Chapter 489 Immortal Wilderness, Red Emperor's Descent Technique
This winter was not long for Galus.
He intentionally reduced the proportion of time he spent exercising, and would always make time to spend with the fairy dragon in some entertainment.
Painting on a bear's butt, inserting flowers into a golden dragon's nostrils.
Because of the Red Emperor's tacit approval, the Fairy Dragon had practically become the little ancestor of the Crimson Flame Royal City. However, her pranks were harmless, and her cheerful mood was always highly contagious, so people were very tolerant of her.
During this process, Galos's mental state was greatly relieved.
In the blink of an eye, the harsh winter cold quietly receded with each sunrise and sunset.
The air still held a lingering chill, and the signs of life awakening deep within the earth were already uncontrollably emerging.
On the sunny slope, the melting snow revealed the moist soil, and tiny green shoots sprouted, adding new emerald to the dark green of the evergreen trees. The wind also became gentler, carrying the fresh scent of thawing earth.
One afternoon in early spring.
Red Iron Dragon had just finished a round of intense training, and hot white steam rose from his body, causing the surrounding cold air to hiss slightly and distort.
He exhaled a hot breath, and then, as he always did, called out in a deep voice.
"Vera."
The sound echoed among the cliffs and penetrated the sparse trees.
However, there was no clear "Here!" in response.
Silence filled the air.
Galos's thick scales on his forehead wrinkled slightly.
His eyes suddenly shone with a deep light of true vision. He looked around but couldn't find the fairy dragon. He didn't see her usual sneaky figure in any crevice or behind any rock.
A strange sense of unease crept into Galos's mind.
"This guy..."
call!
He spread his wings, flew back to the palace, and then used his shapeshifting magic to shrink his size.
He walked through the familiar corridors and halls inside the palace, heading with a clear purpose towards a secluded corner on the side of the palace.
There was a small spiral staircase leading to a small attic on the top floor.
This is the fairy dragon's room. Though small, it has everything you need, with all sorts of random little trinkets scattered around.
Sparkling stones, colorful feathers, a half-empty jar of mead, and countless trinkets “borrowed” from various parts of the palace.
There were even a few scales of Galus.
The place was filled with the rich aura of the fairy dragon, but it was very quiet at the moment, and not even the faintest snore or mutter could be heard.
Galos's heart sank slightly.
His gaze swept across every corner of the room, finally settling on the small velvet bed in the center of the room.
There was no dragon shadow above.
But in the center of that pile of soft fabric lay a brightly colored dragon scale, emitting a steady and soft glow.
Garus extended his shrunken, deformed claws and touched the dragon scales.
Buzz.
A sudden flash of light projected the tiny figure of the fairy dragon into the air.
She was sitting in one corner of the Red Emperor's throne, one of her favorite spots, swaying her tail and wearing a sly smile.
"Heh heh! You've fallen for it, haven't you, my dear King Ignas!"
Vera spoke in the video, her voice clear and lively.
"You probably thought I would obediently wait for you to find the time, and then be taken to the Immortal Wilderness by you personally, like a little baby who needs to be carefully escorted, right?"
She shook her head and flapped her wings merrily twice.
"That's so boring! It doesn't suit my style at all!"
She paused for a moment, and in the image, she seemed to be looking at Galus, who was standing in the attic at that moment.
Her gaze became slightly more serious.
"Besides, after thinking about it carefully, I realized that if you, this big guy, really came back to the Immortal Wilderness with me... who knows what kind of terrible trouble you might cause."
"The little fairies, tree spirits, and flower fairies living in the Fairy Wilderness, as well as the old men living under the glowing mushrooms, are all quite timid and simple-minded."
"Even a sneeze from you could scare them so much they'd cry for days."
"Although the thought of that scene sounds quite interesting," she stuck out her tongue, "it wouldn't be fun if we made too much noise and attracted the attention of the old folks."
In the video, Vera rises from the armrest of the throne and lightly leaps to the center of the throne's wide seat.
For her, that place was like a public square.
She straightened her chest, put her hands on her hips, and struck a pose full of heroic and fearless spirit.
"So, after careful consideration, I've decided to go back myself!"
She announced, her voice filled with pride.
"Don't worry, don't worry."
"I, Vera, have been roaming the material world for over a hundred years. What storms haven't I weathered? The dangers of the Fairy Wilderness are nothing to me."
"When I return to the Immortal Wilderness, I will surely gain the favor of the ancestral spirits and receive the baptism of the primordial breath..."
"Haha! Lady Vera, I will surely live a brilliant second life. If I'm lucky, I might even become a legendary fairy dragon! At that time," she winked at Garos outside the image, "I will find a way to return to the material world and see how magnificent your kingdom has become."
"You'd better work hard, or I'll beat you."
The images began to flicker, and Vera's figure became somewhat transparent.
