*Whoosh—*
Flapping the feathered wings hundreds of meters long behind him, the radiant giant angel stirred up powerful gales. With merely a few wingbeats, he climbed nearly ten thousand meters into the sky.
Seeing this, the red dragon flapped his wings and gave chase, ascending at blistering speed while continuing to mock them: "Do you think this will do any good? The skies of the Material Plane are my dominion!"
Turning into a crimson afterimage trailed by raging torrents of flame, he rocketed straight into the heavens, pursuing Barachiel and the others.
Thus, the two sides stood locked in a tense standoff high in the sky, neither yielding an inch.
By now, they were over ten thousand meters above the ground, leaving even the clouds far below their feet.
At this altitude, the steel behemoths on the ground seemed no larger than ants. Even cities and mountain ranges appeared minuscule, while the soldiers of both armies were entirely imperceptible, reduced to countless specks of microscopic dust.
Meanwhile, the surrounding air grew thinner, and the sunlight in the sky blazed with blinding intensity.
Basking in this blazing sunlight, Walter's godblood armor shone resplendently.
The intricate patterns on the armor absorbed solar energy, forming a translucent layer of spiritual armor over his body, while the holy symbol of Amaunator on his chest cast off a piercing golden radiance.
And as an angelic godblood, every inch of Walter Graham's skin drank in the power of the sun to revitalize himself.
In truth, after the great collapse of Holy Fadlan, this godblood duke had suffered immensely. His appearance had gradually aged, and faint fissures had begun to spiderweb across his body.
Now, golden light shone through these cracks and crevices, making his body resemble a fragile idol of a deity—the angelic godblood had begun to ignite his divine spark, releasing the fire of his life!
Flapping his wings, Walter raised the Sun God's longsword in his hand and leveled it at the distant red dragon. His resounding words echoed across the firmament:
"Vile dragon, your rampant reign ends here! This place, this sky—shall be your grave!"
"Ridiculous!"
Cassius sneered and flared his dragon wings wide, roaring with mock laughter. "Just you? If you hadn't begged for reinforcements from Celestia, you wouldn't even have the right to stand before me!
The so-called Fadlan godblood became nothing more than a pathetic pack of stray dogs the moment your emperor betrayed the Sun God!"
"Silence—shameless beast, cease your despicable tongue!"
Walter's face twisted into a snarl as he bellowed in fury, two beams of light shooting uncontrollably from his eyes. "Hear me well—so long as the sun endures, Holy Fadlan shall never perish!"
Flapping his wings frantically, he unleashed a gut-wrenching roar: "Now! Strike!"
"What?"
Cassius parted his jaws slightly, a deliberate look of shock spreading across his features, as if caught utterly unawares by their sudden move.
"This farce... should have ended long ago!"
Barachiel had already brought the bright silver horn to his lips. Mobilizing the pure power of Mount Celestia with all his might, he expended several radiant halos to sound a melodious, resounding hymn.
In an instant, Celestia's laws of order descended, casting down countless blinding beams of light, as though the entirety of Mount Celestia were crashing down upon the red dragon.
Beneath this overwhelming majesty, even Cinder Emperor Cassius froze where he hovered, flapping his wings limply in a brief daze.
Yet that fleeting instant was more than enough time to accomplish much.
Barachiel snapped his head around and shouted sharply, "Your turn, Titus!"
"Time to pay the price, foul spawn of Tiamat!"
The ancient gold dragon roared. Sweeping his scepter, he bellowed in ancient Draconic, unleashing an immense power accumulated for this very moment.
*Dragon Binding.*
Hundreds upon thousands of shimmering chains surged from the surrounding void like writhing pythons, swiftly coiling around the red dragon's massive frame and tightly binding his neck, limbs, torso, and tail.
"It worked!"
Gazing upon the immobilized red dragon, Titus cried out in ecstasy, looking to all the world as though he were weeping tears of joy.
With the combined efforts of three legendary powerhouses standing at the pinnacle of the Material Plane, they had finally rendered the terrifying red dragon temporarily immobile. The battle was drawing to a close—at the cost of Walter's life.
"Lord Barachiel, Lord Titus, you have my heartfelt gratitude. But now, please withdraw quickly and behold the fireworks to come."
Gripping his longsword and beating his wings, Walter flew resolutely toward the red dragon.
Bound tight, Cassius thrashed continuously. The chains rattled under enormous strain, yet the red dragon appeared incapable of breaking free from bonds forged specifically to ensnare dragonkind.
