While contemplating, Rody suddenly felt a surge of magical power from afar. Two shooting stars streaked across the sky at an astonishing speed. As they approached, it was seen that one of the shooting stars was a large black dragon, followed closely by a man with an unusual appearance.
"Hey, hey, hey, listen to me for a moment, okay? Hydras' Grand Lord Xudela, now that we are here, our battle has become meaningless," the black dragon circled down, landing in the center of a large square, flapping its wings, emitting thick black smoke from its body, which then turned into a silvery glow. After a fierce magical fluctuation, it transformed into a handsome middle-aged man with silver hair.
"Alfred, don't think you can use any excuse to delay our duel. We have been fighting for two thousand years, and we must determine the true victor..." the man with the unusual appearance coldly snorted, "I won't resort to trickery. If I unfortunately perish in battle, then you can boast to her about how you killed the dragon-eating Hydras' Grand Lord Xudela. But if I ultimately win, I will bury you in this saint's graveyard and then return to the land of the seven tribes, propose to her, and give her a happy home."
"Old friend, there's something I've been wanting to say to you for a long time, but I didn't know how to start," the silver-haired middle-aged man, who was actually the black dragon Alfred that once doused Rody with dragon blood, said. Rody, hiding not far away, saw everything clearly.
"If you're trying to convince me to give up my love for her, then save your breath," the man with the unusual appearance, who was the Hydras from the previous battle with the black dragon, interjected.
"Being a Hydras in love with a female angel is indeed a headache... Unfortunately, I'm also caught in the same situation. Whenever I think of her face, calm as a lake, her smile that makes flowers bloom, her pure and flawless wings, and her mercy towards weaker beings, my heart, no matter how full of pride, melts," the black dragon Alfred sighed deeply.
"Don't mention her in front of me. Talk about her after you defeat me," Xudela, the Hydras, said angrily.
"Xudela, my old friend, once the closest of brothers, now enemies turned against each other... Love is so blinding, like a terrifying poison. If we had never met her, we would still be the 'Twin Dragons' fighting side by side in the land of the seven tribes," the black dragon Alfred shook his head, "Do you know why I brought you here, dear Xudela, my friend?"
"Could it be, you want this place to be the eternal resting place for one of us?" Xudela, the Hydras, questioned.
"The crystal magic array pillar above the sacred tomb can determine the ability of any life... As long as you leave your name on it, there will be a ranking," the black dragon Alfred explained softly.
"You don't want to duel? You want to compare with me in this way? You should know that strength and combat ability are two different things. Combat ability involves morale, psychology, skills, and more. Even if your strength is slightly above mine, it doesn't mean you are stronger. I have stronger regenerative and life force abilities. As long as my middle head isn't smashed, I can recover as before. You, who have fought alongside me for thousands of years, should understand," Xudela, the Hydras, sneered.
"No, I don't want to compare with you anymore," the black dragon Alfred shook his head with a bitter smile.
"You want to cede her to me? Why? Are you not fighting anymore? No, this isn't like you, Alfred!" Xudela was stunned.
"If she were still alive, I would never have let her go to you... Xudela, you are my friend and know me best. But like me, you are also a tragically fated old friend, we both are miserable creatures... How wonderful it would have been if we had spent those two thousand years with her, instead of wasting them in duels and fights!" The black dragon Alfred's voice grew softer.
"What? What did you say? She's dead? How is that possible!" Xudela, the Hydras, roared angrily in disbelief.
"Annie Lu also coveted her and forced her into marriage. When she needed help the most, we were too busy furiously dueling. Eventually, we even allowed the Dragon King and the Demon Emperor to strip us of our dragon and demon statuses, depriving us of most of our power, and expelling us from the land of the seven tribes... That was the foolishness we committed! Two big fools, engrossed in a deadly duel with their best friend, leaving their beloved behind in the land of the seven tribes, allowing her to be forced into marriage by a suitor she despised the most, eventually leading her to despair and suicide... Dear Xudela, this is the secret you didn't know, and the one I least wanted to tell you!" Alfred, the black dragon, bowed his head heavily, his long silver hair hanging down, covering his face and the tears on it.
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"She's really dead?" Xudela collapsed onto the snowy ground as if he had lost his spine.
"Right in front of me, on this crystal magic array pillar, is her name and her message... She came to the human world to find us, came to the Silent Forest to look for us. But at that time, we were both recovering from our brutal duel injuries, hidden deep underground." Alfred painfully stroked the pale blue words on the crystal magic array pillar.
