Chapter 218: The Shadow That Defies the Empire
The sun had barely risen when the skies above the quiet mountain town split apart.
"Roarrrr!"
A deafening roar shook the heavens, and the villagers fell to their knees in terror.
Dozens of warships pierced through the clouds, their hulls carved with dragon runes that glowed like molten gold. At their forefront, armored dragoons in scaled battle-gear descended, each mounted upon wyverns that bellowed fire into the morning air.
The townsmen screamed, scattering like ants.
At the head of the squad was a man with scales of silver crawling up his jawline, his eyes vertical slits that gleamed with cold superiority. His armor shimmered with celestial light, and in his hand he carried a spear shaped like a dragon fang.
"By decree of the Celestial Dragon Emperor," the man’s voice boomed, shaking the town square, "the bearer of the Progenitor’s bloodline is to be taken into imperial custody. Resistance will be treated as rebellion!"
The villagers, trembling, turned their fearful gazes to one family standing frozen near the well—the girl with starlit eyes and her two parents.
The girl clutched her mother’s sleeve, her heart hammering in fear. Her father instinctively stepped forward, shielding them.
The silver-scaled commander dismounted his wyvern, his aura crushing the ground into cracks. His lips curled into a mockery of a smile as he looked at the frightened child.
"So it is true," he sneered. "The Progenitor’s essence lingers in this whelp. Come quietly, girl, and your parents will be spared."
"I... I don’t want to go!" Tiamat’s voice cracked, trembling yet defiant. "I don’t know you! I don’t want to leave Mama and Papa!"
The commander’s eyes narrowed, his tone turning to venom. "Do not test the patience of the Empire. You belong to us. Your blood is not yours—it is ours."
Her father roared in fury, stepping forward. "She is my daughter! Not your tool, not your weapon! If you want her, you’ll have to kill me first!"
The commander laughed coldly. "So be it."
He raised his spear, dragonic energy surging.
Lilya screamed. "No!"
The dragoons advanced like a tide, wings spreading, weapons gleaming. Her mother threw herself in front of her, arms outstretched, as if her frail body could shield her child from an army.
But the overwhelming might of the Celestial Dragon Empire bore down without mercy.
The silver-scaled commander brought his spear down—
And then, through her tears, the girl cried out the name of the only one she trusted.
"Help me... please! Mister... Igaris!"
Her voice pierced the heavens, desperate, trembling, filled with terror.
The world froze.
From the shadow of the old sakura tree, where he had been silently watching, Igaris finally moved.
"Rumble!"
The air warped. The earth cracked. A suffocating silence fell, so heavy even the wyverns faltered mid-flight.
A man cloaked in black stepped into the square, his presence swallowing the light itself. His gaze was calm, yet beneath it lay the fury of a storm that could tear apart worlds.
The dragoons felt it instantly. Their dragon blood screamed in primal fear.
Igaris’s eyes locked onto the commander, then to the terrified girl clutching her mother. He raised his hand slightly, his voice carrying like a death knell.
"You dare lift your hands against her... before me?"
The commander’s breath hitched. The spear trembled in his grasp, though his pride fought to mask his fear.
The commander snarled, trying to break the invisible weight pressing against him. "W-Who are you? Do you know what you are doing? This girl bears the Progenitor’s bloodline. She belongs to the Celestial Dragon Empire. Anyone who hides her will be slaughtered!"
"You speak too much."
Igaris flicked his fingers.
The commander’s body convulsed as if invisible chains wrapped around him. His silver armor cracked, and blood trickled from his nose and mouth. The mighty dragon-blooded warrior dropped to one knee, choking under a force he could not comprehend.
The dragoons panicked. Some tried to mount their wyverns, others raised their weapons, but the wyverns shrieked in terror, refusing to move forward. Their dragon instincts screamed in submission before Igaris’s aura.
The townsfolk trembled. They had never seen such a thing. A man standing alone, unarmed, reducing an entire legion of dragon knights into quivering cowards.
Tiamat’s father could only stare, his body frozen between terror and awe. His wife pulled their daughter closer, whispering prayers, her voice quaking.
"Who... who is he?" she whispered.
Her husband shook his head, unable to answer.
Igaris’s eyes flickered toward them. "Do not be afraid," he said, and for a moment, his voice was gentle, like the calm in the heart of a storm. "I will not allow harm to come to her. Or to you."
The mother’s tears flowed freely. She clutched her daughter tighter, whispering, "Thank you... thank you..." though her voice cracked with disbelief.
The commander spat blood, glaring up with hatred. "You... you dare oppose the Empire? You think you can fight us all?"
Igaris’s expression did not change. His hand rose slightly.
