"Kill—!"
"For the Empire!"
"For Holy Fadelan! Drive these damn monsters out of Seleucia!"
"Go back to Hell, you filthy chromatic dragons!"
Accompanied by resounding battle cries, the allied forces launched a ferocious counteroffensive against the army of the Cult of the Dragon.
Imperial soldiers fixed their bayonets and charged. Seleucian paladins and fighters swung their longswords, hacking and slashing with all their might, while gold, silver, and brass dragons locked in vicious aerial combat with the chromatic dragons above.
Gunfire and artillery roared without pause, smoke blanketing the field. A heavy stench of blood hung over the battlefield, littered everywhere with severed limbs and mangled corpses of humans, dragonborn, and evil dragonspawn.
In this high-intensity war, the Locke Great Rift had transformed into an abyss devouring lives. Every minute, every second, someone plummeted into its depths and perished. At the bottom of the chasm, corpses piled into mountains, and blood flowed sluggishly like a river.
Across this vast battlefield, rolling hills were flattened, replaced by boundless scorched earth where countless humans, half-dragons, elves, dwarves, and evil dragonspawn clashed and slaughtered one another.
Soon, the vassals of the metallic dragons arrived from all directions. Cloud giants, pegasi, metallic drakes, and many other good-aligned, powerfully endowed creatures joined the fray, tangling with the hordes of evil dragonspawn.
The situation on the battlefield grew increasingly chaotic. Seen from high above, over a million humans, dragons, and evil dragonspawn were locked in strife, forming a front stretching over a dozen kilometers, resembling a mottled, turbulent river.
"For the Dragon Lord—!"
After shattering the head of the blue dragon, the phantom red dragon summoned by the Dragon Oath Paladins roared toward the heavens and pounced toward the position of the Cult of the Dragon—where Archbishop Jude stood.
Scorching dragonfire poured from its maw like a surging tide, instantly submerging hundreds of evil dragonspawn.
"Quick, block it! Dammit, it's just an illusory avatar!" Veins bulged on Jude's forehead as he shouted in fury, the scepter in his hand flickering with eerie light.
At his summons, several storm lizards—massive in size, their ridged backs rising like small hills—growled sullenly and moved to block his front. Lowering their heads, dazzling arcs of electricity surged along their massive horns with crisp crackles, poised to unleash bursts of lightning.
"Mongrels, your god cannot save you! Before the might of His Majesty Cassius, anything daring to stand in the Empire's path will be crushed!"
Beating her dragon wings, Misha hovered behind the manifestation. With a casual flick of her fingers, searing rays of fire shot forth, piercing cleanly through the skulls of several storm lizards.
"Your Emperor is nothing more than a red dragon, one of Her Majesty Tiamat's myriad offspring! As one of red dragon blood, you shamelessly betrayed the very source of your lineage—you deserve death ten thousand times over!"
Jude snarled maliciously, waving his dragon-head scepter. Lightning churned in the flickering slitted pupils of the scepter, dark clouds rolling overhead. A thick bolt of lightning tore through the sky, crashing down toward the top of Misha's head.
*Boom!*
The lightning struck, yet it passed right through Misha's body, blasting the ground beneath her pitch-black, sending sand and gravel flying as the earth fractured—it had been nothing more than a flame illusion.
The real Misha hung high above Jude's head, looking down at the Archbishop of the Blue Dragon Sect. Her gaze was frigid, dangerous embers churning in her golden slitted pupils.
She slowly raised a hand and pronounced cold judgment: "In the name of the Cinder Emperor—"
The sky seemed torn apart by invisible claws, revealing a fiery vortex like a hideous scar. A golden-red pillar of fire crashed down like divine retribution, slamming directly toward Jude on the ground.
*Boom!*
Jude looked up at the terrifying pillar of heavenly retribution, his face filled with dread and fury. Gritting his teeth, he snarled, "Damn Imperials! You will pay for this!"
He violently raised his dragon-head scepter. The slitted pupil at its tip released a pitch-black light, forming a translucent sphere above him that enclosed him completely—a divine shield granted by Tiamat.
Amid the resounding crack of bursting air, the pillar of fire slammed down, surging torrents of flame washing over Jude's divine shield as two majestic powers collided head-on.
"D-Damn it... How could a mere human who stole dragon blood wield such power...?"
Jude clenched his teeth, veins bulging all over his body. The hand holding the scepter aloft convulsed and trembled violently, wisps of dark mist leaking from his narrow slitted pupils.
"Pathetic cultist—this is the boon of the Cinder Emperor, having nothing to do with that master of yours imprisoned in Hell!" Misha laughed out of sheer fury and clenched her fist. The descending pillar of flame flared even hotter.
Under the relentless bombardment of the fire pillar, fine fractures spiderwebbed across Jude's divine shield with crisp snaps, on the verge of shattering completely.
"Blood for blood!"
