Ember Dragon

"Gorazdra's lightning breath?" Kaisius grinned, revealing a ferocious smile, with bursts of electric sparks erupting from the corners of his mouth.

When fighting the ancient blue dragon, he was extremely wary of its lightning breath; if he was not careful, the destructive lightning would pierce through his body.

But now, that power belongs to him.

The Red Dragon Emperor flapped his dragon wings and soared into the air. His enormous head was raised high, and his eyes flashed with dazzling lightning as he coldly looked down at the trembling mortal world below.

He opened his massive maw, but instead of letting out a normal roar or spewing flames, he unleashed a more intense and violent burst of lightning!

"boom--"

This dragon's breath, composed of pure destructive energy, tore through the sky, emitting a piercing shriek. It instantly pierced through the remaining dark clouds ahead, blasting a mountain of rocks to smithereens. The fragments, carrying leaping lightning, scattered in all directions, filling the air with a strong acrid smell of burning. The lightning breath created a charred trail on the earth.

The fierce thunder, like an extension of its will, danced and leaped wildly between the Red Dragon Emperor's jagged horns and majestic silhouette.

At this moment, thunder was his battle cry, and lightning was his claws. This ancestral red dragon seemed to have been born from the storm and descended to the earth, turning the strange phenomena of heaven and earth into its own crown, proclaiming its undisputed identity as the ruler of thunder.

If a dragon scholar were here and witnessed such a phenomenon, he would definitely regard Caesus as an ancient blue dragon that casts shapeshifting spells—after all, how could a red dragon wield thunder and storms like this?
Kaisius hovered in the sky, raised his dragon claws, and unleashed an invisible storm of power.

In an instant, countless bolts of lightning seemed to be summoned, converging and condensing in his palm into a lightning spear that was more than ten meters long and flashed with a breathtaking light.

The Red Dragon Emperor let out a long, triumphant roar, swung his dragon claw, and hurled the lightning spear fiercely.

"boom!"

Blinding lightning pierced the heavens and earth, striking a small mountain peak like divine punishment. It shattered the rocks, sending dust and smoke billowing into the sky, scattering rubble, and melting the rocks into liquid. Countless charred cracks appeared on the mountain peak before it collapsed with a deafening roar.

"What terrifying power." Kaisius nodded slightly, unable to help but marvel at it.

Immediately afterwards, the Red Dragon Emperor spread out his dragon claws, his five fingers outstretched, and once again took control of the storm's dominion, manipulating the electromagnetic forces within a radius of several hundred meters.

Accompanied by the crackling of electricity and a slight hum, particles and fragments of dust and rocks containing metallic elements slowly rose and hovered in mid-air.

They shimmered in the light emitted by the intersecting electric arcs, flowing slowly around the Red Dragon Emperor's massive body like a dense asteroid belt.

"The wonderful feeling of manipulating electromagnetic forces."

Kaisius snapped his fingers, and the electric arcs pulsed even more violently. The high-voltage current adhered to the metal particles suspended high in the air, causing them to go from still to moving, instantly reaching supersonic speeds.

Accompanied by a piercing shriek, these particles trailed dazzling lightning, streaking across the sky like a meteor shower, falling from the heavens and leaving behind billions of silvery-white threads that pounded the earth, leaving it riddled with holes.

"boom!"

Dust flew up, electric arcs crackled and rang out, and deafening thunder roared from high in the sky. The sound made everything tremble and disturbed the long-dormant souls.

"This is my own power! You've taken it away too?" Gorazdra opened its eyes from its slumber, its voice trembling with disbelief, its translucent dragon face filled with despair.

Everything she had was taken away by the red dragon in front of her, but she was powerless to do anything about it and could only watch helplessly as the dragon swaggered around in front of her.

At this moment, Gorazdra no longer resembled a blue dragon. Gone were the dark blue scales; its body was transparent and colorless, like a composite of the stereotypical image of a "dragon," and its divinity had been completely exhausted.

If it weren't for the fact that he had completed his ascension to quasi-god status, which gave his soul a wisp of immortality, and that Kaisius didn't have a strong desire to kill him completely, Gorazdra would probably have long since lost his soul, his will, and died without a burial place.

"The insatiable red dragon," Gorazdra said, his eyes filled with fear, trembling as he said, "From ancient times to the present, no one has ever been able to control so many different divine natures. One day, you will be killed by your own endless desires and become a divine abomination!"

Is this considered a curse?

