The Dragon's Breath of the End

Boom! Thunder cracked across the sky, accompanied by blazing bolts of lightning that crisscrossed through the churning storm clouds. The heavens darkened once again as the holy might of Mount Celestia stretched across hundreds of li. The star-strewn night canopy of the Silver Heaven enveloped the earth anew, enclosing the red dragon within its grasp. In the world of Elezerg, music and speech were far more than vibrations in the air—they were a unique form of power. Bards held that the multiverse was spoken into being, shaped by the divine words of the gods, and that the original Words of Creation still echoed through every corner of the cosmos without end. Music was an art of manipulating those echoes, weaving them into spells and power. As the master of the Silver Heaven, Barachiel likewise commanded a portion of these Words of Creation. *Wuuu—* A silver horn blew, and a slow, melodious hymn rose. The sacred tune grew increasingly passionate, undulating with dramatic cadence, joined by a soaring female voice reminiscent of an operatic chant. "Let justice be done, though the heavens fall—" "Weigh all living beings in the name of truth and righteousness! Grant eternal life to the virtuous, and cast the wicked into hell—" To the rhythm of that grand hymn, Barachiel raised his silver sword high. A deep, heavy rumble sounded as the celestial power around him converged upon his blade. At last, that power solidified in the firmament, forming a colossal sword thousands of meters long that pierced the heavens, imbued with the celestial laws of pure order. Final Judgment. Because Mount Celestia was the very symbol of order and justice, Barachiel, as ruler of the Silver Heaven, could wield this authority to pass judgment on beings of the Material Plane. The more chaotic and evil the chosen target was, the more devastating the harm inflicted upon them. If the subject of judgment were a demon of the Abyss, its very essence might even be wiped out. In Barachiel's eyes, this Cinder Emperor—a red dragon who wielded the power of Chaos Fire and waged ruthless wars of conquest—was the quintessential embodiment of "chaotic evil." Holding the great blade aloft, his six massive wings beating slowly behind him, the archon spoke with a majestic voice that resounded through heaven and earth: "Cassius, your brutal war of aggression and your bid to enslave humanity have crossed the line of all existence! "In the name of Mount Celestia, in the name of the Silver Heaven, I, Barachiel, Lord of Lunia, bestow upon you—the Final Judgment!" With solemn fury in his eyes, Barachiel swung his silver sword downward. *Hummm—* The colossal celestial blade in the heavens descended slowly, shaking the surrounding space until fissure after fissure splintered across the sky. Cassius gazed up at the sky without a sliver of fear, breaking into boisterous laughter. "Hahahaha! Come on then! Now that's the might the master of the Silver Heaven ought to display! "However, in this world—no one can judge me! Not even the so-called will of Celestia!" *Roar!* The red dragon threw back his head and let out an earth-shattering roar. Bracing himself on his muscular forelimbs, he reared onto his hind legs and spread his vast wings, unleashing a suffocating aura that spanned thousands of meters. In this instant, Cassius no longer held back his draconic aura. The overwhelming pressure belonging exclusively to a progenitor dragon burst forth all at once! "Gods..." "S-Such terrifying pressure!" "What kind of monster is this? I... I can't breathe, my limbs have gone limp..." In an instant, countless soldiers collapsed to their knees, trembling uncontrollably before fainting on the spot. Some were even frightened to death, their hearts stopping in sheer terror... This was humanity's most primal fear of mighty creatures, inherited from tens of thousands of years ago when dragons ruled the earth and treated mankind as mere cattle. Though Cassius had long broken free of the Abyss's corruption and returned to the lawful alignment, the Final Judgment unleashed with all of Barachiel's might still posed a lethal threat to him. The celestial broadsword high in the sky was encircled by glowing, enigmatic runes. It would still take a moment of gathering its radiant energy before it could be fully discharged. And that was Cassius's prime opportunity. Staring up at Barachiel, the red dragon sneered, "Did you really think I'd stand around like a villain in a storybook and wait for you to finish charging your ultimate move?" Before his voice had even faded, Cassius parted his cavernous jaws. The fundus vessels throughout his entire frame flared with searing light, shining through his scales like an intricate network of blazing roots. The pure blood of a progenitor dragon surged with terrifying energy, rushing from every part of his body straight toward his dragon crystal. Crimson plumes of flame vented from the breathing slits along his neck and tail. *Buzz—* In an instant, potent chaotic power surged through the dragon crystal. Stray sparks crashed violently against his chest, agitating the surrounding Weave into rolling waves like an ocean amidst a fierce tempest. A dark-crimson tempest of chaos radiated outward from the red dragon, engulfing everything within a radius of hundreds of meters in an infernal blaze. Vegetation, soldiers, and earth alike were swept into the air by the raging gale, burning furiously until they were reduced to ash within the crimson storm. *Boom!