The Eclipsed Order

Chapter 59: Chapter 59: The Undead King and the Primordial Dragon

The air around the battlefield had become strangely quiet.

Only a few moments ago, the surrounding land had been filled with the movement of undead creatures, the distant sound of collapsing structures, and the heavy pressure released by Algazar’s existence.

Now, Ares stood before him.

Algazar remained completely motionless.

His entire body was concealed beneath ancient black armor, with no part of his face visible beneath the dark helmet. A long, battered greatsword rested in his hand, its blade carrying the faint remnants of an ancient aura that had somehow survived thousands of years.

Around him stood countless undead.

Some were little more than skeletal soldiers, while others possessed decayed bodies large enough to crush ordinary knights with a single blow.

Yet none of them moved.

It was almost as though the entire undead army was waiting for its king to give the command.

Ares looked at the armored figure in silence.

"Algazar..."

Aurora stood beside him, her eyes fixed on the undead king.

"Truly powerful, Master. To think those people would summon such an existence and believe that he would become their god, only to be destroyed by the very creature they worshipped."

Ares didn’t answer immediately.

He simply continued looking at Algazar.

Aurora lowered her head slightly.

"Just give me the order, Master. I will handle this matter."

"No."

Ares stepped forward.

"I’ll speak with him first."

Aurora immediately stopped.

"Understood."

Ares continued walking until he was only a short distance away from the undead king.

Algazar’s crimson eyes, visible through the narrow opening of his helmet, slowly turned toward him.

Ares smiled faintly.

"Welcome back, Undead King."

He paused.

"Or should I say... former Holy Knight Algazar?"

The undead king remained silent.

His grip around the greatsword tightened slightly.

Then his voice finally emerged from beneath the helmet.

"Who are you?"

There was no anger in his voice.

Only caution.

"And how do you know who I am?"

Before Ares could answer, a voice suddenly came from above.

"Well, well."

A figure descended slowly from the sky.

White hair.

Pale skin.

One crimson eye and one silver eye.

Draven stopped in midair with his arms crossed, looking down at Algazar with an expression that was far too pleased with himself.

"If it isn’t the great Undead King Algazar."

Algazar’s head immediately turned toward him.

"...You."

Draven smiled.

"Yes."

He lowered himself until his feet touched the ground.

"Looks like you still remember me."

Algazar stared at him.

"You’ve evolved."

"That’s right."

Draven brushed his sleeve casually.

"And what about you? You’re causing trouble again."

Algazar remained silent.

Draven continued.

"By the fact that I’m standing here, you should already understand what happened."

His voice became slightly more serious.

"One of the Primordial Dragons from The Era of Lost Civilization..."

Ares glanced toward him.

"So Draven really does know him."

Aurora’s expression became slightly surprised.

"Seems like it."

Algazar slowly looked between the two of them.

"I see..."

His voice became quieter.

"After being dead for thousands of years, I finally stand upon this land once again."

Draven smiled.

"Yes."

He folded his arms.

"It’s nice seeing you again."

Then his expression changed.

"Unfortunately, your time is already over."

Without waiting for an answer, Draven raised one hand toward Algazar.

A magical circle appeared.

Then another.

Then another.

Different colors began appearing throughout the sky, each enormous formation overlapping another as they slowly rotated.

Blue.

Red.

White.

Black.

Violet.

Golden.

The formations continued multiplying until the entire area behind Draven was covered in enormous magical structures.

A massive rectangular formation appeared behind his back, surrounded by several smaller circles that rotated independently.

The pressure released by the formations caused the ground beneath them to crack.

Ares stared upward.

"So this is Draven’s power..."

Aurora’s eyes widened slightly.

"Such power. Mr. Draven truly is a powerful ancient dragon."

Draven’s expression became smug.

Ares disappeared.

The next moment—

BONK!

Ares appeared directly behind Draven and smacked him on the head.

Every magical circle immediately stopped.

Then one by one, they vanished.

Draven froze.

"...What was that for?"

Ares stared at him.

