At this moment, among the two Metallic Dragon Gods, one was an imposter—a transformation of the Primordial Abomination known as the Faceless King.
As a class-strong divine power, the Faceless King had survived since the ancient First War of Dawn by utilizing its unique ability to transform and mimic any being.
Clash!
The claws of the two Metallic Dragon Gods collided, sending ripples of divine power and draconic might through the air. The dazzling golden light mingled with the swirling storm clouds, causing the sea to tremble and the gods around to waver.
The battle was evenly matched.
Among the class-strong divine power Primordials, the Faceless King might not be as formidable as the Lord of Terror or the Ancient God of the Deep, but its shapeshifting abilities placed it at the forefront. It could assume the form of any being it perceived, including the gods.
This transformation wasn't mere disguise; it was a genuine metamorphosis.
As demonstrated now, the Faceless King had truly become the Metallic Dragon God, with all the attributes and capabilities identical to Bahamut's. It even adopted the mindset of the Metallic Dragon God, thinking and feeling almost indistinguishably.
The Faceless King wielded the highest level of shapeshifting magic.
It could transform into any entity as long as its power wasn't vastly superior to its own. This meant it could become almost any being, except the top-tier entities like the Nine-Faced Dragon God, the Lord of Terror, or the Supreme Deity.
Thanks to this potent transformation ability, the Faceless King could match its strength to that of its opponents, making it a dangerous foe in battles among strong divine powers.
However, there was a drawback. When mimicking beings of the same rank for extended periods, the Faceless King risked losing itself, becoming genuinely identical to the being it was imitating.
If the target's rank was significantly higher, forcing a transformation could backfire on the Faceless King. But as a class-strong divine power, it could transform into almost any existence.
In the past, before Garon had reached demi-god status, it was the Faceless King who had disguised itself as the Goddess of Life in the Lava Demi-plane, attempting to assassinate Garon and incite a war between dragons and elves.
With the start of the War of Dawn, the Faceless King had revealed itself, no longer hiding.
The battle between the two Dragon Gods caused the blue ocean to surge and heavy rain to pour.
The gods were unable to discern which of the two was the true Metallic Dragon God and which was the Faceless King in disguise.
Suddenly, amid the intense clash of the two dragon titans, with golden light and dark clouds intermingling, the silent river of time rippled gently.
Already in his Giant God form, Garon's massive silver wings stretched wide. His silver-gray scales gleamed brightly, standing tall and imposing.
Whoosh!
With a sweep of his Solar Wings, a brilliant white light dispelled the storm clouds covering the sky.
The blinding sunlight poured down, turning the dim sky into daylight.
Bathed in the solar radiance, or perhaps emanating it, Garon cast his gaze upon the two warring Metallic Dragon Gods.
"Garon, you're here just in time!"
"I trust you can tell which one is the Faceless King. Haha, come join me, and let's tear it apart!"
Almost simultaneously, both Metallic Dragon Gods spoke.
"Damn Abomination, stop parroting me!"
Again, the same words echoed from both Dragon Gods.
Then, the two dragons locked eyes, anger flaring, and they resumed their ferocious battle.
"Garon, we've come to assist the Metallic Dragon God in killing the Primordial Abomination, but we can't see through the Faceless King's disguise."
"The Faceless King wields top-tier shapeshifting magic. It's nearly impossible to tell the real from the fake."
"Do you have a way to identify the true form of the Faceless King?"
A lesser god spoke up as he saw Garon arrive, his eyes lighting up with hope.
Garon lowered his head, observing the evenly matched battle.
His Time Eyes glimmered with a watery light, trying to pierce through the Faceless King's disguise but to no avail. He wasn't surprised; his Time Eyes were less effective on beings of higher or equal life levels.
However, the failure of the Time Eyes did not mean there were no other solutions.
"Since you can't identify the Faceless King, leave this place and aid the other gods."
"This prime material world is under my watch."
Garon's voice was calm and steady.
Hearing this, the lesser gods nodded and left without hesitation, going to assist other gods battling the Primordials.
The Eternal Dragon's performance had not gone unnoticed by the gods.
In the past, the gods had often viewed Garon as someone who relied on his lineage. Despite his rapid growth, they didn't consider him truly powerful.
But now, with his remarkable feats, especially in the War of Dawn where he outperformed many strong divine powers and was the first to successfully seal the Primordial Sun God, the gods had come to respect him genuinely.
Most gods now regarded Garon as a strong divine power in his own right.
"Bahamut, do not resist."
As he spoke, Garon's body grew, expanding rapidly into a mountainous behemoth.
