Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

“How could I possibly do that?” Lu Mingfei shook his head. “Happiness, beauty, and peace are hard to define objectively and uniformly. Everyone has deep-seated desires. Perhaps only a true god can respond to everything… You misunderstand. All I promised was to kill all the dragons.”

“A promise?” Odin said. “I must admit that your foolishness does indeed confuse me. When will you understand that gods never need foundations, just as a hurricane does not explain its trajectory to an ant?”

“You’re wrong again,” Lu Mingfei said calmly. “We are strong because of justice, not because we are strong.”

Odin said no more; war was inevitable. In his eyes, Lu Mingfei was naive to the point of childishness; justice was meaningless, and only power was trustworthy. Only through the baptism of countless wars could one understand this truth. Once war begins, even gods must be prepared to pay the price—this is the bloodiest, most tragic, and most useful lesson.

He chanted ancient incantations, and the elemental traces on the battlefield where he had fought the Black King suddenly came to life.

A massive elemental burst instantly engulfed everything.

Rhine.

“Word of Power Rhine?” Lu Mingfei said, “You should know that its incantation contains the meaning of ‘incomplete burning’... Zhulong.”

An even larger burst of fire elemental combustion erupted, colliding with the Rhine. Fire against fire, the purest conflict, created an unprecedentedly destructive explosion, the flames splitting the sky in two. Compared to "incomplete combustion," "combustion" ultimately prevailed, and the Rhine itself even became fuel for the Candle Dragon.

Odin had fought Nidhogg and had been severely injured by the Spear of Destiny before that. Even so, he was still able to release Rhine instantly, which was an evolution compared to his previous self. But it was still far from enough. The pressure that Lu Mingfei brought to him was no less than that of the Black King.

Lu Mingfei didn't go all out at all; his attitude was more like observing... Lu Mingfei was still wary of the Black King, which was good news.

Odin stood in the center of the flames. The fire surged around him, daring not to overstep its bounds. He stretched out his hand, and a scorching light appeared, the forging and melting completed in an instant, making it seem as if he had drawn a greatsword from the flames. At the same time, his armor began to repair itself.

A horse's neigh broke the silence, and an eight-legged celestial horse emerged from the firelight.

This is a ritual. The power of a dragon is limited when it is in human form, but it is completely different when it is in a "dragon in human form". "Dragon in human form" and spirit residing in human form are two different concepts. "Dragon in human form" is the end of the oldest path to godhood and is also the so-called "god race".

The path to godhood is the path of dragons, so humans can never reach the end.

In the form of a "god," he is able to fully unleash the power of the Dragon King.

A pillar of fire shot into the sky and dissipated with the wind. Dark thunderclouds rapidly gathered, unleashing a new domain where lightning and gale-force winds intertwined, and the air was filled with ozone and the smell of burning—a scene straight out of hell.

Odin mounted his horse, raised his greatsword, and a dense barrage of lightning descended, weaving into a net.

“Indra’s Wrath,” Lu Mingfei replied with the same incantation.

The equally powerful domain began to expand, forcing Odin's domain to compress. The clouds in the sky became strangely chaotic, winds collided, and every charging vortex was like a deep eye. It was as if ten thousand eyes in the sky were watching the battlefield.

Each bolt of lightning that struck was stopped by another bolt of lightning.

Lightning and thunder tore through the sky, hurricanes swept across the land, explosions and floods raged, and all tangible things were being reduced to dust by the power of nature.

This was a demonstration from Lu Mingfei; no matter what incantation Odin used, he retaliated with the same incantation. This battle gave Odin a bad feeling, like prey being driven by a hunter, getting hit in the head no matter which way he went, until he was exhausted or gave in.

He took the spear from his horse, the spear of fate stained with his blood, now fitted with a blackened tip. To kill the noble king, he needed a precious alchemical weapon. He raised the spear, gathered his strength, and hurled it.

The threads of fate coalesced from the tip of the spear, even stronger than when they connected with Lu Mingze.

Lu Mingfei paid no attention to the thread connecting to his heart. He grasped the spear he had just condensed and brought it to his lips, whispering, "You are the death of destiny."

Then, he swung his spear backhand, and the threads of fate extended from it, connecting to Gungnir's body!

