The Dragon and the Orc

"It's His Majesty!" "His Majesty Cassius has intervened! I knew it! He truly was watching over us all along!" "Long live the Great Red Dragon! Long live the Cinder Empire!" Inside the City of Wyverns, the people cheered in unison, their deafening cries shaking the heavens. From the moment the red dragon appeared, even as the sky-piercing blood spear plummeted toward them, not a single soul felt fear any longer. All of them looked to the heavens with fervent devotion, ready to witness their Emperor triumph over a deity, brimming with absolute confidence. In the hearts of the imperial populace, Cassius was the very symbol of victory and the embodiment of power; for him, defeat was simply impossible. A massive dragon claw gripped the edge of the spatial rift, veins bulging along the arm before wrenching with tremendous force. *Rip—!* Space was torn completely apart. The ground suddenly darkened, and across a radius of a hundred li, humans, orcs, and half-dragons all looked up together. From the tear thrust forth a colossal, majestic head, its pale-gold slit pupils like globes of molten lava dancing with fiery radiance. Immediately after, broad wings vast enough to shroud the city walls snapped open, followed by a serpentine, mountain-like torso and a colossal tail. In an instant, scorching gales swept the earth. Dragon fear, so intense it was nearly tangible, weighed heavily upon the shoulders of every living being present, stirring in them an involuntary urge to submit. Under the gaze of countless eyes, Cassius tore through space and emerged above the City of Wyverns, his massive body stretching over fifty meters in length! "All-Father above!" "What an enormous dragon!" "Is... is that the Cinder Emperor?" Even the resurrected orcs were struck with shock, trembling with dread; most had never in their lives seen a creature so mighty and immense. Within the City of Wyverns, hundreds of wyverns raised their heads together, craning their necks with all their might to let out a chorus of long shrieks, roaring in support of the red dragon. *Roar—!* Cassius threw back his head and unleashed an earth-shattering roar at the descending giant spear. At the very moment the spear was about to impale the earth, the dragon crystal upon Cassius's chest flared with starlight brilliance. *Boom—!* A torrent of silver-white flame erupted from his throat, surging straight into the sky! "Foolish imperials! Not even a laughable red dragon, nor Tiamat Herself descending upon this world, could save you!" The Orc God's roar echoed across the wasteland as boundless divine power erupted. Dragging trails of orcish fire, the giant spear maintained its irresistible momentum as it plunged from the sky, colliding head-on with the silver-white flame. The two starkly opposing forces eroded and clashed against one another. Streaming fire laden with origin power and divine power instantly washed outward, producing an immense, dazzling explosion high in the air. "The power of Order?" Gruumsh stared at the distant red dragon, stunned into a momentary daze. Even after tens of thousands of years of endless warfare, the sight before Him was utterly incomprehensible: how could an evil red dragon wield a power of Order as pure as Bahamut's? Could this be a gold dragon clad in red scales? Cassius seized this fleeting opening, pouring out energy with everything he had as points of multicolored light burst from the dragon crystal upon his chest. Flames of Order, the Sun God's divine power, Bahamut's divine power, the law power of the Imperial Domain—every force opposed to chaotic evil and capable of neutralizing the orcish fire poured forth, surging into the sky in unison. *Boom!* A colossal blast erupted. A searing shockwave expanded rapidly, sending a wall of blistering heat crashing over every living being within dozens of li. Midair, the giant spear actually burst apart! The mottled divine power clinging to it scattered into countless drifting flames and chaotic currents before being eradicated by Cassius's might. The spear dissolved completely, reverting to its true form—a blood-stained wooden spear barely six meters long. It appeared plain and unassuming, yet radiated an aura of extreme chaos and evil. That was Gruumsh's Bloodspear. Legend had it that it had wounded both Corellon and Moradin, stained with their divine blood, and thus could inflict fundamental harm upon elves and dwarves. Gruumsh had manifested only as an avatar, and this Bloodspear was merely a material projection of divine power, yet it still contained a wisp of genuine origin divinity. "What a fine treasure..." Eyes gleaming with greed, Cassius beat his wings and soared upward, venting a terrifying predatory breath in an attempt to devour the Bloodspear. "Greedy reptile..." Gruumsh snorted coldly and raised an arm. The Bloodspear instantly tore through space and returned to His grasp. Gazing at the immense red dragon that had far exceeded