“If you don’t want to lose control—release me, Kaisius, return me, and we can be allies. I can grant you the knowledge I’ve accumulated over thousands of years.” Gorazdra’s tone became pleading as he said this.

After all, she was no longer the ancient blue dragon who once wielded storms and thunder, the tyrant renowned throughout Tarilro. Now, she was merely a fragile soul imprisoned by the Red Dragon Emperor.

"How 'kind' of you."

Kaisius shook his head indifferently and said with a smile, "Instead of worrying about me, you should worry about your own fate. Tsk tsk, a quasi-god level experimental subject, this is the first time since the founding of the Empire that such a thing has happened."

"Experimental sample?"

Gorazdra was stunned. She never expected that the red dragon would humiliate her like this!
Imprisoning the soul of a quasi-god and conducting experiments and research on it is something few arcane mages in the audacious and blasphemous Netheril Empire would attempt.

Her eyes widened in fury, and she cried out, "No! You can't insult a great ancient dragon like this! Even the most despicable and shameless golden dragon wouldn't do such a thing!"

"That's not up to you. Besides—you're just a wandering ghost now. Can you really still be called a 'dragon'?" Kaisius's lips curled up as he extended his dragon claw. The space around the dragon soul immediately showed ripples spreading like water, like a huge vortex trying to swallow it up.

Seeing this, Gorazdra no longer cared about his so-called dignity. He knelt on the ground and cried out in terror, "Kasius! Spare me! I can tell you about Her Majesty Tiamat's plans. I can even tell you all the secrets of the Consecration of the Gods!"

Kaisius grinned, his massive dragon claws clenching tightly, shattering the surrounding space like fragile glass.

He said in a teasing tone, "If you have anything else to say—go tell my researcher!"

"Shh-"

Accompanied by violent spatial fluctuations, a huge crack appeared in mid-air, generating a strong attraction that swallowed Gorazdra's entire soul.

When Gorazdela opened her eyes again, she was faced with a clean white ceiling and various metal instruments gleaming under the glaring lights.

"This is where?"

Gorazdra was initially puzzled, then enraged beyond measure. She roared wildly, unleashing her last remaining dragon might: "Insects, audacious insects, do you know who I am?"

A neatly dressed Imperial researcher in a white lab coat smiled and said, "Lord Gorazdra, welcome to the Imperial Institute of Divinity and Magic. We hope you will cooperate actively in the upcoming experiments. Out of humanitarian considerations, we will try our best to minimize your suffering." "Ah! Let me go, let me go—"

In Aphrodite, the kingdom of Tiamat, the Dragon Queen's magnificent palace was shrouded in an atmosphere of silence.

Inside the main hall, the group of five-colored dragons, whose ages were at least at the level of ancient dragons and who could make mortals tremble in the material world, looked at each other and swallowed their saliva in hushed tones. None of them dared to speak first, for fear of becoming the target of the enraged dragon queen's venting.

After all, news of Gorazdela's defeat and the destruction of the Blue Dragon Cult had spread throughout the material plane and even to various parts of the multiverse.

The allied forces, mainly composed of the Burning Empire troops, the remnants of the Seleucia Kingdom, and the Metal Dragon Legion, clashed with the Dragon Cult Legion in the Locke Rift. The Burning Emperor Caesus and the Thunder Tyrant Gorazdra personally took to the field, fighting each other under the watchful eyes of countless beings.

It is said that the battle was earth-shattering and awe-inspiring.

Dark clouds rolled in the sky, lightning flashed and thunder roared, while the earth became riddled with holes, ravines and surging lava. It is said that the corpses of dead soldiers and dragons almost filled the Locke Great Rift Valley, and the dirty blood gathered into gurgling rivers.

In that battle, Gorazdra, who had already risen to the level of a quasi-god, was defeated by Kaisius and cruelly burned to ashes, leaving not even a complete corpse behind.

Finally, after a long silence, Tiamat coldly raised her head, her eyes dark and icy, and a hoarse, vicious sound came from deep within her throat, breaking the silence herself:

"Gentlemen—is it possible that within this vast Five-Colored Dragon Clan, there is not a single citizen who can stand against that traitor?"

"."

Tiamat's voice echoed in the empty palace, but the dragons remained silent, not daring to respond.

The five-colored dragon queen looked around with a gloomy expression, her gaze sweeping over the faces of every five-colored dragon. Her sharp eyes made them tremble with fear, and they could only lower their heads in cowardice, afraid of attracting attention.

