*Boom—*
In an instant, the interlaced flames of dark crimson and silvery white pierced through layer upon layer of defenses, surging directly toward Barachiel at the heart of the fortress.
"Ahhh!" Shock and fury twisted the proud face of the ruler of the Silver Heaven as two terrifying beams of light shot from His eyes. For the first time, He let out a shriek of agonized torment.
Barachiel was no longer immaculate. The six colossal wings upon His back were scorched in an instant, rapidly crumbling into ash. His chest was ripped open and incinerated by the blaze, exposing a shimmering, translucent sphere within.
The sphere was set against a backdrop of deep night, filled with boundless stars, a silvery ocean, delicate sacred temples, and a majestic holy mountain—like a miniature cosmos. It was Barachiel's celestial origin.
He no longer resembled a living being, but rather some manner of construct—every component within Him forged by celestial power, an exquisite and flawless creation of order.
Yet now, Chaos Fire tore brutally through His form, shredding the order within Him as tongues of flame raged and burned, plunging everything into chaotic ruin.
Reaching forward with a flaming arm, Barachiel thrust His silver greatsword out and bellowed deafeningly, "I will... make you pay! Judgment!"
He swung His blade down in fury. High above, the colossal astral sword descended with it, carrying the immense weight of Mount Celestia's laws of order, its tip aimed straight at the rapidly ascending red dragon.
If struck by this celestial blade, the red dragon's fate would likely be no better than Barachiel's current state.
Yet to the current Cassius, passive defense was entirely useless; the best defense was offense.
So long as he eradicated the source of all that celestial power, this so-called Final Judgment would be nothing more than water severed from its spring, destined to dissipate into nothing.
*Boom—*
Cassius roared as well. Flapping his wings violently, shrouded in blazing flame, he scaled the Immortal Bastion.
Gripping the breach in the wall with his foreclaws, veins bulging along his arms, the red dragon exerted sudden force and forcibly tore the reinforced stone apart, widening the hole before tucking his wings and diving inside!
"Die!"
Cassius roared, transforming into a crimson blur trailing plumes of flame as he hurled himself ferociously toward Barachiel in the center of the fortress.
"Villain, it is you who shall perish!" Barachiel swung His greatsword with all His might. Sharp blades of light flew forth in rapid succession, accompanied by countless crashing thunderbolts.
The bright silver horn blew abruptly once more, bringing with it a sweeping, passionate hymn and the vast, transcendent Words of Creation. Assaults targeting mind and soul struck in relentless waves.
Cassius, however, showed not the slightest fear. His scales abruptly turned a gleaming gold, the trait of his Gilded Scales fully activated. Next, intricate and arcane patterns flared across his body as Cassius invoked the powers of a hidecarved dragon.
Under the effect of Metamagic: Quicken Spell, multiple layers of magical barriers sprang up over the red dragon's form, surrounded by circling, starlike motes of light.
*Roar—*
Under Barachiel's fierce onslaught, Cassius's defenses shattered in rapid succession within moments, leaving his hide battered and bloodied.
Yet the red dragon weathered the torrential storm of attacks, advancing with unstoppable momentum until he lunged directly before Barachiel.
"Got you."
Cassius bared a mouth full of jagged, pale fangs in a hideous, terrifying grin, driving his claws into Barachiel's burning form.
Wreathed in flames, Barachiel's once-flawless visage was already mangled beyond recognition, charred black and grotesque.
To a being born perfect, an embodiment of order, even the slightest blemish was enough to drive them to madness. Now, Barachiel had been reduced to an unrecognizable monstrosity.
Had Barachiel's soul not been forged from the very essence of order, He would have lost His sanity long ago.
Like a burning fiend from the depths of hell, He threw back His head and roared in fury, thrashing and struggling desperately in an attempt to break free of the red dragon's grip.
"Sinful beast! I will slay you!" Barachiel swung His greatsword with His half-shattered arm, every thrust aimed at the dragon's vital points—his eyes, throat, and heart.
Deep gashes opened across Cassius's body. His scales split, and streams of dragon blood gushed forth.
Yet the red dragon paid the wounds no mind. His greedy gaze remained locked on Barachiel in his grasp as he opened his maw, terrifying brilliance churning deep within his throat.
*Boom—*
The air detonated. A horrifying pillar of flame erupted straight into Barachiel's chest, slamming violently into the delicate sphere containing His celestial origin.
Breath of Plunder!
In a flash, half of Barachiel's body was reduced to ash by the dragonflame, leaving only the sphere of celestial origin holding out in resistance.
