Chapter 235: The Secret Weapon of the Imaska Empire
Among the numerous magical fleets of the Second Imaska Empire, the 21st Magical Fleet led by Garon is also among the strongest.
Otherwise, he would not be qualified to compete for the position of the Fleet Commander.
On Garon's flagship, there are about four hundred people.
Among these four hundred, about one hundred are crew members responsible for piloting the magic ships, and the remaining three hundred are combat engineers with powerful combat capabilities. Even the weakest among them is of intermediate strength, including a number of advanced engineers, as well as Garon himself, the most powerful legendary combat engineer.
Such a number and quality of engineers represent a formidable force.
However, under the fearsome attack of Garon's "Eradication of the Sands of Time," those on the deck, whether they were the weaker crew members or the stronger combat personnel, disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The most terrifying aspect was that almost none of the engineers were able to detect Garon's attack.
To be aboard a magic ship, an engineer must be elite among their peers.
This scene was witnessed by the engineers on other magic ships.
They couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spine.
Other magic ships, upon seeing Garon's flagship's shield being broken and attacked by the silver dragon, immediately thought to provide support. Garon was their leader, and this magical fleet revolved around him, relying on his commands and leadership. If Garon were to be the first to fall, the consequences would be unimaginable.
But they were helpless to intervene.
As Garon tore through the magic ship's shield and poured his "Eradication of the Sands of Time" directly inside,
The legendary dragons, albeit a bit slower than him, also broke through the defenses formed by the metal golems, tearing these metal golems into fragmented metallic shards raining down onto the earth.
At this time, about three legendary dragons were converging on a single magic ship.
Up close, these massive and muscular legendary dragons, rather than using magical power, let out thunderous roars. Their muscles under their scales bulged, focusing their strength on their claws, tails, and wings, attacking the magic ship's shield with their formidable physical power.
Despite the counterattacks and obstructions from numerous engineers, the attacks of the legendary dragons landed on the magic ship's shield.
Consequently, with thunderous impacts,
The shields of the magic ships flickered intensely, visibly denting and cracking under the relentless assault.
A dragon's physique strengthens with age, and this aspect is always a crucial part of a dragon's strength at any stage of their life.
Every movement of a legendary dragon carried terrifying destructive power.
Under the fierce onslaught of the legendary dragons, if nothing unexpected happened, it would only be a matter of minutes before the magic fleet's ships would start to falter, one by one breaking their magic shields.
In fact, their ability to hold on until now was already a testament to their considerable strength.
However, ever since Garon foresaw in his vision of the future that this magic fleet would invade the Lava Half-Plane, their fate was sealed—they were destined not to leave the Lava Half-Plane.
Garon didn't pay much attention to the other magic ships.
His focus was mainly on the magic ship where Garon was.
Before he could fully enjoy his "Eradication of the Sands of Time," most of the engineers on this ship had already disappeared.
Garon's gaze was calm as he observed Garon, who appeared tense and heavy-hearted.
Garon scraped at the breach in the magic ship's shield with his claw, suddenly twisting his neck.
The invisible "Eradication of the Sands of Time" continued to surge, erasing the engineers and their densely packed engineered creations from the flow of time, engulfing Garon in a manner reminiscent of unstoppable decay.
Garon couldn't see the "Eradication of the Sands of Time."
However, his strong mental power allowed him to sense the terrifying power it possessed.
This leader of the 21st Magical Fleet of the Second Imaska Empire, now stood on the deck of the magic ship.
He looked up at the expressionless, breath-spewing silver dragon, his heartbeat accelerating considerably.
Given Garon's enormous size, his dragon breath had a wide coverage area and was extremely fast.
Garon, close to the magic ship's shield, left little distance between himself and Garon. At such a range, even a legendary combat engineer would find it hard to avoid Garon's dragon breath attack.
"What kind of dragon is this?"
As the "Eradication of the Sands of Time" drew closer, Garon's sense of imminent danger grew stronger. In the blink of an eye, Garon had little time to think.
"I, Garon, Captain of the 21st Magical Fleet."
"In the presence of the Emperors of past generations, under the remnants of the glory of the old Imaska Empire, I invoke the power of the Seventh Secret Weapon of Imaska!"
His expression serious and solemn, he silently chanted in his mind.
At the same time.
A faint light appeared on Garon's right wrist.
Under Garon's gaze, he raised his right hand.
The moment he made this movement, the "Eradication of the Sands of Time" swept over Garon's body.
Buzz, buzz, buzz. Garon's gaze sharpened.
The "Eradication of the Sands of Time," composed of the power of time, now met with significant resistance.
Like waterfall cascading onto rocks, although the "Eradication of the Sands of Time" engulfed Garon, he didn't disappear like other engineers attacked by it.
