The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 222: Chapter 222: The Grand Continent of Ravellon

After everything that had happened in the modern world, Ares eventually said his farewells to Ji Won and Jung Ho before preparing to leave.

Selene and Vina stood nearby, waiting for him.

The three of them stepped through the passage together, leaving the modern world behind as the familiar sensation of dimensional space enveloped them.

Not long afterward, Ares returned to his own world.

---

By the time they arrived at Starlight, the atmosphere within the organization was as peaceful as ever.

Ares walked through the familiar corridors with Selene and Vina following behind him, eventually making his way toward the room where Draven, Cedric, and Astra were spending their time.

Inside the room, the three were sitting together while completely absorbed in their respective iPads.

They had apparently been playing for quite some time, with none of them paying attention to anything outside the screens in their hands.

However, the moment Ares’s presence approached the room, all three immediately stopped playing.

Their fingers came to a halt over their screens as they sensed not only Ares, but two unfamiliar presences accompanying him.

Draven was the first to raise his head.

"Master has returned."

Cedric lowered his iPad slightly.

"I can sense him as well, but there are two other presences with him."

Astra’s eyes narrowed with curiosity as she looked toward the door.

"Neither of them is familiar."

The door opened a moment later, and Ares stepped inside.

Draven, Cedric, and Astra immediately greeted him.

"Welcome back, Master."

Ares gave them a brief nod.

"I’m back."

The three then shifted their attention toward the two women standing behind him.

Their expressions became curious.

Draven looked at Ares before glancing toward the unfamiliar pair.

"Master, may I ask who these two are?"

Ares stepped aside slightly so that Selene and Vina could be seen more clearly.

"These two accompanied me from the other world. Their names are Selene and Vina, and from now on, they will be serving as my subordinates."

Selene calmly stepped forward and bowed her head.

"My name is Selene. It is a pleasure to meet those who serve Master."

Vina followed her with a respectful bow.

"My name is Vina. I have also chosen to serve Master Ares from this day forward."

Cedric nodded politely.

"It is a pleasure to meet both of you. Anyone whom Master personally brings back from another world must have an extraordinary story behind them."

Astra smiled faintly.

"Welcome."

Draven, however, had not spoken.

His attention was fixed entirely on Selene.

The longer he examined her presence, the more his expression changed.

At first, there had only been curiosity in his eyes, but that curiosity quickly turned into genuine surprise.

He could feel an enormous amount of power concealed within her body, yet the power itself was not what surprised him most.

It was the quality of that power.

Her draconic essence was incredibly pure, her mana possessed an extraordinary density, and the authority contained within her existence was something Draven had not encountered for an extremely long time.

His eyes narrowed.

"Master..."

Ares looked toward him.

"What is it?"

Draven continued examining Selene for several moments before finally speaking.

"She is not an ordinary dragon, isn’t she?."

Selene looked toward him without saying anything.

Draven’s expression became increasingly serious.

"Her draconic bloodline is extraordinarily powerful, and the authority contained within her soul is far beyond that of an ordinary primordial dragon. More importantly, the pressure she is suppressing is not something that can be produced merely through accumulated mana."

He paused.

"She is a true Dragon Lord."

Cedric and Astra immediately looked toward Selene with renewed interest.

Ares simply nodded.

"That’s right."

Draven’s eyes narrowed further as he examined her.

"And she is stronger than I am."

The room became quiet for a moment.

Even Selene seemed slightly surprised by his statement.

Draven continued without any hesitation.

"I have encountered countless dragons throughout my existence, but a true Dragon Lord is an entirely different matter. To think I would encounter one again after such a long time."

Selene looked at him.

"You seem quite familiar with Dragon Lords."

Draven smiled proudly.

"I have lived long enough to learn about them."

He folded his arms before continuing his explanation.

"Among the true dragon races, becoming a Dragon Lord is not something that can be achieved simply by possessing a powerful bloodline. There can only be one Dragon Lord representing each true dragon lineage at a given time, and the requirements for reaching that position are exceptionally difficult."

His tone became more serious.

"First, the dragon must reach at least five thousand years of age. That period is necessary for its body, bloodline, soul, and draconic authority to mature completely. However, surviving for five thousand years does not automatically make a dragon a Dragon Lord. Age merely provides the foundation."

Draven looked toward Selene.

