"A demonic pact..."
"Expecting these extensions of chaos to honor an orderly contract is a complete joke."
Cassius mocked inwardly, though on the outside he maintained an impatient facade, making no effort to conceal his greed for power.
The avatar vanished from the astral void, dissolving into a guttering flame and leaving behind only a Cataclysmic Dragon Eye to monitor the situation. Cassius withdrew his consciousness fully back to his true body, seated before the Astral Prism on the Material Plane.
"Sign a pact? Not a chance."
"Abandon the body of Garyx? Never."
"Then it's time to gamble. While that seal remains intact, I'll pluck this morsel right out of the tiger's jaws."
Cassius stared fixedly at the Astral Prism glowing with faint, eerie light, excitement gleaming in his eyes before this high-stakes wager.
At present, Jezralslak had certainly not broken his seal—or at least had no certainty of restraining him. Otherwise, the demon would never have gone to such lengths, dangling the priceless corpse of a god to entice him into signing a so-called "pact of cooperation."
Yet this Lord of Vengeance, imprisoned for tens of thousands of years, had grown overconfident. Revealing his trump card too early, he had forgotten that Cassius still held an alternative option: flipping the table.
"Let's see it then..."
"Show me this fabled demonic wrath."
Cassius sneered, teeth bared.
As the dragon sorcerer's will warped reality, flares of magical radiance and spatial ripples suddenly surged. Undying Inverted Scale, Draconic Agility, Aerial Maneuverability, Energy Scales, and All-Seeing Eye—the few spells he possessed that could still exert some measure of influence in high-tier combat—were woven onto his massive draconic frame.
Cassius tucked his wings in and forced his way through the starlight-drenched portal of the color pool.
Passing through a luminous tunnel that shimmered like a rainbow, the red dragon traversed an imperceptibly vast distance, arriving with his true body in the fathomless void of the Astral Plane.
A purely mental realm—the silvery expanse drifting between all true planes.
Yet physical creatures could still endure here.
"A pity I haven't acquired Astral Projection yet; otherwise, I could have brought the risk to an absolute minimum."
Cassius swept his wings gently, quickly adapting to the virtually weightless astral environment. Under the effects of Aerial Maneuverability, he rapidly grasped the techniques of astral flight.
"Cassius, you've finally come..."
"My most perfect collaborator, sign the pact with me..."
"Together we shall share an endless source of power, becoming the architects of a new world..."
The demon's whispered summons drifted from afar, elusive and weaving around the red dragon's ears, enticing him to plunge into the deepest reaches of the Abyss.
Cassius beat his wings with all his might, streaking through the astral void like a crimson comet. Within mere breaths, he crossed nearly a thousand meters. In the distance, the floating island and the demon's emaciated form were already coming into view.
"Come, sign the pact with me."
"Set me free, and you shall have eternal life!"
Suspended in midair, Jezralslak sounded more manic than ever, like a prisoner on the verge of absolution.
The contract woven of abyssal torrents fluttered in the void, undulating like a living creature to welcome its signatory.
Cassius, however, reinforced his mental barriers to shut out all demonic whispers.
He did not land beside the demon as agreed. Instead, he snapped his wings to accelerate further, a crimson trail of flame erupting in his wake. He shot straight past the sealed demon, rocketing directly toward the mountain-sized dragon corpse in the distance.
"No—!"
"Cassius! What do you think you're doing? Have you forgotten our pact?!"
The demon known as the Lord of Vengeance shuddered violently where he hung in the air, his hollow eyes igniting with blazing fires of retribution.
The entire floating island rumbled and quaked, and a colossal face formed of chaotic mists materialized within the astral void.
"Vengeance—!"
"Ruin—!"
"Chaos—!"
The face roared and bellowed as if seeking to swallow the red dragon whole as he streaked across the void.
Tucking his wings to accelerate further, Cassius did not forget to sneer in reply.
"Who told you I was going to sign your ridiculous pact?!"
"A demon's contract sounds to me like an even bigger joke than a devil's conscience!"
Ignoring the swirling chaotic fog, he cut through the void like a falling star, wreathed in sulfurous smoke as he crashed onto the chest of the dragon corpse.
"So this is Garyx, the Cleanser of Worlds."
Cassius exhaled a long breath.
This thousand-meter-long red dragon had been dead for tens of thousands of years. Yet standing before it in the flesh, Cassius still felt an unbelievable weight bearing down upon him—a pressure rooted in bloodline, heritage, and essence itself, causing his wings to tremble uncontrollably.
His target was the heart.
He could not possibly drag this entire carcass back to the Material Plane.
Every piece of a divine corpse was priceless, but without question, the most valuable part of this dragon was the precious organ fed by countless fundus vessels channeling true blood—that gently pulsing heart, still retaining a thousandth of the bloodline power it held in life.
The Heart of Garyx.
"Cassius! You seek your own death!"
"You spurn the grand boon I offered, choosing ultimate ruin instead!"
A colossal, chaotic phantom charged from afar. The furious demon unleashed the power leaking through his seal, venting his wrath against this "traitor" without restraint.
Cassius knew his time was running short.
The demon had been sealed by the gods for tens of thousands of years, but even so, the might of an abyssal lord was something he could never match.
*Roar—!*
The dragon crystal on Cassius's chest flashed with blinding brilliance. White vapor hissed from his vents, and an incandescent column of white flame erupted from his jaws.
Two brilliant plumes of fire flared from his neck and tail, while the dragon crystal blazed with light. The white pillar of fire intensified, its outer edge tinged with a faint hint of blue.
Yet when that scorching breath struck Garyx's remains, it was stopped dead by the dull scales.
Even after tens of thousands of years, drained of its source of power, the corpse's formidable physical composition prevented ordinary flames from breaching it with ease.
