Chapter 1700: Chapter 516: Return of the Dragon God_3

As if a forbidden flame curse had descended, the very void itself started to distort under the scorching heat.

Leonard Churchill watched with his own eyes as a Seventh Order Commander clad in Relic Level armor, once entwined by the firebird, was burned alive along with his armor into a pool of molten metal!

One by one, regardless of Seventh or Eighth Rank, whether in magic robes or armor, it was only a matter of how long they could hold out.

Eventually, they all turned into piles of ashes.

“Holy shit…”

Leonard Churchill and the rest of the onlookers couldn’t help but swallow hard at the sight.

If Elder Clinton hadn’t warned them just now, they might have continued to watch and met the same fate.

Indeed, the old man proved reliable at the crucial moment.

After this battle, even those like Bonnie, who were unaware of the elder’s prestigious identity, felt a newfound respect for him.

However, Elder Clinton’s highbrow aura didn’t last long; seeing the astonished looks from everyone, a smug expression that couldn’t be suppressed spread across his wrinkled old face.

…

After the Sun God Bird appeared, the sacrificial ritual proceeded smoothly.

The top-tier experts of the Holy Church who were previously relying on military formations and equipment to withstand the flames were successively burned to ashes.

The rays from the [Sun Disc] high in the sky were already bright enough, not only to dispel the darkness but as if they reached into the legendary Underworld itself.

Leonard Churchill didn’t know if it was because the people of the Sun Sect hadn’t noticed them, or if the materials for the sacrifice were sufficient, but after the firebird finished burning people, it flew back into the disc.

The Sacrifice Ceremony was fully successful, and even if one tried to stop it now, it would be too late.

It seemed that if they just continued to wait, the Golden Dragon God Marlodis would be able to be summoned back from the Netherworld Channel.

If they were lucky enough, Leonard Churchill and his party might be able to follow the Dragon God and leave through the Netherworld Channel.

However, Leonard Churchill had a strange feeling.

Up to now, more and more disconnected clues were emerging in his mind.

And the feeling of being in a game of cards was getting stronger.

The Three Great Sects were like three “cardholders”, some of their trump cards had been seen, but they were far from laying all their cards on the table.

And Leonard Churchill felt that they, seemingly accidental outsiders to this card game, were also subtly involved.

“Are we really just lucky to have stumbled upon the scene of the Dragon God’s return sacrifice?”

Once this thought arose in Leonard Churchill’s heart, he couldn’t shake it off.

The Death Domain is so vast, finding a few people is like finding a needle in a haystack.

It’s precisely because Leonard Churchill is proficient in “I Am the World” that he is more aware that what is called “luck” in life is most of the time causally inevitable.

Once he started to doubt, he felt like it was all part of a script…

A top-tier script is where the actors, upon stepping onto the stage and even with their subjective consciousness, end up making the most rational decisions according to the script that had been arranged long before!

“Is this Noah Wright’s doing?”

Leonard Churchill suddenly realized.

If he hadn’t seen that mysterious Cloaked Figure at the Moon Well earlier, he wouldn’t be thinking this way.

But guessing that the Cloaked Figure was the “Pursuer of Light” Noah Wright almost confirmed Leonard Churchill’s suspicions.

Even being discovered might be just part of the script.

To let himself guess who it was, thereby aligning with some plan of his.

Thinking this, Leonard Churchill felt somewhat at ease: “Heh, it might indeed be a trap set by that guy… But then, why would he draw me here? Just to provide me a way out?”

He vaguely felt that Noah Wright might have some purpose that required his cooperation.

It could also be something left by Emperor Lanlingster on the Forbidden Ruins Stele.

As these thoughts emerged, the mysteries seemed to become gradually clearer.

The Stele, Emperor’s Relics, the great battle with the Dragon Clan, the Death Domain, Elder Clinton…

The Illumination Secret Society, this mysterious organization, seemed like an invisible thread linking that hidden history buried in the dust for tens of thousands of years with the present.

Leonard Churchill initially thought it was a conflict among the Three Great Sects.

Now it seems that Emperor Lanlingster, who fell more than a hundred thousand years ago, may be the “fourth cardholder”!

