Burning meteors plummeted from the high heavens, crashing straight into the ground and wringing a mournful groan from the already riddled earth.
Under the violent clash of elements, scorching gales swept across the land. Thick smoke steadily spread, setting the garments of many ablaze on the spot, as ash and sparks filled the air.
The wizards of the Arcane Legion raised their staves in unison, trying to shield the coalition soldiers, but before these top-tier spells, their warding magics were as flimsy as paper.
Meanwhile, relying on their exceptional organizational discipline, the forces of the Cinder Empire rallied. Through the combined efforts of the Arcane Legion and the Imperial Department of Technology, they erected a hemispherical dome that shielded the Cinder Legion within.
"Help!"
"Amaunator above!"
"Gods, please bestow your blessing and save me!"
On the battlefield below, soldiers scrambled in every direction to evade the bombardment of spells. Wailing and weeping rose without end, soaring straight into the clouds.
Ten thousand meters in the air, the ancient gold dragon Titus, locked in a standoff against the red dragon, seemed to hear something. He turned his head. "Lord Barachiel, this land has already been battered beyond recognition. If this continues...
"I fear this place will become a forbidden zone torn apart by spatial rifts and magical turbulence," Titus said with deep concern, looking down at the devastated earth below.
"I know."
Barachiel's brow furrowed slightly. The bright silver longsword in his hand was still wrapped in lightning, and the three pairs of feathered wings behind his back flapped gently.
He kept his head tilted halfway up, his dark violet eyes fixed unblinkingly on the red dragon in the distance, containing room for nothing else.
To Barachiel, this red dragon was an exceptionally troublesome foe: blindingly fast, endowed with staggering regenerative power, and matching him stride for stride whether in melee combat or spellcasting.
Although the Lord of the Silver Heaven was confident he would never taste defeat, actually overcoming his opponent in the short term proved daunting. If this turned into a war of attrition, the living beings below would suffer unimaginable catastrophe...
Perhaps it was time to reveal his trump card, Barachiel thought, finally reaching a decision.
With a thought, he sent a telepathic message to the ancient gold dragon standing vigil beside him: "Lord Titus, I need you to hold this red dragon for a moment and buy me time."
"Understood." The gold dragon's answer was brief and resolute, his gaze brimming with determination as if prepared to lay down his life.
A trustworthy ally indeed—merely a bit weak, Barachiel thought.
In the distance, the red dragon glared hungrily down at them, issuing relentless taunts: "If this is all you have, I fear your grand scheme of 'punishing evil and exalting good' will come to nothing.
"Soon enough, I shall send you to join Walter." Cassius parted his jaws, baring rows of crowded, razor-sharp fangs in a sinister grin.
"Well? Could it be... that you're afraid?"
The ancient gold dragon could bear it no longer. His eyes flared with fury as he unleashed another thunderous roar: "Vile beast! Justice will never bow to evil, just as dark clouds cannot blot out the sun forever!
"And here—on the Aethel Plain—shall be your grave! I will offer your blood to the memory of Duke Walter!" Roaring, the gold dragon beat his wings, whipping up a gale as he surged toward the red dragon.
"With just you?"
Cassius gave a mocking chuckle, unhurriedly flapping his wings as he looked down upon the gold dragon.
"Do you truly believe you are worthy to be my opponent?" The next moment, the red dragon turned into a crimson afterimage. Trailed by an ear-splitting sonic boom, he arrived beside the gold dragon at terrifying speed and clamped a massive claw around his neck.
"Curse... you..."
Gasping for breath, the gold dragon flailed his limbs and thrashed his wings with all his might, struggling wildly, but to no avail.
Cassius tightened his grip. Veins bulged along his foreleg as razor claws pierced golden scales, threatening to throttle the ancient gold dragon to death.
He sneered coldly, "Truth be told, I have never once considered you an equal. Normally, you wouldn't even have the right to stand before me.
"Are you trying to stall for time? Fine. Since you want to play, I'll indulge you." A savage grin resurfaced on the red dragon's snout. His claw clenched even tighter like an iron vise, its tips sinking deep into flesh as streams of dragon blood trickled down his talons.
"Ngh—!"
The gold dragon let out a muffled groan. Trembling all over, he forced his head up with everything he had, glaring fearlessly at Cassius with eyes ablaze with hatred.
With his throat crushed, his voice came out raspy and broken: "Vile dragon... even if I... die... I will never submit!"
Under the red dragon's astonished gaze, the gold dragon's battered body suddenly erupted with unimaginable force.