"Terrifying."
"Even a Maximized Breath feels like nothing more than an itch."
Catching sight of the demon's phantom bearing down from the distance, Cassius gritted his teeth and made his decision.
All at once, the fundus vessels across the red dragon's body began to glow, showing through his hide in a root-like web.
A relentless surge of energy channeled into the dragon crystal. Dazzling, superheated white plumes vented from his neck and tail.
Amidst terrifying magical fluctuations, a violent reaction erupted inside the dragon crystal. Points of light and chaotic arcs danced within, casting stray sparks across his chest. The crystal grew incandescent, blazing like a miniature star in the void.
Violent winds blasted outward from the red dragon, kicking up a ring of dust across the floating island. The void fell dead silent for a fraction of a second, followed by a deafening roar.
The next instant, a torrent of blue-white flame surged from Cassius's jaws.
*Primordial Breath.*
The superheated pillar of flame smashed into the corpse.
This time, the breath cleaved through the dull scales, piercing the magnificent dragon corpse and tearing open a massive rent.
"Hah... hah..."
Panting heavily, Cassius snapped his jaws shut. His body had grown faintly translucent, his entire frame hissing with scorching white steam as he teetered on the brink of overload.
Yet he did not hesitate, nor did he rest. He plunged straight into the fissure, using razor-sharp fangs and claws to rip it wider.
*Riiip—!*
At last, he tore through the thick flesh shielding the corpse's chest.
The glowing, gently trembling heart lay exposed to the air.
This was Garyx from tens of thousands of years ago—a heart alone measuring nearly thirty meters across, larger than most red dragons of the present age.
"The Heart of Garyx."
Cassius exhaled a plume of white steam, an ardent light shining in his pale gold pupils.
"Cassius! You betrayed my trust!"
"You shall suffer the wrath of an abyssal lord!"
He turned his head to see the demon phantom arriving. A hideous hand formed of chaotic mist reached out, lunging to seize the red dragon.
Empowered by Draconic Agility, the astonishingly nimble red dragon evaded with ease. Yet the brush with that chaotic aura left the spells across his body deeply unstable, and the All-Seeing Eye shattered under the corruption.
"So this is the true power of the Abyss..."
"I have to get out of here right now."
Cassius thought with lingering dread as he felt the chaotic disturbance racking his body.
Diving into the dragon's chest, he dodged the phantom's attacks while using his claws and Scratch to tear away the deadened vessels anchoring the organ.
Finally, stripped of its ties to flesh and vessel, the faintly glowing heart—laden with the majestic power of a progenitor dragon—slipped free from the chest cavity.
Seeing this, the dragon sorcerer warped reality once more, unleashing another spell without hesitation.
*Hoard's Pouch.*
A bag-like field of force coalesced behind him, allowing him to haul the colossal heart.
*Roar!*
With a ferocious bellow, Cassius beat his wings, actually dragging a heart larger than his own draconic frame into the air.
Fortunately, gravity was negligible in the Astral Plane; otherwise, even with a red dragon's strength, carrying so massive a burden aloft would have been impossible.
Straining with every ounce of power in his wings, the red dragon hauled the heart a hundred meters into the sky.
"Ignorant mortal!"
"You have no idea what it means to provoke an abyssal lord!"
A black spear coalesced in the demon phantom's hand and was hurled directly at the dragon, who could hardly maneuver in midair.
Yet the moment that chaotic power struck and threatened to inflict a mortal wound, a scale on his body shattered. A membrane of golden light enveloped him, the Undying Inverted Scale taking the brunt of the lethal strike.
Seizing this precious instant, Cassius climbed with all his remaining strength, finally breaking away from the floating island entirely and leaving the phantom roaring in futile rage on the ground below.
"Goodbye—no, farewell, Jezralslak."
"I'll remember your selfless contribution."
Cassius rasped, breathless.
Battered and dragging the Heart of Garyx, the red dragon flew with everything he had until he reached the coordinates of the Astral Prism. He plunged headfirst into the color pool leading back to the Material Plane, entering the shimmering astral conduit.
Amidst the radiance of stars, the red dragon disappeared.
***
On the floating island of Garyx in the Astral Plane.
The imposing demon phantom dissipated, leaving only the emaciated demon suspended in midair.
"As expected, the cleverest fish always snaps at the final bait without hesitation,"
the demon murmured softly.
Jezralslak no longer displayed a trace of the towering fury from moments before. Instead, he lifted his head with cold composure.
"Heh. As expected of a red dragon renowned for greed. It truly surpassed my expectations."
He gazed toward the direction where the dragon had vanished, then seemed to stare out into the endless chaos beyond the Astral Plane, a bizarre, mocking smirk touching his lips.
"Still... I hadn't finished speaking. Foolish mortals claim Garyx went mad, giving rise to the howling, eternal winds of Pandemonium."
"Yet who is to say that wasn't a distant sleep-murmur from the Abyss itself?"
"Cassius, the mark of chaos will be etched deep into every one of your scales and course through every one of your veins. When you truly grow strong, that will be the day I harvest the fruit."
"I originally intended to let you lose yourself in the dream of power, allowing all this to unfold naturally. You simply chose a rougher path—one where preserving your own existence will be far more difficult."
The imprisoned demon stretched a gaunt arm out toward the astral void, fingers curling tightly as though clutching something, the chains clattering loudly.
"This is a destiny woven across the cosmos. You cannot... escape it."
"In the end, dragons are merely mortals blind to the laws of the world. Should I praise your cleverness, or mock your ignorance?"
The endless void remained desolate. Silvery currents drifted in all directions, punctuated by occasional, mysterious flashes of light and solitary floating islands—remnants, perhaps, of astral behemoths, or the forgotten corpses of fallen gods.
Chapter 264