Above Cassius's head, the celestial greatsword about to fall suddenly lost control, dissolving directly into the sky as countless drifting particles of light.
The dark-crimson Chaos Fire broke down and shattered the power of order within the celestial origin, while the silvery-white Flame of Ordering reassembled the deconstructed power, refining it into a brand-new celestial force that belonged exclusively to Cassius.
The torrent of flame pouring from the dragon's maw acted like a massive syringe, continually siphoning power from the celestial origin and assimilating it for his own use.
"Hahahahaha! So this is the origin of Mount Celestia? Magnificent! Truly magnificent!" Cassius devoured Barachiel's origin with insatiable greed, wild ecstasy flashing across his savage draconic visage.
*I have to take as much as I can while this chance lasts; I might never get another,* Cassius thought.
"No... no... You dare plunder the origin of Heaven? You will pay for this..." With only half His body remaining, Barachiel spoke in a faint, terror-stricken voice.
Cassius showed no mercy, directly directing the Chaos Fire to incinerate Barachiel's remaining flesh, forcing His soul to withdraw entirely into the celestial origin.
By the definitions of the Material Plane, Barachiel was already dead. Ordinarily, He would discard His deceased shell, and His soul and authority would return to Mount Celestia, where He would once again become one of its many angels.
Yet this red dragon was so ravenous that he dared attempt to seize the authority of Mount Celestia itself!
That was the realm of radiant splendor, the idealization of ultimate good, the cosmic confluence of order, kindness, compassion, and mercy! Even demons fled from it in aversion, yet this red dragon dared to claim it for himself!
In Barachiel's eyes, this was no longer a mere villain. This was an enemy of order! An existence akin to an abomination!
Yet reduced to a soul, He could only watch helplessly as the terrible red dragon feasted upon His origin.
"No—!"
Barachiel's soul trembled, letting out a soul-shattering shriek. The Words of Creation within Him flared once more, and His broken essence suddenly erupted with blinding radiance.
Celestial Miracle!
A spell that petitioned a deity or some transcendent being, calling upon them to manifest a divine miracle.
Boundless light instantly enveloped the sky, and a grand, distant voice descended from overhead:
"Cease. You have taken enough—"
Cassius looked up into the heavens, having anticipated this, yet he did not pause his plundering in the slightest, continuing to assimilate the celestial origin.
"As expected, what had to come has arrived... the true master of Mount Celestia..." Cassius muttered with a touch of regret.
A swirling vortex of brilliant golden energy slowly manifested above his head. Just by beholding its presence, Cassius could palpably feel an aura of righteousness and justice that could never belong to the mortal realm.
The energy coalesced into a colossal phantom hundreds of meters tall in the high heavens. He had pure golden skin and magnificent white wings shimmering with a platinum sheen.
Though surrounded by searing radiance, His expression was one of humble warmth and benevolence, devoid of fury even when facing a declared enemy.
"Zaphkiel," Cassius murmured the name slowly.
He was the sole surviving founding member of the Celestial Hebdomad, ruler of the highest layer of Mount Celestia—Chronias, the Illuminated Heaven.
Gazing up at Zaphkiel's avatar, even Cassius felt a burning heat across his body, as though some power were attempting to purify him.
It was said that He was the purest incarnation of the force of good; only the most virtuous of beings, or the most powerful of wicked fiends, could stand before Him without being annihilated by the holy energy He radiated.
Zaphkiel
Challenge Rating: ???
"Truly worthy of the master of the Seven Heavens, the legendary being whose radiance illuminates all of Mount Celestia, a presence rivaling true deities..."
Bathed in that aura of justice and righteousness, Cassius could not help but sigh in admiration, yet he showed no fear.
In this war, Mount Celestia had inflicted considerable devastation upon the Material Plane. Cassius was a native of the Material Plane, meaning that whatever losses he caused were strictly the Material Plane's "internal affairs"—whereas Barachiel was an outsider.
Mount Celestia had no moral or legal high ground here, and had even violated the rules of the Material Plane to a certain extent.
Barachiel had taken office late and still retained traces of humanity, but as the pure incarnation of lawful good, Zaphkiel was highly unlikely to breach cosmic law to strike him down.
"Zaphkiel! This evil dragon is plundering the origin of Heaven!" Barachiel's soul called out in anguish.
Cassius roared back with righteous indignation, "This is my territory! When you folk of Mount Celestia openly invade the Material Plane, do you think you can leave without paying a price?"
"Enough."
Zaphkiel's expression was solemn and naturally commanding as He looked down with detachment upon the red dragon below. "Let all strife end here."