"The dragon must then reach the realm of the Supreme Transcendent. At that stage, the dragon’s existence begins to transcend the natural limitations imposed upon its species. Its body becomes capable of carrying an overwhelming level of power, its soul reaches an extraordinary degree of stability, and its draconic authority becomes sufficiently developed to influence the world around it."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"Only when those conditions are fulfilled can a dragon truly stand at the summit of its own lineage. That is why there is only one Dragon Lord for each true dragon race. It is not a title handed down through inheritance, nor is it something another dragon can simply grant. It represents the individual who has reached the highest state attainable within that lineage."

Ares listened quietly.

Draven then looked back toward Selene.

"And considering her presence, there is no doubt that she has already reached that level."

Selene remained composed, seemingly unfazed by Draven’s words.

"I see. So you recognized my existence as a Dragon Lord."

Astra tilted her head slightly before looking toward Draven.

"Then does that mean you know exactly what she is?"

Draven nodded.

"Of course. A Dragon Lord is not an existence that can be mistaken for an ordinary dragon once you have encountered one before."

His gaze remained fixed on Selene for another moment before he suddenly noticed something else.

"However, there is something I find rather interesting."

Selene looked at him.

"What is it?"

Draven’s eyes moved over her enormous humanoid form before a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Your appearance."

Ares glanced toward him.

"What about it?"

Draven gestured toward Selene.

"Now that I understand what she is, her height makes considerably more sense. A Dragon Lord possesses an extraordinary amount of power within their true form, and maintaining that level of power while taking on a humanoid form requires an exceptionally capable vessel."

He continued in a measured tone.

"Most dragons can freely alter the size of their humanoid forms because they are suppressing a considerable portion of their original power during the transformation. A Dragon Lord, however, cannot simply compress an overwhelming existence into a small human body without placing severe restrictions upon the amount of power that can be retained."

Draven looked at Selene’s enormous figure.

"That is why her humanoid form remains so large. Her body is not merely imitating the appearance of a human; it is functioning as a vessel capable of containing a tremendous amount of her draconic essence, mana, and authority. If she were to reduce her size considerably while attempting to maintain the same level of power, she would inevitably have to suppress much more of her true strength."

Selene regarded Draven for a moment before speaking.

"You understand dragons quite well."

Draven immediately smiled with unmistakable pride.

"Naturally. After living for as long as I have, it would be rather embarrassing if I knew nothing about my own race."

Ares looked at him with mild amusement.

"You really do know a lot."

Draven straightened slightly, clearly pleased by the compliment.

"Of course I do. Who do you think I am?"

Ares shook his head slightly before turning his attention toward Vina.

"And Vina was a Transcendent before she received my power."

Draven shifted his attention toward Vina and carefully examined her existence.

"She was."

His expression gradually became more serious.

"However, I would no longer describe her as merely a Transcendent."

Ares raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because whatever you did to her changed her fundamentally."

Draven’s gaze remained on Vina as he analyzed the transformation within her body and soul.

"Her power has evolved beyond what I would normally expect from someone who merely received an increase in strength. Your Eclipse energy appears to have altered her foundation itself, allowing her to evolve into a considerably higher state of existence."

He looked toward Ares.

"It seems that your power does not merely strengthen the recipient. When the conditions are appropriate, it can force an evolution that would normally require an unimaginable amount of time, power, and natural growth."

Ares nodded.

"That’s what happened."

Cedric smiled.

"Then congratulations, Master. It seems you have returned with two extraordinary subordinates."

Astra nodded as well.

"Congratulations, Master. They are certainly impressive."

Ares looked toward Selene and Vina.

"Anyway, Vina, I’ll leave you with the girls for a while, so I hope you get along with them."

Vina bowed respectfully.

"Understood, Master. I shall make every effort to become acquainted with everyone."

Ares nodded before turning his attention back toward Draven.

The conversation continued for some time, with Draven repeatedly explaining various matters concerning dragons, ancient bloodlines, Dragon Lords, and the different stages of draconic evolution.

At several points, his explanations became considerably more detailed than necessary, and it was obvious that he was enjoying the opportunity to demonstrate just how much knowledge he possessed about dragonkind.

Eventually, however, Draven seemed to remember something important.

"Master, there is another matter I wanted to report."

Ares looked toward him.

"What is it?"

Draven’s expression became more serious.

"It concerns the Grand Continent of Ravellon."

Ares’s attention immediately sharpened.

"The Grand Continent?"

"Yes. While you were away, I continued investigating the information we had previously discussed, and I managed to locate several old records concerning Ravellon."

Draven placed the documents he had gathered onto the table.

