A gale scattered the drifting dust, sending translucent crystals fluttering through the air.
Messmer and Nolan landed on the terrace at the same time. Nolan paused for only an instant before preparing to charge again, while Messmer struck the ground with a heavy blow.
The terrace should have been able to withstand the trampling of countless soldiers, reinforced as it was by the roots of the Shadow Tree, yet it shattered in an instant.
Cracks stretched more than a hundred meters. Jagged rocks rose in chaos, only to be ground into powder by the churning air. The ground twisted and split open, slabs of stone piling over one another like a writhing nest of serpents.
This was the power of a Demigod. Messmer could crush high walls with his bare hands and tear down fortresses through sheer violence.
It was a mighty power born from the gods. With that power, Messmer had slaughtered the Hornsents and Divine Beasts Warriors of Scadu Altus.
Nolan stood at the bottom of the fissure.
Messmer released the black mist again. The layers of earth rising on all sides trembled under the impact, and the black mist twisted like serpents. The evil Messmer poured into it turned them into monsters.
Two colossal black serpents drilled toward Nolan at once. Nolan reacted the moment their heads twisted and moved to evade, but their bodies expanded at terrifying speed, cutting off his escape.
If the entire space was sealed and footwork could not get him out, then Nolan simply stopped dodging.
The Dark Moon Greatsword in his hands bloomed like a full moon and slashed into the writhing evil serpent, shattering its hard scales. The giant serpent let out a wail before dissolving back into black mist.
Messmer dropped from the sky, driving his war spear into the loose soil that had been churned over again and again. He steadied himself, and behind him, the white winged serpent opened its mouth and hissed.
He swung his arm, and the war spear in his hand overturned the scarred earth once more. Nolan took a step forward, and the storm blasted the surging mud apart.
The pair of black serpents came again, crashing toward Nolan like two cannonballs, only to be stopped by the legendary greatsword the Lunar Princess had given to her beloved.
Nolan swung with both hands, and the indestructible Dark Moon Greatsword became endless moonlight, carving hundreds of wounds across the twin serpents' bodies.
A bloodstained mark appeared on Messmer's handsome face. The mission bestowed by his mother had been stripped away, and the "evil serpents" exhausted their lives as living things through collision after collision.
Each wound Nolan left on their bodies made their lives a little more fragile. Messmer leaned on his war spear, propping himself wearily against the ground.
His expression gradually cleared. His terrifying, hollow eye sockets showed a trace of exhaustion. The uncontrollable black aura extinguished itself that day, because its existence had been erased from the root.
"How about it? Time for the nightmare to end?" Nolan said softly.
It was just like countless years ago, when Messmer opened his eyes in his swaddling clothes and woke from the darkness to his mother holding him and murmuring gently.
Nolan's mutated features rapidly faded. His bulging muscles settled, the scales covering his body withdrew beneath his skin, and his fierce yet beautiful wings slowly folded away.
That cold face once covered in dragon scales returned to its gentle look. He was a father again, every trace of his expression kind, loving, and utterly ordinary.
"Father, destroy me. Death is when the dream ends," Messmer whispered.
The abyssal black aura around him quickly receded. The restless winged serpent calmed, the burning fury withdrew into his body, and his battered form was laid bare.
"If something has to be destroyed, then destroy it. If you don't want to destroy it, then leave it be. This is my first time being a dad, and I somehow became one out of nowhere, so I'm allowed to be this willful, kid."
Nolan answered just as softly. He withdrew his greatsword and walked toward Messmer, his iron boots striking the ground with slow, quiet steps, as though afraid of disturbing a child's sweet dream.
He watched Messmer close his eyes. The troublesome child had finally fallen asleep. Nolan let out a long breath. He had to admit, raising a child was far more tiring than fighting.
"Sss."
The sound of the white snake flicking its tongue drew Nolan's attention. He glanced at his cheap son's two little companions and grinned.
"You noticed, didn't you? That's right. I ate that thing. If you two don't want to end up like it, then keep a close eye on him."
Nolan pointed at Messmer.
At his words, the two white snakes actually shrank their necks back, then nodded.
"Good. I like obedient children best. Much better than this unfilial son of mine."
"Did you 'eat' those two black snakes?" Trina gave up on sorting out the whole father-and-son issue and asked quietly.
"Yeah. Messmer couldn't suppress it at all, and even with these two little ones helping, it was barely manageable. So I just ate it." Nolan spread his hands.
"What were those disgusting things, anyway?" Trina nodded. Anything capable of contending with her, a goddess fused with the Lord, could not possibly be simple.
"They felt like ashes," Nolan said, curling his lip.
"Ashes?"
"The residue left behind after something was burned. Judging by the power they showed, that thing's status might not be any lower than yours," Nolan said.
"Not lower than mine? Then it was a god?"
"Mm." Nolan nodded.
"A serpent-like god that also commands the power of flame..." Trina's voice grew softer and softer. Her little brow furrowed, clearly hard at work.
"Mm," Nolan asked softly. "Do you know who it is?"
"Uh... don't rush me. I'm almost there." Trina's brow tightened even more.
The goddess did not get another chance to speak. Miquella stepped forward. "I remember. The Fell God worshipped by the giants was a pair of intertwined serpents."
"You actually know?" Nolan asked, a little surprised.
"The Royal Codex records that a pitch-black deity coiled around the giant tree, corroding its bark with dark crimson flames while two enormous maws greedily devoured its roots."
Miquella paused. "Legend says that once the roots are devoured, the Golden Tree will decay, the resplendent Dynasty will burn to ash, and the world will be reborn in fire."
"But I remember the Fell God being inside the giant, wasn't it?" Trina tilted her head and asked in confusion.
"Didn't Nolan say it? This is only residue. Perhaps the serpent body was part of the Fell God. In any case, we have no idea how many methods Mother truly had."
Miquella gazed at Messmer for a long time.
Nolan suddenly felt as though he had seen that world born from fire.
The legend of the Fell God inevitably invited certain associations, but he had not sensed any world-creating power in Messmer's flames.
Could it be that they believed in the idea that destruction was rebirth?
He certainly did not like that.
Of course, it was also possible those two snakes had simply been boasting. The bigger the boast, the higher the status. Whether the world would actually be reborn or not could only be known after they became the rulers and took control of it.
But if the world was already under their rule, then it would not matter even if their boasting was exposed.
"Let's go. Time to take back what's ours." Nolan raised his head and looked north. Beyond the collapsed high wall, the silhouette of that tree could be seen.
"Messmer... are we just leaving him here? When he wakes up, he may become our enemy again," Trina said hesitantly.
"Then I'll leave it to the Goddess. Let him sleep a little longer and have a sweet dream." Nolan turned away.