[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-path-of-dragons":3,"chapter-path-of-dragons-path-of-dragons-chapter-1126":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Path of Dragons",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1685203,2151,"Book 12: Chapter 80: Varied Enemies","path-of-dragons-chapter-1126",1126,"\u003Cp>Path of Dragons\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The black knight charged in, his path hindered by a persistent wind that had worn the surface of the silver disc perfectly smooth. He struggled against it, his massive axe gleaming with red ethera. Inch by inch, he drew closer until, at last, he reached his destination – the densely inscribed pillar at the center of the platform.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He swung.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mighty effort sent the axe blistering through the air, leaving a string of red afterimages. Finally, the blade clanged against the golden pillar, rebounding with twice as much force. It was enough to foul the demonic knight’s balance, which put him at the mercy of the wind. Human-like, he flailed as his feet slipped out from under him, and he went skipping across the smooth, silver terrain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elijah could only hope that he would stop before spinning off the edge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for now, he was too busy dealing with the wind dervishes who inhabited the platform. The creatures flitted through the air, barely solid and far too fast for most people to track. Even in the Shape of Embers, Elijah struggled to keep up, and he’d been forced to employ Reprisal of Ash just so he could do a little damage while failing to build charges of Seed of Ashes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, that ability was just as overpowered as the others associated with the emberkin saint, and the resultant burns had slowed the enemy. More important was Cloak of Embers:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cloak of Embers\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Passively surround yourself with ash, creating a natural domain that enhances your reaction speeds and slows enemies. Each defeated enemy adds ash to the cloak, expanding its reach and effect. Limits dependent on Core Cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ash swirled in the wind, clinging to the wind dervishes and impeding their speed. Gradually, Elijah built up enough charges of Seed of Ashes to unleash one of the form’s ultimate abilities. However, he hesitated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They’d already defeated the creatures guarding eight of the altars, which were all identical pillars at the center of each disc. As a result, the space between them had begun to falter. Hu Shui had predicted that when they finally destroyed the last altar, they would be able to reach the central disc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And presumably, Etkatiran – the architect of the entire Aureum and the final impediment to conquering the Primal Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or so they assumed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So far, the Labyrinth of Dead Gods had defied their every expectation, so there was no telling what to expect. Each time they’d thought they’d reached an end, there was another layer of challenge awaiting them. They could only forge ahead, using what information they could glean in an effort to survive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With that in mind, Elijah held back, instead focusing on garnering as much attention as possible. To that end, he shifted into the Shape of Spores. Even as he lamented the loss of his charges, he transformed into the fungal form. The wind dervishes pounced on the perceived weakness of his decreased speed, ripping him apart with blades of air.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elijah pushed the pain aside.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had endured much worse, and none of those wounds were enough to overcome his regeneration. After all, the Shape of Spores was built to take that kind of punishment. With every attack against him, yellow spores erupted into the air. Most were immediately swept aside by the persistent wind, but enough hit the dervishes to coat them in ochre.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That brought their semi-invisible bodies into better relief.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The creatures were as alien as they were beautiful. Constantly in motion, and with hundreds of limbs, they flitted across the battlefield almost like they were dancing. But they were not entirely organic. Instead, with their radial symmetry and inorganic composition, they reminded Elijah of man-sized diatoms. However, that resemblance was more tonal than literal.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In any case, they were both beautiful and odd, especially coated in yellow spores.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their crystalline exoskeletons protected them from most of those fungal motes. But not all of them. The spores had a way of digging into the smallest crevices until they reached something to fuel their growth. And that was exactly what happened, albeit much more slowly than Elijah would have wanted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By the time the spores had taken root and slowed the creatures down even further, Elijah had endured thousands of wounds. Most were like papercuts, though slightly deeper, but many had cut down to the bone. His Shell ability had proven entirely incapable of stopping them, though the actual shell on his back remained completely unaffected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>During that time, Elijah was forced to use Absolute Grasp to resist the incredible wind. It wasn’t entirely effective, and he’d found himself sliding backward in stops and starts until he was nearly a hundred yards from the pillar, where both Hu Shui and Benedict had begun the process of destroying the thing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Black Knight’s gambit had never been the primary plan, but they’d hoped that the constant wind might have weakened it enough so that a simple blow could destroy it. No such luck, which meant they were forced to do it the hard way.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now that wind dervishes had slowed, Elijah went on the offensive. For that, he shifted into the Shape of the Scourge and kicked the nearest creature. His wicked talons skittered across the surface of the thing’s crystalline exoskeleton. It barely left a scratch, proving that the material was harder than diamond.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But a scratch was all Elijah needed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ethereal Sepsis took hold, accompanied by Spreading Blight. The much-weakened dervish faltered, wobbling like a spent top as green-black tendrils of the infection spread through its carapace. Elijah didn’t stop to watch. Instead, still with Absolute Grasp helping him to maintain his footing, he went on the attack.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His tail flashed forward, piercing another dervish like a javelin while Elijah bit, clawed, kicked, and shouldered his way through the dozen or so dervishes. After a few moments, the infected creatures’ exoskeletons became so brittle that they shattered under Elijah’s blows. That exposed the things’ flesh, which was milky white and as wispy as spun cotton candy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was also incredibly delicate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once their true bodies were exposed, the battle was all but won. Elijah continued to fight, putting the creatures down one by one until, at last, only the howl of the wind remained.