He was resisting the "Eradication of the Sands of Time" tenaciously.
Around Garon, a spherical magic shield appeared, adorned with numerous ancient and complex magical runes, swirling in nine rings on the shield, revealing an impeccable and unbreakable defensive power.
Protected by this shield, the "Eradication of the Sands of Time" failed to erase Garon from the flow of time.
Garon's expression darkened, intensifying the breath's output.
The "Eradication of the Sands of Time" suddenly grew thicker, and Garon's shield, under the pressure of the dragon's breath, had its ring-shaped magical runes speeding up their movement, appearing almost as a seamless curtain of light to onlookers.
It seemed barely sufficient but indeed blocked Garon's dragon breath.
Due to the continuous breath, Garon now felt a distinct soreness in his throat.
He frowned slightly, not expecting Garon to resist the power of time.
Garon didn't want to hurt his throat due to overexertion of his dragon breath.
He ceased the dragon breath.
The silver dragon looked down, fixing his gaze on Garon.
Garon was gasping heavily, sweat dripping down his forehead, his complexion slightly pale. Though he stood tall, it was clear to any observer that Garon was deeply exhausted.
While he successfully resisted Garon's "Eradication of the Sands of Time," it was not an easy feat for him.
Garon's magical energy was rapidly depleted.
"Hmm? A legendary item capable of resisting the 'Eradication of the Sands of Time'?"
Garon realized the source of Garon's survival against being erased from the time flow.
On Garon's right wrist, a magical bracelet with a glaring elemental glow was protecting him, the magic shield was being emitted from this magical bracelet.
The bracelet consisted of nine differently colored rhombus-shaped crystals.
Orange-yellow, sky blue, indigo, deep purple, pitch black, blazing white, fiery red— The nine differently colored rhombus crystals were not connected by any physical threads, but rather linked by an energy ribbon.
The interweaving of various colors constantly shifted and merged.
It was extremely dazzling.
This magical bracelet gave Garon an extraordinary, unique feeling.
Looking at this magical bracelet, Garon's breathing grew heavier.
His platinum-colored dragon eyes filled with an 'I want it' intention.
Besides its powerful effect of resisting the "Eradication of the Sands of Time," Garon felt a strong sense of the passage of time, the changes of eras on the bracelet, indicating that although it appeared flawless, it had endured through lengthy periods.
The dazzling luster, potent effects, high quality, and extensive history—all these attributes appealed directly to Garon.
The fervent look in Garon's eyes made Garon's heart race.
"Such a terrifying attack, the Imaska Magic Rings successfully resisted, but if there are a few more attacks, I'm afraid my magical energy won't hold out."
Looking around, the other magic ships, under the attacks of the legendary dragons, were on the verge of collapse.
His own magic ship, with the crew members attacked by the silver dragon's unknown assault, whether intermediate or advanced, had no power to resist and disappeared without a trace. Even the Imaska Magic Rings could not give him an advantage.
Garon looked down at the magical bracelet with a regretful expression, gradually sinking into despair.
The magical bracelet that helped Garon survive under Garon's "Eradication of the Sands of Time" was not just any legendary item.
It was one of the secret weapons of the old Imaska Empire, forged with the effort of the entire nation.
As the imperial foundation, there were a total of seven Imaska secret weapons.
Each Imaska secret weapon possessed extremely powerful forces, each unique in its abilities.
Moreover, if the seven Imaska secret weapons were gathered, the user, as long as they could withstand the consumption, could wield power akin to that of divine artifacts in the material world. However, no one in the old Imaska Empire was capable of using all seven secret weapons simultaneously.
When the old Imaska Empire was almost annihilated, these imperial foundations could not change their fate.
They were secretly taken away by the descendants of the old Imaska Empire who fled the continent, preserved as the legacy to resurrect the glory of the old Imaska Empire.
After enduring a long war, the Imaska secret weapons were damaged to varying degrees and were difficult to use normally.
However, as the Second Imaska Empire gradually strengthened, the royal family of the Second Imaska Empire re-collected materials and followed the secret forging methods in the legacy to directly reforge new Imaska secret weapons on the basis of the original damaged ones.
Due to the unique structure of the old Imaska Empire's secret weapons, which cannot be replicated, although the Second Imaska Empire had the legacy, they were unable to create brand new imperial secret weapons from scratch.
Garon, with his exceptional performance and military achievements, and being a model who rose from the lower ranks, was intended by the royal family of the Second Imaska Empire to be built into a heroic figure to motivate the empire's lower-class citizens. Therefore, they temporarily bestowed one of the Imaska secret weapons to Garon for his use.
The Seventh Imaska Secret Weapon, the Imaska Magic Rings.
The main effect of the Imaska Magic Rings is defense.
