Rain crashed down in torrents, hammering the ground and sending ripples across every surface.
The sky was pitch black, heavy clouds pouring down sheets of water without mercy. Rainwater flooded the pavement and streamed toward the drains, merging into fast moving currents. The entire world seemed wrapped in a curtain of rain, so dense it was impossible to tell whether the water was falling from the sky or rising from the earth.
Chu Zihang sat by the classroom window, his hands clasped neatly on the desk as he stared at the downpour outside.
It was still evening, yet not a trace of sunlight remained. The thick clouds overhead swallowed all remaining light.
The school gate, usually filled with honking cars and scattered voices, was now silent except for the steady roar of rain.
He was the only one left in the classroom.
This storm felt painfully familiar.
Chu Zihang found himself recalling his diary once again.
In its pages, a man stood with his back to him, blade raised, striking toward the gods themselves. That figure had once seemed as unshakable as a mountain.
On that day, Chu Zihang learned that the man named Chu Tianjiao was a peerless hero.
On that same day, he lost his father, a man he had never truly known how to appreciate.
Only after losing him did Chu Zihang understand how important he had been.
Today's rain felt exactly like that day.
Chu Zihang turned his gaze toward the window.
Across the courtyard, he could see the corridor entrance of the opposite teaching building.
Lu Mingfei stood there, glancing around anxiously, hesitant like someone bracing himself before diving into deep water.
Chu Zihang did not know much about Lu Mingfei's family. He remembered the boy only because the memory of his father's death replayed in his mind every day, and Lu Mingfei had been present at the beginning of that scene.
Today, just like two years ago, Lu Mingfei was trapped by the storm, preparing to dash through the rain on his way home.
The same rain. The same person.
Everything about it felt wrong.
An oppressive sense of unease settled over the small seaside town, pressing down with the dark clouds above.
Chu Zihang rose from his seat and walked toward the classroom door.
The car sent to pick him up would arrive any minute.
This time, he planned to offer that younger student a ride.
But before he could reach the stairwell, Lu Mingfei did exactly what he had done two years earlier.
He ducked his head and charged into the rain like a startled porcupine.
Water splashed loudly beneath his feet, the sound echoing across the open space between the buildings.
Chu Zihang stopped.
The unease in his chest intensified, though his expression remained calm. He watched Lu Mingfei's figure fade into the rain until it became nothing more than a blur.
"It appears near the protagonist again. Is it the Dragon Race this time?"
A calm voice, smooth like flowing water, rose beside him, blending seamlessly with the sound of the rain.
Chu Zihang stiffened and turned sharply.
A man stood there, around twenty years old, with a well built physique that his casual shirt failed to conceal. His features were striking enough to draw attention, yet carried an approachable warmth, like a friendly university student.
And yet, Chu Zihang's heart began to race.
He had not sensed this person approaching at all.
Over the past two years, while searching for the truth behind the god who killed his father, Chu Zihang had developed constant vigilance.
But this man had appeared silently, just steps away, like a ghost.
More unsettling was the faint aura he sensed from him.
It felt disturbingly similar to that god.
Chu Zihang's hand moved to his waist.
He carried a guitar case, and within it rested his father's famed blade, Murasame.
Touching the scabbard beneath the black case steadied his breathing.
He looked at the stranger and asked quietly, "What is the Dragon Race, and who do you mean by the protagonist?"
The man turned his gaze toward him.
The moment their eyes met, Chu Zihang felt as if he were staring into the heart of the cosmos itself.
An entire universe seemed to operate within those eyes, vast and indifferent, while he felt like a fleeting mayfly within it.
For a split second, he felt his soul detach from his body.
It was as if he had committed an unforgivable act against something divine, and his punishment was imminent.
His perception of the world peeled away, sensation fading piece by piece.
Then the man spoke.
"The Dragon Race," he said calmly, "is the source of extraordinary power in your world. They are beings who wield authority. It is also the name of your world itself."
He smiled faintly, as if amused by his own explanation.
Chu Zihang stared, stunned.
He realized he should have been drenched in cold sweat, yet for some reason, he felt no hostility toward the man.
It was like how living creatures never fear the ground beneath their feet.
"The protagonist," the man continued, "is naturally Lu Mingfei. And you are Chu Zihang, correct?"
Chu Zihang nodded slowly. "You know me?"
"I do," the man replied with a nod. "You all have very distinct traits."
He gestured toward the rain soaked courtyard. "That one running through the storm, looking like a stray dog caught in the rain, lonely and miserable, that has to be Lu Mingfei."
Then he turned back to Chu Zihang. "As for you, you wear black contact lenses, but they cannot hide the lion in your eyes."
"At a glance, two lions. Very easy to recognize."
He chuckled lightly. "I did not expect this to be your world. Let me think. The most interesting aspect here is probably the Seven Great Alchemical Kingdoms."
"Alchemical Kingdoms?" Chu Zihang's eyes sharpened. He sensed an opening to uncover the truth he had been chasing. "Do you know what kind of gods exist in our world? Is Odin among them?"
The man paused, then smiled. "You have not encountered Kassel College yet? In that case, let us take a look together."
He reached out and patted Chu Zihang on the shoulder.
Chu Zihang had no time to react.
The man raised his hand toward the sky and made a grasping motion.
Instantly, a roaring river descended from the clouds, like a celestial flood tearing through the rain itself.
But it was not water.
As it drew closer, Chu Zihang saw images flowing within it.
Each direction he looked revealed different scenes, shifting characters, changing landscapes, and colossal dragons moving through history.
The River of Time.
The thought surfaced unbidden.
The river seemed capable of drowning the world, yet the moment it entered the grounds of Shilam Middle School, it rapidly shrank.
In the end, it became a narrow stream, flowing quietly around the man's feet.
Chu Zihang stared into its depths.
What he saw stole his breath.
The Earth gave birth to the Black King, Nidhogg.
From his own flesh and blood, the Black King created the White King and granted him the authority of spirit.
The White King led one third of the Dragon Race in rebellion and was ultimately nailed to death in the polar ice fields by the Black King himself.
Afterward, the Black King created the Four Monarchs.
Each Monarch existed as twins, governing Earth, Wind, Water, and Fire.
Across countless ages, mixed bloods born of dragons and humans emerged and multiplied.
At last, these mixed bloods joined forces with the Monarchs and overturned the Black King's dominion.
Though victorious, the Monarchs paid a heavy price. One after another, they fell into slumber to avoid destruction, or sealed themselves away to await rebirth.
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