Dragon Raja: Lu Mingfei Returns from the Elden Ring

A complete celestial deity possesses three characteristics: transcendence, ultimate existence, and divinity. Transcending the material world, eternal existence, and extraordinary divine power are all three. Lu Mingfei possesses some of these three qualities, but he refuses to transform.

To the gods, that condensed core is the mortal body and its limited past, present, and future. Once it transforms, its essence and nature become dominated by divinity. The more powerful the god, the more obvious this becomes. However, Lu Mingfei is like a condensed core that keeps growing bigger and bigger, and he has instead mastered divine power.

The Supreme Will hoped to observe phenomena related to the essence of the universe in Lu Mingfei. He once tried to design a perfect mechanism to create a pure and perfect god-human from the furnace of life. He designed a god-human who eliminated all negative human influences during the transformation from human to god, completely from the perspective of the star gods and guided by the highest result. But he failed.

Lu Mingfei chose a different path, completely disregarding divinity and balance. What will the outcome be?

The veteran had lost count of how many times the dragons had charged. The stench of dragon breath still lingered on the scorched earth. He looked at the distant thunderclouds, half the sky covered by dark clouds and flashing lightning. In the eye of the storm, the filthy dragon alchemy factory was incubating new undead.

He was a veteran who had been drafted more than ten times and was quite familiar with the dragons' attack methods. Those fire-breathing dragons came from the Bronze and Fire veins, and their flames were attached to viscous, acidic glandular secretions, which allowed them to burn continuously.

According to one of his former comrades who was a hybrid, the powers of bronze and fire were not originally like this... The dragons are rapidly evolving in this war to target humans.

Amidst the scorched earth, pools of blackened remains once held the remains of living humans; once touched by that dragon's breath, survival was nearly impossible. In retaliation, the veteran's forward position fired massive amounts of artillery shells and thermite bombs daily at the dragon's encampment across the river.

Any commander in human history would say that the veterans' positions were too close to the dragons' base. They were also using trench warfare tactics from World War II, which made surprise attacks impossible and provided insufficient reconnaissance; harassment attacks were completely ineffective against the dragons.

The veterans had thought about these things, but came to no conclusion. The frequent transfer orders received by other units made many of them very envious.

At first, the bloodshed and brutality of the war was indeed a shock to everyone, but after the first "reborn" soldier appeared, the Council quickly put forward the theory of multiple world lines.

It's like a game; once the weight of life becomes measurable, death is redefined. Everyone says that if we win this battle, we can reverse all death and tragedy. No one knows if it's true or not, but living in such an era, having such a dream is quite nice.

The dark clouds in the distance rapidly approached, and the veterans retreated back into their trenches. Sure enough, battle orders were soon issued to their company, and they were ordered to hold their ground. The dragons weren't really interested in them; the dragon corps could easily bypass the land defenses, and a couple of breaths from them were just a side effect.

The veteran fired at the occasional dragon shadows below the clouds, hoping that the alchemical bullets would take one down, but each time nothing happened. The army's bullets were okay against Deadpool, but they were too difficult to deal with dragons of the next generation or higher.

Chapter 320 The Situation is Set

The internet cafe space became unstable. Lu Mingfei's will shaped this place. The computers, chairs, dim space, smell of smoke, and the clattering of keyboards made it seem like the small internet cafe in Lu Mingfei's memory. But every now and then, shouts of killing began to mix into the background noise.

The soaring dragon chant was interrupted by a shriek. A depleted uranium armor-piercing round pierced precisely into the thoracic vertebrae of the first-generation species, instantly destroying its chest cavity. Scales exploded, and the cavity effect shattered several of its ribs, severely damaging its internal organs.

It struggled to heal its wounds, but high-explosive shells followed closely behind. The first shell missed the wound, bouncing off the shield-shaped scales near its spine, while the second landed precisely on the wound. The shockwave and shrapnel generated by the high-energy explosion were far beyond what armor-piercing shells could produce. The upper body of the first-generation creature resembled a tattered rag torn by a gale, its head connected to its body only by its nearly broken spine. Even in this state, its blazing golden eyes remained open; its life was not yet over!

