"To break the pact, you need forgiveness from every kingdom? What kind of bizarre condition is that? Who would ever forgive you?"
Having listened to Sefris, Anbaixiu almost thought the old man was pulling his leg. Driving dragons away made total sense—perhaps at the time, fighting a war of extermination against the surviving dragons wasn't viable, and the other races wouldn't have withstood the toll of total annihilation.
But leaving behind a condition like this to break the pact? What on earth was that about?
Simply barring all dragons from returning would have sufficed. Why attach the condition that "every kingdom must forgive dragonkind"?
Sefris sighed with emotion. "Indeed, not a single race would ever forgive dragonkind. That is why, for over a thousand years, we have lingered across this ocean, never daring to return. Only bone dragons count as undead—no longer part of dragonkind—and are therefore exempt from this pact."
Anbaixiu asked in surprise, "So you set up such a terrifying bomb in the Dragon Tomb just to turn all dragons into bone dragons so they can return?"
"How could that be? If every dragon died, dragonkind would cease to exist," Sefris retorted. "If all became undead, dragonkind would have no future."
"That sounds a bit discriminatory," Anbaixiu said.
Everyone present was undead, yet which of them lacked a future? Anbaixiu's own future was to become the wealthiest person in the world, with riches rivaling whole nations.
Sefris didn't bother arguing with Anbaixiu on that point. He continued, "The terms of the pact were that simple. Back then, very few dragons survived. Counting me, there were only three adult dragons, and all of us were severely wounded. The rest were underage whelps, though together they numbered several hundred."
Hearing this, Gareth asked curiously, "Then why didn't Arthur Ryan just kill you all?"
Sefris glared at Gareth. Anbaixiu chimed in hastily, "Is that any way to speak to your father-in-law? If Arthur Ryan really had killed him, your wife probably wouldn't even exist."
Sefris turned his glare back on Anbaixiu. This lich's words were even more outrageous than his foolish son-in-law's—no wonder they were friends!
Gareth hurriedly apologized, admitting he had spoken in the heat of the moment.
Arthur Ryan had once been his idol, after all. Little did he expect that one day he would end up carving a bloody path through half the Ryan Empire.
Anbaixiu turned the matter over in his mind, sensing something was amiss, and asked, "How on earth do the Githyanki plan to help you break this pact?"
Sefris shook his head. "They didn't tell me everything. After all, the undead can no longer be considered true dragons. I only know for certain that their plan will take several years to complete."
What could the Githyanki possibly do to earn the forgiveness of every single kingdom on the continent? Invade all the kingdoms outright, then have dragonkind jump in pretending to be heroes who saved the continent?
Impossible. Aside from how absurdly fake such a farce would be, no sane person would buy it.
Even if they did believe it, would that mean forgiving dragonkind? People weren't idiots; one thing didn't erase another, and there was no way they'd let dragons return to compete for living space.
Unable to make sense of it from any angle, Anbaixiu decided to pull out his trump card.
"For events from over a thousand years ago, it's best to consult the person involved. Perhaps there are details to this pact that we don't know and Sefris has forgotten," Anbaixiu said.
Sefris said quizzically, "The person involved? Aside from me, no one among dragonkind remembers the pact from back then. They're all the new generation; most of them were just children at the time."
Anbaixiu shook his head. "No, I'm not talking about a dragon. I'm talking about Arthur Ryan himself."
Anbaixiu raised a small barrier to seal off the flowing dark magical power, then retrieved the hourglass from his personal space.
Everyone looked at the hourglass with curiosity, and Sefris cried out in shock: "The Hourglass of Eternity! How did that end up in your hands?! That was Artross's treasure, stolen away by Arthur Ryan back then! No one could ever trace its whereabouts. If Artross had this artifact in hand, he never would have lost to Arthur Ryan!"
What was the deal with this lich? Could he just produce long-lost treasures like this out of nowhere?
Anbaixiu said calmly, "Lord Sefris, calm yourself, or you'll only get more agitated in a moment."
Sefris calmed down slightly, though he couldn't resist asking, "Don't tell me you can resurrect our dragon emperor?"
"Hardly that, but I can bring dragonkind's greatest enemy before your eyes. Arthur, come out and meet an old acquaintance."
At Anbaixiu's summons, the heroic spirit of Arthur Ryan gradually emerged from the hourglass.
The moment he saw Sefris, Arthur Ryan asked with some confusion, "May I ask who you are?"
Sefris's eyes nearly popped out of his skull. He never imagined something so outrageous could exist in this world. That face, that gaze, and that potent power of Holy Light—Sefris could never forget them as long as he lived.
Sefris roared, "Arthur Ryan! It really is you! How did you end up like this? Shouldn't you have entered the divine realm of the Lord of the Dawn?! I'll... I'll kill you!"
"Wait, old sir, I don't know you," Arthur Ryan said innocently.
"You don't know me?!" Enraged, Sefris revealed his true form: a colossal bone dragon radiating prismatic light, with one wing drooping as though on the verge of snapping off.
"Look at my wing! Do you remember me now?!" Sefris opened his maw wide, nearly swallowing Arthur Ryan whole.
Seeing things go south, Anbaixiu quickly called to Gareth, "Hurry, stop your father-in-law! If they start fighting, the Dragon Tomb will blow sky-high!"
