"Eternal Day, Amanatara, the most ancient and singular Sun God."
Through the words of the Night Goddess, Garon learned the true identity of the 'Lord of Dawn' standing before him. This revelation left him momentarily stunned.
The Eternal Day held a highly exalted status.
Had he not fallen so early, given the sun's vital and unique role in the multiverse, he would have certainly ascended to the pinnacle of divine ranks. In fact, at the time of his demise, he was only a step away from achieving this supreme status.
"The gods once speculated that the Lord of Dawn was a manifestation of Amanatara."
"Now it seems that this is indeed the case."
As Garon gazed at the striking resemblance between the Eternal Day and Lathander, he pondered silently amid the standoff between darkness and sunlight.
"The Eternal Day has been dead for eons. How did he come back to life?"
This question surfaced in Garon's mind.
Simultaneously, he recalled the Lord of Dawn's mysterious disappearance at the beginning of the Dawn War. Staring at the dignified face of the Eternal Day, enveloped in golden light, Garon began to piece together the answer.
"The Lord of Dawn has reverted to being the Eternal Day."
As for the specifics of how this transformation occurred, and why the Lord of Dawn chose this moment to revert, Garon had no clear answers.
"Perhaps he aimed to contribute more to the Dawn War."
"After all, the Eternal Day is undoubtedly powerful, likely even more so than the current Sun God."
Since the Lord of Dawn had already become the Eternal Day, Garon chose to view this deity's actions in a positive light.
"Was the fall of the God of Sun and Evil Fire also his doing?"
"It must be."
In the blazing golden light of the Eternal Day, Garon sensed a familiar aura—the malevolent red sun he once encountered, belonging to the God of Sun and Evil Fire. Their previous close combat had left Garon with a vivid memory of the God of Sun and Evil Fire's solar dominion.
"So, the Eternal Day has reclaimed the solar authority once held by the Lord of Dawn and the God of Sun and Evil Fire."
"Now, the only solar power remaining is the one the God of Light had, which I currently possess."
Garon realized that the Eternal Day's intentions were likely not benign.
He suspected that the Eternal Day had been observing him from the shadows, waiting for the right moment to act. The timely appearance here suggested a premeditated plan, given the Night Goddess's assertion that the Shadow Nexus was exceptionally well-concealed and difficult to locate without prior knowledge.
"One ancient goddess wasn't enough, now comes another, the Eternal Day."
"I'm only four hundred years old, and already facing two such ancient deities."
"Fortunately, their enmity is deep. Perhaps I can use this to my advantage and escape."
Upon seeing the Eternal Day, Garon's mind raced with thoughts, and he slowed his extraction of life energy.
Deep down, Garon did not wish to severely damage the foundation of the Heroic Realm through mutual destruction.
"Amanatara, why have you come?"
The Night Goddess took a deep breath, suppressing her hatred for the Eternal Day as she spoke.
"For the solar authority."
The Eternal Day's gaze shifted towards the silver dragon shrouded in darkness, and he spoke plainly.
Garon's expression darkened.
It was as he had feared.
"Fine, you go to the Dragon Court and seize the Primordial Sun God for me. In return, I will strip this time dragon of his solar power and trade it with you."
"Currently, the gods and the Primordials are battling in the Material Plane. With your strength, no deity can stop you."
"Once you return to your peak state, if you're cautious, you need not fear the Nine-faced Dragon God's retribution."
"This is a win-win for both of us. What do you say?"
The Night Goddess could not endure the multiverse's brilliance and vibrancy. To her, it was like forcing a white dragon to live in a volcano or making a red dragon dwell in an icefield—a complete physiological and psychological aversion.
Since the rise of the first light, the Night Goddess's mind had never known peace, constantly besieged by agitation.
It was akin to a person who, desperately needing sleep, is tormented by relentless, grating noise and blinding lights, unable to find respite or ignore the disturbance.
Only the Primordial Shadows, with their similar plight, could truly understand the Night Goddess.
Were it not for her immense mental fortitude, she might have already descended into madness, becoming a deity of insanity.
Over the endless years, to reclaim her serene, void-like environment, the Night Goddess had mastered deception, strategy, and patience. She wasn't one to act rashly or impulsively jeopardize her grand schemes.
"This is a compelling proposal."
The Eternal Day's face retained the serene smile of the Lord of Dawn, but his tone shifted. "However, I am not interested."
The Night Goddess's gaze instantly turned icy.