"The records are incomplete and extremely old, but they consistently refer to eleven major races currently known to inhabit the continent."

Ares glanced over the documents.

"Which races?"

Draven answered without hesitation.

"The Dragon Race, Vampire Race, Demon Race, Oni Race, Giant Race, Beast Race, Elf Race, Merfolk, Lizardfolk Federation, Dwarven Race, and Humans."

Selene listened quietly while Cedric and Astra also turned their attention toward Draven.

"Those are the races recorded in the surviving documents," Draven continued. "However, I would not assume that they represent every race currently living on Ravellon. Much of the information has been lost over time, and several records contain gaps large enough to suggest that entire civilizations may have disappeared from historical documentation."

Ares nodded.

"And what did you discover about the continent itself?"

Draven unfolded another document and placed it on the table.

"Ravellon is fundamentally different from the countries surrounding Starlight. It is not a single nation governed by one ruler, nor is it a collection of ordinary neighboring kingdoms. The continent is divided among numerous powerful civilizations, each possessing its own territories, governments, military forces, cultures, and racial interests."

He pointed toward the markings on the map.

"Some races possess centralized nations, while others are divided into multiple kingdoms or territories. Certain civilizations maintain diplomatic relations with one another, while others have spent centuries competing over land, resources, influence, or ancient grievances."

Draven’s expression became more serious.

"The scale is also difficult to compare with anything we are accustomed to. The territories controlled by some of these civilizations are vast enough to contain several ordinary kingdoms, and their strongest individuals appear to possess levels of power that exceed the standards we normally use to classify high-level combatants."

Ares studied the map carefully.

"So Ravellon is essentially a continent containing multiple major civilizations, rather than a single unified political power."

"Precisely."

Draven nodded.

"The name ’Grand Continent’ is not an exaggeration. Ravellon functions almost like a world within our world, with each major race possessing its own history and interests. Even the human nations there appear to operate very differently from the countries we know."

He paused before adding,

"Most importantly, the balance between the races appears to be considerably more complicated than I initially expected. There are old alliances, territorial disputes, neutral regions, ancient treaties, and several areas that the surviving records deliberately avoid describing in detail."

Ares remained silent for a moment as he looked over the documents.

"I see. Good work finding this information."

Draven smiled proudly.

"Of course, Master. I would hardly be worthy of my position if I could not uncover a few useful records."

Ares was about to respond when he suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, before I forget."

He opened his storage space and began placing objects onto the large table.

One power bank.

Then another.

Then another.

Within moments, the table was covered with fully charged power banks.

The reaction from Draven, Cedric, and Astra was immediate.

All three turned toward the table with considerably more enthusiasm than they had displayed during the discussion about Galvanian.

"Master..."

Cedric stared at the collection.

"You actually brought this many?"

Astra’s eyes brightened.

"Are all of them fully charged?"

"Every one of them."

Draven immediately picked one up and examined it with satisfaction.

"Excellent. Considering the power banks we still have in our possession, this should be enough to keep our devices running for a very long time."

Cedric smiled.

"At this rate, we can play for another month without worrying about charging them."

Astra nodded happily.

"That is excellent news."

Ares stared at the three of them.

"You three are more excited about the power banks than anything else I brought back."

None of them answered.

They had already returned their attention to their iPads.

Ares sighed before turning toward Selene.

"By the way, Selene, aren’t you hungry? If you need anything, feel free to tell me. I’ll have the girls prepare something for you."

Selene shook her head politely.

"There is no need to trouble yourself, Master. Dragons do not require food to sustain themselves. Even if a hundred years were to pass without eating, it would not cause us any particular difficulty."

Ares paused before remembering something.

"Oh, now that I remember it."

He smiled faintly.

"That doesn’t mean we can’t eat simply because we want to. Let’s have a meal anyway. Consider it a celebration and a proper welcome for becoming my subordinate."

Selene smiled.

"If that is what you wish, Master, then I have no reason to refuse."

Ares nodded.

"All right. We’ll call Vina as well."

He then glanced toward Draven, Cedric, and Astra.

"Are you three not coming with us?"

The three of them were already completely absorbed in their iPads again, their attention fixed on their games as though the rest of the world had ceased to exist.

Ares stared at them for several seconds before letting out a resigned sigh.

"Forget it. Let’s go, Selene."

Selene smiled and followed him toward the door.

"Yes, Master."

The two left the room together, leaving Draven, Cedric, and Astra behind as they continued playing on their iPads, apparently having already forgotten that Ares had even asked them to join the meal.

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