* The next instant, accompanied by a deafening roar, the earth caved in violently. The sky was torn asunder by a column of dark-crimson fire, looking as if the firmament had been carved open and was weeping fresh blood. It was the Breath of Chaos. Barachiel's expression darkened, fury returning to his dark purple eyes. Suppressing his wrath, he growled under his breath, "A villain in league with the Abyss, just as expected! "Yet—do you honestly believe this can save you from the Final Judgment?" To the accompaniment of the holy chorus, the silver horn wrapped in chains abruptly expanded, planting itself firmly before Barachiel. Brilliant celestial light poured forth from it as forces representing the essence of pure order coalesced, hardening into sharp, geometric silver polygons. In moments, they assembled into a luminous, shining fortress. The bastion stood over a hundred meters tall, lavishly adorned, its walls covered in holy frescoes and gleaming with stellar radiance. The Immortal Bastion. It was a projection of Barachiel's own abode, manifested from the purest celestial power of order—more than capable of easily withstanding the full-force assault of an Abyssal lord. Thousands of years ago during the Abyssal incursion, Barachiel had commanded this very fortress, crushing the rampaging demons beneath it and driving those chaotic evil abominations back into the depths of the Abyss. Now, Barachiel summoned it once more to hold off Cassius's Breath of Chaos. *Boom!* Amidst the howling skies and exploding air, the dark-crimson pillar of fire slammed into the Immortal Bastion. Evil and good, chaos and order—two diametrically opposed forces collided, grated, and compressed against each other, instantly detonating in an apocalyptic blast that consumed half the sky. Crimson flames tangled with blinding silver light, releasing waves of discordant energy that washed over the earth below. The blast mercilessly shattered enchanted relics and magical armaments, leaving the allied wizards crying out in agony. Cassius kept his head raised, pouring on the breath weapon, while simultaneously beating his wings. Whipping up a scorching gale, he vaulted into the air, closing the distance toward the gleaming bastion above. The tide of chaos churning in his chest grew more violent by the second, and the pillar of dark-crimson fire roaring from his maw thickened, nearly engulfing the entire firmament in a vast vortex of flame. *Roar!* The thunderous draconic bellow struck terror straight to the depths of mortal souls, leaving everyone below shuddering in fright. Cassius's pale gold pupils gleamed with feral savagery, suffused with an unbridled thirst for slaughter and ruin. A faint bloody sheen surfaced upon his scales—evidently, the passive traits of the Bloodscaled Fury had been triggered. At this moment, the Cinder Emperor's aura was overwhelming, as though Garyx himself had descended to reduce all existence to ashes and forge a new age ruled by dragons. Witnessing such absolute might, the legions of the Cinder Empire cheered and shouted with fanatic fervor, brandishing their weapons as though victory were already within their grasp. After all, that was their Cinder Emperor! Throughout the more than a decade of the empire's rise, he had never once tasted defeat; he had long become the very embodiment of triumph. "Long live His Majesty Cassius!" "Invincible!" "That is our supreme sovereign! The Emperor of Cinder!" Yet within the Cinder Empire's ranks, a silver-haired young woman also gazed up at the sky. Her slender hands were clasped tightly against her chest, her face laden with worry. *Cassius... please... do not let that power bewitch you again.