Suspended in the sky, his massive silver wings continued to stretch even after his body ceased growing. In mere moments, they covered the heavens, blotting out the sun.
Garon's enormous wingspan cast a shadow over the entire sea below.
At the same time, the patterns on his wings began to spin like rings.
The river of time surged violently, its invisible waves rising and falling, gradually forming an unseen vortex centered on the two warring Dragon Gods. This vortex blended past, present, and future states into an ever-turning corridor of time.
Garon couldn't distinguish the Faceless King.
But it didn't matter.
He decided to cast the Time Corridor on both Dragon Gods. The real Bahamut would not mind the seal. The Faceless King, however, would reveal itself either by resisting or by being brought to the Dragon Court, where there were ways to uncover its true form.
Crash!
The claws of the two Metallic Dragon Gods collided once more.
The Dragon God on Garon's left suddenly beat its wings furiously, trying to break away from the battle and flee.
Garon's gaze sharpened, and he immediately marked this Dragon God with a time stamp.
"Trying to escape? Stay right here!"
The real Metallic Dragon God roared in anger.
Golden and silver light surged from every scale on Bahamut's body, extending to his limbs, wings, and tail. His brilliance filled the space as he pursued the fleeing Faceless King, engaging in close combat.
The Faceless King, still in Bahamut's form, also emitted golden and silver light. Its draconic body was nearly invulnerable, unafraid of the real Bahamut's strikes.
But the surging waves of the river of time grew increasingly turbulent.
The Time Corridor was slowly closing in.
This powerful time-based sealing technique, which required Garon considerable effort to construct, was nearly inescapable even for a class-strong divine power.
On the other side, the Faceless King and the real Bahamut were like twins in a mold.
Bahamut couldn't inflict serious injury on the Faceless King. But he didn't need to. All he had to do was keep the Faceless King within the sealing range of the Time Corridor.
As time passed, a hint of urgency appeared in the Faceless King's eyes.
"I can't shake off Bahamut. Once Garon's Time Corridor is complete, I'll be sealed if I have to face both Bahamut and the Time Dragon. I must escape. With my transformation ability, even if we lose the War of Dawn, I can hide in countless worlds. The gods won't be able to find me."
"How can I escape? Wait... the Time Dragon is right before me. If I transform into a class-strong divine power Time Dragon, I might break free from his seal. Perhaps I could even turn the tide of the War of Dawn."
The Faceless King lifted its head, its eyes reflecting the image of the silver dragon, Garon.
On Garon's gleaming silver-gray scales, irregular black scale rings stood out, emanating the unique aura of time. His crown-like horns and vast, sky-covering wings were distinct.
Buzz!
A colorless, transparent liquid suddenly seeped from every gap in the 'Metallic Dragon God's' scales.
Simultaneously, its body rapidly transformed.
The intertwined golden and silver scales turned silver-gray. The golden whiskers on its chin retracted, and black scale rings appeared on its body. More dragon horns sprouted from its head, forming a crown-like structure.
Hiss!
A pair of radiant Solar Wings unfurled, interweaving with the Time Wings.
The newly formed silver dragon had scales identical to Garon's, including his draconic aura, gaze, and ancient majesty.
One Metallic Dragon God vanished.
In its place stood a new Time Dragon, another 'Garon Aurelius.'
"It's transformed into me... exactly the same."
Garon stared at his doppelgänger.
The Faceless King's mimicry was so perfect that even Garon himself couldn't tell them apart.
"The Faceless King has become me, hoping to use my time abilities to escape this predicament. But as a class-strong divine power, will it work?"
At the same time, the real Bahamut reacted swiftly, a golden claw slashing towards the Faceless King's head—Garon's head.
The doppelgänger raised its claw.
The black scale rings on its body began to rotate counter
clockwise.
Time reversed.
Bahamut's body stiffened, his golden and silver light flickering. He couldn't fully resist the effects of time reversal. His body moved back to its original position as if a rewind button had been pressed.
"So this is the great power of time that you wield."
The doppelgänger closed its eyes, a look of delight spreading across its face.
"It's truly extraordinary, transcendent."
"Though we are of the same rank, the threat from Bahamut has vanished instantly."
"I can feel the call of the river of time. I sense infinite potential within me. I feel the surge of power... it's wonderful."
Meanwhile, under the Faceless King's will, the Time Corridor that Garon had been constructing collapsed.
The real Garon and Bahamut both showed grave expressions.
"Garon, do you have any weaknesses? If you do, please tell me everything."
Bahamut asked seriously.
Having witnessed Garon's battles, Bahamut knew that this dragon was formidable even among peers.
"My weakness... is that my body isn't strong enough."
