Superhumans of the Dome City-Chapter 1254 - 122: Radiance Beyond the Limit (3)

"It’s started!"

Thump, thump. A grand heartbeat comes from beneath the ground. Xu Ying sits atop a mountain far from Meteor City, listening to the throbbing that resonates across heaven and earth. Even for her, this is a novel experience; few are able to hear the heartbeat of "themselves" externally.

Omnipresent illusionary light blankets the vast earth. Xu Ying gazes at the battlefield above the city through the curtain of light, taking great interest as a non-interfering observer, her laughter akin to a child’s joyful song.

"What will you do with my body? You must strive with all your might to surpass, or I’ll be mad!"

As if responding to her words, as if answering her anticipation, fiery red flames rise from the abyss dividing the city, welcoming the most exhilarating beat of the heartbeat.

At this moment, ink-black darkness covers the sky, causing even the silently praying citizens to look up in awe. They see a flare of fire, akin to the wild flame of the sun. The blaze hangs in the center of the dark night, bound by a multifaceted crimson gemstone. It dances along with the flames like a violently beating heart. The black hue retracts with the heartbeat of the Heart of Fire, condensing into an elegant, almost intellectual streamlined form. At the instant the body takes shape, countless colorful spots of light ascend, flowing with the blackness, grand and majestic as if the birth of myriad worlds in chaos.

The term huobin originally referred to imperial porcelain. Through rare coincidences, artisans could craft unique glazes that shine with spectacular light spots resembling those of the sun when basked in light. In the ancient times, scholars from the Empire, while studying the history of the Northern Continent, found no color suitable to describe this exceptionally beautiful giant dragon, thus naming it after the finest artwork of that era. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Yet its original name had nothing to do with beauty. Over two thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Northern Continent witnessed the descent of the dragon. In reverence, they called it "Origin of Fire," "Light of Transformation." Its appearance set the main axis of history for this land over the past two millennia, as it was the primal catastrophe, the embodiment of nature!

On the night of October 23rd, at 20:17:12, the Disaster of Huobin descended.

·

Chikou Zhenfan stared blankly at the celestial glow above. It was the first time she ever saw the powerful monarch.

Earlier in the year, the Colored glaze Dragon suffered severe injuries, its condition pitiful. As she gazed upon it, she felt a twinge of sympathy amidst her fear. But this dragon was vastly different from the existence in her memory. Its streamlined long body and tail epitomized strength and beauty. Black claws lay ethereally before its chest, the flaming heart upon its chest was life itself, its expansive wings naturally unfurled. Beneath the elegantly elongated wing bones, nearly transparent wing membranes glistened with iridescence.

Zhenfan always adored human forms, but the sight of the huobin dragon gave her a sense of witnessing perfection. Approaching such an existence seemed but a fantasy, defeating it an impossibility—a mad endeavor. Zhenfan involuntarily clutched her chest; the dragon’s aura was similar yet different from the Red Mage’s. The tremendous sense of elevation nearly drove her to abandon self. Did Gongsun Ce always battle such adversaries—the calamity known as dragons?

"Sister Zhenfan, lead everyone to retreat! I’m counting on you for later!"

At this moment, a familiar shout reached her ears. Zhenfan looked up to see a black-clad, gray-haired youth standing before the unconscious crowd, facing the dragon’s radiant might with no hint of fear as if the adversary that appeared mere seconds ago was nothing out of the ordinary. Qiluo’s double stood by her side, whispering softly. Zhenfan blinked forcefully as she activated her ability once more within the biochemical body of the mechanism. Using the machine god as cover, she withdrew the severely injured, unconscious crowd.

Gongsun Ce exhaled a murky breath slowly. At the moment the huobin dragon appeared, his heart began a fierce rhythm. The residual thoughts of the Silent King pervaded his mind, where intentions to kill and hatred nearly drove him to lose control.

"Please, let’s negotiate—return the way you came after drawing your sword, okay?" Gongsun Ce muttered to himself. "Can’t do... I thought so!"

He formally formed the seal of False Words, a massive serpent of mist and smoke rising amid the flames, gathering into a gray snake that deceives gods. The huobin dragon’s body was relatively diminutive compared to its kin, merely less than fifty meters in length, yet the giant serpent of False Words exceeded a hundred meters upon lifting its head. It opened its massive maw towards the giant dragon, intending to swallow the monarch whole!

The huobin dragon’s instincts were triggered, unleashing blazing golden flames tangled with the serpent. Gongsun Ce sprinted rapidly along the serpent’s body, the long, slender atypical black sword in his hand transformed by the burning of Tribulation Flame into a broad sword more akin to a true longsword. His eyes fixed upon Gaius behind the dragon’s body. Slaying the monarch dragon wasn’t easy; the immediate priority was to attract the huobin dragon’s attention and swiftly deal with the mastermind behind the scenes.

"Cough! You think I’d make such a luck-dependent plan—betting everything on using the huobin dragon to interfere with the situation!"

Gaius spoke while coughing blood profusely. To summon the huobin dragon, he forcibly endured the blood-red glow of the Seal of Anguish—a resentful attack capable of severely damaging even Creation Realm Heart. Yet his actions showed no sign of slowing down; he raised his left arm high, silver rays shooting towards the sky, transforming into seven mithril spikes descending upon the huobin dragon.

"In the name of President Gaius Otimis of the Ustus Federation. The ultimate enemy has now descended upon Northern Continent; concentrate all existing combat power of the civilizational defense line to control the Dragon Disaster!"