Ember Dragon

"Let me go! You foolish blasphemer—"

Tiamat struggled fiercely, her enormous dragon body twisting in the sky, her unparalleled power causing the space to tremble and ripple, yet she could never completely break free from Kaisius's restraints.

Kaisius swung his dragon claw, and a golden spear descended from the sky, piercing Tiamat's back like divine punishment and exiting through her chest. Blood, exuding evil divine power, splattered through the air, corroding the earth.

Stab it!

Stab! Stab!
Immediately afterwards, hundreds of golden spears shot out from the void, creating countless bloody holes in Tiamat's body.

At this moment, He was like a sinner on the gallows, nailed high in the air, unable to move, with only blood flowing out. A hideous crack had been corroded beneath Him, filled with poisonous smoke.

“You lost, Tiamat.”

Kaisius gazed at the three-headed dragon before him and said calmly, "Leave this body here, and I can let you leave. You wouldn't want your divine kingdom to be destroyed by the gods, would you?"

“Casius, you’re wrong.”

Tiamat grinned bitterly, casting a crazed, hateful gaze at Caesus in the distance, her teeth clenched as if she wanted to tear him to pieces.

"The gifts that fate bestows have already come with a price tag in secret; you are nothing more than a pawn."

Kaisius frowned and said coldly, "Your Majesty Tiamat, you've said too much nonsense. Please don't test my patience."

“Casius—”

The sound of flesh being torn apart echoed through the sky. Ignoring the golden spear stuck in her body, Tiamat twisted her body forcefully, tearing apart large pieces of flesh and skin to reveal bloody internal organs and stark white bones.

Finally, the enormous dragon body completely exploded, and a five-colored, five-headed phantom rose from the dragon body and suddenly detached—that was Tiamat's soul.

Kaisius did not stop him. With his current power, unless he risked his life, he could not prevent a true god from returning to the outer plane.

There's no need for him to stop it.

Tiamat, Bahamut, it would be of no benefit to him whether either the evil dragon queen or the benevolent dragon god had the absolute upper hand.

He needs the dragon race in the multiverse to maintain a relatively balanced state so that he can continue to be successful in all directions and not lose his value in the eyes of the gods.

"Casius—I will continue to wait in hell, I want to see you rejected by that being and fall into despair!"
"At that time, I will abduct you to the deepest depths of hell, but I will not kill you. I will let you live, to live endless years in agony and death!"

The surrounding space was wildly churned by the phantom of the five-headed dragon, forming a huge vortex with a diameter of over a thousand meters. Five pairs of deep, hateful eyes stared intently at Kaisius before finally disappearing into the vortex.

I curse you—

"Then we'll see."

Kaisius met that gaze, his eyes cold. He could feel the will of the true God being imposed upon him, bringing him disease, misfortune, and suffering.

Unfortunately, such a curse is insignificant to a demigod.

Tiamat hasn't completely lost her mind yet. If she were to unleash a curse in the name of her race's god, like the Frost Giant King did, it would be a complete and irreconcilable conflict.

To this day, the frost giants within the Empire have either been slaughtered or transformed into semi-constructed creatures devoid of independent consciousness by the bio-priests of the Mechanicus, effectively making them extinct.

Although Tiamat harbors intense hatred for Caesus, she dares not gamble with her divine authority as the goddess of dragons or the fate of the five-colored dragon race, betting that Caesus will perish in the future.

Thinking of this, Kaisius flapped his dragon wings and came into the sky, using his brilliant light to dispel the black mist that filled the high sky, and took a deep breath.

"Tiamat has been banished back to hell."

"The Empire has won this protracted war—"

The muffled thunderous sound spread rapidly, echoing across the ravaged battlefield and throughout the towns of the empire, filling every corner, and the shockwaves it generated dissipated the smoke of battle.

Just then, Kaisius felt a warm current flow into his body, mending his numerous wounds. He looked into the distance and saw countless golden torrents rising up, like rivers flowing into the sea, surging mightily towards his body.

He had never experienced such a profound faith.

