Chapter 63: The Dragon Soul Priest

The Dragon Worship Cult was a powerful religious order that had, since the mythic age, largely dominated the eastern regions of the continent. Their reverence was not for the dragons themselves; rather, they hunted, enslaved, and even transformed dragons into undead drakes, using the formidable power of the dragon priests to enforce their will.

The cult’s capital lay within the borders of the Northern Moon Kingdom and once expanded its draconic dominion westward. Had fate not intervened, the continent would have long since been unified under their rule. Yet their relentless slaughter of dragonkind eventually drew calamity upon them. The Dragon God, Arathos, driven into a rage, led the dragonkin in a war against the cult.

The twelve Dragon Soul Liches of the cult—masked priests of mysterious origin—all wielded immense magical power. Upon igniting the divine flame and attaining godhood, they became undying liches, neither living nor dead. With their vast reservoirs of faith, they could have ascended to the Pantheon as true deities, yet chose instead to remain among mortals, seeking to make the people of Northern Moon the masters of the world.

Mortals provide the faith that sustains the gods. The Dragon Soul Liches had already claimed much of that faith for themselves, but they refused to ascend, disrupting the balance decreed by the Pantheon. When the Dragon Soul Liches slew the Time Dragon God, Arathos, the other gods joined the fray. The ensuing battle erased the cult’s capital from the map—a ruin for a thousand years before signs of life returned. As for the Twelve Dragon Soul Liches, legend holds they were not destroyed but sealed away in unknown, mysterious dimensions.

The fate of the dragons was little better. With their god dead and the Pantheon unthreatened, the other gods, vying for followers, turned their eyes to the mortal realm, driving out the dragon overlords who once ruled humankind.

Yet to this day, many among the people of Northern Moon Kingdom still revere the Dragon Soul Liches, their prayers sometimes answered in subtle ways. Statues of the twelve liches stand in each of the kingdom’s twelve cities. Dragons never dare set foot in those places, for their god was slain without mercy. Though there are fewer powerful dragon priests today, many dragonborn still possess the skills to slay dragons.

Before the cult’s rise, dragons ruled over humanity by force, and many humans with draconic bloodlines were born. Most of these dragonborn, despite their heritage, sided with humanity. They possess the unique ability to absorb the strength and souls of dragons: slaying a dragon, consuming its soul, bathing in its blood, or devouring its flesh all make them stronger. It was thanks to the existence of the dragonborn that the cult flourished.

More than half the Dragon Soul Liches, including the six highest seats, were dragonborn. To dragonkind, the dragonborn are not kin but mortal enemies; it is the many dragonborn of Northern Moon Kingdom they fear most. Only the ignorant among their kind dare to rampage within the kingdom’s borders.

Even so, many dragons fall to hunters each year. In the kingdom, only those warriors who have slain a dragon earn true recognition and the right to be called nobility.

Shivana, a third-rank Red Dragon Swordswoman, was one such hunter, wandering far from her homeland in search of dragons. She entered the Karos Mountains not only for the fire crystals, but to track and slay a young red dragon that had made the peaks its lair.

Originally, Shivana intended to hunt the dragon with a young white dragonborn girl who was to be sold at auction. Unfortunately, an arrogant noble insulted her and her companion. Shivana, renowned among the younger generation of her kingdom and unused to such humiliation, promptly taught the noble a lesson. The noble, however, fled and returned with reinforcements, escalating the conflict beyond control.

Shivana had planned to escape with her companion, but Haig proved too strong and the knights too numerous; wounded, they were forced to flee. Dragonborn heal quickly, and Shivana, worried about pursuit, destroyed a bridge behind them. At the camp, as her wounds healed, anger simmered. She returned alone and wiped out the pursuing knights.

This battle made her realize her own strength was insufficient to rescue her companion. She had come for fire crystals to grow stronger, but now changed her plan. Through special channels, she contacted the Dragon Worship Cult, incurring a massive debt in her family’s name. With the help of the cult’s professional dragon-slaying party, she not only wounded the young dragon and gained power, but also set in motion a rescue operation.

To attack during the auction would have been reckless, for the auction house’s guards and clients would have opposed them. Instead, they waited until the transaction was complete and the white dragonborn girl was no longer, in name, the auction house’s property.

Haig, however, was too cautious; he intended to cement his claim with a binding contract before leaving. If he succeeded, rescuing the girl would be pointless, her fate sealed in his hands. Forced to adapt, Shivana had the cult members use high-grade fire crystals looted from the dragon’s lair to launch an attack. To further distract the auction house and keep Haig preoccupied, they released a cloud of poisonous mist.

The poisons were not lethal but threw the hall into chaos, diverting the guards’ attention and tying down Haig’s knights. Though the plan was hasty and imperfect, its effect was dramatic.

The VIP boxes on the second floor, sparsely occupied and untouched by the mist, saw calm evacuations. The main floor, however, descended into pandemonium; the noise and confusion caused injuries, and if it continued, a deadly stampede seemed likely.

Explosions sounded continuously from the rear warehouse as the fighting intensified. Emergency measures were finally enacted: fierce winds began dispersing the poison, and staff shouted themselves hoarse trying to maintain order. But their efforts were of little use; cultists hidden among the crowd continued to sow chaos.

Chu Yun, once on the second floor, had already slipped away, traversing the Mirror World to reach the main battlefield behind the auction house. The conflict had reached its fever pitch—Haig and Shivana locked in combat. Shivana, empowered by her awakened dragonborn blood, now matched Haig’s strength, though she could only maintain this state for a limited time.

Thankfully, she was not alone. A masked mage chanted an unknown incantation, while other cult members held back the knights. The mage’s mask was inscribed with cryptic symbols—unlike magical runes, they resembled the script Chu Yun had once seen in a magazine, the language of the Tablets of Fate.