Deep dragons were inherently cunning and selfish creatures. Seeing their companion fall, they spun around without hesitation to flee backward, turning their heads to spew billows of toxic fog behind them to shroud vision and cut off pursuit.
But the half-elf paladin had no intention of giving them that chance.
*Swish—*
A beam of sword-light scores of meters long flashed out, cleanly cleaving through the toxic fog to carve open a massive breach.
Immediately following it, Rhea, having transformed into an Avenging Angel, shot forth at blinding speed. Closing the distance in an instant, she arrived less than twenty meters behind one of the deep dragons.
Panicking, the deep dragon flapped its wings frantically and lashed its venom-barbed tail behind it, aiming to swat Rhea right out of the sky.
Unperturbed, Rhea gave a gentle beat of her wings, blurring into an afterimage as she swept past to evade the whipping tail. She then slashed diagonally through the air, her blade flaring with twilight radiance.
*Riiip—*
With the sickening sound of tearing flesh, foul blood splattered into the air. The deep dragon's entire wing was severed clean off. Losing its balance, it tumbled from the sky, its wails echoing through the heavens.
Folding her wings, Rhea gripped her silver sword with both hands, pointed the tip toward the earth, and dove headlong after it.
*Boom!*
The deep dragon slammed heavily into the earth, gouging out a crater over ten meters across and sending dust billowing alongside scattering fragments of stone.
Drenched in blood, its bones shattered by the violent impact, it could only thrash feebly on the ground, letting out shrill, wretched screams.
Yet in the next moment, the screams cut short.
Rhea descended from the sky like a falling star, plunging her keen silver sword straight through the deep dragon's skull. Ending its filthy life, she pinned it firmly to the earth.
Withdrawing the silver sword, Rhea gave a flick of her wrist. The blade radiated brilliance, cleansing the tainted blood and restoring its gleaming, pristine luster.
"Two more..."
She looked up, gazing into the distance toward the deep dragons fleeing for their lives.
These creatures, known as "dragons of the deep underground," were no mindless drakes. They were true dragons, matching the white dragons—the lowest of the chromatic dragons—in both intellect and brute strength.
Having witnessed their companion's death, they saw the gap in power all too clearly. Casting aside all arrogance, they scattered in different directions toward the distant Gates of the Abyss.
Soon, however, a massive golden figure appeared in the sky. Shrouded in blazing flames and moving with astonishing speed, he overtook one of the deep dragons in virtually the blink of an eye—it was Titus, the Wings of Dawn.
*Boom!*
Titus unleashed a searing fireball from his jaws, instantly charring half of the deep dragon's body. The beast wailed, wobbling erratically in midair, barely able to keep itself aloft.
Pressing his advantage, Titus struck out with a ferocious swipe, his colossal talons batting the deep dragon away through the air.
Seeing stars and spinning with disorientation, the deep dragon lost its bearings and hurtled straight toward the ancient gold dragon's broad, heavily armored chest.
Titus parted his jaws as white-hot fire surged from the depths of his throat, blasting square into the deep dragon's face. The grotesque, hideous head shriveled rapidly in the conflagration, turning into charred remnants that reeked of scorched meat.
The deep dragon's hulking corpse plummeted from the sky, crashing violently onto the earth and crushing a dozen arachnid fiends beneath its weight.
*Roaaar—*
Seeing its kin slain one after another, the last remaining deep dragon let out a panicked cry. Ignoring the driders' furious scolding, it buried its head and sprinted frantically toward the Gate of the Abyss.
Yet a familiar figure materialized right before its path—clad in silver armor with black wings spreading from her back, none other than the Vengeance Paladin Rhea.
Despair gripped the deep dragon, and it cried out in desperation, "Half-elf, spare me! We have no quarrel between us! I will become your servant—"
"No quarrel?"
Rhea's expression turned frigid. Behind her, the phantom silhouettes of hundreds of silver moon elves manifested.
They were soldiers who had perished in the deep dragons' toxic fog, their dying wills coalescing into a blazing flame of vengeance—the Soul of Vengeance.
"Nonsense! Filthy monstrosity, you shall pay with your life!"
Rhea bellowed in fury, sweeping her silver sword with all her might. The Soul of Vengeance behind her roared and surged forward alongside her strike, overwhelming the deep dragon's will with formidable force and rendering its movements agonizingly sluggish.
*Slash—*
Blood erupted like a fountain as the head went soaring. The headless carcass crashed heavily down, crushing hundreds of monsters and piling up like a mound before the entrance of the Gate of the Abyss.
Yet thousands more monsters had already converged, surging forward like a murky deluge across the field, seeking to overwhelm and slaughter the half-elf paladin through sheer numbers.
