Back on the snowy plains…
The landscape had been devastated.
Massive craters scarred the frozen earth, stretching across the plains like the remnants of some ancient catastrophe.
Whatever battle had taken place here had been violent enough to reshape the land itself.
Then—
A figure blinked into existence.
The dreadful old man from the Abyss.
Except he no longer looked like an old man.
His body had taken the form of a young man in his early twenties.
He wore an ivory tunic, and his curly white hair framed a youthful face.
Yet despite his appearance, the aura surrounding him remained unchanged.
Despair.
An overwhelming, suffocating aura of despair.
Another figure suddenly appeared beside him.
A young man with long, messy black hair that reached his shoulders.
He wore a simple white linen shirt and black trousers, intricate red patterns etched across the fabric.
The black-haired young man glanced toward his master.
“Master, are you certain you sensed him here?”
The white-haired youth chuckled.
“Of course I did, Veroth.”
His voice remained calm.
“My senses have never failed me, my child.”
Veroth smirked.
“I can’t wait to fight him again.”
His eyes gleamed with anticipation.
“But this is where your investigation ends.
He has to be somewhere around here.”
The white-haired youth slowly looked across the devastated landscape.
“I can feel traces of divine energy…”
His eyes narrowed.
“And his aura.”
He paused.
“What was he doing here?”
For several moments, he remained silent.
Then a realization struck him.
His expression changed.
“The last race known to possess divine energy…”
He slowly smiled.
“…were the dragons.”
His eyes gleamed.
“The Dragons of Old.”
The young man suddenly laughed.
“Hahaha!”
His voice echoed across the empty plains.
“This boy is interesting.”
He looked toward the sky.
“Did he actually manage to enter the Dragon Realm?”
Veroth tilted his head.
“The Dragon Realm?”
His curiosity immediately piqued.
“That sounds interesting.”
The white-haired youth smiled.
“You’ll understand soon, child.”
He turned away.
“But for now…”
“We keep moving.”
Meanwhile, in the Dragon Realm…
Zuko and the boy continued through the ancient forest.
As they walked, they eventually came across something disturbing.
The corpses of drakes and wyverns littered the ground.
The boy glanced at the bodies before looking toward Zuko.
“So…”
His voice carried a hint of curiosity.
“What exactly is your goal here?”
Zuko smiled.
“You’ll find out soon.”
He looked ahead.
“It has something to do with the Keys of Old.”
The boy chuckled.
“Ahh…”
He nodded knowingly.
“So you’re trying to get out of this place too.”
Zuko laughed.
“You catch on quickly, boy.”
He raised three fingers.
“There are three Keys of Old.”
“They lie dormant within the first and second realms.”
The boy’s interest immediately grew.
“To obtain the first key…”
Zuko’s grin widened.
“We have to tear open space itself.”
The boy’s expression froze.
“…What?”
Zuko chuckled.
“Yeah.”
He shrugged.
“Unfortunately, neither of us can do that.”
The boy stared at him.
“So what are we supposed to do?”
Zuko’s grin became mischievous.
“We cause some destruction.”
He suddenly stopped walking.
Then he looked upward.
“Start climbing.”
Before the boy could respond, Zuko leapt onto a nearby tree.
He began climbing at an absurd speed.
The boy stared for a second.
Then he jumped onto the tree and followed him.
As they climbed higher and higher, the boy glanced toward Zuko.
“You’re pretty crazy.”
Zuko looked down at him.
“In the eyes of others?”
He laughed.
“Maybe.”
His expression became slightly more serious.
“But it’s only a choice.”
He looked ahead.
“Everything is broken.”
A pause.
“Including my family.”
The boy smiled faintly.
Neither of them said anything more.
They continued climbing.
Eventually, they reached the top of the forest.
The sight was bizarre.
The enormous trees had grown so tightly together that their crowns had merged into one massive surface.
The leaves were packed together so densely that they were strong enough to support their weight.
The two boys stepped onto the strange canopy.
The boy looked around.
Then upward.
“Alright…”
He turned toward Zuko.
“What now?”
Zuko sat down.
He casually summoned a small flame in his palm.
“Now we wait.”
He began playing with the fire between his fingers.
“We’re here early.”
He glanced toward the boy.
“So I can spend some time telling you about the past you’ve been so desperate to understand.”
The boy sat across from him.
A smirk formed on his face.
“Alright, then.”
He leaned forward.
“What was it like back then?”
Zuko chuckled.
The flame danced across his fingers.
“It was paradise.”
His expression became nostalgic.
“Especially one particular Divine Realm.”
He looked toward the distant horizon.
“Vert.”
“Vert was, without question, one of the most prosperous realms in all of creation.”
“Beautiful rivers.”
