My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 926 - 927: World Became His Home

Among all dragons, Ashergon held the title of the most notorious. None rivaled its brutal dominance. From its hidden den, it soared over the lands, unleashing chaos on any spot that caught its fancy.

Urban centers, grand establishments... nowhere offered real protection.

Dragons commanded tremendous might, a force captured in countless stories. The highest dream for every knight was to fell one... right up until they laid eyes on the beast itself.

Whatever notions of dragons stemmed from myths turned out, in truth, to be far more terrifying by orders of magnitude.

Blazing fires and choking soot. Carnage and gore. A nightmare that loomed larger than any peak.

Inside the cramped command tent, Seras laid out her scheme and tactics to the group, skipping over the still-out Damon.

After lingering a bit more, with him showing no signs of stirring, she figured it wiser to haul him in his current state.

Faces drained of color marked those who'd witnessed a dragon firsthand. Spotting the fatal quest ahead, this let her separate the innocents from the rest. The dragon-uninitiated appeared downright thrilled.

She shut her eyes for a moment.

How tragic... this could mark their last blunder.

Numerous beasts resembled dragons, sharing traces of their lineage.

Wyverns existed—formidable, yet no match for a disciplined force. Drakes lurked—perilous, but manageable for a squad of skilled, geared-up explorers. Typically, a full assault team sufficed, though still drawn from adventurer ranks.

Wyrms, amphitheres, and various offshoots filled out the list too.

No... nothing stacked up against the four-limbed, winged forms in their varied guises.

A true dragon.

Seras allowed the team prep time, ending up solo with Renata.

"So, why haven't you gone yet..." Seras queried deliberately, her eyes flicking over.

Renata denied it with a shake, her purple locks shining faintly under the tent's low glow.

"I hoped to chat. If that's okay..."

Seras eased into a chair, reclining with measured poise.

"Of course. Speak freely... what's on your mind?" Her words carried a touch of stiffness, unlike her chats with Damon.

Renata dipped her head in respect, unwilling to offend a true legend.

"How did you pinpoint that spot as a dragon's haunt..." The query made sense; scouts had just sketched the site and facts. Seras alone had made the call.

Seras offered a subtle grin, denying it with a gradual head shake.

"Call it intuition... though clues exist if you're familiar... " She swept her strands aside, arching her spine as she continued.

"The key hint was the eerie quiet in that woodland patch, yet teeming with some vitality. The Evil Forest held back from invading much..." Her look grew somber.

"Which has me concerned we could meet a dreadful dragon breed..."

Renata's spirits dropped. A drop of perspiration nearly traced her brow.

"Do... you mean something like Ashergon..." she probed gently.

Seras halted, propping her chin thoughtfully.

"Like Ashergon... nothing matches Ashergon. Sure, some near it. But that's my take... who can say if worse ones lurk..."

Renata drew in a steadying breath, dismissing the idea with a faint head shake.

"You recall other dragons... ancient ones." She itched to name a few but dreaded alerting the nearby beast to its title.

"You speak like Ashergon's a fledgling. It's ancient, stirring since the Path of Kings' dawn..." Seras' stare fixed on Renata, probing silently.

"Ever heard the tale linking Ashergon and Ashcroft? It's intriguing."

Renata squirmed, sensing one slip could reveal her demonic side.

"Dragons brim with pride. They earn it fully..." she started, her tone hushed, as if wary of rousing the legend.

"Long ago, in the Second Epoch, Ashcroft the Dominator hunted a steed. He scoured the globe, through realms and wrecks, but deemed none fit to carry his shade..."

She broke off, her eyes wandering like specters patrolled the canvas.

"Word reached him of a dragon ruling the Everlasting Peaks on the Demon Continent as its seat. A beast whose span blotted out towns, whose teeth outstripped lances. Its roar boomed like storms, and even giants knelt... but it knelt for none."

This version she recalled came via whispers and ballads. Fact or flourish, she couldn't judge.

"Thus Ashcroft trekked to the Everlasting Peaks, battling gales and hush until he scaled the icy top where humans grazed the divine. The vault overhead stretched pitch-dark, dotted with icy lights... and amid that desolate crest, Ashergon dwelled."

The Everlasting Peak towered as the Demon Continent's—and world's—supreme height. Ruthless, merciless. She'd never beheld it, but picturing it evoked a yawning void.

"Gaining it was feat enough," she murmured. "Defying its slumbering lord... pure folly."

"At the site, Ashcroft faced the dragon and commanded submission. He issued it not as a beggar, but a sovereign. Serve as my ride, he declared. Bear my decree through the clouds."

Seras absorbed it wordlessly, the fire's pops bridging Renata's pauses.

"Ashergon replied..."

Renata's pitch dipped, echoing from afar.

'I kneel to no deity, nor some demon. I won't grovel or serve as a weapon. Die... or turn to cinders.'

"The skies quaked at that defiance."

Legends claimed their clash spanned just one evening. An evening etched forever in annals.

"Smoke and blaze consumed the night. The dragon's fire thawed the peak's icy helm, and the Everlasting Peaks bellowed like fresh eruptions. Molten streams plunged to the depths, twisting peace into devastation."

She gulped quietly prior to going on.

"Ultimately, Ashcroft failed to shatter the dragon's resolve. Ashergon unfurled its enormous sails and fled the Demon Continent in rage, bearing the sting of shame... and the trace of its challenger."

Renata's digits clenched a touch as she wrapped it up.

"Yet Ashcroft didn't leave bare-handed. He claimed triumph his style from the heights. In his hold gleamed flakes ripped from Ashergon's hide, plus a flask brimming with draconic essence."

She halted, her whisper faint.

"And buried deeper, he bore the invisible. A draconic toxin, planted in his core."

"Post Ashcroft's fall, Ashergon shunned the Everlasting Peaks forever. The range endured... bereft of its ruler."

Her eyes rose unhurriedly.

"Thus the realm turned into its domain."

Seras' focus stayed on the blaze, flickers mirroring in her irises.

"From Damon's intel, Ashergon now roosts beyond the Duhu Mountains. Fingers crossed it hasn't shifted to the Evil Forest..."

Renata agreed with a slow nod.

"Indeed... and why I lingered... if Damon rouses, could you withhold that a dragon might await us. He's just—"

"Acting overly cautious these days." Seras interrupted.

"Exactly." Renata answered gently.

Seras curved her lips in a light smile.

"Wise choice... time to brief the rest..."