Chapter 409 The Egg



POV Vesuvius:

From within the chaotic storm of energy and darkness, the dragon watched the pillar of power rising from the tiny figure with his heterochromatic eyes and worry in his heart.

"Ahhhh!" The energy intensified even more, with lightning, fire, and magma flying everywhere. The ground quaked, and the air stirred.

The golden energy streamed out of her eyes and mouth while her body shook as her cells constantly exploded within the energy streams as they couldn't handle the immense amounts of energy.

'No, I must help.' Vesuvius could no longer just watch how his loyal minion suffered.

His long horns flashed as his mind outstretched towards her, reaching and carefully slowing down the spinning energy pillar. He slowly guided it and evenly spread it through her body.

The energy calmed down, and the elve's body stopped shaking, only the beams of golden light still blasting out of agape mouth and eyes.

'Come on, you can make it.'

Her skin turned into cinders as her body kept slower but still dissolving within the unending sea of energy.

Even with his utmost care, the energy was simply too powerful.

'No. There is still one thing I can do.'

He wasn't just some regular dragon; he was a dragon lord, and with it came perks.

The dragon's domain spun with his affinity over life, reaching toward every single cell within her body. The new wave of vitality surged through them, countering the energy her body couldn't absorb in time.

'It works... so this is what it means to have power over life.' Until now, he overlooked his life affinity, and now he felt regret, 'What are even its limit?'

The energy slowly calmed down as her constantly regenerating cells absorbed it into themself, changing their structure at the most fundamental level.

However, the dragon's eyes spotted something else that almost made him lose his composure. The golden energy was vanishing too fast. It was as if something was sucking it in.

'Is it soul?' That was the only explanation that came to his mind, and his instincts told him he was right.

'So me divine blood no longer transforms just body, but also souls.'

Finally, the golden pillar subsided, revealing the naked, reborn form of the elven girl lying on the hard volcanic stone.

'No, comes the second part. You have ascended, but there is still something more I can give you.'

The dragon flinched in pain as his mind moved on instinct.

A small piece of his soul separated and floated like a dry leaf through the air. It had no color, no shape, or even weight. It just existed.

A wave of sudden nausea made his head spin. He felt incomplete as if something was missing. His thought clouded and became murky.

It was his limit, and he felt like separating even a single small piece could be fatal, 'How long till my soul regenerates and I can spawn a new dragon?'

This was the reason why the population of true dragons was always small. Creating offspring wasn't a pleasurable act like it was for humans. It was the exact opposite.

On top of that, even if they wanted, their soul always needed time to regenerate if they didn't want to end up weakened or crippled.

Vesuvius ground his teeth as he carefully guided the soul toward the still-unconscious elf.

'Now I should form the egg from elements around the soul...' It was what his instincts screamed at him to do. It was something encoded within every single dragon.

Yet, he ignored and went against them, his eyes brightly shining as he pushed the shard of his soul straight into the elf's heart.

With a single thought, all the fire, the streams of magma, air, and even the lightning from the sky all surged toward her. The elements kept burning and surging around, with sparks flying everywhere as they slowly took on the shape of an egg.

The next moment they hardened and formed a colorful egg that dimly shone.

'Weird, I expected something more explosive.' The dragon closed his eyes as his tired consciousness slowly drifted into sleep. There was nothing he could do, only hope while waiting for the egg to hatch.

POV ?:

Sounds of scratching came from the darkness.

Two young people, one man, and one woman, stood under the torch's light held by the man.

The dull, grey stone walls of the catacombs claustrophobically loomed all around them.

They both stared with wide eyes at a large array of crooked lines and runes engraved into the floor.

"This is madness! How many resources were spent on this useless teleportation array under our castle!" The man shouted at his full lungs with saliva flying out.

Contrary to him, the girl worriedly looked deeper into the dark, unlit chamber, "What are you doing, patriarch?"

"Do not bother me! I have work to do..." A figure of an old man walked out of the darkness staring straight at them, his eyes faintly glowing in the darkness. His long, uncut fingernails looked more like claws as he waved his hand at them threateningly.

His unkempt white hair, his dirty rich robe, and his wrinkly face spoke for themself.

"I am telling you, sister, grandfather went insane since he got that ring. It must be cursed. Give it to me!" The man dashed into the darkness that retreated under the light of his torch.

His sister could only gasp in surprise.

"Haha, this is my ring! My precious!" The old man moved with speed beyond human as his feebly-looking arm grabbed the young, strong-looking man under his neck.

His feet dangled as the old man raised him higher and higher into the air. His hands flailed around with his fists hitting their grandfather but in no vain.

"No, let him go!" The high-pitched scream echoed between the walls of the underground catacomb.

Her brother landed on his ass with a thud, panting heavily, and his face still pale. "Get out! I must finish my task! You will thank me in the future once a new era comes. I am securing our place there!"

'Yup, grandfather really went insane... and also grew weirdly strong.'