"Alright, alright, the magic letter is about to give out."
She gave one last bright smile and waved her paw.
"Goodbye, my dear King Ignas."
"Spring has arrived. Take a few more glances at those little flowers that have just sprouted from the soil, listen to the birds' newly composed songs, and don't always bury yourself in exercise."
"Occasionally, you should be like a lazy and normal dragon, basking in the sun and enjoying the warm spring breeze."
Silence reigned in the attic.
Outside the window, the early spring breeze blew into the room, carrying the scent of earth and tender buds.
A faint commotion drifted from the distant royal city, as the people of Aura began their new day. Sunlight streamed through the windows, casting warm dappled patterns on the floor and illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air.
"You cunning little thing."
Galos picked up the colorful dragon scale and said something in a low voice.
A moment later, he carefully put it away and turned to leave the attic.
As he reached the door, Galos paused, glanced back at the messy yet vibrant little room, then gently closed the door, leaving the room silent behind.
The fairy dragon returned to the Fairy Wilderness, but his dragon life in the material world must continue.
However, Galus felt no sadness.
He had a strong premonition that the two would meet again.
In the desolate wilderness of immortals, deep within a dark forest.
Towering ancient trees blocked out the sky, with only scattered patches of light filtering through the gaps in the branches and leaves, illuminating the slowly floating specks of dust and luminous spores in the air. The air was filled with the sweet scent of humus and the fragrance of exotic flowers.
Buzz!
An unnatural ripple suddenly appeared in the air at a certain point.
Immediately afterwards, as if an invisible hand had torn a crack in the center of the ripples, a small, colorful figure stumbled out and fell onto the thick, soft ground covered with fallen leaves and moss.
"Cough cough... Ptooey! Ptooey!"
The fairy dragon Vera crawled on all fours for a while before finally getting up, feeling dizzy and disoriented. She shook her head vigorously and spat out the leaves and moss fragments that had accidentally gotten into her mouth.
"My head is so dizzy... It feels like I've been stuffed into a barrel of wine and rolled down a hillside..."
"This dimensional teleportation is no fun for dragons... It's not enjoyable at all..."
She muttered to herself, rubbing her throbbing temples with her little hands.
After regaining some composure, she raised her head and began to cautiously look around.
A dark, damp environment, brimming with life and magic, comes into view.
Giant mushrooms stand tall like towers, and tiny doors and windows are faintly visible on the trunks of ancient trees entwined with glowing vines. In the distance, the ethereal cries of unknown creatures and the babbling of streams can be heard.
Familiar, yet utterly unfamiliar.
More than 130 years have passed... She has finally returned to the land where she was born.
Vera took a deep breath, the air rich in ethereal energy filling her lungs, smoothing out the fine wrinkles on her wing membranes caused by aging, and temporarily fading the grayish-white marks on her scales.
"This seems to be... the outer area of the Dark Forest?"
Vera identified the typical terrain and vegetation around her. "I remember this forest. It was home to a lot of unfriendly villains."
She instinctively shrank her neck, but then a surge of pride welled up inside her.
"However, humph! Things are different now."
"Lady Vera, I am now..."
She straightened her back, ready to deliver a declaration of her triumphant return to her hometown.
At that very moment.
Hiss... Crack... Ugh...
A strange noise, extremely faint yet unusually clear, came from not far behind her without warning.
The sound was like a dry branch being slowly broken by footsteps, or like some kind of viscous liquid wriggling, interspersed with whimpers like a baby's suppressed cries. Against the background of the silent forest, it sounded particularly abrupt, sending chills down Vera's spine.
Vera's scales instantly erupted.
She turned around, trembling.
Less than ten meters behind her, beneath a twisted, dark ancient tree, a shadow was writhing and expanding.
From the shadows, a humanoid silhouette gradually emerged.
It had long, twisted limbs, withered skin like tree bark, and a face without features, only a crack that opened and closed constantly, emitting a whimpering sound.
The sad and angry fairy!
A despicable, corrupted species in the Immortal Wilderness, a twisted monster born from long-term pollution by intense negative emotions such as sadness, resentment, and jealousy.
They abhor anything vibrant, joyful, or beautiful, feeding on the lives and positive emotions of other spirits, making them a nightmare for many weaker spirits.
What's more troublesome is that the Wrathful Fairy has a natural restraint on spirit-like life forms.
Their attacks often ignore the resistance of many spirits, allowing them to frequently cross several levels and hunt high-level spirits.
Vera was a little scared, and her body stiffened.
Back then, it was a vengeful fairy who attacked her while she was collecting honey at the edge of the Dark Forest. Extreme fear triggered her dimensional talent, causing her to frantically run into a rift leading to the material world at the last moment. She stumbled and fell in, barely managing to save her life.
