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Once I finished gathering the materials I could use inside of my Divine Realm, I decided to Rank Up. I hadn't done it through the entire battle against the Flame Emperor to measure how much I could go against someone at Rank 10 or beyond. And its fair to say I was able to hold my own ground even at Rank 9.
However, at the end, I was able to push through thanks to everyone's help, so I certainly wouldn't had been able to solo that bastard… his flames were the major problem, and once I managed to copy them and become immune to these black flames, it was easier, but even then, we were able to defeat him thanks to the combined effort of Surtr, his allies, and my family.
And of course, of the two Primordial Dragon Mothers, who manifested themselves through them, Muspel did it through Surtr and his family, and Ran through my own family wearing Aegir's ring powers.
However, although both groups were the catalyst, it wouldn't had been possible at the end without a third factor, Agni, his special Divine Ability ended awakening in the battle, and with such power, he was able to not only boost our Divine Abilities, but helped the two groups merge the Divine Abilities together and then create a connection to the draconic records, which was incredible.
The Oracle ended helping us avenge his grandfather, and the end of the Flame Emperor simply became inevitable at that point. Now that he's gone, our main goal should be to prepare for the Flame Venerable's True Inheritance, after having finished and triumphed over his trial, the only thing left was to wait the day it would begin.
We're missing two participants out of four. There's me, and the mysterious person the venerable didn't wanted to reveal to me, and then the flame emperor and a vacant spot.
The Flame Emperor's gone, so there should be two vacant spots now. I was planning on letting Agni and Surtr enter, so we can compete together for the prize, I think that would be fun.
I don't know who the mysterious other spot could be… It could be one of my enemies, or maybe a completely random person that just happens to be pretty strong.
I have yet to meet any of this continent's gods, they're just as secretive as the ones from Jotunheim, but at the very least there should be a dozen spread across the land, hiding somewhere.
Maybe it could be one of them? It would be interesting if that's the case. Nonetheless, there's still one problem before we can truly relax, and something rather unnerving.
"There's a Red Jewel Fragment missing…"
I talked about this as we enjoyed a meal in the Fire Giant Village, inside of Surtr's house. Both of our families were enjoying lunch. Agni and his sister were also invited.
"Huh? Wait, there's one missing?" Surtr wondered. "But didn't the Flame Emperor had two? So with mine and Agni's, there should be four!"
"Unless the Flame Emperor… lost one? Or something?" Agni wondered. "This is unnerving, didn't he had two, Lord Drake?"
"He did." I nodded. "I've checked all around the battlefield using hundreds of slimes and my Divine Dragon Senses, for hours now, but nothing… I only have this one I got from him after destroying his soul." I showed them the red-colored orb fragment.
POOF!
Suddenly, Aegir materialized in front of us with a rather annoyed, angry expression. She was crossing her arms while pouting.
"Hey! What the heck does this even means?! With just three fragments my brother cannot revive!" She angrily said. "How did you had one fragment gone missing? You're such a klutz, Drake!" She started to angrily hit my head with a karate chop. It didn't really hurt though.
"Sorry, but I am saying the truth right now. Someone must have it. The bastard did have it before he died. Maybe we didn't realized when, but he teleported one of them far away. But why only one though?" I wondered.
"Yeah, why just one?" Benladann asked. "Maybe… He was in a hurry and he did it just seconds before perishing?"
"If that's the case… Well, I guess it does makes some sense." Miranda agreed. "But still… Did he had any other allies that could have enough strength to wield the orb fragment's powers properly? At most he would have divine beasts or weak lackeys…"
"We never know what he might have saved…" Surtr sighed. "We know that the Four Hounds were his strongest servants, but that's it. He's someone shrouded in mystery. We learned from Master Drake about him being a fragment of Oberon, the first Demon King and Venerable… and that he's related to his main enemy, someone named Greenwood, but that's about it. We know little about his plans, what he thought, and what he wanted other than just more power."
"If he sent a fragment of my brother somewhere else, he must still have plans for it!" Aegir sighed, crossing her arms. "And how do you plan to get it? It's gone and lost now!" She was still annoying me over it.
"Don't you have the power to sense where they are?" I wondered. "I am using the ability that Yggdrasil has given to me, but I can only see the general direction, can't you pinpoint the exact location now that we're in the continent?"
"Eh? Me?! Ah… R-Right, I guess I should had done it myself!" She crossed her arms, incapable of admitting she was asking too much when she could do it on her own.
She closed her eyes and then slowly started to expand her Divine Senses, much stronger and more complex than ours, quickly beginning to mantle the entire continent in a few seconds.
"Hm?! The last fragment is…! It is near one of the Flame Venerable's Towers, to the northeast." Aegir said. "It is being held- No, it is… part of something. Ugh… it reeks of an otherworldly energy I've never sensed before! It somehow feels worse than chaotic energy…" She muttered. "W-What is this thing?! It… kind of reminds me of something, but I can't remember it… My memories are still fuzzy even now."
"Well, we'll see what it is once we confront it." I nodded. "Alright, once we're done with our meal, how about we go get that last fragment?"
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