Chapter 92: Chapter 92: Legendary Celestial Dragon
He shifted his gaze downward and was greeted by the sight of Xiu Ying, her head resting peacefully in his lap. As she lifted her gaze towards him, he couldn\'t help but be enthralled by her beauty.
"With you by my side, what need do I have to divert my attention elsewhere?" Eren replied, his words laced with flirtation.
Xiu Ying playfully whispered, her voice filled with allure, "You\'re quite the charmer, aren\'t you?"
Swiftly changing the subject, she inquired, "Did you manage to get any sleep at all?"
With that, she sat upright, her curiosity evident in her expression.
"I slept enough. I woke up just half an hour before you," Eren lied, not bothering to tell her that he was awake all night.
He knew that she was only going to blame herself for being inconsiderate if he told her.
Noticing Xiu Ying\'s suspicious glare, he turned back to the ocean.
"Anyway, this is the first time I\'ve been to the sea. It\'s truly a fascinating sight," he swiftly changed the topic. "It truly looks like the Ocean of blood."
"It probably is an ocean of blood. You know, there are a lot of stories about this ocean."
"Oh? What kind of stories?"
Eren\'s ears perked up as he leaned in closer, intrigued by the tales Xiu Ying was about to share. He did not underestimate stories anymore.
Until a short time ago, this entire world was a story for him. And now, this was his reality. He believed that every story had a chance of being true, no matter how absurd.
"There was a story that once upon a time, this ocean also used to be blue like the other oceans. It was a safe place where humans could safely travel in ships, without having to worry about being killed by creatures of this ocean."
"What changed then?" Eren asked. How did a normal ocean become the ocean of blood that was filled with such fierce beasts?
"According to the legends, there was once a Celestial Dragon who lived in the Ocean. The Dragon was the ruler of this ocean."
"A Celestial Dragon?"
Eren had heard about this for the first time. He knew that there were mythical beasts in this world like the Phoenix that he was riding. There were also dragons in this world, like the Poison Dragon that he killed, or the Sea Dragon that was his goal.
"A Celestial Dragon... I guess you can understand it as a dragon that was comparable to a true god," Xiu Ying explained. "Even the strongest dragons in this era would not be comparable to a Celestial Dragon."
"Are you saying that a Celestial Dragon is the reason for the Ocean turning blood red?" Eren asked.
"At least that\'s what the legend says. According to the stories, a long time ago, the Celestial Dragon lived in the Ocean in the Dragon Palace."
"Under the Dragon\'s control, the Ocean was very peaceful. The Dragons under the Celestial Dragon not only did not harm the humans, but they even helped the humans at times."
"Even I don\'t know if there is even a shred of truth in this story. How could such powerful beings care about humans? It was like humans caring about insects?"
Xiu Ying did not believe the story in the least. This world had no compassion for the weak. It was especially true for the dragons that considered themselves the most noble beings.
"It\'s fine. Even if it is not true, I still want to hear it. What happened next?" asked Eren.
"Next, someone came and killed the Celestial Dragon. No one knows who that person was, or why he killed the Celestial Dragon. When the Celestial Dragon\'s blood fell in the Ocean, the ocean started changing."
"Most of the creatures in the ocean mutated and became stronger, thanks to the Celestial Dragon\'s Blood. The Dragon Palace was also destroyed that day."
"So the blood red ocean you see today... It\'s red because of the Celestial Dragon\'s Blood. At least that\'s the case according to the legends."
"The legends go even further and say that the person who killed the Celestial Dragon was a human, and not even a god."
"It is said that because of this, the entire human species was cursed. Humans were forbidden from entering the Ocean, and whenever a human ship tried to sail through this bloody ocean, it was destroyed."
"No one who set sail in the ocean ever returned alive. However, I believe that\'s only true for the weak. It\'s not a curse. Even if a weak person enters the forbidden forest of death, they would die. So the logic of it being a curse is absurd."
"Even more absurd is the story that a human killed the Celestial Dragon. Either the Celestial Dragon was not comparable to a true god, or the one who killed it was not a human."
"Both can\'t be true. Hence, it\'s clear that the story is mostly false, created to scare people."
Xiu Ying did not believe the story. Still, even if the legend was absurd, she hadn\'t forgotten it. It was something that wasn\'t just heard in the Southern Continent, but even in faraway continents.
"It could be true though," Eren chimed in. "Isn\'t Feng Yu also human? Mist is also human. Both of them are too strong. So it\'s possible that there was someone stronger in that era as well."
"In any case, I suppose we would never know the truth."
Eren knew that there were many beings in this world that were too strong. The Author was one such existence.
He could even stop time and space. If it was an existence like him, it could explain the death of the Celestial Dragon.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, it was all his assumption. He did not think too much about his theory. The past did not change the present.