Eyes of Tiamat

Erebus let out a wretched laugh. "Mortal... you are far too ignorant... I am immortal! Dragon variant, no matter how formidable your physical body may be, you are merely a mortal in the end. You can never kill a great demigod!" "Is that so?" Cassius's claws tightened with savage force. With a sharp snap of shattering bone, the great wyrm green dragon's neck broke instantly, twisting his head at a bizarre angle. Yet those deep, sunken eyes remained fixed on the red dragon emperor. Cassius gave a vicious sneer. Grabbing Erebus's tail with a claw, he swung the massive form of the great wyrm around like a battered ragdoll and slammed him violently into a nearby hill. *Boom!* Dust and debris erupted into the air as the hill collapsed on impact. Blood spurted from the green wyrm's maw, his ribs caving in. But Cassius was far from finished. *Boom! Boom! Boom!* Dull, thunderous concussions rang out one after another. Cassius swung the great wyrm with feral abandon, smashing him into the earth again and again, leaving him entirely powerless to resist. Soon, the great wyrm green dragon lay on the ground, clinging to his last breaths. Blood seeped from the crevices between his scales, his bones were pulverized, and jagged splinters of bone had pierced his flesh to jut into the open air—a truly gruesome sight. Erebus struggled, letting out a low, guttural snarl. "How dare you treat a noble demigod this way..." "Such a weak god." Cassius shook his head with a chuckle. He knew that raw physical attacks could never truly slay a demigod; after all, demigods were beings beyond ordinary mortals. Even if he tore the great wyrm into countless shreds and ground every inch of his flesh to dust, those scraps would draw back together after a few years, months, or even days, reconstituting a brand-new draconic body. What he needed to do was use divine-tier power to destroy the great wyrm's source of immortality—namely, the Eyes of Tiamat. Moreover, the green wyrm clearly had some scheme in mind, likely trying to provoke and lure Cassius into launching an attack. Cassius therefore maintained a relaxed demeanor, probing and guessing at his opponent's intentions rather than rushing for a finishing blow. To the spectating cultists, Seleucian soldiers, and humans, however, all they could see was the infamous "Lord of the Rotting Bog" being subjected to a one-sided, merciless beating by the red dragon emperor, looking utterly pathetic. "Tiamat above... Lord Erebus has been beaten into such a state, he can't even fight back!" "Dragons revere strength above all else. Could it be that the Cinder Emperor is the true Chosen of Her Majesty the Dragon Queen?" "He truly lives up to his name as the legendary 'Dragon Prince,' carrying the blood of the Mother Goddess!" The cultists murmured among themselves, many with faces full of awe, clearly enthralled by this magnificent dragon's sheer might. In contrast, the Seleucian soldiers looked grim and terrified. Having survived the Dragonplague, they could already envision what horrific catastrophe would befall this land if the red dragon ever turned against them. He was, after all, a red dragon—a creature savage and tyrannical by nature. Even if he fought as their ally now, it was very likely only temporary. Suddenly, someone cried out in shock and pointed toward the sky. "Look!" With a single claw locked around the great wyrm's throat, the red dragon emperor hauled the massive, thrashing form of the green dragon toward the depths of the dense forest, ignoring all resistance. *Crash! Crash! Crash!* Towering, ancient trees snapped under the impact of the green dragon's body, toppling in vast swathes and crushing countless innocent woodland creatures beneath them. Right behind came a sweeping sea of fire, incinerating the wreckage to ash. Billowing smoke hung over the forest like a voracious, rampaging beast. Amid the smoldering ruins within the haze, the great wyrm green dragon braced himself and struggled back onto his feet. Shaking the cinders from his body, Erebus wore a hideously twisted snarl. A viscous blend of blood and venom dripped from the corners of his mouth as he unleashed a hoarse roar: "Dragon variant! You will never defeat me!" "You brutish, insolent beast! A traitor who defies the Mother Goddess, a vile disgrace to the name of chromatic dragons!" "If that's how it is..." Savage fury flared in Cassius's eyes. Baring a mouthful of needle-sharp fangs, veins bulging across his brow, he feigned blinding rage. "Then I'll send you on your way right now!!" The next instant, the red dragon surged into motion. *Rumble—* With a deafening, abrasive roar, his colossal eighty-meter frame swept low across the sky, blurring into a crimson afterimage. The hurricane-force gale he whipped up instantly shredded the flora and foliage beneath him, carving a blackened trench several meters deep into the earth. The red dragon emperor opened his cavernous maw wide enough