The atmosphere grew tense to the extreme.
Even the chromatic dragons dared not speak, terrified of provoking either of these peerlessly mighty dragons and being swept into their clash.
Tiamat's expression remained unchanged, Her tone still leisurely and smooth. "Cassius, you remain as obstinate as ever. But... greedy, brave, decisive—this is precisely what a chromatic dragon ought to be."
The green dragon head chuckled. "Heheh, you must be worried that I will move to seize your infernal authority, are you not?"
"..."
Cassius did not reply. He merely beat his wings and gazed coldly at the five-headed monstrosity not far away, seemingly turning the matter over in his mind.
The Dragon Queen's blue dragon head issued a low, magnetic, seductive murmur. "Rest assured, Cassius. I harbor no greed for such paltry power. You may hold sway over Avernus entirely on your own.
"I will stand behind you and lend you My full support. You need only make this place... a paradise for chromatic dragons, ruling alongside your brothers and sisters.
"When that time comes, you will be a hero of our kind, the Duke of Avernus revered by tens of thousands of dragons! You will wield boundless power among the chromatic dragons, commanding dragons beyond count!"
Tiamat's cadence rose and fell, brimming with incendiary fervor.
The chromatic dragons circling Her beat their wings, craning their necks and howling in a continuous, deafening din.
"Praise His Highness, the Dragon Prince!"
"Duke of Avernus!"
"We shall follow you! Hell will become a paradise for true dragons!!"
Bel held his breath, terrified of missing a single word. If that terrifying red dragon joined hands with the Chromatic Dragon Queen, he would have no power to resist whatsoever.
"Your Majesty Tiamat, you make a compelling offer," Cassius said with a slight pause. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he declared with ringing resolve, "However... allow me to decline!"
At that moment, Cassius sneered inwardly. He knew Tiamat all too well.
Lord of Avernus?
When had the infernal authority he had seized with his own claws ever required authorization from the goddess of evil dragons?
If the Lord of the Nine Hells came knocking, Cassius would be the scapegoat left holding the bag, while Tiamat would reap massive faith without lifting a finger—and could even indirectly control Avernus through the chromatic dragons!
That would completely derail his plans to turn Avernus into a semi-colony, introducing countless toxic factors with nothing but harm for the Empire's development.
Tiamat's expression finally darkened. Her red dragon head let out an aggressive, furious roar. "Cassius, do you deliberately defy Me?"
A boundless divine pressure rolled out, vast as the abyss and deep as the sea, blanketing the sky.
At this sight, the blue and green dragons loyal to Tiamat put on ferocious postures, snarling, "Cassius, do not refuse a kindness!"
"Insolence!"
"How dare you disobey Her Majesty the Dragon Queen's decree! Have you forgotten that you are a chromatic dragon?!"
Fierce as their words were, these wicked dragons shrank honestly behind Tiamat, terrified that Cassius might strike them down in his wrath.
Only the female red dragon still wore a dazed, enraptured expression, her eyes brimming with worship.
That Dragon Prince—no, Cinder Emperor—actually dared to reject Her Majesty Tiamat to Her face! What immense courage, what peerless confidence!
What a truly magnificent male!
After all, to muscle-brained creatures like red dragons, power was paramount. Loyalty and faith were utter nonsense.
Facing the overbearing Dragon Queen, Cassius relied on his authority as the "Hell Dragon" to resist the racial deity's divine pressure. Neither servile nor arrogant, he said, "Your Majesty Tiamat, I do not intend defiance. It is merely..."
He paused, then continued, "I have already signed a contract with Lord Bel. As his ally, how could I betray our pact?"
Cassius spoke with righteous dignity, the very picture of an emissary of justice.
Contracts, allies, integrity—weren't such notions mere decoration to chromatic dragons, especially cruel, tyrannical, capricious red dragons?
Even Bel wore a look of utter suspicion. He was dead certain Cassius was spouting pure nonsense; the greedy red dragon couldn't possibly harbor such thoughts.
Tiamat laughed in sheer fury, Her pitch-black divine radiance blotting out the sky. "Cassius, you dare use such excuses to dupe Me and deceive your Mother Goddess?!"
Confronted by the pouring pressure, Cassius did not shrink back. Instead, he took a step forward and spread his several-hundred-meter wings, rippling with patterns of flowing lava.
The planar aura and authority of Avernus erupted in an instant, sweeping across tens of thousands of meters to clash head-on with Tiamat's divine might.
*Boom—*
The collision spawned a violent tempest. Even the chromatic dragons around Tiamat stumbled and swayed, beating their wings frantically in the howling gale and screeching in chaos just to stay aloft.
