NOVEL NEXT Chapter 169: The Void of Judgment
The Divine Dragon King froze. "What… what just happened?"
Nolan stared back at him, silent.
The dragon snarled. "No matter. If I can't destroy you, I'll destroy the world!" He turned his vast head, aiming the next attack at the realm below—Lyra included.
But before he could release it, Nolan's hand stretched outward again. A blinding light enveloped both him and the Dragon King.
The world vanished.
Darkness. Steam. Stillness. The dragon blinked. "Where am I? Where am I?! What is this place?"
His voice echoed endlessly.
Somewhere in that endless void, Nolan's voice drifted back to him, low and cold. "All those words you've been spitting… all those threats… you made someone I care about shed tears for me. You made her suffer. Your judgment… will be endless."
Lyra's voice echoed faintly, as if from another world, "Master…"
The Dragon King spun in the darkness, unable to see him. The void was stagnant, steam hanging frozen in midair. Time itself had stopped.
And then Nolan spoke again,
"You're in my world now."
"How dare you?" The Divine Dragon King's voice boomed like rolling thunder. "Do you know who I am? Huh? Do you know who I am?"
Nolan's figure flickered into existence before him, eyes cold and unyielding. "Who you are?" Nolan's voice was calm but sharp enough to cut steel. "You're nothing but a loser. And now, I'm going to make you feel pain—pain you can't escape. You'll beg me to forgive you… but I won't. Not until you've suffered."
"You… you—" The dragon's massive body trembled. "What's going on? How are you able to do this? You died a second ago! You stole my power—my divine power! You stripped me down, reduced me to this! Tell me, who are you?!"
Nolan stepped closer, his aura glowing like a rising sun. "Who am I? You dare speak without my permission?" His eyes narrowed.
A flash of golden light erupted. A massive spear of pure energy materialized and tore through the Divine Dragon King's scales, piercing its flesh like paper. The dragon roared, the sound shaking the void.
"How… how is this possible? Nothing has pierced my skin in millennia!"
"You spoke again," Nolan said flatly. Another golden spear formed instantly and hurled into the dragon's chest. This time the beast's roar cracked into a whimper.
The Dragon King's thoughts spun wildly. Who is this? A maniac? A god? I thought I would finally destroy the world. Now I'm trapped in a place that doesn't even exist.
Nolan raised his hand, the darkness around them shifting. "This place isn't your world," his voice echoed, deeper now, resonating with something beyond mortal tone. "It's mine. Everything you think, everything you say, even what you plan—I already know. Welcome to my domain."
Circles of golden light spiraled around the Divine Dragon King, intricate runes glowing like stars. Above them, a colossal image appeared—a clock, its hands ticking slowly but with thunderous weight.
"You've lived for over a million years," Nolan said, his hand glowing brighter. "Now, let me show you the true power of time."
The clock's hands spun backward, forward, then stopped. Nolan's eyes burned. "Age."
Instantly the Divine Dragon King's body began to change. Its scales dulled, its wings cracked and shriveled, its immense muscles wasted away.
Ten million years.
Twenty million.
Fifty million.
A hundred million years of age poured into the beast's body in an instant.
Its once-mighty roar turned into a dry, rasping cry. Its skin faded, bones visible beneath parchment-thin flesh.
"What… what is happening?!" the dragon gasped, its voice hoarse. "I've aged a hundred million years… but it shouldn't be possible! I haven't fallen from grace! How can a mere human—how can you—do this?"
"You still don't understand," Nolan said, stepping closer, his golden aura illuminating the void. "I'm not a mere human anymore. I am a Chronogod. Time itself bends to my will. Grace, divinity—none of it matters when judgment is passed. You will age because I decree it. And when I pass judgment… nothing can save you."
The Divine Dragon King tried to move, but his body no longer obeyed him. His once-mighty wings crumbled like dry leaves. His scales turned to ash. His voice broke into a whisper.
Holy Lancer, Nolan murmured.
This time the spears were different — larger, denser, charged with a gravity that felt older than the world. Dozens of golden lances erupted around him and drove into the dragon's flesh. The beast bled from many wounds, black ichor steaming where the holy light met divine scale.
The dragon's roar warped into a strangled, incredulous cry. "Is this how I die?" it spat, voice breaking. "I have waited—sealed, restrained—for an age. The day would come when I would sweep away everything. I am a Divine Dragon King. I cannot die. How can a mere human—"
"You claim immortality," Nolan said, stepping forward until the dragon occupied the void beneath his gaze. A single, massive spear coalesced at his fingertip, brilliant and raw. Nolan drove it into the dragon's open maw; golden energy poured from the wound like molten sun. The dragon staggered, blood streaming down its jaws.
"You're wrapped in pride," Nolan said. "You think your name makes you untouchable. I'll break that pride. I'll break you."
He hesitated for a breath. The dragon's body trembled in the void, its life measured now in ragged breaths and flinches. Nolan felt the weight of what he could do. He could end this here—smash the dragon's essence to ash, seal its soul in the dark pocket of this place forever. He could make its suffering endless. He could, if he wished, attempt something stranger: tame it.
Lyra's face, pale and battered, swam into his thoughts — the way the dragon had hurt her, the way she'd stood and bled for what she believed in. Nolan's jaw tightened.
"Kill him," a small, merciless voice in his head whispered. "Finish it."
"No," Nolan said aloud, the word slow and sure. He pulled his hand back. The golden spear shuddered, then dissolved into motes of light that spiraled and settled around the dragon like a chain.