Offering cooperation and negotiation, she believed, was giving the Eternal Day considerable respect. His refusal only ignited the flames of her repressed fury.
Her veil-like gown fluttered as if caught in an unseen wind.
"In the darkness, I am all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful."
"From time immemorial, the dark has been my dominion."
Dark, radiant light welled up in the Night Goddess's deep purple eyes.
She extended her alabaster arm into the shadow, pointing towards the Eternal Day.
In the next moment, at the Night Goddess's command, darkness around the Eternal Day pulsed with life, forming a vast, abyssal maw. It was an embodiment of evil, darkness, and infinite depth, swallowing the Eternal Day whole.
"My sunlight once illuminated the primordial universe, causing you unimaginable agony."
"Sharr, you couldn't do anything to me then, and you can't now."
From within the darkness, radiant golden sunlight emerged, accompanying the Eternal Day's calm words.
Finally, beams of gold pierced through, forming a brilliant golden sun, emanating divine might. Its radiance was blinding and inviolable.
Within the golden sun, the Eternal Day smiled, his eyes cold and dignified, his silver hair impeccably straight and tidy.
"Haha, if not for Selune, you would have been shattered by me long ago!"
"Now that Selune is a spent force, you dare confront me directly. Who gave you this courage?"
The Night Goddess laughed mockingly.
In their prime, the Night Goddess had unquestionably been stronger than the Eternal Day. However, the Eternal Day had the backing of the Moon Goddess. After the Moon Goddess was grievously wounded, the Night Goddess also lost her peak strength.
The golden sun pried open the maw of darkness, but more boundless darkness, seemingly endless, surged forth, as if all the multiverse's darkness had gathered here, pressing against the Eternal Day.
Buzzing, the Eternal Day's eyes turned golden, like two miniature suns.
On the surface of the golden sun, red flames as crimson as blood and golden flames ignited together, burning through the encroaching darkness.
In the Shadow Nexus, these two high-ranking deities engaged in a fierce, unseen battle.
The only spectator was Garon.
Still ensnared in the glue-like darkness, the silver dragon found movement nearly impossible.
With the Night Goddess and the Eternal Day's focus diverted by their battle, Garon decided to stay put in the darkness and watch the clash of these ancient deities.
Given the stature and history of both combatants, such a close vantage point was exceedingly rare.
Garon halted his absorption of life energy, engrossed in the spectacle.
"Fight, the fiercer, the better."
"Once the Nine-faced Dragon God notices, let's see who escapes."
No matter how well-sealed, the Shadow Nexus had its limits.
Garon could feel the space around him trembling and weakening under the strain of the two ancient gods' conflict. As long as the Eternal Day and the Night Goddess remained at odds, Garon would remain relatively safe in the ensuing chaos.
Time flowed steadily onward.
In Garon's view, darkness and sunlight vied for control of the Shadow Nexus, each pushing against the other.
However, after a prolonged standoff, the golden sunlight began to wane. The endless darkness, relentless and inexhaustible, was compressing the golden sun's space, inch by inch, extinguishing its light.
"The Eternal Day is at a disadvantage."
Garon concluded the current state of the battle.
Both deities were far from their peak. Their current strengths likely fell short of godhood level twenty. Yet, this was the Night Goddess's domain, where the surrounding darkness was her inexhaustible source of power.
The Night Goddess had the home-field advantage.
"Amanatara, your revival and subsequent confrontation with me will be the greatest mistake you ever made."
The Night Goddess raised her right hand.
A disc-shaped jade object appeared out of thin air.
It was entirely black, devoid of any patterns, pure and singular, yet distinct from the surrounding darkness. It was deeper than deep, darker than dark, like the blackest night devoid of stars.
This was the Dark Jade Disc, an immensely powerful primordial artifact, born alongside the Night Goddess at the dawn of time.
Garon had never seen the Dark Jade Disc before and did not know its specific powers.
But he knew that an artifact deemed worthy by the Night Goddess must be extraordinary.
On the other side, the Eternal Day's expression grew grim.
Though Garon didn't know, the Eternal Day was well aware of the Dark Jade Disc's formidable power.
It was one of the greatest artifacts of the Great Wheel multiverse.
The other was the Silver Jade Disc
, held by the Moon Goddess.
The Dark Jade Disc and the Silver Jade Disc were indisputably the most powerful artifacts in the Great Wheel multiverse.
