Chap 41

In the sky, Shin flapped his wings powerfully, shaking the sky and earth at the

a single flapping wing.

Weaker animals and creatures hide from its power but show no fear.

Shin's aura soothes them and makes them unable to be afraid of him.

Instead, it was rather admiration and respect for the creature.

Shin had been traveling for some time, always in search of powerful dragons.

Until now, he had only met weak dragons that were attacking him.

They were surely challenging him to prove their strength, but it was even more madness.

Some were smart and wise enough not to attack him and put their pride aside.

Continuing his journey, his eyes soon fell on a village in the mountains.

Only, there were burned houses, the smell of charred wood reigned in the air around this village.

Nature and the surrounding fields were dying and the land was dry and dehydrated.

And looking further, Shin could see that the mountain several hundred meters away was half destroyed.

The vision of this mountain reminded him of the time when he first roared.

Without controlling his forces, he had destroyed a mountain smaller than the one in front of him.

So, to destroy half of this mountain that seemed to have been blown away by the wind, he had to be even more powerful than when Shin came into the world.

And perhaps it was not even his full power.

Shin had the hope to finally find what he was looking for!

A dragon powerful enough to challenge him!

Yet, despite his hope, he felt sadness and bitterness when he saw the expression of the people of the village.

Filled with misery, agony, fear, hearts torn by horror and loss.

Some eyes were devoid of life and radiated only despair and hatred of their helplessness.

Most were thin with skin on their bones, almost like walking corpses, while the children were the "fattest" of all.

The adults surely gave what little food they had left to the children.

They ate from their crops and plantations, so that with their burnt fields and dead earth, their harvest could no longer take place.

This village and this mountain must have been under the tyrannical rule of a dragon.

He was subjected to a fate worse than death.

The weakest are those who win a fate to hellish life while the strongest will have a fate to heavenly life.

Taking pity on them, Shin gave a little wing to find himself above the village.

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While the villagers were feeling sorry for themselves, a giant shadow covered the village.

The reaction of the inhabitants was to see their bodies trembling and the parents would be their children filled with fear.

Raising their dead eyes to the sky, they saw the appearance of a creature that was not the one they had thought of.

Unlike the giant lizard, imposing, strong and terrifying, what they saw was surely the antithesis.

A giant bird with green feathers, wrapped in green flames.

Its presence alone was enough to light up the dark mountain.

Their broken and cold hearts warmed at the mere sight of him.

Lost hope seemed to be rekindled by his mere presence.

Even the trees and the earth seemed to be getting better.

A divine, celestial beast, radiating purity, nature and life.

It seemed to melt into nature itself and represented life itself.

But it still radiated a power equal to or greater than the dragon.

The inhabitants, who were at the end of their mental strength, broke down in front of this presence and begged for it.

"O mighty creature of God, please grant us your mercy and help us against the dragon of despair!"

Among all the inhabitants, a not-so-healthy old man knelt before Shin with eyes full of tears and a voice begging for help.

All the rest of the inhabitants followed his movement and knelt behind the old man.

The old man seemed to be the head of the village.

Seeing them in this state, Shin felt distressed and saddened by the sight of the inhabitants.

He could see with his sixth sense that these inhabitants were in no way malicious but pushed to the bottom of the abyss.

Their means of food had been reduced to ashes leaving the inhabitants to starve to death.

The adults sacrificed their share of food for the children following tragic deaths.

They had to watch relatives being killed by a sadistic dragon with great powerlessness.

At this point, Shin could see that their souls were on the brink of being shattered, both adults and children.

Only, most of the children were "lucky" enough not to really know their circumstances and not to witness or know of the existence of these murders.

'If I think about it, I can understand Acnologia's hatred of dragons,' Shin thought.

Acnologia saw his village and his relatives killed by dragons he trusted.

He gave them his trust despite knowing the nature of dragons.

He gave them a chance because he thought he was not all the same.

And he was right, they are not all the same. Just like humans.

But the hatred and sadness of losing his family and loved ones to someone he had trusted had taken over, leading him to destructive madness.

Shin knew that what Acnologia was doing was unforgivable and the origin of his hatred could be understandable.

Shin thought that many people felt the same way Acnologia did, only they were not "lucky" enough to be able to express it and fortunately.

Shin was not going to deny himself, despite his title of God of Life and his kindness, if he had to witness the death of his family and loved ones, he would surely go into a murderous and vengeful madness.

Anyone with the ability and capacity would do so.

Returning to his thoughts, Shin looked at the village chief and answered him.

"I will help you for your village," Shin said in a deep and touching voice.

Those few words meant so much to the people.

The village headman suddenly raised his head and looked up at Shin with overflowing hope while the others remained bowed.

No action had been taken, but hearing these words from a majestic and powerful creature like this one gave him great confidence. Then there was the feeling that he could trust the creature in front of him.

Shin, still in the sky, smiled for himself as he folded his wings on himself to form a kind of cocoon.

He channeled enough Life Energy to restore the village and the surrounding area and then released its powerful wings and a roar.

*CROAR*

The roar that sounded like a melody was heard by the inhabitants who closed their eyes, praying.

When the cry resounded and its wings were released, a powerful wave of Life Energy spread through the surroundings.

The melody and the wave of Life Energy passed through the villagers, soothing them and making their bodies healthier at the same time.

The wave propagated and every place it passed through regained color, nature took over with the appearance of grass and trees full of vitality.

Devastation and death gave way to nature and life.

Their charred fields and faded crops came back to life and grew at a monstrous rate to give birth to a large number of fruits and vegetables.

The people on the ground felt their bodies change to become stronger and healthier.

They all raised their heads to understand the feeling of this change.

But when they all saw each other, not to mention the surroundings, they were shocked beyond belief.

Their bodies that once looked like walking corpses were now at their peak, a state they had not been in even before.

The surroundings of the village that once looked like a living hell had now become a living paradise.

The houses were still in a pitiful state, but in the face of the miracles that had occurred, it was nothing.

In addition, it now had a beautiful, colorful, green forest that had grown right next to it.

The worries and problems that weighed on their shoulders flew away like fragile leaves.

For several minutes, they gawked and soon realized what had just happened.

After the realization, all the villagers cried, the families hugged each other.

"Thank you, thank you very much," exclaimed the chief with great emotion.

For his part, the village chief bowed up and down with a face full of tears and snot.

The villagers all stopped and then followed the chief's movements.

"Thank you for saving my family!"

"I am so grateful to you!"

"M-Thank you!"

The heart of Shin warmed up in front of the villagers.

He was happy to have been able to help them.

"Now, enjoy and make up for the time you missed," Shin exclaimed, still in a deep and warm voice.

"And I'll take care of this dragon of despair."

He flapped his wings to leave but was stopped by the chief.

"Please tell me your name, we will pray for you every day, divine creature protector of the village," exclaimed the chief with reverence and admiration.

He was followed by all the villagers, adults and children alike.

"Shin, my name is Shin, but I am better known as Heavenly Phoenix."

With these last words, Shin flew away and disappeared from the sight of the villagers.

'O Great Heavenly Phoenix' thought all the villagers in a position of prayer.

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Shin was now high in the sky.

He was heading in the direction where the dragon of despair was lodging.

He had sensed its presence, this dragon did not seem to see why it should hide its presence.

Arrogant.

Shin was really angry, this dragon's attitude had disgusted him to the core.

Shin radiated a murderous aura and his eyes were as cold as ice and shimmered with power.

And he uttered a harsh, hoarse phrase that seemed to come from the God of Death and not the God of Life.

"Dragon of Despair, for these people, I will show you what true despair is."