The arcane runes etched into his scales flared brilliantly. His scales seemed gilded with an impenetrable layer of gold as a formidable aura burst forth, even forcing open the red dragon's massive claw.
Hidecarve: Iron Body!
"Roar—!"
Titus finally broke free of the red dragon's grasp. Spreading his broad golden wings, he threw back his head and let out an earth-shattering roar:
"The Light is immortal! Justice endures forever—!"
Cassius tilted his head, looking slightly surprised. "A hidecarved dragon? Heh, now that is mildly interesting. Worthy of becoming my trophy."
"Then come try!" the gold dragon roared again, adopting a battle stance. Under the power of the hidecarve runes, his entire body gleamed with dazzling brilliance.
"I will show you—" Cassius beat his wings, once more using his formidable mobility to position himself above the gold dragon, then pounced downward with a roar: "—what true power is!"
His fifty-meter-long frame bore down like a falling mountain, crashing upon the ancient gold dragon, whose length was barely over half his own and whose mass lagged far behind.
Boom!
A violent collision shook the skies. Powerful shockwaves rippled in every direction, threatening to tear space itself apart.
"Aaargh!"
With a cry of agony, the gold dragon was sent flying. He spat out a mouthful of blood as shattered scales sprayed into the sky, the flesh and bones within crushed into a pulp.
Before such an absolute disparity in strength, even with the hidecarve shining upon him, the gold dragon stood helpless. He could only let his foe drag him down toward the earth.
The two dragons grappled as they plummeted toward the ground, moving faster and faster until they ripped through the air with piercing sonic booms.
Eventually, the air around them ignited from friction, wreathing the gold dragon in flames. At this moment, they were like colossal meteors streaking across the sky, crashing straight down.
The two dragons hurtled downward, slamming with deadly precision into the coalition army's ranks—right where their numbers were thickest!
"Is... is that a meteor? No, dragons! It's dragons!"
"Gods above—!"
"Amaunator preserve us, they're crashing into us!"
"It's too late! We can't get away! Gods, is this the end of days?"
"No—!"
The coalition soldiers on the ground looked up in unison, their bodies trembling. Across countless dust-caked, weary faces, despair and terror reigned supreme.
The mountain-sized draconic forms grew larger and larger in their eyes until they swallowed their entire vision.
To these fragile mortals, this was the end of the world.
Boom!
The earth let out an earth-shattering wail. The entire Aethel Plain trembled in agony as dust surged skyward, savage winds swept the ground, and a ferocious shockwave sent countless soldiers flying through the air.
Tens of thousands of coalition soldiers were swept up in this terrifying catastrophe. Many were pulverized into bloody paste by the violent air pressure before the dragons even made impact.
The atmospheric blast, the fissures splitting the earth, and the flying debris claimed tens of thousands more lives. Even distant Corinth shuddered with an earthquake; buildings collapsed one after another, throwing the city into utter chaos with catastrophic casualties.
With this single impact alone, countless lives were extinguished, and this was merely the aftershock of their battle. Such was the absolute crushing gap between tiers of power.
Before dragons of such terrible might, mortals were nothing more than ants.
Upon the soil of Aethel, a crater hundreds of meters wide and more than a dozen meters deep was torn open, surrounded by thousands of meters of fissures and seismic fractures.
Amid the screams and laments of the survivors, the dust and smoke slowly settled to reveal a mountainous silhouette. The red dragon planted his massive talons upon the gold dragon, spreading wings that blotted out the sun as he roared:
"Do you feel it, hypocritical gold dragon?
"This is the disparity in strength! You will never defeat me! This has nothing to do with good or evil—it is simply because you are too weak!"
Suddenly, a mocking smile touched the red dragon's snout. "How about this? Since you can pass for my kin, I will grant you a single chance. Submit to me, gold dragon, and I will spare your life and grant you a place in the new order of the Cinder Empire.
"But if you refuse..." The red dragon paused, glancing down at his bloodstained talons with a ferocious glint in his eyes. "...then I shall have no choice but to send you to join Walter!"
The gold dragon lay on the ground, gasping on the brink of death. Blood covered every inch of him, his bones shattered into a gruesome ruin. Even his wings were broken, and the runes across his body pulsed with a faint, dying glow.
Yet even so, the gold dragon strained with everything in him to lift his head. His golden eyes burned with unyielding resolve, radiating a faint yet indomitable light.
"Today... even if I die, I will never submit to you! Cassius, your doom... is not far away!"