The tank that fired the armor-piercing shell abandoned its retreat and quickly turned its turret around, preparing to deliver a final blow to the head of the first-generation species before the dragon servants could surround it. The loader's face was flushed red, and his movements were extremely fast, trying his best to load the ammunition as quickly as possible. However, the dragon shadow had already fallen in the sky.

The first thing the dragon servant did was to bend the cannon barrel, and then it slowly tore open the hatch and poured in the high-temperature dragon flames.

The dragons' cover forces had retaken their positions, and they escorted the heavily wounded First Generation into a massive alchemical airship before quickly withdrawing from the combat zone.

This first-generation species defied Nidhogg's will. Its mission was to escape with a single blow, but it became so engrossed in killing that it was given an opportunity by humans to severely injure it.

The forces of fate are shifting, and both sides' units are gradually developing stronger free will. This is terrible for Nidhogg, and it has stirred up extremely unpleasant memories. On Lu Mingfei's side, many soldiers treat it like a video game, often launching reckless raids. Occasionally, they achieve unexpected results, but more often, they bring devastating consequences to their units.

Although fate continues to exert a strong influence on both dragons and humans, allowing their conflict to continue, a true decisive battle is now imminent.

Both sides possess numerous large legions, each roughly corresponding to a unit in StarCraft. Lu Mingfei's base and mining area are located on land, which is very similar to the original StarCraft setting. Nidhogg's faction mechanism relies on the Nibelungen ruins as the corresponding "minerals," so most of the dragons' forces are located on platforms along the coast or in the deep sea.

Humanity's technology is limited by the level of the main world, and no ultimate weapon that transcends the era has emerged. The Yamato was replaced by a system, just as an alchemical weapon platform with an electronic warfare system as its framework replaced the Science Sphere. The Yamato's functions were divided into several parts, which were replaced by orbital weapons, strategic bombers, aircraft carriers, and super-large destroyers equipped with electromagnetic weapons and vertical launch units. This system was too expensive.

To date, Lu Mingfei has not been able to send any troops deep into the heart of the dragon territory. Even though Nibelungen was weakened in the War of Destiny, it remains an excellent barrier to information isolation. Lu Mingfei can only estimate that it has not opened a second mine, but the specific situation is completely unknown.

Judging from Nidhogg's offensive, Lu Mingfei was constantly on guard against His airdrop attack.

But this time, Nidhogg's mistake exposed his weakness. After the first generation of the Earth and Mountain Kings was severely damaged, the frequency of the dragons' air-drop attacks dropped significantly. This revealed that the previous frequent harassment was a bluff. Nidhogg wanted to create a false impression with his limited forces. Perhaps he was accelerating his technological advancement.

The council’s military plans and orders were quickly disseminated to all levels of the troops. From senior commanders to frontline soldiers, everyone knew that the time for the decisive battle had come. “The enemy must be crushed. Now all units are gradually transitioning to a full-scale offensive.”

The vast human army began to surround one Nibelungen after another.

Lu Mingfei had roughly guessed what Nidhogg was doing. Nibelungen was indeed a racial advantage of the dragons and an important mechanism that could change the course of the War of Fate. However, no matter how much Nidhogg tried to conceal it, Nibelungen was still an alchemical product based on elements, and it could distinguish attributes!

The Dragon Clan's acquisition of factories and technology through "archaeology" of the Nibelungen ruins was indeed simpler and more convenient than Lu Mingfei's mechanism from mining to research, but this was also a weakness.

Nidhogg quickly assembled the first-generation species of the Ocean and Water Kings for defense, with the second-generation species of the Earth and Mountain Kings providing cover. The Ocean and Water Kings were designed to provide fire support against large air and ground units, which was enough to hold off the human attack for the time being.

Lu Mingfei was in no hurry to advance the armored formation. In his eyes, the Ocean and Water Kings were nothing more than a bluffing cover force for Nidhogg. High in the clouds, an "early warning aircraft," comparable in size to a 600-ton strategic transport plane, arrived at the front line under the cover of fighter jet formations.

