Chapter 240: A Story From the Ancient Era

After the first wave of crossbow bolts ended, the White Dragon Lord ordered the soldiers to continue firing. The bolts rained down in a continuous stream, and casualties among the Titan Race steadily mounted.

Hearing the agonizing screams of her people, Delisve burned with anxiety, but she had no better options. She increased her magical output, forcing the vegetation to grow thicker to shield as many of her kin as possible while she shouted.

"Hurry! Faster! Retreat!"

Under the threat of death, the giants and titans scrambled over each other, surging toward the passage.

The White Dragon Lord's gaze pierced the darkness. Seeing the massive crowd gathered at the passage entrance, the corners of his mouth curled up. Crammed together like this, they were the perfect targets.

At that thought, the White Dragon Lord began to chant a spell at blistering speed.

Endless frost gathered around the white dragon. Seeing this, the two gold dragons reacted. Now was the perfect time to kick the enemy while they were down!

The two gold dragons also began casting spells. Although magic wasn't their strong suit, the Dragon Race's Dragon Inheritance contained a vast amount of magical knowledge, granting them formidable spellcasting abilities.

Crossbow bolts mingled with magic rained down, striking the lush plants. Delisve suffered miserably; she had to expend her own magical energy to repair every breach the spells caused.

But what worried Delisve the most was the terrifying magical energy fluctuation coming from above. She sensed endless cold within this magic, and its energy level had already reached the Legendary Rank.

The dragons had an expert spellcaster on their side!

Delisve felt bitter. She had thought the Dragon Race, like the Titans, had cultivated two Legendary Rank members, but she never expected them to actually be two High-Tier Legends.

Moreover, upon sensing the terrifying magical energy radiating from the White Dragon Lord, Delisve realized that they were High-Tier Legendary Dragons from another world.

That gold dragon who had just entered the High-Tier Legend rank might arguably have been raised by piling up massive amounts of resources, but this dragon who excelled in magic absolutely couldn't be a native of the Madilan World, which had lost its magical civilization.

Delisve was close to despair.

This meant the Dragon Race could potentially obtain a steady stream of reinforcements from another world. Even if they survived this immediate crisis, the Titan Race wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.

In the struggle for the Madilan World, the Titans had lost, and lost thoroughly!

No!

There was still a chance!

Delisve thought of her greatest trump card, and a sliver of hope sparked in her heart. Yet despair quickly followed. The prerequisite for turning the tables was surviving the impending magical attack. If struck head-on by legendary magic, even a High-Tier Legend Life Titan would undoubtedly perish.

In this damned underground, there was nowhere to hide!

Delisve rapidly chanted a spell.

At this moment, the White Dragon Lord concluded the final syllable of his magical incantation.

Endless freezing air emerged from the void, gathering in the White Dragon Lord's hands and rapidly condensing into a small ice sphere only a meter in diameter. The sphere was transparent, like the purest crystal, yet it emanated an endless, bone-chilling cold.

Legendary magic—Grudge of the Ice Curse!

Just the overflowing chill left the soldiers on the City Wall shivering. The Gold Dragon, Leopold Chodmartin, felt his pupils constrict and couldn't suppress a shudder.

Because this wasn't ice at all—it was formed from condensed Ice Elemental Crystals!

Finally, the Grudge of the Ice Curse moved!

It started slow, but quickly accelerated, ultimately turning into a streak of light that shot toward the crowd gathered at the passage entrance.

The Life Titan, Delisve, felt her scalp prickle. The terrifying energy contained within the Grudge of the Ice Curse was as obvious as a torch in the dark within this magicless world.

Even though the magic was still a distance away, the titans and giants felt an immense, oppressive pressure. Their hearts filled with terror, and the hair on their bodies stood on end.

Under the threat of death, Delisve broke through the limit of her casting speed.

Finally, before the Grudge of the Ice Curse arrived, an emerald-green magical barrier radiating boundless vitality enveloped the crowd at the passage entrance.

Life Barrier!

Almost the instant the Life Barrier went up, the Grudge of the Ice Curse struck it. Terrifying frost magic swept outward as the power of life and the power of ice collided. They annihilated each other, bursting into intense rays of light and elemental torrents.

The power of ice swept through the entire underground. The ground and walls were covered in a layer of frost, and the plants Delisve had rapidly grown were instantly frozen solid into ice sculptures.

Fortunately, the people within the energy shield survived. Delisve looked at the nearly shattered barrier and breathed a sigh of relief. But when she saw the giant ice sculptures surrounding it, a raging fire ignited in her heart.

She had anticipated that she wouldn't be able to completely block the White Dragon Lord's magic, so she had to cut her losses. She shrank the protective radius of the Life Barrier, allowing a portion of her compatriots to survive.

Delisve took a deep breath, suppressing her fury. Because the Madilan World had no magical elements, casting legendary magic twice had entirely relied on the magical energy within her Life Titan body—and had even expended a portion of her life force.

As a result, the Life Titan was now extremely frail, lacking the strength to fight any longer.

"Hurry! Retreat!"

Having lost nearly half their numbers, the titans staggered on their half-frozen legs, rushing toward the passage.

Clang!

Delisve personally shoved the steel gates shut. Through the narrowing gap, she stared out at the frozen statues of her kin, her gaze ice-cold. She would sear this scene into her heart.

Above, the dragon forces looked down at the sinkhole that had transformed into an icy pit. The joy of defeating their enemy surged in their hearts, and they threw their heads back and unleashed excited roars. Dragon roars echoed endlessly across the City Wall.