Rody, hidden, moved closer to look.
The inscription read: "Alfred and Xudela, you are both big fools. I won't wait for you here, nor do I wish to have my eternal rest disturbed. Go ahead with your duel, and when you descend to hell, I'll personally tell each of you 'you deserved to die', Pessanthus..."
Below this sentence, in clear gray letters, it stated: "Eternally resting here, the sacred tomb number 369 crystal coffin."
"Alfred, I appreciate you telling me all this." Xudela rolled on the ground in agony, roaring painfully. After a few minutes, his face streaked with tears, he calmed down and said, "Go away! Without Pessanthus, my life has no meaning. I will stay here with her. If you want to fight me, then kill yourself. I definitely won't be slower than you!"
"Stupid Xudela, my friend, if I wanted to seek death, why would I bring you here?" Alfred roared angrily.
"Fine, if you won't stay with her, I'll stay alone," Xudela slowly stood up, drew out a black dagger, aimed it at his forehead, and softly said, "Alfred, as a favor to a friend, don't throw my body off the mountain. Place me next to her, okay?"
"You're really a fool, don't you want to avenge her first?" the black dragon Alfred rushed up and punched Xudela hard.
"Avenge?" Xudela, thrown several meters, got up, wiping the blood from his mouth, and asked as if awakening from a dream.
"Go after that birdman Annie Lu, tear him to pieces!" the black dragon Alfred roared like thunder, "I need your help, Xudela the Hydras. We are no longer rivals in love. Now, we need to return to being comrades-in-arms who fight and die together! We must avenge her, send the bastard who drove her to death to hell, and make him suffer eternal flames!"
"But our powers have already been greatly stripped away by the kings of our two races. Now we are just lords of monsters, how can we avenge her against the eight-winged, brilliant, and glorious Seraphim?" Xudela stomped in agony.
"This is the sacred tomb, buried here are many powerful corpses of the dragon and demon races..." Alfred's intention, it seemed, was similar to Rody's.
However, the corpses of the powerful beings bound by Rody's contracts were not for himself, but for an expedition to Hell and Heaven.
The Black Dragon Alfred was driven by personal vengeance, but his goal was the same.
Originally, in this reunion, Rody, whose strength had greatly increased, was ready to severely deal with this Black Dragon Alfred. At the very least, he planned to reattach the Dragon-slaying dagger to his forehead, drain his dragon blood, but now seeing him as a sentimental being, devastated by the tragic death of his lover, Rody couldn't help but feel a sense of sympathy.
Rody really never expected that someone like the Black Dragon Alfred could have such a side.
If he hadn't seen and heard it himself, he would hardly believe it.
"You're crazy, Al! If you steal the Dragon Crystals of the former dragon powerhouses, and if the Dragon King and the elders find out, you'll definitely be stripped of all your powers and thrown into the eternal darkness of hell!" The nine-headed monster Xudela punched Black Dragon Alfred, vehemently opposing.
"Our lives are already forfeit, what else do we have to fear in death?" Black Dragon Alfred roared with tears streaming down his face: "This is the only way now!"
"Disturbing the slumber of the saints, not to mention the severe punishment afterwards, we won't even be able to defeat the guards in the Tomb of the Gods!" The nine-headed monster Xudela also roared at Black Dragon Alfred: "You are no longer the strongest dragon general of the past, and I am no longer the nine-headed commander. Al, I agree with your proposal to tear up that birdman Annilu and am willing to die with you, but if you want to enter the Tomb of the Gods to snatch the Dragon Crystals, you have to defeat me first!"
"Damn it, in this lifetime, you have always opposed me!" Black Dragon Alfred howled in rage: "If you stop me, I will kill you!"
"That's about enough, my two good friends. Now it's my turn to say a few words." Rody revealed himself, with a bright sunny smile on his face, and said to the astonished Black Dragon Alfred and the nine-headed monster Xudela: "I have a very good idea, would you like to hear it? Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself, my name is Rody. A few years ago, when I watched you two fight, I also warned you of an attack, and, of course, successfully pulled a dragon-slaying dagger from Mr. Alfred's forehead. If the noble Black Dragon lord's head isn't damaged, he should remember it."
"Rody? The miraculous kid?" Black Dragon Alfred and the nine-headed monster Xudela exclaimed, their faces changing dramatically in shock.