The massive radar dome on the back of this "early warning aircraft" does not house human electronic warfare radar, but rather an alchemical radar created by human research institutes, guided by the power of destiny and incorporating the millennia-old alchemical technology of hybrid races.

Within the effective range of the alchemy early warning aircraft, a thin layer of black mist slowly dissipated, dispelling a layer of sky above the dragon's position, which was several Sky and Wind First Generations in stealth mode!

Many spells are restricted in their use due to their impact on the situation; for example, the enhanced version of Nether Illumination can only be used by the first generation of high-level units in the Sky and Wind factions. Nidhogg's focus on the Nibelungen of the Sky and Wind factions had long been a cause for concern for Lu Mingfei.

The exposed Wind Kings had to face the firepower suppression of the human army. After paying a heavy price, only one or two Water Kings and one Wind King retreated to Nibelungen, hoping to delay the human advance with a large number of Dead Servants and Sub-Generations while waiting for reinforcements.

However, Nidhogg's strategy had been exposed, and his forces were completely outmatched by the humans. The armored formations marched into Nibelungen, wreaking havoc and continuously eliminating the dragon's undead army.

The outcome is decided.

In the core area of ​​the North American Council, a Wind King attempting to infiltrate was also revealed by the roadside alchemy radar. Lu Mingfei was always accustomed to playing with an advantage and had a very accurate grasp of the psychology of the disadvantaged side.

At this point, Lu Mingfei finally had a moment to look up at the black dragon opposite him. He saw that the original computer had been assimilated by His power into a combination of alchemy, biochemistry, and electronic products. Several interfaces were even directly connected to His spine. Since the power of fate allowed it, Lu Mingfei simply regarded these as His peripherals.

Black Dragon hasn't given up yet; his actions have become even more frequent, showing no signs of having no backup plan.

Chapter 321 A Second Move and the Worst Ending

Lu Mingfei's interface started displaying errors. A riot had broken out in the core area of ​​the council. Many humans had gained more than 50% dragon blood, causing a sudden change that paralyzed most of the human buildings.

Compared to Nidhogg's ancient army of dead servants, this group of newly formed dead servants is of average quality, if not higher. But as the old saying goes, "Such a large family cannot be killed in one go if attacked from the outside. It is like a centipede that does not fall down even when dead. It must first destroy itself from within before it can be completely defeated!"

Lu Mingfei quickly switched screens, watching the smoke of battle rise indifferently, and finally released the keyboard and mouse with a few more clicks.

Nidhogg was the most cunning, treacherous, and unscrupulous emperor since the beginning of dragon history. He exploited a loophole in the power of fate, which separated the powers of hybrids. However, this group was like the shadow of human civilization, which could never be completely eradicated. When the power of fate loosened, Nidhogg was able to activate it.

In this situation, the battle for destiny has lost its meaning. Neither Nidhogg's nor Lu Mingfei's victories can determine the so-called "fate." The situation has returned to the reality of humans versus dragons, soldiers versus soldiers, generals versus generals.

In reality, how could humans, without the blessing of destiny, possibly be a match for dragons?

Lu Mingfei stood up, as did Nidhogg.

They faced each other, the surrounding space gradually crumbling, the power of the dragons on Earth that had been imprisoned returned, and the horn of counterattack had been sounded. Nidhogg's figure gradually expanded, he regained his dragon form, coldly looking down at the tiny Lu Mingfei, not even willing to waste a single mocking expression on this insignificant human.

Lu Mingfei stood with his hands behind his back, seemingly waiting for something.

Nidhogg, who was soaring into the sky, was jolted. It was as if it had crashed into an invisible barrier in the sky. Its will went blank for a moment, and it lost the support of the wind element. Even in its embryonic state, it had instinctive consciousness and had never been so embarrassed.

When he came to his senses, he only saw a tiny figure in the sky looking down at him. Lu Mingfei smiled faintly, as if he had expected all of this.

Lu Mingfei sighed, lamenting that Nidhogg had chosen the most undignified way to die.

ADS-DK, Active Denial System against Dragon King-Level Targets, is a weapon that can cause strong and devastating interference to the nervous system of dragons. It is a weapon that is hundreds of times more powerful than the "Yamato System" given to humanity in the War of Destiny.