Cassius bellowed, snarling furiously, "Damn mongrel, what do you think you're doing?!"
The angelic godblood did not answer. The light seeping from the cracks across his body grew increasingly dazzling, illuminating him until he was nearly translucent, while the silhouette of a blazing sun surfaced upon his chest.
At last, a flicker of panic appeared on the red dragon's face. Like any villain in a fairytale, he lashed out in anxious fury: "You damned fool! If you detonate your divine spark, you die too! Not just your body—your very soul will be incinerated into ash!"
Walter tightened his grip on the Sun God's sword, his expression resolute. Clenching his teeth, he ground out each word: "Shameless beast, I shall burn away my life to save Fadlan, and I shall drag you down with me—into total oblivion!"
"You're mad—!"
Amid the red dragon's roar of mingled terror and rage, the radiance on Walter's body instantly erupted with the brilliance of an exploding supernova, obliterating his indistinct silhouette beneath the glare.
Flames upon his skin churned and surged like tempestuous ocean waves. Wave after wave of raw energy surged out from within, warping and rattling the surrounding space.
In the end, Walter transformed into a colossal, blazing fireball, radiating countless shafts of light and showering ten thousand fathoms of brilliance as he hurtled toward the red dragon high in the sky!
By detonating the divine spark of the Sun God within him and consuming the essence of his own life, this mighty angelic godblood was on the verge of unleashing a 10th-tier legendary spell that shattered the limits of the Material Plane—
*End of Days.*
***
Down on the battlefield below, the soldiers locked in bloody combat suddenly felt the sky flare with blinding radiance. Countless searing rays poured down, making it almost impossible to keep their eyes open, the intense light threatening to scorch their very skin.
Whether soldiers of the Cinder Empire or of the coalition, they all raised their heads in astonishment, instinctively shielding their eyes from the glare.
"Amaunator above..."
"Th-this is..."
Immediately after, expressions of profound terror gave way to overwhelming piety.
Weapons clattered to the ground in droves. Coalition soldiers knelt in prayer, stood frozen in shock, or covered their eyes and wept.
For there, high in the heavens, a second sun had appeared!
This went far beyond a mere miracle; in their eyes, it was nothing less than the advent of Amaunator, the Sun God Himself, descending upon the mortal world!
"It's Him! He has returned!"
"The Lord has not forsaken us! The Great and Eternal Lord of Radiance has not abandoned the people of Fadlan!"
"Lord Amaunator has returned! He will save us and bathe the earth in sunlight!"
The coalition soldiers waved their weapons, cheering deliriously and sinking into a state of religious fervor, as if witnessing the greatest wonder of their lives.
Indeed, to manifest such a miracle, it had to be their god descending to the mortal realm to deliver Fadlan!
Yet on the faces of the few remaining godbloods, there were no smiles—only profound sorrow and grief.
Cullen flapped his wings and gazed up at the "sun" in the sky, a glistening tear trickling from the corner of his eye and rolling slowly down his cheek.
As a fellow godblood, no one understood better than he the agonizing price behind that dazzling miracle—the life of a noble godblood.
He lowered his head, his throat trembling as he choked out, "It's... it's the End of Days! Lord Walter, he's..."
Upon the walls of Corinth, Archmage Zalan also looked up. His Eagle Eye spell granted him a crystal-clear view of the scene ten thousand meters in the air, revealing that newborn "sun."
Though he considered himself hardened by enough shocks to maintain composure before any anomaly, his mouth still fell helplessly agape the moment his eyes landed on that "sun." The hand gripping his staff trembled violently, and his voice hitched in broken gasps:
"Mystra above... Are my eyes truly not deceiving me? Th-that's... an epic spell! Gods above, I'm witnessing a legendary 10th-tier spell with my own eyes! I must..."
At that moment, Zalan's heart could no longer endure the relentless string of shocks. His face suddenly drained of all color, and he collapsed stiffly onto the ground, fainting dead away.
***
Meanwhile, ten thousand meters up in the firmament, inside the roaring fireball, Walter endured the agony of every inch of his flesh being consumed by fire and felt his strength draining away. Before his eyes, scenes from the past century flashed in vivid succession.
He had started as an ordinary human general, pledging allegiance to Emperor Aragorn, fighting north and south across the Feanso Continent, earning illustrious military exploits, and receiving the blessing of the Sun God. Then came endless campaigns across the planes, planting the banner of the Fadlan Empire throughout the cosmos...