Two weapons imbued with the power of destiny broke the sound barrier one after the other, colliding with a deafening roar. As expected, the spear that Lu Mingfei had casually conjured shattered instantly, while Gungnir's body remained unharmed. However, the next moment, Gungnir began to disintegrate from the inside, the explosion tearing the spear along the wood grain.

When the spearhead exploded, it released a white-purple arc of light tens of meters long. Its destruction itself became a domain, within which death was the only law.

After the devastating explosion, Gungnir was left with no wreckage whatsoever.

Odin was filled with fear.

Nidhogg is called "The End" because He is the master of fate, a god favored by "Earth". He is at the top of the food chain and the eternal ruler, and all of this is because of fate.

Odin could only experience the existence of "fate" within top-tier alchemical artifacts like Gungnir, but now, before his very eyes, Lu Mingfei manipulated fate with the power of words. For Lu Mingfei now, had fate, like the elements, become a tangible entity that could be manipulated at will?

No, that's not right.

Odin didn't panic; he quickly regained his composure. If Lu Mingfei truly controlled destiny, he would have killed Nidhogg and taken his place long ago.

There must be some oversight.

He had no desire to fight anymore. In any case, Lu Mingfei now possessed an ultimate power similar to the Black King, something he had feared for countless years.

The thought of how to get out unscathed flashed through his mind, and he quickly made a decision.

However, at that moment, he noticed Lu Mingfei's gaze. Despite the lightning and storm, it was calm and undisturbed, as if even Odin himself was not in his sight. Yet, his attention was indeed on Odin.

It was strange, but it was just a glance.

Odin activated the time beacon buried not long ago, and rewinding everything might improve the current dilemma.

Just then, Lu Mingfei's eyes finally changed, or rather, finally focused, as if Odin had finally come into his view... the Odin he had been waiting for.

"No, that's not right." Odin suddenly attacked.

It was too late. The flow of time began to reverse, at a speed he couldn't control! This wasn't the direction he was heading towards the time beacons he had activated, but rather towards something much further back... All the time beacons he had planted were being activated one by one. If this continued, before he was completely drained, they would reach the oldest point of time divergence.

Chapter 290 1900 years

By 1900, the era of gunmen and outlaws had come to an end.

Europe was at the height of its industrial dominance, with new technologies constantly emerging and colonies providing a steady stream of cheap raw materials. Trade in raw materials and manufactured goods grew in tandem, and its industrial output even accounted for 65% of the global total. At the same time, the Industrial Revolution accelerated urbanization, and the widespread use of electricity promoted urban lighting and the popularization of trams. People's lives were changing rapidly, and everyone believed that the future would become increasingly prosperous.

However, rapid development has brought problems, like shadows in the sunlight, that have spread as the tree has grown. Slums have multiplied, workers have been working more than 12 hours a day, and child labor has become a serious issue. Friction has arisen between nations over colonial interests, leading to frequent military standoffs. The Franco-Russian alliance and the confrontation between Germany, Italy, and Austria have intensified the arms race, and industrial conflicts have spread across all sectors.

In such turbulent times, the Peruvian party made a mistake by getting involved in politics.

……

The surrounding scenery flowed rapidly, like a storm, with every raindrop reflecting a neon-like brilliance. The rain of light drew dazzling lines, and Odin and Lu Mingfei looked at each other across the downpour, like two fish in a storm, about to be swallowed up by the surrounding time anomalies at any moment.

"Isn't it strange? How did the time marker trigger on its own?" Lu Mingfei said calmly.

Odin confronted Lu Mingfei while removing the beacons from the farthest reaches of time. His power was rapidly dwindling with each rewind of time, leaving him with no energy to even answer Lu Mingfei.

Now that things have come to this, he finally understands his shortcomings.

If Lu Mingfei could do it, there was no reason why Black King couldn't. From the moment Black King regained consciousness, he should have left. It was Lu Mingfei's presence that made him uneasy, and his fear led to his erroneous actions. One wrong step leads to another.

Time has been reversed by a hundred years. This is different from resetting the timeline, just like the difference between releasing Rhine and releasing Junyan.

However, even in dire straits, there is hope. He planted all the time beacons himself, precisely before each careful action... Resetting the timeline cannot create or destroy something out of thin air, but time reversal is different. As long as he can temporarily get rid of Lu Mingfei, he can obtain supplies or even regenerate.

Having come to understand the power of laws, he naturally had different ways of using what he once possessed.

