Decapitation

*Whoosh—* The red dragon twisted sideways to evade the scimitar's slash, then sharply reversed course in an extreme turn, whipping his thick tail viciously toward the giant's face. The air was torn apart once more. Cassius's tail, bristling with bony spikes, slammed squarely into the efreeti's face, contorting the giant's features. Once again, searing, magma-like blood splattered through the air. "Ah!" "I will slaughter you!" With a sharp crack, the efreeti was knocked backward dozens of meters, letting out an anguished wail. The blow hurled the efreeti clear out of the cloud bank, leaving only wisps of gray smoke swirling around him. *Haa... haa...* Cassius submerged his silhouette in the smoke, panting softly as he thought, *A bit troublesome...* Several deep lacerations had already opened across the red dragon's chest and back. Dozens of diamond-hard scales were shattered, and a sizable tear marred the wing membrane of his left wing. The efreet was truly a natural ruler of the Elemental Plane of Fire. After unleashing the power bestowed by the Grand Sultan, this efreeti's stature rivaled his own, perhaps even surpassing it. At the same time, that elemental planar power granted Ismail horrific strength, allowing him to gain the upper hand in raw physical clashes. Every time he made contact with the efreeti's massive body, Cassius could sense a repulsive force emanating from the Elemental Plane of Fire itself. Although he was a true dragon who wielded the essence of flame magic, he was not a native denizen of this plane. In other words, Cassius could not draw much power from the environment, whereas the efreeti enjoyed the full backing of the plane. Quasi-divine rank. He became certain of it once again. In Elezerg, the gap between gods and mortals was shockingly vast, nearly impossible to bridge—a generational divide in life tier and the very essence of power. No matter how powerful a mortal became, they were merely solitary individuals within the vast cosmos. Gods were different. Their power possessed the nature of "authority." By leveraging their divine might, they could pry loose magnitudes of force far beyond mortal reach. While the power Ismail displayed fell far short of true divine rank, it possessed a similar quality. *So this is what the Grand Sultan relies on...* Cassius narrowed his eyes, gazing through the smoke at the distant efreeti, a look of keen intrigue flashing through his pale-gold pupils. *Well then...* *Let me see—* *Just how far you can push this battle against me!* The red dragon threw back his head and unleashed a roar. Snapping his wings wide, he plunged straight into the billowing smoke, vanishing without a trace. "Die! Hiding your head while showing your tail—I see you!" *Swoosh—* Relying on a warrior's intuition and planar attunement, Ismail hurled a short spear. Yet, moving at extreme velocity, the red dragon banked sideways to dodge it. The spear skimmed inches past the red dragon's belly, producing an explosive sonic crack in the air. Cassius vaulted upward, then unexpectedly slammed into the efreeti from behind, tearing into him with a gaping maw lined with dagger-sized fangs. *Squelch.* The sickening sound of punctured flesh. Immediately following it came a panicked roar and an agonized shriek. "Ah!" "You vile reptile! You shameless, despicable ambusher!" Ismail instinctively grabbed Cassius's head, thrashing violently in an attempt to heave him over his shoulder. With his other hand, he swung his brass scimitar backward in a desperate hack, but the awkward angle made it difficult to muster full force. The blade struck the hardened scales, producing a series of crisp, metallic clangs. How could the red dragon give him what he wanted? Cassius clamped down with all his might, sinking his razor-sharp teeth deep into the flesh—several teeth even snapped off inside the wound from the efreeti's frantic thrashing. His two muscular forearms wrapped tightly around the efreeti's shoulders, locking the giant's arms to prevent him from exerting force. Meanwhile, the red dragon's powerful hind legs kicked up viciously, their sharp talons sinking directly into the efreeti's flesh, leaving him drenched in gore. In the past, Cassius rarely resorted to this kind of grappling—simply because he was too colossal. Most of the time, he fought creatures smaller than his own claws. Now, facing this towering efreeti who stood nearly forty meters tall, Cassius could finally indulge in the thrill of close-quarters wrestling. "Aaaargh—!" "Let go of me! You damned reptile!" Ismail strained with all his might to break his pinned arms free, releasing another frenzied roar. Yet even when Cassius's forelimbs were forced back, they remained clamped onto the efreeti's shoulders without loosening in the slightest, and his jaws only bit down harder. As a "ruler" of the Elemental Plane of Fire, the surrounding flames surged into the efreeti's body, causing his injuries to regenerate at a pace visible to the naked eye. Cassius bit deeper while the flesh on the efreeti's neck knit back together, creating a grotesque and bizarre spectacle. Soon, however, the efreeti felt a bone-chilling cold radiating from the back of his neck. Alarm bells immediately rang in Ismail's mind, flooding him with unprecedented tension and dread. *What in the world is he trying to do?!* In his past life, Cassius had often wondered: when dragons grapple with other creatures, why don't they just unleash their breath weapon while biting down on their prey? Now, he decided to test out this novel approach. A ninth-circle spell— *Glacial Cascade.* Though cold magic was heavily suppressed in the Elemental Plane of Fire, at point-blank range, Cassius refused to believe it would have no effect. An extreme torrent of freezing cold burst forth, nearly freezing the efreeti's back solid. "No—!" "You dare blaspheme the Lord of Flames!" Sparks erupted from Ismail's eyes. He knew he had to unleash everything he had! Otherwise, he might very well be frozen solid by this frost—or even completely obliterated! "Red dragon! Get off me!" Bellowing, he flung his arms wide, his muscles bulging as he channeled every ounce of strength to activate the adamantine ring embedded in his flesh. He invoked the blessing bestowed by the Grand Sultan—or more precisely, drawn from the very essence of the elemental plane. *Boom!