Ember Dragon

"It's His Majesty Cassius!"

"Long live the Empire!"

"Praise be to the Emperor of the Burning Flames! Praise be to the great Red Dragon!"

Upon seeing that towering figure in the distance, the officers and soldiers of the empire all revealed expressions of fervor and piety, and cheers echoed across the battlefield like waves.

The world, which had been plunged into darkness and despair, seemed to be awakened by the sudden intrusion of the Burning Emperor, and regained its light and hope.

"finally."

Kazul slowly raised his head, and a ripple finally appeared in his usually indifferent vertical pupils, revealing an undisguised excitement. He laughed wildly: "Kaisius, you've finally come! This wait of hundreds of years should come to an end!"

"Her Majesty Tiamat will descend upon the world and become the supreme ruler of the material plane, and I will be crowned a god!"

With the blazing sun on his back, Kazul slowly flapped his dragon wings and said coldly, "How pathetic, Kazul. As an ancient red dragon, you are willing to become Tiamat's lackey and oppose me. Haven't the tragic fates of the green and blue dragons frightened you?"

"You mean Erebus and Gorazdra?"

Kazul tilted his head, a sinister smile appearing on his lips, and replied in a strange tone, "That's because they were too useless. Speaking of which, I should thank you for eliminating two competitors for me and delivering their divinity to my doorstep, saving me the trouble of devouring them one by one."

Kaisius shook his head: "As expected of that old hag's favorites, you are all of the same ilk when it comes to pride and arrogance."

"Pride is the most important quality of a dragon."

Kazul said matter-of-factly, “As the future masters of this world, we should trample all mortal things under our feet.”

"us?"

Kaisius first asked a question, then sneered, "I have no desire to associate with you Tiamat followers, risking your lives and souls to be a dog for that greedy god and beg for his favor."

"Heh, Kazul, do you still have any pride left? You can only put on a show of power in front of mortals, but in reality, you can't even control your own actions anymore."

"Dracares told you all this, didn't she? As expected of my daughter, she really knows how to create trouble for me."

Hearing Caesus's undisguised, harsh mockery, Kazul showed no anger. He simply raised his head and calmly gazed at the other man: "Cassius, abandon your futile struggle, offer up your body, and I will preserve your soul in the new era, making you the ruler of the divine kingdom. This will be your last chance."

Kaisius laughed angrily: "Such ridiculous conditions—are you provoking me?"

Kazul shook his head and said, "You can't beat me. If you insist on resisting, I will obliterate your soul and make you disappear from this world completely."

"In that case."

Kaisius flapped his dragon wings and said coldly, "Then let's see who's the best."

"That's how it should be."

"boom--"

The next moment, the two demigod-level red dragons unleashed their domains and oppressive power. The wind howled, the earth shook, and the violent wind pressure destroyed everything around them. The aftershocks from the collision of the two divine powers shattered the mountains.

In an instant, the sky was split in two.

On one side is a doomsday forbidden zone surging with destructive divine power, filled with ash and thick smoke, while on the other side is a fiery domain shrouded in sun-like radiance.

The rage of these two behemoths ignited the heavens; each flap of their wings brought with it a howling storm, each strike unleashing a muffled explosion that shook the boiling, crimson lake below. The mountains groaned in their shadows.

Before the real battle even began, and while they were still in the probing phase, the space within a radius of several kilometers around them was completely destroyed and reduced to ruins.

Kazul observed the renowned Emperor of Burning Flames, his upturned lips revealing sharp teeth, and his dark golden pupils gleaming with undisguised excitement.

The red dragon before them was young, strong, and of noble lineage. Its body contained a vast amount of power, yet it was perfectly integrated, like a small, self-operating demiplane.

"Truly a perfect creation, like a work of art sculpted by the gods. No wonder Her Majesty the Dragon Queen so desires your body."

Kazul licked his lips, a look of eager anticipation on his face, as if he were watching prey about to be caught, completely disregarding the possibility of failure.

At the same time, Kaisius was also watching the ancient red dragon in the distance, observing it carefully, his eyes surging with fighting spirit—he also noticed the scrutinizing and provocative gaze from the other party.

【Lord of Lava - Kazul】

Challenge Level: 40
The "Lord of Lava" Kazul before him truly lived up to his reputation as Tiamat's most valued chosen one, regarded as a true god by the Church of the Dragon. He was arguably the most powerful dragon he had ever seen in the material plane, without exception.

This ancient red dragon was nearly a hundred meters long, several times larger than Kaisius. Its physique was far less proportionate than Kaisius's, and it was exaggeratedly strong. Its thick scales were covered with scars and wounds left by ancient battlefields, as if they were about to be stretched open by its bulging muscles, giving people an extremely powerful visual impact.

Hot, red-hot magma surged from the gaps in the scales, radiating terrifying heat and distorting the surrounding air.

Behind Kazul, its broad wings suddenly unfurled, resembling two towering red iron mountains, covered with grotesque bone spikes and wrinkles, while the wing membranes were as black as ink. Each flap released surging ash, causing the ancient red dragon to be surrounded by ash smoke.

Within those dark clouds, two sharp, dark golden beams pierced out, exuding boundless killing intent—those were Kazul's pupils.

Unlike Kaisius's overwhelming and sacred aura, Kazul exuded an extremely desperate and ominous aura.

