Ember Dragon

Smoke and dust filled the air, and the area was a complete mess.

"This is."

Adrian supported himself with his arms and slowly crawled out of the collapsed wall, only to see that the Seleucid nobles were already unconscious from the aftermath of the battle.

Their bodies were torn to pieces, their bones broken, like crumpled rags carelessly discarded in the ruins. Filthy blood slowly spread from those remains, forming a grotesque and terrifying scene.

This is the power of the legendary Titan descendants. Their shockwaves are enough to shatter the earth, vibrate the atmosphere, and crack the oceans. Mortal bodies are as fragile as glass under such an attack.

Thanks to his divinely blessed physique, Adrian could barely hold on, but mortals would not survive such a severe shockwave.

In an instant, more than a dozen powerful nobles died here, with only Adrian and a few warriors and paladins surviving.

"He has betrayed the sun and become an enemy of the Lord. Kill him!"

Gunter's face was as cold as ice, his voice filled with murderous intent, and the holy emblem of "Sun of Wrath" on his robes shone brightly, making his twisted, angry face particularly prominent.

She slowly raised her scepter, and a powerful surge of divine energy shot straight into the sky, condensing into fiery red clouds. These clouds were slowly rotating, forming a surging vortex that enveloped everyone.

The magnificent and stirring hymn resounded, its sound like countless angry warriors roaring and shouting, venting their hatred for the enemy.

"In the name of the eternally blazing sun, let us burn away all the sins of the world—"

"Shh-"

The scepter fell, accompanied by a cracking sound as the air exploded. A crimson beam of light descended from the sky, like a long sword piercing the heavens, suddenly stabbing down towards Adrian, as if to be delivered to the god of final arbitration.

"He's nothing but a fake god impersonating someone else, how dare he..."

Adrian gritted his teeth, then raised his longsword high, imbuing the blade with golden divine power. The slender blade sliced ​​through the air, forming a slowly rotating sun disk with intricate patterns.

"boom!"

Two divine forces, similar in nature but slightly different, collided, creating an extremely hot gale that melted the surrounding buildings.

"no no!"

"How can they possess such power! Amannata!"

Adrian's sun disk was able to barely protect itself, but it had no time to care about others within the bombardment range. The few remaining powerful nobles were also wiped out in the terrifying aftershocks.

The fierce battle reduced the entire Duke's mansion to ruins, which attracted the attention of people in the distance. The city's alarms were sounded, and the Imperial Guard, riding wyverns, rushed over from afar.

"what is that?"

"Could it be that the Dragon Cult has made a comeback?"

The people's voices were filled with fear and dread, like frightened birds. They had just escaped a terrible disaster and were afraid that their hard-won peaceful life would be disrupted.

At this moment, Gunter was already suspended in mid-air, his long golden hair...

"Poor mortals, so easily lurking at the feet of evil dragons, betraying the glory of the sun."

They should pay the price for this!

Before the words were even finished, the fiery clouds in the sky suddenly dispersed, and countless meteors enveloped in flames fell from the sky, mercilessly crashing into the city like raindrops, causing a series of violent explosions.

Buildings were destroyed, fleeing crowds were swallowed up, scorching winds howled through the city, and flames and smoke soared into the sky.

"Come on!"

"God, is the war not over yet? What have we done wrong to deserve this fate?"

Amidst the cacophony of screams, shouts, and desperate cries, many city residents have already lost their lives in this disaster.

"Pay back your sins!" Gaunt's voice was devoid of any emotion, as if it were all justified. In her eyes, the dead humans were nothing more than ants that could be crushed at will, insignificant.

Adrian gazed at the devastated city in the distance, his eyes turning bloodshot with rage. He roared with a heart-wrenching fury, "False god! How could a true god lay a hand on the people of the sun!"

Dragging his battered body, he used the flames to propel himself up from the ground, and with all his might, he swung his longsword at Gaunt in mid-air.

At this moment, Adrian was like a shooting star about to burn out, relentlessly rushing towards Gaunt, as if trying to exhaust the last bit of heat in his life.

