The massive explosion from the Ultimate Void Dragon God's beam lit the sky like the birth of a new star — blinding white-gold light that swallowed everything for a single terrifying heartbeat.
When the light finally faded, the protective circle around the queens was gone.
One queen was missing.
Lin Xue.
The eternal ice empress — the first queen, the cool anchor of the pride, the woman who had stood beside Wei Chen since the very beginning — had been snatched into the rift by the God's final desperate grab.
A stunned silence fell over the battlefield for one terrible second.
Then the pride erupted.
"LIN XUE!" Wei Chen roared, his voice shaking the entire continent. His Forbidden Yang Dragon Form flared brighter than ever, solar fire wings beating furiously as rage and fear surged through his veins.
Su Mei's crimson eyes widened in horror. "No… the ice queen… she's gone!"
Tigress Yu let out a primal roar of pure fury, her tail lashing so hard it cracked the balcony stone. "My sister! Cold took her!"
The other queens cried out her name — Lei Xin's thunder crackled with panic, Shang Mian's void folds trembled, Hua Shi's time aura flickered unstably, Sheng Si's life-death qi twisted in grief, Ling Hun's phantom chains rattled, Luan Xu's chaos-order balance shattered.
On the ground below, the main five disciples froze mid-battle.
Long Tian's dragon sword domain wavered. "Master… Lady Lin Xue…"
Huo Feng's phoenix flames dimmed. "The ice empress… taken…"
Wei Chen's golden eyes burned with a fury the pride had rarely seen. His brand pulsed violently, yang energy surging so hot that the air around him warped. "I'm going in after her. Now."
Su Mei grabbed his scaled arm. "Husband, no! That rift is the God's domain — it's suicide alone!"
"I'm not going alone," he said, voice steel. "You're all with me in my heart. But I need the rest of you to hold the continent. Protect the disciples. Protect our home."
He turned to the main five below. "Long Tian, you're in command. Hold the line until I return with your ice mistress. Huo Feng, Xuan Shi, Mei Ling, Bing Qing — support him. Use every pill, every technique I gave you."
The main five bowed instantly. "Yes, Master!"
Wei Chen looked at his remaining eighteen queens. "The rest of you — protect the citadel and the outer disciples. I will bring Lin Xue home."
Before anyone could argue, he folded space with a single finger point and dove straight into the shrinking rift.
The void realm swallowed him instantly.
Inside was pure nightmare.
Endless darkness stretched in every direction, broken only by floating islands of frozen black stone and rivers of corrupting gold-black mist. The air itself tried to devour his yang energy, pulling at his brand like hungry mouths.
But Wei Chen's sun burned brighter.
"Lin Xue!" he shouted, voice echoing through the void. "Hold on! I'm coming!"
A faint, weak pulse of frost qi answered from deep within the darkness — Lin Xue's signal, struggling but still alive.
He blurred forward, wings of solar fire cutting through the mist. Lesser void creatures swarmed him — twisted shadow dragons with void teeth. He pointed one finger — golden beams lanced out, exploding dozens into ash with every shot.
But the deeper he went, the stronger the resistance became.
A massive void serpent the size of a mountain lunged at him, jaws wide enough to swallow him whole.
Wei Chen met it head-on, spear thrusting forward. The Forbidden Yang Dragon Spear pierced its skull, yang fire exploding inside its body until it burst apart in a shower of black dust.
He didn't stop.
Far ahead, he saw it — a giant black ice throne floating in the void. On it sat Lin Xue, bound by gold-black chains, her silver hair frozen stiff, eyes half-closed as cold threads pulled at her name and soul.
The Ultimate Void Dragon God's voice echoed from the darkness.
"You came. Good. Watch as I devour your first queen's name… then her soul… then her body for my new bloodline."
Wei Chen's eyes blazed with pure rage. "Touch her and I will erase your entire clan from existence."
He shot forward like a golden comet.
The God laughed and sent hundreds of void dragon avatars to meet him. The battle inside the rift became apocalyptic — Wei Chen's spear flashing, one-finger beams exploding avatars by the dozens, his draconic form smashing through waves of darkness.
But the God was playing with him, buying time to finish devouring Lin Xue's name.
Wei Chen felt the strain — his yang was being suppressed by the void realm itself.
He needed more power.
He pointed one finger and created a small safe bubble of yang light around Lin Xue's throne, buying her a few more seconds.
Then he called out through the bond.
"Pride — lend me your strength!"
The eighteen queens outside the rift felt his call. They gathered in the grand hall, forming a perfect circle, bodies pressing together in a desperate, loving pile.
"We're with you, husband!" they cried as one.
Their combined yin poured through the bond — frost, demonic, primal, thunder, void, time, life-death, soul, chaos-order, and all the rest — flooding into Wei Chen across dimensions.
His power surged back to full.
He roared, spear glowing with nineteen colors of pride essence.
With one final, devastating thrust, he pierced the God's claw that was reaching for Lin Xue.
The God screamed — a sound that shattered nearby void islands.
Wei Chen grabbed Lin Xue, breaking the chains with raw yang strength, and pulled her into his arms.
She was ice-cold, barely conscious, but she smiled weakly when she saw him.
"Husband… you came…"
"Always," he whispered, kissing her frozen lips tenderly. "I've got you, my ice queen."
He folded space to escape the rift.
But as they shot toward the exit, the God's final desperate attack came — a beam of pure void essence aimed at Lin Xue's heart.
Wei Chen turned, shielding her with his body.
The beam struck his back.
Pain exploded through him.
He crashed out of the rift with Lin Xue safe in his arms, landing hard on the citadel balcony.
The pride rushed to them — tears, hugs, kisses, desperate checks to make sure both were alive.
Lin Xue was safe, but Wei Chen's back was burned black with void corruption, his golden scales cracked, yang energy leaking.
The echo's rift began to close, but the God's voice echoed one last time from the shrinking darkness.
"This is not over… I will return for what is mine…"
Wei Chen coughed blood, but still managed a roguish grin as his queens surrounded him with worry and love.
"See? Told you I'd bring her home."
But his body was failing — the void corruption spreading fast.
The pride's eyes filled with fear.
Their dragon was hurt badly.
To be Continued
© Kishtika., 2026
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