"You’re supposed to follow my orders, right?"

"Yes..."

"Then why are you acting without asking me first?"

Draven lowered his head.

"I thought I was helping."

"You were about to turn the entire area into a magical crater."

"I had calculated the power carefully."

"Tch."

Ares narrowed his eyes.

"What was that?"

Draven immediately straightened.

"N-Nothing, Master."

He laughed awkwardly.

"I was merely saying that your judgment is absolutely correct, ahahaha."

Aurora quietly covered her mouth.

A faint smile appeared on her face.

Draven looked at her.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Nothing."

Ares sighed.

"Let’s just deal with Algazar."

"Yes, Master."

The three approached the undead king.

Draven crossed his arms again.

"Now, Algazar."

Algazar remained motionless.

"When the hero defeated you thousands of years ago, did you really believe you would never get another chance at revenge?"

Algazar’s eyes narrowed.

"What are you talking about?"

Draven’s expression became more serious.

"I’m sure you know about the Black Dragon of Calamity."

The moment he said those words, Algazar’s body became completely still.

"Before your defeat, that creature slaughtered thousands of people."

Draven continued.

"And among those who died were people connected to the hero who defeated you, as well as many of those who helped bring about your downfall."

Algazar stared at him.

"...Is that true?"

Draven looked at him as though the question itself were ridiculous.

"Why would I lie about that?"

His voice had changed.

The amusement disappeared completely.

"If you want to know whether your hatred ever received an answer, then yes."

Algazar remained silent.

For the first time, the pressure surrounding him weakened.

"I see..."

His voice was almost a whisper.

"So I was avenged after all."

Draven nodded.

"Exactly."

He turned away slightly.

"Which means you can stop this nonsense now and return to your sleep."

Algazar didn’t answer.

Draven suddenly turned back.

"Actually, wait."

Ares looked at him.

Draven smiled.

"Why don’t you stay here instead?"

Algazar’s eyes narrowed.

"And do what?"

"Serve my great Master."

Ares stared at him.

"Again?"

Algazar looked toward Ares.

"So that’s how it is."

His voice carried a strange calmness.

"No wonder you possess no fear."

He looked back at Draven.

"To think a proud Primordial Dragon would willingly become the subordinate of a human."

Draven smiled.

"He’s far beyond what you can imagine."

Ares sighed.

"You’re praising me too much."

Draven ignored him.

"So?"

He looked toward Algazar.

"What do you think of my proposal?"

Algazar glanced down at his armored body.

"I cannot simply accept."

Draven raised an eyebrow.

"Why not?"

"If I enter human civilization in this form, I will cause a commotion wherever I go."

He looked at his greatsword.

"I cannot walk among humans while looking like this."

Draven smiled.

"Fufu."

Ares immediately became suspicious.

"That expression again."

Draven placed a hand against his chest.

"Who do you think I am?"

He spoke with exaggerated pride.

"I am a noble and proud dragon."

Ares stared at him.

"That doesn’t explain anything."

Draven continued as though he hadn’t heard him.

"Changing someone’s appearance is not difficult for someone of my level."

He turned toward Ares.

"Right, Master?"

Ares sighed.

"This guy..."

Still, he had a point.

Before Algazar could answer, Draven raised his hand.

"Then allow me."

The atmosphere changed.

The playful expression disappeared from Draven’s face.

Ancient words began leaving his mouth.

They were not spoken in any modern language.

Each syllable carried an unnatural weight, as though the words themselves belonged to an age before the current kingdoms had ever existed.

"Astra velorum, anima mortis,

frange vincula carnis veteris.

Ex cinere surgat corpus novum,

ex tenebris redeat spiritus.

Quod mortuum fuit, non moriatur.

Quod perdidit nomen, nomen recipiat.

Per draconis originem,

per caelum antiquum,

per sanguinem qui ante tempora fluebat—

The air trembled.

A vast formation appeared beneath Algazar.

Another formed above him.

Then several more appeared around his body, slowly rotating in opposite directions.

Ares narrowed his eyes.

"What is he doing?"

