Chapter 304: When I Return, A Path Paved with Skeletons

In the main timeline.

Six years ago, the Time Dragon, the ruler of the Dragon Court, vanished after being attacked by a powerful divine force, identified by the Dragon Mother as a powerful deity from the Elven Pantheon, the Goddess of Life.

This news, once spread, ignited nearly the entire dragon race's anger and hatred towards the elves.

However, the Life Goddess of the Elven Pantheon, faced with the Dragon Mother's accusation, insisted she had never left the Elven realm, never lifted a finger against the legendary Time Dragon.

When the Time Dragon first disappeared,

The elves, not wishing to spark a war, took defensive measures against the enraged dragons, avoiding direct combat. Therefore, only small-scale conflicts erupted, mainly resulting in losses for the elves.

But an event five years ago drastically escalated the conflict.

Just after battling the Metal Dragon God, the Elven Supreme God, Corellon, was ambushed on his way back from the Chaotic Seas to the Elven realm by several deities with powerful and medium divine forces, including some ancient wild gods.

Gruumsh, the Orcish Overlord; Malar, the Beast Lord; Lolth, the Queen of the Abyssal Spiders; Dendar, the Night Serpent; and many demon lords from the Bottomless Abyss with semi-divine powers. These were beings bearing grudges against the Elven Pantheon or allied with the Dragon Mother.

And the mastermind behind this ambush was none other than the Dragon Mother, Tiamat.

The conniving Dragon Mother, adept at scheming, was well aware of the enmities between gods. She always found compelling reasons that made beings, even gods, unwittingly become her pawns.

The Metal Dragon God had suffered numerous losses due to the Dragon Mother's schemes.

And this time, the Dragon Mother targeted the Elven Supreme God.

Having just endured a year-long divine war with the Metal Dragon God, the Elven Supreme God was not at his peak, failing to detect the ambush by numerous hostile deities initially.

By the time he realized it, it was too late.

Yet, Corellon, as the Elven Supreme God, with immense individual strength and among the foremost in divine power, endured the attacks from so many powerful deities. He escaped back to his divine realm with severe injuries.

Support from other Elven deities and their allies arrived quickly.

The Elven Supreme God also had his circle of powerful deity friends.

These powerful deities did not directly confront the Dragon Mother's faction but silently supported the Elven Supreme God's side.

Failing to kill the Elven Supreme God in one go, Tiamat and other deities dispersed once Corellon escaped back to his divine realm, and support arrived, mostly returning to the Bottomless Abyss.

This attack, orchestrated by the Dragon Mother that grievously wounded their Supreme God, irreversibly escalated the conflict between the Elven Pantheon and the dragon race.

In the eyes of the dragons, the Elven Pantheon had attacked the future powerful Time Dragon.

The fate of the Dragon Court's ruler remained unknown.

In the elves' view, it all seemed like a self-directed drama by the dragons. Their Life Goddess denied attacking the Time Dragon, and their Supreme God was severely injured due to the Dragon Mother's trap.

Thus, the elves no longer remained on the defensive.

Crossing thousands of primary material worlds, the war between elves and dragons erupted fiercely.

No other races intervened.

Both elves and dragons, being dominant forces in the multiverse, were fortunate not to have their conflict crush other races, unless harboring special motives, daring not to meddle.

Other pantheons of deities also tacitly observed from the sidelines.

Whether elves or dragons, post-war losses would benefit the other gods.

Thus, they did not stop the war, merely ordering their followers not to participate.

And so, six years swiftly passed.

Blood and bones of elves and dragons covered many primary material worlds.

Meanwhile, on the planet Kala.

This former dragon homeland was now engulfed in war that blanketed the entire planet. From above, countless dragons and elves engaged in relentless combat.

Fleets of magical warships from Alfheim, the Elven realm, broke through the planar barriers, arriving from other dimensions.

Carried by these warships, a continuous stream of elves, chimeras, giant eagles, and other creatures poured into Kala, clashing with the planet's dragon populace.

Due to deliberate targeting by the Elven realm, Kala's dragons were at a disadvantage.

And in other primary material worlds at war with the elves, dragons mostly held the upper hand.

In Kala's northern hemisphere, originally the territory of the Time Dragon, a massive conflict was unfolding.

Amidst flames and smoke, thousands of dragons, ranging from adults to ancients of various breeds, soared between sky and earth. They unleashed dragon breaths and spells, pouring their fury onto the surrounding elven troops.

Despite their strength and numbers, these dragons were at a disadvantage.

In a war against an equally formidable force, the dragons' weak faith became a detriment.

That is, the number and level of dragon gods were inferior to the Elven deities, with most dragon gods possessing weak divine powers, unable to conjure strong divine avatars.