It was that accident that led her to wander into the wilderness of Sel, where she later encountered a young Red Iron Dragon.
Unexpectedly, I encountered the Wrathful Fairy again as soon as I returned.
"Oh, my luck is terrible."
Wei said with a long face and a mournful expression.
The faceless figure stared at Vera, the cracks of her sobbing widening even further.
Suddenly, the Wrathful Fairy let out an even sharper wail, its slender limbs slamming into the ground, its withered body shooting like an arrow, carrying a nauseating, putrid stench, straight toward the Fairy Dragon that stood frozen in place.
The vibrant life and joyful emotions of the fairy dragon... that is the most delicious treat it craves.
"I'm going to die! I'm going to die! I'm really going to die here! Am I going to be finished as soon as I got back?!"
Vera screamed and squeezed her eyes shut, seemingly having given up the fight.
Shadows and the aura of death descended, and the malevolent winds stirred up by withered claws had already touched her scales.
At that very moment.
Vera suddenly opened her tightly closed eyes.
"Hey... I was just kidding."
She uttered a name softly: "Garos".
The next moment, BOOM!!!
An indescribable, overwhelming pressure erupted from Vera's small body.
The air seemed to freeze for a moment, then burst out with an unbearable bang.
The dust and spores floating in the dark forest were swept away by the violent air currents, and the huge mushrooms and ancient trees around groaned and creaked, while the leaves and ferns swayed wildly.
The raging fairy that was pouncing on was blown backward by the gale.
On its faceless face, the slit-like mouth stopped whimpering; some kind of fear replaced the predator's greed and seized its distorted consciousness.
Light.
A fiery, intense light burst forth from Vera's petite body.
Her form expanded rapidly in the light, then stretched and reshaped.
The rainbow-like scales were replaced by thick, hard, dark red dragon scales with a metallic sheen; the small wings transformed into a massive, sky-covering wing skeleton, the wing membranes shimmering like lava; the slender neck and torso became incredibly strong, the lines of the muscles exuding explosive power; the head became angular, the jagged dragon horns pointing towards the sky, the snout split open, revealing sharp, razor-sharp teeth.
A red iron dragon, nearly forty meters long, had taken the place of the fairy dragon and stood tall in the dark forest.
Its form is remarkably similar to the Red Emperor in the material world! Especially its deep black vertical pupils, which burn with the same intense, majestic, and inviolable will.
The Red Emperor's Descent Technique!
This is Vera's secret weapon.
Year after year of observation and imitation gave her a thorough understanding of the Red Emperor's various states. By using this skill, she could briefly transform herself into the Red Emperor, and even her personality traits would become similar.
The Wrathful Fairy let out a piercing howl that tore at the eardrums.
That was no longer the whimper of a predator, but the instinctive scream of prey when facing its natural enemy.
Its contorted body tried to retreat, to re-enter the shadows.
But it was too late.
"Insects, vanish into thin air!"
Vera, transformed into the Red Emperor, didn't even bother to give the trembling monster a proper look.
She simply raised her massive front paws casually, then lowered them again.
Before the giant claws even arrived, the wind pressure had already cracked the land around the Wrathful Fairy, pinning its withered body to the spot, rendering it unable to move.
Then, the claws fell.
Bang!
The earth caved in and collapsed.
The wraith's twisted body instantly turned into a pool of filth mixed with shadow fragments and putrid fluid, embedding itself deeply into the crater in the ground.
The monster that once drove Vera to flee for her life and was regarded as a nightmare has now been completely wiped out without even being able to struggle.
The dragon raised its claws and gently flicked away the grime.
The red-iron dragon lowered its head and glanced at the patch of earth on the ground that was being rapidly absorbed by the forest soil.
"roar……"
A deep, satisfied dragon roar rolled out from the depths of its throat, causing the surrounding leaves to rustle and fall.
The light began to surge again.
The enormous dragon body shrank rapidly, like the receding tide.
A few breaths later, the fairy dragon Vera reappeared.
She looked down at her perfectly intact little paws, then at the huge crater in the ground.
"Hmph, you want to kill me? Ugly freak, go ahead and talk to me about my Red Emperor's Descent spell."
The fairy dragon raised its chin, its face full of pride.
She patted her little paws, as if brushing away non-existent dust, and then looked around triumphantly.
The dark forest remained silent, but the unsettling sense of danger had receded with the disappearance of the Wrathful Fairy and her outburst.
Vera's confusion and fear disappeared, replaced by a confident and assertive air of "returning home."
call!
The fairy dragon did a somersault and then shot straight into the sky.
"Fairyland of Immortal Spirits!!"
"Haha! Your smartest, strongest, and cutest Lady Vera is back!!"
With an arrogant and domineering declaration, the fairy dragon flew swiftly towards its home, the place it remembered.
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(End of this chapter)
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