All five of Tiamat's heads opened their maws together, unleashing an overlapping, earth-shaking roar: "Cassius! Do not forget the fate of those who rebelled!
"I have seen far too many chromatic dragons like you! Many believed themselves mighty and sought to carve out their own domains, only to meet wretched ends!"
"Is that so?"
Cassius beat his dragon wings slowly, exerting every ounce of strength to withstand the crushing divine pressure. In a calm voice, he replied, "Yet, Your Majesty Tiamat, I have never done anything detrimental to You or to the chromatic dragons.
"Quite the contrary, I have always devoted myself to the great cause of chromatic dragons. It is only that this time... I truly cannot grant Your request."
Cassius saw through Tiamat's bluff. She did not dare go all-out within Baator.
After all, Her divine realm bordered Hell. If She openly broke with the Lord of the Nine Hells, She would face constant peril; the price was far too steep.
Thus, Tiamat had brought a great host of chromatic dragons to block his path, intending to cow Cassius with the majesty of a true deity and seize indirect control of Avernus in the process.
As for Asmodeus's retaliation?
Naturally, that would fall on Cassius, the expendable contractor.
Watching the unperturbed Cassius, Tiamat finally snapped. Her most rash and ferocious red dragon head unleashed a blast of divine dragonfire.
Breath of Tiamat!
*The old hag is actually playing for keeps?!*
Startled, Cassius dared not be negligent in the slightest. Raising his head, he channeled the power of Avernus within him, and a torrential surge of hellfire welled from deep within his gullet.
*Boom!!*
The two flames collided, erupting into a violent explosion that incinerated everything in their vicinity to ash.
Almost instantaneously, Cassius's Hell Breath was swallowed by Tiamat's flame. The terrifying breath washed over Cassius's body in a raging deluge.
Even hellfire bearing the authority of Avernus could not withstand the onslaught of this vile divine power; his colossal lava-wreathed body began to melt in an instant.
This was the power of a true deity!
He had still underestimated Tiamat!
Amid the agonizing pain, a dreadful thought crossed Cassius's mind: *Has the Dragon Queen already marked me as a true threat and decided to seize this chance to eradicate me once and for all?!*
In the blink of an eye, the five-hundred-meter-long "Hell Dragon" shrank by more than half, exposing gaping wounds across his flesh.
*Not good—I have to get out of here immediately!*
At the thought, Cassius beat his wings frantically, breaking out of Tiamat's divine fire in a battered retreat and attempting to tear through the space of Avernus.
Yet Tiamat stopped at that moment and shook Her heads. "Do you see now, My child? You are still far too young and brash. Before true power, everything you rely on is fragile and worthless.
"As the Mother Goddess of all chromatic dragons, I am willing to grant you another chance—a chance to mend your ways..."
Tiamat's voice was deep and slow.
Cassius understood Her intention.
Failing to intimidate him, She had resorted to subduing him by force. Even so, he had not expected Tiamat to truly risk war with the Nine Hells by striking within Hell.
Cassius's hellish form gradually unraveled under the scourging of divine power, revealing his true sixty-meter body, crisscrossed with wounds that wept scalding dragon blood.
Yet Tiamat, watching the blood stream from his injuries, underwent a subtle change in expression. Her greedy dragon eyes flashed with a hint of... astonishment?
Drawing a droplet of blood across the air into Her grasp, She examined it closely and murmured, "This is... the blood of a third-generation progenitor dragon?"
Cassius groaned inwardly.
When transforming into the Hell Dragon, in order to sustain the massive form, he had activated Primal Reversion, elevating parts of his body to the level of a third-generation progenitor dragon.
And now, the Dragon Queen had discovered it!
Tiamat looked up again, all five pairs of dragon eyes burning with irrepressible greed and ecstasy.
"Cassius, you truly are a wonderful surprise. To think that after tens of thousands of years, our dragon race could still give birth to such an exceptional descendant."
The five-headed monstrosity raised a claw and hissed an alluring whisper: "Come, become My Chosen! You shall be the next Dragon King, the beginning of chromatic dragon dominion over the multiverse!"
Cassius's vision blurred. It felt as if tens of thousands of chromatic dragons were roaring in his ears, shouting in unison:
"Convert to the Dragon Queen! Kneel before the Dragon Queen!"
Under this overwhelming mental assault, Cassius even felt the urge to prostrate himself in worship.
Fortunately, having been tempered by the Abyss, his will was remarkably resilient. He forcibly resisted Tiamat's enchantment and ripped open the space before him.
"Tiamat, you have overstepped. Do you seek war with the Nine Hells?"
