The Death of Wilhelm

Boom! Two colossal figures plummeted from the heavens, making the ground shudder and blasting dirt and stone skyward as a deafening roar echoed across every corner of the battlefield. The violent force of the impact seemed ready to churn the very earth. A surging sandstorm swept across the land, and the shockwave ruthlessly blew away everything for a thousand li around—rubble, trees, and soldiers alike. An unlucky steam tank was even overturned by the blast, flopping clumsily onto the ground several meters away, its armored hull riddled with holes and covered in cracks. A crater hundreds of meters in diameter opened in the earth. Centered on the red dragon and the hellish monster, web-like fissures spread wildly, covering the wasteland in an instant. Amidst the dust and smoke, a massive black silhouette raised its head and roared, its booming cry shattering the clouds and piercing through the dense haze. As the smoke cleared, the colossal silhouette finally revealed its true form: scales shimmering with a metallic sheen, four massive horns, and a pair of pale golden vertical pupils like orbs of molten rock. It was none other than the Red Dragon Emperor, Cassius. And Wilhelm—or rather, the abhorrent hellish monstrosity—was pinned beneath the dragon's massive claws. Driven a dozen feet deep into the ground, he was completely immobilized. His emaciated body rose and fell with faint breaths as viscous black blood pooled around him, bearing no trace of his earlier arrogance. Yet his slender claws twitched upward slightly, and a raspy voice issued from the battered, unrecognizable wreck of his body: "Cassius... I... haven't lost yet... I am the true..." Boom! Before he could finish, Cassius brought a claw down onto Wilhelm's chest. Sharp talons tore through skin, gouging deep into his flesh and ripping it apart. Wilhelm coughed up a mouthful of foul blood, yet still struggled with all his might, screaming madly and thrashing his broken bat-like wings in an attempt to break free of the red dragon's hold. Withdrawing his claw as black blood splattered in every direction, Cassius looked on with cold indifference. The hellish monster wobbled into the air, his tattered wings fluttering with the sound of wind whipping through torn rags. In near madness, he raised the broken Spear of Final Judgment. "No, no! I... haven't lost! I still have—I still have other things! I'll sacrifice them—sacrifice those lowly commoners to Hell! Quick, quick, Zariel, give me greater power! Give me the power to kill that red dragon!" "He's mad! His Majesty Wilhelm has completely lost his mind!" "What is he trying to do?!" Hearing Wilhelm's hysterical shrieks, the Thracian people erupted into an uproar, unable to believe that the king they served would treat his own subjects as sacrificial offerings to Hell. "Those glowing circles..." "Help!" "Mama, my head hurts so much..." "Hold on, my child, hold on! Amaunator, please, save her—!" From within the city of Auguste came a cacophony of terrified screams and agonizing wails. Several soul-refining circles within the city activated, unleashing an eerie, bewitching red light. Horrifyingly, these magic circles were situated directly inside the churches of the Kingdom of Thrace—where tens of thousands of homeless refugees had taken shelter! Packed together and shoving in panic, refugees collapsed one after another. The moment they lost consciousness, their souls were devoured by the magic circles, turned into fuel for Hell, and drawn into Wilhelm. In an instant, countless wailing souls from within Auguste soared into the sky, merging into Wilhelm's massive, twisted form. Wilhelm spread his arms and unfurled his six bat wings, reveling in the intoxicating rush of incoming power. "What glorious strength! My subjects, you were born to serve me! Sacrifice your souls to me and repay the debt you owe to Fadlan—" "Still a step too late!" Dayev furrowed his brow, staring at the distant hellish monster. The once-radiant monarch had now become the very entity he loathed most. Dayev turned to look at the refugee camp. A mother wept as she clutched a soulless child; the little girl still gripped a half-eaten piece of bread in her hand—the very bread Dayev had given her. The refugees jostled together, desperate to flee this soul-refining hellhole, but the church doors were barred by the Holy Guard wielding flaming broadswords. "No..." Dayev muttered, his eyes filling with rising fury. That child should not have died like this! She should not have surrendered her soul for a king's selfish desire! Listening to the refugees' cries and remembering that innocent face, Dayev's gaze hardened with resolve. Drawing the sword at his hip, he leaped forward and charged at the Holy Guard. "Filthy monsters from