Ember Dragon

The Burning Empire, the Governorate of the Anzeta Wilderness, the Forbidden Land of Dragonblood Mountain.

This is an absolute forbidden zone within the empire; no living being dares to enter or even approach this space. The only sounds are the churning of lava and the howling of hot winds.

Just then, a huge crack appeared in the sky, the ground trembled slightly, and the ashes and flames floating in the air seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, jumping and rolling.

Outside Dragonblood Mountain, the half-dragon soldiers and wyverns patrolling in the steamy clouds all sensed something and looked up at the mountaintop in unison, their faces showing fervent and devout expressions.

Someone murmured to themselves, "That oppressive aura... it's His Majesty! His Majesty Caesus has returned! The Empire has won another victory in the south!"

"Long live the Emperor! Long live the Empire!"

"Thorn-"

With a deafening roar like a storm, the Red Dragon Emperor tore through space, his majestic dragon body appearing above Dragon Blood Mountain amidst flames and thick smoke. His left claw gripped the shattered crystal dragon horn, while his right claw held the Time Amber that imprisoned the soul of the Primordial Blue Dragon. He flapped his wings, and with a roaring, scorching wind, he crashed down onto the mountain peak that resembled a giant dragon's head.

The moment he touched the ground, the flames that had gathered on his body suddenly faded and dissipated, revealing the wound on his chest that had almost split his body in two, exposing his ribs and internal organs. New flesh was growing on it at a speed visible to the naked eye.

It turns out that he had just repaired his body with flames to intimidate the Faria clan, and what was being revealed now was the true body of the Red Dragon Emperor.

Tiamat's divine punishment was extremely powerful, carrying destructive and evil divine power. It pierced through his body directly. Even though Kaisius possessed the unreasonable regenerative ability of the third-generation ancestral dragon, it would take him more than ten days—or even several months—to fully recover.

However, Kaisius didn't really care.

For mortals, this would be a fatal injury, but for immortal demigods, it would be considered a minor injury. For example, Gorazdra, even if his physical body is burned to ashes, will regenerate after hundreds or thousands of years, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Therefore, in ancient times, after defeating powerful enemies at the level of demigods or quasi-gods, the church chose to seal and control them with divine magic rather than kill them completely, as that would only leave endless troubles behind.

Unless a true god-level being completely erases a demigod's immortality through divine punishment, no one can truly kill them.

If Gorazdra chooses to flee to a remote part of the astral plane, the bottom of the abyss, or a lightning elemental plane—a place where she can hide—even Kasius would not be able to find her.

Of course, Gorazdra could also choose to seek refuge in the divine realm of Tiamat, but given the precedent of Erebus, the Lord of the Swamp, being devoured, this ancient blue dragon, who has just been defeated by Kasius and lost his usefulness, would probably not consider this option.

However, due to Gorazdra's unwavering arrogance and swagger over the millennia, she seemed to be blinded by her urgent desire to ascend to godhood, and actually chose to return to the Faria family's lair to find a new body, only to be caught red-handed by Caesus.

Kaisius stared at the ancient dragon soul imprisoned in the Time Cage, grinned, and snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, a narrow hole appeared in the Time Cage, just enough for Gorazdra to expose its head, while the rest of its body remained within the range of [Eternal Stasis].

Having barely caught his breath, Gorazdra let out a sharp cry, roaring, "Kaisius, let me out! How dare you imprison a dragon who is about to ascend to the throne of gods!"

Kaisius tilted his head and grinned coldly: "I didn't expect that even now, with your physical body destroyed, you're still dreaming of becoming a god."

"Have you forgotten what happened to Erebus? That Emperor Tiamat devoured him on the spot without the slightest hesitation."

“That’s different!” Gorazdra retorted, frowning. “How can a piece of trash like Erebus compare to me? I am Her Majesty Tiamat’s most trusted heir, regarded as a future god of the pantheon.”

Is it fun to deceive yourself?