At this moment, within the empire, the eyes of tens of millions of people are focused on this battlefield. The people are jubilant, and cheers, shouts, and prayers resound through the sky and shake the earth.

"Long live the Empire!"

"Long live His Majesty Cassius!"

"The merciful emperor! He saved us!"

Especially in the city of August, which survived under his protection, the power of faith there had become so strong that it was almost tangible, surging endlessly above the city.

After all, they had witnessed firsthand how the Burning Emperor protected the city from the attack of the evil god, saving them from disaster and death.

At this moment, in the eyes of the Augustans, Cassius's status had surpassed that of a savior and was no different from that of a god.

The girl, trembling amidst the ruins, raised her head and looked up at the towering figure in the sky, her eyes sparkling: "That's the His Majesty Caesus they've been talking about."

In the collapsed church, the severely wounded Bishop of the Sun God gazed into the distance, his voice trembling: "God, could that emperor be the savior you sent?"

On the towering, cracked city walls, the imperial officers and soldiers, their expressions fervent, raised their weapons high, raised their arms, and shouted with all their might.

"Praise be to His Majesty the Emperor!"

"Wan Sheng! Wan Sheng!"

"Long live the Empire! Long live His Majesty Caesus!"

The cheers and shouts within the city surged into a torrent, dispersing the clouds and mist that filled the sky, and the entire city was enveloped in jubilation.

Whether it was the distant cities of Istalia, Blackstone Fortress, Northwind Fortress, and Bato in the Anzeta Wasteland, or the border cities and steppe fortresses in the northern wasteland, all were engulfed in a frenzied atmosphere.

People gazed at the magical image in the sky, embraced each other tightly, and sang hymns praising the emperor.

Whether they were proud dragon-blooded nobles or lowly non-citizens, whether they were high-ranking officials in government buildings or workers in factories, they all shared the same feelings and beliefs at this moment, which formed a close-knit and interconnected community.

All oppression and injustice seemed to vanish at this moment, disappearing under the emperor's divine might.

This is the power of faith.

At this moment, Cassius's victory over Tiamat was indelibly etched in the hearts of many in the Empire. He had become a symbol of the collective will of the Empire, embodying the shared aspirations of tens of millions of its people. Cassius narrowed his eyes, gazing down upon the scarred and weathered land, feeling the countless mortals who had placed their hearts and souls in his hands.

The faith of these mortals acted like anchors, pulling Kelsus along and forcibly anchoring him to the Empire, preventing the repulsive forces of the material plane from expelling him for the time being.

He could sense that, after this incident, his connection with the "Imperial Territory" had become even closer.

If this continues, the entire empire will become one with him, reaching a state where you are in me and I am in you.

Given these combined conditions, Cassius could very well become the first being in tens of thousands of years to achieve godhood in the material plane without being banished.

The day I become a god is not far off.

Meanwhile, atop the hills of the Seven Heavens, a towering golden figure gazed upon the scene of the material plane. Though his face was obscured, the solemnity in his eyes was palpable.

"The order of humanity is on the verge of collapse, and it seems that a great upheaval, unprecedented in ten thousand years, is about to occur."

Also in the Seven Heavens, inside a palace made of various precious metals, a massive platinum dragon, its body winding like a mountain range, suddenly opened its eyes. Its azure eyes were exceptionally deep, radiating wisdom, and a hint of helplessness seemed to appear in its pupils.

"He still got everything Tiamat left behind, it seems the time for disaster is coming sooner than expected."

Bahamut sighed and continued to focus his attention on the attack on the Kingdom of God.

In the deep palace of the ninth level of Bato, a demon resembling a middle-aged man casually leaned against a throne of bones, stroking the head of Cerberus, a slight smile curving his lips.

"I never expected they could achieve this level of skill."

He raised a goblet made from a skull, filled with blood-red wine, as if offering a toast from afar: "To the Holy Catastrophe—"

Within the Eternal Radiance Fortress of the Mechanical Realm, countless golden angels were chanting softly. Surrounded by the angels, a figure shrouded in firelight trembled slightly, as if awakened by something.
Meanwhile, in the Burning Empire, the Thracian Governorate, and the Central Plains.

