Ascension of the Nephilim

Chapter 161: Dragon Stronghold

The statement of Hemsey connected a lot of dots for Martha.

The entire passageway had a thick sulfuric stench permeating around it. This was why it was difficult for orcs with their tremendous sense of smell to find this passage and was the perfect hiding spot for the slaves.

But although Airom Logat was known to be a volcanic region, the specific place where they have had no heat or any possible sources becomes the source of the stench.

"It might be calling out because it wants to absorb something!" Martha concluded.

"So there is something in this passageway that could be related to his race?"

"A dragon corpse." Martha guessed.

"A dragon corpse! If my former masters were here, they'd rejoice!" The old woman reacted.

"We have to find it. This dragon has Lord Kyros's blood. It may have gained certain properties that made it unique. Let's look for the source. I'll send Lord Kyros a message." Martha decided.

"How do we find it?" Hems asked.

"I guess we'll have to listen to it. We may have to play a game of hot and cold."

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"But what if the corpse is buried deep inside the ground? Or what if it's behind these walls?"

Suddenly, a green Golem emerged.

Martha had summoned Mardock.

"We have this Golem. Mardock. Can you use your powers to dig?"

"... Yes." Mardock replied with a pained expression. He was a powerful Jewel Golem, and now, he was only used to dig.

"It might be a little slow, but I should be capable. But be sure to tell your Lord to refill my energy. He hasn't been able to refuel my desolation after all." Mardock frowned.

"I'm sure that the Temple these three talked about can do it." Martha laughed.

"Where do I mine?"

"We'll have to ask the Dragon Egg." Martha held the egg out and began to walk with the dragon egg held up in front.

Meanwhile...

"Kyros?!" The Steele brothers suddenly exclaimed as the door to the Temple was opened.

"Hi, dad... Uncle. And erm... Lizard." Kyros greeted.

"Before we talk... can you guys bring me to the Temple? I'm exhausted." Kyros laughed.

The Lizard Champion hastily picked up Kyros at the orders of Branze and Aron. The pair of wings had already vanished as Kyros sent it to the Temple Storage Space.

The group moved towards the Temple, and the Temple's power suddenly began to heal Kyros.

The sudden light shocked the Lizard, and he was even more surprised to see the three healed of all their wounds.

"What happened?" Branze immediately asked.

"I met the Blood Calamity. She is very strong. A little too strong, to be honest. I had no choice but to escape." Kyros sighed.

"A trap of Destiny?" Branze frowned.

"No. But this Blood Calamity is someone that Destiny sent. What happened to you, anyway?"

"We didn't have the time to explain. But we met a god. Hyperion Steel."

"You met him?! And here I thought I was the only one." Kyros laughed.

"You met him too? Are you...? His descendant?"

"Oh. He revealed the Steel family's lineage, huh? I am not his descendant. But you could say our Fate is pretty much tied up with each other. It looks like we have a lot of catching up to do." Kyros smiled.

It was then he noticed the messages being sent by Martha.

He read it and was intrigued.

"Oh?"

"What happened?"

"It's your wife. She just sent me an interesting message. We have developed an ability where we can send messages to one another at great distances." Kyros explained.

Aron blushed.

"WHAT?! You can communicate at great distances without a message talisman?! Teach me!" Branze, on the other hand, shouted with passion.

"Brother. Focus!" Aron chastised as Kyros began to instruct Martha on what to do. The chat room became rather active at Martha's explanation as even Avary, and the group began to chat.

"Father, Uncle. Do you know of the story of Aaron's past? Is it true that Dragons used to stay here?"

"We aren't from this region, so we don't know about the history of Airom's past."

"I see. Give me a sec. Something interesting just happened." Kyros continued to close his eyes to reply.

"Calaminus. Is this true? The only history that I know of this place was that it was said that a God from the Highlands came and slashed this mountain region because of Nether beast taking residence here. Or at least, that is what I was taught." Kyros then asked.

"I'm not certain. If I was a Time God, I could look through time and confirm it. But there is something weird with the history that was passed on to you. While I can't be certain, I do know that the Planes World hasn't given birth to a God in the past millennia. I didn't bother correcting you when you mentioned that a while back. But now that it's relevant, God that allegedly came down to attack Airom can't have been someone from the Planes World. But it makes sense. One of the beings that the Gods and Fallen couldn't put a limitation on were the Dragon race!"

"The dragons? Dragons are known for their amazing resistance towards magic. Could it be?"

"Yes. There are several beings that even the many seals of the collaboration of gods and fallen could not completely seal. Dragons are among these beings. And so, instead of sealing them, the gods and fallen would either kill or recruit them. If the dragons settled here, I'm guessing that the gods must have arrived and killed them as they might have already allied with the fallen. Other than that, I don't see any reason why a god that isn't even from this Plane to interfere and kill the beasts that resided here."

"Hmm... This should be an interesting turn of events." Kyros smiled.

"Father, Uncle. A lot of things need to be discussed. But how fairs the Challenge of the Lizard Lords?"

"We were talking about that just now," Branze answered.

"Just now? I received some power where I can hear any discussion happening in and around the Temple. You guys were talking about Proper Nouns and whatnot."

"... Ignore what you heard. Anyway, there has been a new development. As you know, there are teleportation areas that lead from different worlds and go to this Temple. Originally, only creatures that equal Captain level could move into this place. The distortion of time travel becomes stronger, than most Champions don't survive the storm. Of course, there are exceptions. This Lizard Champion... Hey, Lizard. Change your name." Branze suddenly ordered.

"Change my name?"

"Yes. It feels weird to call you Lizard."

"What do you suggest? We don't care about names. Just call me what you like."

"Newt." Kyros suggested as he spoke in First Word.

"That's racist! And offensive! Although we don't care about names, don't call us something that is beneath our race." The Lizard frowned.

"Er... Sorry. How about... Gojirrah?" Kyros suggested once more.

"Gojirrah..." The Lizard Champion thought.

"Yes. It means a mighty lizard in a certain language. But remember, double 'R,' and it ends with the letter 'H'! Copyright lawsuit evaded!" Kyros suddenly realized what he said and shook his head.

"That sounds acceptable." Gojirrah nodded.

"Alright. Now that that's settled. Gojirrah here is a sacrificial soldier. Since this Mountain is full of different races that rage and kill each other, even warriors as strong as Gojirrah can only serve the ranks of lizards despite being a known enemy in his kingdom."

"Yes. This is my prison. This could also be my death. My kingdom has found a means to send back some of the naturally growing resources in this place. This entire underground world has a strange composition. There are ores and objects here that feed and grow. And those ores are very important within the lizard. Every five years, portals are opened from our homeworld that leads here. And when that portal is open, some of our people can go back and bring the resource gathered here. But what these resources are, and how these ores are used, we don't know. Only Commanders are given knowledge as to what ores they can find in this place."

"I know." Kyros suddenly answered.

"This entire mountain used to be a Dragon's nest. I think it's even more accurate to say that this place is a stronghold of dragons." Kyros explained.

"Dragons? Impossible. Dragons are extinct."

"They are? Maybe in your world. In the Planes World, there are still some dragons living and hiding. But this very mountain didn't just have one or two. It had a lot. So much so that it threatened the gods. The abundance of dragons in this mountain region is so much that I already found an egg."

"A Dragon egg?!"