In this space thick with the aura of death, dream and reality seemed to have merged into one.
When they looked up, they saw an extraordinarily strange Ancient Dragon coiled a hundred meters above them.
The Ancient Dragon had four legs and four wings. Its black scales were covered in golden patterns, making its entire body look both defiled and strangely sacred.
But when Nolan and the others looked carefully, they discovered countless black roots growing from those scales. Even its face had bulging roots piercing through it.
Clearly, these were no ordinary roots. They were symbols stained by death.
The Death Dragon Fortissax was Godwyn's closest friend and follower. For a long time, he had hidden within Godwyn's body, fighting against death.
Because he had been in contact with death for far too long, Fortissax seemed to have been contaminated in a bed of death. His entire existence had been corroded beyond recognition.
Faced with such a hideous and terrifying Ancient Dragon, Nolan showed no fear.
Lightning, black mist, and blazing fire surged around him, those powerful forces intertwining and coiling together.
But in his eyes, there was no fear or disgust toward the Death Dragon. There was only pity and admiration.
Fortissax had chosen to guard the Prince of Death of his own free will.
From opponents who had fought on the battlefield, to friends bound until death, and now to one following the other through life and death, willingly enduring the torment of this half-dead existence. How many could possess such resolve?
Just then, Fortissax, who had been roaring nonstop after being disturbed by outsiders, suddenly stopped as if he had discovered something.
He slowly lowered his head in a daze, fixing those murky yellow eyes straight downward.
In that instant, a faint trace of confusion appeared in his once chaotic gaze.
Fortissax seemed to have smelled a familiar scent. There was the smell of his own kind, mixed with the scent of a sinner, and even the scent of an old friend.
Human? Ancient Dragon? Flying Dragon? Or the mate of that foolish elder sister?
Fortissax's mind had long since rotted. He could no longer think his way to a clear answer.
He only knew that the owner of this scent had come with ill intent.
That fierce killing intent struck his beastlike instincts like a roaring flood, setting alarm bells ringing in his heart.
"Even the dead... you refuse to spare even the dead!?"
Fortissax's roar was like an unwilling cry of fury, deafening enough to shake the world.
The shockwave from that roar swept outward like a raging hurricane, carrying violent winds and crimson lightning as it spread like a storm.
The mud on the ground was thrown into the air by that tremendous force, tumbling like enormous blossoms of filth.
The entire scene was churned into chaos and ruin.
He was truly enraged. The glorious Golden Prince had been reduced to this state, cast into this sunless place like garbage, and now they had even come here to kill him.
But this was a misunderstanding on Fortissax's part.
The subjects of the Golden Order Dynasty all regarded returning to the Erdtree as the highest honor.
Morgott placing Godwyn among the roots of the Erdtree's main trunk could be said to show the utmost love and respect for his elder brother. It certainly did not mean he treated him like garbage.
But Fortissax's mind could no longer think that far. He only knew that Godwyn had once had such a bright future, yet his present fate was far too tragic.
Nolan seemed not to have heard Fortissax's roar at all. He floated lightly into the air and faced the Ancient Dragon across the distance, gazing at him in his pain and sorrow.
"Precisely because he is dead, he should be allowed to die properly. His soul has already departed, yet his body continues to pollute this world. Do you truly think this existence is what Godwyn would have wanted?"
Fortissax's roar stopped abruptly.
Of course, living on like this was not what Godwyn would have wanted. But whether it was the dead Godwyn or Fortissax himself, what could either of them do?
"Lansseax said not to keep clinging to the wrong path. As long as you're willing to turn back, abandon darkness, and come into the light, she can guarantee you'll live well from now on," Nolan said.
Hearing his sister's name, Fortissax froze.
He had never heard anyone use such absurd words to persuade someone to surrender.
But if those words came from Lansseax's mouth, they somehow sounded entirely natural, as if this were the most ordinary thing in the world.
More than that, Fortissax also noticed that this human carried a strong scent belonging to Lansseax, but it was not the smell of blood.
That made him begin to suspect that what this human said was very likely true.
Lansseax had always liked getting involved with humans. This human might very well be her lover.
At that thought, Fortissax's previously sluggish mind seemed to be activated, slowly starting to function again.
Nolan stood to the side, watching the Ancient Dragon's expression gradually become more vivid, as if he were changing from a corpse back into a living dragon.
He could not help sighing inwardly. Although Lansseax was weak, her words as an elder sister were surprisingly effective on her younger brother.
Fortissax's gaze became increasingly strange. He stared at Nolan, seemingly trying hard to think through something.
Only after a long while did he come back to himself and ask, "Who exactly are you? And what is your relationship with Lansseax?"
"For now, I am the Lord of Limgrave, the Haligtree, Caelid, and Nokron."
Nolan thought for a moment before answering, "Of course, I'm also Lansseax's Lord. Though she likes treating me like a god too."
Nolan lightly summarized his general level of power for Fortissax.
If he could subdue an Ancient Dragon at the level of a Demigod without bloodshed, that would naturally be the best outcome.
In the process, Nolan did not include any explanation of their personal relationship.
Of course, there was no personal relationship between him and Lansseax anyway. Although their usual interactions looked close and rather ambiguous, Nolan could place a hand on his conscience and say they were innocent.
That female dragon had every kind of verbal trick, and she always liked using body language to tease the innocent Lord of Cinder. But when it was time to actually take up the spear and go into battle, she ran faster than anyone.
Fortissax narrowed his eyes.
He could understand the other party calling himself a Lord. When the Demigods had attacked Leyndell, they had also called themselves Golden Lords.
But when the identities of "Lord" and "God" were placed together, Fortissax's already sluggish mind could not quite process it.
He could only understand it as this human holding an extremely high place in Lansseax's heart, which was why she revered him as a god.
However, Fortissax did notice one thing very clearly. The human standing before him might be tremendously powerful.
Malenia and Radahn were the finest Demigods Fortissax had ever seen besides Godwyn, and they had led the Haligtree and Caelid respectively.
Yet both of those lands had fallen into this man's hands, which meant he possessed power above them.
Only power could conquer. This was common sense in the Lands Between.
He could also smell the blood of Flying Dragons, some of them old acquaintances, including Bayle, that arrogant fool who had overestimated himself, challenged Placidusax, and lost.
Although Bayle was arrogant and conceited, there was no denying that he stood above all dragons.
"She wants me to join your command?" Fortissax did not think for long.
"That's right," Nolan said with a nod.
"What if I refuse?" Fortissax's tone gradually turned cold.
To follow through life and death. That was the promise he had made to Godwyn.
"Then I'll help you find release."
Nolan's smile also faded, and he could not help cursing inwardly.
Everyone in the Lands Between was so damn stubborn.