Chapter 425 The Choice Between Them
Zara stopped. "Do I know you?"
"You used to."
The Snow Dragon circled her once. "After everything we went through together, you brought a human here to steal my life-bound pearl."
"That wasn't my idea. Valerius sent him."
"Valerius would never have dared if you hadn't allowed that man to keep half your power."
Zara folded her arms. "I didn't exactly give it to him voluntarily."
The Snow Dragon looked toward the deepest part of the forest.
"He has already found my true body."
The ground began to tremble.
Birds and animals fled through the trees as an ancient pressure awakened beneath the mountains.
The Snow Dragon turned back to Zara. "If I kill him, your power will return. Your memories will return with it."
"Can you defeat him?"
"He only has half your power." The dragon's eyes narrowed. "If you do not interfere, he will die."
Zara lowered her gaze.
That was exactly what she had planned.
"Fine," she said. "Just try to leave the body intact."
The Snow Dragon stared at her for a long moment.
Then it shot into the sky in a streak of freezing light.
The forest erupted around Zara.
Far above the mountains, an enormous roar shook the entire Divine World.
The Snow Dragon's true body rose from Wyrmrest Wilds like a mountain coming to life.
Its wings covered the sky. Its scales reflected the light in a million shards of silver and blue, and every breath it released turned clouds into ice.
Lucian looked like nothing more than a dark speck before it.
Yet the wings of light behind him burned brightly enough to divide the storm.
The first collision shattered three mountain peaks.
Zara stood below, watching the sky explode with light.
Every time Lucian used her power, something inside her answered. Heat moved through her veins, and the air around her trembled.
The power recognized its source.
It wanted to come home.
The Snow Dragon struck again. Its tail tore through the clouds, and the resulting shock wave flattened half the forest beneath it.
Lucian crossed his arms before him and formed a shield of light. The impact sent him flying backward, but he steadied himself before crashing into the mountains.
"You cannot take the Wyrmheart Pearl," the Snow Dragon roared. "It is part of my life. Leave now, and I may allow you to live."
"I can't."
"Why? You can rule the Upper Realm without it. Is Valerius's ambition worth dying for?"
Lucian said nothing for several seconds.
Then his voice reached the Snow Dragon alone. "You really think I'm doing this for the Upper Realm?"
Fragments had been appearing in his mind ever since he entered the forest.
A hospital room.
A woman wearing sunglasses indoors.
A notarized document being shoved toward him.
Zara threatening him, arguing with him, and standing beside him in places that did not exist in the memories Valerius had given him.
Lucian did not know which memories were real.
But he knew the Wyrmheart Pearl could gather spiritual essence and expose foreign spells. If he touched it, he might finally discover what had been done to him.
The Snow Dragon hesitated.
That instant was enough.
Lucian broke through the ice storm and drove his power into the mountain beneath the dragon.
A deep crimson glow appeared below the ground.
The Wyrmheart Pearl.
At the same moment, Soraya screamed inside the airship.
Cyranth tightened his hold on her.
The crimson mark beneath her skin had begun to glow in answer to the pearl.
"Her spirit is there," he said.
Zara heard him through the communication device.
She looked up at Lucian.
If he reached the pearl first, Valerius could gain control of the dragon clan.
If the Snow Dragon killed him, Zara's power would return, and Cyranth could still attempt to retrieve Soraya's spirit with her help.
It was the safest solution.
Lucian had already lost his memories.
Perhaps the man she knew no longer existed.
The Snow Dragon attacked with its full strength.
The temperature dropped so violently that rivers froze in seconds. Snow buried the trees, and the surrounding mountains cracked under the pressure.
Lucian continued fighting.
But half of Zara's power was not enough to defeat a legendary mystic beast in its own forbidden zone.
His defenses began to break.
The Snow Dragon's claw closed around him, pinning his body beneath a pressure that could have crushed a city.
Light fractured around Lucian.
The wings behind him flickered.
Zara's power surged in response, tearing at the barrier between them.
If she called it back now, Lucian would die immediately.
Her hand slowly lifted.
Then the distant airship lost power.
The extreme cold froze its engines, and it began to fall.
Zara cursed and sent a wave of energy toward it. The airship stabilized and was thrown beyond the forbidden zone.
The brief use of her power caused the half inside Lucian to recoil.
His shield collapsed.
The Snow Dragon's cold entered his body.
Lucian coughed blood, but his expression remained almost unnaturally calm.
The Snow Dragon leaned closer.
"Stop fighting."
Lucian's gaze shifted toward the forest below.
He could feel Zara there.
He did not know why she had come with him, or whether she intended to help.
But he knew she was still inside the forbidden zone.
With the last of his strength, he sent one word to her.
"Run."
Zara froze.
He did not ask her to save him.
He did not order her to fight.
He thought the Snow Dragon would kill her too.
The single word echoed in her mind.
The Snow Dragon's claw tightened. The last layer of light around Lucian shattered, and cold began to spread toward his heart.
Everything would end if Zara did nothing.
Her power would return.
Earth would be safe.
The inheritance would be hers.
It was exactly what she wanted.
[Then why can't I stand here and watch?]
Before she understood what she was doing, fire erupted around her.
A second pair of wings tore through the storm.
Zara crossed the distance between them in an instant and struck the Snow Dragon's claw away. She caught Lucian as he fell.
His body was freezing.
The Snow Dragon stared at her. "What are you doing?"
Zara gripped Lucian's arm.
Power poured from her body before she could stop it.
Not merely a fraction.
All of it.
The remaining half rushed into Lucian, forcing the cold out of his heart and rebuilding every shattered defense around him.
The Snow Dragon roared, "You have lost your mind!"
Zara's vision darkened.
She knew what would happen.
If Lucian kept the completed power, she would disappear.
She had gambled her existence on someone who did not remember her.
With the last of her strength, she looked toward the Snow Dragon. "If he remembers everything and still wants to invade Earth..."
Her voice weakened. "Kill him."
Then Zara fell.