“There is always a kind of life in the world, whose every death is for the sake of returning.” He said softly. “Fate is something that is born to be trampled underfoot. If you don’t understand this, you will never be able to defeat Nidhogg. Lu Mingfei, you are just a lackey of the Black King.”

Before Lu Mingfei could respond, the time reversal ended, and Odin used the power of the last Beacon of Time to detonate this extremely unstable alchemical field.

The light annihilated everything.

A bolt of lightning, stretching across the sky, struck the ground with a deafening roar, drawing the attention of several people in a classic study. The aroma of Darjeeling tea from India wafted from between the towering bookshelves. Outside the window, a torrential downpour began; the sky hung low as if about to collapse, dark clouds churned, and thunder roared.

The elders of the Secret Party were used to such torrential rains, not only as natural phenomena, but also as as dead servants who appeared in the world by taking advantage of the rain, and even as as dragons themselves that caused elemental turbulence.

Before they became accustomed to sitting in their studies and handling affairs through financial and political means, they had also charged into battle on the front lines. The last three "Iron Cross Roses" of the elite Secret Society, the "Rose Cross," are now elders of the Presbyterian Church. In an era before the development of science, the history of slaying dragons was written with the blood of generation after generation of humankind.

"Has there been no telegram from Friedrich yet?" Viscount Charlotte asked.

"The 'lizard bones' he brought back were already an unexpected gain, but he insisted on going to Jingbian in Shaanxi to investigate. We don't know what's there, maybe it's real dragon bones?" Lord Mayek put down his muffin. "It's been a long time since dragons have revived. Our young people can only study a pitiful amount of blood samples. The power of science needs to be verified by experiments before it can become a useful weapon."

“Friedrich will do well,” said Marquis Gambet, Friedrich’s tutor. “He is a bright young man.”

"Qing is a mysterious country. We haven't established a foothold there yet. Perhaps we should wait until Lu Shanyan's career has achieved some success." Viscount Charlotte said thoughtfully. "After he left Beijing, he was unable to send telegrams. Going deep into enemy territory alone is always risky."

"To hear that the renowned 'Silverwing' is afraid of adventure? Nobody would believe it if you told them," Lord Mayek quipped.

“As Menek said, ‘This is a different era.’” Viscount Charlotte was not angry at all. “Young people are not afraid of dragons. They believe that the power of steel can crush everything. Someone has to worry about them.”

“Menek has set off,” said the Marquis Gambet, leaning against the window. Outside, in the pouring rain, two black four-wheeled carriages sped out of the manor, carrying the latest Maxim heavy machine guns.

Steam engines, steel wheels, Maxim machine guns, and new cannons might indeed tip the scales of war between humans and dragons, but the three elders had no interest in discussing that now. They were more concerned with the cargo ship that hadn't yet docked. A "lizard skeleton" of a dead dragon or a high-blooded undead servant—clearly, it could now propel the Secret Society's cause into a new phase.

Under the storm, there is more than one group of people lurking in the darkness.

Lu Mingfei was in a deep pit. The alchemical field detonated by Odin caused a terrifying backlash. The timeline's corrective effect on time reversal was far more terrifying than resetting cause and effect. The pure energy released by Odin and Lu Mingfei, who traveled through a hundred years, could cause a nuclear explosion-like effect.

However, Lu Mingfei quelled the destructive energy with just a slight movement. Multicolored light emanated from his body, as forces from different origins converged into one.

These were blessings upon blessings. Such effects cannot be achieved through mere imitation of prayer, nor even through the power of genuine prayer itself. These blessings multiplied his strength, life force, and spiritual power—an unimaginable feat considering his current physical attributes.

This is the power of the gods, this is the law. Reaching that initial point before the decimal point requires countless efforts, and thereafter multiplying is no problem. In a contest of sheer power, Odin has never had a chance, not even when he used the backlash from Lu Mingfei's time travel. Intelligence is meaningless in the face of overwhelming numerical superiority.

Melina, Lani, and Lu Mingze appeared around him almost simultaneously.

The three of them seemed to have been suddenly pulled here, and were somewhat taken aback, not understanding what had happened to Lu Mingfei.