“Peaceful lands.”
“Kind gods.”
“It was the homeland of humanity.”
The boy raised an eyebrow.
“Humanity?”
Zuko nodded.
“Well…”
“Not exactly the humans you know.”
“They were evolved humans.”
He paused.
“They eventually became known as the Velcros.”
“Humans possessed incredible potential, but their bodies were too fragile to easily reach the higher stages of divinity.”
“So they forced themselves to evolve.”
“They succeeded.”
“The Velcros gained greater control over divine arts and became fully capable of ascending into godhood themselves.”
The boy listened carefully.
“But power came with ambition.”
Zuko’s expression darkened.
“The Velcros were conquerors.”
“Every minor realm surrounding them eventually fell under their control.”
“But they weren’t alone.”
“There was another race.”
“The Orcs.”
The boy’s attention sharpened.
“They possessed power comparable to the Velcros.”
“But unlike the Velcros…”
Zuko smiled grimly.
“They were ruthless.”
“Brutal.”
“The two races eventually went to war.”
He slowly closed his fist.
“Their realms clashed.”
“And in the end…”
“They destroyed each other.”
The boy remained silent for a moment.
Then his curiosity got the better of him.
“So…”
He looked at Zuko.
“Who were the gods?”
Zuko chuckled.
“Ahhh…”
“The gods.”
His gaze drifted toward the sky.
“They were always shrouded in mystery.”
“But one name stood above many others.”
“The War God.”
“Ranshi.”
The boy’s eyes widened slightly.
“Ranshi was known for possessing star-shattering strength.”
“But strength wasn’t the only thing that made him legendary.”
“He was an absolute leader.”
Zuko raised another finger.
“And then came his children.”
“Vanshi.”
“Sanshi.”
“And Zanshi.”
The boy listened closely.
“Vanshi was the more mischievous of the three.”
“He loved traveling.”
“Exploring.”
“Going on adventures.”
Zuko’s grin widened.
“And one of his most famous feats…”
“He witnessed the Overvoid.”
The boy blinked.
“The Overvoid?”
Zuko nodded.
“The Overvoid represents the purest form of overwhelming one’s entire being.”
“It is overstimulation taken to an entirely different plane of existence.”
The boy stared at him in awe.
Then he suddenly grinned.
“Hahaha!”
“And where exactly is this Overvoid?”
Zuko burst out laughing.
“Oh, boy…”
He shook his head.
“I promise you…”
“You do not want to go to the Overvoid.”
Suddenly—
The atmosphere changed.
The air became heavier.
The boy’s smile disappeared.
A monstrous killing intent had entered the realm.
Far away.
Very far away.
But even at this distance, the pressure was unmistakable.
Zuko immediately stood.
His expression became serious.
“It’s time, boy.”
He looked toward the approaching presence.
“You’ll know what to do.”
Then he sprinted forward.
The boy sighed.
“Of course…”
He followed.
The world began to shake.
Something enormous was approaching.
The trees trembled.
The ground quaked.
And then—
The creature appeared.
A dragon.
But not an ordinary dragon.
It wasn’t one of the Dragons of Old.
Yet the holy aura surrounding it was unmistakable.
The boy’s eyes widened.
He knew what he was looking at.
A Draconic Angel.
The creature was hundreds of meters long, its enormous body cutting through the sky as its presence dominated the surrounding landscape.
The boy’s grin slowly returned.
Then it widened.
Then widened even further.
He looked almost insane.
“Ohhh…”
He tightened his grip.
“This is gonna be fun.”
The dragon approached.
Closer.
Closer.
Then—
Both boys launched themselves into the air.
They landed upon the dragon’s enormous scales.
The creature was so massive that the two of them had plenty of room to move.
The boy immediately began climbing.
He dug his fingers into the gaps between the scales and pulled himself upward.
Higher.
Higher.
He laughed like a madman as he climbed faster.
“So, uh…”
He glanced toward Zuko.
“What’s the point of all this?”
Zuko chuckled.
“You’ll see very soon.”
They eventually reached the dragon’s back.
The moment they arrived, the killing intent became even more intense.
Zuko’s expression hardened.
“Alright.”
His voice became serious.
“This dragon is a little different.”
He glanced toward the enormous creature beneath them.
“He’s got a lot of tricks up his sleeve.”
“Watch yourself.”
Then Zuko looked toward the horizon.
“I’m going to use my abilities to steer him in the direction we need.”
He pointed toward the boy.
“You…”
A pause.
“You have to hold off—”
Zuko hesitated.
His expression became unusually serious.
“…him.”
Then he suddenly sprinted away.
The boy stared after him.
He tilted his head.
“…Him?”
He looked around.
“What the hell does that mean?”