Ember Dragon

"Ow—"

Painful howls echoed through the sky, but Kazul quickly reacted and let out a low growl.

"go to hell!"

At extremely close range, it unleashed its breath on Caesus, the deep light pouring from its throat, rushing towards him as if to engulf the head of this Burning Emperor.

The two colossal beasts were less than a hundred meters apart. If the Doomsday Breath had hit him at that distance, even if Caesus didn't die, he would have lost his ability to fight.

Seeing this, Caesus dared not be negligent. He also opened his blood-red maw and spewed out the divine power that had been brewing in his sac for a long time. This time, not only were there raging flames, but also countless dazzling bolts of lightning, which actually lit up half of the sky, making the faces of the people watching the battle in the distance pale and unable to open their eyes.

"boom!"

Two powerful forces, each capable of influencing the laws of nature, collided once more, creating an energy sphere a hundred meters in diameter high in the sky. This ignited a storm of flames, lightning, and ash, so terrifying that it sent both Kasius and Kazul, two colossal dragons as large as mountains, flying hundreds of meters away.

As both sides continued to exert their power, the energy sphere expanded continuously, from hundreds of meters to hundreds of meters, and finally to a staggering thousands of meters. Everything within this range—even the limbs of the two dragons that accidentally touched this area—was ruthlessly destroyed.

This time, however, Kaisius's breath was even more powerful. Flames and lightning intertwined, converging into a vast torrent of red and white that actually dispersed the surging embers of the apocalypse.

Kazul's wings had been restored to their original state by the continuous replenishment of ashes. At this moment, he closed his dragon wings, which had a wingspan of a thousand meters, to cover his entire body.

At this moment, He was like a floating island suspended high in the sky, or a giant black cocoon, with something terrifying seemingly hidden deep within.

Accompanied by the deep, rhythmic throbbing of the Heart of Tiamat, a powerful divine force was released, and black mist composed of ash washed over Caesus's body like a tide, burning the outermost scales with each wave and turning his body into ashes.

At this moment, Kaisius was like a reef in a stormy sea, being constantly eroded and destroyed.

A searing pain, as if being bitten by a thousand ants, filled Kaisius's body. He knew he couldn't let this opportunity slip by, so he unleashed the full power of the [Storm Monarch's Authority] within him. Countless bolts of lightning crisscrossed the sky, like a silvery-white forest, violently destroying everything that approached him.

"boom!"

"Boom! Boom!"

Amidst the surging thunder, bolts of lightning struck down from the sky, slamming into Kazur's body, which was wrapped like a giant cocoon. His wing membranes were covered with dense, crisscrossing charred wounds, and his once broad dragon wings were now tattered and ragged, a horrifying sight.

But Kaisius knew that this was still not enough; it was insufficient to shatter Kazul's defenses, much less to take his life.

This ancient red dragon's body is simply too enormous, its regenerative ability is extremely terrifying, and it also possesses Tiamat's blessing and thousands of years of combat experience. If it is given even the slightest chance to catch its breath, it will cause terrible consequences!

Thinking of this, Caesus raised his left claw, and the tens of thousands of lightning bolts surrounding him gathered together to form a lightning spear with an extremely high energy density, emitting blinding lightning. The moment it was raised, it caused the wind and thunder to howl and the dark clouds to surge, just like the wrath of the legendary thunder god.

However, this is not the end.

Kaisius extended his right claw again, the immense power of the sun god surging within his body, flowing along the intricate network of blood vessels to his throat, and then condensing into dazzling miniature suns in his palm, radiating light and heat that distorted the air.

These miniature suns continuously compressed and combined, eventually coalescing into a golden longsword that radiated countless rays of light—the Sword of Solar Judgment!
And so, Kaisius hurled his lightning spear and wielded the sword of the sun god's judgment. Blinding lightning and scorching dragon flames clashed, forming a terrifying storm that swept toward Kazul, who was not far away.

"boom!"

The lightning contained within the spear struck Kazul's body, and the surging electric light instantly tore apart his dark dragon wings.

