Chapter 291: I'm Not Ready To Die Yet
Vellus nodded, "There are even more of these things inside that cave. Thousands, maybe even tens of thousands more."
Yoshiki saw what was happening and closed the case, pushing it towards Vellus while shaking his head. "I'm not coming with you. I have a family now, and I can't risk my life over your greed."
"Oh, come on Yoshiki. You're the strongest Earth Mage on the Continent. We can't go without you! I won't make you do anything serious, and your involvement will be limited. Even if there is a problem, I won't force you to come in and help.
I'll even give you ten of these Shards in advance, and you can have another ninety if our mission is successful. What do you say?" Vellus looked to Yoshiki for confirmation. Find adventures on m_v l|e'm-p y r
"Fine, but don't tell Shinpai about this."
A month later, Yoshiki could be seen defending against a group of Lightless Dragons with the Earth Element, raising multiple walls in quick succession to keep the Dragons from breaching his defense and chasing after Vellus.
They had successfully lured these Dragons outside with great effort, but Vellus hadn't come out of the cave in a few hours, and everyone was starting to get worried. After a few more minutes, some roars were heard from within the cave, dumbfounding those that believed all the Lightless Dragons had left the cave already.
Someone that had joined Vellus rushed out of the cave, screaming while waving his hands in the air.
"Master Vellus absorbed three Greater Cores and the cave spawned more Dragons, everyone run!"
Yoshiki started to back off, but a few people ran inside instead to protect their Master. Most of them had been promised Superior Death Shards as a reward, and no one wanted to give up when they were already so close.
When Yoshiki was ten kilometers away from the cave entrance, he looked back to see a plume of smoke rising into the sky while dozens of Cultivators in the Soul Formation Realm ran away at the highest speed they could muster.
Behind them were dozens of Lightless Dragons in the Soul Formation Realm, led by one in the Tribulation Transcendence Realm as they chased everyone down. He sped away as quickly as he could, thankful that he had started leaving earlier, else his Earth Element wouldn't have been enough to escape such a horde of Magical Beasts.
When he reached the Yu Royal Family's residence, Supreme Left was already waiting, but wouldn't talk to Yoshiki at all. He already knew what happened and was disappointed in his old servant for following up with such a fool's errand.
There was no punishment given out, but losing Shinpai's trust was already the worst outcome for Yoshiki.
At their age, such a small matter could be considered trivial since he was no longer a servant, but to Yu Shinpai it was different. Yoshiki was like a true brother to him but finding out about Yoshiki's decision secondhand drove a wedge between the two that couldn't be healed in a short amount of time.
Unbreakable Right's memories blinked in and out over the next few months, becoming years as a battle against the Lightless Dragons continued, raging across the Continent and wiping out many Cities—large and small.
The war became more and more hopeless when the Heavens came out and announced the passing of their judgement. They declared the Lightless Dragons would continue to swarm the continent for three years, destroying everything until there were either no Cultivators left, or the Dragons were defeated.
Worse yet, a barrier greatly exceeding anything the World could ever hope to defeat descended from above and surrounded the Azures Continent, preventing anyone from migrating to another Continent.
The Cultivators across the Continent were hopeful that they could win this war, but the Lightless Dragons continued spawning, reducing almost the entirety of the Azures Continent to ashes by the end of the first year.
During this time, Unbreakable Right's wife and two children were lost to a surprise attack from the Lightless Dragons, launching him into a wave of sadness and regret, finding himself responsible for their deaths.
If he hadn't taken up Vellus' offer, if he hadn't acted as a distraction for the man to reach the Cores, maybe they would be alive. He wanted to drink alcohol to drown out the bad memories, but there were no drinks strong enough to affect someone at his level.
He could only gnash his teeth and keep fighting, hoping to at least protect Supreme Left from meeting the same fate as he had.
With the two powerful Cultivators working together, they managed to stall the Lightless Dragons another month, but that wasn't nearly enough time to protect their Continent. Yu Yoshiki was titled Unbreakable Right, after his unbreakable will and intense desire to protect those behind him.
Even with the support of Unbreakable Right and Supreme Left, Humanity was reduced almost exclusively to the Yu Royal Family and a few of the other Ancient Families by the end of the month, less than five percent of the population before.
They fought tooth and nail to defend what little land they had, but the Lightless Dragons were pressing forward still.
In the moment that the Cultivators of the Azures Continent thought was the end, the barrier behind them was shattered and a single man floated in front of them all, wielding four Domains simultaneously with combat strength above the Tribulation Transcendence Realm.
Every wave of his hand tore apart the World, and every Magic Spell split apart Regions. He had given a new meaning to the word unstoppable, and he wiped away all presence of the Lightless Dragons in just a few months' time.
Even after their defeat, the man stood guard at the cave entrance for the next two years, slaying every Light Dragon that spawned in a single attack until the Heavens gave up on spawning their creatures.
The Lightless Dragons were gone, and the Heavens' judgement had passed. It was a surreal feeling, but the mysterious Cultivator had disappeared before anyone could properly thank him.
When Unbreakable Right's memories ended, and he saw William's executioner's axe sweeping downward toward his neck, the man looked at Yu Shinpai that was right next to him with a calm smile.
The events of the past had reminded him of two things that he hadn't felt in many years. One was the indomitable will to never give up, and the other was the promise to protect Supreme Left with his life.
"Brother Shin, I'm not ready to die yet." he said as he poured the last three hundred years' worth of Cultivation Base into progressing to the next Realm.
His aura spiked to an unfathomable level, a shockwave knocking back both William and his executioner's axe until they were a few dozen meters away. The clouds swirled and lit up, turning a bright golden color as a portal appeared in the sky.
"It's about time, Brother Yoshiki. I've been waiting, you know." Supreme Left replied as his aura also peaked, emitting another shockwave and opening a second portal in the sky. The clouds turned an even more resplendent golden color, as if they were welcoming a pair of Emperors to their resting place.