bookrandom Chapter 389 The Trail of the Fire Dragon
Chapter 389 The Trail of the Fire Dragon
**The edge of the Octarius sector—the "Scorched Earth Zone"**
The reconnaissance ship "Dawn Recaller" slowly glided out of warp space, its portholes revealing a desolate starfield. This was once the final battleground of the **Beast Wars**, now only floating wreckage and radiation clouds remained. Russell stood on the bridge, his golden pupils scanning the sensor data—abnormal energy readings, but neither chaos nor aliens.
It is fire.
Faint, almost eternal traces of some kind of supernatural burning.
“This is it,” Russell whispered. “The place where Vokhan was last seen.”
**Legends from the Ashes**
The planet Octarius V was covered in a thick layer of black ash. When Russell set foot on this land, the sensation he felt on the soles of his boots was not soft dust, but some kind of **crystallized slag**—a mark left by temperatures high enough to vaporize steel.
The surviving cave-dwelling tribes of the area called this region "the Land of Fallen Gods." Their elder, trembling, pointed to a distant volcano: "The Green-skinned God died there…then the sky burned, and the Black Giant jumped into the fire, never to emerge again."
Russell's fingertips traced the ancient murals on the rock face—
- First image: A black giant with wings on his back, wielding a giant hammer, with orc corpses piled at his feet.
- Second image: A volcanic eruption, a giant engulfed in green flames.
- Third image: A new figure emerges from the flames, taller than the giant.
“Vokhan did come.” Russell touched the charred handprint on the mural, a familiar fluctuation resonating in the psionic echo—the Primarch’s frequency. “But he didn’t leave alone.”
The crater's temperature was high enough to soften adamantite, but Russell's golden psionic energy shielded him from the heat. When he reached the core, he discovered a **giant anvil embedded in the magma**—Vokhan's sacred relic, the "Anvil of Eternity," which was supposed to have perished with him.
On the anvil lay an unfinished metal amulet, shaped like half a scale. When Russell picked it up, the amulet suddenly became scorching hot, branding a flame emblem into his palm.
Amidst the excruciating pain, a memory forcibly flooded into his consciousness—
He saw Volkan standing before the anvil, hammering a piece of metal that seemed to flow with green blood.
He saw the remains of the orc warlord "The Beast" being rebuilt.
Finally, he saw a pair of eyes, hotter than stars, open deep within the volcano…
The illusion abruptly ended. Russell, panting, released his grip and found that the amulet had vanished, leaving only the faint glow of the brand on his palm.
“It’s not missing…” he looked at the churning lava, “it was taken away.”
……
Back on the scout ship, Russell retrieved all the sector's historical records. Towards the end of the Beast Wars, there were reports of "burning giants chasing green light into the Earth's core." At the time, this was believed to refer to the Vol'kan hunting down the remaining Orcs, but now—
"The core temperature of the Euclius system rose by 0.3% after the war and has remained unchanged for three hundred years," the Mechanic analyzed. "This defies the laws of nature."
Russell unfolded the star map, his fingertip moving along the energy anomaly zone, finally stopping at an abandoned space graveyard on the outer edge of the galaxy: "Prepare for a jump. Vorkan isn't on the planet… he's **moving**."
"Moving?" Valerian asked, puzzled. "You mean he's still alive, drifting in space?"
“No.” Russell’s mark suddenly burned. “Something is **carrying him** as it moves.”
Just then, the holographic projection suddenly distorted, and an encrypted interstellar communication forcibly interrupted the system. A blurry figure flashed across the screen—as tall as a mountain, with skin like obsidian, and eyes that shimmered with a molten lava-like light.
The communication lasted only 1.3 seconds, but that was enough to convey a coordinate.
**At the edge of the Eye of Fear, a planet not recorded on the star map.**
"Who sent this?" The tech priest checked the equipment in alarm. "This couldn't possibly have breached our firewall!"
Russell slowly stood up: "The sender is not human...it is the **spirit of the forge**."