Rhea showed no fear. With steadfast resolve, she raised her silver sword high.
*Holy Nimbus!*
A twilight shimmer burst from the blade, expanding rapidly outward with the silver sword at its epicenter. Within an instant, it enveloped an area nearly a hundred meters in radius, forming a colossal nimbus of radiance.
Every monster caught inside the nimbus burst into flames without exception. Black smoke poured from their bodies as they screamed in agony, like vampires caught in the burning rays of the sun, reduced to charred husks in mere moments.
Right after, a roar echoed from the sky. The ancient gold dragon spread his wings wide, casting a massive shadow that draped over countless abyssal fiends.
Diving steeply, he swept across the ground and vented a conical breath of flame from his maw. In a heartbeat, the surrounding area turned into a sea of fire, incinerating hordes of abyssal creatures to ash.
"Quickly! Shut that Gate of the Abyss! Use the power of the Silver Moon Goddess!" Titus shouted.
A dozen abyssal drakes had already closed in around him. Titus blasted flames to force them back, but they attacked from multiple directions, harassing him relentlessly and causing the ancient gold dragon no small amount of trouble, holding the skirmish in a tense stalemate.
Of course, if Titus—or rather, Cassius—wished, he could have unleashed his Progenitor Aura in an instant to bring the drakes under his control.
Yet there was no need, nor did he wish to reveal any unnecessary power.
For now, Cassius needed only to restrain his power, maintaining his persona as a "dutiful champion of justice" to earn Queen Catherine's trust and emerge as a celebrated hero in Therenia's coup.
Hearing the ancient gold dragon's cry, Rhea cut down all the monsters blocking her path and charged without hesitation toward the nearby Gate of the Abyss.
"Stop her!"
In the distance, a drider elder bellowed in rage, raising his staff. Dense webs of sticky silk materialized before Rhea, and thousands of venomous spiders crawled along the threads, lunging in her direction.
Yet Rhea gripped her sword with both hands. Divine energy radiated from her body, twisting and diffusing the magical currents around her, preventing the venomous spiders from getting anywhere near her.
*Circle of Power!*
She promptly applied blade oil. As the sword tip scraped through the air, it ignited into flame. Brandishing the flaming silver sword, she sent streaks of fire flying, cleanly severing the webs before her. Flames raced along the silk, burning steadily until every obstacle in her path was swept away in moments.
Flapping her wings, Rhea arrived right before the Gate of the Abyss, which lay obstructed by the deep dragon's carcass.
Her eyes shone with radiant light as the power unique to the god-favored surged forth within her, coursing down her arms and into the weapon, bathing the longsword in the luminous glow of the silver moon.
"Get... back in there!"
Her sword cleaved down, slicing cleanly through the deep dragon's carcass. A beam of silver light descended from the heavens, shining full upon the Gate of the Abyss.
*Divine Smite!*
Under this sacred power, black mist billowed from the Gate of the Abyss as it steadily shrank. The monsters poking their heads out were vaporized instantly in the holy radiance.
The Gate of the Abyss contracted into a tiny black point before vanishing completely from the Material Plane. Purified by the brilliance, the surrounding branches of the Sacred Tree returned to their untainted grace.
"Well done!"
Rhea turned around. The sky was crowded with abyssal drakes, deep dragons, and shadow dragons, massing like a dense, brooding storm cloud.
And the ancient gold dragon's figure resembled the sun obscured by dark clouds, fighting fiercely within their midst. Letting out roar after roar, he unleashed torrents of surging flame, striving to cast light down upon the earth.
In the distance, celestial warriors clad in gleaming gold armor blew their war horns and charged toward the wicked dragons, seeking to relieve some of the pressure on the ancient gold dragon.
"Sir Titus..."
Rhea beat her wings and took to the sky, plunging into the fray to battle alongside him against the hundreds of evil dragons.
Beside the elven queen, the wizard from the Arcane Hermitage studied the blood moon and the barrier in the sky through *True Seeing*, lost in thought.
"It's weakening..."
"Yes, the evil goddess's projection has weakened! These world-warping Gates of the Abyss and these vile monsters are the anchors for this so-called 'Eight-Armed Mother Goddess'!"
Excitement welled within the wizard. "If we eradicate all these anchors, she will lose the power to directly influence the Material Plane!"
"And according to the distribution of the Gates of the Abyss... the primary and most influential anchor lies inside the Sacred Tree itself!"
"Very well." Hovering midair, Catherine opened her eyes. Her clear pupils shone brightly like twin silver full moons, exuding a sacred aura.