Chapter 291 Summer Mourning

In the torrential rain, the sound of raindrops grew increasingly chaotic, like drumbeats mixed in, the drumbeats becoming more and more intense, eventually completely drowning out the sound of the rain. One by one, golden eyes lit up, awakening the dead lurking in the mud. Clad in black raincoats, they gradually surrounded the distant Kassel Manor under the cover of darkness.

The one who awakened the Deadpool group was Lu Mingfei, who suddenly appeared.

“It’s quite lively here.” Lu Mingze said with interest. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen ‘herds’ active outside of the Nibelungen.”

"In the autumn of 1900, during the Summer Mourning Incident, the Secret Society's headquarters at Kassel Manor was attacked by dragons at night. It is suspected that the Dragon King was involved. Surrounded by the horde of undead, almost all of the Secret Society's high-ranking members were wiped out. The only survivor of the first Lionheart Society was Hilbert Jean Angers," Lu Mingfei said. "The cause was that the Secret Society obtained the flesh and blood of the Black King. Odin's target was either the still-unawakened Dragon King or the flesh and blood of the Black King."

“That cunning fellow, we both have to choose one.” Lu Mingze clapped his hands, looking as if he had just realized something.

"Can there be two Odins in the current timeline?" Melina was the first to ask. "Is this really the past? Or is it just a time alchemy realm where cause and effect have been altered?"

“We did travel through time, but it didn’t cause a time paradox because we are still within destiny… I mean destiny in Nidhogg’s eyes. He tacitly allowed me to do these things because that’s exactly what He wanted to see.” Lu Mingfei explained to her, “There are no two Odins here either. It’s extremely difficult to travel through time with a physical body. He returned to his own body at this point in time, while I should be possessing a Death Servant with a very high bloodline.”

"The trajectory of fate is extremely difficult to grasp. Your understanding of the present time and space comes from records from a hundred years later. Are you confident?" Lani's figure was the most illusory. Compared with the solid Lu Mingze and Melina, her figure was like a thin shadow. "The consequences of changing history will be very complicated. The fate of the Earth is not normal to begin with. If an accident happens, your plans for a hundred years later may be in vain."

Lani, who once plotted the downfall of the Golden Dynasty, is acutely aware of the unpredictability of its consequences. Although she is now a revered celestial deity, fate remains a power she has yet to fully comprehend.

“It’s not complicated,” Lu Mingfei smiled. “Earth’s fate, though unusual, is simpler than that of the borderlands. Here, we can roughly divide into several demigods and races, but the war that breaks the balance has not yet broken out. Humans, hybrids, dragons, and the gods above each race—everything is still in a dynamic balance. The forces that break this balance have been controlled to the most manageable degree… This is not the most difficult possibility I envisioned. In that sense, Odin is truly an old friend of ours. He had the courage to suppress Nidhogg before it awakened, which was already a great help to us. He bore the cost, buying us time and space, and we should thank him for that. If Odin sacrificed himself and merged with Nidhogg, we would fail. Odin’s fundamental interests conflict with Nidhogg’s, even though they belong to the same race and are related. This shows that the struggle between gods is the ultimate struggle in this world.”

Lu Mingfei paused here, looking towards the sea and sensing the aura of the Nibelungen spreading out.

“Nidhogg doesn’t care about the masses, even Odin, who manipulates schemes, only aims at destruction.” Lu Mingfei sighed. “Only when someone like me appears among the masses will they take me seriously. In this respect, they are not as good as Mongot, so they don’t need to worry about their fate being disrupted. Their view of fate is not complicated. Right now, the only pieces that can enter Nidhogg’s chessboard are me and Odin.”

The surrounding Dead Servants prostrated themselves on the ground, suddenly feeling a terrifying pressure, a pressure surpassing even the dragon's might! The chaotic flames easily devoured the brilliance of the golden eyes; the dragon's ferocity, bloodlust, and rage were enveloped by something even more terrifying, like water droplets flowing into the ocean. Odin had made his choice, and Lu Mingfei would no longer wait.

The door was pushed open, and without warning, wind and rain rushed in.

Before anyone could react, only Viscount Charlotte activated his Word of Power and completed the reloading of the bullet using muscle memory, but he couldn't lift the muzzle of the gun, so a hand held him down.

The viscount himself could not see the other party's movements clearly; the newcomer was moving at a speed beyond a moment—time zero?

Even Angers, with its top-tier bloodline, could not achieve this.

"Don't be impatient."