"What… is this…"
His chaotic consciousness began to awaken.
The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord was filled with confusion. Deep, heavy unwillingness and pain surfaced from the depths of his soul, trying to pull him back through everything he had experienced before.
Memories…
Aaaaaahhh!!
A silent scream churned through his soul as his thoughts came rushing back like a tidal wave.
The Dragon Emperor's filth!
The battle!
The memories from before he lost consciousness replayed over and over at blinding speed, and with them came pain, humiliation, resentment, regret…
Each scene was like a sharpened blade, an endless nightmare that refused to end.
The anguish in his heart clung to him like a shadow, impossible to shake off no matter how hard he tried.
Every detail was so clear.
Every sensation was so real.
There was no escaping it.
It was endless torment, devouring his soul.
Filth…
Did I… fail…?
I died at the hands of that filth, and even my trump card, [Soulbreaker Breath], was completely useless…
But… what is happening to me now?
This doesn't feel like death.
Where am I?
The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord's consciousness stirred with doubt.
As if rising from an endless sea of darkness, he began trying to sense his body.
At first, there was only the faintest trace of awareness, like the first glimmer of dawn.
But gradually, his thoughts began reconnecting, and the darkness clouding his mind slowly receded.
He tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't do it at all. The world felt as though it were covered by a thin veil.
As his awareness grew clearer, he began to sense the existence of his body, heavy and powerless.
A sticky sensation spread across his entire body.
It seemed he was submerged in some kind of liquid.
Where exactly was he?
He wanted to speak, but found he could not open his mouth.
He tried to move a finger, only to find it as heavy as lead, impossible to budge.
...
Outside, within the enormous altar.
An oval "container," shaped like a giant egg, had been placed at its center.
Inside its transparent outer membrane was a murky dark-purple liquid, and the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord floated within it, looking very small.
"Oh? His consciousness has awakened?"
The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord's unusual movement drew the attention of the dragons present.
Naohara slightly turned his head. Two pairs of dragon eyes of different colors met, and Blackie gave a small nod.
The two of them accelerated the construction of the sacrificial ritual at the same time.
When the True Dragon Lords, including the Brightness Dragon Lord, saw this, they also hastened their actions.
As the fluctuations of Wild Magic grew stronger and stronger, a crimson magic circle, red as blood, rose into the air.
It slowly ascended overhead.
A vivid red pentagram shone brilliantly, and its light shot straight into the sky.
There, it expanded into an even larger magic formation.
Outside the huge circular formation, five smaller circular formations revolved around it.
Countless ancient characters glowed within the formations, their scarlet radiance illuminating the entire land.
A series of faint winds carrying a pungent scent of blood blew out from the formation, spreading red mist across the earth in every direction.
...
Within the space of consciousness.
The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord, who had been struggling to control his body, suddenly trembled.
It felt as though an invisible force had descended onto him, pressing down so heavily he could barely breathe.
His mind, which had only just become clear, grew blurry once again. A powerful sense of unease clung to him like a shadow, growing stronger and stronger.
Driven by intense danger, his instincts began trying to save him, and his consciousness fully connected with his body.
His closed eyes slowly opened.
The first things he saw through the liquid and membrane were crimson mist, the enormous scarlet magic formation, and the warnings screaming from his body.
Uncomfortable...…
Suffocating…
I can feel… pain…
His dragon body was being compressed.
His dragon soul was being torn apart…
A level of agony he had never experienced before filled his entire being. The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord wanted to let out a scream, wanted to activate Wild Magic, but discovered that he could do nothing at all.
He could only watch as countless pale-red motes flew out of his body like red fireflies and drifted toward the center of the scarlet formation.
They gathered there and formed a gigantic red halo.
At the center of that halo, a brilliant cross-shaped star flare shone out, and in the end it turned into an enormous blood-red sphere formed entirely from blood.
The five formations surrounding it revolved around that giant sphere like restraints.
And in the darkness of the abyss, a pale skeleton sat there quietly in meditation.
The light of the blood sphere fell over the skeleton.
As if undergoing some kind of transformation, the skeleton began to tremble. Strange light flickered within its empty eye sockets.
That light grew stronger and stronger, and the skeleton's bones began to change, gleaming with a deep and mysterious luster.
[Dragon Transformation Secret Art]!!
Those words instantly surfaced in the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord's mind.
He was no stranger to this Wild Magic. In fact, the impression it left on him ran deep.
Among all recorded Wild Magic, this spell was undoubtedly one of the most sinister. In some ways, it was even worse than the Wild Magic he himself had studied: [Soulbreaker Breath].
It possessed neither offensive nor defensive power.
Its effect was simple.
Sacrifice.
Sacrifice others to elevate oneself.
Memories, the body, magic, the soul, even the very concept of existence itself could all be offered up.
The moment the sacrifice was completed…
The being known as Cure Elim Los Malvar would be forgotten.
Forgotten by people.
Forgotten by the world.
All traces of his past would be rewritten, as though he had never existed.
"No… this shouldn't be happening…"
"Dragon Transformation Secret Art… Brightness… Vampiric… Heavenly… you cannot do this!"
"I won't accept it… this ending… this ending… Aaaah!!"
The Elder Coffin Dragon Lord let out a roar of despair.
He could not accept such an outcome.
Everything that belonged to him would vanish like bubbles, becoming nothing more than a wedding garment for that filth.
Driven into madness, the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord began burning his Dragon Soul, attempting to unleash [Soulbreaker Breath] upon himself.
He wanted to die before the sacrifice was completed.
More than death, he feared the idea that his existence would become completely meaningless.
But how could Naohara and the others, who had long prepared for this moment, allow him to succeed?
"Kaunan_Naudhiz_Othalan_Ear…"
Naohara whispered softly.
Ancient words echoed between heaven and earth, as though communicating with the world itself.
[Effect of the Job Class: World Connector.]
Faced with the desperate cries of the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord, a trace of hesitation flashed through the eyes of Brightness and Heavenly.
But the Vampiric Dragon Lord only let out a cold laugh.
"You're hesitating now? Since when did the two of you become so soft-hearted? If you really care about Elder Coffin, then you might as well let him be freed sooner."
The voice of the Vampiric Dragon Lord echoed directly in their minds.
The Brightness Dragon Lord hesitated for a moment, then let out a deep sigh.
He glanced toward Heavenly Dragon Lord beside him and gave a small nod. Immediately afterward, he accelerated the ritual without hesitation.
The moment he had chosen to submit, there had already been no way back.
Now the only path left was to walk it to the end.
As time passed, the ritual progressed steadily.
More and more light particles drifted out of the Elder Coffin Dragon Lord's body, and his once violent struggle grew weaker and weaker.
His consciousness was being torn apart.
His existence was being stripped away.
Until at last, it completely dissolved into the world.
At the same time, Momonga's aura grew stronger and stronger.
Flesh and blood began growing continuously, filling every gap in the skeleton and reshaping it into a complete humanoid body.
His skin was deathly pale, carrying a strange contradiction that felt both alive and dead at the same time.
His eyes grew deep and vibrant, as though they could see through everything in the world.
***
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