From the distance, countless eyes gathered upon him. They felt heartfelt admiration for this allied gold dragon who fought to the death and refused to yield.
Yet, terrified by the sheer might of the Cinder Emperor, not a single one among the tens of thousands of surviving coalition troops dared approach, let alone attempt a rescue—for doing so was no different from throwing their lives away.
"Lord Titus..."
"What a tragedy..."
"Indeed. Lord Titus sacrificed his life for the cause of justice. He is a truly virtuous dragon."
"He truly is the Wings of Dawn... even willing to give up his life to bring us light..."
They could only gaze at the gold dragon from afar with pity and reverence, sighing quietly in sorrow.
For fear of drawing the red dragon's attention, none dared speak above a whisper.
"How utterly ridiculous!"
Cassius stomped on the gold dragon's back, forcibly wrenching his head up to make him look at the mortals around them. "Are these the people you seek to protect? These cowering wretches who lack even the courage to come to your aid!
"Is this your so-called justice? Leaving yourself isolated, abandoned, and dying—what a joke!"
Hearing Cassius's scathing words, the surrounding coalition soldiers bowed their heads in shame.
Titus gave a grim chuckle. "I uphold justice... never for any... reward. It is simply... my duty as a gold dragon."
Cassius laughed in mock fury, hoisting the gold dragon up with a single arm. "Duty? Fine, then die with your duty!"
His massive claw thrust forward with howling gales, aimed straight at the ancient gold dragon's chest to rip out his beating heart.
"No!"
"Lord Titus!"
Cries of horror erupted from the onlookers, many turning away, unable to bear the gruesome sight.
Yet right at that moment, the gem-encrusted pendant at the gold dragon's chest flared with brilliant silver-white light, shielding his body and blocking the red dragon's claws.
The Platinum Sacred Heart!
The gold dragon collapsed weakly to the ground, yet through sheer willpower, he pushed himself up on his mangled limbs, forcing himself to stand.
Cassius tilted his head and murmured, "Bahamut's favor? That meddlesome old fool again... But this won't save you."
Just as the red dragon was about to advance, a deep, urgent voice called out from the side: "Hold, Your Majesty Cassius!"
The space beside Titus warped, and an even more colossal and ancient gold dragon stepped through. Gripping a scepter, his face, marked with profound majesty and wisdom, was tinged with anxiety.
This was none other than the Archon of the Gold Dragon Council, the great wyrm gold dragon revered by the dragons of the Material Plane as the "Gilded Sage"—Crassus.
In an instant, wild elation surged in both Cassius and his puppet, Titus—the self-harm ruse had worked!
From this day forth, who would dare question that Titus, the "Dragon of Dawn," was the vanguard in the crusade against the red dragon?
This feat had played out before tens of thousands of witnesses! And now, it carried the endorsement of a venerable, highly respected great wyrm gold dragon!
Crassus nodded slightly toward Cassius and said in a grave voice, "Your Majesty Cassius, we gold dragons have no desire to embroil ourselves in this conflict. I ask that you show mercy and spare Titus's life."
"On what grounds?"
"The gold dragon clan will pay you ample compensation... and for the sake of Lord Bahamut..."
Crassus stood between Cassius and Titus, his tone solemn, clearly resolved to take Titus away.
Cassius waved a claw dismissively. "Were it not for our shared dragon blood, this reckless gold dragon would already be dead. Now get off this land. I still have an unfinished battle to settle."
"Thank you for your magnanimity."
Seeing that Cassius would not press further, Crassus said no more. He immediately teleported away with Titus, fleeing this vortex of peril.
This grand theatrical performance had reached its conclusion. From now on, Titus would be known across the world as a fearless rebel against the Cinder Empire, a hero revered by countless "champions of justice."
Cassius lifted his head and looked into the distance. Beyond putting on this show, he had kept close watch on the movements of the Lord of the Silver Heaven the entire time, ready to interrupt him at any moment.
The red dragon reared his head and roared, "Only you are left! Are you ready to meet your death?"
Ten thousand meters above, Barachiel had already closed his eyes. From the void, he drew forth a thick, lavishly bound holy tome, slowly opening it as he silently chanted the ancient incantations inscribed upon its pages.
"In the name of Heaven..."
The bright silver horn at his waist floated into the air, chiming with a melodious, mystical heavenly anthem.
Barachiel's expression turned solemn, and his voice rang out fierce and sharp, echoing across the sky like thunder:
"I bestow upon you—the Final Judgment!"
Chapter 624