The ancient red dragon, Kaleimas, held his breath, his scales trembling slightly, but Tiamat still focused her gaze on him and asked coldly, "Kaleimas, tell me—how do you plan to defeat your junior?"

Kaleimas stepped forward with a heavy heart and said cautiously, "Your Majesty, that traitor is nothing to fear. Before your great power, any mortal thing will be crushed to pieces."

Tiamat retorted angrily, "If I have to do everything myself, then what's the point of raising you all? You bunch of useless trash, get out of here!"

"This is my final ultimatum to you: kill that traitor—at all costs!"

With a roar, a powerful shockwave was released within the hall. The five-colored dragons fled in panic, blown about by the gale outside the magnificent palace until they fell into the material plane.

Inside the main hall, only the five-colored dragon queen remained. Her five heads, each with a different shape, were shrouded in a thick haze, her eyes deep and dark, her pupils revealing endless resentment and killing intent.

"Two of the three bodies I selected have been destroyed by that traitor. Now that things have come to this, the Trinity ritual cannot be completed and Kazul must be awakened ahead of schedule."

"It doesn't matter. As long as I possess that traitor's body, I can still rule the earth and descend upon the material plane!"

The five ferocious heads raised their heads high, gazing into the distance. Their deep eyes revealed a burning ambition and a savage desire for destruction, as if they wanted to tear everything in sight to shreds.

Tiamat spread her dragon wings that blotted out the sky, and an evil divine power pierced through and tore through space, streaking across the heavens like a comet and heading towards a certain place in the material plane.

Pacaya volcano in southwestern Seleucia.

This place was called "the land of sunset" or "the land where the sun falls" by the Seleucids.

In the ancient, primitive times, people believed that the sun fell onto this land when it set, merging with the earth and releasing thick smoke that filled the sky, giving rise to countless active volcanoes containing immense heat.

From a distance, the dark mountains stretch endlessly, shrouded in sulfurous smoke, their majestic outlines barely visible, like giant beasts emerging from the mist.

Deep within the Pacaya volcano, the lava pool resembles a giant crucible, with scarlet magma flowing slowly within it, like the blood of the earth. Huge bubbles rise and burst slowly, emitting a muffled sigh.

But at that moment, the crater erupted with a blazing red light, accompanied by a thunderous roar, like the angry roar of an ancient god deep in the earth's crust, full of power and awe-inspiring.

"boom--"

The lava pool suddenly surged, and a colossal outline bulged out from its center, stirring up scorching, viscous waves that splashed onto the dark rock walls of the pool, hissing and releasing acrid sulfurous fumes.

At the center of the lava pool, the flowing blood-red lava was forcibly separated, and an unimaginably huge crimson figure covered with thick scales suddenly burst out of the magma!

Behind that towering figure, two broad wings suddenly unfolded, like two red iron mountains rising from the ground, covered with ferocious bone spikes and wrinkles. They slowly flapped, stirring up a scorching gale that dispersed the thick sulfur smoke.

After the smoke and ashes dissipated, the figure finally revealed its hideous true form.

Lava surged down from its rugged, jagged head, its sharp, mountain-like horns, and its neck covered in thick scales.

His head seemed to be crudely formed from volcanic rock and molten iron, its scales resembling the rusted armor of an ancient hero. His gaping maw was slightly open, spewing out a pungent sulfurous odor from between his sharp teeth, distorting the air above.

Without a doubt, it was a red dragon, and an extremely terrifying ancient red dragon at that.

On that hideous head, a pair of pale golden vertical pupils suddenly opened.
Those were not the eyes of ordinary beings; they were more like two molten suns forcibly imprisoned and compressed into their sockets!
Deep within his pupils was a nearly solidified, chilling dark golden core, radiating intense light. Rocks that his gaze swept over were instantly ignited, turning a dark red on the verge of melting.

Then, the dragon's entire head suddenly rose up, bringing with it a blazing waterfall!

"Boom——!"

With a deafening roar as the earth cracked open, the red dragon's powerful, mountain-like forelimbs slammed into the scorching rocks on the pool's edge.

The rocks groaned under its massive claws, crumbling and melting, as more magma was pushed aside by its enormous body, surging outwards like a receding tide.

The crimson dragon slowly rose, with a savage posture that seemed to crush all obstacles. Its gnarled back, powerful torso, and thick hind limbs... all broke free from the boiling lava pool. (End of Chapter)