Cassius raised an eyebrow: "What kind of deity is Tiamat? Greedy, tyrannical, selfish, and utterly unscrupulous. If Tiamat knew that you still possess divinity but have lost most of your power, from a purely self-interested perspective—"

The Red Dragon Emperor deliberately drew out his words, his tone mocking: "What will He do? You should know better than I do. That's why you didn't choose to go to His divine kingdom for protection, am I right?"

"You—Casius, your end is near! When Tiamat comes into the world, your head will become an ornament on Her throne."

Gorazdra was furious but speechless, so he could only hurl insults and curses with what he thought were the most vicious words.

However, for Casey, who had experienced the information age, these criticisms were nothing to him.

He grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, and pulled out the horn in front of the Primordial Blue Dragon, its broken end still bursting with divine power and lightning.

The instant he saw the horns, Gorazdra's pupils were filled with madness and greed: "Mine, that's mine! Kasius, give it back to me!"
That is the divine body of Her Majesty Tiamat; only Her chosen ones may possess it! If you rashly use it, you will be influenced by Her Majesty's will, and may even lose control and go completely mad.”

"Do not."

Kaisius looked down at the horn, which contained immense divine power, his pale golden eyes reflecting dazzling lightning. He shook his head, then smiled and said, "Now—it belongs to me."

"Crack!"

With a crisp crack, the Red Dragon Emperor's arm veins bulged and muscles contracted as he suddenly exerted tremendous force. Fine cracks immediately appeared on the surface of the divine horn, releasing a blinding light. Tiamat's evil divine power poured out from those cracks like a floodgate being opened.

Gorazdra cried out urgently, "Do you want to kill us all? That is the body of a true god. If it is destroyed, the torrent of divine power it unleashes will destroy everything here!"

However, Kaisius's lips curled up, and he snapped his fingers again. The power of the [Imperial Domain] descended from the sky, and the powerful force of law isolated everything near the horn, even imprisoning that violent divine power within.

Gorazdra froze on the spot, his eyes wide, muttering in disbelief, "God's Kingdom... How is this possible?"

At this moment, Caesus exuded an aura of supreme power and dominion over all things, and even Tiamat's divine power was easily controlled by him in his dragon claws.

In Gorazdra's view, only one being could achieve this level of power, and that was the one she longed for—a god.

Kaisius opened his gaping maw, and scorching flames surged from the depths of his throat. The crimson flames of chaos collided and merged with the silvery flames of order, ultimately converging in his mouth into a power that devoured everything.

Space distorted and trembled, emitting mournful cries of unbearable strain. A dazzling display of red and white flames surged from the dragon's mouth, unstoppable, like a waterfall suspended in the sky. Destroying everything, returning to itself.

That was the [Predatory Breath].

A mad thought surged from the depths of Gorazdra's soul: the Red Dragon Emperor wanted to devour Tiamat's divine body!

He raised his head high, unleashing bursts of blinding lightning, and let out a desperate and agonizing wail: "No, stop! That is my divine body—"

But Kaisius paid no heed and continued his actions in front of Gorazdra, his dazzling plundering breath destroying everything in front of him, including the divine, transcendent Tiamat Horn.

The wind howled, the sky trembled, dark clouds rolled in, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and Tiamat's divine power surged wildly, the terrifying aftershocks almost engulfing the entire Dragonblood Mountain.

"Boom!"

Another deafening thunderclap rang out, and blinding lightning tore the sky apart. In the endless void beyond the material world, it seemed as if an enormous beast was relentlessly ramming against the dimensional barrier, trying to seize the Tiamat Horn.

Above that boundless sky, an extremely ferocious black shadow appeared—it seemed to be a giant dragon thousands of meters long, its entire body blurred.

Immediately afterwards, more hideous and enormous black shadows appeared in the sky, gathering like sharks that had smelled blood, seemingly wanting to force their way into the material plane and devour this tempting divine power.

But Caesus suddenly flapped his dragon wings and soared into the air. He spread his wings at an altitude of ten thousand meters, gripped Tiamat's horn with his claws, raised his head, and roared to the sky with overwhelming momentum. At this moment, his whole body was wrapped in a storm of lightning and flames, like a god who controlled natural disasters.

This is the Anzeta Wasteland, the Burning Empire, the territory belonging exclusively to the Red Dragon Emperor. How can creatures from outer planes be allowed to run rampant here?
"Get back there!"