the limits of its kind, the Orc God finally cast aside His contempt for mortal creatures and took Cassius somewhat seriously. As a deity of the War domain, in that single glance through His sharp yet turbid single eye, Gruumsh saw through the red dragon's essence: The body of a progenitor dragon, chaotic power from the Abyss, the power of Order from the Material Plane, origin power from the Heavens, divine power from both the Sun God and Bahamut, authority from the Elemental Planes, and even a wisp of Dumathoin's divine power... What in the world was this thing? A progenitor dragon? An elemental lord? Or a demigod? In Gruumsh's eyes, this creature was practically a hodgepodge. That such mutually repulsive, hostile forces could coexist peacefully inside a single body was astonishing even to Him. This creature... was by no means an ordinary mortal. Even so, Gruumsh remained supremely confident. After thousands of years, He had descended once more upon the earth, destined to lead the orcs along a glorious, blood-soaked path of ascension. With that thought, Gruumsh raised the Bloodspear, pointed it at the red dragon, and said sternly, "Red dragon, do you know what manner of being you have provoked?" Cassius did not answer. Instead, looking down upon the avatar of the god, he tilted his head in an attitude of mock attentiveness, as though all ears. Seeing that his foe was utterly fearless, a spark of unconcealable fury flared in Gruumsh's lone eye. "Before you stands the great Orc God! Cease your blasphemy! "If you submit to me, I may yet spare your life and grant you the honor of becoming my mount!" Cassius eyed the Orc God askance, sensing the immensely powerful surges of divine energy, and grinned broadly. "Gruumsh, I have a far more sensible proposal. "How about making the orcs my vassals? The Empire will treat you generously, and you shall serve as the chief of my subjects, kneeling before me. That, too, would be your great honor." "Blasphemer! You seek death!" In an instant, incandescent rage blazed in Gruumsh's single eye! With a shudder of divine might, power at the level of a Greater Deity erupted completely. A violent storm swept the earth, and a crimson divine domain encompassed the space for dozens of li around, enveloping the red dragon within it as well. Spear in hand, Gruumsh rose into the sky amidst rolling black clouds, facing off against the distant red dragon. At the same time, Cassius narrowed his eyes, examining the Orc God's avatar. Divination spells such as Cataclysmic Dragon Eye and True Seeing were cast one after another, but under the obstruction of divine power and the suppression of divine rank, these varied methods proved useless. All Cassius could see was a blurry, hideous single eye. Only the system's comprehensive appraisal barely functioned: [The One-Eyed God - Gruumsh (Divine Avatar)] [Challenge Rating: 38] This was the first time he had ever faced a divine avatar of this caliber. Dumathoin had merely been an avatar of an intermediate deity who had not fought at full strength, while the Triad of Justice had only been divine projections. Now, for the first time in the truest sense, Cassius was about to battle a deity. Gruumsh's avatar stood only six meters tall, identical to Solo, the physical vessel on which it depended, appearing rather diminutive beside Cassius. Yet the Orc God's divinity endowed this avatar with extraordinary traits such as colossal strength, immortality, reality manipulation, a divine domain, and the essence of slaughter. As the avatar of a Greater Deity, this manifestation of Gruumsh was more formidable than most demigods! "Worthy of a Greater Deity's avatar..." Cassius licked his lips, his pale-gold slit pupils glimmering with excitement. He roared with sheer exhilaration, "Old green-skin! It is you who seek death! "Our Cinder Empire avenged you by wiping out your dwarven enemies right at your doorstep, yet you shamelessly come knocking on our doors, trying to seize my territory! Utterly shameless!" Gruumsh said in a deep voice, "Red dragon, Evindeldan is not your domain. It is the territory I bestowed upon the orcs!" "Bestowed?" Cassius retorted mockingly, "A city founded by dwarves and occupied by them for thousands of years—when did it become orc land? On the mere say-so of your empty words? What an absolute joke! "In that case, I hereby bestow Nishrek upon my subjects! Old green-skin, how about yielding your divine realm to us, then?" Since they were already locked in a fight to the death, there was no need to worry about blaspheming a god. The red dragon flapped his wings. Dragon fear and the power of his Imperial Domain erupted from him in an instant, shattering the surrounding crimson divine domain. A colossal spherical boundary formed in the sky as the red dragon's domain and Gruumsh's clashed and cancelled each other out. At the intersection of the two domains, annihilating, shredding turbulence tore through everything, warping