Invincible Technique, Nine Light Shield, Absolute Defense, Spell Nullification, Fortified Barrier—it is endowed with countless defensive spells. These protective spells automatically activate according to the type of attack, not requiring the user to waste focus on choosing or controlling them.
Apart from the huge consumption, the Imaska Magic Rings have no drawbacks.
And the large consumption can't really be considered a drawback of the Imaska Magic Rings; that's more a limitation of the user.
"This magical bracelet, it must become part of my collection!"
Garon didn't know the origin and specific effects of the Imaska Magic Rings.
But that didn't stop him from recognizing their preciousness and power.
Among all of Garon's collections, not counting the platinum dragon scales gifted by the Metallic Dragon God, the most powerful among the remaining legendary items should be the Wrath of Winter.
Regrettably, this giant-forged legendary weapon, though Garon cannot use it, is occasionally lent to Barton and more often left to gather dust in Garon's dimensional space.
For treasures, dragons have always had a keen intuition.
And in Garon's intuition, the Imaska Magic Rings were even more powerful than the Wrath of Winter.
Moreover, he was very likely able to use them.
Garon initially thought the best spoils of this battle would be the magic ships capable of interdimensional travel.
But now, there seemed to be an unexpected gain.
Looking at the visibly weakened Garon, a determined expression appeared on Garon's face.
Then, under the fearful gaze of the remaining crew members who had not yet been engulfed by the "Eradication of the Sands of Time," the silver dragon extended its claws, reaching through the magic ship's shield, and then clasped the tangible azure blue magic shield with a backhanded grip.
Garon grinned.
Under the layers of silvery dragon scales, muscles like steel and iron bulged.
Although Garon excelled in using spells and temporal abilities, this didn't mean he was weak in strength.
On the contrary, his forty-six-meter-long gargantuan dragon body possessed enough strength to crush mountains.
Crack, crack— Garon's claws gripping the magic ship's shield exerted force simultaneously.
Cracks like branching lightning or tree branches suddenly appeared.
Under Garon's power, the cracks extended, twisted, and shattered. At this moment, the magic ship was like a turtle trapped in a jar, with the jar being opened by a hunter, and the creature inside unable to stop the process, only watching helplessly as the magic ship's shield neared shattering.
Crash! Quickly, a huge gap large enough for Garon's entire body to enter was blown open in the magic ship's shield.
This level of destruction caused extensive damage to the ship's shield-generating device, with numerous magical runes extinguishing and disappearing. The remaining areas of the magic ship's shield began to flicker intensely, completely vanishing in a matter of seconds.
Garon's magic ship was now fully exposed to Garon.
The imposing demeanor of the silver dragon caused Garon's pupils to constrict.
Garon raised his right arm.
The light of the Imaska Magic Rings engulfed his entire body.
At the same time,
The silver dragon suddenly disappeared from Garon's field of vision. Garon's heart sank.
Without hesitation, he moved away from his original position at the fastest speed he could muster.
At that moment, Garon's surrounding magical shield began to flicker at a high frequency, his magical energy being drastically consumed. Just as Garon wondered what kind of attack he had endured, he witnessed a scene beyond belief.
Time seemed to stop at that instant.
Garon was shocked to find that aside from himself and the imposing silver dragon, everything in the surrounding area, including the flames in the air and fragments of shattered machinery, had all stopped moving, frozen in mid-air.
His magical energy flowed out like floodgates opening, pouring out tons by tons.
Under the protection of the Imaska Magic Rings, Garon's complexion turned deathly pale.
"Time has stopped."
Garon looked at everything in front of him, feeling a dry throat, barely able to breathe.
At this moment, he finally had a vague idea of Garon's dragon species.
"A Time Dragon, there's actually a Time Dragon in this half-plane!"
"I..."
Garon's vision darkened.
Encountering a legendary dragon species and being driven to desperation by it, was he lucky or unlucky?
The Imaska Magic Rings were impressive; they could even resist the power of time, allowing Garon to move freely in the time-stopped domain. However, the massive consumption involved made it almost impossible for Garon to launch any counterattacks.
Every second, a massive amount of magical energy was consumed.
On the other side,
A glint of light flashed in Garon's eyes, his expression growing even more delighted.
"Even time-stop can be defended against, what an impressive legendary item."
Garon had encountered many who could resist time-stop.
For example, the dark frost giant equipped with the Wrath of Winter, and the legendary fire elemental. But their resistance merely meant Garon had to expend more temporal power, and in the time-stop zone, these legends were still unable to move.
The only one he had encountered who could move in a time-stop zone was a fragment of a desolate god.
But now, there was another one—a historically ancient and powerful magical artifact.
Meanwhile,
Garon also saw that although Garon could move in the time-stop zone with the help of the Imaska Magic Rings, he was expending massive amounts of energy every moment. He was barely holding on and couldn't even launch a counterattack against Garon, merely struggling desperately.
