Slaughter

The revived balor looked down at his intact, undamaged body and spoke with feverish excitement: "Just as I thought! It really is like this! "I knew it—that Lord would never let me die! "I am that Lord's vessel in the Material Plane, His agent! He will never let me die!" The balor threw his head back, glaring venomously at Cassius with a hideous expression. Baring jagged fangs and venting scalding fumes, he bellowed, "Cassius! "Do you see now? You cannot kill me! Hahahaha! Behind me stands a great demon lord! "Tremble! No matter how mighty you are, you are merely a dragon of the Material Plane! You cannot contend with the true masters of this world!" A vast, chaotic fog surged around the balor like a tide, forming abyssal black vortexes, while the illusory phantom of the Demon of Vengeance behind him continued its eerie sneer. "Are you... trying to provoke me? "Is that the task your demon lord gave you?" The red dragon tilted his head, regarding the balor with a strange expression. A faint light gleamed in his pale golden eyes, half scrutiny, half threat. "Jerlazax..." Cassius whispered the name softly. His scorching gaze pierced through the chaotic fog, seeming to peer straight through the balor's eyes to behold the demon lurking in the shadows behind him. "Leo Bosque, my old friend, you are as confident as ever, and... as ignorant." Cassius's voice grew louder and louder until it swelled into a rolling, thunderous roar that echoed across the vast wasteland, sending shudders of dread through the millions of creatures across the battlefield. "Do you truly believe—I would fear the demon lord behind you?" The red dragon raised an arm, his sharp, monstrous claw pointing from afar at the balor. The manifest authority of elemental fire materialized within his grasp. Cassius swept his broad wings, unleashing a torrent of flame hundreds of meters wide at his back. *Dominion over Flame.* In an instant, the entire world seemed to boil. Countless sparks and billows of smoke surged upward from the earth. Dozens of fiery meteors tore across the sky, leaving crimson, fissure-like trails in their wake. Stout pillars of fire erupted from the ground, heavy black volcanic ash blotted out the sky, and scalding pyroclastic clouds roiled high in the atmosphere... In a flash, the Material Plane seemed to morph into a terrifying apocalyptic domain of fire, as surging fire elements incinerated every Abyssal presence upon the land. "No—!" "Lord Leo, save us!" "It's so hot! It's too hot!" "How... how could such a red dragon appear in the Material Plane!" "We are demons! We are supposed to descend upon the world accompanied by fire! How can we be burned to death by flame!" Demons and Abyssal monsters wailed and shrieked, some even dropping to their knees toward the red dragon to beg for mercy, yet nothing could alter their fate of being reduced to ash by the raging fire. Not only were their twisted demonic bodies burned away, but even their souls were vaporized and incinerated by these flames carrying the essence of destruction. Meanwhile, the vassals of the Empire looked around in awe at the apocalyptic spectacle before them, their faces illuminated by the fiery glare, brimming with fanatical devotion. "Long live the Dragon Lord!" "Long live the Cinder Empire!" "By Cassius above, is this His Majesty's true power!" Soon, however, several imperial soldiers realized this was the perfect opportunity to counterattack the demons and avenge their comrades. "Kill them!" "These vile demons killed the commander! Avenge our fallen brothers!" Raising their weapons high, guided by the fiery path, they charged once more into the dark demonic throng. By now, the demons had no power to retaliate and were already breaking into a rout. "Lord Leo, save us!" "Commander Balor!" "Quick! Summon the demon lord behind you! Only He can stand against such a being!" "My lord, please open an Abyssal portal! We want to go back to the Abyss!" The more intelligent demons struggled amid the fire, shouting desperately toward the balor for rescue. The demons had thought this invasion would be another gluttonous feast, where they would feast on broken ruins and weeping, wailing commoners. Little did they expect that what actually awaited them would be endless artillery bombardments, raging dragonfire, and an absurd red dragon over forty meters long. Yet at this very moment, the balor whom the demons pinned all their hopes upon as a lifesaver could barely save himself. "Boom!" The sound of air exploding rang out. It was Sunburst! "Ahhh!" A blistering pillar of fire ripped mercilessly through the Abyssal energy, punching clean through the balor's chest to leave a massive, charred hole, slaying him once again. Yet the chaotic fog churned ceaselessly, coalescing around the balor's body, filling the gaping hole in his chest and even reforming into a beating demonic heart. "You... you actually