His entire life, Walter Graham had fought for Holy Fadlan. His glory, faith, and courage were all anchored to it; it was the sole meaning of his existence.
If so, falling in battle for Fadlan, burning away the embers of his life to buy a bright future, seemed a worthy end.
With this thought, Walter's resolve hardened. He continued fueling the flames with his divine spark from the Sun God, hurtling resolutely toward the red dragon.
"You damned fool!"
"Stop! Are you trying to kill us both?!"
Watching the red dragon thrashing desperately just ahead, Walter suddenly felt a trace of amusement. So faced with impending death, even this invincible Red Dragon Emperor could feel fear.
It seemed he was not truly invincible after all.
After that fleeting thought, Walter bore the terrifying energy of a solar cataclysm as he closed the distance, ready to bring an end to everything right here.
By now, he could clearly see the red dragon's savage features, his slit pupils burning like globes of molten lava, and his razor-sharp fangs.
Yet right at that moment, Walter saw a mocking smirk creep onto the red dragon's face. The previous fury, panic, and terror seemed to vanish completely into thin air.
Cassius's maw moved slightly, his smile deepening. "Walter, you didn't truly believe... that you could take me down with you, did you?"
In that instant, Walter felt as though he had been struck by a sledgehammer. A dreadful foreboding welled up within him, and the surrounding space seemed to freeze solid.
*Click.*
The sound of a pocket watch snapping shut rang out. Except for the red dragon, everything in the vicinity—even the colossal, roaring fireball—ground to a dead halt. It was as if time and space had been struck with a pause button.
*Time Stop.*
"Throwing your life away for an illusion in your heart. What a fool." Cassius casually slipped free of the chains and strolled over to Walter.
Or rather, the spell had been cast by his own avatar in the first place, requiring no effort to break free. Everything he had done just now was deliberate theatrics—all to bait this angelic godblood into taking the hook and unsealing his divine spark.
Under normal circumstances, the divine spark of the Sun God would disperse completely upon a godblood's death, returning to the divine realm. But now, that pulsing sun blazed brightly within Walter's chest, on the verge of unleashing terrifying power.
Cassius extended a claw and grinned maliciously. "Still, your death won't be entirely in vain. At the very least... it provides me with a precious portion of the Sun God's divine power."
The next moment, time resumed its flow. The flames continued to churn, the terrifying energy continued to pour forth, and the End of Days was about to be unleashed in full.
Yet as Walter looked up in horror, he saw the colossal red dragon already right in front of him, having stepped directly into the "sun" he had brought forth.
*Rip—*
Accompanied by the sickening sound of torn flesh, one of Cassius's sharp talons plunged through the angelic godblood's chest and ripped the divine spark cleanly from his breast.
Golden-red blood splattered. Cassius lowered his head to gaze at the pulsing golden fireball resting in his palm, wearing a deeply satisfied smile.
"Walter, as you wished, I shall grant you a grand finale. But people will not remember you as a hero—they will only revile you as a sinner!"
"No—!"
The angelic godblood shook his head feebly, reaching out with the last dregs of his strength in a desperate scream—yet it was already far too late.
At this moment, Walter was consumed by utter regret. His death would not protect the Fadlan Empire; instead, it would bring catastrophe upon all of Feanso.
Walter finally realized that he had never stood a chance from the beginning. He had walked straight into a trap meticulously laid by the red dragon!
Everything—the supposed panic, fluster, and terror—had been an act put on solely for his benefit, all to force out his End of Days!
Wait, how could Cassius have known his plan?
Having eliminated all impossible options, Walter turned his head in dazed disbelief, looking toward the distant gold dragon.
"Amaunator above, it was him..."
The angelic godblood sucked in a ragged breath, coughing up a mouthful of blood. A crushing sense of absurdity and despair surged within his chest, and once again, the glorious years of his past flashed before his eyes.
Yet now, those memories were riddled with fractures, shattered as if struck by a heavy hammer.
In the end, Walter's eyes lost their focus. Life drained entirely from his body, and he began to plummet slowly from the sky. His body continued to burn, trying to unleash the End of Days, but it no longer possessed the divine spark to fuel it.
Thus died the "Wings of Fadlan." Stripped of his divine spark, he plunged along with the blazing fireball, meeting an end far more colossal in spectacle than any other godblood before him.
And on the battlefield ten thousand meters below, the soldiers of the coalition looked up, only to witness this sight:
High above in the heavens, the newborn sun in which they placed their faith and all their hopes... plummeted to its doom!
Chapter 622