Dragon gods were formidable, but due to weak divine powers, their tactics were far less diverse than the Elven deities.

At this time, dragon gods were battling Elven deities in the Star Realm, Chaotic Seas, Bottomless Abyss, and other outer planes. Still, a few Elven deities managed to break away from the conflict with the restraint of other gods. They participated in the material world war in the form of saints.

In Kala, a critical material world, naturally, an Elven deity took command.

A saint shrouded in divine light, standing at the center of the battlefield, radiated a sharp and lethal aura.

This was the Elven deity known as the Eye of Precision, Solonor Thelandira, the God of Archery.

He possessed medium divine power.

Solonor's saintly avatar, with piercing gaze, looked up to the sky.

His long bow, adorned

 with intricate patterns and divine halos, appeared in his hands, drawn to a full crescent.

Whoosh!

A light arrow formed from transcendent divine power whistled through the air, tracing a dangerous trajectory, and instantly pierced the heart of an ancient bronze dragon.

This ancient dragon, with legendary strength and vitality, theoretically would only suffer minor injuries even with a pierced heart.

However, at the moment of attack, it was struck as if by divine thunder, losing all life signs. Its thirty-plus-meter body crashed down, kicking up clouds of ash and dust.

The authority of deities, life and death at their discretion.

The saintly avatar possessed this authority as well.

Only deities or equivalent divine forces could counter a deity's saint. Even legendary creatures had no chance of resisting once struck by the power of life and death.

And the death of this legendary dragon was just the beginning.

Solonor's saintly gaze locked onto powerful legendary dragons, releasing death arrows that precisely targeted them. Without equals to counter the deity's attacks, the dragons here quickly faltered.

"Despicable elves."

"You will pay in blood for your actions."

True dragons roared in fury but couldn't reverse the tide.

Given this battleground belonged to the Dragon Court's ruler, losing it would mean handing over the dragon lord's territory to the elves, a massive blow to Kala's dragons.

Thus, legendary dragons charged at Solonor's saintly avatar without hesitation.

Dragon breaths formed torrents, attempting to drown and kill this demigod-level saint. Against so many dragons' breath torrents, even a demigod couldn't ignore them.

However, numerous legendary elves were also present.

Giant trees rose from the ground, and vine serpents intertwined, forming a forest barrier that, while shattered, blocked most attacks from the legendary dragons.

The rest were easily dodged by Solonor's saint.

"Despicable?"

"The Dragon Mother schemed against our Supreme God, who is truly despicable, you arrogant beings know all too well."

Solonor's saintly avatar remained indifferent, raising his divine bow.

To better defeat Kala's dragons and achieve victory in this material world, Solonor lent his weapon to his saintly avatar, using the god-slaying long bow against non-divine dragons.

Humming!

As the bowstring trembled slightly, divine light arrows began to form.

The deity's sharp eyes locked onto a silver dragon known to Garon, the ancient silver dragon Nehemiah stationed on Kala.

The moment Nehemiah felt targeted, a piercing sensation lingered near its skull, knowing it couldn't resist the deity's saintly attack.

For true dragons, better to die charging into battle than passively being killed.

Thus, the ancient silver dragon roared, its wings trembling, charging at Solonor's saint like a meteor, claws extended.

On the other side, Solonor's saint, expressionless, simply drew his bow fully, his pupils reflecting the ancient silver dragon's silhouette.

"You know nothing of divine power."

The saint smirked coldly.

The next second, a divine light arrow tore through space, directly aiming for the ancient silver dragon's skull.

But facing imminent death, the ancient dragon's actions slightly paused, its expression suddenly turning joyous and excited.

Nehemiah, having interacted with Garon multiple times, sensed fluctuations in time power.

"Dragon Lord?"

The ancient silver dragon looked up in surprise, towards the sky.

At the same moment, ripples spread across the ancient, profound river of time, forming a massive portal. A flash of golden light swirled within.

Boom!

Time power erupted.

An invisible force enveloped everything, halting the chaos of spells, blood-stained swords, gales, and smoke in time.

A sixty-plus-meter-long golden dragon leaped from the portal, its enormous figure overshadowing the battlefield, instantly drawing the gaze of all elves and dragons outside the time stop.

Golden dragon claws extended, and the dragon vanished from its original spot.

Reappearing, it stood between the ancient silver dragon and the divine light arrow.

Crack!

Within the dragon's iron-cast claw, the divine light arrow shattered, dissipating into fragments of transcendent divine power.

The chaotic battlefield fell silent at the golden dragon's arrival, deathly still.

This atmosphere lasted for a few seconds before being shattered by the excited roars of dragons.

