Chapter 216: Dragon Progenitor
Igaris was not too worried about leaving his wives or his empire unguarded. Unknown to all but himself, he had split off a secret doppelganger—an extension of his will—that lingered in Orca. It carried his instincts, his sharpness, and enough of his power to strike down any threat that dared to approach his family or throne.
Thus, he flew with no chains upon his heart.
Time in the void of the cosmos was impossible to measure. Days, years, or perhaps centuries might have slipped by. Yet for Igaris, with his space-time domain collapsing distance and warping causality itself, the journey was both endless and fleeting.
Then—light.
Before him stretched a radiant sphere, swathed in hues of emerald, sapphire, and golden mist. It pulsed like a living jewel in the abyss, its continents sprawling vast, seas gleaming like liquid crystal, and skies crowned with rainbow auroras. Countless moons orbited it, while colossal starships drifted in and out of its atmosphere like migrating leviathans.
Igaris halted in the void, his gaze fixed.
"This is it..." His voice was low, almost reverent. "Her home."
The memories from the previous timeline flickered in his mind. A world of grandeur, but also of chains. A world that birthed one of the women destined to stand beside him.
The Celestial Dragon Empire’s banner loomed large here. Even from this distance, he could see floating citadels that marked their dominion, star-forges that churned with fire, and endless fleets patrolling the heavens.
Igaris narrowed his eyes.
"The Celestial Dragon Empire... arrogant as ever."
He had crossed swords with their forces once before, in the last cycle. Their dragon pride, their cold bureaucracy, and their unyielding grasp over the galaxies made them a tyrant to many civilizations. Yet within their reach lived her—one of his future wives.
His heart quickened, not with fear, but with anticipation.
He clenched his fist, his aura flaring silently. "No matter how vast the empire, I will find her. And no matter how many walls stand in my way, I will tear them down."
The colorful world spun slowly beneath him, its beauty almost mocking, its danger undeniable. But Igaris only smiled, sharp and unshaken.
--
Crossing mountains and seas, Igaris moved like a phantom across the great world. His peak Saint-speed carried him over landscapes faster than storms, yet he never rushed. His senses stretched through space and time, searching, weaving through possibilities until a single thread resonated with his soul.
It led him far from the polished cities of the Empire. Away from the cold symmetry of their citadels, he arrived at a small town nestled between emerald hills and flowing rivers. Life here was humble. Farmers tilled the fields, children ran barefoot on stone paths, vendors shouted at the marketplace, and old men dozed under the sun. Unlike the cities shackled by imperial order, this place still breathed with warmth and imperfection.
And there, amidst the laughter of children, he saw her.
A girl of perhaps ten or twelve. Her purple hair spilled down her back in loose waves, and her eyes—clear and luminous—shone like starlight. She wore a simple dress, patched in places, yet her smile outshone any jewel. At that moment, she was chasing a stray butterfly, her laughter ringing like silver bells.
The instant Igaris laid eyes on her, the cosmos itself seemed to still.
He stood at the edge of the marketplace, towering and silent, his presence so vast it bent the air. And yet, no one noticed him. He had cloaked himself, choosing only to watch.
The girl paused mid-step. For reasons she could not explain, she lifted her head toward the horizon where Igaris stood unseen. Her eyes widened, as if she could sense the gaze that spanned lifetimes.
For the briefest heartbeat, their gazes locked across space.
Igaris exhaled softly. His lips curved in the faintest smile.
"She’s here."
The girl blinked in confusion, tilting her head, then laughed again and returned to her play.
But Igaris knew. No empire, no wall, no chain could keep her from the path that would one day bring her to his side.
Tiamat, The Dragon Queen.
The ruler of endless legions, the mother of dragons who in the last timeline had stood as his fiercest enemy. Her name had once sent dread across the cosmos, and her clash with him had torn entire realms apart.
But in this life, she was just a child. Innocent, pure, untainted by the weight of destiny.
Igaris stood in silence, his heart torn between awe and a quiet ache of nostalgia. His mind drifted back, to the memories of a time long gone.
---
In the previous timeline, they had met on the battlefield.
Tiamat was the Dragon Queen, sovereign of the Celestial Dragon Empire’s legions, her aura burning with primordial dragonfire. Igaris, the sovereign of shadows and defiance, stood against her rule. They fought with a hatred born of duty, their battles turning continents to ash.