* Scorching flames enveloped his body, causing the surrounding space to shudder continuously. Crimson ripples pulsed repeatedly, passing straight through the red dragon's body. A translucent crimson sphere enveloped both the efreeti and the red dragon. Cassius felt an immense repulsive force. Every tooth, every scale on his body was being repelled and shattered by this overwhelming power. *This power... is dangerous. If I stay in this affected space any longer, the consequences will be dire!* *Roar—!* Without hesitation, the red dragon released his jaws and talons with a low rumble. He beat his wings violently, rocketing into the sky like a specter. Ismail spun around, glaring furiously at the airborne red dragon as twin pillars of orange-red fire erupted from his eyes. *Boom—* The fire pillars surged toward the red dragon, while raging tongues of flame coalesced into colossal hands, grasping at the midair dragon from all directions. At that moment, Cassius had not yet broken free of the crimson sphere's perimeter! The flames embodying the plane's essence clung to Cassius's body and coiled around his wings, slowing his movements considerably. For Ismail, that was more than enough. The enraged efreeti pasha let out a roar of sheer exhilaration, a twisted grin spreading across his face as if vengeance were already his. "Red dragon! I admitted you were strong, but—" "No one can defeat an efreeti pasha on this plane! Your head is already mine!" "You seem to know magic well—have you ever seen this?!" The efreeti pasha could not wait any longer. He leaped high into the air, gripping the brass scimitar with both hands. The runes along the blade flared with blinding radiance. *Flash—* This was Ismail's true trump card. *Vorpal Sword.* Cassius's pupils constricted slightly. A vorpal weapon—a legendary property renowned even in his past life. Once activated against an immobilized foe, a weapon bearing this property could sever the target's head in a single stroke, ensuring absolute death. Ismail's vorpal blade had undoubtedly been bestowed by the Grand Sultan himself; only quasi-deities with immortal traits could endure such a strike. As it stood, the red dragon could not break free of the planar constraints within five seconds—and that brief window was more than enough for Ismail to lop off his head. Yet as that thought crossed his mind, the corner of Cassius's mouth curled upward slightly, a glint of mockery surfacing in his eyes. *So this is your trump card...* The efreeti had already closed the distance. The dazzling blade drew nearer and nearer to the red dragon's neck, expanding in his pale-gold pupils. Yet Cassius watched him with absolute calm, without the slightest hint of panic in the face of imminent death. Ismail noticed this as well, but gave it no thought, assuming the dragon had simply surrendered to despair. "Red dragon! Your head rolls today!" "Remember my name—the great efreeti pasha, Ismail Enver!" "Die!" An earth-shattering roar, a cleave that tore the fabric of space, and an ocean of fire that could melt the heavens and scorch the earth—for any champion, this would have been a funeral fit for the highest honor. Yet amidst the deafening chaos, he failed to notice a crisp, faint *click*. *Snikt—* The very next instant, a colossal head tumbled from the sky, its face still frozen in an expression of wild fervor and ecstasy. It was not the head of the red dragon, however, but that of the efreeti pasha who had believed victory was in his grasp. Cassius held the precious, blood-soaked brass scimitar, turning it over in his claws with relaxed amusement. Scalding blood splattered across the red dragon's face, blending seamlessly with his crimson scales. Cassius bared his fangs in a savage grin. "My sincere thanks, Pasha Ismail Enver. I was just wondering how best to finish you off." Cassius had many ways to kill Ismail—Breath of Chaos among them. Yet he had chosen the safest method. The process had been simple: using the pocket watch gifted by the ancient time dragon, he cast the ninth-circle spell *Time Stop*, slipped free of the elemental plane's constraints, and plucked the brass scimitar from the giant's grasp. Then Cassius had casually glided behind the efreeti, positioned himself, and swung the scimitar the instant time resumed. Decapitation! A red dragon wielding a blade. The sight was somewhat grotesque, but the result was undeniable: it had cleanly severed the efreeti pasha's head. Ismail's planar power could ward off most spells, including a dragon sorcerer's metamagic, but it could not ward off power of equivalent quasi-divine essence—such as the runes carved by an ancient time dragon. *Rumble—* As if lamenting the pasha's demise, the Elemental Plane of Fire emitted a low, mournful rumble. Steam clouds gathered overhead, and a shower of ash drifted down in clumps. "Lord of Flames above..." "The pasha..." "Is dead." Only now did the elemental creatures who had been trembling in terror peek out, gazing up in utter disbelief at the fall of the efreeti pasha. "Long live His Majesty Cassius!" "The great red dragon is invincible!" The imperial soldiers, having anticipated the outcome all along, erupted into frenzied roars. Cheers that pierced the heavens swept through the lines of the Cinder Empire. The titanic corpse slowly plunged. As it fell, ash and embers drifted from its surface, gradually dissipating until the remains dissolved into the purest, most primal essence of elemental fire. *A fine prize...* Cassius's eyes lit up, greed flickering in his pale-gold pupils. He snapped his wings eagerly, diving straight toward the fallen remains of the efreeti pasha. "Cassius!" "Cassius!" A voice like thunder cracked across the burning plains, rolling in endless reverberations. It was vast, distant, and seemingly everywhere, dripping with fury. "I know of you!" "How dare you—slay a pasha within my realm!" Cassius's expression gradually grew solemn. He knew the source of that voice was the true master of this realm, an entity standing at the pinnacle of the elemental planes, a monarch of quasi-divine rank—the Grand Sultan of the Efreet.