Hell, die!" ... Ten thousand silver-white rays of light cascaded over the earth. The foul soul-refining circles ground to a halt; the souls streaming toward Wilhelm were instantly purified, and the hellish monster in midair burst into flames. Wiping the foul black blood from his blade, Dayev looked toward the source of the radiance. The refugees who had narrowly escaped death looked up as one, gazing into the heavens as if beholding their savior. High in the sky hung the incomparably colossal red dragon, holding a sacred blazing sun within his maw like an avatar of the Sun God himself, looking down imperiously upon the mortal multitudes below. "Praise the sun!" "Praise the great red dragon! He is the avatar of the sun!" Fervent and reverent, the refugees cheered for the magnificent being who had spared their lives. Even Dayev stood frozen as though struck by lightning, staring at the sun in stunned disbelief. He muttered under his breath, "By Amaunator... could that Emperor truly be the avatar of the sun?" At this moment, under the focus of a million gazes, Cassius seemed like a true savior, an incarnation of the sun. Watching the rising power of faith imbued with the traits of the "Sun God," the corners of Cassius's mouth curled up slightly. He would never let a chance to put on such a divine display slip by. "Why, why do you possess such power?! Clearly I am the offspring of the Sun God! I am the blessed godblood!" Wilhelm stared at the red dragon high above, his entire body burning as he roared toward the heavens, his eyes blazing with fires of jealousy and hatred. The red dragon gazed down at the hellish monster, mimicking Wilhelm's former tone as he proclaimed: "In the name of the sun: you have colluded with Hell and slaughtered mortals. Your crimes are unforgivable. I sentence you to... death!" Before his words had faded, Cassius spread his wings and unleashed a terrifying Solar Breath, turning into a meteor cloaked in surging flames that tore across the sky, diving straight toward the hellish fiend. Despair etched across his face, Wilhelm looked up and raised the severed spear. His grotesque frame shook uncontrollably in extreme terror and rage. Those had been his lines! Light flared; flames surged. Wilhelm's body was instantly pierced through, leaving a charred gaping hole in his chest. Seizing his neck in sharp talons, Cassius swooped down and slammed the hellish monster violently into the ground. Boom! Another earth-shattering boom erupted as shattered rock flew in all directions and plumes of dust soared into the sky. "I... I haven't lost..." "It was Zariel who... deceived me... You haven't truly defeated me," Wilhelm rasped from where he lay limp inside the deep crater, his voice dripping with venomous spite. At that moment, the red dragon flared his wings and leaned down, fixing the dying Wilhelm with a cold, mocking gaze. "Tsk, tsk. Look at you. The former King of Angels, reduced to such a pathetic state. How utterly pitiful. Right now, you're nothing more than a venomous snake coiled in a swamp, a rat barely clinging to life in a sewer." Cassius seized the grotesque head in his massive claws, wrenching it up to inspect it before slamming it violently back into the dirt. "Still, you're fortunate, Wilhelm. You'll get a grand finale. Though you lived like a clown, I will let you die like a true king." Before the words had finished settling, Cassius beat his broad wings and lifted into the air. He opened his jaws, and a searing orb of fire gathered in his throat—the prelude to a Solar Breath. Feeling that familiar, overwhelming power, Wilhelm sank into bottomless despair. The solar divine power he had once taken such pride in was now coalescing into the very lethal blow that would kill him. Had the Sun God truly abandoned him and chosen this damned red dragon instead? For nearly a century, he had prayed devoutly and fought countless campaigns across the north and south for Holy Fadlan, sowing seeds of faith far and wide. Yet in the end, he was to be killed by a dragon that had stolen the power of the Sun God? It was unfair. Zariel's voice echoed in his heart once more: "Your Majesty Wilhelm, do you desire vengeance? Do you wish to kill that red dragon? Sacrifice the city of Auguste to Hell, and you shall have everything!" A parchment contract flickering with fire materialized before him. With a single thought, he could sign his name and offer all of Auguste up to Hell. Wilhelm roared in his mind: "But you lied to me! The power Hell gave me wasn't nearly enough to defeat that red dragon!" Zariel's voice was exceptionally cold and detached: "Contracts of the Nine Hells have always been the most equitable; we strictly observe the principle of equivalent exchange. Forgive my bluntness, Your Majesty Wilhelm, but the fifty thousand