“Roar!”
“Roar!”
Beneath a gloomy sky, two dragons clashed in the air.
The red dragon was clearly no match for the black one, retreating step by step under its relentless assault.
Dragon blood rained down, staining the earth crimson.
On the ground, within a canyon shrouded in mist, a sudden roar erupted.
The mist dissipated in an instant, revealing four figures running toward the scene.
“Yadan, hurry! Odahviing won’t hold out much longer,” the only woman among them shouted to a man who looked visibly shaken.
“Yes, yes!” The man named Yadan, clad in armor, had a resolute face that now betrayed his terror.
Yadan looked to the sky and spoke words no human should know.
The moment they left his lips, they transformed into thunderous booms, the ancient language echoing between heaven and earth.
This was the language of dragons, a power derived from the very laws of existence.
To dragons, these were their roars—each one a symbol of their noble birth and their dominion over power.
To humans, this was the Thu’um—a power gained through endless cultivation.
Each Thu’um was a theft of the rules, a manipulation of power itself.
But among humans, a small few are known as Dragonborn.
Their blood carries the power of Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time, allowing them to wield the Dragon Shouts as dragons do.
The moment the black dragon was struck by the Thu’um, the laws of heaven and earth pressed down upon it.
It was utterly helpless against the endless torrent of power and was pinned to the ground, unable to move.
“Roar!”
In its fury, the dragon unleashed a torrent of flames that scorched the earth.
The sturdiest of the four men charged forward, facing the flames head-on.
With a single punch, the sheer force of his strike extinguished the fire.
“Kill him, now!” the woman urged desperately.
The man drew a massive blade from his back and brought it down on the dragon’s head.
The sharp edge struck the black scales, sending sparks flying, but it couldn’t leave a single scratch.
“Roar!”
The dragon’s roar sent the man flying, tumbling across the ground for a long distance.
Standing at the rear was the only old man of the group, clad in a mage robe.
His eyes were closed, his lips moving in a continuous chant.
Finally, he opened his eyes, which glowed with a faint blue light.
Countless elements converged around him.
Lightning erupted from his form, striking the dragon.
In the blinding flash, a dragon’s claw tore through the thunder and broke free.
The woman raised her longsword and charged forward, shouting back at Hadan, “Last Dragonborn, only you can kill him! Kill him now!”
She rushed in, only to be brutally swatted away by a dragon’s claw.
Yadan panicked.
*What should I do?* The power within him fluctuated wildly, mirroring his turmoil.
The dragon unleashed its attack, enveloping Yadan in merciless flames.
Yet, from within the fire, the power of his bloodline and the destiny foretold in prophecy passively struck back.
A blade of light tore through the dragon’s scales, drawing a howl of agony from the beast.
“The Last Dragonborn? Is this Akatosh’s plan? But you cannot kill me! I will bring an end to this world!” Power erupted from the dragon’s body, shattering all that bound him.
“Roar! I am Alduin! I will devour everything!” Wind blades erupted from Alduin’s wings, tearing the sky asunder.
Countless fissures appeared in the gloomy heavens, consuming all in their path.
“Roar!” The red dragon, Odahviing, charged at Alduin, only to be swept to the ground by the black dragon’s tail.
Before such absolute power, they seemed utterly insignificant.
“Joor Zah Frul”
“Faas Ru Maar”
“Fus Ro Dah”
“Krii Lun Aus”
Four robed Greybeards emerged from the canyon, their voices booming with the power of the Thu’um.
They were among the few mortals who had mastered the Dragon Shouts, the most powerful beings in the human world.
Yet their combined Thu’um only momentarily slowed Alduin’s advance.
Against the World-Eater, who had fully unleashed his stolen power, their efforts were utterly insufficient.
“Dragonborn, use the Elder Scroll to banish him!” one of the Greybeards shouted, his eyes wide with desperation.
He strained against the onslaught, his own immense power erupting from him in a futile attempt to hold Alduin back.