A colossal golden hand descended from the heavens, sweeping up the celestial origin—already largely drained—along with Barachiel's soul, before vanishing into the sky without leaving the slightest disturbance behind.
Cassius watched with regret but did not attempt to interfere. After all, his current power was not yet enough to challenge a being of Zaphkiel's stature.
*A bit of a pity, but... the gains from this battle are already more than enough.*
Feeling the divine power of Amaunator and the celestial origin coursing through him, Cassius glanced at the continuous notifications refreshing on his interface, a deeply satisfied grin spreading across his face.
[You killed Wings of Fadlan, Walter Graham (Challenge Rating: 24), gained 65,000 XP]
[You killed Lord of the Messengers, Barachiel (Challenge Rating: 31), gained 185,000 XP]
[You killed a Lord of Heaven, unlocked Legendary Achievement: Holy Slayer]
The red dragon beat his wings, summoning a violent tempest that scattered the churning war clouds, allowing sunlight to spill down upon the earth once more.
"North Aethel is completely mine now. This shall be the starting point of the Cinder Empire's conquest of Fadlan!"
Overlooking the scarred, battered land, Cassius opened his great jaws and unleashed a resonant roar across the skies.
*Roar—*
...
Down on the ground, the soldiers and officers of the coalition army stared anxiously up at the heavens.
Dark crimson fire and pure holy light had alternated through the churning clouds, accompanied by ceaseless, deafening detonations that made it impossible to discern the course of the battle.
Finally, radiant light illuminated the sky and pierced the cloud cover, and the commotion across the battlefield seemed to come to an abrupt halt.
"Gods above, has the battle finally ended?"
"Who won?"
"I felt an incomparably sacred, righteous aura just now... Lord Barachiel must have released it."
"Does that mean the lord from Heaven emerged victorious, and the red dragon was defeated?"
"Amaunator, protect us... Grant that the evil dragon is destroyed once and for all, never to invade south again..."
"O gods, please, bestow a miracle upon us..."
The coalition's officers and soldiers broke into heated chatter, frantically discussing the outcome of the battle, ultimately uniting in prayers for their ally—the celestial angel who stood for justice and righteousness—to prevail.
Prior to this, they had witnessed with their own eyes the fall of Duke Walter, the godblood scion, and the defeat of the ancient gold dragon Titus. They had placed almost all their remaining hopes upon this most noble, powerful ally.
If even Lord Barachiel could not halt the Cinder Emperor, what reason remained for them to continue fighting?
It was no exaggeration to say that the outcome of this battle would decide their very fates: victory or defeat, life or death—everything lay hidden behind those heavy clouds.
The Cinder Legion, by contrast, remained supremely confident. They played stirring marches and sang the Hymn of Cassius, harboring not the slightest doubt that their red dragon would claim ultimate victory.
"Long live His Majesty Cassius!"
"The great red dragon is eternal and invincible!"
"Victory! Absolute victory!"
He was the Cinder Emperor, after all. His mere presence on the field heralded inevitable triumph—a truth proven through years of imperial experience.
At last, a ferocious gale swept through the sky and rushed down upon them, carrying a scorching stench of sulfur that washed over every soul on the ground.
Catching that familiar scent, the hearts of the coalition soldiers and officers leapt into their throats, gripped by a terrible foreboding...
Under that furious gale, the thick canopy of clouds was torn away, and brilliant sunlight bathed the earth once more.
*Roar—*
A resonant dragon roar echoed through the heavens, striking a chord of awe and terror into every heart present.
Beneath countless upward gazes, the red dragon spread his sun-blotting wings, flaunting his towering, majestic form without restraint as his crimson scales gleamed brilliantly under the golden sun.
The Cinder Legion erupted into frenzied cheers, a roaring tide of voices as the stirring Hymn of Cassius echoed across the vast battlefield.
"By the gods..."
Across the coalition positions, soldiers stared fixedly at the red dragon in the sky as if beholding an apocalyptic god of ruin, identical expressions of terror and despair filling every pair of eyes.
Snow-white feathers drifted gently downward, alighting upon the soldiers' heads. They knew then that the angel, too, had been slain by the evil dragon.
...
"Just as He had done in the Northlands, the Emperor once again strode onto the stage of the Feanso Continent in an uncompromising, invincible posture.
"The grand drama He staged was spectacular indeed. Roaring and bellowing, He tore open the chest of a godblood with unstoppable might, broke the wings of a gold dragon, and even claimed the life of a ruler of Heaven...
"From that moment on, an irreparable fissure appeared across the old order of the Feanso Continent."
—*The Feanso Continent: From Ruin to Rebirth*, Ander Walsen
Chapter 626