A deep, gravelly voice echoed. A devil clad in crimson robes appeared in the sky.
The devil had black eyes and a goatee, his figure slightly blurred as though only a projection.
Though not towering in stature, he radiated an unprecedented pressure that weighed upon everyone present, as if he were the very embodiment of worldly sin, the master who governed all.
At that moment, every devil stared into the sky, falling into a frenzy.
"That is... that Lord!"
"The Lord of the Nine Hells!"
"Praise the great Lord of the Nine Hells, the Sovereign of Evil—Asmodeus!"
Tiamat's expression shifted slightly. All five heads turned toward the devil, snarling hoarsely, "Asmodeus, this is an internal matter of the dragon race. Mind your own business!"
Asmodeus said coldly, "Yet you stand upon the soil of Hell. Striking here is an affront to the order of the Nine Hells!
"Do not forget our pact, Your Majesty Tiamat... and do not forget that your divine realm relies on our Baator."
The devil tapped his scepter lightly. Hellfire soared skyward, coalescing into thick chains, and an incomparably majestic infernal force bound Tiamat's divine form.
This was the Nine Hells.
In this plane, Asmodeus was akin to a creator deity, capable of manipulating everything at will. Even gods could not rival him here.
Seeing Her form about to be expelled from Hell, Tiamat gnashed Her teeth, helpless against the planar sovereignty.
"We leave!"
She tore open the space of Hell Herself, opening a portal leading to the Lair of Tiamat. A dark world teeming with chromatic dragons appeared before everyone's eyes.
The blue and green dragons that had accompanied Tiamat roared and flapped their wings, entering the portal one after another.
"Your Highness Cassius..."
Before departing, the female red dragon looked back at Cassius lingeringly, her golden pupils filled with yearning.
Then the mountainous, nightmarish five-headed monstrosity stepped into the portal as well.
Just before leaving, Tiamat turned Her heads and looked at Cassius meaningfully with deep, piercing eyes. "Cassius, My rebellious child.
"Before long, I shall return to the Material Plane amidst the summons of mortals. That will be your final chance at atonement.
"If you insist on standing in My way and hindering the great cause of chromatic dragons... do not blame Me for showing no mercy."
The spatial rift slowly sealed, and the divine pressure cloaking the sky gradually dissipated.
*Dragon Tyranny... According to my past life's timeline, it shouldn't have begun for at least three more years. Yet under my influence, even this major event has been pushed forward significantly,* Cassius thought.
He still felt a lingering dread toward Tiamat's terrifying power.
Cassius then nodded slightly in Asmodeus's direction and spoke with considerable respect: "My thanks for your assistance, noble Lord of the Nine Hells."
"You did well, Cassius. To think you actually managed to slay that frost giant... it was truly unexpected."
Asmodeus smiled, lightly waving his scepter, and asked as if on a whim, "Interested in falling to Hell?
"As long as you are willing to convert into an infernal creature, I can grant you the seat of the Lord of Avernus."
Beside them, Bel's face instantly stiffened, as if a humiliating memory had resurfaced, his heart leaping into his throat.
Centuries ago, the Lord of the Nine Hells had stripped him of his title as archduke in just this manner. Asmodeus had merely tapped his scepter against the ground, and Bel had lost all authority, reduced to a stray dog.
Cassius declined in a calm voice. "Lord Asmodeus, you should be well aware that I have no interest in the power of Hell. Otherwise, I would have accepted Tiamat's offer just now.
"Ultimately, the Cinder Empire is my foundation, and I am only willing to do what benefits the Empire."
"Why bother? Mortal kingdoms are fleeting, but the rule of Hell is eternal." Asmodeus shook his head with mild regret, then dissolved into a burst of flame, vanishing into thin air.
Only then did Bel let out a long breath of relief. At long last, he had secured his position and avoided being ousted.
He stepped forward, a hypocritical smile plastered across his face. "Your... Majesty Cassius, Avernus shall forever remain a steadfast ally of the Empire."
Cassius smiled as well. "Of course. The friendship between the Empire and Avernus, like your rule, shall endure forever."
The two exchanged smiles, each harboring his own sinister schemes.
Bel was contemplating how to promote his confidants, consolidate his grip over Avernus, and purge Cassius's influence.
He did not believe for a second that this greedy red dragon was genuinely as detached and indifferent to infernal power as he claimed.
Cassius, meanwhile, thought to himself: ruling Avernus under Asmodeus's appointment would merely make him someone else's hired hand.
His ambitions were far grander—he intended to integrate Avernus into the Empire's colonial system.
Chapter 741