…

A truly well-devised scheme leaves no traces.

No matter how one deduces, no logical inconsistency could be found.

Given Leonard Churchill’s understanding of Noah Wright, that guy could pull it off, let alone with something left behind by that Great Emperor.

Like, for instance, the [White Crow] from the Moon Spring.

Leonard Churchill’s thoughts scattered as he glimpsed a corner of the grand scheme that had been laid out for over a hundred thousand years, and the tingling sensation on his scalp grew more and more distinct.

Excitement gradually lit up in his eyes.

For him, finding a way out was never the most urgent matter; rather, it was the involvement in such a conspiracy touching the ultimate secret of the world that exhilarated him.

Sophia Jones keenly noticed the change in Leonard Churchill and cast an inquiring glance, “What’s wrong?”

She thought Leonard Churchill might have discovered a challenging opponent, having seen that look several times before, each presaging a fierce battle.

However, this time was different for Leonard Churchill. He smiled and said, “I’m afraid something interesting is about to happen…”

“Interesting?”

Sophia pondered the choice of word for a moment, thought for an instant, but didn’t ask further.

She was well aware that each of the Three Great Sects harbored God Tier beings, and some things could not be spoken of openly.

She also guessed that Leonard might have deduced some truths unseen by others.

…

The ritual continued.

The light from the Sun Wheel shone into the depths of the tree roots.

The beam of light seemed to tear open the barrier between planes, connecting to another mysterious and unknown world.

Within the Netherworld Channel, Undead Creatures were dispelled by the brightness, while at the same time, an increasingly alarming Dragon’s Might was guided and intensified.

Half an hour earlier, the commotion outside the Divine Temple had been intense.

Leonard guessed that the Red Robed Archbishop of the Holy Church might have arrived, in fierce battle with someone.

But they did not break through.

The summoning ritual continued.

Leonard and his companions were now so scorched that their mouths were dry, their skin cracked and charred, but no one dared to make any movements.

Finally, just as everyone anxiously doubted whether they would perish from the roasting first or wait for the summoning to end, a piercing dragon’s cry rose, trembling the souls of all who heard it.

Leonard became expectant, “It’s finally here!”

If even he felt unstable in spirit, it was very likely the Dragon God Malodis.

Everyone held their breath and watched, about to witness a scene bound to be described in bold strokes in the annals of history.

Regardless of the outcome, future generations would surely remember this day–the believers of the Sun Sect summoned the Dragon God Malodis from the Underworld…

Merely hearing this sentence was thrilling.

Let alone witnessing an epic moment!

The eyes of Leonard and his companions were full of anticipation.

As the dragon’s cry drew nearer, the air itself seemed half solidified, with everyone collectively feeling a suffocating pressure.

Just the whiff of that breath was like the harbinger of death, drawing out the boundless fear and despair deep within the human soul.

In the blink of an eye, a monumental dark figure surged in from the horizon where the sunlight reached.

It looked slow.

But in the blink of an eye, as if traversing planes, it was already within sight.

A Great Dragon exuding Death Air.

“Is this… the Golden Dragon God?”

Leonard too widened his eyes.

The Dragon God Malodis was of the Golden Dragon Clan, so how could it be black?

Knowing he could not hide his surprise, Leonard glanced at Elder Clinton beside him, who seemed to have transformed into a gravely serious man, and without restraining his gaze, looked straight on.

Upon closer inspection,

The once glorious golden scales had now faded to pitch black.

Yet, upon looking closely, flickering golden lights sparkled within those dark scales.

The dragon’s wings, no longer intact and heavily damaged, could still flap, creating chilling wind that conveyed a coldness from another world. Within the skull, the golden phosphorescence flickered with a palpable conflict between “life” and “death.”

“How is this similar to the Weeping Angel?”

Seeing the intertwining of light and dark in the emanating Divine Power, Leonard’s first thought was of the Weeping Angel he had seen before.

Although not exactly the same, the feeling of Extraordinary Compatibility Opposition was identical!

In an instant, incredibly unbelievable thoughts flooded into Leonard’s mind.

He felt as if he had glimpsed some ultimate secret!