* The red dragon's current state inevitably brought to mind that world-shaking Battle of the Twin Dragons. Back then, to defeat her grandfather Oszedro, Cassius had similarly unleashed this bizarre breath of chaos, only to lose control halfway through. Olivia had nearly given her life to wake him. Now, Cassius stood at the pinnacle of the Material Plane, battling the master of Celestia's first heaven. Yet Olivia no longer possessed the strength to even approach the battlefield—the moment she drew close, she would be swallowed whole by the terrifying shockwaves. With that thought, Olivia could only close her eyes and press her palms together in silent prayer. She prayed that Cassius would claim victory without losing his mind; she prayed that this land and its people would see an end to their suffering; and she prayed that the Cinder Empire would truly build a new order, just as Cassius had promised... *Boom—* The clash in the high sky raged on. The flames of chaos blazed ever more furiously, yet they could not breach that brilliant bulwark. The most extreme order and the purest chaos waxed and waned, violently colliding. Sparks and glowing particles burst across the heavens, and even the stray shockwaves were potent enough to slay an adult dragon. Meanwhile, above Barachiel's head, the Sword of Damocles hanging suspended in the sky grew increasingly colossal and solid. The runes along its edge ignited, as though it were on the verge of plunging downward to execute the red dragon. The halo of light behind Barachiel shone with blinding brilliance. Beating his six great wings, he looked down upon the approaching dragon and issued a majestic rebuke: "Cassius, cease your futile struggles and prepare to receive your judgment! "Red dragons truly are slaves to power. A creature like you, fallen to the chaos of the Abyss, deserves only total eradication!" *Boom—* Yet all that answered him was an even fiercer breath weapon, a more torrential wave of chaotic fire. Cassius beat his draconic wings and continued to climb until he was merely a few hundred meters from the Immortal Bastion. "You think I've become a slave to the Abyss? How utterly laughable! I am the master of power!" "Every arrogant fool deceived by the Abyss believes himself the master! Yet in the end, they all become pitiful puppets, and you are no exception!" Barachiel sneered, continually channeling celestial power to reinforce his defenses. The collision between chaos and order grew more terrifying by the second. Dark-crimson flames swept across the sky, relentlessly eroding and lashing against the Immortal Bastion. Barachiel fixed his gaze on the red dragon, his eyes brimming with unyielding intent to kill. "It is useless! Just as darkness cannot suppress light, chaos can never triumph over order!" "Is that so?" Suddenly, Cassius flared his wings and let a mocking grin spread across his draconic features. "In that case... what if I wield the power of order as well?" "What?" Barachiel's brow furrowed, caught entirely off guard. For a moment, he wondered if the red dragon had been driven mad by the will of the Abyss. Order and chaos were two completely contradictory natures—how could they possibly coexist within a single being? Yet at that moment, a starlight-like luminescence abruptly manifested within the dragon crystal at Cassius's chest. It intertwined and clashed with the chaotic fire within, and his gaze instantly regained complete clarity while a faint, serene glimmer rippled across his scales. Immediately after, the red dragon opened his maw, light glittering in his eyes as a stream of silvery-white flame welled up from the depths of his throat. Breath of Ordering. The outer layer was the dark-crimson flame of chaos, representing turbulent disorder, while the inner core was the silvery-white flame of pure order. The two merged harmoniously, forging a bizarre breath weapon laden with complex cosmic laws. *Boom—* The Immortal Bastion functioned similarly to the eighth-tier spell Shield of Order; it could repel any assault carrying the essence of chaos, but it had no defense against forces sharing its own nature. In a flash, before Barachiel could even react, the silvery-white inner flame punched clean through the bastion's walls, and the dark-crimson outer flame flooded right in after it. Barachiel's expression transformed into pure shock and rage. He cried out, "Impossible! How could you possess such power?!" Barachiel hastily brought his silver sword across his chest to parry, his flawless silver countenance twisting into something near-ferocious. "The opposition between good and evil, order and chaos, is an eternal, inviolable truth of the cosmos! Not even deities can break it!" Cassius roared with arrogant laughter. "I told you, not even Mount Celestia has the right to judge me! You pedantic relic—I am the true founder and guardian of order!" Countless radiant magic circles, barriers, and light shields snapped into existence before Barachiel, yet none could halt the terrifying breath weapon that embodied both natures at once. *Boom!* The dark-crimson flames of chaos disintegrated and unraveled everything in their path, while the silvery-white flames of ordering reorganized and reconstructed the shattered particles into new matter, incorporating them straight into Cassius's own power. At this stage, such an attack could no longer be called merely the Breath of Chaos or the Breath of Ordering. Cassius dubbed it the Breath of Plunder. True to its name, it dismantled old matter and transmuted it into new essence for his body, breaking the old order to establish a new order ruled by Cassius alone—this was the true essence of the Breath of Plunder!