Adrian leapt high into the air, roaring as he brought his longsword down in a plunging strike toward Jude. A golden blade of light flew forward at blinding speed, crashing heavily against the surface of the divine shield.
*Crack!*
The fissures expanded rapidly. The shield formed of unholy divine power began to disintegrate, rapidly crumbling away, while Jude's sweat-drenched face was overcome with terror.
Misha sneered, "It seems your deity is about to abandon you."
"No, impossible! I am the bishop of the Blue Dragon Sect, chosen by Her Majesty Tiamat..."
Jude retorted hoarsely, bellowing in mad frustration, yet he could not change the fact that the divine shield was shattering—and his life was about to end.
Right at that moment, however, furious peals of thunder rolled in from the distance. Dark clouds spread rapidly at a visible pace, covering half the sky like a surging tide, with blinding lightning interweaving among the clouds like rampaging beasts.
Across the battlefield, tiny arcs of electricity leaped everywhere, sparking countless embers. Within a radius of dozens of li, lightning elements became extraordinarily active, as if awakened by some unknown entity.
*Whoosh—*
A tempest sweeping up countless grains of sand and gravel tore across the land, whipping up thick, black gales carrying an acrid, pungent scent.
"A sandstorm!"
The fierce gale knocked the soldiers on the battlefield off balance, even hurling many unarmored soldiers into the air, sweeping them into the high sky alongside shattered earth, rocks, and snapped trees. Even the dragons in the sky could only flap their wings furiously, struggling to stay aloft.
At the center of that storm and dark cloud, a terrifying presence seemed to lurk, veiling its form amid dazzling thunder and lightning.
Misha looked up with a grim expression toward the center of the distant storm, muttering to herself, "'Thunder Tyrant' Gorazdla..."
She turned back to look at the struggling Jude, her expression turning fiercely resolute. "Never mind that—we must finish this quickly and kill him!"
Jude also saw the distant storm and thunderclouds. His face twisted with frantic vindication, his eyes filled with malicious glee. Laughing hoarsely as blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, he gasped:
"Haha... Hahaha... Pathetic Imperials! Lady Gorazdla is descending! Your doom is at hand!"
"Shut your mouth!"
Blinding golden-red flames burst from Misha's eyes. The pillar of fire flared with even more scorching heat, melting everything around Jude; even the sand melted into liquid glass, sending up plumes of white vapor.
The divine shield shattered with a roar, and Jude was engulfed by the surging torrent of flames, his flesh and blood incinerated completely.
In his final moments, Jude presented a truly horrifying sight. The flesh of his entire body turned to blackened ash, leaving only a trembling skeleton that issued a hoarse screech: "Every last one of you—will be destroyed by the thunder and the storm!"
In the end, only scattered lava, molten glass, and charred remains were left on the ground where Jude had stood.
Just then, a bolt of lightning abruptly crashed down, striking Misha's body and blasting her backward. Her robe was scorched black, and crackling arcs of electricity clung to her form.
Misha struggled to flap her dragon wings, darting swiftly back behind the front lines despite her battered body, staring at the distant sandstorm and thunderclouds.
"Ignorant rebels—"
From the depths of the dark clouds came a thunderous roar that struck fear into every heart, eliciting a soul-deep shudder—the most primal dread living beings possessed toward the natural catastrophe of lightning.
"Wh-What on earth is that..."
"No mistake, it's her! It has to be her—the tyrant who rules the Taliro Desert!"
"Gods above..."
People instinctively held their breath, hunching their shoulders. Dense sweat beaded on their cheeks and foreheads as their entire bodies trembled violently.
Dionysus flapped his dragon wings and slowly touched down on the ground, gazing gravely into the distance. Lightning reflected in his narrow, golden slitted pupils. "What terrifying pressure... I can sense that Gorazdla has grown even stronger than before."
The ancient gold dragon turned his head and sighed, looking toward the senior generals of the allied forces. "We arrived too late. That ancient blue dragon has very likely become a genuine—"
Swallowing hard, he continued, "—quasi-deity. This is no longer an entity mortals can stand against. If necessary, we can request His Majesty's intervention. In a situation like this, only the Cinder Emperor can..."
*Rumble!*
Thunder rolled in from afar, sweeping over them. The powerful sonic wave hurled up countless grains of sand and rock, even blowing away several unlucky human soldiers.
"Pathetic mortals, lowly ants! Do you know what manner of being you have provoked?!"
*Crack!*
An immensely thick bolt of lightning ripped across the celestial canopy, instantly illuminating the gloom of the sky.
First, far in the distance, a dark shadow appeared on the horizon like a moving storm cloud, sweeping toward them at breakneck speed. As the shadow drew closer, the ground began to tremble faintly, as if an incomprehensibly colossal beast were approaching. The tremors grew stronger and stronger, and grains of sand leaped and tumbled as though tugged by an invisible force.