to swallow the world. Deep in his gullet, multiple terrifying flames imbued with divine power converged, coalescing into a blinding sphere of light akin to a supernova, primed to detonate. The ambient air warped violently under the intense heat. The Weave and the laws of reality grew turbulent and agitated under the influence of that rampant force. The beam of light cast from the radiant sphere illuminated the heavens, scorching the skin of the onlookers and searing their eyes. "Gods above..." "Just the aftershocks are this terrifying..." "W-what immense power! The great wyrm green dragon is going to die under this blow!" The onlookers muttered in awe, convinced that the battle was already decided and that the Cinder Emperor was bound for victory. A pillar of fire brimming with horrific might erupted from the depths of the red dragon emperor's throat, blasting at blinding speed straight toward the great wyrm a thousand meters away. Yet just as the great wyrm was about to be swallowed by the inferno, he raised his head, bared his fangs in the face of the terrible breath weapon, and flashed a bizarre, eerie smile. "You took the bait, fool." Erebus's narrow, vertical slits widened abruptly. Within them surfaced countless savage dragon silhouettes, emitting an extraordinarily venomous, sinister gleam. In that split second, the red dragon streaking across the earth, the dust floating in midair, and the oncoming pillar of fire were all frozen in place by an unknown force. The entire world ground to a halt, plunging into utter silence. Erebus's bloody, fang-lined jaws worked continuously, chanting an ancient prayer: "Eternal Evil, Mother of Dragons, roaring wrath of captive spite! "I lay my soul and ambition beneath your claws. My greed is my offering to you; my hatred is my hymn of praise to you!" In an instant, the sky-blotting phantom of a five-headed dragon manifested high above, unleashing an earth-shattering roar. Erebus's Eyes of Tiamat finally descended upon the Material Plane, unleashing their true power! What a pair of eyes they were! Within each eye burned pure, primordial malice—the physical manifestation of hatred, greed, destruction, and conquest. Yet at the same time, they gleamed with an ancient, cunning wisdom that far exceeded mortal comprehension. Anyone pinned by those narrow vertical slits felt an invisible, bone-crushing gravity, accompanied by the chilling terror of having their soul peeled open and scrutinized. It was the instinctual dread of a lesser creature standing before a supreme predator. Erebus stared intently at the red dragon emperor. Boundless divine power poured from those ghastly eyes like a rushing torrent, forming an ethereal bridge between the green dragon and the red dragon. *Eyes of Tiamat: Life Reversal!* This was an exceptionally insidious divine spell capable of transferring every wound he had previously suffered—along with all damage he took over a subsequent period—onto his enemy. If the opponent had just unleashed a lethal strike, it was equivalent to handing the enemy the sharpest dagger to turn upon themselves. Time resumed its flow. The great wyrm green dragon's flesh writhed, bones knit back together, and scales rapidly regenerated, his grievous injuries healing at an impossible speed. At the same exact time, the red dragon emperor's armor-like scales shattered, his flesh tearing open. Blood leaked from the crevices of his scales, the bones inside him snapping inch by inch, and even the massive wings on his back were snapped by that invisible force. In the blink of an eye, the towering, oppressive red dragon was reduced to a battered, bloodied wreck, looking as though he had been brutally mauled in hand-to-hand combat. The next instant, the terrifying pillar of fire continued its blast toward the green wyrm with apocalyptic momentum. Erebus faced the oncoming firestorm unflinchingly and sneered. "Dragon variant, no matter how great your power, you are merely a pitiful beast! Die beneath your own breath weapon!" *Boom!* Yet right at that moment, the pillar of fire abruptly detonated in midair like a firework, leaving behind nothing more than a dazzling cascade of harmless embers—the breath weapon had been a feint all along! "What?" Erebus's expression shifted, his brow furrowing. In the distance, the bloodied Cassius gave his claws a shake and pushed himself up with deliberate effort. Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, curling into a vicious grin. "Heh... did you truly think I wouldn't see through that little trick of yours?" "The Eyes of Tiamat, is it? This dull fight is finally getting interesting. Too bad for you—I dared to face Her true body, so why would I fear a mere pair of eyes!" The red dragon emperor threw back his head and roared toward the heavens with all his might. A terrifying aura surged skyward, whipping up a scorching gale across the earth. *Thump! Thump! Thump!