lian with an extremely complicated expression.

Subsequently, under the influence of an unknown force.

The space where Duanmu Lian was located was directly separated from reality, trapping him in an alternate dimension different from reality.

Having done all this, the Dragon God put his hands behind his back, turned his head with a smile to look at Karula, who was sitting blankly on the ground, and laughed:

"Then, sister, what do you yearn for?"

"I...I...I..."

Karula was a little confused. She had seen the little girl who had suddenly appeared and her fight with Duanmu Lian, but she didn't understand what had happened.

In her view, the two people started fighting over a disagreement, which led to the current situation.

"It was my sister who called me here, so now you don't have any wishes?"

The Dragon God pointed to Duanmu Lian, who was going berserk in the alternate dimension, and then to Shenwei, who was imprisoned in a jail.

(My...my wish?)

Karula then remembered her earlier prayer, and her body trembled slightly.

She glanced sadly at the lifeless heads of her sisters, then at Shenwei, who was trapped in prison with only half his body remaining.

The current situation is extremely bad for her.

"Can you... help me?"

"I came here in response to your call, sister. I will grant any wish you may have."

"...Please save us, please save Shenwei!!!"

The countless heads of her sisters, the mangled and broken Divine Might—all these circumstances are driving Karura to the brink of madness.

No matter what's in front of her, she'll grasp it tightly as a lifeline.

Even if I will die in the future, I absolutely do not want to die now.

He didn't want to die, nor did he want his compatriots to die, and he especially didn't want Kamui to die.

Karula disliked this kind of world... this kind of world, a world where only she suffered and was unhappy!

"If you want, I will give you the power to create such a world."

A lovely smile bloomed on the Dragon Goddess's face, and at the same time, a pair of sacred and pure white wings stretched out behind her once again.

Crash—

Pure white feathers drifted down in the stillness of time, scattering around Karura's body. The Dragon God gazed at Karura, who was kneeling and weeping, and laughed:

“I will give you a name, sister, God's Wing Artimadia.”

Ugh! ...

At this moment, the blood flowing on the ground around them began to surge violently, spreading rapidly toward Karula.

At the same time, in Karula's horrified and pained gaze, the pair of pure white wings reflected in her eyes suddenly revealed an extremely evil and twisted aura.

Moreover, I don't know if it's a hallucination.

From those pure white wings, Karula saw countless versions of herself crowded together, looking at her with eyes full of hatred, resentment, and pain.

It wasn't just what I saw; it was as if I could also hear the countless mournful voices of my sisters.

It's all your fault!

Why must we suffer like this?!

If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be dead!

[It hurts so much!!!]

【It's all your fault!!!】

Atone for your sins...

Countless venomous voices emanated from the pure white wings, voices that only Karula, who was trembling all over at that moment, could hear.

In a near-collapsed mental state, the dragon god, with its wings spread, smiled and extended its hand to Karura before it, saying:

"If you hope for a miracle, then reach out to me and save those you wish to save~~~~~"

"...Ugh..."

Although her pupils reflected the scene of hell, Karula still trembled as she reached out and grasped the Dragon God's hand.

boom! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

In an instant, streaks of blood on the ground seemed to receive a command, and all of them crashed into Karula's body like venomous snakes.

In less than a second, Karula disappeared, replaced by a huge blood sphere.

From that blood sphere came waves of immense energy, which spread throughout the entire Earth in an instant.

At that very moment, the time stop was lifted.

"------!"

The Saint of the Sun, the Saintess of Machinery, and the Saintess of Prison were stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that time had just been stopped.