Kaisius had turned his gaze from the distance to the dead three-headed dragon.

"The Myriad-Colored Returning Dragon, the most powerful creature in the material world."

Kaisius looked at the tattered dragon body, which was suspended in mid-air and was over a thousand meters long, like a floating mountain, extremely magnificent.

This is the life form that is about to break through the shackles of the material plane and stand at the top.

What a powerful and deadly existence it is! Even Kaisius, who is in the "Imperial Territory", needs external help to fight against it, otherwise he would not be able to achieve this final victory.

Tiamat's hasty escape was not because she couldn't defeat him, but because of the combined attack of the gods.

Without the interference of the gods, the entire northern part of Feanso would probably have been destroyed by the enemy, and even Kaisius, who possessed the "Imperial Domain," could only barely escape.

Before leaving, Tiamat unleashed all the divine power within this body, completely destroying its flesh, veins, and bones, turning them into mere pollutants on the material plane.

Fortunately, divinity is immortal.

Kaisius stretched out his dragon claws, ripped open the filthy, highly polluted flesh, and pulled out a bloody object from the chest of the three-headed dragon corpse—a dark red, beating heart that was emitting black smoke.

The supreme relic of the Church of the Dragon, the last remaining portion of divinity left on earth by the Queen of the Five Colored Dragons, is now in His hands.

"The final piece of Tiamat's divinity puzzle. I wonder to what extent this thing can elevate the God-Deifying Dragon."

Kaisius first added more than a dozen layers of restrictions to it, then with a wave of his dragon claw, he stored the heart in his [Protective Egg], placing it together with those extremely precious artifacts.

Just then, a hazy figure appeared near the dragon corpse.

As the figure appeared, a powerful vortex of positive energy appeared around them, accompanied by a slightly bitter voice: "Tiamat's heart... it's too late, but that was expected."

He turned his head, looked at the red dragon not far away, nodded and said, "Greetings, Your Majesty Caesus."

The visitor was Xia Sennu.

Kaisius stared at the golden dragon, his eyes narrowed, and said in a cold voice, "Son of Bahamut, for the sake of your aid, leave this place immediately."

Xia Sennu looked helpless, shook his head, then nodded slightly in the direction of Kaisius before disappearing into the air, leaving only golden ripples behind.

Then, Cassius turned his gaze back to the dragon's body, which seemed to have lost its value.

This is the being that Kazul has longed to be for thousands of years, but now he is like a piece of pork hanging on an iron hook, cruelly dissected and suspended in mid-air.

I wonder what his cheap ally will think when he sees this scene—sadness, excitement, or despair?
However, Kaisius knew that if it were allowed to fall and rot, the land within a hundred miles would likely be corrupted by this divine substance that had lost its divine support, turning it into a dead land.

He will find a suitable place for this dragon's body.

Kaisius swung his dragon claws, and the dragon's corpse fell from the sky, collapsing onto the ground like a small mountain, its blood gushing out and flowing into a river.

[Imperial Territory: Sealed]

The next moment, the surrounding space compressed, the blood stopped flowing, and the black smoke that corroded everything no longer emanated from the dragon corpse. It was like a piece of solidified amber, sealing the dragon corpse inside.

"Trump".

Kaisius called softly to his retinue.

"Master, you...you actually defeated a true god! By the Emperor's grace, that was Tiamat, the progenitor of the five-colored dragons, an enemy of the gods, a being who ranks high among the deities!"

Trump's voice was filled with barely concealed excitement and exhilaration, but Cassius found it somewhat amusing that Trump said "The Emperor is above" to his face.

"Alright, no need for further flattery."

"Do your will."

Kaisius calmly instructed, "I have sealed Tiamat's divine body here. The Empire will build a large research institute here specifically for dissecting and analyzing this divine body."

"Yes, Master! I will contact the Imperial God Research Association immediately. Those crazy Starfallers should be very interested in this thing."

Trump's voice became even more agitated, because he himself was one of those "mad researchers".

To dissect and study a high and mighty deity—what an honor, what an intoxicating experience! (End of Chapter)