Ember Dragon

Cassius and Zariel faced each other from a distance, two powerful laws of power collided with each other, and the golden light and the blood-red light intertwined in the sky.
The sky was obscured by thick sulfur smoke, the charred earth was covered with spider-web-like cracks, and magma flowed through it like blood vessels.

When one reaches the power level of a demigod, even a nine-ring spell - or even a forbidden spell - would hardly play a decisive role. Sometimes the battle would return to its most primitive state and evolve into a physical fight.

But in reality, every contact between them is filled with murderous intent, and ordinary mortals can easily be wiped out even if they just get close to the battlefield.

Zariel had a strange expression on his face, his eyes drooped, but the corners of his mouth were exaggeratedly raised, and sadness and joy appeared on his still delicate face at the same time.

She murmured, "Why, why are you all so selfish? Heaven is like this, those mortals are like this, and you are like this too.
If billions of souls from the entire material plane were sacrificed, wouldn't the eternal blood war be completely over? Everyone would have eternal peace."

"Madman." Cassius gritted his teeth and breathed heavily. Beams of golden light shone down, constantly repairing the wound on his shoulder.

At the same time, Cassius was also carefully observing Zariel in the distance.

Be it angels, demons, or devils, these alien creatures can only exert their full power in their own planes.

Under the shining of the [Day of Fall], August gradually fell into hell. Now this place is equivalent to half of Avernus, and Zariel is in it with authority like a god.

"It is almost impossible to win a head-on confrontation with Zariel in this state. Fortunately, I still have that plan." Cassius waved his dragon wings and thought to himself.

Thinking of this, Cassius used the contract as a bond to convey a message to the great devil far away in Avernus.

"Bail, when will you assassinate Zariel's true form?"

"It's not time yet, Your Majesty Cassius." Cassius could hear that Bayer's voice was filled with suppressed emotions, including excitement, anxiety, and nervousness.

"Not in time?"

"Of course, Your Majesty Cassius, I only have this one chance. To use your words: we are in the same boat.

At this time, Zariel is blessed by the will of Avernus and is extremely powerful. We must wait for an opportunity - when August is between the material plane and Baator, and the will of Avernus is too busy to take care of other things, that is when Zariel is at his weakest. "

“What are the characteristics of that moment?”

"The sky will be torn apart, and an eye will open in the black sun. Then, we can take advantage of this opportunity to kill her."

"I see."

Cassius nodded in agreement and then turned his attention back to the tense battle.

The scarlet power of hell was seen descending, and the Burning Sky Wings that covered the sky were recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just a few breaths, they were back to normal.

"In that case." Zariel's expression became more and more crazy, with a crazy and wanton smile on his face, "Let me do all this for you!"

Under the focus of countless gazes, Zariel's momentum grew stronger and stronger. The blood-red light dyed the sky red, and his burning wings continued to expand, covering everything, and gradually evolved into giant wings thousands of meters long.

Flames tore the sky red, and Zariel hung suspended beneath the seething clouds, his fingers entwined with chains from hell.

"Whoosh-"

Countless hell steel chains broke out from the cracks in the ground, soared into the sky, and penetrated the sky and the earth, as if to lock the entire world tightly.

A melodious and eerie female voice echoed in the bloody sky, and all the creatures of hell present showed joy and madness on their faces.

Avernus's will slowly descended, pressing on Cassius' shoulders like a heavy mountain, making him feel a little breathless.

"Thorn-"

The whistling fishy wind swept across the sky and blew towards him, making even the waving of the dragon wings seem a little weak.

"Her power is still rising, and even suppressing me!" Cassius's face suddenly changed, his muscles tensed, and he barely maintained his balance. "I can't go on like this, I have to act quickly, otherwise it will be too late when I fall into Avernus here!"

He flapped his wings hard, creating a strong scorching wind, and his huge body turned into a red afterimage, cutting through the sky.

"Come, red dragon, I will cut off your head and embed your skull in my Iron Throne!" Zariel's voice trembled, but it was not because of fear, but because of extreme excitement.

"Whoosh whoosh-"

A clear and crisp sound resounded through the sky, and the Hell Chain was like a frenzied giant python, dancing wildly in the air and coiling towards the red dragon.

But the red dragon flapped its wings again and again, performing various extremely difficult flying maneuvers, sudden stops, climbs, and dives, flexibly avoiding the hell chains and coming to a place less than 500 meters away from Zariel.