The air seemed to be torn apart like cloth, and surging flames trailed behind him, splitting into two rivers, with an extremely oppressive roar echoing through the sky.

"Go to hell——"

"He really is the thief who stole the power of the sun god—stop him!" Gaunt ordered coldly.

The four Titan descendants leaped into the air, raised their heavy hammers high, and blocked Adrian's path, converging their hammers at a single point in mid-air, releasing an incomparably powerful shockwave.

The sky shook!

"boom--"

With a muffled roar, the surrounding space suddenly distorted, and a powerful shockwave spread wildly outward from the point of convergence. The clouds in the sky were shattered and the earth was mercilessly torn apart, and Adrian was also shattered by this powerful impact.

But he did not give up. He resolutely raised his longsword, concentrating all his energy at the tip of the sword, and with terrifying heat, he penetrated the barrier formed by the shockwave.

Behind him, the flames were split into countless sparks by the shockwave, surging towards the sky like a constantly rotating galaxy.

At this moment, Adrian was no longer recognizable as human, having completely transformed into a massive fireball that burned continuously, emitting blinding light. The surrounding smoke, rocks, vegetation, and even the air itself were ablaze, and even the Titan descendants could not withstand such intense heat.

"No, it's impossible!"

"We are children of the sun! How could we be harmed by its radiance!"

The Titan descendants' lips trembled, and they murmured in disbelief.

Their flawless, marble-like skin was gradually turning black, cracking, and even melting like a lit candle, as if a flame was burning fiercely inside them, trying to erase their traces of existence from the world.

Gunther's expression changed drastically as she realized that the robes of the Sun God she was wearing were beginning to burn.

how so!
That was material bestowed by the great Tezicano, how could it be burned by flames!

"Hold on! Don't let these damned false believers scare you!"

Gunter's face was as cold as ice. He then crushed the pendant on his chest, and an extremely hot flame immediately emerged, condensing in the high sky into a distorted sun with an angry face.

Meanwhile, complex magic circles reappeared on the earth. This was a backup plan prepared by their church, specifically designed to deal with such special circumstances. The magic circles resonated with the sun, activating and releasing terrifying power. The angry and ferocious sun slowly descended from the sky, crashing down upon Adrian.

"Lord Gaunt!"

"Please stop! We're here too—"

The Titans begged for mercy, for they were still on the sun's inevitable path and bound by the barrier, unable to leave. Under the sun's fire that burned everything, their bodies were ablaze.

“This is a necessary sacrifice. My Lord will cleanse you of your sins and grant you eternal life in the eternally glorious Kingdom of God.” Gaunt’s voice was cold as he continued to swing his scepter, and the sun in the sky set.

Accompanied by agonizing screams and the crackling of flesh being burned, the Titans struggled to their deaths in the flames, their divine power becoming fuel for the raging sun, turning into dark red flames.

Adrian also unleashed the power bestowed upon him by the sun god to its fullest extent, transforming himself into a massive, bright fireball.

Two suns.

Thus, amidst the torn space and flying ashes, they collided within this narrow barrier, causing a blinding light, like a supernova explosion, to be born at the center of the collision.

"boom--"

After a brief silence, a piercing roar and shriek filled the sky.

The light enveloped the entire city, illuminating buildings and even people's skin in the purest white.

Immediately afterwards, a scorching wind spread rapidly, followed by the sounds of shattering glass, the humming of trembling walls, and the noise of dust sweeping across the ground. The entire city seemed to be destroyed by this terrifying aftershock.

At the epicenter of the explosion, Gunter was dressed in tattered clothes, but his body was unharmed under the protection of divine power. Only his long golden hair was slightly disheveled and had some burn marks.

Adrian, however, supported himself on the ground with his longsword. His body was charred and cracked, and his carbonized skin peeled off his skin in a rustling motion, making him look like a piece of charcoal taken from a campfire and about to burn out.

Gunter descended from mid-air with a cold smile, grabbed Adrian's head, and forced him to look at the surrounding city, leaving him only able to watch helplessly as the people wailed in the aftershocks.