Against the backdrop of pitch-black storm clouds, illuminated by flashes of lightning, the behemoth finally beat its wings, dispersing the clouds cloaking its form to reveal its menacing true appearance.
It was an unimaginably massive ancient blue dragon. Her body was as immense as a mountain, and blue scales glinting with a cold, metallic luster reflected dazzling light even beneath the storm, each scale the size of a tower shield, arranged tightly and orderly like an impenetrable suit of natural armor.
The blue dragon's wingspan exceeded a hundred meters, resembling two enormous sails blotting out the sky. The tough membranes on them had clear, distinct textures, and every slight beat was accompanied by howling gales, kicking up pillars of sand that reached straight into the clouds.
Her cobalt dragon head held high at the zenith of the storm, chaotic thunderstorms roiled within her pupils. Lightning coiled around her entire body, scales reflecting dazzling gleams, while her gaping maw poured out endless lightning with every breath!
Most striking of all was the massive horn atop the tip of her snout, imbued with terrifying energy capable of destroying all things, linked with tens of thousands of lightning bolts, its apex manifesting an ever-expanding vortex of thunder.
The corners of her mouth curved up slightly. Amid crisp crackles, lightning flashed from her narrow slitted pupils, a cruel smile spreading across her draconic visage: "This boring farce—it is time it came to an end."
The ancient blue dragon beat her broad, powerful wings, and thunder and lightning cascaded forth like a deluge, submerging all before her.
*Boom!*
In an instant, ten thousand thunders roared in unison, rolling sonic waves shaking heaven and earth. Hundreds of Seleucian soldiers on the front lines were struck dead by the lightning bolts.
The Empire's steam tanks exploded one after another in the horrific thunderstorm sweeping the earth, reduced to charred wrecks without the slightest power to resist.
Thunder Tyrant, King of Taliro, Lord of Storms and Deserts, the dragon god symbolizing thunder and ruin in the Cult of the Dragon—Gorazdla had descended upon the battlefield!
"What terrifying lightning! It took out steam tanks in a single hit!"
"Quick, block her!"
"Focus all fire and kill that ancient blue dragon! This boss belongs to our Machine Cult!"
Faced with a boss of this caliber, the players were thrilled, unloading every kind of attack without holding back.
In an instant, over a dozen thick beams of elemental light, hundreds of missiles powerful enough to level mountains, and tens of thousands of bullets flew toward the ancient blue dragon. Such firepower was already sufficient to obliterate a small city.
Yet Gorazdla merely beat her lightning-surging wings slowly, looking down at the players on the ground with cruel, scornful eyes, paying no heed to the barrage poured against her.
When they were barely a hundred meters from the ancient blue dragon, all the missiles, shells, and bullets seemed to have had a pause button pressed, freezing motionless in midair with faint electrical arcs coiling around them.
The next instant, they tumbled like raindrops, explosions bursting in rapid succession. Far from harming the ancient blue dragon, they even caught many allied troops in the crossfire.
Meanwhile, the beams fired by the heavy elemental cannons were swallowed by the tidal thunder and lightning, all their energy consumed to become part of the vast energy circulating around the ancient blue dragon.
The Machine Cult players discussed in extreme tension: "Demigod-level energy fluctuations... Heavy elemental cannons are completely useless..."
"Raise maximum defense! This blue dragon's next target is very likely us!"
Thick magical barriers emerged on the surfaces of those sky battleships, shimmering with various glows as dense plumes of white steam billowed out.
Charlotte felt a bit of schadenfreude, yet still cautioned them: "Careful! We in Magic Coin ran into this boss in the Taliro Desert. Her Lightning Breath carries the trait of destructive divine power, capable of piercing all magical defenses! Our magic ships were one-shot by her..."
Looking at the sky battleships encased in magical shields in the distance, Gorazdla's narrow slitted pupils revealed unvarnished mockery. "Laughable toys..."
"Allow this pathetic brood of mortals to witness—"
She extended her massive dragon claw. Countless lightning bolts converged in her palm, crackling loudly as they condensed into a colossal spear of lightning, resembling the lightning bolt of Zeus in mythology.
"—what true power is!"
In the next moment, brilliant lightning erupted from the ancient blue dragon's narrow slitted pupils. The bolt of lightning crashed down through the air, splitting into thousands of crisscrossing arcs that struck the sky battleships aloft.
*Boom—!*
The roar of thunder, the crackle of exploding lightning, the deafening blasts of detonating engines, and the howling of the wind collided high in the sky.
One sky battleship after another trailed thick plumes of smoke, burning fiercely as they plunged from the sky and slammed into the ground, exploding in booming crescendos that sent mushroom clouds billowing upward.
With merely this horrifying strike, more than half of the Machine Cult's fleet was wiped out—not a single ship spared, every one of them crashing to ruin!
Chapter 816