"Roar--"

The red dragon's roar shattered the mountains and rock walls beneath it, and magma gushed out like blood.

"Zariel! Die--" Cassius spread his wide dragon wings, dark red dragon flame brewing deep in his throat, and the air around him distorted due to the high temperature.

The red dragon's pupils, like molten gold, suddenly burst into blazing light, and the chaotic flames in its mouth poured out like a waterfall, attacking Zariel who was not far away.

Under the burning of this flame, even the magma flowing on the earth began to boil, making muffled sounds.

"Chaos Fire?" Zariel's expression changed slightly. As a bloody battle operator, she recognized it at a glance - this was the power from her enemy, the Abyss.

"Your flames are but the echoing embers of hell!" Zariel's voice drowned out the boiling magma.

"His-"

The burning giant sword was swung in the air, and with the power of hell, it stretched to a hundred meters, as if it was going to split the entire world apart.

At the moment the sword blade cut through the sky and split the flames, the red dragon's light golden vertical pupils suddenly shrank into thin lines. He swung his wings, tightened his limbs, and twisted his body in the air to avoid the fatal blow.

The dragon scales scraped against the sword, splashing out a series of dazzling sparks.

Cassius dived forward, closing the distance between them, and rushed towards Zariel like a ghost.

At this moment, a war hammer with an ancient appearance appeared in Zariel's hand. The moment it appeared, Cassius suddenly felt a biting chill coming towards him, as if it was going to freeze his body and soul.

Such a familiar feeling
Looking at the ice-blue rune that lit up on the warhammer, Cassius was suddenly shocked - it was actually the rune of Solem!
This is Matalotok, the "Father of Frost", an ancient hammer forged by the God of Frost Giants, and the favorite weapon of the Abyss Lord Kostchech, who is also a Frost Giant.

In a bloody battle decades ago, Zariel defeated Kostchki and obtained the hammer.

"boom!"

Zariel swung his hammer with a grim smile, and a torrent of extremely cold air poured out and attacked Cassius, almost freezing the surrounding air.

Under the power of this artifact, even an ancient red dragon with a volcano hidden in its body would probably be frozen into ice in an instant.

As the cold spread, Cassius' movements became slower and slower, as if he was struggling in a sticky swamp and was about to fall completely. Even his scales were covered with a thick layer of frost.

"Haha. The methods of the Lord of Hell are not something that a mortal like you can understand."

Zariel walked forward step by step, holding the giant sword of hell in his hand, his eyes revealing madness and greed, as if he had already taken these countless souls into his pocket.

At this moment, a sudden change occurred.

"Crack, crack" the runes on the red dragon lit up, releasing cold light. The ice covering his body suddenly shattered, and the huge dragon body pounced towards Zariel at a terrifying speed!
It turns out this is Cassius in disguise!

He once absorbed the power of the Everfrost Rune and plundered Solem's divine power to protect himself from damage by this artifact.

"Damn reptile!" Zariel's face was full of anger, and his Burning Sky Wings flapped violently, stirring up a hurricane filled with lava fragments that surrounded it. He swung the giant sword in his hand into the air and chopped it head-on at the red dragon's head.

"boom--"

Cassius released the nine-ring spell [Dragon Absorption], and a powerful spell vortex appeared in front of his head, absorbing the energy of the storm.

Then, he suddenly spread his dragon wings to the side, dodged the giant sword's slash, and quickly flew across the sky, with his chest almost touching the ferocious sword.

At this moment, the red dragon was like a sharp cone, piercing through all defenses and stabbing towards Zariel.

"Whoosh-"

Hundreds of red-hot hell chains appeared from behind Zariel, making crisp sounds and rushing towards the red dragon like poisonous snakes.

Cassius flapped his wings suddenly and rose into the air, leaving the hell chains empty.

Then, he flew over Zariel, swinging his dragon tail, which was as thick as a mountain range, with all his might. The tip of the tail swept towards him like a battering ram - this was a long-awaited attack.

The space was smashed into spider-web-like cracks, producing oscillating ripples.

"boom!"

Accompanied by a roaring sonic boom, under this unimaginable force for mortals, Zariel was smashed thousands of meters away, deeply stuck in the rock wall, and rubble fell like rain.

Cassius would not waste any opportunity to press home his victory.

The red dragon flapped its wings and turned into a red meteor, falling rapidly towards Zariel. A dazzling light burst out from its chest and a terrifying blue-white column of fire spewed out of its throat.

The original spit!