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And the faint scent of burnt ozone combined with the sickly sweet odor that came with Elijah’s various afflictions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still in the Shape of the Scourge, Elijah raced back to the pillar. He shouted, “We don’t have long!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Working on it,” Benedict growled over the wind as he drew runes on the ground with his blood. The pillar was mostly surrounded by more of the same, though Elijah knew from experience that the Warlock was only half done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, Hu Shui remained silent as he held his hand against the golden column. Elijah could sense ethera flowing through the man, though he could do scarcely more than identify it as space attuned. It reminded him of the Conclave Spires, though according to Hu Shui, the design of the altars made those Earth-born creations look like cave paintings next to a Renaissance masterpiece.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Left unsaid was that the altar acted as a gateway to the other realms. In this instance, Aesira, the realm of air. If they took too long, then more creatures would find their way through. That wasn’t the primary purpose, of course. According to Hu Shui, it was intended as a conduit for air-attuned ethera. There was even a filter in place meant to prevent anything from coming through, but as with all things, the filter wasn’t entirely effective. Some creatures inevitably slipped through the cracks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Which was why the discs existed the way they did, with space and time working in tandem to quarantine anything that came through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Or that was the explanation Hu Shui gave. Elijah preferred to think of it as in-world justification created by the system to put them on a time limit. Maybe it was both, though.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As Elijah stood guard, the other two worked on their tasks. Meanwhile, Vesimath, the demonic knight, returned. Like Hu Shui and Benedict, he strapped himself to the altar so he wouldn’t go skipping across the disc again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elijah didn’t need that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, they weren’t forced to fight any more. Benedict finished first, while Hu Shui took an extra couple of minutes to finish deactivating the pillar. When they were done, Elijah transformed into his dragon form while the others climbed onto his back. He was up and gliding along on the wind as the altar exploded behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He left the disc behind before the shockwave reached them, though he did crane his neck to look back and ensure that the altar had been deactivated. What he saw was a slowly separating disc surrounded by wisps of visible wind. Thankfully, Benedict’s ritual would prevent those from escaping the pull of the implosion Hu Shui had caused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The atmosphere – what existed, at least – felt odd. Not quite the vacuum of space, but not fully present, either. It smelled slightly of welding fumes and gunpowder, with a hint of oxidation to round things out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elijah dove, leaving the disc behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Traveling between the first few discs had required the use of Lightning Rush, but thankfully, that was no longer the case. He still couldn’t reach top speed – in either of his forms capable of flight – but he could at least make progress.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their destination floated an eternity away, though, so that gave Elijah plenty of time to recollect the past few weeks. Despite each disc hosting entirely different dangers, their progress had long since begun to blur. The first altar had been guarded by apex predators that seemed like idealized versions of Earth animals, the most dangerous of which was a massive grizzly bear that looked like it had been pumped full of growth hormone and steroids.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Defeating it had been quite the task, though Vesimath had gotten the killing blow, cutting the beast’s belly open while it trampled him. Elijah had done his part, clashing with it in his dragon form, but the thing was on the verge of demi-godhood, and matching its strength was beyond him. Thankfully, Elijah had a massive edge in coordination, which allowed him to fight it to a standstill while the others did their part to take it down.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next one in line had been tied to Pruina, and it had featured odd cubes of ice that tried to crush them. The things were the size of houses, and they moved at speeds usually reserved for race cars, forming a puzzle-like environment that required perfect timing to traverse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fortunately, there were no other creatures there.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The other discs had been guarded by a variety of other creatures native to their planes. From a giant, blubbery walrus-like beast representing Niflara to a mass of shadowy tendrils from the Umbra, the foes were varied and deadly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But in each instance, the group had emerged victorious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, they only needed to defeat the final opponent. The architect of the Aureum awaited below, and he would no doubt be a danger on a level they had yet to encounter. Elijah had reason for confidence, though. After all, the Broken Crown had thrown multiple demi-gods at him, and he’d come through it all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By comparison, the Labyrinth of Dead Gods had been a much tamer challenge. More frustrating by far, and still dangerous enough that he needed to focus if he wanted to avoid being killed. But when compared to a war between vespirans and dragons, fought on a shattered planet surrounded by the abyss, it was practically a walk in the park.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He almost chuckled at that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most people on Earth would have considered both scenarios hellishly difficult. But that was what his life had become, and despite the hardships he’d been forced to endure, Elijah could admit to himself that he wouldn’t have it any other way. Because while the Labyrinth of Dead Gods had been a slog, he anticipated that finally overcoming the Primal Realm would come with that extraordinarily potent sense of satisfaction that accompanied any task well done.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was with that feeling enveloping his mind that he drew ever closer to the final disc, which was still covered by a lattice-work dome of corruption. He sped up, pushing himself to his limits. Because from what he could tell, the only way to get to the surface of that disc was to smash his way through.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a familiar strategy, and one he wholeheartedly embraced.\u003C\u002Fp>",2114,"2026-06-06T13:40:59.693Z",1,"novelbin.me","cb2aca0862044e68afd2a77fbb5236bf9357931de8ff4b55471f9ae983b3383f","path-of-dragons-chapter-1089","path-of-dragons-chapter-1046",1206,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fpath-of-dragons-cover.jpg"]