Their first clash lasted seven days and nights, neither yielding an inch. She wounded him, piercing through his chest with her dragon claws. He returned the strike, shattering her scales.
And yet, beneath the fury, a strange resonance lingered.
Battle after battle, they came to understand each other’s hearts. Her wrath came from duty to her people, to her empire, to the dragons who saw her as their mother. His rebellion came from love of freedom, for his kin, for a future where everyone would be safe and unharmed.
One night, amidst the ruins of a shattered star, they paused. Neither raised their blades. Instead, words spilled, questions, doubts, truths. She asked him why he fought, and he asked her why she bore such crushing chains.
That night changed everything.
The hatred that once bound them loosened. In its place bloomed something forbidden, something that defied the cosmos itself. Love.
But fate was cruel. Their love was never meant to last. She too fall during the Chaos beings invasion.
"We will meet again, my love," he whispered as her body dissolved into starlight.
---
And now, here she was.
Not as the terrifying Dragon Queen, but as a girl laughing at butterflies, unburdened by tragedy.
Igaris clenched his fists at his side, his chest tight.
"Tiamat... in this life, we will not end as enemies. This time, I will protect you from the chains that bound you before. Even if I must challenge the Celestial Dragon Empire itself."
Igaris lingered on the outskirts of the town, cloaked in shadow and silence. Days bled into weeks as he watched the girl live her ordinary life. Her mornings began with her mother’s gentle call, her afternoons were filled with laughter as she ran through fields, and her evenings ended with her father carrying her home on his shoulders, the stars reflected in her wide eyes.
She was the darling of her family, their joy and treasure. Though they were poor, their love wrapped her in a warmth even palaces could not buy. Igaris felt a strange peace watching them, a quiet ache stirring deep within him. It was a life far removed from thrones and empires, from blades and war.
The world would one day call her Tiamat, the Dragon Queen. But here, she was simply their daughter.
And yet, destiny would not allow her to remain hidden forever.
The day came without warning.
It was dawn, the sky painted in amber light. The little town stirred awake as it always did—roosters crowing, smoke rising from chimneys, children running about the fields. But then the air trembled. A low vibration rippled through the land, as though the marrow of the earth itself had begun to stir.
The girl froze mid-step. Her purple hair fluttered in the unnatural wind, and her starlit eyes widened as an invisible force pulled at her soul.
Her parents rushed to her side, panic flashing in their faces. "Lilya! What’s wrong?!" her mother cried, clutching her daughter’s small shoulders.
But the girl’s small frame was convulsing, her breath coming in sharp gasps. Ancient symbols, older than history itself, flickered across her skin. Their curves were not draconic script, nor celestial runes—they were marks of something more primordial, etched from the first era of existence.
The Awakening.
It was no ordinary dragon bloodline calling forth. What surged inside her was the origin of all dragons—the Dragon Progenitor Bloodline. The same power that had once birthed legions of true dragons at the dawn of creation.
The townspeople screamed and fell to their knees as the air thickened like molten iron. The ground cracked beneath her bare feet, rivers churned violently as if rejecting the intrusion, and the sky darkened though the sun still hung in the heavens. Her tiny body trembled under the sheer immensity of the bloodline roaring to life.
Her father held her tightly, tears running down his face. "Stay with us, Lilya... please!"
The girl’s eyes glazed with light, her pupils transforming into slitted golden orbs. Her childish cries were muffled by the roar of something ancient erupting from her chest. A phantom of a colossal dragon, stretching beyond the mountains, briefly flickered in the sky above the town before vanishing.
The villagers wept in terror and awe.
Igaris stood in silence, unseen at the edge of the square, his gaze sharp. His chest tightened at the sight.
In his previous life, this Awakening had been the spark that drew the Celestial Dragon Empire’s gaze. They had come swiftly, branding her a dangerous anomaly, and taken her away. It was there, amid chains and blades, that she had grown into the feared Dragon Queen—his enemy, his rival, and finally, the woman who stole his heart.
This time, however, he swore it would be different.
His hand clenched into a fist.
"The Progenitor bloodline has awakened again. And this brought nothing but suffering to you," he whispered. "But Tiamat... you will not face this fate alone."