"A futile resistance."
Garon shook his head slightly.
He activated his maximum acceleration state, pulling a streak of silver light through the air, appearing in front of Garon in an instant.
The legendary engineer was now drenched in sweat.
His complexion was as pale as paper.
Four exquisitely crafted, intricately constructed mechanical spheres, the size of fists, hovered behind him.
In the instant Garon approached, the four mechanical spheres emitted highly concentrated magical beams, targeting Garon's head.
These beams of magical energy were of high grade, Garon's last effort, expending all his energy.
After firing, Garon could no longer drive the Imaska Magic Rings due to the exhaustion of his magical energy.
The Imaska Magic Rings shrank to Garon's wrist, their light simultaneously dimming.
Without the protection of the Imaska Magic Rings, Garon, still in the time-stop zone, instantly turned into a lifelike statue, frozen by time, immobile.
Meanwhile, the magical beams approached Garon.
Due to the close distance and Garon's speed, it wasn't easy to dodge the fast-approaching beams.
So Garon simply chose not to dodge.
His movements were swift, raising his dragon claw in an instant.
The dragon claw is one of the most robust and dangerous parts of a dragon's anatomy, and as a Time Dragon, Garon's physical and magical resistance were much higher than ordinary legendary dragons.
Hiss, hiss, hiss. The four beams of magical energy consecutively landed on Garon's dragon claw.
Bright sparks flashed, accompanied by a series of ear-piercing metallic friction sounds.
Garon felt a certain amount of pain.
In just a breath's time, these beams capable of piercing the earth and penetrating oceans dissipated under Garon's dragon claw.
Garon looked down at his own claw.
In the middle, a few silver scales were torn, and the flesh underneath showed some charred traces due to the high temperature of the attack.
Garon's final desperate counterattack did injure Garon.
But to Garon, with his size, it was akin to a human being pricked by a toothpick. The minor injury was already healing and would soon be as if it had never been attacked.
Garon turned his gaze to Garon.
More accurately, to the Imaska Magic Rings on his wrist.
"Heh heh, you're mine now."
A genuine smile appeared on Garon's dragon face.
Approaching Garon, Garon extended his claw and casually grasped his right arm, lightly pulling.
Tear! Garon's right arm, fragile under the dragon's strength, was effortlessly severed from his body, while Garon's face still held a look of desperation, unchanged due to being frozen in time.
A few drops of blood fell on the Imaska Magic Rings.
The size of the Imaska Magic Rings was just right for an ordinary human, but pitifully small for Garon.
But this did not diminish Garon's fondness for it.
He delicately picked up the blood-stained Imaska Magic Rings with the tip of his claw, holding it gently between his claw tips, and examined it with an appreciative gaze.
At the same time, Garon casually placed a few magical seals on Garon, lifting the time-stop.
Such ordinary magical seals would pose no threat to a legendary being under normal circumstances. However, Garon was now exhausted, and due to his severed arm, he lost a significant amount of blood, rendering his body extremely weak and unable to break free from Garon's casually placed magical seals.
Garon regained consciousness, immediately feeling intense pain in his arm.
He turned his head to look in confusion, only to find his right arm gone.
The Imaska Magic Rings, which had a mental and magical connection with Garon, were now in the claws of the dragon, delicately handled.
He felt cold all over, too weak to even stand properly.
Thud! Garon collapsed to the ground.
He looked at the Imaska Magic Rings in Garon's possession, his face ashen.
The Second Imaska Empire had only seven secret weapons, each of paramount importance. Now that the Imaska Magic Rings were seized by an unknown Time Dragon, Garon felt like he was the sinner of the Second Imaska Empire.
"I failed the trust of the Imaska Emperor, I am a sinner of the empire."
Garon was full of regret.
He hated himself for seeking more merits, ignoring his adjutant's advice, not choosing to cooperate more safely with other magical fleets.
However, if Garon had the chance to do it all over again,
Without knowing the strength of the Lava Half-Plane, he would still make the same choice. If not for the presence of so many legendary dragons, even ten more legendary elementals in the Lava Half-Plane would not be a match for his magical fleet.
Garon lay on the ground, lifeless, seemingly bereft of spirit.
"I now believe you all came to deliver resources."
Garon toyed with the Imaska Magic Rings, smiling.
At the same time, his powerful mental power methodically scanned the Imaska Magic Rings, erasing all traces of Garon's connection with it.
Legendary items have a close connection with their users, causing Garon further injury. His already weak body and spirit finally gave out, collapsing on the deck of the magic ship, unconscious.
Meanwhile, the magic ship, having sustained damage and lacking crew control, began to wobble and plummet to do.
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