In that instant, the ground beneath the commander split open. Black chains surged out, latching onto his limbs, dragging him down. He roared in defiance, unleashing dragon energy that could crush mountains—
Only for Igaris to tighten his grip.
Crack!
The commander’s dragon wings shattered like glass. His scream pierced the heavens before the chains yanked him into the earth, swallowing him whole.
Silence fell.
The dragoons froze, too terrified to move. The villagers, huddled together, dared not even breathe.
And then, all eyes turned to the little girl, who was staring at Igaris with wide, tear-filled eyes.
She had expected a monster. A demon worse than the men who came to take her away.
But instead, he stood there, tall and unyielding, his shadow shielding her from the empire’s cruelty.
Her lips quivered. "M-Mister... thank you..."
Igaris gave her a rare smile. "I told you before, Lilya. When you call my name, I will come."
Her parents clutched her, their bodies trembling not with fear now, but with overwhelming gratitude.
The villagers, once too afraid to speak, began whispering. Some called him a devil. Others called him a savior. All of them knew one thing: this man was no ordinary wanderer.
He was something far greater.
And the Celestial Dragon Empire had just made the gravest mistake of provoking him.
The commander’s scream had not yet faded when the rest of the dragoons broke into chaos.
"Retreat! Quickly—!"
"No, attack! Kill him before he—"
"Silence! Form the dragon spear formation!"
But their voices faltered under the weight of an aura that grew heavier with each heartbeat. The very air warped, shadows crawling like serpents across the earth. The wyverns shrieked, wings flapping wildly, but their dragon blood forced them to bow, trembling, unable to rise into the skies.
The townsmen clutched one another, praying, some crying, others too terrified to move. Tiamat’s parents wrapped their arms around her, as if shielding her would make a difference. Their eyes, however, were locked on the man who now radiated an authority beyond anything they had ever seen.
Igaris raised his hand. His shadow stretched outward, swallowing the square, swallowing the soldiers.
"Begone."
The shadows surged like a tidal wave. Black tendrils pierced armor and flesh, dragging soldiers into the darkness. Their screams echoed as one by one they vanished, their weapons clattering uselessly to the ground.
"No—! Mercy!"
"W-We are loyal to the Empire! You cannot—!"
"Please! Spare me!"
But Igaris’s expression did not waver. His eyes were cold, his voice absolute.
"You came to take her life. There is no mercy for that."
A Dragoon Knight tried to summon his dragon breath, a blast of silver fire that could melt steel. But before he could release it, a shadowy claw erupted from beneath him, clamping his jaws shut. The fire exploded within his own body, incinerating him from the inside out.
Another knight screamed and tried to fly, forcing his wyvern to rise. But the creature’s wings stiffened mid-beat, as if the shadows had shackled them. The wyvern fell back to the earth, snapping its neck upon impact. Its rider was dragged into the black abyss moments later.
The commander’s second-in-command roared, slashing out with a dragon-forged halberd. The weapon struck Igaris directly, but instead of cutting him, the halberd cracked. A single finger pressed against the knight’s forehead, and his body shattered into ash, scattering with the wind.
The square was drowned in screams, the kind that no ordinary village should ever hear.
Within minutes, the screams died down. The last of the dragoons were swallowed whole, their cries fading into silence.
And then, there was nothing.
The shadows receded, returning to Igaris’s body as if nothing had happened. The blood, the corpses, the wyverns—all gone, erased without a trace.
Only the townsmen remained, trembling on their knees, staring at him as though he were a god or a devil.
Tiamat’s father finally found his voice, though it cracked and shook. "Y-You... what are you?"
Igaris looked at him for a long moment, then at the little girl whose frightened eyes had softened into awe.
"I am the one who protects her," he said simply.
The spectators exchanged glances, fear and relief mixing in their gazes. Some whispered prayers, others murmured blessings, but all of them understood one thing.
The Celestial Dragon Empire had lost an entire legion here today. And the man who had done it had not even drawn a blade.
Igaris turned away from the ashes of his enemies, walking toward the girl who would one day be the Dragon Queen. He reached out, brushing a tear from her cheek.
"Do not cry anymore. No one will take you from your home. Not while I stand here."
The little girl, Tiamat, nodded slowly. Her small hand clutched his sleeve, as though she knew he was the only shield she could ever rely on.
Behind her, her parents broke down, weeping, their voices shaking with gratitude. "Thank you... thank you... Protector..."
The word spread among the villagers, whispered with reverence. Protector. Savior. Shadow Lord.
No matter what they called him, one truth had taken root in their hearts.
The Celestial Dragon Empire was no longer untouchable.