Chapter 124

𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙞𝙨… 𝙊𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙨.

Those simple yet empty words were the start of Ordes' life, his true life. The nightmares, dark rooms, sickly clean scent, and heart wrenching bouts of pain didn't count as living, he was just a spectator watching himself be taken advantage of time and time again.

At the time, he wasn't sure what was happening. All he knew was that the pain coming from his heart had persisted for a very long time until his heart just… stopped. It didn't beat and most importantly it didn't hurt. He had been freed from his pain.

His body felt cold and a feeling of sloth washed over him prompting him to close his eyes. He was sure he was dying and yet he did not feel like living any longer. From the moment he had hatched to so many years later his life had been suffering so… death would be kind to him wouldn't it?

Yet warmth returned to his body and his eyes opened once more as he was returned to the land of the living. The first thing he saw was a devil with empty golden eyes. The devil was young and though he had no hostility in his Ordes reacted without thinking.

He bit the boy, his powerful jaws sinking into the boy's shockingly hard flesh. Unlike what one would expect, the boy didn't react in the slightest as though he was in a daze. For a brief moment, the newly named dragon didn't know how to react.

But then, a shiver ran down his spine as an unfathomable power reached his senses. It was an abyss of pressure that could not be escaped, its mouth salivating as it looked over the young dragon. And then, all of that vanished…

From then on, Ordes saw much of the man who had become his king's life. Damian Thaumiel, a devil, unlike the one that had captured the young dragon. Despite being called a mad dog he was serene, empty, and composed. Despite being a living creature he thought like a puppet.

Ordes saw the development of that man. He saw their king battle gods for his subordinates, demand treasures for those he saved, and silently move toward their betterment. Despite his apathetic appearance Damian Thaumiel fought to the end for them. For that man, for the man who had brought him into the light… Ordes would do the same.

"I am Ordes of Eternity, the servant of Damian Thaumiel!" Roaring out his allegiance was something Ordes never thought he would do and yet he couldn't stop himself. Rather, he had no intention to.

His heart was damaged beyond compare and his soul was being damaged by the influx of deathly energy ravaging his body even with his king's protection. There was no saving the Blue Dragon Emperor, he was fated to die here.

Yet he would die easily. He would burn his very existence, his soul, his life, and his mind to the ground before he allowed himself to die. He would die in honor knowing that he allowed his king's whims to become reality.

"Release me you foolish lizard!" The shout of Hades was filled, for the first time, with audible worry. The grasp of Ordes was cracking his newly born bones and the frost born of Eternity that slowly encroached upon his flesh was worrisome.

Ordes' very body vanished with each inch that ice grew, his origin and existence forming the foundation for that ice. It would never vanish, never decay, never be destroyed. It was eternal, truly eternal.

"Blue One!" Shouting in a mix of worry and pride Ddraig was the first to regroup with him, the trail of flames he left in his wake burned the very dimensional gap around them. Those flames were perhaps the strongest Hades had ever seen and yet they did nothing to disperse the ice covering his body.

Feeling the lizard's grasp weakening Hades doubled his efforts, his bones fighting against the restriction of the ice and the scaled hand covering him as he pushed with enough force to quite literally move a skyscraper.

Thorns of deathly energy escaped from him, piercing the dragon holding him in an attempt to force the dragon to retreat but it had no effect. Ordes was resolved to die here, no amount of pain could make him waste that determination.

With each instant that passed by Ordes became less solid, his existence and origin vanishing as another physical substance replaced him. It was only a matter of time before his physical form became so incorporeal that Hades would escape his grasp. Luckily, Ordes was not alone.

"Die Blue One! Show this world why a heavenly dragon shouldn't be underestimated even in death!" Grabbing Ordes' quickly fading limb Ddraig held both Hades and Ordes in place, the ice slowly but surely covering his own limb.

"You damn lizards! Release me at once!" Thrashing within the two heavenly dragon's grasp Hades couldn't do anything to escape, the ice restricting his body more and more and the seconds ticked by.

It was only a mere few seconds later that Hades' energy exploded outward, a reckless explosion that damaged both himself and the two heavenly dragons ravaging the dimensional gap that sent both sides flying away. 

Hades entire torso, half of his right leg and left arm, the right half of his face, and the entirety of his right arm were covered in a thin yet impenetrable layer of ice. Meanwhile, Ddraig had only just passed his thick claws covered in the ice.

"Did… I show him Eternity?" Deleriously speaking to himself Ordes faded in and out of being, the last strand of his existence fading as he approached death. For a dragon, death was returning to nature and there was no chance to come back. Perhaps if Damian was here he could salvage the remnants of Ordes' soul but…

"You did wonderfully Ordes of Eternity. Because of you… we shall win." Comforting the young dragon the Blue Dragon Emperor did not say anything as he simply… disappeared. Turning toward the god flames of rage emanated from the Dragon of Domination.

Dragons were naturally cruel to their own species with a rare few exceptions. They saw their kin as rivals in both love and war which led to most dragons having an antagonistic relationship. It was no different in the case of Ddraig and Ordes.

In many ways, Ddraig thought of Ordes in the same manner as Albion. While the White One was and always will be his rival Ordes was something akin to a possible rival. With enough time and patience, Ddraig believed that Ordes could become a suitable rival for him and in the end of his life, Ordes proved him correct.

Ice that not even his flames could melt, determination so strong that no words could deter him. It was for those reasons that Ddraig knew for certain that Ordes was a suitable rival. And yet, Hades had taken that from him.

"I'm going to kill you." That simple phrase from Ddraig signified the beginning of the battle as well as the occasion that boosted the Red Dragon Emperor from fourth in the ranking of the strongest to third.

It was the day the dimensional gap was lit ablaze.

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