“No!” the woman stood before the Greybeard, her longsword drawn, facing Alduin head-on.
“Mortal, the prophecy is clear: the Last Dragonborn must slay Alduin, or he will bring an end to the world!”
“No, Hero,” the Greybeard’s voice rumbled.
“Can’t you see? He is no longer the Alduin we knew. His power has transcended his own nature. Now, only the Elder Scroll can stop him.”
Yes, the Greybeard was right.
As if he had finally found his salvation, Yadan hurriedly retrieved all three Elder Scrolls from his spell storage.
The three Elder Scrolls were Dragon, Blood, and Sun.
The Dragon Scroll recorded the power and secrets of the dragon race; it was the very scroll that had once banished Alduin.
The Blood Scroll chronicled the foulest and most corrupt powers in the world, concealing the secret of the birth of the Coldharbour vampires and symbolizing darkness.
The Sun Scroll recorded the power of pure light; it had once nurtured the Elven race and the great artifact Auriel’s Bow, and it could purify all the evil in the world.
Moreover, all three Elder Scrolls possessed the power of time, allowing one to foresee the future and manipulate time itself.
The three heroes of Sovngarde had used the Dragon Scroll’s power to banish Alduin to the end of time, imprisoning him for two thousand years.
“What do I do?” Yadan held the Elder Scrolls but was at a loss.
He didn’t know how to use them and could only look to the Greybeard for help.
“We don’t know how to use the Elder Scrolls, but you do. You must know,” the Greybeard said.
“You carry this mission. The Holy Spirit has always been watching you.”
The power of the four Greybeards and the three Heroes was not enough to stop Alduin.
Odahviing could only use his body to desperately restrain Alduin, buying them time.
***
Amidst the endless Oblivion, Akatosh, the Dragon God of Time, watched it all unfold.
Events had already strayed from his plan.
Alduin, his eldest son and a fallen Holy Spirit, had amassed power far beyond his imagination.
Where could he have obtained such strength?
“Akatosh, we can wait no longer,” said Ginaileth, the God of Elements.
“The Holy Spirits cannot directly intervene in the Mortal Realm. Now, only the power of the Elder Scrolls can stop Alduin.”
“That would only delay death’s arrival,” Akatosh said gravely.
“Alduin will still bring an end to the Mortal Realm, then begin devouring Oblivion.”
“If that happens, not only will the other Holy Spirits object, but even the Daedric Princes will not want to see such a thing occur,” Ginaileth replied with a smile, her eyes filled with hidden meaning.
Akatosh pondered.
The situation in the Mortal Realm left him no more time to waste; Alduin’s power was already beyond what those people could withstand.
“Perhaps you are right,” Akatosh said, tapping the void with his hand.
Power surged through the endless Oblivion, flying toward the Mortal Realm.
In Oblivion, many Holy Spirits and Daedric Princes breathed a sigh of relief, glad they would not have to trouble themselves.
Beyond the Mortal Realm, golden dragon flames enveloped it—Akatosh’s own power acting as a guardian.
Past these flames, the realm’s own laws rose to defend it.
*Alduin!
Unstoppable!* Every force that dared obstruct Alduin was torn to shreds.
Just as the situation reached its breaking point, time suddenly froze.
A colossal power bound all existence.
“Akatosh! Father, you cannot stop me!” Alduin roared, struggling as the surrounding space began to shatter piece by piece.
Yet Hadan remained completely unaffected by the frozen time.
It was as if something had suddenly appeared in his mind, something that instinctively taught him how to use the Elder Scrolls.
Incantations flowed from Hadan’s lips, and the three Elder Scrolls gradually pulsed with power, responding to his call.
“Roar! No!” Alduin’s mind flooded with memories of his exile at the end of time—a void where he had been banished for more than two thousand years, an eternity of endless ages.
A single second in the outside world could represent tens of thousands of years at the end of time.
The space around Alduin began to collapse.
Time itself was devouring him…