The Battle's End

"Look, what's that?" "Holy shit!" The members of the Wangquan Guild, rushing along their path, all looked up together to see a red star gleaming in the pitch-black night sky. The Tower of Polar Night, which was their original destination, was shuddering violently. The spire blasted open with a deafening crash, unfolding into a broad platform. And the red dragon they knew so well beat his wings, soaring high into the sky, confronting across the open air a colossal, twisted monstrosity that occupied more than half of the platform. "Roaaar—" A massive roar thundered from the top of the tower, reverberating through the clouds. It made the peaks tremble and the earth quake. Sleeping birds and beasts jolted awake, fleeing in panic, leaving the players standing on the ground gazing upward in stunned disbelief. "Did a story cutscene start?" "Is the game treating us to a front-row seat for a boss fight?" "Holy crap, what a spectacle." "So after prepping for so long, are we still entering the dungeon or what?" "Everyone, let's just stay here and watch. Looks like we arrived late. This... is definitely not a fight we have the strength to take part in," Bazhe, guildmaster of Wangquan, murmured as he looked up at the red dragon roaring toward the heavens and the massive monstrosity flailing its countless limbs below. ... Cassius hung high in the sky, his wings spread wide, as the Eye of the Storm Sovereign embedded in his chest radiated a blinding glare. Eighth-circle spell— *Control Weather*. As he slowly flapped his wings, roiling dark clouds surged forth like a tide, gradually blotting out the night sky and barely obscuring the Phantom of the King-Killer Star above. Yet a faint crimson glow still seeped through the gloom. Cassius knew his spell could not hold out for long. Once the phantom fully solidified, not even ten thousand layers of storm clouds could block the light emanating from the star's higher essence. He had to kill Vagnerd immediately! Fortunately, the being before him had already lost all reason, reduced to a monster driven purely by instinct. *Boom!* Endless lightning brewed within the clouds. Several bolts as thick as bowls plunged from the heavens like dazzling spears piercing the night, striking the twisted monster viciously, charring its flesh black and snapping several outstretched claws clean off. The monster let out an agonized wail, craning its necks to snap wildly at the air as it incessantly spewed Frost Breath. Yet the red dragon effortlessly dodged each assault. Like a crimson phantom, he darted through the storm clouds, flying amidst the boundless thunder and lightning. Cassius focused his mind, channeling energy throughout his entire body into his lungs via his fundus vessels to unleash a lethal breath attack. Beneath his chest scales, a faint glimmer of fire began to pulse through. Yet just as his concentration was locked on the breath weapon, an unexpected ambush struck. "Roaaar—" A white dragon's head lunged abruptly from the storm clouds, snapping its jaws toward Cassius, its slitted pupils brimming with frenzy—it was Tinia! The white dragon had clearly succumbed uncontrollably to Dracorage, trapped in a berserk frenzy where friend and foe were indistinguishable, her mind consumed by nothing but the purest urge for destruction. "Damn it!" Midway through channeling energy, Cassius could not evade in time and had to brace himself to take the hit head-on. Cassius had not anticipated Tinia's frenzy. It was merely an ordinary bite that he could normally endure with ease. However, if wounded, even he could not guarantee that he wouldn't lose his sanity and degenerate into a rampaging beast. Instinctively, he activated Gilded Scales, hardening his scales in an instant until they were as impenetrable as adamantine. "Master, I'll help you!" It was Langpu, who had remained under the cover of Invisibility the entire time. Because he was not a pure dragon, the King-Killer Star's influence over him was much weaker. Now, he pointed his staff at the red dragon. Tinia's fangs clamped down first against the rock-hard Gilded Scales, and before she could exert her full strength, an invisible shield repelled her jaws. "Awooo!" Several sharp teeth snapped off, flying into the air trailing sprays of blood. Only then did Cassius finish storing up all the energy in his body, fiery radiance surging within his chest. At this critical juncture, he had no leeway to care for the safety of his newly recruited subordinate. Calling down several bolts of lightning upon the delirious white dragon, he blasted her straight out of the sky. *Rumble!* "Awoo—" Crashing onto the ground on her back, the white dragon's limbs twitched. Scorched black all over like a "black dragon," she still clung to a breath of life, merely incapacitated for the moment. Meanwhile, the monstrosity marched on hundreds of hideous limbs, lunging toward the red dragon as all five of its heads roared in discordant madness. Drawing on his sorcerer Metamagic ability, the red dragon instantly cast a sixth-circle spell. Gathering his vitality, he designated a specific scale on his chest as his "inverted scale." The scale immediately glowed with a faint luminescence. *Undying Inverted Scale*. He would use this ability to ensure he remained unscathed while delivering the decisive blow to the monster. Cassius snapped open his wings and plunged from the heights like an arrow loosed from a bow. Under the effect of Draconic Agility, his draconic frame blurred into a crimson afterimage once more. The twisted abomination slashed with claws and blasted breath attacks again and again, all while exuding thick crimson mist. Yet under the effects of Aerial Maneuverability, the red dragon rolled, wheeled, and stopped on a dime amidst the tempestuous onslaught, weaving and maneuvering like an elusive wraith. Finally, Cassius parted his jaws slightly, a blinding brilliance brewing deep within his throat. *Boom—* In an instant, an incandescent white pillar of fire bored through several flailing limbs the monster thrust forward. And Cassius arrived before the monster's chest—the very spot where Vagnerd's true body was embedded. As if perceiving the red dragon's approach, a strange mockery surfaced in Vagnerd's madness-filled eyes, and his right eye suddenly shot forth an eerie red ray. It was the final contingency he had prepared for himself before succumbing to Dracorage—an eighth-circle contingency spell. *Ray of Calamity*. This ray, infused with a trace of the King-Killer Star's power, could completely destroy a dragon's brain. Yet having foreseen this attack through the future vision granted by the Cataclysmic Dragon Eye, Cassius did not hesitate to thrust his inverted scale directly into its path. The moment the crimson beam made contact, the scale shattered. A radiant membrane shimmering with life force enveloped his entire body, rendering the red dragon temporarily invulnerable. *Boom—* Diving straight through the ray, Cassius opened his jaws as wide as possible and unleashed his breath weapon with everything he had. This breath weapon released all of Cassius's energy, further fueled by the tons of elemental ores he had consumed in advance from the Kingdom of Cinders' treasury—making it the most terrifying breath attack he had ever unleashed in his life. Owing to the extreme heat, the fiery glow had turned almost pure white. The incandescent pillar of fire instantly swallowed Vagnerd's human head, then punched straight through the monster's colossal body. In the end, the breath weapon carved a massive, charred hole completely through its chest from front to back. "Roaaar—" The monster convulsed violently, but it was in vain. With its core drained of life, the stitched-on heads, limbs, and wings all slumped limply. The massive, twisted body crashed down with a deafening thud, sending tremors through the ground like an earthquake. Amid the screech of snapping metal, the Tower of Polar Night began to collapse, ultimately crumbling into ruins. Cassius looked down upon the scene from above before descending onto the monster's carcass. Planting his claws atop the hideous dragon head, he roared toward the heavens. "Roaaar—" The storm clouds dispersed, revealing the night sky once more. Bereft of the spell's guidance, the Phantom of the King-Killer Star in the night sky grew faint and finally vanished into nothingness. All the creatures driven mad by the spell's influence slowly returned to normal, clarity gradually returning to their eyes.