This alchemical energy field attack, based on microwave pulses, can also be combined with thermal attacks to suppress the regeneration of dragons. After the extinction of dragons, it was also widely used to kill "wet components" in strong artificial intelligence hardware.

As Nidhogg plummeted, a hypersonic warhead fired from a giant electromagnetic cannon pierced its body. The warhead's warhead was extremely complex, containing not only lethal materials targeting dragon bones but also specially formulated biological agents and a Word of Power interference frequency generator. The highly specific biochemical enzymes or viruses were designed to rapidly kill the dragon's nervous system through the bloodstream.

When Nidhogg fell to the ground, he was already completely dead. His last glance fell on that insignificant little unit on the human battlefield.

It was the small unit that Lu Mingfei had been ordering to guard the trench positions. All of them wore the same clothes as ordinary human soldiers, but their armbands were not the style of the Council or the Regulatory Bureau. Instead, they were simple world maps with the three letters "UEG" marked on them, which is the abbreviation for "United Earth Government".

Just as the forces of fate limited the upper limit of the dragon civilization for the sake of fairness, so too did they apply to humanity. In the complex timelines, there exists a scarred yet resilient civilization. Their history is filled with sacrifice and darkness, their technology tree is crooked but incredibly practical. Human history is no longer a secret war between hybrids, but an open, brutal war of survival that drives the distorted growth of human civilization.

At the point in the main timeline when it was still during World War I, the main conflict in this world had shifted from internal conflicts among humanity to racial conflicts between humanity as a whole and the dragon race. As a result, the first global temporary military alliance in human history was born, which later evolved into a highly centralized, militarized wartime system—the Earth United Government.

When this coalition government was formed, the world was ravaged, countless cities were in ruins, and the population had plummeted. Therefore, its core ideology was survivalism, its primary goal was to ensure the survival and development of human civilization, and its slogan was that efficiency was above all else.

There, nuclear technology was extremely advanced and mature; the first use of the atomic bomb took place in Nibelungen, a city-state of the dragon race. The entire scientific system focused on metallurgy, chemistry, and biology, and was heavily biased towards military applications; humanity's arsenal consisted almost entirely of dragon-slaying weapons based on physics and biochemistry.

They defeated the dragons not because of bloodline, but because of the accumulation of hundreds of millions of lives, the absolute perseverance of devoting all manpower and resources to the war for hundreds of years, and the successive sacrifices of countless nameless scientists, engineers and soldiers.

When the forces of destiny summoned this civilization, their mainstream energy source was already controlled nuclear fusion. Nanomaterials and biomimetic materials, which were converted from military to civilian use of dragon-slaying technology, were gradually being applied to architecture and human life. Gene editing technology began to be piloted in certain regions. Strong artificial intelligence, originally intended to command a global automated army, unexpectedly promoted the development of interstellar colonization technology.

Because the war nearly destroyed everything, the rebuilt cities indirectly promoted the integration of global cultures, and the entire civilization became more and more integrated.

However, this is the limit of its development. Further development would mean this civilization would completely sever its last connection with the last age of gods—the age of dragons. In this universe, the power of individuals gathered together can only be a fantasy within a branching timeline; without gods, their future is probabilistically destined to disappear.

Now, by sheer chance, they have appeared in this world. Even if it is only a small amount of power temporarily summoned by the forces of fate, they can kill Nidhogg in a short time. The story of killing Nidhogg is in their elementary school textbooks. Every child knows the black dragon's weakness and secret.

On the ground, as the UEG's powerful AI, capable of supporting interstellar colonization, took over EVA's authority, the dragons began to retreat in disarray.

Lu Mingfei suddenly felt a powerful will descend upon him.

"The final moment has arrived," said the Supreme Will. He patted Lu Mingfei on the shoulder, and the space around them was transformed, instantly transporting them to the North Pole, the place where Nidhogg had chosen to become a god in this era.

Chapter 322 The Final Word of Power (The End)

“Look, the power of humanity.” Lu Mingfei spread his hands, and the power of Nidhogg and the entire dragon race’s destiny was converging on him, so much so that a crown of light, similar to that of the Supreme Will, appeared on his body.