dared to kill me!" Having revived from death once more, the balor stared in terror at the red dragon not far away, his massive body trembling uncontrollably. Just like that time—just like before! Years ago, it had been exactly like this. Back then, this red dragon—not nearly as powerful as he was now—had descended like a god, effortlessly destroying everything he owned. And now, that scene seemed poised to repeat itself. The balor looked down at the earth, seeing the demons struggling in the flames, hunted and slaughtered by imperial soldiers, and remembered the sight of the Northlands troops routing in every direction years ago. A deep sense of powerlessness welled up in the heart of the balor—or rather, Leo Bosque transformed into a demon—a feeling that could only be called despair. His eyes blood-red, he mustered every shred of courage and roared at the red dragon in the air, "Cassius! You had better think carefully! "If you kill me, what you will face next is the wrath of a true demon lord!" *Crack!* A whip wreathed in chaotic fire cracked through the air, snapping straight toward the red dragon's head. Cassius curled his lips into a cold sneer, revealing a maw of razor-sharp fangs as hot white steam puffed from his snout. "Even if the Demon of Vengeance behind you descends in person, I would not fear him in the slightest! "Leo Bosque, a mere pet dog kept by a demon lord—did you truly think you could play the tyrant under His name? "Know your place!" Letting out a roar, the red dragon flapped his wings and stirred a scorching gale. With his colossal claw, he caught the striking whip of fire effortlessly, using tremendous strength to yank the balor toward him from afar. In an instant, terrifying dragonfire raced along the whip, threatening to engulf the balor's arm gripping the handle. "Curse you!" Watching the roaring red dragon and the surging dragonfire racing toward him, the balor released his grip in panic and flew away as fast as he could. Yet Cassius's speed was far more terrifying than he could have ever imagined. *Whoosh—* Amid the howling wind and an ear-splitting sonic boom, a blistering heatwave surged from behind, sweeping across the sky. By the time the balor turned his head, the massive red dragon was already hovering in the air behind him. The balor's pupils shrank to pinpricks. The crimson silhouette grew larger and larger in his vision until it occupied his entire sight. "What?" Bulging muscles like iron cannonballs knotted along the red dragon's massive arms, blue veins pulsing fiercely. His claws, glinting with the chill of blades, tore through space and brought down a blistering hurricane, slashing viciously down upon him. *Slash—* "How dare you—" First came the shrill whistle of parted air, followed by the sickening sound of claws tearing flesh, and finally a blood-curdling shriek. Purplish-black flesh and ruptured viscera splattered across the sky, raining down toward the ground below. Under the red dragon's overwhelming might, the balor's hulking, powerful frame was ripped in two midair, cleaved cleanly across the waist. Flapping his wings, Cassius hovered quietly high above, gazing with interest as the mangled remains of the balor plummeted. He murmured, "Leo Bosque, let us see how many times you can revive. "Or rather... just what will it take for the Demon of Vengeance behind you to descend into this world and face my retribution?" Sure enough, before Cassius had even finished speaking, chaotic fog converged like a torrent, rushing eagerly into the upper half of the balor's body to restore the demonic form once more. "I—I told you! "Cassius, you... you can never truly kill me!" Having revived yet again, the balor continued to shout at the red dragon. Yet after dying multiple times, the hand gripping his storm greatsword trembled violently, his voice lacking all conviction and tinged with sheer terror. Even he had no idea whether the demon lord would abandon him, or if he would wake up after the next death. Before the balor could even react, the red dragon plunged from above with a thunderous roar. Giant claws plunged into his chest, tearing his entire body to shreds. The Abyssal torrent surged, and the balor revived once more. "You—" Before he could utter another word, a searing-white column of flame spewed forth, reducing his entire head to dust. Yet soon enough, the chaotic wind howled, and the balor was reborn once again from the black vortex. "Unkillable, is it...?" Cassius watched the newly resurrected balor, the Cataclysmic Dragon Eye floating midair gleaming brightly. Shrouded and disrupted by Abyssal power, the red dragon could not divine the balor's next move, nor could he even sense the demon's soul. Ordinarily, when demons died on the Material Plane, their souls would separate from their fiendish flesh and return to the blood pools under the call of the Abyss. And within Cassius's Imperial