At this moment, the elven queen seemed no longer a mortal of the Material Plane, but the living avatar of a divine will.
"My people—in the name of the ruler of Therenia, I command you: close those Gates of the Abyss and advance upon the Sacred Tree itself!"
"The benevolent Silver Moon Goddess is watching over us!"
She leveled her scepter toward the massive trunk of the Sacred Tree in the distance. Her voice rang with majesty, echoing across the entire battlefield.
Instantly, all the silver moon elves present felt their bodies grow light. An unseen force seemed to well up within them, stoking boundless fighting spirit, and even their swords and light armor began to emit a gentle glow.
Such was the blessing of the Silver Moon Goddess, Goddess of Moonlight, Mother of Therenia—Sehanine!
Under the deity's protection, the coalition army's morale soared. Their attacks grew increasingly fierce, and the scales of victory began to tip in their favor.
In the sky, beneath the golden dragon's fury, several abyssal drakes were engulfed in flames, wailing as they tumbled down. The half-elf paladin brandished her silver sword midair, unleashing interlocking arcs of light that rained blood and severed limbs down upon the earth.
And the angels of the celestial host raised weapons blazing with holy light, clashing with the evil dragons to tear apart the gloom of the skies.
The rangers and rogues of the Harpers darted and weaved across the battlefield, stabbing with daggers or loosing volleys of arrows to clear out the surrounding monsters.
Melisandre drew her longbow, nocking an arrow enchanted with gale magic.
*Whoosh—*
With a piercing screech, howling gales shredded everything in the arrow's wake, tearing apart over a hundred spider fiends that stood in its path. Severed limbs and shattered carapaces littered the ground.
Such was the might of a legendary ranger's single shot.
Melisandre swept her hand forward. "Harpers, advance!"
Clad in plain cloaks, the rangers moved swiftly, carrying the silver moon dials provided by their elven allies as they dashed toward the Gates of the Abyss.
"Damned humans! Tear them to pieces!"
In the distance, a drider elder struck his scepter against the ground, shrieking at the top of his lungs. Several bebiliths converged at his command.
Yet in the next breath, his cries abruptly ceased.
A tiny, bloody hole appeared between his brows, piercing clean through his skull. The drider elder's face froze in disbelief before he collapsed in a heap.
Behind him, a slender arrow was embedded deep within the Sacred Tree's trunk, dripping with brain matter and blood.
Melisandre's hands never slowed for a second. She loosed several arrows in rapid succession, which tore through the air wrapped in tempests to pierce straight through the heads of the bebiliths.
Before the monsters could even fire off a ray, they fell dead to the legendary ranger's arrows.
"Get back to the Abyss!"
A ranger leapt into the air, disregarding the clawing and snapping monsters around him, and pressed the silver moon dial against the top of the Gate of the Abyss.
Brilliance flared, bathing the earth in silver radiance.
All manner of spider monsters wailed piteously in the light, their flesh burning. Despite their desperate thrashing, none escaped death.
The Gate of the Abyss shrank rapidly, finally collapsing into a tiny black speck and disappearing without a trace.
Another Gate of the Abyss was sealed.
On the other side of the battlefield, Zayn led a charge of hundreds of dwarven cavalry. The Hammer of Bedrock in his grasp blazed with light as pillar after stone pillar erupted from the earth, utterly obliterating the monsters surrounding another Gate of the Abyss.
Supported by Queen Catherine and blessed by the Silver Moon Goddess, the same scene played out again and again across the field: one Gate of the Abyss after another was closed, and every part of the Sacred Tree was gradually purified.
Catherine raised her scepter high, her clear voice ringing across the battlefield: "For the benevolent and great Silver Moon Goddess—reclaim the Sacred Tree!"
"For justice!"
"Everyone, it is time to show them our faith and our might! Justice endures forever!"
Circling high above, the ancient gold dragon sounded the horn crafted from a drake's leg bone, sending a deep, resonant blast echoing through the air.
"For Sehanine! For Therenia!"
"For justice!"
Tens of thousands of coalition soldiers surged forward with blazing morale and absolute conviction in victory, their advance crashing forward like a colossal tsunami.
"No, no... You are all traitors, all enemies of Therenia."
Standing atop the Sacred Tree and looking down upon the scene, Theron shook his head ceaselessly, muttering over and over.
Was the Council of Elders' millennium-long rule about to end like this?
No, he would never permit such a thing!
He alone was worthy of ruling Therenia; he alone, Theron, could lead the silver moon elves to eternal glory!
At the thought, the Grand Elder's expression twisted into something increasingly hideous, resembling a cruel and cunning beast.
Chapter 760