Slaughter

*Rip—!* Accompanied by Cassius's reckless, unrestrained roar, black blood splattered through the air as half of the shadow dragon's wings were ripped away raw, their translucent, incorporeal membranes gradually dissolving. *Awoo!* Mortifer let out a howl of excruciating agony, his cinder-black form writhing and thrashing. Yet beneath the Bloodscaled Fury's absolute dominance of raw strength and the disruptive shroud of chaotic fire, his struggles were utterly feeble. "I will tear you to pieces!" Cassius unleashed a wild, derisive laugh, his pale golden eyes now completely suffused with red veins. Like a predator playing with its prey, he savored the taste of blood, relishing every step of toying with and dismembering his quarry. "No, no! I am the Mouthpiece of the Night!" "Seven hundred years of preparation, millions of lives expended—how could I lose to you?!" Driven to the brink by sheer survival instinct, the shadow dragon finally unleashed a spell. *Shadow Slip.* With a ripple in space, Mortifer's form dissolved into several billowing clouds of black mist, slipping right through Cassius's claws. Immediately after, dozens of shadow dragons manifested in midair. Nearly all of their wings were damaged, but as they ceaselessly absorbed energy from the shadow domain, they visibly began to mend. The shadow dragons howled once more in shrill unison, sounding like the wails of vengeful wraiths. *Legion of Hell.* Hundreds of terrifying hellish devils materialized across the sky. Brandishing weapons, they swarmed from every direction, charging in unison toward the rampaging red dragon. This spell had been conjured from shadowstuff through the power of shadow conjuration. Such spells possessed roughly eighty percent reality, rendering them utterly indistinguishable to ordinary eyes. Worse still, should anyone see through the illusion of the shadow conjuration, shadow energy would seep into their mind, inflicting severe psychic trauma. Yet the Bloodscaled Fury did not care in the slightest whether the foes before him were real or fake; he cared only about tearing them all to shreds. *Roar—!* Cassius loosed another furious roar. His colossal, muscular frame went on a rampant rampage through the air. He tore with his gaping maw, slashed with his razor-sharp talons, and swept with his massive tail. In just a few breaths, bloody light flashed through the sky. The red dragon slaughtered his way through the hellish legion with wanton abandon, annihilating every single devil shaped from shadowstuff until not one remained. Mortifer had never expected these devils to defeat the red dragon in the first place; his sole aim was to buy time against the beast. His true body had already teleported several li away into Dragonshadow City. Amidst the chaotic Shadow Weave, he was barely piecing together a spell model, preparing to conjure a Gate to flee this plane. "Just hold him off a little longer... just a moment more..." "Just you wait, Cassius. I will return. The Mouthpiece of the Night is a hunter who knows patience." "The night will engulf you entirely. When that time comes, your body, the secrets behind you—everything you possess will be mine." Low whispers echoed through the air. The shadow dragon spewed forth billowing black mist, forming a dark vortex in midair, his dim, ashen eyes brimming with venomous hatred. Just then, however, a terrifying shriek tore through the air behind him. "What?!" Mortifer whipped his head around. The red dragon was hurtling toward him like a falling meteor at horrifying speed, trailing a plume of dark crimson flames behind his wings. Panic seized the shadow dragon, and he frantically accelerated the formation of the Gate. But Cassius was already upon him, letting loose another berserk roar. He had closed the distance. "No—!" Mortifer shrieked. In the next instant, Cassius seized the shadow dragon's emaciated frame. Both colossal dragons plummeted from the sky, the red dragon's monstrous weight crashing into the earth. *Boom—!* As the ground shuddered violently, dust billowed into the air and vast swathes of buildings collapsed into ruins. The thunderous impact rang loud and clear in the ears of everyone within Dragonshadow City. The crash unleashed a powerful shockwave centered on the grappling dragons, shattering the glass windows of nearby buildings. Pinned beneath Cassius, the shadow dragon could not move an inch. Mortifer's incorporeal, shadowy body usually made it difficult for physical attacks to harm him. But with his supernatural defenses broken through by the Scales of Blood and chaotic fire, his form still sustained horrific wounds. Yet, remaining within the shadow domain, endless black mist surged down from the sky, regenerating his mangled, unrecognizable body at a visible rate. Under normal circumstances, such a dreadful domain would have rendered him immortal. In close quarters, however, it only brought the rampaging red dragon greater delight, granting him an outlet for his long-suppressed savagery and turning the shadow dragon into an unkillable punching bag. *Awoo!* Mortifer writhed and struggled, spewing a black torrent of shadows from his maw. Yet a moment later, the rampaging red dragon shredded his neck with sharp talons, pinned the mist-shrouded skull beneath his foot, and stamped down hard. *Boom!* A deep crater caved into the ground. The head was torn clean off, crushed into a gory, mangled pulp resembling black sludge. The dense mist in the sky continued pouring down to restore the shadow dragon's mutilated body, rapidly regenerating his head. But now, those ashen eyes were filled with pure terror. Mortifer had never been reduced to such a wretched state. He wanted to struggle, wanted to flee, but that chaotic power was everywhere. Cassius gripped the shadow dragon's neck, lifted him with one arm, and hurled him violently forward. Several buildings collapsed and were pulverized under the shadow dragon's massive bulk. "No, no... if I can just escape..." Mortifer struggled to his feet, flapping his wings with all his might to take to the air and flee this living hell. Yet the moment before the shadow dragon broke away from the ground, the red dragon sneered and grabbed his tail, violently dragging him back to earth with immense force before crushing his head once more. *Boom!* Another thunderous blast erupted. Repeating this several times, the rampaging red dragon slaughtered the shadow dragon again and again. At this moment, Mortifer was reduced to nothing more than a plaything. As the two behemoths clashed, nearly half of Dragonshadow City was leveled. Former shops and taverns were reduced to utter ruins, and countless city residents were killed by the shockwaves of this one-sided beatdown, though Cassius cared nothing for any of it. Finally, the Bloodscaled Fury seemed to grow bored of his game. *Crack!* Cassius gripped the shadow dragon's wings and snapped them with brutal force. Then, tearing the torso open from the shoulders, he exposed a vast expanse of shadowy innards. Translucent, sludge-like blood gushed from the shadow dragon's body. *Roar—!* The red dragon bellowed, chaotic patterns of light overflowing from the dragon crystal embedded in his chest. Dark crimson Breath of Chaos surged forth from his gaping maw. The chaotic fire poured into the shadow dragon's torn-open torso, destroying the long-dormant Shadow Heart within, obliterating the shadow dragon's evil essence and soul, and reducing him to the most fundamental, disordered particles of shadowstuff.