Chapter 110: Dragon Clan Curse, Eternal Night Sky

"Whoosh!" Two figures plummeted from the sky at breakneck speed: Charles and Shugyin. Shugyin’s armor, forged of smoke, morphed into something akin to a glider, gradually deflecting their vertical descent into a lateral trajectory. As their altitude dropped, the velocity of their fall slowed enough to prevent a catastrophic impact.

Splashes erupted near the shore as the two plunged into the lake. Shugyin hauled Charles out of the water and tossed the physically weaker man aside.

Though Charles lay sprawled on the ground like a dead dog, he was largely unharmed, merely incapacitated by the vertigo of their high-speed flight and subsequent fall.

Standing on the bank, Shugyin stared intently at the sky, toward the position of Zig and Colin. Just moments ago, the instant Zig caught sight of that eye, he had grabbed Charles and flung them both from the heavens.

Shugyin did not know what that thing was, but for Zig to make such a decision, it could be nothing good. Clearly, Zig no longer felt confident in protecting them against it, leaving him no choice but to cast them away.

"Hey, where is the Lady of the Night statuette?" Charles, finally regaining his senses, patted his pockets. They were empty. The statuette, which usually sat there with a sharp, uncomfortable edge, was gone.

"You're worried about that now?" Shugyin frowned, unable to fathom Charles's priorities.

"No, Captain, that statuette was tethered to my pocket with a cord. Everything else is still here; how could just that one thing be lost? Let me think... I seem to recall seeing something jump out of the corner of my eye earlier. I didn't pay it any mind at the time. Could it have run off on its own?"

Charles rummaged through his pockets again, finding nothing, and fell into deep thought.

"Ran off on its own?" Shugyin blinked.

"Yes, I have a theory." Recalling the nature of the Church of the Night, Charles formed a strange hypothesis.

"Clang!" A low, resonant sound, like the tolling of a bell, echoed from the zenith, drawing the attention of both men back to the high heavens.

The giant hand Colin had manifested was gone, leaving only the dragon-transformed Zig, flapping its tattered wings in the sky.

Its state was dire. The gravity and tension in its dragon eyes had been replaced by an indescribable, boiling rage and bloodlust. Furthermore, its time was running out; with Shugyin’s departure, the smoke screen filling the gaps in Zig’s form was dissipating. Once it vanished, the dragon would lose the ability to fly and plummet.

Yet, this was not Zig’s greatest concern. "He" was. This was why Zig had thrown them down without hesitation upon seeing that eye. He did not know how Colin had tracked him, but now, he had to face "Him."

The sky grew dim—not because of nightfall, but because the surrounding clouds were being gathered by an invisible force. They swirled above the artificial lake, blotting out the sun. Lightning flickered like sparks within the rotating vortex, accompanied by heavy, earth-shaking thunder.

Zig remained the only dragon in the sky, the oppressive, dark clouds seemingly crushing down upon him. He beat his wings, staring at the gathering storm, lonely and fearless.

"Rumble..." Amidst the low thunder, the clouds began to rotate. At the center, a void opened—not revealing the sky beyond, but forming a deep, dark abyss, as if a piece had been gouged out of the world itself.

Gradually, the rotation ceased. The clouds formed a vortex around the black hole. The stillness did not lessen the pressure; on the contrary, something was brewing within. The massive cloud bank served as a hiding place for "Him."

From that black void, an eye emerged. A vertical pupil, golden—a dragon's eye. Pure, powerful, ancient; the golden gaze of a true, pure-blooded ancient dragon.

It was not merely an eye; its size was absurd. By comparison, Zig, in his massive draconic form, appeared nothing more than a speck.

The colossal golden pupil gazed at Zig. There was no anger, no malice—only the disdain and indifference of a higher being looking upon an ant. And yet, Zig was a dragon—a true dragon, a creature whose power reached the legendary heights beyond the peak of a Great Knight.

"Roar!" Zig did not fear or retreat. His own eyes burned with rage, courage, and defiance. He threw his head back and let out a roar, the dragon heart within him stoking a terrifying heat.

A flash of light rippled across Zig’s body as his veins were energized by the power overflowing from his heart. All this energy converged in his maw. A brilliant beam of light tore through the sky—a strike with no reservations, exhausting every ounce of his strength: Red Dragon Truth Breath.

A violent explosion bloomed against the giant eye, the shockwave tearing the clouds apart to reveal a sliver of sunlight. The rays caught the red dragon’s back, making him the only source of light in the sky—glorious, yet tragic.

As the light and heat faded, the result of this strike—more powerful than the one that had wiped out the centipede swarm—was despairing.

The golden eye remained, unscathed. The clouds, twisted by invisible forces, gathered once more to fill the void. The light vanished, and everything plunged back into darkness, mirroring the despair spreading within the dragon flying alone in the sky.

The shockwave swept across the lake, churning the water and uprooting trees and soil. Shugyin and Charles were buffeted by the blast; Charles was thrown to the ground, while Shugyin barely managed to stay upright, sliding across the shore.

"What... is that?" Charles’s pupils dilated, watching in shock as the dragon faced the eye in the heavens. Could this truly be something meant for a human to face? What was it, and why had it appeared in Alastair now?

"..." Shugyin remained silent. He did not know either. Zig, what are you facing? Is this a curse meant for you alone?

"..." The dragon let out no further roars. The excessive heat had brought his powerful body to the brink of collapse. His dragon scales showed signs of melting, and his muscles, despite the dragon’s innate organs designed to dissipate such heat, were failing.