souls you offered to Hell are utterly insignificant compared to the price required to slay a demigod red dragon..." Wilhelm gritted his teeth. "I will not sacrifice Auguste to Hell! That is my land!" "Your Majesty Wilhelm, think about it. If you die now, that red dragon will conquer your city, bask in the veneration of the Thracian populace, and greedily plunder everything you possess—" Hearing the picture painted by the devil, Wilhelm trembled all over, seized by immense panic, yet he still protested weakly: "I—I can pay other prices! But Auguste is the capital of the Kingdom of Thrace..." Dropping all false flattery, Zariel mocked him ruthlessly: "Wilhelm, have you not realized yet? You have reached a dead end; you have no other choice. Furthermore... seeing as you lack sincerity, the previous offer is void. Now, if you still want vengeance against that red dragon, you must offer up the entire Kingdom of Thrace." Zariel's words struck like a poisoned blade driven straight into Wilhelm's heart, piercing his final psychological defense. Trembling, Wilhelm raised his head to gaze at the red dragon in the sky, bathed in light like an avatar of a deity. He could not help but remember his grand aspirations of reviving Fadlan and surpassing his father. Once, Wilhelm had been the radiant and holy King of Angels ruling over a domain; now, he was a grotesque, twisted hellish fiend. The sheer gulf between what was and what had become plunged him into irredeemable despair. At last, cornered by certain death and crushed beneath unfathomable pressure, Wilhelm snapped into complete madness. Shuddering violently, he rasped in a low whisper, "Cassius... I have indeed lost... but you won't be the ultimate victor either!" Suddenly, Wilhelm jerked his head up toward the red dragon aloft. Boundless malice and hatred poured from his pitch-black pupils as he shrieked with every shred of strength remaining in him: "Cassius, come to Hell with me! I will sacrifice the entire Kingdom of Thrace!" In an instant, heaven and earth shifted color. Deep in the cosmic order, some fundamental law seemed to be triggered, and from beyond the Material Plane, a near-insane laughter echoed. "Hahahaha!" "Magnificent!" "The fool agreed! I smell the intoxicating scent of souls!" The sky seemed to bleed as crimson gashes slashed across the vault of heaven, and a pitch-black sun arose. The earth groaned in lamentation as mountains collapsed and the ground fractured, viscous black blood welling up from the fissures. Hundreds of infernal magic circles within the city awakened. Amidst the shrieks and wails of souls, the ground outside the city walls fractured, the subterranean strata beneath the city caved in, and the entire city of Auguste began an irreversible descent toward Hell. Further out, across the vast territory of the Kingdom of Thrace, thousands more infernal circles were stirred awake, forming a terrifying formation that encompassed the entire realm. Blood-red clouds expanded rapidly, seeking to engulf all of Thrace. Amidst the catastrophe, chaos reigned throughout Auguste. Majestic churches collapsed with deafening crashes, their shattered domes raining down upon the crowds below. Innumerable devils poured from the fissures, laughing uproariously as they freely reaped mortal souls, reveling in this brand-new "soul pasture." "By Amaunator! Save us, please!" "O gods!" "Did you hear that? Wilhelm, that brutal tyrant, is actually offering all of Thrace to Hell!" "He's a lunatic! He's completely insane!" The Thracians scattered in flight, wailing and crying out, but it was all in vain. The entire city was plummeting into Hell; there was nowhere left to run. Watching his city fall into ruin, Wilhelm was in a daze, murmuring softly: "Cassius... Hahaha, you're finished too! An Archduke of Hell will slaughter you any moment now! You'll end up just like me, losing..." Boom— The air cracked with an explosive roar. Searing dragonfire completely engulfed the hellish monstrosity. Flames imbued with solar divine power incinerated him down to nothing, leaving not even a speck of ash behind. Since Zariel had already been drawn out, this fellow naturally had no further value. Thus, Cassius killed him without hesitation, as casually as swatting a bug. As a notification of gained experience flashed across his interface, Cassius sighed softly. "How pathetic." Yet, gazing upon this apocalyptic scene, Cassius showed not the slightest trace of fear; a burning battle intent shone in his eyes. "Finally, you're coming, Zariel." Cassius had repeatedly humiliated Wilhelm, driving him into a corner until he succumbed to absolute despair and madness, solely to draw out the manipulator behind the scenes—the one he considered his true enemy: the Lord of Avernus, Archduke of Hell, Zariel.