Chapter 914: The Dragon and the God

Inside the medical center under the Talrond Council’s jurisdiction.

Melita lay obediently on the circular platform, some medical machines humming softly nearby. Several scanning probes slowly swept over her torso from above, while she squinted slightly, letting the Omega-controlled devices busily work around her.

“This is the final check,” Noretta’s voice came from beside her, a hint of relief in her tone. “Once this is done, you can leave this place.”

“Honestly, I’m not in a rush to leave anymore…” Melita’s lazy voice echoed from the platform. “You know, now that I’ve learned the Council is footing the bill for all this, I’m almost tempted to pitch a tent here…”

Noretta shot her friend a disdainful look. “Go ahead and try—I guarantee the medical team here will keep you lying down for a century. By then, you won’t be able to leave even if you want to.”

As she spoke, the last group of medical machines around the platform suddenly emitted a low, synchronized hum. All the scanning probes retracted into their slots above the platform, and the room filled with Omega’s announcement: the medical examination was complete. Melita immediately shook her head, climbing up while muttering, “Forget it—I’m not about to be taken apart piece by piece and then diagnosed with minor medical damage…”

Before she finished, a shimmering light curtain enveloped her entire body. As the light pulsed and rippled, the massive blue dragon form gradually faded away, replaced by a human figure taking shape within. In moments, Miss Blue Dragon had shifted back into her usual human form. She flexed her joints lightly, confirming her balance, then stepped toward the edge of the platform.

Noretta approached. “How do you feel? Any better?”

“Basically recovered—there’s still some lingering weakness and awkwardness, but once the parts inside me finish adapting to each other, I’ll be fine,” Melita said, exhaling softly. “Sigh… my biggest regret now is listening to you and swapping in that third auxiliary heart. It barely lasted before breaking down. Turns out those glowing rings don’t do anything at all…”

“Don’t say that. I looked over your report—it’s at least the last one that blew out,” Noretta smiled faintly. “The rings’ effect is closely tied to your mental focus. You have to believe in that first…”

Melita cut her off with a wave. “Stop, stop. I don’t want to hear your sales pitch about light effects equaling performance anymore—and besides, I have something important to do.”

“Something important…” Noretta’s playful mood vanished at her friend’s words. Her brow furrowed, and her steps slowed. “You… you’re going to see our god now?”

Melita smiled. “He said I could come find Him anytime after I returned… It’s quite an honor.”

“Yes… an honor,” Noretta repeated softly, her expression complicated. Then she looked her friend in the eyes. “You still haven’t said why you want to see the god on your own, or what you’ve been through. What exactly happened? Can’t you tell me?”

“Maybe I could, but not yet,” Melita met her gaze. After a two-second pause, she shook her head gently. “Some things I have to wait until I get answers from the god before I can say. But don’t worry—I’m fine. At least, for now.”

Without giving Noretta a chance to press further, she turned and strode toward the room’s exit, leaving behind only one sentence: “I’m heading to the Upper Sanctuary. When I get back, dinner’s on me.”

…

At the upper district of Mount Argondor stood a unique architectural marvel between towering walls and spires. Covered in resplendent gold, it boasted a solemn, heavy dome and walls adorned with intricate reliefs. A sacred, lofty aura seemed to eternally hover above the dome, while unceasing hymns and chants wove through the air, as if the music itself had become one with the atmosphere.

This was the Dragon God’s sanctuary, a vital institution present in every city of Talrond. Every dragon knew it well—in Talrond society, religious practice was as integral as implants and enhancers. Whether they liked it or not, these three things accompanied dragons from the moment they hatched for their entire lives.

Thanks to the weather regulators, clouds gathered just so around the sanctuary’s base. Melita ascended the sanctuary’s ramp, passing through the mist to stand before the magnificent golden dome. The doors were already open for her; no announcement was needed. She walked in confidently.

Inside, the vast and solemn sanctuary was bathed in an untraceable light that illuminated the grand structure. The circular hall was empty except for a raised platform at its center. Eight balconies extended outward from the hall in all directions, each overlooking the sea of clouds. At every balcony’s entrance hung a twilight-hued light curtain, behind which countless eyes seemed to watch. The moment Melita stepped inside, she felt their faint, almost imperceptible gaze.

She ignored the sensation and approached the platform, bowing respectfully. “My Lord, I have come.”

Before she finished, a majestic, divine presence suddenly manifested. A beautiful woman with flowing golden hair and regal bearing appeared on the platform, quietly looking down at Melita.

“Melita, lift your head,” the Dragon God Enya said softly. “Today is not a day of worship. You may relax.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Melita finally raised her head, daring to meet the god’s gaze. The flawless face held a trace of warmth, which eased her nerves slightly. “I… I have some questions for you…”

“I know,” the woman on the platform replied. “You want to ask about what happened six hundred years ago—the mortal you brought to Monitoring Tower One, his fate, and your lost memories.”

“Yes… yes,” Melita nodded quickly. “Did I really… really bring a mortal to Tower One six centuries ago? Was I… contaminated then?”