But with the blessing of Avernus's increasingly strong will, Zariel's body expanded wildly, reaching a hundred meters in just a few seconds.

Zariel held the Infernal Sword in one hand, and the broad blade blocked the blasting Primal Breath.

In an instant, the fire was so bright and the temperature was so terrifying that it even turned the surrounding sand and gravel into glass.

But Zariel, blessed by the will of Avernus, was not afraid. He stood up suddenly, flapped his Burning Sky Wings behind him, set off a storm that swept across the earth, and released a ring-shaped flame shock wave.

Under the cover of her wings that covered the sky, mountains collapsed, rivers evaporated, magma flowed, and it was like a purgatory on earth.

"Hahaha, I hope you can give me a good time and not let my death be too boring!" Zariel laughed wildly, his mouth almost reaching his ears. He swung a huge chain hammer in his hand, turned it a few circles, and then smashed it into the sky with a whistling sound.

Cassius was startled and quickly flapped his dragon wings, trying his best to dodge. He could feel that the chain hammer contained an extremely terrifying power of hell, no, to be more precise, it was the power of law.

Once hit by the thorn ball made of hell iron, his soul will be knocked out of his body, and then the chains that follow will entangle his soul.

With just one strike, the Hell Chain Hammer could turn a dragon into a slave of Avernus, serving Zariel forever - just like those ancient Hellfire dragons.

"Keng——"

The chain hammer flew past his tail and hit the tip of his tail, causing broken dragon scales and hot dragon blood to splash in the air.

Immediately afterwards, the chain hammer slammed heavily to the ground.

"boom!"

There was another earthquake, and a huge pit with a diameter of one hundred meters was smashed into the ground. Boiling magma gushed out of it. Even August, who was thousands of meters away, could feel the violent shaking.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The chain hammers fell again and again, causing mountains to collapse and rock walls to fall.

Zariel flapped her wings and chased Cassius almost madly. She launched an attack desperately, smashing the surrounding environment to pieces.

"boom!"

The chain hammer came through the air and smashed through a piece of the red dragon's wing membrane.

Cassius didn't even have time to scream, he continued to dodge, thinking to himself: "Her strength is still growing. If she continues like this, I'm afraid I can only run away."

He could feel that the power he could mobilize was getting less and less, and the whole world seemed to be rejecting and targeting him. The flames of hell were like a thorn in his flesh, tightly wrapping around him.

Cassius was very familiar with this feeling - it was similar to [Imperial Domain: Seal], which was the authority that belonged exclusively to the Lord of the Domain!
Sure enough, August was still falling towards Avernus!

He looked up and saw that the black sun was still hanging high in the sky, with no sign of any abnormality.

Did Bayer betray me?

That was almost impossible. Bayer and Zariel had been enemies for thousands of years. Bayer had once imprisoned Zariel in a fortress and cut her flesh piece by piece. More importantly, they had an essential conflict of interest.

Just as there is no two suns in the sky, Avernus can have only one master.

"The moment Bayer mentioned should not be far away." Cassius calmed down and once again relied on his powerful predictive ability to dodge Zariel's full-strength attack.

The earth cracked and debris flew everywhere.

Suddenly, with the root spellcaster's perception of the world, Cassius felt that the entire material plane was trembling, roaring, and howling. The wind was rising and the clouds were surging, and the black sun in the sky became blurred.

--It's now!
The red dragon gritted his teeth, folded his wings, turned around, and plunged towards Zariel, roaring fiercely, with many spells and powers bestowed on him.

He has been preparing for this counterattack for a long time!

"Roar--"

Countless chains entangled Cassius' body, but he ignored them and launched a violent counterattack. He struggled to bite Zariel's left arm, his sharp teeth piercing through his armor, but he was also dragged to the ground by Zariel.

"boom!"

The two fell into the lava river, stirring up huge lava waves hundreds of meters high.

"Red Dragon, you are courting death! You will never be able to defeat a lord in hell!"

Zariel's wings became heavy in the sticky magma. Cassius bit Zariel's shoulder madly. Dark red blood splashed everywhere, and the black hell armor was completely shattered.

But Cassius himself was not much better.

During the fight, Zariel's greatsword had pierced into the abdomen, cutting open large pieces of flesh and blood - the runes of Purgatory Slash exploded on the blade, and dragon blood splashed like molten gold.

As the two giants fought, magma fell like raindrops, corroding the devastated scorched earth into hissing pits. (End of this chapter)