The golden longsword that swung down unleashed a torrent of flames, aiming straight for Kazul's chest, piercing through his thick scales and flesh, trying to penetrate the heart of this ancient red dragon.

But at that moment, Kazul suddenly opened his eyes, his tattered wings suddenly unfurled, and a violent hurricane blew Kaisius dozens of meters backward.

Immediately afterwards, hundreds of jet-black, incredibly sharp bone spikes pierced through His chest and thrust towards Caesus, each tip containing terrifying destructive divine light.

Upon seeing this, Caesus's pupils suddenly shrank to pinpoints, and he quickly flapped his wings and twisted his body to dodge.

But the two were too close at that moment, and even though Kaisius had turned away, he still had nowhere to hide.

Gazing at the bone spikes hurtling towards him, Kaisius gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength to activate the Time Dragon Imprint that had already merged into his body.

Time stands still!

In an instant, the thunder, flames, and dark clouds in the sky stopped, but the ash and black smoke continued to churn. Kazul grinned, revealing a ferocious and provocative smile, completely unaffected by the time freeze.

The bone spurs moved even faster, like hundreds of spears, piercing through Kazul's chest and easily penetrating the space frozen in time, hurtling towards Kaisius's body.

Kaishuston's heart sank immediately.

As expected, time-based spells are difficult to use against such beings who are close to gods. As a dragon who has been enshrined as a god, Kaisius himself also has the characteristic of [time resistance].

With this in mind, Kasius had no choice but to avoid vital areas and use the Dragon Pact Warlock's [Instant Casting] ability to cast over a dozen layers of magical shields on himself, preparing to withstand this fatal blow head-on.

"Thorn-"

With a crisp sound, the sharp bone spikes pierced through Kaisius's wings, shoulders, and abdomen in an instant. Hot dragon blood gushed out, and the pierced parts of his body burned rapidly into ashes at a visible speed.

At that moment, Kaisius felt a sharp pain in his body, as if he were being torn apart by some powerful force.

The destructive power was constantly eroding his wounds, and the areas around the wounds were losing sensation at an extremely rapid pace. Every necrosis and burning of flesh caused him pain and despair that came from the depths of his soul.

This is the destructive power of the apocalypse, capable of erasing all traces of life in the world, bringing the most thorough destruction and ruin, and allowing the entire world to start anew.

After piercing Kaisius with bone spikes, Kazul was still not satisfied. He suddenly swung his dragon claw, which was hundreds of meters long and emitted thick ash smoke. It tore through space and roared toward Kaisius's head.

Kaisius stared at the dragon claw hurtling down from mid-air, gritted his teeth, and with a steely resolve, the previously chaotic thoughts in his mind gradually became firm and clear. "This can't go on any longer!"

"This 'Doomsday Dragon' is far too destructive. Simply defending will only put us on the defensive and could even lead to our demise."

"Since that's the case, then we have no choice but to fight to the death! Come on, Kazul, let me see if your determination to become a god is as firm as you say!"

Kaisius roared almost madly, howling with all his might. The "Heart of Karix" within him was finally fully activated, pounding violently and emitting a roar like an engine.

The chaotic, violent divine power of the Void One surged through his veins, gathering in his spittoon, and unleashing a devastating crimson dragonfire from the depths of his throat.

In mythology, Karax periodically descends upon the Material Plane, unleashing his unclean flames of destruction upon the human world, allowing this filthy and defiled world to be reborn from destruction.

This is Karix's World-Burning Flame, which also possesses the characteristic of "world destruction." Its power is no less than Kazul's Doomsday Breath, and its destructive power is even more terrifying.

"boom--"

The crimson dragon flames erupted, blasting towards Kazul's arm that was about to strike.

With a loud crack, the enormous dragon claw was engulfed by dragon flames and was instantly burned to ashes, turning into charred remains that broke off from Kazul's body.

Kazul let out a bloodcurdling scream, but his face was filled with an excited smile: "Just as I thought, Kaisius, you really are the puppet chosen by that madman! I look forward to seeing the look of fear and despair on your face when you are replaced by the Nothingness!"

As they spoke, ashes surged forth and coalesced.