Domain, those filthy, vile souls should have been intercepted and obliterated by the domain's power, converted into pure soul energy. Yet despite having slain Leo multiple times, Cassius had never once sensed where this balor's soul resided. This was highly abnormal. Cassius whispered into the void, "Another boring trick... Heh, Jerlazax, you act less like a demon lord and more like an archduke of the Hells." As he spoke, he flapped his wings and tore through the air accompanied by violent gales, closing in on the balor once more. This time, Cassius intended to grind the demon into mincemeat and see how the power of the Abyss would resurrect him out of thin air. "Come, Leo, my old friend. How many times have you died beneath my claws now? "I have already lost count." The red dragon's mocking voice resounded across the sky, making the demons on the ground shudder in sheer terror. A balor—the highest echelon of demon in the Abyss, commander of the Abyssal legions, an incomparably powerful entity—was being butchered effortlessly like a sheep led to slaughter. "Emperor Cassius is invincible!" "This is ridiculously overpowered..." "I give up! Why even bother fighting a war? Just call it a win right now!" "Cassius! The truest male of male dragons, the manliest of dragons! The dominator among dragons, the ruler among wyrms...!" The players were all the more awestruck, staring dumbfoundedly at the "overly long cutscene" unfolding in the sky. They relished every moment of watching the balor—who had slaughtered them like flies earlier—get brutally butchered over and over again by their faction leader. They clapped and cheered, and someone even began recording a video—it was Mantou. He had already decided on the title: *Emperor Cassius's Combat Log: One Hundred Ways an Abyssal Boss Can Die.* "Curse this red dragon... "I can't go on like this!" Gritting his teeth, the balor's eyes burned with terror and venom. Facing the red dragon's ferocious onslaught, he dared not hesitate for a second and chanted an ancient, chaotic Abyssal incantation. Specks of black magical luminescence flickered across the balor's frame as the surrounding space warped, causing his silhouette to turn increasingly ethereal. Cassius noticed this immediately and muttered under his breath: "Abyssal Teleportation... "Though the destination doesn't seem to be the Abyss, but rather—" The red dragon paused, beating his wings in place. His golden eyes narrowed slightly as he gauged the spell's trajectory. "The Anstica Mountains, Thierry Peak." He uttered the name. That was the location prophesied countless times as the starting point of the demonic invasion, and the stage he had meticulously prepared. "Very well. It seems Jerlazax is waiting for me there." The red dragon calmly watched the balor warp space and vanish from sight, leaving behind venomous curses as he fled. "Cassius, enjoy your final moments! You and your empire will inevitably meet your doom! "Hahaha, I will watch it all with my own eyes and savor the sweetness of revenge!" Cassius could easily have disrupted the spell to prevent Leo from escaping, but he did not. He merely watched the balor teleport away. "Long live His Majesty Cassius!" "Victory!" "The great dragon is invincible!" "His Majesty has led us to another glorious triumph! Long live the Cinder Empire!" The imperial soldiers on the ground did not understand the full situation; they only knew that the red dragon had scored an overwhelming victory against the balor, and cheered ecstatically. Only Trump, Misha, and a few others looked up at the residual fluctuations of the teleportation spell, doubt gnawing at their minds. Ordinarily, His Majesty would never have let that balor escape; he would have destroyed it completely. If Leo Bosque had fled, it could only mean one thing—the war was far from over. In fact, this was merely the prelude to a high-intensity battle meant for the Emperor alone. Just like the duel against the wyrm silver dragon, mortals had no place intervening in it. Cassius gazed quietly into the Abyss, faint light shimmering in his pale golden eyes, brimming with grim resolve. "Heh, another trap? But this time, who is the hunter and who is the prey has yet to be determined. "Everything began in Anstica, and everything will end in Anstica. From this moment forth, the predetermined fate is shattered completely. "Quite a... fitting end." A sound like ripping silk tore through the heavens, causing the surrounding space to shudder violently, sending many wyverns beating their wings in fright. "What is that...?" "Cassius above!" "It's the Emperor! Is he going to hunt down that demon?" Noticing this anomaly, the crowds looked up in unison, millions of gazes focusing on Cassius's colossal dragon body. With his sharp claws, the red dragon violently tore space open, creating a massive, blazing spatial rift, then folded his wings and plunged right through.