Garon contemplated.
Bahamut looked at the doppelgänger emitting a strong class-strong divine power aura and fell silent.
"But inexplicably, despite being a primordial born with the multiverse and a class-strong divine power, I can't fully sustain such a form."
As he spoke, cracks appeared on the doppelgänger's body, spreading rapidly.
"But this is enough."
"Time stop, spatial rupture, temporal reflection, time reversal, Time Corridor... and most fearsome to us Primordials, Time Dragon Reverse Flow."
With a cold gaze, the doppelgänger stared at Garon and Bahamut, speaking with a stern tone.
"Garon Aurelius, appearing before me was your greatest mistake."
"I will use your trump card to reverse the War of Dawn! To turn our defeat into victory."
Time Dragon Reverse Flow!
The doppelgänger spread its wings, and the cracks on its body deepened as it used the time power in a self-destructive manner, flooding into the river of time.
Seeing this, Garon, who was preparing for his own Time Dragon Reverse Flow and feeling a bit apprehensive, suddenly relaxed.
The Faceless King seemed not to fully understand Garon.
Did it think the beings summoned by Time Dragon Reverse Flow would unconditionally assist the caster? That was a grave misunderstanding.
It might not be able to summon anyone at all.
Which Time Dragon would foolishly respond to a fake's call?
However, as Garon thought this, the river of time surged violently.
A Garon from another timeline had responded to the Faceless King's Time Dragon Reverse Flow.
The entity summoned by Time Dragon Reverse Flow was typically a stronger and older version of oneself, and they had to be interested in the summoner.
Amid the roiling waves of the river of time, an elegant version of Garon emerged.
She was tall and slender, her body covered in pale violet scales that resembled natural amethyst, reflecting a dreamy purple glow. Her visage was soft and attractive, her eyes like exquisite purple gems.
This was a female Amethyst Garon.
"Listen to my command, destroy them and lay waste to the prime material plane!"
The doppelgänger, looking at the Amethyst Garon, spoke firmly.
The Amethyst Garon hesitated, her gentle expression darkening, a storm brewing on her serene face.
She turned her eyes to the real Garon, and purple light flickered in her gaze as she looked back at the doppelgänger.
"Very well, very well."
"You managed to deceive me."
"Heh, I might be the first Time Dragon across the multiverse to be fooled like this."
The Amethyst Garon laughed softly, a hint of self-mockery in her voice.
Her calm words were like the surface of the ocean before a storm, with turmoil brewing beneath.
Glaring at the doppelgänger, her eyes blazed with intense purple light.
A powerful, incomparable psychic force intertwined with the power of time enveloped the doppelgänger.
Crash!
The doppelgänger convulsed, its form reverting to a featureless, transparent sphere.
Under the Amethyst Garon's will, the Faceless King's shrunken soul was extracted, landing in her grasp, vivid and motionless.
The Amethyst Garon turned to Garon with a gentle smile.
"I'm taking its soul. It will experience my psychic prowess and countless forms of torment."
"I'll leave its body to you; it should be quite useful."
"As for me being deceived, I'd prefer not to hear about it in other timelines."
Feeling embarrassed at being tricked, Garon never expected that the Faceless King could actually summon a version of himself.
Garon, smiling awkwardly, nodded at the Amethyst Garon.
"I understand."
The Amethyst Garon smiled gently, clutching the Faceless King's soul, and departed from this timeline.
"This Time Dragon lady is graceful and beautiful. Garon, could you introduce me to her sometime?"
Bahamut watched the departing Amethyst Garon and spoke to Garon.
The gods, including Bahamut, knew that Garon's Time Dragon Reverse Flow summoned alternate versions of himself from different timelines, but they weren't aware that these Time Dragons shared the same soul.
Garon's face darkened at Bahamut's interest in his alternate self.
"No way. Don't even think about it."
Bahamut sighed in disappointment. "Such a pity, only meeting once."
He looked at Garon with curiosity. "Strange, you and she seem quite alike but not."
Garon quietly distanced himself from Bahamut.
"Don't misunderstand, it's just your imagination."
After a brief exchange, Garon and Bahamut parted ways, each heading to different prime material worlds.
Time continued its steady, unyielding flow. With their overwhelming advantage, the Dragon Gods, gods, and dragons relentlessly besieged the remaining Primordial Abominations in the prime material plane.
Almost all the minor and moderate Primordials had been wiped out, with only a few hiding in outer planes, too afraid to show themselves.
The class-strong divine power Primordials were being killed or sealed one by one.
This vast conflict between the Primordials and the gods, the Second War of Dawn, was nearing its conclusion.
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