"Garon, you're back, thank goodness!"

Garon, clad in the Imsk Holy Armor, transformed into a golden dragon, significantly increased in size. Yet, to Nehemiah, familiar with his aura, he was immediately recognizable.

Garon had vanished into a chaotic temporal vortex after being attacked by powerful divine forces, his fate unknown.

But this ancient silver dragon always believed the legendary breed of dragons wouldn't perish so easily, knowing Garon was alive, just temporarily unable to return.

Now, the Dragon Court's ruler had returned.

When I return, a path will be paved with the bones of elves.

Garon lowered his gaze towards Nehemiah.

"Nehemiah, tell me everything that happened in my absence."

While in Valoran, he knew a war between dragons and elves was likely to erupt, impossible to mediate.

Just stepping through the time portal back to his domain on Kala, he found himself in the midst of war.

The state of other material worlds was evident.

Through the Dragon Court's pact, Nehemiah conveyed the events of these six years to him.

In an instant, Garon grasped the situation.

The awe-inspiring dragon, with six towering horns like a crown, slowly turned its head, its gaze sweeping over the battered true dragons and bloodied elves.

After glancing at many legendary dragon corpses, his cold gaze finally settled on Solonor's saint.

"You are the Dragon Court's ruler? The Time Dragon of the dragons."

"Because of you, countless citizens of my Elven realm have died."

"And yet, you're still alive."

Solonor's saint narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze fixed on the immense dragon.

Garon's attack was merely a spark; even if he returned to Kala unscathed, the ignited war wouldn't cease due to his return.

Now, with two more potent dragon gods than the average powerful divine forces, the Metal Dragon God and the Dragon Mother, and now a potential powerful Time Dragon bearing blood feuds, the Elven Pantheon would face hardship.

Since war with the dragons had already erupted, facing this future powerful dragon, Solonor's saint immediately harbored killing intent.

"Heh, you're better off dead."

As he spoke, the moonlit divine bow aimed at Garon.

As the divine bow slowly drew, the sharp, lethal divine light arrow gradually formed.

However, before the divine light arrow fully materialized, it halted due to Solonor's saint's distraction.

Across, in Solonor's saint's vision,

"The mighty power of time, within me!"

"I am the colossus that sweeps across worlds!"

Already over sixty meters, the immense dragon's body surged under the endless flowing light, growing explosively in a roar. In an instant, it became a monstrous beast over six hundred meters long with a wingspan of over a thousand meters, each breath causing tempests.

Such a fearsome beast appeared in the sky.

The oppressive force of a mountain collapsing and a tsunami spreading made many elves stand frozen, their entire vision and heart filled by the kilometer-sized beast, as if an invisible hand squeezed their hearts.

Boom!

The tangible dragon might radiated from Garon.

The terrifying psychic attack covered the entire battlefield like a hurricane. Elves, chimeras, giant eagles, and other creatures fell like mowed wheat, eyes vacant, expressions blank, their minds shattered by the dragon might.

Only legendary beings could barely resist Garon's dragon might.

And the true dragons, touched by the dragon might, felt rejuvenated, invigorated like receiving an adrenaline shot, slaughtering the surviving elves under Garon's wings.

Sizzling.

Clusters of spatial rifts surrounded Garon's body.

Fortunately, Kala's space, blessed by dragon gods, remained stable, not collapsing under Garon's colossal transformation.

The mountainous dragon lowered its gaze, looking at the minuscule deity's saint.

"A deity's saint?"

"Exert your full strength to face me!"

On the other side, Solonor's saint, who had been calm, was now shocked.

Because he knew the Time Dragon's strength. This yet-to-mature Time Dragon, when it disappeared, was still a distance from demigodhood. But seeing its current might, how could it be compared to an ordinary demigod?

In just six years, becoming a standout among demigods. For immortal deities, this time frame is no different from a moment.

"The Time Dragon, the most mysterious legendary breed among dragons, indeed lives up to its reputation."

"With such potential, you cannot be allowed to live!"

Transcendent divine power surged, Solonor's saint's gaze solemn, his form also rapidly enlarging under the catalyst of divine power, eventually transforming into a hundred-meter-tall giant saintly figure. However, compared to Garon's colossal form, it was still insignificant.

Divine power can alter one's size.

But there's a limit.

To achieve Garon's size, typically, at least a weak divine power deity's true form is required. A demigod-level deity's saint using divine power to change size can only reach the current level. Garon's colossal transformation, learned from Valoran, isn't a common skill but a powerful ability possessed by the primal wild gods of that world.

Solonor's saint tightened his grip on his moonlit divine bow.

The weapon of divine power, his only confidence against the colossal true dragon.

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