"——The Pre-Aeon Legacy, in addition to its formidable power, can also corrupt a person’s mind, possessing a terrifying curse... The late emperor was gradually eroded by the power and curse of that legacy, ultimately growing more and more insane, leading to several major failures in reform during the latter part of his life."
"In the end, he even completely became a different person, thoroughly eroded by the curse, becoming a madman like the ’Mad Dragon.’ It was precisely because of this that the Dark Moon upheaval occurred, for as long as the late emperor continued to live, he would become an eternal subsidy, a curse incarnate that would destroy the world!"
So said Carlos, with a wry smile: "And the First Knight was an accomplice. He too had long been eroded by the curse and took away the ’Pre-Aeon Legacy’ after the late emperor’s death, becoming another key to destroying the world on earth."
"Some even say that it was the First Knight who slew the already insane late emperor, choosing to live in seclusion to guard the relic, preventing the curse from spreading and reappearing in the world."
"..." Aina blinked, momentarily forgetting the danger of nearly dying earlier, and subconsciously retorted: "What kind of third-rate tabloid news is this? Where did such a powerful Pre-Aeon relic come from?"
"Indeed. The Pre-Aeon couldn’t achieve that."
Carlos nodded slightly, acknowledging Aina’s retort, but once again raised his head, looking in the direction of Dragon Island: "However, the legacies in this world are not limited to just the Pre-Aeon. You might even say that even the Pre-Aeon civilization acquired many other legacies."
"For example, the greatest legacy of this world..."
On the fourth underground layer, the Crystal Cave. Nᴇw ɴovel chaptᴇrs are published on novel[f]ire.net
When Fairy Ian weakly began to collapse to the ground, Yisen Gard, Sio, and Anfa hurriedly reached out to support him—but Ian was too weak, his Spirit of the Fairy having completely become insubstantial, causing all three of their hands to pass right through Ian’s waist, shoulders, and back, watching helplessly as Ian, in a vortex-like form, fell onto a Crystal Cluster, half-submerged in the earth, resembling a glitch.
In the end, it was Ian himself who struggled to raise a hand, giving a thumbs up: "Survived—thanks to you, Yisen. Without your computational support through the link, I wouldn’t have made it..."
If Yisen Gard hadn’t used his own blood as a link, vitalizing the Origin Quality and souls of the other three, allowing Sio and Anfa to assist Ian with their Dragon Soul’s computational power, Fairy Ian could do very little to aid Immovable Fortress Ian.
However, with sufficient computational capacity, Ian could reduce the effort needed to evade, minimizing Axel’s attacks and preserving his resources to survive the assault.
"Surviving is good enough..."
The three quickly steadied Ian, who had regained some physical form; Yisen took out an elixir that could heal souls, Anfa ignited the Spiritual Fire to protect the soul, and Sio extended a hand toward Ian, making a gesture: "How many is this?"
"It’s two. Also, I’m just tired, not mentally impaired."
Ian irritably moved Sio’s hand away, tilted his head back to drink the elixir, regaining some strength, and said: "The outcome was perfect. The most crucial organs and vertebrae of the Dark Gold Colossus Dragon’s body remain intact, and my body is unharmed."
Upon hearing this news, everyone was a bit incredulous: "But we all sensed the emperor attacking twice..."
Ian closed his eyes, then slightly opened them, affirmatively stating: "Of his two attacks, one was a casual strike to probe my true identity, while the second, though appearing massively destructive, only directed a tenth of its force at me."
"If he had concentrated his full force at one point, I would have been dead for sure, but his intention was merely to generate divine radiance and create a sensational impact without consolidating power."
Now everyone was puzzled, and Yisen Gard, quite baffled, asked: "From the beginning, I didn’t understand—why does your grandfather want to kill you, Ian?"
"Although you are indeed Immovable Fortress Ian, a disciple of the First Knight, even if that identity isn’t welcome, he should have just appointed you to the Knight Order... he had no reason to insist on killing you."
"And now, although we know he didn’t genuinely want to kill you but had other motives... why did he make such an unwelcoming gesture?"
"He doesn’t want me to return to The Empire, nor does he want me to be recruited by other forces."
Ian said in a deep voice: "For instance, Canaan Moore. If I hadn’t rejected the invitation from Golan and Yafada, when Axel first made his move, the Eternal Wind would have probably intervened to protect me. That’s what Axel didn’t want to see."
"But that’s not the key point. If he truly wanted to prevent me from becoming a force for other factions, his second attack would have been lethal."
"Axel has a reason to make me, or rather, to let the influence of the First Knight and Immovable Fortress disappear... so he continually forced my teacher into exile within The Empire but never actually hunted him down to push him abroad, nor cleared his name to let him return."
"He hopes Immovable Fortress will be forgotten... and combined with the hidden message in his attack..."
Ian arrived at an astonishing conclusion: "Could Axel actually be helping me?"