[Imperial Territory. Sealed Off]

A beam of light, sharp enough to pierce the soul, illuminated the sky, instantly dispelling all beings that did not belong to the material world.

Tiamat's divine power poured out from her horns, causing dark clouds to spread wildly, and lightning, like countless dancing silver snakes, enveloped the sky, forming a dazzling silver-white forest, with Caesus at the very center of this thunderous storm.

Gorazdra looked up, a hint of despair in his eyes, his voice dry and hoarse: "No, could it be... that he's really going to succeed? He can actually devour Her Majesty Tiamat's body?"

"boom!"

With a deafening thunderclap, dark clouds surged, and the thunderous forest covering the sky coalesced into a dragon-wing-like shape. Intense bolts of lightning shot out from the pale golden vertical pupils of the Kaihong Dragon Emperor.

He lowered his head, grinning maliciously at the soul of the Primordial Blue Dragon: "Your turn, Gorazdra."

Gorazdra looked terrified, his voice trembling: "What...what do you want to do?"

Kaisius did not answer.

The next moment, a plundering breath imbued with divine power poured down like a waterfall, engulfing the soul of the Primordial Blue Dragon.

As the flames engulfed her, Gorazdra let out a painful and desperate wail. Her soul grew increasingly thin and tiny, like a rock that had been eroded by the waves for thousands of years.

She began to beg for mercy incessantly, even wanting to acknowledge Caesus as her master, but all of this was meaningless in the face of the flames that consumed everything.

In the end, all of Gorazdra's remaining divinity was absorbed by Kaisius, leaving only a nearly transparent, dragon-shaped soul in the prison of time, with only a vague outline visible.

Kaisius did not destroy it—after all, it was the remnant soul of a quasi-god-level ancient dragon, an excellent experimental subject for the Empire's researchers.

"This feeling."

Kaisius closed his mouth and eyes, savoring the divinity and power surging into his body. Bolts of lightning, like giant silver pythons, coiled around his massive dragon body, crackling and booming.

The power that Gorazdra had accumulated over a thousand years of his long life was now all taken by the Red Dragon Emperor.

"It's absolutely wonderful."

[You devoured the Horn of Tiamat and the Soul of the Thunder Tyrant, gaining a large amount of primal divinity from the realms of dragons, evil, thunder, and destruction.]
[You have absorbed a portion of the primordial divinity; the level of the [God-Conferred Dragon] has increased to: 8]
The Red Dragon Emperor landed atop Dragonblood Mountain, its four claws digging deep into the rock strata, immediately sending up a cloud of rubble.

A deafening roar came from beneath my feet, as if the earth were being struck like a giant drum.

He raised his head and let out a roar that resounded through the sky. The sound pierced the clouds and carried boundless majesty and power, causing the entire wasteland to tremble.

The gale raged even more fiercely, the dark clouds surged and spread like waves, and lightning flashed across the sky, tearing the heavens apart time and time again. But everything around—the lightning, the dark clouds, and the mountains—appeared so small and fragile under the powerful aura of the red dragon.

Kaisius had become the undisputed and inviolable ruler of this land. The soldiers outside Dragonblood Mountain looked up at the miraculous scene in the sky, and were filled with awe and reverence.

Meanwhile, information kept refreshing on Kaisius's panel.

[You have gained the demigod abilities: Hypermatter Deflection, Iron Will, Time Resistance, and Spell Resistance]
[Supermatter Bias]: At level 5, the God Dragon's defense level is greatly increased, and it gains a bias bonus equal to its charm bonus.

【Iron Will】: At level 6, the God Dragon becomes immune to effects that affect the mind (Charm, Coercion, Phantom Illusion, Mind Illusion and Morale effects).

[Resistance to Time]: At level 7, the God Dragon gains resistance to time-related spells, making it difficult for effects such as Time Freeze and Time Dragon's Breath to truly harm you.

[Demigod Resistance]: At level 8, the Dragon of Deification gains +5 to legendary spell resistance. Any spells of level 6 or lower will have no effect on you or your surroundings. (End of Chapter)