All life around him, if it gets even the slightest bit closer, will spontaneously combust, turning into ashes that dance in the air, merging into the destructive black smoke, becoming part of this boundless apocalypse. Against the backdrop of this terrifying "Dragon of Doomsday," Caesus appears radiant, like the incarnation of the sun god.

"Boom, boom, boom"

Kaisius could hear the Tiamat heart beating continuously inside Kazul's chest, making a dull sound like a running engine.

The sound was like a countdown to the end of the world, each ring causing the material world to tremble and shake, even causing the surrounding space to crack and reveal tiny fissures.

And along with that powerful heartbeat, the darkness brought by the ashes continued to spread, bringing the apocalypse to all parts of the world.

This is the terrifying power of the "Heart of Tiamat." It exists merely in Kazul's chest, yet it can distort reality, destroy matter, and bring a sense of oppression that even Caesus finds terrifying.

"Is this the 'God of Destruction' that the Dragon Worshipists talk about? It truly lives up to its name."

Kaisius thought to himself.

Despite the formidable strength of his opponent, Kaisius had no intention of backing down; his heart was filled only with surging fighting spirit.

"Then let me see just how powerful Tiamat's best hound really is!"

"Roar--"

The Burning Emperor stretched his neck, raised his head high, and roared to the sky, unleashing a magnificent roar. Dazzling flames surged from his chest, radiating from the cracks in the dragon crystal, and the surging power of the sun god poured out from his body.

In an instant, tens of thousands of beams of light shot out from the blazing sun behind Kaisius. The dazzling beams dispersed the dark ash clouds and blasted towards the ancient red dragon that symbolized destruction.

Several beams of light struck the distant mountain peaks, instantly piercing through the rocks and even melting the entire peaks.

However, faced with such terrifying beams of light, Kazul simply spread his dragon wings, and the pitch-black ash hung in the sky like a waterfall, flowing down and transforming into a barrier spanning thousands of meters, swallowing up all the beams of light.

The power of the sun god and the power of the destruction god collided and intertwined, stirring up a terrible aftershock along the dark barrier, which shattered the mountains and hills below, causing molten lava to surge into rivers.

Gazing at the dark curtain, Kaisius snorted coldly, compressing the power of the sun god within his body to its limit, transforming it into tiny, shimmering particles of light that floated toward the curtain.

"boom!"

The next moment, the light particles suddenly exploded, like countless exploding supernovae, bursting out with dazzling light, tearing apart the veil of destructive divine power, and surging smoke continued to spread.

Kaisius launched the first deadly charge. He flapped his dragon wings violently, his massive body tearing through the air with a sharp screech, carrying a heat wave that swept across the sky, and struck the ancient red dragon like a streak of crimson lightning.

Kazur raised his head, which was covered with hideous bone spikes, and the arrogance and violence that had accumulated in his vertical pupils for thousands of years were instantly ignited.

The orange-red sunset was swallowed by an even more violent light—the fury of two ancient behemoths ignited the heavens. Thick sulfurous smoke was torn apart by wings, and they burst forth from the churning poisonous clouds, their massive bodies obscuring the last remaining sunlight.

"Hey!"

A chilling tearing sound echoed through the sky, drowning out the churning of lava.

Kaisius's massive claws, powerful enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, carried the sharpness of a "decapitation sword" capable of severing everything, and slashed fiercely at the weakest point of Kazul's scales where his neck and shoulder blades met.

The next moment, scales flew off like red-hot iron pieces, and scalding dragon blood gushed out. Kazul let out a deafening roar of pain, a sound filled with offended rage and real agony. Countless magma fountains erupted from the ground in response.

The ancient red dragon flapped its jet-black, smoky wings, stirring up scorching turbulent currents and raging black winds, and surging destructive divine power instantly enveloped its entire body.

The intense pain unleashed the ferocity deep within the ancient dragon's bloodline.

Kazul twisted its ferocious head, its gaping maw, like a black hole, with a resolute determination to perish together, viciously biting at the relatively vulnerable wing root of the Burning Emperor.

The sharp teeth pierced through, drawing out scalding dragon blood as well.

Kaisius let out a shriek, not of fear, but of the fury and excitement of being completely enraged and caught up in a fierce battle.

Instead of retreating, he fiercely pressed his head down, his open jaws biting precisely into Kazul's bloody, mangled neck wound!

From within its gaping maw, scorching dragon flames erupted from the depths of its throat, incinerating everything in their path, as if to reduce this ancient red dragon to ashes.

But Kazul's heart pounded violently, emitting a dull thud, and a thick beam of black light burst forth from his chest, carrying a divine power capable of destroying everything, shooting straight toward Kasius's chest.

That was the light of the apocalypse!

If this black light were to strike a vital point, one's body would likely be completely disintegrated within a few breaths!
"Ow!"

Kaisius suddenly loosened his grip and twisted to dodge at lightning speed, but he was still struck by the black light. His entire left shoulder, along with a large section of his wing membrane, was pierced, and a dark, eerie light continued to erode the wound.

The terrifying black light swept across the sky and the earth, chasing after the fleeing Caesus. Along the way, it destroyed several hills and turned the ground beneath it into ruins. The distance between the two was increased to several thousand meters. The two enormous beasts, both wounded, faced each other across the distance.

Kaisius was breathing heavily, and the wound on his shoulder was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Kazul was doing the same. In just a short while, the bodies of these two dragons, who possessed divine hearts and had extremely terrifying vitality, were completely restored.

With just this simple test, both sides realized the danger the other was in.

This is a worthy opponent! (End of Chapter)