space itself. Cassius hung like a radiant celestial body, emitting his own light and heat high in the air, sheltering everything around him—including the City of Wyverns. "Mortal, you have made the gravest mistake of your life—to stand against me! To stand against the orc race! "Before long, you will weep on your knees at my feet, begging for your life!" Gruumsh's voice rang with indignation and fury, infused with divine authority. In that instant, countless imperials—and even Cassius—saw visions spring into their minds of mountains of corpses, oceans of blood, and the City of Wyverns reduced to ruins, with the one-eyed orc looking down coldly upon them. Imperials with weaker minds rolled their eyes back under the psychic impact, fainting on the spot or even being frightened to death. Such was the might of a deity! The so-called "words commanding reality" was no exaggeration; empowered by divine authority, simple speech alone could kill. "Playing these kinds of tricks, are you? You think you're the only one who can?" Cassius looked down upon the horde of orcs. A faint glimmer flitted through his golden slit pupils as the power of a True Dragon Sorcerer warped reality! In a flash, terrifying phantasms materialized before the eyes of the orcs: a crimson dragon vaster than a mountain, thousands of meters long, spewing an endless sea of fire to burn them to ash. "All-Father above!" "No, no, dis ain't real! But why's dat fire really burnin' me?!" Once the illusion was believed to be real, the victims suffered real physical harm—such as being burned to ash by phantom fire. This was the 7th-level spell Cassius had created himself, adapted from the Terrifying Vision of Tiamat: Cassius's Terrifying Vision. Yet Gruumsh remained unmoved, remarking coldly, "A tedious trick. Any orc fooled by such illusions is unworthy of being my subject." Cassius beat his wings and climbed higher, not forgetting to mock Him: "And that is precisely why your people across the Feanso Continent have almost been wiped out by me! "Tsk, tsk. Before the Empire's weaponry, your precious children are like pitiful ants, slaughtered with ease by my subjects." "Your death shall be far more gruesome!" Gruumsh's expression twisted in fury as He pursued closely behind the red dragon, ascending at an unimaginable speed. Cassius's words struck a raw nerve. In just a few days, millions of orcs had perished on the Material Plane! Although the green-skinned orcs' faith was mostly shallow, they still provided the Orc God with a substantial amount of worship, not to mention that the strength and size of the race directly affected the racial deity's power. Even for Gruumsh, who commanded nearly all orcs across the multiverse, this was by no means a negligible loss. Had the barriers of the Material Plane not still restricted Him, Gruumsh would have descended in His true form to tear this red dragon to shreds. *Whoosh—!* Gruumsh tore through space, appearing directly above the red dragon's head. The Bloodspear, carrying the essence of destruction, thrust toward Cassius's left eye. Cassius opened his maw and exhaled a blast of chaotic fire, creating a massive void before him that swallowed the spear, while billowing fire clouds rolled from beneath his wings, gradually blotting out the sky. He snapped his wings, turning into a crimson afterimage darting through the flame-wreathed, smoke-choked sky. Yet as a deity, Gruumsh's single eye could see through the essence of all things. With a flick of His hand, the Bloodspear pierced space itself, hurtling toward the red dragon's heart clad in all-destroying divine flames. The crown upon Cassius's head flared brightly. Its gemstone awakened, releasing an intensely frigid northern gale that extinguished the flames. Thus, high in the heavens, the Orc God and the dragon pursued and evaded one another, executing repeated spatial hops amidst violent explosions and shockwaves that threatened to shred the sky into ragged ribbons. Down upon the earth, the orcish army and the imperial forces clashed once more in ferocious slaughter. "For the All-Father!" "For the rise of the orc race!" Under Gruumsh's crimson domain, the orcs were whipped into a frenzy of superhuman strength. Even when pierced by bullets, they healed rapidly; even with their heads blown apart, they regrew them, virtually immortal. "For the Cinder Empire!" "Long live His Majesty Cassius! Slay these green-skins!" "When His Majesty returns in triumph, we must have our victory too!" With Cassius present in person, the imperial soldiers' morale soared, their confidence in victory boundless. Eager to prove themselves before their Emperor, their gunfire and artillery grew even more furious than before. And so both sides fought on in their unfinished war, locked in fierce and deadlocked combat. Yet whether orc or imperial, all knew full well that victory did not hinge upon them—it rested entirely upon the two titans battling in the heavens above.