* His mighty draconic heart throbbed like an engine, pounding out a low, rhythmic cadence that pumped scalding progenitor dragon blood through his fundus vessels to every corner of his frame. Bathed in blood, Cassius vented clouds of sulfurous steam from his hide. Amid a chorus of sharp, cracking sounds, exposed flesh squirmed into place, bones lengthened and fused with wild vigor, and shattered scales repaired themselves in rapid succession. Such was the terrifying regenerative power of a third-generation progenitor dragon! Grievous wounds that would take an ordinary dragon decades or even a century of convalescence to mend were mostly repaired by the red dragon emperor in the span of a few breaths! "As expected of a bloodline that caught Her Majesty Tiamat's eye..." Rather than "caught Her eye," it was more accurate to say it was something She intensely coveted. A flicker of greed surfaced instinctively in Erebus's eyes, but he snapped back to reality almost immediately. He knew that if he did not press the attack while the red dragon emperor was heavily injured, the rest of this battle would only become harder. The great wyrm had to admit to himself: even after unleashing the Eyes of Tiamat, he had no absolute certainty of defeating this red dragon. With that realization, Erebus beat his wings, took to the air, and raised the dragonbone scepter in his claws, calling upon the phantom of the five-headed dragon high above. "By every shred of fear I sow, by every city I raze—I glorify Your name! "Guide my talons, ignite my breath, and aid me in carving a realm of blood and fire for You in this wretched world, until Your five-headed shadow blankets all creation!" *Roaaar—* The five heads dipped down in unison and opened their gaping maws, releasing a roar that silenced the world and made all living things tremble, radiating an evil pressure potent enough to drive minds mad. That colossal, sinuous form slithered across the earth like an endless rampart, encircling the forest for miles around and trapping both the green dragon and the red dragon within. Escape was impossible, and the surrounding sky turned pitch-black. Erebus cried out, "Dragon variant! You have committed the grave sin of blaspheming a deity, and now you have nowhere left to run! Her Majesty Tiamat once offered you a chance to redeem yourself—yet you squandered it in your utter folly!" Cassius gazed at the pitch-black canopy of sky, recognizing at a glance that this divine cage would be exceedingly difficult for any mortal power to break. Besides... he had no reason to break it. "Interesting..." Cassius lifted his head toward the great wyrm hovering aloft in pompous majesty, commanding the five-headed phantom, and spoke with frigid resolve: "A decent arena. Let us end this battle right here." "It is indeed time to end it, you pathetic rebel!" Erebus roared back at the distant red dragon emperor, thrusting his dragonbone scepter high. Under the surging divine power, the great wyrm's eyes shifted, his pupils brightening to an almost blinding lightning blue, vivid as cobalt. Tiny arcs of lightning seemed to dart and leap within his irises, sharp and volatile, resembling sapphires embedded at the heart of a tempest. "Let the heavens tear asunder beneath Your thunderous roar, and let all weaklings perish in the fury of Your lightning breath—" Erebus swept the dragonbone scepter downward. Dazzling lightning flared from the scepter's eye sockets, and high above, the blue dragon head lunged forward, opening its vast maw— *KABOOM!!!* Storm clouds churned as thunder surged like tempestuous waves. Countless bolts of lightning rained down, crashing toward the red dragon emperor amidst deafening peals of thunder. Yet a fraction of an instant before that cataclysmic lightning struck, Cassius's broad, muscular wings had already healed completely, restored to perfection for unhindered flight. The red dragon emperor beat his wings, blurring into a crimson phantom that wove through the storm of flashing lightning. He moved like a specter; though the lightning carrying the blue dragon's power chased him like his own shadow, it could not graze him in the slightest. Evading blast after blast of lightning, Cassius twisted and dodged, closing the distance toward the great wyrm with unhurried poise. Erebus's expression shifted, but he steadied his nerve, gripping the dragonbone scepter and aiming it straight at the rapidly approaching red dragon emperor. His eyes transformed once again, turning into a cold, pale blue like an arctic tundra. Microscopic ice crystals seemed to swirl and refract frosty light within his pupils, radiating primal savagery, hunger, and a soul-chilling frost. "Let hope freeze within Your bitter cold, and let all who resist wither away in cruel winter—" A howling gale rose, freezing the earth beneath a sudden barrage of blizzards and hailstones. High in the sky, the white dragon head lunged out, spewing a cascading cataract of frost-white chill from its maw.