“Yes. You were polluted—perhaps from a stray flight off course, or maybe the tower’s secretive countermeasures. In any case, the ‘Inverse Tide’ affected your mind, causing you to forget the taboo and bring a mortal there. Fortunately, the contamination hadn’t reached an irreversible stage, and the mortal’s contact with the tower was brief. Everything could be undone—but only with my direct intervention.”

“So you erased my memories from those days?” Melita’s eyes widened. “You did it to… cleanse the contamination?”

“Did it trouble you?” the Dragon God asked calmly.

“No… of course not. I’m grateful. You… saved me,” Melita bowed her head again, her voice tinged with complexity. “I almost caused a disaster back then…”

The god neither confirmed nor denied, offering no criticism or response. After a brief silence, she casually asked, “So, you only came to confirm these things? No other questions?”

“Is there really no way to destroy that tower or the ‘Inverse Tide’ inside it?” Melita hesitated several times before finally daring to ask. “Even with your power, it can’t be destroyed?”

“The power of gods is ineffective against that tower, and the power of dragons is ineffective against gods. You know this, Melita. Since the day the ‘Inverse Tide’ was born, Talrond has been unable to destroy that tower or what lies within. Since the fall of the Inverse Tide Empire, no civilization on this planet has grown strong enough to destroy the legacy left by the Voyagers,” the Dragon God explained patiently, as if answering her subject’s questions was her innate duty. “Perhaps only the Voyagers themselves could do it—but they may never return.”

“Voyagers…” Melita repeated the word instinctively, shaking her head helplessly.

She said she had no more questions.

“If that’s all, then go,” the god said calmly from the platform. “Rest well. When you’ve fully recovered, I have a task for you.”

“You… have a task for me?” Melita looked up, surprised. “What kind of task?”

Then she heard the god’s voice from above: “Invite that mortal named Gawain Cecil to visit Talrond again—details will wait until you’re fully restored.”

Surprise and confusion flickered across Melita’s face. Just as she opened her mouth to ask more, the light around her shifted. When her vision cleared, she found herself back in her lair near the mountainside. Clearly, the god had no more answers for her.

…

In the sanctuary, the Dragon God Enya still stood quietly on the platform. Beside her, a figure in high priest robes gradually materialized from the air.

Dragon Priest Helagor saluted his deity and asked cautiously, “You intend to invite that human who once refused you again?”

“Do you doubt it?”

“No, of course not. It’s just… do you think he will refuse again?”

“If he’s truly curious about certain things, he will come,” the Dragon God said indifferently. Her gaze passed beyond the empty hall, beyond the balcony overlooking the clouds, beyond the distant horizon. It was as if she could see through everything. A faint smile curved her lips. “This world… seems destined for some upheaval.”

“Upheaval…” Helagor repeated the word instinctively. As a dragon priest who had witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations on this planet many times, he deeply understood what a god’s mention of “upheaval” truly meant.

It seemed a certain god had reached a “tipping point.”

…

After being returned to her lair, Melita didn’t stay home long. She soon set out for the Council headquarters and secured an audience with the High Speaker, Andar.

Once she confirmed her current condition was stable and that the god had indeed cleansed her contamination, she finally dared to reveal some of what she knew.

On the circular dais surrounded by numerous mechanical devices, pipes, and cables, the aged yet dignified dragon Andar listened intently to Melita’s report. The terrifying event buried in history made even this experienced elder raise an eyebrow. “…I never imagined something like this happened six hundred years ago. If not for the god’s direct protection, you’d probably be a skeleton sunk in the waters around Monitoring Tower One by now.”

“I still feel a chill down my spine,” Melita admitted honestly. “It’s not the contamination by the Inverse Tide I fear, but how quietly it all happened. Even today, I only just learned I once teetered on the edge of the abyss.”

“The ‘Countercurrent’ has never ceased its attempts to seep outward… Though ‘It’ lacks reason, it possesses an instinct to break through any blockade,” Chairman Andal’s aged voice echoed through the circular hall. “Being under the protection of a god is your fortune—after all, ‘He’ is meant to safeguard every dragon.”

“But I never expected ‘He’ to intervene on behalf of that adventurer named Modir…” Melita frowned in puzzlement. “At the time, I didn’t dare press further—why would ‘He’ protect a mortal outside of our kind?”

For a long moment, Chairman Andal fell silent. His mechanical eye twitched almost unconsciously, the faint glow of its crimson sensor flickering with subtle light.

Only after several minutes—the old dragon who had witnessed the entire history of the dragonkind since the ‘Rebellion’s Failure’—did he finally sigh.

“Perhaps… even now, our Lord still holds hope for the mortal races of this world.”

“Hope?” The young Melita looked at Chairman Andal, confused by his words.

Andal shook his head, offering no answer.

Some truths—even dragons who know them well—cannot be spoken aloud to their kin.

Faith is a lock, with mortals on one side and gods on the other.

A single failed struggle tightened that chain abruptly, sealing off all possibilities. So much so that even those who understand the truth cannot voice it, and must rely on tacit understanding and quiet confirmation—

The gods have always hoped that some mortal civilization might rise, grow immensely powerful, grow arrogantly so.

And then… aid the dragons in completing the rebellion plan that failed millions of years ago.

Now, it all depends on how this current age of mortal civilizations will unfold.

(End of chapter)