No joke—Anbaixiu had been feeding Arthur Ryan soul fragments for a long time, and the spirit had recovered most of his former strength. Back then, his battle against Aige had been earth-shaking. Even if he couldn't win here, a fight would certainly wreak havoc on the Dragon Tomb.
Gareth stepped in front of Sefris to soothe him. "This isn't the Arthur Ryan of the past! My brother told me he's just a heroic spirit with only a fraction of his memories! Calm down! Even if he were the real Arthur Ryan, you can't fight here!"
Perhaps Gareth's reminder worked, as Sefris gradually cooled down and reverted to his human form.
And now, Arthur Ryan remembered. He said in surprise, "Oh, it's you! I remember now—the wound on your wing was from my sword."
Those words nearly set Sefris off again. Remembering that strike from long ago, he yearned to skin Arthur Ryan alive and swallow him whole.
Anbaixiu spent quite some time calming the master of the Dragon Tomb and explaining the origins of this heroic spirit.
Only once the tension had dissipated did Anbaixiu ask about the dragons' pact.
He had worried the heroic spirit might lack memories of what followed, but unexpectedly, Arthur Ryan said, "Oh, that? I know about it. Long before our final victory, I had already thought about what to do once we defeated dragonkind. Hearing you describe it, the terms of the pact match what I had in mind."
Anbaixiu asked quizzically, "Why leave open the possibility of dragonkind's return? Allowing them to return if every kingdom forgives them—no matter how you look at it, that makes no sense."
Arthur Ryan replied, sounding even more perplexed, "Why wouldn't it make sense? If you do wrong, make sincere atonement, and receive forgiveness, isn't that only natural?"
Anbaixiu didn't know how to judge this. Was Arthur Ryan really this childish... no, this naive?
"That's dragonkind we're talking about! Dragons who left behind countless blood debts!" Anbaixiu said, growing slightly agitated.
Arthur Ryan shook his head. "Dragons are also an intelligent race, living beings of this world. We overthrew dragonkind's tyranny because they brutalized other races and made life unlivable for everyone.
"Though I do not know how the war concluded in the end, I imagine the vast majority of the wicked dragons were slain, which is why the survivors were banished. Most of those who survived were likely whelps, and children surely deserve a chance at forgiveness. Even if this generation cannot manage it, then wait a thousand years, or two thousand years. Hatred cannot be allowed to pass down forever.
"Do you truly wish for people thousands of years later to fight another war over ancient grudges? Can you imagine two people drawing their swords against each other simply because their ancestors thousands of years ago were enemies? If so, the blood spilled in that war would have been in vain.
"Given human nature, forgiving dragonkind is hardly an easy feat. If it is ever achieved, dragonkind must have made an extraordinary sacrifice. That being the case, they would have earned their return to their ancestral homeland. I believe this pact is entirely reasonable."
Arthur Ryan even seemed somewhat smug, feeling as though the rule he had crafted was completely seamless and solved every issue to perfection.
Everyone fell silent at Arthur Ryan's words. Even Sefris relaxed his clenched fists. From beginning to end, Arthur Ryan had treated every intelligent race equally, viewing each with impartial fairness. Their rebellion had been a struggle for survival, not for slaughter and extermination, and he had still left a glimmer of hope for dragonkind.
Very good. It thoroughly matched the Lord of the Dawn's doctrine of never abandoning hope.
His Majesty the Holy King's train of thought was indeed quite eccentric, yet Anbaixiu found himself utterly unable to pick a flaw in it.
The pact was noble, idealistic, and naive. If everyone could comprehend the original intent behind it, perhaps dragonkind truly could be swayed. But looking at things now, Arthur Ryan had indeed been too naive.
Yet after hearing all this, Anbaixiu's admiration for Arthur Ryan only deepened.
Truly worthy of the title 'Holy King.' Humanity back then had been fortunate indeed to have such a hero.
Wait, no. That wasn't the point right now.
"Arthur, think carefully. Aside from this method, wasn't there any other way to break the pact?" Anbaixiu asked.
He needed to figure out the Githyanki's plan, yet after talking for so long, he hadn't gleaned a single shred of useful information.
Arthur Ryan shook his head. "I'm not the type to leave hidden messages behind, nor am I good at wordplay. As far as my memories go, I shouldn't have left anything else—at least, the me back then didn't. But whether other changes emerged later on, that I truly cannot say."
Feeling it was a pity, Anbaixiu could only send Arthur Ryan back into his personal space.
Anbaixiu pondered that he would still have to seek answers from the Githyanki. Extracting a few Githyanki souls to examine would probably yield some clues.
Having settled on his next move, Anbaixiu spoke to Sefris once more. "Then one last question, Lord Sefris. In my capacity as a lich, I ask you: why are you seizing divine power of death? What is really going on with this Dragon Tomb, and what method is being used to siphon divine power?"
Sefris said helplessly, "You might not believe me if I tell you. We siphoned divine power for one purpose alone: to increase the success rate of transforming into bone dragons. As for the method you speak of, that falls squarely on your Elegy Poetry Society. It was your President who sent over a ring. Through that artifact, we were able to borrow the power of death."
Chapter 374