Aurora watched without speaking.

"The magic is different from anything I’ve seen before."

Draven continued chanting.

The ancient words became louder.

The armor covering Algazar’s body began to crack.

Black particles slowly escaped from between the plates.

The undead aura surrounding him began to dissipate.

The greatsword fell from his hand.

Then the transformation began.

The armor dissolved first.

The ancient black metal broke apart into countless particles of darkness before vanishing into the air.

Beneath it was a body that appeared almost completely hollow, held together by the remnants of the power that had sustained Algazar for thousands of years.

That body began changing.

The dead flesh disappeared.

The bones dissolved into light.

The spiritual energy surrounding him compressed into a single point.

Then—

A heartbeat sounded.

THUMP.

Another followed.

THUMP.

A faint golden light appeared inside the formation.

The spiritual energy suddenly exploded outward.

A new body began forming.

Bones.

Muscle.

Skin.

Hair.

Everything appeared within seconds, reconstructed by Draven’s ancient technique.

But this wasn’t simple healing.

It was the restoration of a spiritual body.

The ancient undead essence that had remained inside Algazar was being separated from the decay that had accumulated around it.

His former body had been a vessel built for death.

Now Draven was giving him another one.

A body capable of living.

A body capable of growing.

A body capable of returning to human civilization without immediately revealing the existence of an undead king.

The golden light finally disappeared.

A young man stood where Algazar had once been.

Golden hair fell naturally around his face.

His eyes were different.

One was deep red.

The other carried a violet hue.

His appearance was strikingly similar to Draven’s human form.

Even his height was nearly identical.

Ares stared at them.

Then he looked at Draven.

Then back at the newly transformed Algazar.

"You two look like twins now."

Draven immediately turned toward him.

"What?"

Algazar looked down at his own hands.

His voice had completely changed.

"This is..."

He touched his face.

"My body..."

Draven smiled proudly.

"Beautiful, isn’t it?"

Algazar looked toward him.

"Why did you make me look like this?"

"Forget about that."

Draven waved his hand.

"Now that you’ve become a completely different person, you should become my Master’s servant."

Ares immediately turned toward him.

"Hey."

Draven froze.

"Why are you deciding that for yourself?"

"I thought it would be convenient."

"That’s not your decision."

Draven quietly looked away.

Algazar watched the two of them for several seconds.

Then he sighed.

"I have already lost everything."

He looked toward Ares.

"My kingdom."

"My name."

"My body."

"My life."

His expression became calm.

"If this man is truly powerful enough to stand above even the Primordial Dragon, then I have no reason to refuse."

He lowered his head.

"I will make an oath."

Ares blinked.

"Wait."

Algazar continued.

"I swear that I will follow his orders and never betray him."

Ares stared at him.

"Wait, are you serious?"

"Yes."

Draven smiled.

"See?"

Ares slowly looked toward him.

"Draven..."

Draven immediately raised both hands.

"What?"

"You’re really something."

Draven smiled.

"I’ll take that as praise."

Aurora quietly laughed.

Ares sighed.

"Fine."

He looked toward the newly transformed man.

"But we can’t keep calling you Algazar."

Algazar nodded.

"If I enter human civilization under that name, it would certainly cause unnecessary trouble."

Ares thought for a moment.

"Hmm..."

He looked at the golden hair and red-violet eyes.

"How about Cedric?"

The young man repeated the name quietly.

"Cedric..."

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"I like it."

He lowered his head.

"Thank you."

Ares raised one hand.

A small amount of Eclipse Power gathered around his palm.

"Then from now on, your name is Cedric."

The Eclipse Power entered Cedric’s body.

The moment it did, his eyes widened.

A faint black glow appeared around him before disappearing beneath his skin.

Cedric looked at his hands.

"I understand."

Draven smiled.

Aurora smiled as well.

Ares looked at the two former monsters standing beside him.

One was an ancient dragon.

The other had once been the Undead King.

And somehow, both were now standing beside him.

He couldn’t help sighing.

"This is getting ridiculous."

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!