This proved how much strength that single breath had cost him, yet even this desperate strike had failed to inflict any damage.

"Huff... huff..." Zig beat his wings, attempting to fly higher, to touch that golden eye with his own flesh.

"Clang!" Suddenly, invisible chains manifested from the void, piercing deep into Zig’s body.

They had no substance, yet they bound him fast, leaving him unable to move an inch. This was not the power of the void, nor magic; it was pure force—or perhaps, a law.

Then, from the clouds, a pair of dragon claws emerged. They were terrifyingly vast—a single claw was dozens of times larger than Zig. They reached out slowly.

Sharp talons, massive scales shimmering with light, and unknown runes inscribed upon every scale—pure destruction, pure power condensed into that single limb.

The power contained within defied classification. If those claws were to descend, the entire artificial lake would be reduced to dust in an instant.

The target was clear: Zig. The claws reached down, opening to grasp the chained dragon.

Zig struggled violently, squeezing the last of his battle aura from his overloaded muscles, but the chains held firm. No matter how he fought, he could not move.

Watching the giant claw descend, Zig did not fear. He held his head high, facing the supreme power.

The fingertip touched down. Zig could sense the power within; he could not withstand it. A single touch would mean his annihilation.

"Sorry, sister..." Zig sighed softly. He had never expected anyone to know his past, nor to find the ritual vessel linked to Him. But at least, in this moment, he was still fighting, still resisting!

He opened his maw, ready to gather one last spark of strength to fight... "Hm?"

His dragon eyes narrowed. He saw something dart past his cheek. "Wang Yu’s Lady of the Night statuette?"

The question had barely formed when he saw the statuette reach the tip of his snout and leap toward the descending claw.

"What is it doing?!?"

In that moment, all other emotions were eclipsed by shock.

The statuette split down the middle, collapsed inward, and formed a pitch-black sphere. Then, the darkness bloomed.

......

"Can you do it?"

"Yes!" Avia looked at the colossal eye in the sky, showing no fear, and nodded firmly.

"Good!" Wang Yu closed his eyes, re-entering his mental space.

The Lady of the Night was already waiting there, standing on the surface of the lake that represented Wang Yu’s void energy reserves.

"Is that a god?" Wang Yu asked, walking toward his doorframe.

"Yes, an extremely ancient deity. I do not know what He is, but His existence must be shackled. He is powerful—more powerful than any entity I have ever seen." The Lady of the Night nodded slightly.

"Sigh, how could such a thing appear in Alastair? Truly unlucky. Lady Darkness, is Avia’s plan feasible?" Wang Yu hoisted the doorframe and walked to the edge of the lake.

"No problem. As I told you, a god within their own domain of authority can do far more than you imagine. And my authority is Night and Concealment."

"That’s good. It’s clearly targeting the Professor, so we just need to hide him. Even for a moment. One of the conditions for its appearance must be the observation of Zig." Wang Yu carried the doorframe out of his mental space and headed toward the distant castle.

"Why is that?" The Lady of the Night asked, puzzled by his judgment.

"Because if we don't, we're all finished." Wang Yu shrugged. What else could he do?

"Hmm. Can Miss Avia do it? The void power and the number of runes involved in this divine art exceed a certain limit. As a human, not a void creature, can she really manifest it through her own understanding and control?"

The Lady of the Night tilted her head, asking her final question.

"You’re a god, why ask me? But trust her. After all, she is Avia."

Wang Yu smiled and placed the doorframe inside the castle—the girl’s mental sanctuary.

"Very well." The Lady of the Night asked no more. Massive amounts of void energy, fueled by the burning of faith crystals, were channeled and transformed into the pitch-black power of the Lady of the Night, pouring into Wang Yu’s mental space.

Wang Yu’s mental space could not contain such volume. As the energy saturated, the excess flowed into the doorframe, releasing from within Avia’s sanctuary.

In reality, Avia faced the giant eye, extending her void-infused arm. Guiding the power channeled from the Lady of the Night through Wang Yu, she began to chant the prayer.

"Queen of the Night, Protector of Darkness, I praise your name, Lady of the Night..."

At this, Avia paused, recalling the name Wang Yu had told her, and spoke it aloud.

"Darkness."

With this simple prayer uttered, all power seemed to breathe with life, leaping in jubilant obedience to her command, as Avia began to weave a divine art so intricate it transcended the bounds of mere sorcery.

Vast arrays of runes aligned and recombined within her mind, drawing every fragment of her focus; the Lady of Night could not manifest miracles directly through the statue, for the crystals of faith were insufficient, yet if she were to replicate the divine art with the Lady providing the force, it would suffice.

This immense volume of runes, this complexity of arrangement pushed to the absolute extreme, and the shifting core structure all challenged the very limits of the girl’s capacity.

Yet, she had endured times more dire and arduous than this; the Void Song had been her first transcendence of limits, and so, she could do it now—surpassing her boundaries to achieve what had once been impossible.

Fragment by fragment, the runes locked into place within her mental sanctum, the architecture of a divine art slowly taking form, and as Avia slotted the final piece, the awakened power of the Lady of Night surged into it of its own accord, illuminating—no, utterly staining—the structure in deepest black.

Avia opened her eyes, casting the name of the divine art toward the firmament: "Eternal Night Canopy!"

In an instant, an endless abyss erupted above Sieg, and the sky over the entire central district was transformed from broad daylight into a realm of absolute, everlasting night.

(Damn it, how could that bastard Wang Yu ever be worthy of Avia? (*￣m￣))