Endless Evolution: Last Star

Chapter 1883: One Artifact in Memory of the Tragedy of Many

“No… What is this…? How can this be?!”

Kae’ra cried out in panic as the pillars pierced the dragons, members of her clan, her friends, and her comrades, one after another.

As soon as the cauldron and the four devils appeared, a true nightmare began for all the frost dragons.

The pillars, with tips as sharp as stakes, came crashing down from above, and no one could escape them.

The guards and the great warriors of their clan were powerless against the hungry devils, who would surely satisfy their hunger very soon.

But the most terrifying thing wasn’t even that.

Gulp.

Kae’ra gulped as her eyes widened in fear. She realized one thing.

The dragons were still alive. They were trying to free themselves from the pillars piercing them, but all their attempts were in vain.

“GRHA!!!!”

One of the dragons let out a painful growl, gathering energy in its wings. It was about to shatter the pillar with a single flap.

But…

Slash!

As soon as the devils noticed this, two great knives soared through the air, severing the dragon’s wings in the next instant.

Kae’ra’s eyes darted from side to side until she spotted her father, who was one of the last ones not yet struck by the pillars.

Laerdor flew through the darkness, dodging the pillars that continued to crash down on him from above. He was faster and stronger than everyone else, but that was barely enough.

“Should I help my father… or… should I help the others? Maybe I can free one of them?”

That thought took Kae’ra just a second, but it was enough for Gladius to appear to her right without her noticing.

Her eyes widened in disbelief.

“When did he…?”

Tap.

Gladius touched her great dragon’s body as his energy surged through Kae’ra in waves.

He forced her back into her human form, and soon Kae’ra was standing right in front of Gladius.

All her instincts screamed that she should run, but the rage inside her was too strong to let her do so.

“You! Bastard! You have no right to do this! You’ll regret this!” Kae’ra exclaimed furiously, bringing her fist down hard on Gladius.

Before she realized it, his aura pinned her to the ground, preventing her from rising above knee level.

“Look.” Gladius’s calm voice rang out as he pointed at Laerdor, who was dodging the pillars. “Whether it’s a dragon or an ant, nothing can escape my feast once you’ve made it this far. At the very least, all of you are too weak even to try.”

Gladius’s halberd trembled as the dark vortex appeared right in front of Laerdor.

With a single frost blast, Laerdor destroyed the vortex, but the time he lost was enough for the devils to catch him finally.

Thrust!

One pillar after another pierced Laerdor’s body until all seven pillars were covered in his blood.

Kae’ra’s face turned pale with horror, but she didn’t know that this was only the beginning.

“You know, Kae’ra, you were right after all,” Gladius said, continuing to stare ahead.

“What are you talking about…?” Her voice trembled.

“You shouldn’t have accepted the terms of the Befallen Crown. You should have remained neutral – a proud clan of dragons.”

Kae’ra bit her lip.

“That doesn’t matter! My father did the right thing!”

“No.”

Gladius glanced at her as all the pillars trembled, guiding the frost dragons toward the boiling cauldron.

“There was no right choice here.”

“W-What? But you said I was right!” Kae’ra exclaimed.

Gladius nodded.

“Yes. But your decision was impossible to carry out. You know why?”

He leaned in as his blue eyes completely engulfed her.

“Because you, your father, and your entire clan of overgrown frost lizards are too weak to remain neutral.”

Thump!

Her heart clenched with pain.

“If you were a True Lord, you could have refused the Befallen Crown without consequences. Then you wouldn’t have killed the Phantoms, and Queen Elisa wouldn’t have had to send me here.”

Gladius took a step back as his gaze turned toward the cauldron.

“The only thing you’re guilty of is being too weak.”

Kae’ra’s lips trembled in despair as Gladius waved his hand.

More than a dozen frost dragons were plunged into the cauldron as the purple flame engulfed the entire space.

In the next moment, the darkness vanished as Kae’ra returned to the frost-covered lands, but… before her lay a sight too gruesome even for her nightmares.

The proud dragons had turned into handfuls of ash and charred skeletons that would eventually be scattered by the wind, strewn across the ground, and lost beneath a thick layer of snow.

“F-Father…” Kae’ra whispered hoarsely as she reached out her hand.

Without a word, Gladius headed toward one of the towers. The snow crunched beneath his feet.

Slash.

Gladius swung his halberd, cutting through nothing but the air before him.

Thump.

Kae’ra’s head fell to the ground. Her eyes were wide open as she hadn’t had time to realize what had happened.

On his way deeper into the towers, Gladius didn’t say a word, but Xyrea was with him every step of the way, as was Adam.

After a while, something broke the silence as Gladius reached the lower level of the Frost Dragons Clan’s base.

“Here we are…” Gladius muttered, looking at the spacious cave that opened up before him.

The giant skeleton of a dragon lay against the wall. Its wings were spread wide, and its head was tilted forward thanks to its long neck.

Between the dragon’s paws lay a blue orb filled with frost energy, as dense streams of energy flowed downward, spreading across the ground.

Each flow moved toward the crystals scattered throughout the cave.

Inside each crystal was a body, a young one, yet already possessing a powerful aura. These bodies were covered in scales and had horns growing from their foreheads.

Adam narrowed his eyes.

“I see. So this is the next generation of the Frost Dragons?”

Then, he looked at the frost orb. His gaze darkened as he realized what Gladius was about to do.

“So this is how the Spirit of Eternal Winter will appear… Gladius didn’t come here just to kill the entire dragon clan. He came to end their entire lineage and any chance they might have of returning to their former glory…”

For a moment, his gaze was filled with sadness.

“That’s exactly what the coldness of this Legacy Artifact reflects, isn’t it?”