Chapter 312: Heart
Among the Five-Colored Dragons, the Destruction Black Dragon clan has left the most legends in the Northend World. Whether it’s the evil dragon that kidnaps princesses or the one toppled by heroes, that dragon in every story is always lurking beneath volcanoes where magma flows, always breathing fire laced with the pungent scent of sulfur. Most importantly, it is always a Destruction Black Dragon...
Yes, the Destruction Black Dragon clan is just that notorious in the Northend World...
Even though the pureblood Destruction Black Dragons retreated to unknown planes long ago, after Emperor Charles shattered the Throne of All Things, the ones left in the Northend World are at best some impure-blooded descendants. Yet the reputation of the Destruction Dragon is deeply rooted in the hearts of everyone in Northend.
It’s easy to imagine how shocked Leon was when he truly sensed the aura of a Destruction Black Dragon...
That’s a Destruction Black Dragon—one of the legendary Five-Colored Dragons. Once it matures, its power reaches the Heavenly Tier, and in the Northend World, there are few who could stand against it!
“A Destruction Black Dragon actually fell here...” Leon stared at the empty temple, momentarily lost for words.
In fact, ever since he confirmed this temple came from the Nesser Dynasty, Leon had already begun to suspect something, but the truth was so terrifying that he hadn’t dared to accept it until now.
The Nesser Dynasty rarely built temples—this was completely different from the Third Dynasty...
Most members of the Third Dynasty’s royal family worshipped the Hyber Dragon God. As the first primordial dragon born at the dawn of the world, the Hyber Dragon God loved wealth and ritual; the grander the treasure and the more lavish the ceremony, the greater the god’s delight. So, during the Third Dynasty, Hyber Dragon God temples were everywhere—most of them hiding astonishing treasures. After the dynasty’s fall, countless tales of overnight riches sprang from these temples.
But the Nesser Dynasty was different...
The Nesser Dynasty was an empire of elves and dragons...
Although elves and dragons had their own gods, they never worshipped blindly. Back then, you’d hardly see any temples to deities in the Northend World; every sanctuary built by elves and dragons during the Nesser Dynasty was meant to honor a fallen companion.
And only those who had made great contributions—even changed the course of an era—would be so honored.
You could say that behind every temple of the Nesser Dynasty, there’s a story worthy of an epic.
Back then, Leon had read the famous 'Elegy of Elves and Dragons' in that vast, decaying library. The book recorded the deeds of those elves and dragons whose fall granted them entry to a sanctuary—true legends, every one of them impossibly powerful. Their names are still sung thousands of millennia later, and even the places where they died have become sacred ground.
Now, a Nesser Dynasty temple stands here, and inside, the aura of a Destruction Black Dragon lingers...
Which means that a Destruction Dragon once fell at this very spot...
“Looks like I still underestimated the Merlin Family...” Leon stood in the empty temple, took a deep breath, and started walking toward the altar at its center.
The altar was over ten meters tall, built from some unknown stone. As Leon climbed the steps, he felt the heat beneath his feet, as if walking on flames. At the top was a platform a few meters wide, and in its center, a blaze burned fiercely...
"What is that..." Leon was nearly stunned the moment he saw the blaze.
It was a dragon’s heart...
To be precise, it was the heart of a Destruction Black Dragon.
The Destruction Black Dragon’s aura Leon sensed earlier came from this burning heart...
Wait a second...
Just as Leon was reeling in shock, a strange sound suddenly echoed in his ears.
"Thump, thump, thump..."
Hearing the powerful beats, Leon’s face went pale—the heart of the Destruction Black Dragon was alive!
Yes, it was still beating. The "thump, thump" echoed through the silent temple, disturbingly real and eerie.
"No way..." Leon rubbed his eyes hard, trying to see more clearly...
That’s right—the heart of the Destruction Black Dragon was truly beating, never ceasing for a moment. Through the fiercely burning flames, Leon could see it clearly: a heart as translucent as a black diamond, pulsing steadily and powerfully within the fire...
Could it be that the key to merging the Magitek Arrays lies within this Destruction Black Dragon’s heart? Leon pondered, and the possibility seemed increasingly likely.