"Do you see that? This is the ugly side of mortals."

In the midst of disaster, they could only flee like rats, killing one another; each of them carried a heavy burden of sin, and our Lord will burn it all away clean.

"False god."

Adrian let out a suppressed growl from deep in his throat.

Gunter's expression suddenly turned ferocious as she pointed her scepter at Adrian's still faintly beating heart, its sharp tip aimed at his chest.

"Adrian, since you are so stubborn, there's no need to spare your life."

Just then, Gunter suddenly stopped moving.

No, it wasn't just her movements; the flying ashes, the spreading aftershocks, the splashing pebbles, and even the light in the sky all stopped, and everything around them fell into stillness.

"Pat-pat, pat-pat"

The crisp sound of the pointer turning appeared, faint yet strikingly clear in the silent environment.

Immediately afterwards, a huge and bloated ogre appeared inside the barrier, its form gradually becoming solid from its illusory appearance, clearly having just broken free of its invisibility.

He was dressed in a priest's robe, wore gold-rimmed glasses, and had an exquisite pocket watch hanging on his chest, exuding a faint aristocratic air that was completely incongruous with his race.

This was none other than the legendary mage, director of the Divine Research Institute, president of the Imperial Arcane Association, and the Imperial Chief Minister who was originally scheduled to visit Sunset City in five days—Langpu.

Trump waved his staff, and an invisible magic swept across the land, instantly dissipating the scorching wind that had destroyed the city, and even the light in the sky vanished in an instant.

In just a few breaths, the disaster in Sunset City seemed to have been resolved.

Several mechanical spheres hovering beside Trump are flying into the city, using light to repair damaged buildings and heal injured residents.

"Ah, it's almost time."

Trump glanced down at his pocket watch, then stepped forward and lifted Gunter into the air with his rough, large hand, his movements careful, as if he were handling a fragile ornament.

A flame of anger ignited in Gunter's golden eyes, urging her to move within the still space, her lips trembling slightly.

"Are you Trump?"

"How is that possible? I clearly received revelation from the Lord."

Trump shook his head and said with a smile, "Your god is stupid and crazy, he's practically a beast. According to the research institute, he is probably a product of some weak god who wanted to take over the throne and was infected by the evil thoughts when Amanata fell. It's amazing that you can believe in him."

The ogre looked down at Gaunt, his eyes suddenly gleaming with a thirst for knowledge.

"But it's all for the best. It's precisely because He is so insane that He can give you away for free—a living, breathing child of God. You are truly an excellent experimental subject."

"No, it's impossible!"

"I am the one chosen by the sun god. I will destroy all sins in the world and bring new life to all things!"

Time resumes its flow.

The flames within Gunter burned fiercely, and she roared desperately, as if venting her anger and wanting to perish together with Trump.

"That's not up to you," Trump said calmly.

He tapped the ground lightly with his staff, and a huge magic circle suddenly lit up, with intricate magical patterns appearing in every street corner, alleyway, square, and road.

It turns out this was a complete trap; the empire had already encompassed the entire Sunset City within the magic circle!

Under the overwhelming light, Gunter's body suddenly went out, his body as fragile as a mortal, slumped helplessly to the ground, only able to utter anxious whimpers.

Trump then casually pulled out a purple and white ball and smashed it on Gaunt's head. As the ball bounced away, it suddenly opened up, and a terrifying attraction surged out from it.

Gunter instantly transformed into a streak of red light and was absorbed into the ball. The ball shook three times, made a "ding" sound, and then returned to calm.

Trump picked up the ball from the ground, rubbed his chin, and said with great interest, "This 'Master Ball' researched by the Cult of Machines is quite a good thing."

It contained several high-level spell runes, including Eternal Stasis, Energy Absorption, Binding, and Extradimensional Space, nested together to confine a legendary creature within a tiny sphere—truly ingenious.

Behind him, Adrian struggled to lift his head, first looking at the surrounding environment as the smoke dissipated, then his lips moved, his voice hoarse.

"Mr. Trump, this was all part of your plan, wasn't it?" (End of Chapter)