The Dark Jade Disc bore numerous nearly imperceptible cracks from past clashes with the Silver Jade Disc during battles between the Night Goddess and the Moon Goddess.
In her current state, using the Dark Jade Disc would exacerbate these cracks.
She would only resort to using the Dark Jade Disc in critical moments.
The Night Goddess harbored deadly intent towards the Eternal Day.
"Close your eyes."
The Eternal Day's expression turned solemn as he spoke suddenly.
Though his gaze was fixed on the Night Goddess, Garon felt that the command was directed at him.
Instinctively, the silver dragon shut his eyes.
Under the Night Goddess's control, Garon could only move his eyes.
At the moment Garon closed his eyes...
All the light and heat emitted by the golden sun were retracted, and it began to tremble slightly.
Crack, crack, crack.
Cracks spread across the golden sun, interwoven and stretching out.
Boom!
The golden sun surrounding Amanatara exploded with a thunderous roar, splitting into fragments. Blazing golden radiance and searing flames erupted, dispelling the surrounding darkness and causing the entire Shadow Nexus to shudder violently.
The darkened space, reinforced by shadows, fractured like a shattered mirror.
Along these cracks, golden light seeped through.
In the Howling Abyss, golden sunlight pierced through the sealed Shadow Nexus, illuminating the entire fourth layer of the Howling Abyss. The many intelligent beings living there were bewildered and stood in stunned silence.
Inside the Shadow Nexus, now split open with gaping holes...
At the center of the golden sun, Amanatara's form was riddled with cracks, and his aura was severely weakened. However, his expression remained unchanged.
"Amanatara!"
The Night Goddess, her dark veil tattered and scorched by the sun's light, exposing her smooth, pale skin, appeared both humiliated and enraged.
In a fury, she hurled the Dark Jade Disc.
Buzz!
The Dark Jade Disc spun rapidly, slicing effortlessly through the radiant sunlight, leaving a trail of darkness in its wake. Silent and swift, it hurtled towards the Eternal Day.
If the Dark Jade Disc struck...
The recently revived Eternal Day would face another demise.
At this crucial moment...
A colossal dragon's claw, vast enough to blot out the sky, its scales shimmering with a gradient of colors, each imbued with the essence of all dragonkind, tore through the space and descended into the Shadow Nexus.
This was the claw of the Nine-faced Dragon God.
Unlike before, when the Night Goddess had conjured an illusion, this time, it was real.
The near self-destruction of the Eternal Day had shattered the Night Goddess's dark space, sending shockwaves of divine power through the Howling Abyss and reverberating across the multiverse.
The Nine-faced Dragon God had sensed this disturbance.
Simultaneously, the Dragon God detected the presences of the Night Goddess and Garon, quickly discerning the events that had unfolded.
Without hesitation, amidst the angry roars of the Lord of Terror, the Nine-faced Dragon God departed the Material Plane and arrived at the Howling Abyss.
The Dark Jade Disc collided with the Nine-faced Dragon God's claw.
Thud!
Scales shattered, and the massive claw halted momentarily. From the wound, boundless darkness seeped in, corroding the Nine-faced Dragon God's claw and turning the scales black.
Simultaneously, the Night Goddess cast a hateful glance at everyone present.
Retrieving the Dark Jade Disc, now with another crack, she vanished into the darkness.
In the next instant, the full, imposing form of the Nine-faced Dragon God filled the shattered Shadow Nexus.
Casting a glance at Garon and the weakened Amanatara, the Dragon God said, "Let's leave this place first."
Invisible, intangible rules of reality stirred, enveloping Garon and the Eternal Day, transporting them to the Heroic Realm.
"Ei, where do you think you're going!"
Rolling waves of black and red demonic flames surged as the Lord of Terror followed the Dragon God to the Howling Abyss.
The two supreme beings began a fierce battle, using the Howling Abyss as their battlefield.
However, moments later, the Lord of Terror realized his true objective was to wreak havoc on the Material Plane. With the Dragon God gone, he should have been free to unleash his fury upon the Material Plane instead of chasing after the Dragon God.
"Ei, you sly bastard."
Furious, the Lord of Terror cursed and turned back to descend upon the Material Plane, followed closely by the Nine-faced Dragon God, who could not allow the Lord of Terror to cause such devastating destruction unchecked.
Meanwhile...
After being transported back to the Heroic Realm by the Nine-faced Dragon God, the silver dragon gazed at the weakened, crack-ridden form of the Eternal Day, deep in thought.
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