To merge the Magitek Arrays into one, you could either spend an enormous amount of time, exercising endless patience and determination to slowly fuse each array, or you could harness an overwhelming force to forcibly combine them all at once.
And this Destruction Black Dragon’s heart was the very embodiment of overwhelming power...
At this moment, Leon finally felt he’d found a clue.
Yes, the Flame Sovereign of a thousand years later must have borrowed the power of this Destruction Black Dragon’s heart to finally unite the nine Magitek Arrays and step into the Magus realm in one fell swoop.
But...
Where did this power come from, exactly?
It certainly couldn’t have been extracted directly...
An adult Destruction Black Dragon is at least above the Heavenly Tier. To be enshrined in a temple after its fall, such a dragon would be a legend among pureblood elves and the Five-Colored Dragons—heroes whose names are sung in epic tales, perhaps even on par with the Golden Three-Headed Dragon...
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Even if all that remains now is a heart, the power contained within is absolutely not something I could extract directly...
In fact, Leon could clearly sense that the only reason he could stand here unscathed was because the altar’s power was suppressing the Destruction Black Dragon’s heart. Otherwise, not only would he be unable to stand here—he wouldn’t even be able to approach the temple without being crushed by the unimaginable aura of the Destruction Black Dragon.
Trying to extract its power directly would be nothing short of suicide.
"By the way, cousin..." At that thought, Leon suddenly called out to William Merlin from afar: "How much do you know about the Merlin Family’s Bloodline Rite?"
"Bloodline Rite?" William Merlin also felt the oppressive aura of the Destruction Black Dragon. Given his strength was nowhere near Leon’s, he could only hide far away, praying his cousin’s ritual would end soon.
When he heard Leon’s question, William Merlin was stunned for a moment before remembering that Leon’s grandfather had left the Merlin Family decades ago and apparently never intended to return. The Bloodline Rite had probably never been mentioned...
"Just drip a drop of blood on it..." William Merlin shouted from a distance, then worried Leon hadn’t heard him, gestured and repeated: "Drip blood, just a drop into the flames!"
"Drip blood?" Leon was a bit puzzled by the answer...
Why would it be blood?
Normally, rituals to purify bloodlines involve some kind of mysterious baptism, meant to condense the ancestor’s blood. But this—dripping blood onto the heart of a Destruction Black Dragon—felt more like a sacrifice...
Of course, Leon quickly tossed that doubt aside. After all, it was just his own perspective—the Northend World had countless mysterious rites, and he couldn’t possibly understand the principles behind every one. Maybe the Merlin Family’s Bloodline Rite was simply unique?
Besides, even if it is a sacrifice...
How much impact could a single drop of blood have?
With that thought, Leon didn’t hesitate. He released a Wind Blade, controlling it with Magus-level precision so it just grazed his left middle finger. A drop of blood welled up and, with a flick of his wrist, fell into the fiercely burning flames...
Next came a dragon’s roar that shook the heavens and earth...
"What’s happening?" Leon’s heart leapt—the roar was filled with endless fury and unwillingness...
But before Leon could figure out what was going on, the burning heart already manifested the phantom of a Destruction Black Dragon...
"This..." Leon’s face turned deathly pale. Even as a phantom, the Destruction Black Dragon possessed earth-shattering power. He was only a First Rank Magus now, and even if he became a Title Magus, he doubted he could ever resist such force.
Almost instinctively, Leon gripped his Spirit Staff tightly...
Yet, before Leon could even think of fighting back, the Destruction Black Dragon’s phantom lunged at him. Accompanied by a roar that shook the heavens, Leon’s vision went dark—he was swallowed by the shadow...
Under the suffocating pressure of the dragon’s might, Leon lost even the ability to think. He vaguely felt himself falling into a boundless world of darkness—an experience even more terrifying and bizarre than drifting in the Apocalypse Plane.
Back then, while drifting in the Apocalypse Plane, at least I could still control my body and mind...
But now, deep in this endless darkness, not only is my body immobilized—even my thoughts have become sluggish. Even the smallest reaction feels impossibly difficult in this moment.