…………
**Deep Within the Eyes of Fear—The Vengeful Spirit**
Abaddon stood before the observation window on the bridge, the crimson warp storm reflecting off his black armor. The marks of the Four Gods flowed across his body, but at this moment, only icy killing intent filled his eyes.
Kahn knelt below, his armor shattered, black blood flowing from his wounds.
Abaddon's voice was deep and thunderous, "You lost to that Russell."
Kahn didn't argue, he just growled, "He...is different now."
Abaddon's fingers tapped the hilt of the Delacrani sword, his gaze sweeping across the shimmering dots on the holographic star map—**Russell's reconnaissance ship had just left the Octarius sector, heading towards the edge of the Eye of Terror.**
"Enough." The warlord's voice made the temperature on the entire bridge drop sharply. "If Kahn can't kill him, the Thousand Sons can't contain him, and the plague can't kill him—then, I will."
He turned and walked toward the command throne, the chaotic runes twisting in the air into a command:
"All troops, turn! Target—'Dawn Recaller'!"
"This time, I will personally hang his skull on the bow of the Vengeance Soul."
The alarm on the "Dawn Recaller" suddenly sounded shrilly.
“Commander!” Valerian stared at the sensors, his voice tense. “Anomalies in the warp readings—it’s the Black Legion’s tracking beacon! They’ve found us!”
Russell's golden pupils contracted slightly. He wasn't surprised—ever since activating the Flame Mark in Oaktarius, his psionic signal had been as conspicuous as a torch.
"How long will it take for the warp drive to fully recharge?"
"Seven minutes! But Abaddon's fleet is already—"
“It’s too late.” Russell walked to the weapon rack, slung the “Judgment” greatsword over his shoulder, and said, “Prepare for boarding action.”
Valerian's expression changed: "You want to face Abaddon head-on?"
Russell did not answer, but looked at the still-burning brand on his palm.
"No, I want him to pursue me."
When the shadow of the "Vengeful Spirit" loomed over the scout ship, Abaddon expected to see a formidable defense.
However, a small escape pod suddenly ejected from the Dawn Recaller and flew straight toward the unknown coordinates at the edge of the Eye of Fear.
“A naive decoy,” Abaddon sneered. “Main gun lock on, blast that thing to smithereens!”
His orders came to an abrupt halt.
Sensors indicated that the life signs inside the escape pod... were those of Russell himself.
"Trying to escape?" A rage blazed in the War Commander's eyes. "Full speed ahead! I want to see him torn apart by the subspace!"
The Black Legion's fleet changed course and pounced on the tiny escape pod like a group of sharks that had caught the scent of blood.
Unbeknownst to them, the "Dawn Recaller," under the cover of an invisible force field, was quietly sailing in the opposite direction—
Head straight to the coordinates of Vokhan.
Inside the escape pod, Russell sat quietly with his eyes closed. The warp storm outside the pod was growing increasingly violent, and chaotic energy had begun to seep in.
The communicator suddenly lit up, and Abaddon's image abruptly cut in: "You think you can fool me with such a petty trick?"
Russell opened his eyes: "I didn't intend to lie to you."
He reached out and pressed a hidden switch inside the pod. The outer shell of the escape pod suddenly detached, revealing a device engraved with ancient runes—**a warp beacon, and it was facing backwards.**
"You're not chasing me," Russell said calmly. "It's a 'lock' left by the Emperor in the Eye of Fear."
Abaddon's pupils contracted sharply.
Too late.
The instant the beacon activated, a golden beam of light pierced through the depths of warp, striking precisely the engine array of the "Soul of Vengeance." It wasn't artillery fire, but rather the force of some higher-dimensional entity—**like an invisible hand, forcibly pushing the entire warship into the depths of warp.**
"This is--?!"
"A gift from the Emperor." Russell's figure began to blur; the escape pod was actually a teleportation device. "Enjoy your 'expedition,' War General."
As Abaddon's roar still echoed through the communications channel, Russell had already appeared in the teleportation room of the Dawn Recaller.
Valerian stared in disbelief: "You...you banished Abaddon?"
“For now.” Russell glanced out the porthole at the gradually calming warp storm. “Enough time for us to find Vorkan.”