The chosen one?
A bad feeling flashed through Kesius's mind, but even so, he grabbed the black bone spur embedded in his shoulder and, despite the excruciating pain, pulled it out by force.

"Stab!"

Blood gushed out, but Caesus paid no heed and unleashed the Purifying Fire once more, this time aiming straight for Kazul's face with incredible speed.

"As expected of Karix's flames, they are truly terrifying." Kazul exclaimed, then opened his mouth and spewed out a dark, black light from his throat.

"boom!"

Two world-destroying forces collided and became entangled, canceling each other out and destroying each other, creating a huge black hole with extremely strong attraction high in the sky, which swallowed everything around it and annihilated it without hesitation.

Both sides that exhaled their breath were affected by the powerful aftershocks. Even half of Kazul's wing and Kaisius's right claw were caught in it and mercilessly obliterated by the black hole.

However, in just a few breaths, with the surge of divine power and the writhing of flesh, the two giant beasts recovered to their original state at a speed visible to the naked eye and resumed their close combat.

"Casius, are you scared?"

Kazul keenly caught the fleeting panic in his opponent's eyes and retorted sarcastically without hesitation, "You've grown up too fast, so fast that you can't even believe there's no conspiracy behind it. You're afraid that one day—everything you have will be taken away by someone else in an instant, aren't you?"

"Shh-"

The enormous dragon claw came crashing down from the sky, carrying towering black ash and surging destructive divine light, tearing through space and striking Caesus's head once more.

"You should think more about yourself, Tiamat's puppet!"

With a roar, Kaisius flapped his dragon wings and ascended thousands of meters, dodging the dragon claw that attacked from mid-air. At the same time, he used all his strength, almost using his entire body as a long whip, to fiercely lash out at the thick dragon tail covered in the Purifying Fire.

"boom!"

With a whooshing sound, the dragon's tail lashed heavily against Kazul's body, producing a dull thud. The Purifying Fire burned away the inky black divine light covering its body, cracking even its thick scales.

Under this immense force, even the muscles beneath the scales twisted and deformed. Kazul was forced back several hundred meters, letting out a furious roar of resentment. His broad dragon wings swept towards Kaisius, stirring up a dark storm of divine power.

"What right do you have to be my enemy!"

The divine storm tore apart the flame barrier in front of Kaisius, and Kazul roared as it crashed into him. Its enormous and ferocious dragon body was like a pitch-black mountain, awe-inspiring, terrifying, and utterly helpless.

Kaisius tried to use his high mobility to dodge, but found that the storm of divine power had already quietly sealed off his surroundings, making it impossible to break through easily.

"boom!"

Under this powerful force that made space itself tremble, Kaisius was sent flying, blood and shattered scales flying through the air, even his bones were smashed to pieces, and the place where the two collided was stained with a dark divine light, and once again cracked and burned.

However, despite the excruciating pain all over his body, Kaisius twisted his body in mid-air and swung his dragon claws in an extremely exaggerated manner, carrying the fire of purification, toward Kazul's head—or more accurately, his eyes.

"Ow!"

A mournful wail echoed across the sky, and blood gushed from Kazul's eye sockets. However, the dragon blood quickly vaporized under the high temperature, and even half of his dragon face was burned away by the flames, revealing his stark white bones. His appearance was extremely ferocious and terrifying, like a skeletal dragon summoned from rotting soil.

Even so, Kazul roared with all his might, spewing out countless beams of black light as he launched a near-mad attack on Kaisius: "I have endured thousands of years of hardship to sit in that position!"
I abandoned my dignity as a dragon, willingly becoming Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's most loyal lackey, sacrificing everything for this!

"boom!"

The black light struck Kaisius's left shoulder, instantly annihilating everything it touched and blasting a huge, hideous hole in it, almost tearing half of his dragon body apart.

Kaisius twisted to dodge, trying to force Kazul back with the Purifying Fire, but Kazul's attacks became increasingly ferocious, almost as if he were attacking with his life on the line.

"But what about you?"

"I've investigated everything about you, Cassius. Your life is as fleeting as an ant's, barely a few decades. What right do you have to compete with me!" (End of Chapter)