The three High-Tier Legendary Dragon leaders were also thrilled. Beating their wings, they flew down into the frigid sinkhole. The ordinary dragons wanted to follow and take a look, but the biting frost turned them back after only a short descent.

The three dragons landed steadily at the bottom. The pit floor and the surrounding stone walls had completely become a world of frost. The green leaves and crimson blossoms grown by the Life Titan were coated in a layer of ice, leaving them crystal clear like a dreamscape garden.

Yet beneath that garden lay a hellish scene. Giants, whether standing or sprawled on the ground, had been encased in frost. Turned into ice sculptures, the terror they felt in their final moments was forever frozen on their faces.

There were also three dragon corpses on the ground, shot down by the Dragon-Slaying Ballistas when the battle began. But compared to the fifty casualties of the Titan Race, this price was insignificant.

The three dragons—one white and two gold—looked at the closed Gate of Steel. In this entire underground world, only the small area that had been shielded by the Life Barrier remained untouched by the frost.

The three dragons stepped forward to inspect the black steel gates. This door was a challenge they would have to face sooner or later.

The Gold Dragon, Leopold Chodmartin, spoke as he approached it.

"Casting two legendary magic spells consecutively in a magicless environment is too much even for a Life Titan to handle. We might as well smash our way in right now and slaughter these damned Titans once and for all!"

With that, the gold dragon planted a kick straight into the door.

Clang!

A massive metallic clang echoed, but the Gate of Steel didn't sway in the slightest.

The White Dragon Lord found it unbelievable. The Gold Dragon, Leopold Chodmartin, just like the White Dragon Lord, was a rare dragon professional. Moreover, he was a dragon warrior—a melee professional who relied purely on physical strength.

That angry kick likely carried more than a hundred thousand tons of force, yet the door hadn't budged at all.

The Ancient Gold Dragon stood to the side, looking as though he had known this would happen all along.

"Three thousand years ago, it was this exact door that blocked our path. Back then, hundreds of dragons from our Dragon Race took turns attacking this door day and night. Whether we kicked it or burned it with dragon breath, we couldn't do a thing to it."

The two younger dragons exchanged a glance and nodded in unison. They stepped back, charged forward, and whipped their tails out, viciously smashing into the Gate of Steel.

After a loud boom, the rocks above the Gate of Steel cracked slightly, but the gates themselves remained unresponsive. Instead, the White Dragon Lord's tail went numb.

Refusing to believe it, the White Dragon Lord spewed a blast of Dragon Breath. A thick layer of frost rapidly coated the door. When the attack ceased...

...an unbelievable sight occurred. The ice vanished into thin air. The White Dragon Lord was thoroughly astonished.

"What on earth is the origin of this door?! Senior, do you have any information on it?"

The Ancient Gold Dragon, Adelaide Leslie, shook his head and answered.

"We know practically nothing about this door. Tens of thousands of years ago, when I was first born, the underground world was a vital stronghold of the Titan Race. This door has existed ever since then. As for anything before that, I have no idea."

The White Dragon Lord walked forward and ran his claws over the Gate of Steel, feeling its icy touch as he tried to determine the door's material.

Suddenly, the White Dragon Lord shuddered, overcome by disbelief.

This door was actually cast from Forbidden Magic Steel produced in the Star Realm. Forbidden Magic Steel was incomparably tough and boasted extremely high magic resistance. It was generally used to create torture devices and imprison powerful criminals.

Forbidden Magic Steel was practically equal in value to Mithril. For a door this massive and thick, how much Forbidden Magic Steel must have been used!

The White Dragon Lord asked curiously.

"A massive door cast entirely from Forbidden Magic Steel... is there really no record of this in the Dragon Inheritance?"

The Gold Dragon, Leopold Chodmartin, chimed in from the side.

"Logically speaking, the Dragon Race wouldn't be completely oblivious to the forging of a door like this. If someone noticed it, the Dragon Inheritance definitely wouldn't leave it out."

The Ancient Gold Dragon frowned.

"This matter puzzles me greatly as well."

Suddenly, the White Dragon Lord's attention was drawn to the relief carvings on the steel gates.

"Look at these reliefs. They seem to tell a story."

The two gold dragons immediately gathered around. The three dragons inspected the reliefs together. As they observed and pieced the meaning together, the complete sequence of an ancient tale unfolded before them.

The story spanned from initial vicious battles in the Star Realm to an eventual romance between a male dragon and a female titan. However, the Titans and the Dragon Race were mortal enemies. Neither side could tolerate their union; both branded them as traitors and launched a relentless hunt.

In the end, this star-crossed pair fell into the hands of the Titan Race and were executed. But right before her death, the female titan brought out an egg and knelt before a towering titan.

At the end of the carvings, that towering titan sealed the egg behind a thick door.

After reading the entire story, the three dragons looked at each other in dismay. They never expected the dragons and Titans to share such a history.

The Gold Dragon, Leopold Chodmartin, raised an eyebrow.

"So you're saying that an egg is locked behind this door?! And it's a hybrid between a Titan and a dragon!"

The Ancient Gold Dragon spoke.

"It probably died ages ago. This door is at least fifty thousand years old."

The White Dragon Lord nodded in agreement.

However, he was still troubled by a lingering doubt. Why would that titan go to such great lengths to lock up an egg, and behind such an incredibly precious door at that?