"It is the power of fate," the supreme will corrected.

The Supreme Will still appeared as a clone of Lu Mingfei, dressed like an ancient Roman emperor, whether due to its own divine aesthetic is unknown. It claimed it didn't want to mislead the newly born gods with the "blind men and the elephant" analogy, ultimately preventing Lu Mingfei from seeing its true form.

At this moment, He circled around Lu Mingfei, clicking his tongue in admiration, like a lovesick fool.

"You are a god, and you are also a man, and ultimately you are still a man. Only an incomplete being can make such a choice. You and I are different. I reject the inevitable fate guided by the universal truth, while you are merely acting out of a primal capacity for empathy. It is strange that there are people whom even the deepest laws cannot sway." He sometimes praised and sometimes sighed, shaking his head as if dissatisfied. "The bond of blood, the passion aroused by primal instincts. This divinity is enough to conquer the galaxy, but it is also extremely impulsive and prone to fickleness."

“This world no longer needs God and his divinity,” Lu Mingfei said.

"I am pessimistic about this. Noble spirits and souls may be born among mortals, but they are ultimately limited by incomplete evolution and by material things. Can they bear the expansion of their own defects under the power?" The Supreme Will shook its head.

Lu Mingfei was silent for a moment, then spoke loudly, “If we consider primitive people, then the ignorance and irrationality of humans, which are like beasts, would only be worse. But since humans have come this far, it is certainly not because of something that dragons are born with, but because of something they created themselves. As for the future, that is beyond my control.”

“That’s all I can do,” he added.

"Then let's see." The supreme will stepped back slightly, releasing the barrier and unleashing a vast, planet-level divinity that surged forth like a tsunami.

Lu Mingfei felt like a small boat in a raging storm. Suddenly, the snowstorm at the North Pole stopped, and a vast, supreme will descended from the sky. Destiny, the underlying law that sustains the world, was no longer an abstract symbol, but a complex and precise entity. It was as brilliant as the sun and as dark as night. It forcibly imprinted itself on Lu Mingfei's soul, and he became one with it.

The normal ascension ceremony was basically over, but suddenly a crack appeared in the divinity of Lu Mingfei, and the backlash of fate immediately came.

The moment that the supreme will has been waiting for has arrived.

Lu Mingfei's divinity has completely detached from its container. He exists in a space composed of pure energy, like the primordial universe. This space is intricately connected to reality, yet not entirely the same; the laws of physics lose their meaning here. The godlike Lu Mingfei and the human Lu Mingfei are both individuals here. Even if the two are so close that they are only a moment away from merging into one, even if that moment is as brief as the time it takes for a light particle to pass through a hydrogen molecule, they may still be separated by eternity here.

Lu Mingfei had to use his divine perception to endure the feeling of his spirit being shattered bit by bit and his self being stripped away. What a pain that must have been! Moreover, time and space had lost their meaning here, and every thought seemed as long as eternity. Once he became immersed in any thought, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

The Supreme Will had warned him, but he ignored it; he didn't need to endure such pain and danger.

Reaching the summit with the will of a god might be easy, but that is by no means what Lu Ming seeks. In the vast sea of ​​stars, how many primordial beings have embarked on the path to godhood with simple desires, only to abandon their old selves at the final moment? It seems to be the truth, and it has always been so.

For Lu Mingfei, truth is just an empty concept. He has always been a pragmatic player. Whether playing single-player games or StarCraft, strategies are only part of his gameplay. They can never be separated from his keyboard, mouse, and the pixels on his screen to become a separate component of his gaming experience. Divinity is just that kind of thing.

He used to be ignorant and full of awe, seeing mountains as mountains and water as water, and everything in the extraordinary world had a kind of hazy divinity. But now, he has experienced many vicissitudes, and that little bit of timid awe in his heart has long been worn away.

Therefore, even if we have to rewind a million times, even if difficulties and malice come like a tidal wave, we must find the ending we want... All of this must end in Lu Mingfei's style!

He continued onward.

He continued onward.